Chart News - U.K. Charts


John J. Hlavaty ([email protected])
Sun, 15 Nov 1998 17:36:58 -0500


U.K. Charts:

The "Best Of" with the B-sides dropped from #1 to
#2 in the U.K. this week (go to:
http://www.dotmusic.com/UKalbums.shtml)
The new #1 album is the "Best Of" from George Michael (entitled,
"Ladies and Gentlemen... Best Of").

U2's "Best Of" without the B-side CD debuted
at #8 on the U.K. charts. Interesting to see not
only 2 U2 CDs in the U.K. top 10, but that both
are older material and variations of each other.

For comparison's sake, Alanis' album dropped from
#3 to #10 and Oasis' B-side album dropped from
#2 to #3. The fact that U2's "Best Of" debuted
at #1 in so many coutries surprised me. After all,
it is previously released material. Therefore, it's
short stay at the top on the U.K. charts should
not be interpreted as a "flop". I'm sure the album
will drop in more countries this coming week.
What will ultimately make it a success is how long
it lingers in the top 10 (or at least the top 20).
This is where the big sales are (last week in the U.S.,
all items in the top 10 sold close to 100,000 units if
not more).

This particular holiday season, there is a LOT
of competition: Pearl Jam, Alanis, Mariah, Michael,
Oasis, Stones, Dion, etc. If U2's "Best Of" can
linger in the top 10-20 despite this outpouring
of holiday releases, then it will be a big success.

"The Sweetest Thing" suffered its biggest drop in
the U.K. charts falling from #10 to #18. However,
as I wrote last week, its 3 week stay in the top 10
surpassed U2's last 3 "POP" singles (two of which
had only one week in the top 10 and the last not
even reaching that mark). Amazingly, Cher's
"Believe" has held the #1 spot for 4 weeks now.
Her album, which has the same name, is not having as
much success. "Believe", the album, dropped 10 spots
to #23. Still, the success of Cher's single proves that an
"old fogey" (Cher is 52) can still rack up some big sales.
So do not dismiss U2's next release. Unfortunately,
U2's "U.S. counterpart", R.E.M., is also having some
difficulty on the U.K. charts. "Up" debuted high (#3)
but dropped to #11 and is now #25.

Australian Charts:

While U2's "Best Of" dropped a notch in the U.K.,
it held steady at #1 in Australia (go to:
http://www.aria.com.au/charts/19981116a.htm).
George Michael debuted at #2 and Alanis slipped
to #2. R.E.M.'s latest is also having problems
in Australia. It debuted at #5, dropped to #20 (!)
and now it's at #30.

Either the single CD version of U2's "Best Of"
hasn't been released in Australia yet or the ARIA
counts the 2-CD and one-CD "Best Of" set
together as there is no separate entry for the "Best
Of" alone vs. the "Best Of + B-sides" as there
is on the U.K. charts.

"The Sweetest Thing" held steady at #10 on
the Australian single's charts. The song debuted
at #6. "The Sweetest Thing" has enjoyed
4 weeks in the top 10 further questioning
U2's/Polygram's decision not to release this song
in the U.S. (especially when one factors in
that the song went to #1 in Canada and Ireland and
#3 in the U.K.).

Other Charts:

The new Irish, Canadian and U.S. charts have yet
to come out. As of this moment, the "Best Of"
is #1 in Canada, Ireland and Italy and #2 in the U.S.
and Germany. "The Sweetest Thing" is #2 in
Ireland and #3 and 4 in Canada (both versions of the CD
charted separately).

In the U.S., "The Sweetest Thing", while not
released as a CD single, continues to move up
the Modern Rock charts. After 6 weeks on
the charts, "The Sweetest Thing" moved up to
#13 on the U.S. Modern Rock charts (go to
http://www.billboard.com/charts/airplay/modern.html).
This is its highest position yet. Will the success of
the "Best Of" album push this song into the top 10?
The song is currently ranked higher than Alanis'
"Thank U" (#17) and R.E.M.'s "Daysleeper" (#18).

That's it for now. When the new charts come
out, I'll try to provide another summary.

Ciao,

John



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