There`s just no stopping that ”Dirty Dancing” soundtrack, which this week held on for its 11th week at No. 1 and shows no signs of letting up.
Still in No. 2 is George Michael`s ”Faith,” which now needs to quickly generate another strong single (”Father Figure” slipped another notch to No. 3 this week) if it is going to be able to regain the top spot.
But suddenly back in the picture is Michael Jackson, whose current high-profile tour has helped to generate renewed sales in ”Bad,” which this week moved up a notch-from No. 5 to No. 4-after being in a holding pattern for months.
Jackson also got a boost from his nationally televised performance at the recent Grammy awards show, which included a dynamic version of his current hit, ”Man in the Mirror.”
Radio airplay of ”Mirror” increased dramatically after the Grammys and helped push the record to No. 4 in just its seventh week on the charts.
This week, the champion is once again Rick Astley`s ”Never Gonna Give You Up,” which held on for a second week at the top despite a strong challenge from Belinda Carlisle`s ”I Get Weak.” (”Weak” was actually No. 1 in record sales but lost out on radio airplay points.)
But next week, Astley won`t stand a chance against Jackson, who is in position to score his fourth straight ”Bad” No. 1.
It was a quiet week elsewhere in the Top 20, with major gains registered by only two songs-Whitney Houston`s ”Where Do Broken Hearts Go” (up from No. 28 to No. 19 and still on track for No. 1) and Terence Trent D`Arby`s
”Wishing Well” (from No. 27 to No. 20).
Others to watch: Pebbles` ”Girlfriend” (from No. 19 to No. 14), INXS`
”Devil Inside” (from No. 22 to No. 16) and Jody Watley`s ”Some Kind of Lover” (from No. 23 to No. 18).
Here are predictions for next week`s singles` chart: 1. ”Man in the Mirror,” 2. ”I Get Weak,” 3. ”Never Gonna Give You Up,” 4. ”Endless Summer Nights,” 5. ”Out of the Blue,” 6. ”Father Figure,” 7. ”Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car,” 8. ”I Want Her,” 9. ”Rocket 2 U,” 10.
”Hysteria.”
This week, there are two pick hits: Jermaine Stewart`s appealing ”Say It Again”; and Paul Carrack`s ”One Good Reason,” a strong follow-up to his recent hit ”Don`t Shed a Tear.”
Dud of the week: Heart`s disappointing ”I Want You So Bad,” which is indeed so bad that it will break the group`s impressive string of hits from the ”Bad Animals” LP.
