With the exception of Kylie Minogue's "The One"—a digital-only release that peaked at #36 on the UK chart in 2008—the Aussie pop queen hasn't had a single miss the UK Top 10 since "Breathe" hit #14 in 1998. Well, until now. "Get Outta My Way" has jumped up from #48 to #12 in its first official week of release.
Kylie fans are no doubt scratching their heads in bewilderment, wondering what went wrong. (Personally, I though the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge performance of the song earlier this week was impeccable.) But they can at least be comforted by the fact that "All The Lovers" initially debuted at #4 in June then dropped a bit before climbing back up to #3. We shall see.
But speaking of "Breathe," that brings to mind other Kylie singles like that—ones that failed to crack the UK Top 10, but have gone on to be my favorites. The two main jams that spring to mind are "What Kind Of Fool (Heard All That Before)," which peaked at #12 in 1992, and "Put Yourself In my Place," which got no further than #11 in 1994.
These two came after Minogue's early success, when her career was waning a bit in the early '90s. "What Kind Of Fool" was her final offering from the Stock Aitken Waterman hit factory (with ironic lyrics, given that context), and "Put Yourself..." is simply a timeless (in my mind) ballad—something we don't often get from Kylie. I'd advise cranking it up some night in the car when you're just aimlessly driving around.
Yeah—"Get Outta My Way" is a true pull-out-all-the-stops Kylie single, and maybe it should have been the first one issued off Aphrodite. But in the end, no one can continuously dance at the top of the charts forever. And #12 isn't that bad. It still makes her 18th Top 20 hit within a ten-year span—hardly an underachievement.
So I say well done, Kylie. Now you showed us what you're made of, as you have so many times before.
The U.K. Top 10:
1. "Written In The Stars" - Tinie Tempah *new* *1 week*
2. ""Just The Way You Are" - Bruno Mars
3. "Let The Sun Shine" - Labrinth *new*
4. "Make You Feel My Love" - Adele
5. "Dynamite" - Taio Cruz
6. "Teenage Dream" - Katy Perry
7. "For The First Time" - The Script
8. "Heartbeat" - Enrique Iglesias feat. Nicole Scherzinger
9. "Katy On A Mission" - Katy B
10. "Start Without You" - Alexandra Burke
|
---|