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MusicMediae
DECEMBER 20, 1997
Volume 14, Issue 51
£3.95DM11FFR35
US$7DFL11.50
Back to the top. BryanAdams takes over the No.1spot on the
European RadioTop 50 this week. Page 20.
we tall "CAD! ioM&M chart toppers this week
European Radio ToBRYAN ADAMS
Back To Y(A&M)
Inside M&M this week
POP, POLITICS AND AC RADIOAs the German music industrydigests
the implications of the recent
meeting between itsrepresentatives andthe country's presi-dent,
M&M talks toseveral of those whowere there. Theyinclude singer
Nen a,pictured signing the
official visitors' book of the presi-dent's office. In addition,
we look atthe debate over Germany's prolifera-tion of AC stations.
Pages 6-10
EH -OH, LET'S GOThe U.K.'s latest sales sensationshave shot up
that country's chartswith almost inhuman speed. That'sbecause
they're not human at all...Will Europe fall before the awesomepower
of the Teletubbies? Page 11
FRENCH MUSIC COMMISSIONFrance's minister of culture hasannounced
the creation of a newcommission to review the problemsof the music
community. Page 3
`Spirit of independencearrives at Virgin Radioby Mike
McGeever
LONDON - "Spirit, passionand independence" are thebuzzwords at
national rockstation Virgin Radio underits new owners.
On Monday, December 8,the station's high -profilebreakfast show
presenterChris Evans and his Ginger MediaGroup (GMG) acquired
Virgin for a totalof £85 million ($140.3 million). "Whenyou have an
owner like Chris," says Vir-gin Radio programme director IanGrace,
"with passion and spirit, the sta-tion can transcend all formats,
corporatestructures and restraints. The listenerscan feel it, which
creates a buzz."
Chris Evans
Richard Bra(left) andnson
Grace insists, however, thatit is too early to spell outdetailed
plans for Virgin'snational AM service, and Lon-don FM licence.
"Everythinghas happened very quickly.Over the Christmas period
weare going to take stock."
The programmer does saythat the stations will "push the
edge" of new music. "We are going tolook at that early in the
new year. Proba-bly early evenings is the place to do that.But how
far and how much, nobodywould pretend to know. But there isscope
for Virgin to push it along. If weare not easily defined or pigeon
-holedand become a hybrid [of different for -
continued on page 21
The trustees of The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund had
20 mil-lion reasons to be grateful this week, when PolyGram
president and CEOAlain Levy and Elton John handed over a cheque for
£20,000,000 to thecharity. The amount is the first payment from
worldwide sales of John'sRocket single Candle In The Wind
'97/Something About The Way You LookTonight. The late Princess'
sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale (on far left ofpicture)-a fund
trustee-was presented with the cheque in London'sKensington Palace.
Pictured with her (from left): Anthony Julius (trustee),Gordon
Brown (Chancellor of the Exchequer/chairman of the Diana,Princess
of Wales Memorial Committee), Elton John and Main Levy.
Re -Loading therock machineby Christian Lorenz
LONDON - After 16 years in the busi-ness, Metallica have proved
that therock machine can still turn you on-andradio isn't scared of
it anymore.
Since its November 17 release, theband's 10th album Re -Load
(Mercury)has been lodged in the upper regions ofMusic & Media's
European Top 100Albuins chart-this week it sits at num-ber 4. With
Re -Load's ongoing success,Metallica have proved their ability
tocontinue pushing the hard rock enve-lope whilst turning
themselves into ahot commercial commodity. And that'sthe point: the
band has become a suc-cessful brand.
While other million sellers from the'80s heyday of heavy metal,
such asWhitesnake, Def Leppard and Queen-sryche, scored their last
Top 10 albumsin Europe before' the turn of the '90s,Metallica kept
pace with changingtastes and overhauled the genre for thenew
decade.
One of the band's strengths is ancontinued on page 21
VPRT declareswar on publicbroadcastersby Ed Meza
BERLIN - The German Association ofCommercial Radio and
Telecommunica-tion (VPRT) is calling for the country'spublic
broadcasters to be restricted tocultural and educational
programming
At a November 26 conference inMunich entitled Media Plan 2000
Plus,the VPRT proposed to its members an
continued on page 21
the new single taken from the rnt, unplugged album
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NEWS
French govt. tackles `today's music'by Emmanuel Legrand
RENNES - French minister of cultureCatherine Trautmann has
announcedthe creation of a new commission toreview the problems
being faced bythe music community.
According to Trautmann, the cre-ation of the commission marks
"recog-nition by the state of today's music."Topics covered by the
40 -member"national commission on today'smusics" will range from
retail pricing tothe status of DJs and exposure for newacts.
Announcing it at theTransmusicales music festival inRennes
(December 3-7) Trautmanndeclared: "This commission will havean
important task."
She continued: "Pm expecting thesequalified experts to come up
with solu-tions to some of the problems faced bythe music community
in fields asdiverse as the record business, televi-
sion or live music." Trautmann saidgovernment policy concerning
themusic industry "will be inspired by theCommission." She expects
a report andproposals during the first quarter of1998, allowing her
to draft policy forthe second half of the year. If neces-sary,
Trautmann said, she wouldrequest funding for specific
initiatives.
Alex Duthil, director of musician'straining school Studio des
Varietes, hasbeen appointed to "make contacts inorder to set up the
commission."Members will be chosen on the groundsof professionalism
and experience.
Seen by many as the socialist gov-ernment's first recognition of
themusic business, the commission hasbeen greeted with a degree of
scepti-cism within that industry. One recordcompany describes the
launch of thecommission as: "Not bad for a start,considering that
they only startedthinking about it three weeks ago."
However, he adds, it remains unclear"where the music industry
fits into thepicture of that new government."
That view is echoed by Herve Rony,general manager of record
companiesbody SNEP, who says that, since lastJune's election
victory, there has beenno "recognition of the industry by
theminister of culture." Rony says SNEPis still waiting to meet
Trautmann anddiscuss industry priorities.
"We have the feeling that the com-mercial aspect of music is not
a prior-ity for them," says Rony, who never-theless credits
Trautmann for havingset up this commission. "In principle,it is a
good way of doing things," headds, "but we've had three
differentministers during the past five years,and each one has
begun a 'review ofthe situation.' The analysis of the sit-uation
has been done countless times.There is no need to do it again if it
isnot followed by real policy."
Winter of discontent for Energy stations?by Ed Meza
BERLIN - Management changes anda possible loss of FM
frequenciesmean precious little Christmas cheerfor staff at NRJ's
Energy stations inBerlin and Rhineland-Palatinate.
ParisNRJ announced the immediateremoval of Energy
103.4/Berlingeneral manager Hartmut Horston November 21. The
companyhas installed ChristopheMontague and Reinhard ConnyKonzack
as temporary generalmanagers until next March, when apermanent
replacement is expectedto be named.
Energy 103.4 staff have expressedunhappiness over the decision,
prais-ing Horst as a well -qualified generalmanager. "We are all
sorry to see himleave," says one employee. Horst will
stay on at Energy until the end of theyear as a "managing
consultant."
Sources at the station haveexpressed fears that the move is
afirst step towards major restructur-ing, but Energy spokesperson
GundaThalemann says the station's new
ENERGYBERLIN UKW 103,4
general managers had reassured staffthere will be no immediate
job cuts.
Meanwhile, the future of Energy'spresence on the FM dial
remainsunclear in Rhineland-Palatinate.State radio regulator LPR
still has todecide the fate of four FM frequenciescurrently
occupied by Energy on a per-
mannt basis-Energy's frequencies inRhineland-Palatinate were
granted ona temporary basis until December1997, although Energy has
applied forthem on a permanent basis.
On December 1, the LPR's assemblyvoted to reject Radio
Rockland-Pfalz's
bid for the four FM frequencies.on the basis, according to anLPR
spokesperson, that it couldmake commercial
broadcasterRheinland-Pfalzische Rwidfunk(RPR) too influential in
theregion. RPR owns 25 percent ofRadio Rockland and controls
two of the three commercial broadcast-ers in
Rhineland-Palatinate.
A further objection cited by theLPR was Radio Rockland's
proposedformat, which targeted an adult audi-ence. Assembly members
voiced con-cern over the lack of youth -orientedprogramming in the
state.
Talking head Young signs for Talk Radioby Mike McGeever
LONDON - U.K. national commercialspeech station Talk Radio
hasunveiled a new programme directorand a new breakfast show for
1998.
John Simons, currently pro-gramme director at regional full
ser-vice broadcaster CenturyRadio/Gateshead, will take up thesame
post at Talk Radio on February1. Simons is a 20 -year veteran of
U.K.radio, having worked in the publicand commercial sectors. His
experi-ence ranges from presenting and pro-gramming to management.
As pro-gramme controller, he was involved inthe launch of Century
in September1994. He was subsequently promotedto programme
director. Simons willreport to Talk Radio managing direc-tor Paul
Robinson.
Talk Radio has also signed KirstyYoung, prime -time news anchor
on
U.K. broadcast-er Channel 5TV, to host itsbreakfast showfrom
January 5.Young will con-tinue her workfor Channel
5,which-likeTalk-is con-trolled by CLT-UFA. She will bejoined on
thenew show bycurrent TalkRadio presenterBill Overton.
The duo willreplace the cur-rent breakfastteam of PaulRoss and
Carol McGiffen, who move tothe same slot at the weekends follow-ing
the departure of presenter Sean
Bolger. The Young/Overton show willbe independently produced by
produc-tion company USP Radio Projects.
Opcn milsKonrad von LohneysenJive Records Germany,launched in
April, hasjust signed its first act,pop vocalist TheresaReeves.
Konrad vonLohneysen is the compa-ny's managing director.
Q: Who is Theresa Reeves, andwhat are your plans for her?A:
Theresa used to sing with The FourReeves, a local pop/rock act
which hada considerable following in and aroundCologne. For Jive,
she will recordGerman -language pop with formerMagic Affair
producer BernhardWaldstedt. We're planning to releaseher debut
single Lass Uns FreundeSein (Let's Be Friends) at the beginningof
February.
Q: What have been this year's high-lights for Jive Records
Germany?A: The Backstreet Boys second album,Backstreet's Back, has
gone platinum inGermany with 500,000 units sold. Also,we produced a
R&B compilation calledBlack Pearls in association with MTVand
lifestyle magazine Max, which hassold some 40,000 units to date.
Anotherartist who did well for us this year is[U.S.-signed] R&B
singer Joe-hisdebut album, All That I Am, sold20,000 units without
a hit single,although we serviced radio with thetrack Love Scene
last summer and itworked extremely well.
Q: How many records have youreleased this year?A: About 12
albums and approximate-ly 20-25 singles, all international
prod-uct. We try to be very selective in ourchoice of releases for
the German mar-ket. It helps us to work very intensive-ly with the
titles we've got-on aver-age, I'd say we spend three months
onpromoting a single.
Q: IFPI recently warned of a "costexplosion" in the music
industry.What do you put that down to?A: The time you have to spend
on pro-motion before a release actually hitsthe shops has grown
significantly overthe past three years. For club promo-tion alone,
for example, you have toschedule six to eight weeks. [For a
hitsingle] you have to get a video on TVrotation-and if it's young
product youneed to be on [German music TV sta-tion] VIVA-at least
four weeks beforerelease. TV spots are also important tomobilise
consumers. We spend DM40,000 ($22,500) on TV advertising fora
dance/pop crossover single.
Q: What other key elements do yousee as influencing the
Germanmusic market at present?A: The concentration in the retail
sec-tor-it's growing steadily. At Jive, wenow have 80-85 percent of
our turnoverwith only 12-13 retailers. That shiftsthe balance more
towards chart mater-ial. So having a chart hit is more impor-tant
today than it ever was.
