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It does not take a genius
to note that this week sees American independance
day. To celebrate it looks like the
American chart domination will continue on from
Eminem's success last week.
Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen from
U2 were responsible last time there was a theme
from Mission Impossible in the charts.
Their cover of the original theme made number 7
back in 1996 but the theme to Mission Impossible
2 looks set to go six better than that.
Limp Bizkit are exporters of what is often termed
Sports Metal by the catchphrase hungry music
press but this is slightly a way from their
normal output hence the high chart position.
These guys are superstars in the States and this
might just win them a few more fans this side of
the ocean. Watch out for 'Take A Look
Around' debuting at the top.
If the same records had been
released two years ago the smart money would have
been on the Gallagher brothers to debut at number
one. Sadly times change quickly in pop
music and the new Oasis song may even miss the
top ten altogether. Unthinkable maybe
but it could become a reality come Sunday.
Make no mistake Noel Gallagher remains the best
songwriter of his generation and Liam the best
vocalist. However 'Sunday Morning Call'
would not have graced the b-sides of the first
few singles let alone make an a-side.
I think it may scrape the ten but they would be
wise for them to regroup and make some serious
future decisons before a fourth single release.
As much as it was maligned 'Be Here Now' sold
more in its first week than 'Standing On The
Shoulder Of Giants' has to date. That
statistic alone speaks volumes.
Maintaining their success rate are
Steps. The alarm bells were ringing when I
picked this up earlier today. Gone are the
bright colours on the sleeve and in comes some
classy black and white photography. Even H
was referred to on the sleeve by his real name of
Ian Watkins. Surely Britain's brightest
poppiest band have not hit the serious stage?
Well despite the image makers and packaging this
single offers more of the groups hit making
formula. 'Summer Of Love' is upbeat, catchy
and just the sort of tune to bring the summer
charts out of the doldrums.
If Steps do fail the teenage
market then Atomic Kitten are waiting in the
wings. Co-written by Jimmy Cauty and Bill
Drummond from The KLF (well it samples 'The
Magnificent' by The One World Orchestra - a KLF
side project) this is the follow up to 'Right Now'
and 'See Ya' which have both already made giant
inroads into the top ten. This is a less
obvious hit but I would still expect to see it
challenging for a place in the chart on Sunday.
As with Steps these are a bright cheery duo who
demonstrate pop at its best. It's unlikely
they will rival the Beatles in musical history
but that's no excuse not to enjoy them while they
are in their prime.
Fresh from Andrea's continued
success in Sexiest Woman polls come The Corrs who
return this week with 'Breathless'. It will
take some serious selling to see their new album
challenge the heights achieved by 'Talk On
Corners' although that albums success was partly
down to the remixes which sold the singles.
The unplugged 'Radio' failed to dent the top 10
and so it will be interesting to see if the
public really do love the Corrs or if the love
affair is over.
If the Britney vs Christina was
not enough to keep your excitement going then
here comes the third single from Jessica Simpson.
She would have you believe that she is her own
woman and that Britney or Christina matter not
one iota to her. That might be true from
her perspective but it would be far more truthful
to say that her fat cat managers are cashing in
on the sudden interest in teenage female singers.
Image aside this is not actually too bad and with
a following wind this could easily become a top
three hit. Can that many people buy her
image? Perhaps it is me who is missing the
point.
A man who only has one song but is
continuing to make a mint out of it is Mauro
Picotto. 'Lizard' was a hit twice last year
and he follows up with 'Iguana' this week.
It's not going to win any lyrical awards but I
cannot recommend this highly enough. Of
course as with any dance record it only really
works with the speakers up loud and the bass
fader pushed up just a little higher than normal
but that is no excuse to leave this sitting on
the shelves. Buy it now!
A producer who I am equally
excited by is Matt Darey. 'From Russia With
Love' is arguably the best dance record of the
year so far while his debut hit 'Liberation (Temptation
- Fly Like An Eagle)' was an equal highlight of
last years. His debut hit made the top 20
while his last effort only scraped in at 40.
Timing in at over 7 minutes this is unlikely to
get much airplay but it does not have to be radio
friendly to be good. This is music at its
best though I suspect that its chart position on
Sunday will not quite do it justice.
So that concludes this weeks
commentary on the main contenders. Will
Limp Bizkit take the top slot or can Steps or
Jessica Simpson replicate France and steal a
victory at the death. The only sure way is
to listen to your preferred chart on Sunday
though if you were a gambling man I would push my
money towards 'Take A Look Around' as it bids to
dislodge Eminem.
See you next week.
JHME Music Correspondent
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