Official Chart Flashback 2003: Elton John – Are You Ready For Love

Sir Elton’s floorfiller took 24 years to reach Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart, but it was worth the wait.

What’s great about the Official Singles Chart is that there’s always room for a second chance. While the British record-buying public can be unforgiving if they don’t like a tune, that doesn’t mean a flop needs to stay a flop for ever.

And for Sir Elton John, one of his long-forgotten singles became the ultimate comeback kid when it romped victoriously to the Number 1 spot this week in 2003. Are You Ready For Love? it asked, and it looked like we finally were. One generation’s flop turned into another’s “turn it up, play it again!”.

When originally released in 1979, Are You Ready For Love made little impact, stalling at Number 42 on the Official Singles Chart and kicked off a dry spell for Our Elt (he wasn’t a Sir at that point). He’d graze the Top 40 a couple of years later with a cover of The Beatles’ I Saw Her Standing There, but it would be March 1982 before he returned to the Top 10 with Blue Eyes.

So, unloved and unwanted by most, Are You Ready For Love settled among pop’s mothballs and waited its turn in the spotlight. As if by magic, a full 24 years later, it was dusted off by Ashley Beedle, best known for being part of dance ‘outfit’ X-Press 2, and given the remix treatment.

It soon featured in a TV ad for football – appropriate, given Sir Elton’s love for Watford Football Club (he’s owned it twice, fact fans) – and was soon taking up room on dance floors up and down the country.

Are You Ready For Love finally took its rightful place at the top of the charts and, despite its age, sounded as fresh as ever. It gave the former Reg Dwight his sixth Number 1 – his first was his duet with Kiki Dee, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, way back in 1976, which recently passed one million sales!

It wouldn’t be Elton’s last trip to the top spot. He had another shot at the summit less than two years later when 2Pac hit Number 1 in May 2005 with Ghetto Gospel, which featured a sample of Elton’s Indian Sunset.

And the successes just keep on coming for pop’s most outspoken knight. This week Sir Elton was honoured with the first ever BRITs Icon Award. At a star-studded ceremony last Monday (2 September), the Rocket Man himself was awarded the gong in recognition of his contribution to the British music industry. See who was there and the songs Elton performed and find out which special guest he duetted with on his special night in our report. 

Watch the video for Are You Ready For Love before we count down the rest of our retro Top 5:

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Elsewhere in our Top 5 this week in 2003, Sean Paul had back-to-back hits in the second and third spot. His collaboration with Blu Cantrell, Breathe, slipped off the top spot after four weeks, and his solo track Like Glue was sticking to Number 3. Read more about Breathe’s time at Number 1 in our Official Chart Flashback.

At Number 4, Liverpool trance maestros Ultrabeat were holding steady with Pretty Green Eyes. They’d go on to have four more Top 40 entries on the Official Singles Chart, but they could never top this banging love letter to eye colour. (We bet they were those coloured contact lenses that were all the rage back then, don’t you?)

And rounding off the Top 5 is former Five star Abs (known as Abz these days) with Miss Perfect featuring Nodesha. The track wouldn’t improve on this position. It Abz’s third hit, after What You Got in 2002 and Stop Sign, but it was the last time we’d see him in the Top 40 as a solo artist. Ten years on, he’s reformed with his old band Five (well, most of them – J wasn’t interested) for ITV show The Big Reunion and has been touring the country with other acts we miss like Atomic Kitten, Liberty X, Honeyz, 911 and B*Witched. What a line-up!

We caught up with Abz and his other three Five bandmates (stay with us, OK?) at V Festival for talk of curly carrots, among other things. Watch the video interview.