Interview by Christian Lorenz
MUSIC & MEDIA 0 DECEMBER 20. 1 9 9
7AmericanRadioHistory.Com
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NEWS
TRIBUNAL DELIVERS PRS/BSKYB VERDICTLondon - U.K authors' body
the Performing RightSociety (PRS) has secured a five -fold increase
in its roy-alty payments from satellite TV company British
SkyBroadcasting (BSkyB), despite failing to convince a copy-right
tribunal of its arguments. The tribunal ruling,delivered on
December 10, says BSkyB's paymentsshould rise to £3 million ($4.8
m) for 1997. However,chairman Christopher Floyd rejected PRS's case
that allpayments should be based on a percentage of BSkyB'srevenues
(M&M, December 6). PRS had claimed that,based on European
comparisons, a 3 percent rate wouldhave been just; this would have
resulted in a 10 -foldincrease in BSkyB's current royalty payments
to around£6 million a year.
ROSKILDE FACES FINAL FADE-OUTCOPENHAGEN - Local commercial CHR
station RadioRoskilde is to close down on January 1 next year. The
deci-sion has been taken by the station's financial backers,
news-
paper company Dagbladet. "We didn't decide toshut because there
was a crisis or because the
station hadn't turned in a profit," saysDagbladet managing
director Torben
Dalby Larsen. "There was simply not apromising outlook for the
future, and
the station has always struggled to findthe right balance [of
programming]." The
future of the Roskilde licence will be deter-mined by the local
radio authority.
BMG SNAPS UP AVREPPARLS - BMG France has acquired French indie
labelAVREP, a company which BMG already had a stake in, foran
undisclosed sum. AVREP-whose catalogue includesacts such as Pierre
Bachelet and Marc Lavoine-was found-ed in 1978 by Pierre -Alain
Simon, who will relinquish allactivities within AVREP. AVREP
productions were licensedto BMG's label RCA, and will continue to
be produced andmarketed by RCA under the aegis of the label's GM
FrancisJullien. Simon will, however, remain executive producerand
promotion co-ordinator of Lavoine's forthcoming album.
COMMUNITY RADIO BOOST IN HAMBURGBERLIN - Hamburg will have a
full-time community radiochannel on air from the start of next year
followingHamburg radio regulator HAM's decision to grant the
non-profit -making broadcasting organisation Freies SenderKombinat
(FSK) the new 93.0 FM frequency. FSK willshare the new frequency
with another community broad-caster, Lokalradio, which will
broadcast on Sundays. FSKpreviously shared the 89.1 FM frequency
with publicbroadcaster Deutschland Radio, which will now
transmitfull-time on that frequency. FSKs mixed format program-ming
includes rock and pop, world music, news and cul-tural items.
MTV RETURNS TO CABLE NETWORKOSLO - MTV Europe's northern service
is available inthe Norwegian capital once more, following a
three-yeardispute over subscription fees with cable company
JancoMulticom. Agreement has now been reached between thetwo
companies, and MTV will be free to all cable sub-scribers until
January 15, after which MTV will becomepart of a paid -for package
with channels such as BBCWorld and MTV's AC channel VH-1.
MAGIC MARKETING SCORES FOR EMAPLONDON - The U.K.'s marketing and
advertising indus-tries have honoured the Emap Radio group. At the
presti-
gious Promax Awards, EmapRadio's £1 million ($1.65m) campaign
for thelaunch of its AM oldies
network, Magic, scoopedawards for "Best Mixed
Campaign" and "Best Station/Channel Launch." The cam- 'paign,
targeting the 30-45 year old age group, used TVand posters.
28the big easy
Rocky twin for Radio 3FMby Robbert 7111i
HILVERSUM - Dutch publicCHR station Radio 3FM isplanning to give
birth to acontroversial "twin" in theyear 2000.
The new national station,currently without a workingtitle, is
being designed toappeal to a 20-35 year -olddemographic with an
alterna-tive/AOR repertoire. The origi-nal 3FM would then pitch
itselfat the younger 13-19 age groupwith a poppier, dancier
sound.
The plan-part of thebiggest post-war restructuringoperation in
Dutch publicradio-has been devised by themedia directors of all
theNetherlands' public broadcast-ing organisations in
conjunctionwith co-ordinators of thenational public
stations.However, "the plans-includingthe proposed launch of
3FM'ssister station-only deal withthe content of public
radio,regardless of the financial feasi-bility," cautions Ad de
Boer,media director of theEvangelical public
broadcastingorganisation EO.
The ultimate fate of the planwill lie in the hands of theboard
of governors of thenewly -created Dutch publicbroadcasting
authority, whichwill meet for the first time nextyear. As a result
of recentrestructuring in Dutch publicbroadcasting, the board of
pub-lic broadcasting umbrellaorganisation NOS will thencease to be
the highest broad-cast authority in public radio.
Radio 3FM station co-ordi-nator Paul van der Lugtexplains: "For
the moment wehave committed ourselves tofine-tuning 3FM's
eveningslots, which now shouldn't dif-
fer toomuch fromour day-time pro-gramming.However,they
willremainindepen-dent fromthe sta-tion's [gen-
eral daytime] music program-ming department."
The programmer adds: "Ifwe don't get a new station,
thenharmonising our current sta-tion will become plan B." A sec-ond
3FM station, however, isunlikely to please theNetherlands'
expanding com-mercial radio sector.
Erik de Zwart, managingdirector of commercialCHR/dance station
Radio 538,declares theplans show"the moralbankruptcyof
publicbroadcast-ing." Headds: "[3FM]is merelyimitatingstationswhich
alr-eady existfree of char-ge on thecommercial side, namely 538
inthe 13-19 demo and [alterna-tive rock station] Kink FM inthe
20-24 demo."
Football fans got a first taste of two of next year's
biggestpotential hits during the live TV broadcast of the draw
forthe 1998 World Cup finals on December 4 in Marseilles.Ricky
Martin's The Cup Of Life, the official internationalsong of the '98
World Cup, and La Cour Des Grands byYoussou N'Dour featuring Axelle
Red-the official Frenchanthem for the event-have both been provided
by SonyMusic in association with world soccer body FIFA andFrench
World Cup organising committee CFO. Martin andN'Dour (centre) are
pictured at the draw with Sony MusicEntertainment Europe senior VP
marketing RichardOgden (far left) and Sony Music executive
producer,France '98 Rick Blaskey (far right).
REM boss extends empireby Renzi Bouton
PARIS - Europe 1 Comm-unication has restructured itstwo music
stations, AC net-work Europe 2 and gold stationRFM, appointing a
joint gener-al manager to look after both.
Current RFM GM FredericSchlesinger is adding Europe 2to his
responsibilities; Europe 2GM Yves Taieb will step down."In a flat
market, we are obligedto think about the best possibleorganisation,
so that we can besharper in terms of position-ing," says Martin
Brisac, direc-tor delegate of Europe 1Communication's radio
activi-ties. He adds: "We needed tostrengthen our operational
co-
ordination, whilestill maintainingseparate brandidentities,
whichis crucial."
Brisac, whoremains presi-dent of both net-works, says the new
organisa-tion also reflects the continuingevolution of the Europe 1
groupand the increasing importanceof his international duties. "AsI
am devoting most of my timeto the group's internationaldevelopment,
the appointmentof a joint general manager wasnecessary in order to
simplifyand optimise communicationbetween the two
stations.[Schlesinger's] priority is to
MartinBrisac
streamline our opera-tions in order tobecome more profitableand
efficient."
Brisac concludes:"We are not questioningthe programming
strat-egy [of Europe 2], but we
all know the radio is an industrywhere things evolve
rapidly."
Taieb, who has worked withBrisac at Europe 2 for the pastten
years, declined to commenton the situation. "We will offerhim other
positions within thegroup," says Brisac, "and it willbe up to him
to decide what hewants to do." Despite thechanges, Guy Banville
remainsas programme director ofEurope 2.
MUSIC MEDIA 0 DECEMBER 20, 1997AmericanRadioHistory.Com
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NEWS
medowatchThe number of artistsreleasing multimedia
products-from the Spice Girls to theRolling Stones-is on the
increase,reports the French daily. "The newtrend in showbiz is to
have a CD-ROMor a video game which bears the[artist's] name,"
points out Liberation."It [multimedia] is quite fashionablethese
days with artists," commentsSony Music multimedia directorMichel
Koch in the story "Globally," headds, "artists are starting to
considermultimedia as a valid artistic format."Liberation (France),
December 5
Der Musikmarkt The December 1issue of the re -designed German
tradeweekly carries an extensive interviewwith Gerd Gebhardt,
Warner MusicEurope president, Central Europe andchairman of the
GermanPhonographic Academy. The industryveteran declares: "The
German musicindustry needs new artists-now! Thewhole industry still
lives off artistswho established themselves in themarket 20-in some
cases even 30-years ago." Shrinking back cataloguesales and
generally disappointingbusiness in the first nine months ofthe year
lead Gebhardt to warn hispeers: "If our current 'hot sellers'
alsodominate our back catalogues, we willhave to think seriously
about what weare going to do in 10 years time."Der Musikmarkt
(Germany),December 1
Billboard. "How does a majorlabel avoid getting burned in the
boil-ing foment of dance music?" asksDominic Pride in a profile of
DancePool, the Sony Music division whichhandles the label's dance
-popcrossover acts in the world outside theU.S. and which promotes
the exchangeof dance music between continents."This is becoming the
only musicwhich travels across borders," notesSony Dance Pool VP
Guy Brulez."Repertoire can come from anywhereand go anywhere. Rock
is gettingincreasingly national in outlook."Billboard (U.S.),
December 13
Observateur Algerian -bornsinger Khaled has been voted the
"per-sonality most exemplifying past andpresent Arab culture" by
the Frenchpublic in a poll published in the Frenchnews weekly.
Commenting on the poll,Khaled, who lives in France, says:"The
contemporary musical genrefrom northern Africa still struggles tobe
heard. There will always be a men-tal block, because of the racism
of sta-tions." He continues: "Why doesn'tNRJ play Ibnton David or
Africanmusic that the kids want to listen to?When I put the
question to the man-agers of the station they said... it wasbecause
of ratings. Listeners call themand complain about this Arab
guythey've played."Le Nouvel Observateur (France),December 4-12
Internet in -site Radio Cablehttpl/www.xpress.es/radiocableIs
this the shape of radio to come?The RadioCable site, launched
sixmonths ago by Spanish journalistFernando Berlin, who wanted to
cre-ate a radio station specifically for theInternet, has been
named by U.S.software giant Microsoft as one of its30 "Best Of The
Web" services. The"station" operates from a tinyMadrid studio and
broadcasts adaily news service in Spanish at10:00 each day dealing
with music,the economy, culture, sport and ecology. Once a week it
also provides a magazineprogramme with English subtitles. "It took
me a year to get the thing off theground," says Berlin. "It is
tuned into by about 4,000 people a month, but thisrecognition has
made it all worthwhile."
Chris Marlowe
Unstable Czech marketsees ad revenue growby Michele Legge
PRAGUE - Despite a declining eco-momy, radio stations in the
CzechRepublic managed to increase ad rev-enues by some Kc63.1
million ($1.9m)during the past year.
According to statistics on advertis-ing expenditure during 1997
pub-lished by the Association ofCommercial Broadcasters in theCzech
Republic (APSV CR), estimat-ed radio ad revenue for both publicand
private sector stations totalledKc908.9m ($26.7m), up fromKc845.8m
in 1996.
However, radio's share of theCzech Republic's overall
advertisingmarket dropped from 8.5 percent in1996 to 8.3 percent in
1997, whilespending on all advertising increasedby around one
percent. Growth in theradio market was affected by thecountry's
faltering economy andunstable political scene, which led tothe
collapse of the government at theend of last month.
"If there's any economic [turmoil] thefirst thing a client
cancels is radioadvertising," says Michal Zelenka,APSV CR
president. However, Zelenkais optimistic that his
organisation'smembers-the country's commercialradio operators-will
take a bigger sliceof the radio ad cake in the coming year.
In theory, around Kc 50m ($1.47m)worth of advertising budgets
will befreed up for commercial broadcastersafter January 1, when
public broadcast-er Cesky Rozhlas cuts back the time itallocates
for advertising on its stations.
