Official Charts Flashback 1989: Soul II Soul – Back To Life

It’s an incredible 25 years since Jazzie B and Caron Wheeler scored their first and only Number 1 – kicking off four weeks at Number 1.

“Back to life, back to reality…” From the moment you hear Caron Wheeler’s silky smooth voice, anyone of a certain age is taken back to that long hot summer in the very last year of the Eighties.

At the heart of Soul II Soul was DJ Jazzie B, the original “funki dred” who put together a group of musicians to start making the music they wanted to hear. Two singles would miss the Top 40 before the group finally struck gold, thanks to the help of vocalist Caron Wheeler, with Keep On Movin’, which hit Number 5 in early 1989.

It was Back To Life, however, that was waiting in the wings to be the hit nobody quite believed it could be. The song had simple beginnings – on Soul II Soul’s hit debut album Club Classics Vol 1, it existed only as an a capella version. It wasn’t until the group were looking to follow up the success of Keep On Movin’ with another Caron Wheeler-voiced track that Back To Life got its time to shine.

Heavily remixed with brand new lyrics, Back To Life hit Number 1 in June 1989, dispatching Australian heartthrob Jason Donovan in the process, and stayed there for four weeks. It was only when Jason’s PWL labelmate, Liverpool lass Sonia, came along with her debut single You’ll Never Stop Me Loving You came along that Jazzie B’s reign at the top was over.

It wasn’t all bad news, though. Back To Life (However Do You Want Me), to give it its full title, finished fifth bestselling single of 1989 and has sold over 560,000 copies since its release.

There were no more Number 1s to come for Soul II Soul, but the group have enjoyed 12 Top 40 hits on the Official Singles Chart, including five Top 10s.

Their first two albums – Club Classics Vol 1 and Volume II A New Decade – both topped the Official Albums Chart. Two more albums went Top 10. Caron went on to have two solo UK hits in 1990: Livin' In The Light and UK Blak.

Watch the video for their other huge hit Keep On Movin’ before we count down the rest of the retro Top 5 this week.

2: Prince – Batdance

Yes, as well as being a highly prolific musician in the ‘80s and before he was throwing secret gigs here, there and everywhere, Prince also turned his hand to soundtracks. Batdance was – you will be shocked to hear – the main theme tune for the brand new reboot of Batman, starring Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger and Jack Nicholson.

The movie was a huge hit, and so was the soundtrack – it was Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart this week in 1989. Prince didn’t manage the double, though – Batdance would go no further than Number 2. It was the second of only three occasions Prince has reached the Top 3 on the Official Singles Chart.

The others? Little Red Corvette/1999 in 1985 and his only Number 1 single, The Most Beautiful Girl In The World, in 1994. Batdance is quite experimental, let’s say.

3: Beautiful South – Song For Whoever

They may have been making their debut in the Top 10 in this current incarnation, but Beautiful South members Dave Hemingway and Paul Heaton were old hands, thanks to their time in the Housemartins. Leaving their seven Top 40 hits behind them, Dave and Paul started out with this attack on cheesy songwriters who use real-life affairs as song material.

As with most Beautiful South tunes, it was cutting but sneakily so – a super-sweet, but poisoned, apple . It would peak at Number 2 and was the first of 22 Top 40 hits, including six Top 10s, one of which – A Little Time – made it to Number 1. Beautiful South broke up in 2007, but Paul Heaton has teamed up with former Beautiful South vocalist Jacqui Abbott for a new album What Have We Become, which reached Number 3 last month.

4: U2 – All I Want Is You

The Irish legends’ 12th top 40 hit didn’t go any higher than its current position, sadly, but with plenty more hits after it, we’re sure Bono and the guys aren’t too displeased with its progress.

Altogether U2 has scored seven Number 1s: Desire (1988), The Fly (1991), Discotheque (1997), Beautiful Day (2000), Take Me To The Clouds Above (2004, credited as LMC vs U2, so , yes it counts), Vertigo (2004) and Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own (2005) – the last three being consecutive.

5: Jason Donovan – Sealed With A Kiss

The follow-up to Jason’s first solo Number 1 Too Many Broken Hearts had gone straight in at the top, only to be sent on its way by Soul II Soul. Still, it didn’t stop Jason looking all dreamy and moody and adorable in the video, mourning being away from his girlfriend (Kylie, in other words).

The track had been a Top 10 hit twice before, both times for Brian Hyland, famous for singing the original version of Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini (try saying that one after a few lager and limes) – he took Sealed With A Kiss to Number 3 in 1962 and Number 7 in 1975.

It was a third consecutive chart-topper for our Jase – he would go on to have another Number 1 in 1991, with Any Dream Will Do.

See the full Top 40 on this day in 1989. 

This time last year…

FOUR weeks at Number 1 for Robin Thicke, T.I. and Pharrell with Blurred Lines. Jason Derulo just missed out with The Other Side, new at Number 2, while Dizzee Rascal and Robbie Williams landed straight in at Number 5.

Check out the Official Singles Chart this time last year.