Ahead in midweek flashes Phil Collins had to settle for the No 2 spot though he pushed Lionel Richie all the way with just 2,000 copies between the pair with Richie selling 59,000 copies. “Hello” has now spent 6 weeks at No 1, one week longer than his chart topper with the commodores “Three Times A Lady”, but that track sold over 900,000 copies whilst “Hello” has just passed the 550,000 mark, a sign of the downturn in singles sales over the last 6 years.
The chances of Collins being No 1 next week should be improved with some TOTP exposure this week but he’ll have to fend off Duran Duran who affirm their place at the head of the pop table as “The Reflex” debuts at No 5 (41,000). The song is heavily remixed from the album version by a certain Nile Rogers, the band were, reputedly, keen to release this as the first single from the album but the record label were not impressed by the song though presumably they were finally convinced. Ordinarily a shoe in for the No 1 spot next week the identical start for “Union Of The Snake” argues that we shouldn’t be so certain.
For the first time in their career Kool & The Gang have back to back top 10 hits as “(When You Say You Love Somebody) In The Heart” ascends 11-7 (34,000). Title track to their most recent album it is also the follow up to their biggest hit “Joanna/ Tonight” which missed out on the top slot thanks to Nena.
1983 proved a rather disappointing year for OMD who had racked up 4 consecutive top 10 singles during 1980 to 1982 but their album “Dazzle Ships” proved a relative commercial flop only generating one top 20 single “Genetic Engineering” but a return to the pop field has reaped rewards as “Locomotion” soars 19-10 (27,000). Their fifth album “Junk Culture” is released in a fortnight and will hopefully continue their run of top 10 rankings.
Queen rise 5-3 (51,000) thanks in part to TOTP but also increasing in sales for much the same reason are Thompson Twins (49,000) though they slump 2-4, also falling are Shakin’ Stevens 3-6 (37,000), Captain Sensible 7-8 (31,000) and Depeche Mode 6-9 (30,000)