Under the terms of a new agree-ment made between APSV CR
andCesky Rozhlas in May this year, thelatter will reduce its ad
minutagefrom the current 0.2 percent of allbroadcast time to three
minutes perday for national services, and fiveminutes for regional
stations. To com-pensate for the loss of revenue thiswill entail,
the government is to raisethe (voluntary) fees paid by radio
lis-teners from Kc25 to Kc37 ($0.74-$1.09) per month.
U.K.'s Unique going globalby Emmanuel Legrand
LONDON - Unique Broadcasting istaking its Entertainment
NewsService, which already services over 60radio stations
throughout the U.K., tothe international market.
The U.K. radio syndication companynow has on board a series of
stationssubscribing to the weekly service,which provides sound
bites on enter-tainment news and inter-views with newsmakers,mainly
from cinema andmusic. The list of broad-casters includes
Irishnational station RadioIreland, the Bridge RadioNetwork (over
35 stationsin the CIS region), Italianstation Radio
DimensioneSuono, Dubai FM (cover-ing the United Arab Emirates), and
aSouth African network (includingRadio 702, CapeTalk, Radio Algoa
andEast Coast Radio) through the AfricanBusiness Channel.
"Unique's domestic Entertainmentservice is the market leader [in
the
U.K.]," comments Pascal Grierson,international business manager
atUnique Broadcasting. "We have beenlooking into exploiting it
international-ly for the last six months, becausedemand for a
reasonably priced, easyto use global Entnews service on behalfof
many of our current clients wasoverwhelming." Some of the deals
wereclinched last month during the NAB'sEurope conference in Monte
-Carlo.
The service is producedby an 8 -strong team inLondon. Stations
currentlysubscribing to the servicereceive a script in printedform
and sound cuts on CD,providing a weekly input ofover 45 minutes of
audiomaterial, but Grierson saysthat as of January 1st 1998,the
service will be delivered
on CD-ROM."Our market research with pro-
grammers and editors has allowed usto design a state-of-the-art
product,born out of the need for quick and easyaccess to today's
most valuable curren-cy-information," explains Grierson.
midem
98THE PREMIER INTERNATIONAL MUSIC MARKET - PALAIS DES FESTIVALS
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MUSIC & MEDIA ©DECEMBER 20. 1997AmericanRadioHistory.Com
-
GERMANY SPOIIIGHI
Mixing politics with the powerLast month, a historic meeting
took place betweenGermany's federal president and leaders of the
country'srecord industry. The meeting was hailed as further
evi-dence that music is now being taken seriously as an eco-nomic
force. Here, Christian Lorenz examines the sig-nificance of the
`*43 meets politics" initiative, andspeaks to some of those
involved.
0 n November 26, the headsof the three Germanmusic industry
organisa-tions met -for the firsttime ever -with the coun-try's top
politician, federal presidentRoman Herzog. Themeeting was
describedas proof that theGerman government istaking serious notice
ofan industry which issteadily growing in self-confidence, thanks
tothe continuing success ofGerman -produced musicat home and
abroad.
Herzog received themusic industry delega-tion amid the sort
ofmedia attention usuallyreserved for a majorstate visit. After
theirmeeting, the presidentjoined Thomas M. Stein,(BMG
EntertainmentG/S/A president andchairman of Germanindustry
associationBundesverband Phono),Wolf -D. Gramatke(PolyGram
Germanypresident and chairmanof the German branch ofIFPI), and
GerdGebhardt (WarnerMusic Europe president CentralEurope and
chairman of the GermanPhonographic Academy), at a post -talks press
conference.
The latter was attended by overtwo hundred journalists,
photogra-phers and cameramen. To add furthershowbiz interest, the
industry repre-sentatives were accompanied by
artists Peter Maffay (BMG), Nena(Polydor) and Tic Tac Toe
singerJazzy (BMG).
Common groundAt the press conference, Thomas M.
and politics in Germany. In the U.S.and the U.K. we see a much
moreintensive exchange between these twoimportant fields of our
society.
"There are," he continues, "a num-ber of issues we have brought
to theattention of government authorities inthe past. For five
years now, we havebeen campaigning for the introductionof a formal
education course for thebusiness side of our profession, and forthe
recognition of the titleMusikkaufmann/F'rau as a music -spe-cific
degree in business studies.
"Speaking for the industry, I wouldwelcome it if the meeting
with presi-dent Herzog sent the right signals to
the people who create it."Gebhardt says he hopes that
"politicians -and our society in gener-al -will eventually
realise that theycould profit from the power of popmusic as a means
to communicatewith [people in all walks of life]."
For his part, Wolf -D. Gramatkepoints out that "only 20 percent
of allrecords in Germany prove to be finan-cially successful
investments." Theindustry, he goes on, foots the bill forthe
remaining 80 percent, and "con-tributes to the diversity and
vitality ofour culture." Gramatke adds: "I amdelighted to hear that
the president isinterested in continuing the dialogue,
and I look forward toour next meeting [in thesecond half of
1998]."
Participants in the first "music meets politics" get-together
(left to right): Peter Maffay; Wolf -D.Gramatke; president Roman
Herzog; Gerd Gebhardt; Nena; Jazzy and Thomas M. Stein.
Stein described the talks with Herzog as"frank," (Music &
Media December 6),adding that it had become evident thatthe
president -a fan of classical music -understood the conditions
prevalent inthe pop music market in Germany.
Elaborating on his earlier state-ments, Stein says: "There is
not enoughcommon ground between pop music
the relevant political bodies, who couldtake us a step further
in this quest."
Communications powerhouseWarner's Gerd Gebhardt suggeststhat
"pop music is a basic part oftoday's 'shopping basket,' and as
com-monplace as bread and milk. It is ashame, then, that we
generally ignore
Vox pop?Peter Maffay is one ofBMG Entertainment'smost
successfulGerman -languagerecording artists. Hecreated one of the
best-selling concept albumsof the '90s withTabaluga, a rock
musi-cal for children whichsold 4.2 million units.
Some 580,000 fanssaw Maffay during his1996 German tour andsales
of his last album,Maffay 96 passed theone million unit
mark,according to BMG.Maffay, whose careerbegan in the '70s,
hasstrong views on theimportance of a thriv-ing, active pop and
rockscene in society.
"My feeling is thatmany citizens have the notion thattheir voice
is not heard any longer atthe political headquarters in
ourcountry," he says. "That perceptiondrives a large number of
people intopolitical and social apathy. Music is alanguage that
works better than any-thing else [under these circum-stances]. It
is important that this is
Christmas presence toturn business around?by Christian
Lorenz
The German branch of music indus-try body IFPI is hoping that
the tra-dititional Christmas sales boom willturn this year's rather
sluggish busi-ness around.
According to IFPI statistics, in thefirst nine months of 1997,
Germanrecord sales by volume grew by 3 per-cent, compared to the
first ninemonths of 1996, reaching 184.9 mil-lion units. The year
-on -year compari-son shows a 4.1 percent growth rate
for the first three months of 1997;half -year figures showed a
3.6 per-cent increase compared to 1996.
Behind the disappointing sales fig-ures lies a 10.8 percent
decline in thefast -shrinking market for pre-record-ed cassettes to
18.9 million units.This more than neutralises a modest4.5 percent
growth in the CDalbum market.
According to IFPI, marketing andadvertising costs increased
fasterthan the modest 3 percent growth inrevenues over the first
nine months of
German music sales Jan. -Sept. 1997 (in million units)
Format Jan -Sep 97 Jan -Sep 96 % changeCD -singles 36.4 34.4
+5.8Vinyl singles 0.6 0.6 0.0Total singles 37.0 35.0 +5.7CD 128.7
123.1 +4.5MC 18.9 21.2 -10.8LP 0.3 0.3 0.0CD/MC/LP 147.9 144.6
+2.3Total market 184.9 179.6 +3.0
Source. IFPI Germany
1997. Data on the value of sales overthe first nine months of
1997 was,however, not available at presstime.
The most positive developmenttook place in the singles
market,which recovered from a 4.2 percentdrop in the first half of
the year to
show a 5.7 percent gain on the ninemonths figures, with sales
reaching37 million units. The speedy recoveryis largely attributed
to the success ofElton John's Something About TheWay You
Look/Candle In The Wind`97 (Rocket).
M S i (s. 4 MEDIA DECEMBER 20, 1997AmericanRadioHistory.Com
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GERMANY SPOTLIGHT
of poacknowledged by our politicians.
"Unfortunately," he adds, "pop andpolitics have gone their
separateways for more than 20 years now. Themeeting with president
Herzog is awelcome sign that it does not neces-sarily have to stay
this way."
Language problemSinger Nena (a.k.a. Gabriele Kerner),is still
best known internationally forher 1984 hit 99 Red Balloons
(Epic)which took a lighthearted stab at mil-itary power games
during the NATOvs. Communist Bloc cold war era.
Now signed to PolyGramGermany's Polydor label, Nenaobserves:
"Politicians do not speak alanguage that could appeal to
youngpeople. Politics in general fails to com-municate a certain
way of life that Ican relate to." On the meeting, shecomments: "I
was delighted to havethe opportunity to meet presidentHerzog face
to face, and to find that heis interested in [these issues]."
The origin of the meeting can betraced back to a passionate
appealdelivered by Stein in August 1997,during his opening address
atGerman music industry trade fairPopKomm.97 in Cologne. "Today"
hesaid then, "pop music is still seen asinferior to so-called
serious musicwhich only appeals to a certain minor-ity of our
population. The commercialmusic sector beats the 'serious'
sectorhands down when it comes to poten-tial for innovation and
diversity.
"Next year," he continued, "I wantto stand here and be able to
tell youthat we-industry representativesand politicians-have
achieved areduced VAT rate of seven percent onrecorded music, and
total control overdigital distribution in the interests ofour
artists. Next year, I want to standhere and tell you that we have
saved180,000 jobs and have laid the foun-dation for a healthy
future."
New Labour, new voice?In demanding fairer treatment for pop-ular
music in Germany, Stein has citedthe initiative taken by the new
Labourgovernment in the U.K: to set up a"creative task force,"
giving industryinsiders such as Richard Branson andAlan McGee
(Creation) a voice in thepolitical process, consequently
creatingopportunities for them to influence theconditions under
which music is pro-duced and marketed.
Bundesverband Phono MD PeterZombik reinforces the industry's
viewof music as an effective means of com-munication. "We do not
claim thatpop music can explain or even solvesocial problems," he
says, "but popmusic offers an unique view of theZeitgeist, as well
as the self -definitionand current mood of the younger partof our
population. It deserves recogni-tion by our political decision
makers.
"The invitation to meet presidentHerzog at his residence for an
infor-mal exchange of thoughts," continuesZombik, "gave us the
chance to reach
a new level of dialogue between musicand politics. On this
level, we hope itwill be possible in the future to dis-cuss the
social and cultural role of themusic industry on neutral
ground,outside the established 'lobbying cir-cuit' with its
polarised sides andpressing business issues."
No quotas, pleaseHowever, the mood of optimism is notreflected
in other German music -basedindustries. Adam Hahne, general
man-ager and programme director ofSchleswig -Holstein's
commercialrock/pop station Delta Radio, cautionsthat governmental
endorsement of popmusic must stop short of interferingwith the
freedom of radio programming.
"We are fortunate," he says, "inGermany not to have to deal
withrestrictions like the music quotas theFrench government has
imposed on
broadcasters there. Radio needs toremain free of government
control."
Frank Menzel, music director atPotsdam -based public
broadcasterFritz, suggests that youth -oriented pub-lic radio
stations are better positioned to
get social or political issues across thanpop artists. "Public
broadcasters have aresponsibility to help educate andinform young
people," says Menzel. "Wecan keep them in touch with politics."
Additional reporting by Ed Meza
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MUSIC MEDIA 0 DECEMBER 20, 1997AmericanRadioHistory.Com
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BROCRAD
KEIOSIE DA
a matter of taste," she asserts. "Firstof all, you have to
realise that AC is avery general label. Within this cate-gory there
is quite a bit of diversity-such as Hot AC and Soft AC.
