THIS WEEK IN 1990
1 Sacrifice/Healing Hands Elton John 2 Nessun Dorma Luciano Pavarotti
3 It Must Have Been Love Roxette 4 Mona Craig McLacklan and Check 1-2 5 Oops Up Snap! 6 World In Motion Englandneworder 7 Close To You Maxi Priest 8 Hold On Wilson Phillips 9 U Can’t Touch This MC Hammer
10 The Only Rhyme That Bites MC Tunes Vs 808 State
It’s hard to believe that Elton John had to wait two decades into his prolific recording career to reach number one in the UK with a solo single.
Classic Elton songs such as ‘Your Song’ (1971), ‘Rocket Man’ (1972), ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ (1973) and ‘I’m Still Standing’ (1983) all reached the top ten, but failed to hit the top. ‘Candle In The Wind’, a version of which became the second biggest selling single of all time on release in 1997 as a tribute to Princess Diana, didn’t even make the top ten when originally released in 1974.
It took two attempts for ‘Sacrifice’ to become a chart-topper. The ballad, written by John and his lyricist Bernie Taupin, peaked at a lowly 55 in 1989 when first released as the second single from the album ‘Sleeping With The Past’.
The following year BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Wright started playing the song and other DJs soon followed suit. In response to demand, it was re-released as a double-A side with ‘Healing Hands’, another track from the album previously released as a single in its own right.
‘Sacrifice/Healing Hands’ spent five weeks at the top of the UK chart. It also gave the singer his first number one in France.
Of the 53 singles released by Elton John prior to 1990, only one had topped the charts - the 1976 ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ duet with Kiki Dee.
‘Sacrifice’ is beloved by both Elton and Bernie Taupin. In an interview before the release of the original single, Taupin said: ‘It’s a simple lyric, but it’s an intelligent adult lyric. It’s basically about the rigors of adult love, and it’s a million miles away from ‘Your Song.’ Elton came up with a brilliant melody, and his performance on it gives it a lot of integrity and meaning. It’s not a surface song, and I think you’ll probably see that one in the coming months becoming a big, big hit.’ It took a little longer than that, but in the end he was spot-on.