23July

Government officials resumed contacts with Sinn Féin, and the I.R.A. declared a new ceasefire. The government announced the closed list was its chosen proportional representation system for European Parliament elections, and that university students would be expected to pay fees for their tuition. James Goldsmith of the Referendum party died in Spain.

Spaniards were encouraged to observe a ten-minute silence in honour of Miguel Blanco, a politician shot dead by ETA. The fashion designer Gianni Versace was shot dead at his home in Miami. Prince Charles' vicar said that his parishoner could not become Fide Defensis unless he gave up his concubine, Camilla Parker-Horse.

Roger Black was not selected for the World Championships in Athens. Melvin Burgess's novel Junk won the Carnegie Medal. Justin Leonard won the Open Golf championship.

UK Singles Chart for w/c 20 July 1997

Number One	I'll be missing you, Puff Daddy and Faith Evans, 4th week (non-consec), 770th in sequence
Highest new entry	Blinded by the sun, Seahorses, number 7
Fastest climber (within top 40)	I'll be there for you, Rembrandts, up 4 to 25
Fastest climber (within top 75)	(as above)
Lemming-like fall (within top 40)	Risingson, Massive Attack, down 19 to 30
Lemming-like fall (within top 75)	The world tonight, Paul McCartney, down 29 to 52
Top 40 debuts	Changing Faces, Elate
Top 40 exits	The Course, Elate, Full Intention, Ghostface Killah, Grace, Maradona, Strangelove
Top 75 debuts	Elate, Terry Hunter, Rahsaan Patterson
Top 75 exits	Adeva, The Braxtons, Dreadzone, Terry Hunter, Katrina And The Waves, Movin' Melodies, Sybil

This was the third countdown during 1997 that we didn't hear at all. In each summer, there's one week when there are no significant new releases, when sales fall, old records climb, and strangeness abounds. In 1997, this is the week.

Nineteen new entries into the top 75, twelve into the 40. Stuff we remember nothing about: Movin' Melodies (Rollerblade, 71), Rahsaan Patterson (Stop by, 50), Terry Hunter (Harvest for the world, 48). Dreadzone's last attempt at a hit was Moving on, in at 58. Dance divas who had fallen on hard times: Sybil (Still a thrill, 55), Adeva (Where is the love?, 54). And Fountains of Wayne continued to have very minor hits, Survival car entering at 53.

We probably haven't heard four of the records just bubbling into the top 40 - Maradona's Out of my head (39), Elate's Somebody like you (38), The greatest show on earth from Strangelove (36), and Shake your body (down to the ground) from Full Intention (34). Maradona's hit had reached one place higher on original release in February 1994, and both Strangelove and Full Intention had had slightly larger hits in 1996. Don't think we missed much. Grace had had their biggest hit in spring 1995 with Not over yet, recently the subject of a piss-poor cover by a group devoid of actual ideas. Grace's other hits tended to peak in the 20s, only Down to earth made it as high as number 20 back in May 1996. Remixes of this song came out again this week, giving the group a number 29 hit, and their last week on the chart.

We could never accuse the Super Furry Animals of laziness - The international language of screaming, new at number 24, was their seventh different top 50 hit since the beginning of 1996. The Furries had formed in Cardiff in 1993, and approached the game with wit and whimsy. Not for them the over-earnestness of Catatonia, nor the near-unlistenable schlock of 60 Foot Dolls. The group released a couple of EPs in Welsh during 1995, and signed to Creation Records at the end of the year. First album Fuzzy Logic was packed full of melodies, from the staccatto If you don't want me to destroy you to the shoutalong Something 4 the weekend (not to be confused with the Divine Comedy's Something for the weekend, released on the same day.) The group's second album, Radiator, would come out in August 1997, with this as the lead single. They've released five more albums and a singles collection in the years since, with another due before the end of the year. We particularly recommend 2001's Rings Around the World. The group's had 20 singles, but have yet to crack the top 10 of the singles chart.

In at number 20 came Promise, from the worship band at Arun Community Church in Littlehampton. Delirious? (for it was they) had been supported to the hilt by Simon Mayo, snubbed by the rest of the music world, and found themselves in the top 20 in May. An appearance on Top of the Pops followed, but the general consensus was that it was a flash in the pan. A consensus that was now disproven; two top 20 hits for a god-bothering band? Impossible! Unheard-of! But a fact. The group has recorded about thirteen studio albums in its eleven-year career, and inspired the more secular Polyphonic Spree. Back in 1997, a slightly sneering profile in Q magazine was the limit of the music business's interest, and Delerious? retreated to their home crowd of fellow god-botherers. This is probably A Bad Thing, and we would politely encourage the group to make new tunes available on secular download services. It only takes a few thousand sales in any particular week to make the top 40, get played on Radio 1, and if we're being honest, we'd rather hear Jay Kay and Or Joel play religious tunes than the Mth play of The Fray.

Bone Thugs and Harmony came in at 16 with Look into my eyes, a song we've heard, but about which we remember nothing. No tremendous falls for last week's top ten - Babyface from 10 to 19, R. Kelly tokes a fall from 9 to 13, Shaggy from 7 to 12. New at 11 came Gary Barlow's third single, So help me girl. A disappointment? Not really; the album had been out for a couple of months, and this wasn't a particularly exciting or inspired choice of single. New at 10 was Changing Faces' GHETTOUT (see what they did there?) It's the first top 40 hit for the soul/rap group, their other appearance would come in March 1998 with a rancid cover of Cyndi Lauper's Time after time.

Michael Kiddyfiddler Jackson dropped four places to 9, and new at 8 was Robbie Williams. Lazy days had won him the head-to-head battle against his former bandmate Barlow, but Williams' album had missed release dates in February and June, and wasn't now scheduled to appear until the end of August. Comparing the two singles against each other, this was slightly better; comparing the complete recordings of Williams and Barlow to date, we easily give the nod to Gary.

For the first time in his solo career, Robbie didn't have the highest new entry. That honour went to the Seahorses, with Blinded by the sun. It's worth remembering that the last Horses single had been beaten by Gary Barlow's release; the two acts would never go head-to-head for chart supremacy. Blinded... was a good work in its own right, but rather suffered from its similarity to every Stone Roses song, and the group's previous release. Still better than the Robbie track, mind. We note, in passing, that the previous Seahorses and Barlow singles had also come out in a week where we missed the top 40 show.

No move at number 6 for Sash!, and Ultra Nate is back up three to 5. Coolio slips to 4, swapping places with Gala. The big surprise is that Oasis's bubble has burst: after just one week at the top, Do you know what I mean is down to number 2. The group can attract its hard-core fans, but casual buyers prefer I'll be missing you, which returns for a fourth week as the country's best-seller.

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