"Having said that," Grams contin-ues, "the fact is; radio
programmingreflects the public's tastes. The gener-al taste of the
masses is for AC -styleprogramming. Broadcasters are giv-ing
listeners what they want. Ofcourse there is room out there formore
specialised formats, but AC is
what the majority oflisteners prefer."
At Saxony-Anhalt's state-wide
Radio Brocken,which switchedto AC in October,programme
director ThomasMelzer says the
majority of listeners grew up withtoday's major AC artists such
as EltonJohn and the Rolling Stones-stationsare simply serving the
ageing "babyboom" generation which makes up themajority of their
listeners.
Programming for advertisersThe importance of those baby
boomgeneration listeners, suggests StefanForster, a writer for
German industrymagazine Radio Journal, lies in thefact that they
are the ones advertisers
GERMANY SPOTLIGHT
AC radio: takingthe easy option?Critics of the German commercial
radio industry haveoften accused it of broadcasting bland,
unadventurousmusic, and of embracing the AC format in an attempt
tokeep conservative investors and ratings -conscious adver-tisers
happy. It has also been claimed that the official lis-tener ratings
system favours middle-of-the-road, massappeal stations. Ed Meza
investigates.
ommercial stations in thiscountry just have no taste;that's why
there's so muchcrap out there. They're theones that made
schlager
so popular, for Christ's sake!"That's how one commercial
radio
presenter and music journalist inBerlin sees the state of
commercialradio in Germany. Indeed, it has longbeen argued that,
while public broad-casters in Germany often offer innov-ative and
eclectic programming, thecountry's commercial radiois dominated by
conserva-tive AC stations.
Views within the radioindustry differ as towhy 60 percent
ofGermany's commercialstations choose to pro-gramme
unadventurousbut listener -friendly ACfare. Some chalk it up to
listenertastes. Others blame a ratings systemwhich, they claim,
unfairly supportswell -established corporate radio sta-tions
targeting a mass audience.
Meeting public demandIn the first camp is Susanne Grams,
aspokeswoman for the Berlin -Brandenburg radio regulator
(MABB).
She says there is so much AC oncommercial radio simply because
it'swhat listeners want to hear. "It's just
IMM
`The general tasteof the masses is forAC -style program-
ming; broadcastersare giving listenerswhat they want"-Susarme
Grams, MABB
MUSIC & MEDIA 0 DECEMBER 20.
1997AmericanRadioHistory.Com
-
4.
a german pun - "that which should be listened to"
QUADRATUR DES KREISES
FREUNDESKREISQuadratur des Kreises
eigenstandiqed.
the pearlfishers e .,u,
PEARLFISHERSThe Strange Underworld Of TheTall Poppies
Spring 1998: new albums fromCULTURE BEAT, SPACE FROG, BAD
RELIGION, DAN, HEADCRASH, BIF, HIPKISS
THOMAS DSolo
mixture of germanpopstyle
ph VALUEIf I Was Smart
with Joe Cocker
SPACE FROGI Feel Ur Pain
TANKCan You Feel The Bass?
FinL,
RUN DMC vsJASON NEVINSIt's Like Thatgerman top 10 smash
41111111011MTVINIIIIIPVI101111= 11.1.4=MI
Die neue @-Klasse
SABRINA SETLURDie neue S-Klassegold album - 4 wkd, singles
MIC GERONIMOVendettabe ,al hip -hop outta Queens
KMFDM*****uncompromising music power
DANCome When You Wannastrong woman's music
u
FLIP DA SCRIPI Never Told Yousweet hip -hop ballad
DJ QUICKSILVERPlanet Love
DJ QUICKSILVERPlanet Lovethe new iiherhit
Sony Music Germany coif 11101 DAN(I-IP001 Pc? R DIE 0
AmericanRadioHistory.Com
-
GERMANY SPOTLIGHTPAPPA BEAR FEAT. VANTOORN-
+ U.B.F. FEAT. PAPPi
BEAR, DIANA, COTTURA, ALEX &
ALEKS, VAN DER TOORN
bf bOOYA + PANDORI"CHANGES PLATINUM IN JAPAN
+ DODO HUG "CHAMji-LrHAPTSINGLES sto
+ JONESTOWN
TOPROTATION
+ HEINZ AUS WIEN
+ A.K.-S.W.I.FTII k frt A E
+ SOFA SUR ER..
+ ILLEGAL NO'
PPODUCING THEIR FOURTP
t-rim-i-ZT ALBUM + MANOWAR"HELL ON WHEELS - LIVE"
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UNIVERSAL MUSICG/S/A
are targeting."Commercial stations," says
Forster, "are only interested in 30-50year -old listeners.
Younger and olderlisteners don't attract them becausethey aren't
economically viableenough. Young people listen to
publicbroadcasters; that's where the youth -oriented programmes are
to be found."
Within the industry, however, manycontend that commercial
broadcastersare forced to go for big numbers inorder to look
marketably attractive inthe all-important Medien-Analysen(MA)
ratings, which usually determinethe commercial fate of stations
(theratings organisation has-until now-carried out its annual
survey of 47,000random listeners once a year; from1998, ratings
will be released twiceyearly, in April and November). Bigstations
with AC formats go for themasses and get the necessary num-bers,
unlike smaller stations with spe-cialised target audiences.
Says Julian Allitt, general managerof Jazz Radio in Berlin: "The
MAis theonly ratingsystem recog-nised by thebig market-ing
agencies.Their methodof surveyallows onlylong-estab-lished
sta-tions a placeon their rat-ings list. If astation does-n't have
thetotally arbi-trary numberof 20,000 lis-teners per hour, it's
just not listed.The [system] operates unfairly,"Allitt
contends.
JulianAllit
agencies, rely heavily on the MAresults, which further
encouragesstations to play it safe with AC,alleges Allitt. "The
people at the mar-keting agencies do their planningaccording to the
data provided by MA.It's the only data they recognise. Indoing so,
they not only let down theirclients, but stations and listeners
aswell. It's a very unfair system."
Quality the keyAllitt's is not an isolated view. AdamHahne,
general manager and pro-gramming director of Schleswig -Holstein's
Delta Radio, which actual-ly moved from AC to a more
specificrock/pop format in June, agrees withAllitt's assessment
that the MA rat-ings are misleading and only servethe big
established broadcasters.
"The MA doesn't work for spe-cialised programming," he
declares.He adds, however, that the MA rat-ings are less
significant if a stationhas a certain image and a loyal audi-ence:
"If you create a quality productwith character and originality
thatattracts people, then the MA ratingsaren't really that
important and youwill still attract advertisers."
German investors, in general,seem to prefer tried and tested
ven-tures rather than risking their capi-tal on a questionable
commodity.Hahne says the philosophy appliesto the country's
relatively youngcommercial radio sector. "AC is the
easiest formatto sell. It getsthe biggestaudience. Thefirst
thought ofinvestors is toget the most outof the market,and that's
easi-est to accom-
plish with an AC format."Adding to the problem is fear and
inexperience, coupled with the desirefor a quick return on
investment,Hahne continues. However, he believesthis trend is bound
to change, and hisown station's switch away from ACprogramming
reflects that belief.
"At some point, the problem arisesthat there is just too much AC
on themarket, and that will force stations tochange formats," Hahne
states."There is room for other formats. Iwouldn't have done it if
I didn'tbelieve there was a market outthere-there is a definite
market formore variety. Unfortunately, not toomany broadcasters are
bothering toexploit that market."
VAL--117-AThRa4lec'el
101,9The ratings game"Jazz Radio has a 4.4 percent marketshare,"
Allitt continues. "In any othermarket, that's a decent showing,
butin Germany you won't even be consid-ered. The practice stifles
diversityand stems growth. That's why themarket here is
stagnating."
An MA spokesperson, however,insists that the MA conducts a
fairanalysis of the country's commercialbroadcasters. "If some
stations havevery small specialised listening audi-ences, it will
show up in the ratings.The MA cannot provide tailor-madesurveys for
individual markets."
Germany's big national marketingcompanies, as well as the
regional
"There is justtoo much AC onthe market, andthat will
forcestations tochange formats"
-Adam Hahne,Delta Radio
MUSIC & MEDIA 0 DECEMBER 20,
1997AmericanRadioHistory.Com
-
ARTISTS & MUSIC
Is Europe ready to sayEh -Oh to the Felt Four?
by Sally Stratton
Felt and towelling has overtaken flesh and bloodin the race for
the U.K's Christmas Nol slot.
Four brightly coloured creatures havereplaced the Spice Girls as
favourites to be atopthe U.K charts this Christmas-but
they'reunlikely to beat the girls on airplay. Say Eh -Oh,which was
released on December 1, is the debutrelease from the massively
popular Teletubbiescharacters from the BBC's flagship
pre-schoolchildren's TV show of the same name.
Say Eh -Oh was first aired on BBC RadioOne's breakfast show a
week ahead of releaseand ISDN-ed to over 200 local radio
stationsaround the country. The video was premiered onBBC TV's long
-running Top Of The Pops chartshow and screened at over 100 cinemas
duringtheir "kids' club" sessions. Subsequently, the sin-gle
entered the "official" CIN-compiled U.Kcharts at No.1.
But according to Joseph D'Morais of BlueDolphin PR-who are
coordinating the press,radio and TV campaign for the single in
co-operation with BBC Worldwide, distributorsBMG and the show's
producers Ragdoll-thepublicity campaign for the Teletubbies
ismainly editorial driven.
The programme andits associated merchan-dising have
attractedhuge amounts of presscoverage in the U.Ksince the
Teletubbieswere launched. lbys ofthe four characters-Tinky Winky,
Dipsy, Poand Laalaa-are insuch demand thatBritish retailershave
introducedrationing, and anx-ious parents have
Teletubbies
been reported as paying massively inflated pricesfor them. There
has even been heated discussionamong educationalists and
politicians about theeffect the characters' repetitive, simple
vocabu-lary might have on children's development.
D'Morais says the "massive media frenzy"about the children's
programme-which hasbeen aired six days a week in the UK since
lastMarch-has fuelled interest in the Teletubbiesfrom a much wider
demographic and "it seemsthat the show has traversed age
barriers."
At present, the broadcaster's own BBCWorldwide Music label has a
pressing and distri-bution deal with BMG Entertainment for theU.K
and Ireland, but by the time the leletubbies'album is ready for
release next March the BBC islikely to have an international deal
in place.
A&R consultant Simon Cowell-who bro-kered the distribution
deal with BMG-says,"With the single going into the charts at
No.1,there are going to be a lot of territories all overthe world
phoning up and saying 'what the hell'sgoing on with this record?'
But, as with the UK,the success of the record abroad will be linked
tothe [publicity around the] television programme."
BBC Worldwide has alreadylicensed the Teletubbies show to
SIC Portugal, TELEAC/NOT inHolland, TV1 in Estonia, TV2in
Denmark and IBA in Israel.
They will all start broadcast-ing the programme during1998.
Further afield, NewZealand, South Africa and
Singapore are also on boardand Ragdoll has done a directdeal
with US Public ServiceBroadcasting for north America.
If its enormous U.K. successis any guide, it looks as though
the rest of Europe will be sayingEh -Oh to the Teletubbies well
into
the millennium.
Passi: the sound of the suburbsby Wayne Bodkin
French hip-hop/rap artist Passihas broken out of the
concretejungle of Paris' suburban sprawlwith Les Tentations
(TheTemptations), his debut album forV2 Records.
The album, which entered theFrench charts at number four inweek
48, has received strong sup-port from the country's three lead-ing
radio networks-NW,Fun and Skyrock, and hassince been certified gold
forsales over 100,000 units.
The 25 year old hip -hop-per hails from Sarcelles-a Paris
suburbwhich is reputed to have the highest propor-tion of black
residents in France. He came incontact with rap and hip -hop when
he was 12,listening to records his brother and his friendsbrought
home. Passi draws on his neighbour-hood, friends and family for
inspiration-thetrack Tu Me Manques (I Miss You), forinstance, was
written following the death of aclose friend in a car accident.
Most of the tracks on the album were mixed
by U.S. hip -hop producer RichTravali who has worked with
U.S.names like Nas and LL Cool J.With 15 platinum albums to
hiscredit, Travali brings "down-home" hip -hop credibility to avery
European rap record, butPassi refuses all comparison tohis peers on
the other side of theAtlantic. "I listen to many, and Ilike most,
but I don't comparemyself to others."
Dominique Ringaud, headof sales at retail chain FNACin Paris,
says Les Tentationshas gone beyond the core hip -hop audience and
crossed into
the mainstream. "It's partly because it is get-ting airplay
across all the major CHR stationsin France, and there are two hit
singles on thealbum-which is unusual," comments Ringaud.
Passi has new material finished and is toy-ing with the idea of
recording a duet with a U.S.rapper. "I speak English and spent some
time inNew York," says Passi. "I didn't want to do aduet on the
first album. It might have comeacross as a bit pretentious. But if
I find theright partner it might go ahead."
1:DcAncgroovesby Gary Smith
SEDUCTIVE SUNSHINECombining a smooth vocal hook,a radio
-friendly rap and a haunt-ingly effective keyboard riff, Jay -Z's
Sunshine (NWS/BMG UK) isa devilishly seductive effort. Fewrappers
can sound so commercialand still have the
"street-flava"-comparisons with LL Cool Jspring to mind. The fact
that Jay -Z can count on friends like FoxyBrown and Babyface to
guest onhis record also bodes well forfuture releases.
EVEN DAFTER PUNKSGreen Velvet's Destination Unknown e.p.
(MusicMan/Belgium) combines minimalist techno/house with loadsof
"bad attitude." As with Daft Punk, this crew make themost of fairly
basic, nagging riffs; the five tracks here take anuncompromising
"shock" approach which occasionally endsup being quite commercial.
With growing U.S. interest inelectronica, Green Velvet should be
able to capitalise on theirtake on the Prodigy's parent -scaring
antics. AnsweringMachine, with its "I don't need this shit"
refrain, is trulystrange and compulsive.
ANOTHER BOTTLE OPENEDSeveral versions of Gil Scott -Heron's The
Bottle haveappeared over the last 10 years-the one thing they have
incommon being that they inevitably ignore the original'srighteous
indignation in favour of its more obvious commer-cial charms. 7th
District Inc.'s version, on the U.K's Exit 8Records, follows the
commercial path but redeems itselfwith a gutsy vocal arrangement, a
well -managed house feeland a strong selection of mixes.
FRENCH, FRIED AND FUNKYOne of the best amongst the current rush
of compilationsaiming to capitalise on the high profile of French
artists istwo -CD set frenchfriedfunk from London -based indie Slip
'n'Slide. The Gallic funk vibe is well represented with tracksfrom
DJ Cam, Alex Gopher, I Cube, Dimitri From Paris andcurrent rising
stars Air, but the quality of the tracks dropsnoticeably on the
second CD, which is just not very funky.Less plodding house and
more fresh talent like Curtis orElegia could have made this even
better.
NEUROTIC SOUNDSCAPESHouse and techno have been largely ignored
by main-stream radio, but occasional category -defying
recordingsdeserve wider attention. Such is the case with
Elysium'sdebut album Celestial Sounds & Neurotic Beats,
fromAntwerp -based K.K./Nova Zembla. Although rooted indance
culture, the album is a much fuller musical experi-ence than might
be expected. Taking in live violin, fluteand guitar, these seven
soundscapes are a journeythrough the tunes and textures of rain
forests, junglesand bazaars as much as "dance" tracks. One month
afterthe album's release Nova Zembla's marketing and pro-motion
manager Olke Swerts is cautiously optimistic:"It's early days, but
there have been excellent press andDJ reactions from Germany and
the U.K. in particular."With the ground already prepared by
Elysium's firstalbum, Project One, this sophomore set could be the
com-mercial breakthrough for a label reknowned for its under-ground
approach.
All new releases, biographies and photographs for con-sideration
for inclusion in the Dance Grooves columnshould be sent direct to:
Gary Smith, c/o. Roger deLluria 45 -3° -2, 08009 Barcelona,
Spain.
MUSIC & MEDIA Q DECEMBER 20,
1997AmericanRadioHistory.Com
-
SALES
week 51/ 9 7 Eurochart Hot 1000 Singles ©Billboard Music Group1
1 1 TITLE countries
charted! 5 ARTIST.!eii
",.4 `a' original label (publisher)
i - . 1 4 TITLE countries; ; '..".. charted,3 ARTIST1 A 6
original label (publisher)
1 1 i TITLE countries; .'... ARTIST charted; ... .. ..g ni 2
original label (publisher)
Barbie Girl A.B.DKFINF.D.IREINL.E.S.CH.UK1 15 Aqua - Universal
(MCA)
Johnny B. AD.CH34 4 Down Low - K-Town-Shif t I Zyx (Intro I
PolyGram) 68 68 6
Nobody's Wife NLAnouk - Dino (DBM)
Something About/Candle In The Wmcl 1997 "BuiliullummuRN2 2 13
Elton John - Rocket (PolyGram 'Warner Chappell) 0 Angels
D.IRE.CTK92 2 Robbie Williams - Chrysalis (EMI I BMG) Pour Etre
Libre F69 60 12 2 Be 3 - EMI (Les Disques A La Maison)Tell Him
A.B.F.D.MELNL.N.E.S.CH.UKHUN
3 3 6 Celine Dion & Barbra Streisand - Columbia
(Various)Torn B.IRE.S.UK
36 28 7 Natalie Imbruglia - RCA (Island I EMI I BMG)Wenn Du Da
Bist D100 3 Pur - Intercord (Not Listed)
Sunchyme AliDK.F.D.IRKIIVL.S.C11.UKFLUN5 r'-' Dario G - WEA
(Warner Chappell)
Got Ti! It's Gone A.B.D.KFRIVL.S.CH.UKHUN37 29 12 Janet Jackson
- Virgin (EMI I Windswept I Various) 4
Save Tonight s8 Eagle -Eye Cherry - Superstudio (Not Listed)
0 As Long As You Love MeA.B.DKDIRE.LNL.NE.S.CH.UK6 " Backstreet
Boys - Jive (Grantsville I Zomba) Freedom FIN.D.IRE.LS.CH.UK36 32 4
Robert Miles - DBX/Deconstruction (Jeity 'Warner Chappell) He's
Comin' A.D.CH78 14 Nana - Motor (Warner Chappell)0 Cherish A.D.CH8
8 Pappa Bear - Universal (Delightful) N'Oubliez Jamais A.B.F39 33 8
Joe Cocker - Capitol (MCA) Choose Life B.IRE.S.UK73 66 6 PF Project
feat. Ewan McGregor - Positiva (Sony ATV)7
Spice Up Your Life A.B.DKFIN.F.D.IREINL.NS.CHLIK4 9 Spice Girls
- Virgin (Windswept Pacific I PolyGram)
Everything's Gonna Be Alright A.D.CH46 4 Sweetbox - RCA
(EMI)Angel Of Mine B.D.IRE.NL.NS
79 11 Eternal - lst Avenue I EMI (Rhettrhyme 'Warner Chappell I
PolyGram)
®9Savoir Aimer B.F
1 Florent Pagny - Mercury (Ed. Laurelenn I EMI)Aisne B.D.NL
41 39 29 Wes - Saint George/Columbia (Sony I Michel
Sanchez)5,6,7,8 UK75 52 4Steps - Jive (Copyright Control I
Cordella)
0 ..,; I Will Come To You AB.FINF.D.IRE.NL.IV.S.CH.UK-'4 '
Hanson - Mercury (Warner Chappell /Dyad) #.,.., Slam Dunk Da Funk
S.UKILIMP Five - RCA (Cheiron I Mega I BMG) Open Your Mind '97 UK76
56 2 U.S.U.R.A. - Malarky (Jacomo)Perfect Day B.LRE.IVLUK
1.0 7 4 Various Artists - Chrysalis (EMI)Te Extrano, Te Olvido,
Te Amo B.F43 41 11 Ricky Martin - Tristar I Columbia (Various)
Been Around The World A.F.NL.E.S.CH77 62 7 Puff Daddy & The
Family - Puff Daddy (Various)
***** SALES BREAKER *****0 30 Teletubbies Say "Eh -Oh"
IRE. UK
2 Teletubbies - BBC Worldwide (BMG)
Wind Beneath My Wings IRE.UK44. 15 4 Steven Houghton- RCA
(Warner Chappell)
Don't Change BF78 81 9 Worlds Apart -EMI (Not Listed)
Va Pensiero A.F.D.I.S.CH45 42 3 Zucchero Fornaciari - Polydor
(Not Listed)
Ma Melissa F79 70 15 Les Minikeums - FTD (Not Listed)
Rescue Me A.D.( a32 11 11 Bell, Book & Candle - Ariola
(EMI)Vivo Per Lei FAndrea Bocelli & Helene Segara - Polydor
(Not Listed)
Das Modell D90 54 2 Rammstein - Motor (BMG)
0 Prince Igor AF.D.NL.N.S.CH1° ° The Rapsody feat Warren G.&
Swsel - DefJam (paiyGram1Madhousel EMI lamer Chappell)
Qu'il En Soit Ainsi F47 47 3 Poetic Lovers - M6 Int. (Not
Listed)
You Sexy Thing IRE.08/ 51 4 Hot Chocolate - EMI (RAK)
0 TogetherB.D.NL.UKAgainonJanetJacksonk -Virgin (EMI I
Various)
I'll Be Missing You B.DKED.LIVL.S.CH48 26 26 Puff Daddy r,&
raith Evans feat. 112 - Bad Boy I Arista (Various)0 .....,, Private
Psychedelic Reel IRE.UK
MP The Chemical Brothers - Virgin (Not Listed)
Te Garder Pres De Moi B.F' ' 7 ?tillage & Boyzone - Mercury
(Not Listed)
Meet Her At The Love Parade FNL49 43 18 Da Hool - Kosmo (Warner
Chappell)
The Spirit B74 3 Fiocco - Antler -Subway (Not Listed)
C D18 18 TubthumPingA.B.DK.F.D.IRE.INL.N.SCH.UK
Chumbawamba - EMI (Chumbawamba)Crazy Little Party Girl
A.DKDNL.N.S
77 2 Aaron Carter - Edel (Trans Continental)The Theme UK
M'' Dreem Teem - Gliberty Deconstruction (Gliberty 'Notting
Hill)
Stay B.DKF.D.IRE.LNL.N.S.CH.UK17 10 11 Sash! - Byte Blue (Step
By Step I Strongsongs)
Avenues B.DKF.D.NLNS51 38 9 Refugee Camp All Star feat. Pras -
Arista (Intersong I Warner Chappell)
Sing Up For The Champions IRE.IV.UK85 2 Reds United - Music
Collection (MCI I Peer 'Various)
Ain't That Just The Way AF.D.IRE.CILLIK18 14 12 Lutricia McNeal
- Siljemark I CiVR (MCA)
I Will Survive B.F52 50 11 Hermes House Band - Xplo Music
(PolyGram)
0 Too Much Heaven Dul-V Nana - Motor (Not Listed)
Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? AB.DEFIN.F.DIRKINL.N.S.UKHUN19 16 11N
-Trance feat Rod Stewart- Al Around The World (Nitestalk1Warna
Chappell IEM1)
James Bond Theme FINFRIRE.NL.S.CILUK53 44 5 MOby - Mute
(EMI)
(Money Can't) Buy Me Love UKLAW Blackstreet - Interscope
(Northern)
Come Into My Life B.F.LNL0 31 5 Gala - Nite Life (Do It
Yourself) Lucky Man IR EUK54 40 3 The Verve - Hut/Virgin (EMI) Les
Temps Changent F88 82 8 MC Solaar - Polydor (Sentinel Sud I Arretez
Ecoutez)'''
Baby Can I Hold You/Shooting Star IRE-3 Boyzone - Polydor (EMI
/Wonderland /Disney)
0 High Times UKJamiroqum - Sony S2 (EMI)
Casanova FKW Ultimate Kaos - Wild Card I Polydor (EMI)
OHasta Siempre B.F23 10 Nathalie Cardone - Columbia (Legende
Enterprises)
Bittersweet Symphony B.F.LCH56 55 26 The Verve - Hut/Virgin
(EMI)
0 Laura Non C'E' BFHOP Nek - WEA (Not Listed)
Men In Black A.B.F.D.IRE.LS.CH.HUN23 20 23 Will Smith - Columbia
(Various)
Uh La La La A.D.CH57 53 28 Alexia - DWA 'Dance Pool
(Extravaganza)
RU Ready D.CH.UKLEP Salt-N-Pepa - Red Ant I ffrr (Various)
It's Like That B.D.LNL.CH3 35 3 Run DMC Vs. Jason Nevins -
Profile (Warner Chappell) Meine Kleine Schwester D.CII58 57 8
Spektakolar - Hansa (Primer° I Gluck /Intro) 0 Breathe IOW Midge
Ure - Arista (Not Listed)Doctor Jones B.DK.FIN.LNLS
'''' 5 Aqua - Universal (MCA)Tout "
61 25 Lara Fabian - Polydor (Fabsongs I Editions Chariot)10
Round 'N' Round D.CH
lenr Gil - RCA (Not Listed)
Just A.B.F.D.NL.S.UKCruisin'*48Will Smithth - Columbia (Tryball
!Ill Will I Jobete)
Burnin' S60 59 9 Cue - Pool Sounds (Not Listed)
Superhero FINN'' 2 Daze - Columbia (Not Listed)Never Ever
IRE.NL.UK
27 22 5 All Saints - London (Perfect I MCA)Phenomenon BD IRE NI,
S CH. UK 0 Ready UK
ILIMP Bruce Wayne - Logic (Step By Step /Strong Songs I BMG)
.../.:7" \
e - ii ej67 7 LL Cool J - Def Jam (EMI I LL Cool J I Def
Jam)
Tomorrow Never Dies B.FIND.IRE.NL.S.CH.UKHUN28 75 2 Sheryl Crow
- A&M (Warner Tamerlane I Old Crow)
Let A Boy Cry IREUK65 2 Gala - Do It Yourself (Scorpio)
You Make Me Wanna... D.NL.S96 95 2 Usher - Laface (Various)
The Memory Remains A.B.FIN.F.D.IRENL.N.E.S.CILUK29 25 5
Metallica - Vertigo (Creepin' Death I PolyGram)
Crush On You D.IRE.NL.S.CH.UK63 49 16 Aaron Carter - Edel (Trans
Continental)
Did It Again 07K97 58 2Kylie Minogue - Deconstruction (Mushroom
I BMG I MCA)
I Wanna Be The Only One F.S.CH30 24 29 Eternal feat. BeBe Winans
- lst Avenue I EMI (EMI IBMG)
0 Butterfly F.IRE.NLUK" 2 Mariah Carey - Columbia (Sony ATV I
Rye lWallyworld) 98 63 2
Fantasy Island D.IRE.UKM -People - M People I BMG (BMG I
EMI)
Smack My Bitch Up FIN.F.D.IRE.I.NL.N.S.UK31 21 4 Prodigy -XL
(EMI 'Next Plateau/Beats G)Forgiven UK
taw Space Brothers- Manifesto (Earth I Chrysalis)Picture Of You
F99 71 21 Boyzone - Polydor (PolyGram119IBMG I Sony ATV/Island)
' Du Fehlst MirAD.CH
'' Cappuccino - Mercury (EMI)..F.CHQuanto Amore Sei AB
66 64 10 Eros Ramazzotti - DDD (EMI)Free B. F.CH
100 87 28 Ultra Nate - A&M (Strictly Rhythm)
Je T'Aime B.F37 6 Lara Fabian - Polydor (Fabsongs I Editions
Chariot)
It's Over Love UK87 45. 3 Todd Terry - Manifesto (Tee's
Publishing)
A. Awitna, It= &Worn GZE =Cud, liebatic, DR = Denmark FIN =
Fligand, F = Franca 13.. Germany, IRL = Ireland,1 = ItalyHUN .
Hungary NL i--Netherlanda N= Norway Eii Spain, 8 .Swede, H.
Switserland.UK = United Kingdom.a -Gat FS MOVER CE11, -NEW ENTRY
map . RE-ENTRY
WWWww* SALES BREAKER *a.*** indicates the single registering the
biggest increase in chart. points. The Eurochart Hot 100 Singles is
compiled by Music & Methe and based on the following national
singles sales charts:ChartTrack (UKI; Ireland; Full chartservice by
Media Control GmbH 0049-7221,366201 (Germany); SNEP/IFOP Tite-Live
(France): singles: Music, E Dischi/Mario De Luigi, albums:
Fimi-Nielsen (Italy);
Stiohting Mega Top 100 (Holland); Stichting Promuvi (Belgium);
GLF/FFPI (Sweden); IFPUNielsen Marketing Research (Denmark), VG
(Norway); ALEF MB/AFYVE (Spain): YLE 2 Radioma6a/IFPI (Finland);
Austria Top 30 (Austria);Full chart service by Media Control AG
0041-61-2718989 (Switserland IPSOS/Mahasr-IFP1 (Hungary) [FPI
(Czech Republic).
MUSIC & MEDIA 0 DECEMBER 20,
1997AmericanRadioHistory.Com
-
SHIES
0 7 18 Backstreet's Back - Jive
week 51/ 97 European Top 100 Albums ©Billboard Music
GroupARTISTTITLE
S original label
Celine Dion A.B.DKFIXF.D.GRE.IRE.I.NL.N.P.E.S.CH.UKHUNCZEI 1 4
Let's Talk About Love - Epic/Columbia
countriescharted
IJSpice Girls
3 6 Spiceworld -
I, ARTIST1 TITLEC original label
countriescharted
The Corrs DK.IRE.N.E.S.CH34 28 7 Talk On Corners - 143 'Lava I
Atlantic
6Hot Chocolate
30 Their Greatest Hits - EMI
j ARTISTTITLE
re p original label
Tic Tac Toe72
33Tic
Die 2te - RCA
IRE.UK 0 Pascal ObispoSuperflu - Epic
countriescharted
BF
Eros Ramazzotti A.B.DEFIIV.F.D.GRE.I.NLNPE.S.CH.RUN.CZE3 4 7
Eros - DDDMetallica ARDXFINF.D.GRE.IRE.I.NL.NPE.S.CH.UKHUNCZE
4 2 4 Re -Load - VertigoEnya
A.B.DKFIIV.D.IRE.LNLNPE.S.CH.UKHUNCZE
05 5 6 Paint The Sky With Stars - WEA
Alejandro Sanz33 13 Mas - WEA
Natalie Imbruglia37 22 3 Left OfThe Middle - RCA
IRE.UK
Andre RieuValses Et Compagnie - Mercury
F
M People70 32 9 Fresco - M People 1 BMG
Mike Oldfield'LAW XXV The Essential Mike Oldfield - WEA
AD.IREUK
AD.GRE.E.CZE
Michael BoltonO * All That Matters - Columbia
A.D.GRE.P.E.UK
Backstreet Boys AB.DEFINF.D.GREIREIRLAP.E.S.CRUILHUNCZE
1J
Hanson38 3 Snowed In - Mercury
B.FIN.DNL.S.CH.CZE Aaron CarterItt-ir Aaron Carter - Edel
The Verve A.B.DKI7N.F.D.GREIRE.I.NL.NP.E.S.CH.UK7 6 11 Urban
Hymns - Hut /Virgin Mariah Carey35 13 Butterfly -
ColumbiaA.B.F.D.GRE.NL.E.CH Kent (S)
El 74 31 3 Isola - RCAFINS
***** SALES BREAKER *****Aqua N P E.S.CH.HUN
36 Aquarium - UniversalC:1
Era7 Era - Mercury
01
Loreena McKennitt B.F.D.GRE.NL.E.CH Elton John7542 10 The Book
Of Secrets - Quinlan Road I Warner 61 13 Lovesongs -
RocketA.B.D.NL.CZE
0 Spice Girls52 58 Spice - VirginLightning Seeds
53 4 Like You Do...Best Of - Epic
B.DK.FIRE.NL.S.UK4
AlliageL'Album - Box Dance
UK D.A.D.n 73 4 Simpatico - EMI -Medley
DKFINS
0 Andrea Bocelli12 46 Romanza Sugar/Polydor0 3 Schltimpfe15 Irre
Galaktisch 6 - EMI
Wham !0 16 2 The Best Of Wham! - Epic
B.F.D.LNL.N.P.E.S.CH.CZE
A.D.CH
B.FIND.GRE.IRELIVL.P.E.UK
44 41 24 1:11;e Fa.t Of The Land - XLB.F.D.IRE.NL.S.UK
Hanson
79 3 Middle Of Nowhere - Mercury
Midge Ure79 76 6 Breathe - Arista
iJSash!
45 37 7 It's My Life - Byte BlueDKIRE.IV.S.UK
Rammstein.10 34 15 Sehnsucht - Motor
B.FINFNL.S.CZE
01
AD.CFI N85 29 Naas Motor
D.CH.HUN
0 Bryan AdamsILI-V Unplugged - A&MSting & The Police
AB.DK.FIN.D.GRE.IREINL.P.S.CH.UK
10 4 The Best Of Sting & The Police - A&M
The Rolling Stones A.B.F.D.GRE.NL.P.E.S.CH.HUN.CZE15 11 n
Bridges To Babylon - Virgin
A.B.D.IRE.NL.CH.UK Wolfgang Petry47 44 16 Nie Genug - Hansa
Les Enfoires48 3" Le Zenith Des Enfoires 97 - Columbia
RF
Thomas Helmig66 5
ThomasGar - RCA
* Magnus Uggla88 6 Karaoke - Columbia# Monica Naranjo94 8
Palabra De Mujer Epic E
DK Wolfgang Petry83 68 24 Mies - Hansa
Eternal B.DK.D.IRE.NLNSCH.UK®19 7 Greatest Hits - 1st Avenue
/EMI * Daze65 3 Super Heroes - Columbia DIGFIN Bjorn.Eidsviig77 s
Pa Svat - NorskBarbra Streisand B.F.D.GRE.NENE.SCH.17 14 4 Higher
Ground - Columbia
Elton Johnis 13 The Big Picture - Rocket
.CZE
AB.DKFIIV.F.D.N.E.CH.UKCZE
Florent Pagnyis 20 6 Savoir Aimer - Mercury
17 14Joe CockerAcross From Midnight - Capitol
13.F
A.B.F.D.NL.N.CH
Paul Simon D.NL.S.CH Andrea Bocelli51 4" Songs From The Capemen
- Warner Brothers 85 63 2 Viaggio Italian - Sugar 1 Polydor
0 2Pac ERNES57 2 R U Still Down? (Remember Me) -
InterscopeLighthouse Family DIRE.UK
53 45 8 Postcards From Heaven - Polydor I Wildcard
Jean -Jacques Goldman54 47 15 En Passant - Columbia
FNCZE
Radiohead86 84 26 OK Computer - Parlophone
B.F.GRE.IRE.NL.S.UK
Badesalz87 51 6 Wie Mutter Und Tochter - Columbia
RF Simon & Garfunkel96 87 4 The Definitive Simon And
Garfunkel - Columbia
0 John Lennon25 6 Lennon Legend - Parlophone A.DRD.G PUK ®Andre
Rieu75 2 Strauss & Co. - Mercury 01 Anouk89 8° 7 Together Alone
- Dino NLThe Family" Growing Up - Kel-Life
AB.D.NL.PCILIIUN,CZE NordmanInalr Har Och Nu - Sonet
FINS Lisa Ekdahl90 70 4 Bottom Det Bla - EMI
DKN.S
27 1'Janet JacksonThe Velvet Rope - Virgin
Oasis24 21 16 Be Here Now - Creation
ADK.F.D.INL.N.S.CH.UK
AB.F.D.GRE.IRE.LE.S.CH.UKCZE
Michel Sardou25 24 8 Salut TremaB.F
# 2 Be 392 2 Partir Un Jour - EMI
B.F Soundtrack - The Full Monty91 55 11 The Full Monty - RCA
Victor
54 12Bjork52 Homogenic - Mother/One Little Indian
BBL Jarabe De PaloIII* La Placa - Virgin
Passe58 43 4 Les Tentations - V2
F
Helmut Lottia -V 60 7 Goes Classic III - RCA
FIRE .UK
B.F.D.CH
*_h. Poohlair The Best Of Pooh - CGD
# Andre Rieu" 4 Mein Weihnachtstraum - Mercury* Sarah
Brightman/LSO29 17 Timeless - East West DKFIND.N.S
Vanessa Mae0 98 6 Storm - EMI A.FIND.GRE.CH CZE Andrea
BocelliBocelli - Sugar I Polydor0 ClouseltuLLB Verzameld 87-97 -
EMI0 Daniel O'DonnellCl) I Believe - Ritz
61 62 11 Deftrtohstedd- AriolaGoarCH
0 Antonello VendittiIl Paese Delle Meraviglie - Ricordi
0B.NL
UK
n Queen29 23 5 Queen Rocks - Parlophone
ADK.D.GRENLE.S.CH.UK 0 Will Smith74 2 Big Willie Style -
Columbia F.D.S 97 Marla Glen83 3 Our World - Ariola D.CH0 All
Saints40 2 All Saints - London
Lara Fabian59 8 Pure - Polydor
Texas32 26 22 White On Blonde - Mercury
IRE.UK
B.F
B.FIRE.S.UK
01
Claudia Jung64 50 10 Augenblicke - EMIA.D.CH Al Bano &
Carissi
CI. DConcerto Classico - WEA
Lesley GarrettILEP A Soprano Inspired - Conifer
Fl 883100 78 24 La Dura Legge Del Gol - FRI
Paul De Leeuw65 64 4 Lief - Brommerpech /Epic
NL
Shola Ama1°314 Much Love - WEA
UK
Garth Brooks38 ILI-V Sevens - LibertyDIRENECILUK The Rapsody
AF.D.GRE
" 5 The Rapsody Overture:HipflopMeetsClassics - Def Jam
/Mercury
A =Arrant B Belgium, CM Czech Republic, DK Denmark. FIN Med. =
France, GRE = Greece. D . Germany. MI,. Ireland,I Italy. HUN =
Human, Netherlands, N Norway, P S. Sweden, CR=Swneravd.UR=Inured
Kingdom
0 SALES MOVERlyi' NEW ENTRY RE-ENTRY
*Mr*** SALES BREAKER 34 ***** indicates the album registering
the biggest increase in chart points.111 IFPI Platinum Europe
certification for sales of 1 million units, with multi -platinum
titles indicated by a number in the symbol.
The European Top 100 Albums is compiled by Music & Media.
All rights reserved. Compiled.from the national album sales charts
of 18 European territories.
MUSIC & MEDIA DECEMBER 20, 1 9 9
7AmericanRadioHistory.Com
-
SALES
Top National Sellers ,Billboard Music GroupUNITED KINGDOM
GERMANY FRANCE ITALY
TW LW SINGLES
1 6 Teletubbies - Teletubbies Say "Eh-Oh"(BBC)2 1 Various
Artists - Perfect Day (Chrysalis)3 41 Janet Jackson - Together
Again (Virgin)4 2 Aqua - Barbie Girl (Universal)5 4 Boyzone - Baby
Can I Hold You (Polydor)6 5 All Saints - Never Ever (London)7 27
Robbie Williams - Angels (Chrysalis)8 50 Five - Slam Dunk Da Funk
(RCA)9 7 Natalie Imbruglia - Torn (RCA)10 3 Steven Houghton - Wind
Beneath My Wings (RCA)TW LW ALBUMS
1 4 Various - Diana, Princes Of Wales - A Tribute (Princess
Diana Trust)2 1 Various -Now That's What !Call Music! 38
(EMPVirgigolyGram)
3 3 The Verve - Urban Hymns (Virgin)4 2 Celine Dion - Let's Talk
About Love (Epic)5 7 Spice Girls - Spiceworld (Virgin)6 8 Enya -
Paint The Sky With Stare (WEA)7 6 Wham ! - The Best Of Wham!
(Epic)8 14 All Saints - All Saints (London)9 12 John Lennon -
Lennon Legend (Parlophone)
10 17 Eternal - Greatest Hits (EMI)
TW LW SINGLES
1 1 Aqua - Barbie Girl (Universal)2 2 Pappa Bear - Cherish
(Universal)3 4 Dario G - Sunchyme (WEA)4 3 Bell, Book & Candle
- Rescue Me (Ariola)5 14 Run DMC Vs. Jason Nevins - It's Like That
(Epic)6 6 Elton John- Something About/Candle In The Wind 1997
(Mercury)
7 7 Down Low - Johnny B. (Zyx)8 9 Backstreet Boys - As Long As
You Love Me (Rough Trade)9 15 Pur - Wenn Du Da Bist (Intercord)10 8
Cappuccino - Du Fehlst Mir (Mercury)TW LW ALBums
1 3 Eros Ramazzotti - Eros (Ariola)2 2 Celine Dion - Let's Talk
About Love (Columbia)
3 1 Metallica - Re -Load (Mercury)4 5 Schllimpfe - Irre
Galaktisch 6 (EMI)5 4 The Rolling Stones - Bridges To Babylon
(Virgin)6 13 Andre Rieu - Mein Weihnachtstraum (Polydor)7 6 Era -
Era (Mercury)8 NE Bryan Adams - Unplugged (Polydor)9 8 The Kelly
Family - Growing Up (EMI)
10 9 Backstreet Boys - Backstreet's Back (Rough Trade)
TW LW SINGLES
1 1 Florent Pagny - Savoir Aimer (Mercury)2 2 Aqua - Barbie Girl
(Universal)3 3 Alliage & Boyzone - Te Garder Pres De Moi
(Mercury)4 4 Celine Dion & Barbra Streisand - Tell Him
(Columbia)5 5 Nathalie Cardone - Hasta Siempre (Columbia)6 6
Eternal feat. BeBe Winans I Wanna Be The Only One !Bill
7 8 Lara Fabian - Je T'Aime (Polydor)8 7 Spice Girls - Spice Up
Your Life (Virgin)9 NE Andrea Bocelli - Vivo Per Lei (PolyGram)
10 10 Poetic Lovers - Ou'll En Soit Ainsi (M6 Int.)TW LW
ALBUMS
1 1 Celine Dion - Let's Talk About Love (Columbia)2 2 Florent
Pagny - Savoir Aimer (Mercury)3 3 Spice Girls - Spiceworld
(Virgin)4 4 Michel Sardou - Salut (Trema)5 13 Lara Fabian - Pure
(Polydor)6 16 Andre Rieu - Valses Et Compagnie (Philips)7 5 Andrea
Bocelli - Romanza (Polydor)8 12 Era - Era (Mercury)9 6 Lea Enfoires
- Le Zenith Des Enfoires 97 (BMG)
10 7 Passi - Les Tentations (V2)
TW LW SINGLES
1 2 Gala - Come Into My Life (Do It Yourself)2 3 Robert Miles -
Freedom (DBX)3 8 Chumbawamba - Tubthumping (EMI)4 1 Aqua - Barbie
Girl (Universal)5 6 Midge Ure - Breathe (BMG Ricordi)6 7 Sash! -
Stay (FMA)7 4 Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life (Virgin)8 5 N
-Trance feat. Rod Stewart- Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? (Media)9 9
Paradisio - Vamos A La Discoteca! (Do It Yourself)
10 11 Elton John - Something About/Candle In The Wind 1997
(Mercury)
TW LW ALBUMS1 1 Enya - Paint The Sky With Stars (WEA)2 2 Eros
Ramazzotti - Eros (BMG Ricordi)3 NE Pooh - The Best Of Pooh (CGD)4
3 Celine Dion - Let's Talk About Love (Columbia)5 5 Aqua - Aquarium
(Universal)6 7 Backstreet Boys - Backstreet's Back (Virgin)7 4
Spice Girls - Spiceworld (Virgin)8 NE Antonello Venditti - B Paese
Delle Meraviglie (BMG)
9 8 The Verve - Urban Hymns (Virgin)10 6 Metallica - Re -Load
(Mercury)
SPAIN HOLLAND BELGIUM SWEDEN
TW LW SINGLES1 1 Elton John - Something About/Candle In The Wind
1997 (Mercury)
2 2 Aqua - Barbie Girl (Universal)3 3 Metallica - The Memory
Remains (Mercury)4 8 Puff Daddy & The Family - Been Around The
World (Ariola)5 4 Celine Dion & Barbra Streisand - Tell Him
(Columbia)
6 7 U2 - Please (Mercury)7 NE Nek - Tu Nombre (Warner)8 5
Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me (Virgin)9 RE Olive -
You're Not Alone (RCA)10 9 Marilyn Manson - Tourniquet
(Universal)TW LW ALBUMS
1 1 Alejandro Sanz - Mas (WEA)2 2 Backstreet Boys - Backstreet's
Back (Virgin)3 3 Celine Dion - Let's Talk About Love (Columbia)4 4
Enya - Paint The Sky With Stars (WEA)5 6 Monica Naranjo - Palabra
De Mujer (Epic)6 7 Jarabe De Palo - La Placa (Virgin)7 5 Metallica
- Re -Load (Mercury)8 9 The Corrs - Talk On Corners (DRO)9 8 Spice
Girls - Spiceworld (Virgin)
10 14 Aqua - Aquarium (Universal)
TW LW SINGLES
1 1 Wes - Alane (Epic)2 3 Celine Dion & Barbra Streisand -
Tell Him (Columbia)
3 2 Anouk - Nobody's Wife (Dino)4 4 Aqua - Doctor Jones
(Universal)5 5 Paul De Leeuw - Hob je Lief En Wacht Op Je
(Epic)
6 6 Usher - You Make Me Wanna... (BMG)7 8 The Rapsody feat.
Warren G. & Siegel -Prince Igor (Mercury)
8 7 Aqua - Barbie Girl (Universal)9 9 Backstreet Boys - As Long
As You Love Me (Zomba)10 14 Allure feat. 112 - All Cried Out
(Epic)TW LW ALBUMS
1 1 Celine Dion - Let's Talk About Love (Columbia)
2 2 Paul De Leeuw - Lief (Epic)3 3 Spice Girls - Spiceworld
(Virgin)4 4 Anouk - Together Alone (Dino)5 8 Backstreet Boys -
Backstreet's Back (Zomba)6 22 Aqua - Aquarium (Universal)7 6 Barbra
Streisand - Higher Ground (Columbia)8 5 Metallica - Re -Load
(Mercury)9 7 Wes - Welenga (Epic)10 27 BZN - Pearls (Mercury)
TW LW SINGLES1 1 Aqua - Barbie Girl (Universal)2 2 Celine Dion
& Barbra Streisand - Tell Him (Sony)3 5 Florent Pagny - Savoir
Aimer (PolyGram)4 3 Fiocco - The Spirit (Import Partners)5 4 Run
DMC Vs. Jason Nevins - It's Like That (PIAS)
6 9 Hanson - I Will Come To You (PolyGram)7 7 Backstreet Boys -
As Long As You Love Me (Rough Trade)
8 6 Sash! - Stay (Byte)9 16 Gala - Come Into My Life (Private
Life)
10 8 Dario G - SunchymeTW LW1 1 Celine Dion - Let's Talk About
Love (Sony)
(Warner)
(BMG)(Virgin)2
2 Helmut Lotti - Goes Classic III3 3 Spice Girls - Spiceworld4 6
Clouseau - Verzameld 87-97
(BMG)5 10 Wham ! - The Best Of Wham!
1S6 4 Eros Ramazzotti - Eros 37 7 Florent Pagny - Savoir Aimer
(PolyGram)8 8 Backstreet Boys - Backstreet's Back(Zomba)9 5
Metallica - Re -Load (PolyGram)10 62 Various - Diana, Princess Of
Wales -A Tribute (Sony)
1W LW SINGLES1 1 Cue - Burnin' (DHE)2 3 Aqua - Doctor Jones
(Universal)3 4 Eagle -Eye Cherry - Save Tonight (BMG)4 5 Hanson - I
Will Come To You (PolyGram)5 2 Elton John - Something About/Candle
In The Wind 1997 (PolyGraml
6 6 Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me (Virgin)
7 14 Will Smith - Just Cruisin' (Columbia)8 8 Bloodhound Gang -
Fire, Water, Burn (Universal)9 15 Era - Ameno (Mercury)
10 7 Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life (Virgin)TW LW Aumnds
1 6 Aqua - Aquarium2 3 Era - Era3 1 Metallica - Re -Load4 4 Enya
- Paint The Sky With Stars5 NE Nordman - Aar Och Nu6 7 Magnus Uggla
- Karaoke7 2 Kent (S) - Isola8 5 Peter Lemarc - Nio Broars Vag9 NE
Peter Joback - Personliga Val10 8 Spice Girls - Spiceworld
(Universal)(PolyGram)(PolyGram)
(Warner)(Sonet)(Sony)(BMG)(MNW)(Sony)
(Virgin)
DENMARK NORWAY FINLAND IRELAND
TW LW SINGLES
1 1 Elton John - Something AboutICande In The Wmd 1997
(PolyGram)
2 8 Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me (Virgin)
3 6 Aqua - Barbie Girl (Universal)4 2 Dario G - Sunchyme
(Warner)5 4 Sash! - Stay (Scandinavian)6 3 Spice Girls - Spice Up
Your Life (Virgin)7 5 Refugee Camp All Star feat. Pras - Avenues
(BMG)
8 7 NiTrance feat. Rod Stewart- Do Ya Think Pm Say?
(Scandinavian)9 10 Janet Jackson - Got Til It's Gone (Virgin)
10 NE Aaron Carter - Crazy Little Party Girl (Edel)TW LW ALBUMS1
1 Thomas Helmig - Arena GAr (BMG)2 3 Celine Dion - Let's Talk About
Love (Sony)3 2 Spice Girls - Spiceworld (Virgin)4 4 Eros Ramazzotti
- Eros (BMG)5 6 D.A.D. - Simpatico (EMI)6 7 Daze - Super Heroes
(Sony)7 5 Metallica - Re -Load (PolyGram)8 9 Enya - Paint The Sky
With Stars (Warner)9 10 Backstreet Boys - Backstreet's Back
(Virgin)10 38 Jim Reeves - The Ultimate Collection (BMG)
TW LW SINGLES
1 1 The Rapsody feat. Warren G. & Stage] - Prince Igor
(Polygram)
2 5 Daze - Superhero (Sony)3 2 Refugee Camp All Star feat. Pras
- Avenues (BMG)4 4 Elton John- Something About/Candle In The Wind
1997 (PolyGram)5 7 Hanson - I Will Come To You (PolyGram)6 15
Eternal - Angel Of Mine (EMI)7 3 Sash! - Stay (Scandinavian)8 6
Chumbawamba - Tubthumping (EMI)9 9 Celine Dion & Barbra
Streisand - Tell Him (Sony)
10 14 Aaron Carter - Crazy Little Party Girl (Edelpitch)TW LW
ALBUMS
1 1 Celine Dion - Let's Talk About Love (Sony)2 3 Spice Girls -
Spiceworld (Virgin)3 5 Sarah Brightman/LSO - Timeless (Warner)4 4
Bjorn Eidsvag - Pa Svai (BMG)5 9 Elton John - The Big Picture
(PolyGrarn)6 2 Metallica - Re -Load (PolyGram)7 11 Ole Edvard
Antonsen - Read My Lips (BMG)8 18 Enya - Paint The Sky With Stars
(Warner)9 7 Morten Abel - Snowboy (Virgin)10 10 Eternal - Greatest
Hits (EMI)
TW LW SINGLES
1 1 Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up (SMD-Musiiki)2 5 Hanson - I Will
Come To You (PolyGram)3 3 Metallica - The Memory Remains
(PolyGram)4 4 Neljti Baritonia - Pop-Musiikkia (Poko)5 9 Sheryl
Crow - Tomorrow Never Dies (PolyGram)
6 15 Aqua - Doctor Jones (Universal)7 2 Daze - Superhero (Sony)8
6 Apulanta - Liikaa (Levy)9 12 Moby - James Bond Theme
(SMD-Musiiki)
10 10 Klamydia - Kosketus (KraiblIld)TW LW ALBUMS1 1 Metallica -
Re -Load (PolyGram)2 2 Spice Girls - Spiceworld (Virgin)3 4 Daze -
Super Heroes (Sony)4 3 Leen( And The Leavings- Hamann()
-40Ansimmaista Mtua (Megamania)5 6 Celine Dion - Let's Talk About
Love (Sony)6 5 Smurffit - Tansaihitit Vol. 3 & Smurffien Joulu
(EMI)7 11 Hanson - Snowed In (Mercury)8 20 Era - Era (PolyGram)9 7
Don Huonot - Hyvaa Mina Ja Huomenta (BMG)10 9 Aqua - Aquarium
(Universal)
TW LW SINGLES
1 1 Various Artists - Perfect Day (Chrysalis)2 4 Boyzone - Baby
Can I Hold You (Polydor)3 2 Aqua - Barbie Girl (Universal)4 NE
Teletubbies - Teletubbies Say "Eh -Oh" (BBC)5 5 Natalie Imbruglia -
Torn (RCA)6 6 Celine Dion & Barbra Streisand - Tell Him
(Columbia)
7 3 Dustin - Good Lookin' Woman (Lime)8 7 All Saints - Never
Ever (London)9 9 Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
(Jive)
10 8 Elton John- Something AboutiCandk In The Wind 1997
(Mercury)TW LW ALBUMS
1 2 Dustin - Faith Of Our Feathers (Lime)2 1 Celine Dion - Let's
Talk About Love (Epic)3 NE Garth Brooks - Sevens (EMI)4 3 Various -
Now 38 (EMINirgin/PolyGram)5 4 The Corrs - Talk On Corners (East
West)6 5 The Verve - Urban Hymns (Virgin)7 8 Spice Girls -
Spiceworld (Virgin)8 NE Various - Diana Princess Of Wales (V2)9 7
Various - Greatest Hits Of 1997 (Telstar)10 6 Enya - Paint The Sky
With Stars (WEA)
SWITZERLANDTW LW SINGLES
1 1 Aqua - Barbie Girl (Universal)2 2 Pappa Bear - Cherish
(Universal)3 3 Rion John- Something About/Candle In The Wind 1997
(PolyGram)
4 7 Dario G - Sunchyme (MV)5 4 Celine Dion & Barbra
Streisand - Tell Him (Sony)
6 6 Bell, Book & Candle - Rescue Me (BMG)7 5 Lutricia McNeal
- Ain't That Just The Way (Exclusa)
8 8 Cappuccino - Du Fehlst Mir (PolyGram)9 14 Down Low - Johnny
B. (Zyx)
10 9 Will Smith - Men In Black (Sony)TW LW ALBUMS
1 1 Celine Dion - Let's Talk About Love (Sony)2 2 Eros
Ramazzotti - Eros (BMG)3 NE Bryan Adams - Unplugged (Polydor)4 4
Gotthard - Defrosted (BMG)5 3 Metallica - Re -Load (PolyGram)6 5
Spice Girls - Spiceworld (Virgin)7 8 Sehliimpfe - Irre Galaktisch 6
(EMI)8 7 Enya - Paint The Sky With Stars (MV)9 NE Peter Reber -
D'Hits Vom Peter Reber (PolyGram)
10 6 Bo Katzmann Chor - Miracles (BMG)
AUSTRIATW LW SINGLES
1 1 Elton John- Something About/Candle In The Wind 1997
(PolyGram)2 2 Bell, Book & Candle - Rescue Me (BMG)3 4 Pappa
Bear - Cherish (Universal)4 3 Aqua - Barbie Girl (Universal)5 5
Dario G - Sunchyme (Warner)6 6 Alexia - Uh La La La (Sony)7 8
Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me (Rough Trade)
8 13 Sweetbox - Everything's Gonna Be Alright (BMG)
9 12 N -Trance feat. Rod Stewart - Do Ya Think Pm Sexy?
(EMI)
10 7 DJ Visage - Formula (EMI)TW LW ALBUMS
1 1 Celine Dion - Let's Talk About Love (Sony)2 4 Schliimpfe -
Irre Galaktisch 6 (EMI)3 2 Metallica - Re -Load (PolyGram)4 3 Eros
Ramazzotti - Eros (BMG)5 7 Al Bano & Carissi - B Concerto
Classico (Warner)6 NE Kiddy Contest Finalisten - Kiddy Contest 97
(BMG)7 5 Enya - Paint The Sky With Stars (Warner)8 6 Spice Girls -
Spiceworld (Virgin)9 8 Claudia Jung - Augenblicke (EMI)
10 19 Vanessa Mae - Storm (EMI)
PORTUGAL CZECH REPUBLIC
TW LW ALBUMS
1 1 Andrea Bocelli - Romanza (PolyGram)2 2 Daniels Mercury -
Feijao Com Arroz (Sony)3 3 Amalia Rodrigues - Segredo (EMI)4 4
Celine Dion - Let's Talk About Love (Sony)5 5 Exceso - Eu Sou
Aquele (PolyGram)6 6 Metallica - Re -Load (PolyGram)7 7 Paulo Gonzo
- Quase Tudo (Sony)8 8 Spice Girls - Spiceworld (Virgin)9 9
Madredeus - 0 Paraiso (EMI)
10 10 Wham ! - The Best Of Wham! (Sony)TW LW ALBUMS11 11 Maria
Joao Pires - Schubert Improvisor (PolyGram)12 12 Demis Roussos - 34
Titulos (PolyGram)13 13 Aqua - Aquarium (Universal)14 14 The Verve
- Urban Hymns (Virgin)15 15 The Kelly Family - Growing Up (EMI)16
16 Eros Ramazzotti - Eros (BMG)17 17 Enya - Paint The Sky With
Stars (Warner)18 18 Santana - Summerdreams (Sony)19 19 John Lennon
- Lennon Legend (EMI)20 20 Cock Robin - Best Ballads (Sony)
TW LW SINGLES
1 1 Smoulove - Prvni Zimni Smoulympiada (EMI)2 2 Karel Gott
& L Bila - Duety (EMI)3 3 Andrea Bocelli - Romanza (PolyGram)4
18 Andrea Bocelli - Viaggio Italians (PolyGram)5 5 Daniel Lands -
Pozdrav Z Koze Jel (EMI)6 14 Daniel Hulka - Daniel Hulka (EMI)7 4
Metallica - Re -Load (PolyGram)8 8 Spice Girls - Spiceworld (EMI)9
9 Enya - Paint The Sky With Stars (Warner)
10 7 Ozzy Osbourne - The Ozzman Cometh (Sony)TW LW ALBUMS
1 1 Smoulove - Prvni Zimni Smoulympiada (EMI)2 2 Karel Gott
& L. Bila - Duety (EMI)3 3 Andrea Bocelli - Romanza (PolyGram)4
18 Andrea Bocelli - Viaggio Italians (PolyGram)5 5 Daniel Landa -
Pozdrav Z Koze Jel (EMI)6 14 Daniel Hulks - Daniel Hulka (EMI)7 4
Metallica - Re -Load (PolyGram)8 8 Spice Girls - Spiceworld (EMI)9
9 Enya - Paint The Sky With Stars (Wainer)10 7 Ozzy Osbourne - The
Ozzman Cometh (Sony)
Based on the national sales charts from 16 European markets.
Information supplied by ChartTrack (UR); Full chartservice by Media
Control GmbH 0049-7221-366201 (Germany); SNEP (France); singles:
Musica E Dischi/
Mario De Luigi, albums: Fimi-Nielsen (Italy); Stichting Mega Top
100 (Holland); Stichting Promuvi (Belgium); IPSOS/Mahass-IFPI
(Hungary); GLF/LFPI (Sweden); IFPI/Nielsen MarketingResearch
(Denmark); VG (Norwa