Official Charts Flashback 1994: Take That – Everything Changes

It’s 20 years since the fab five scored their fourth Number 1, giving the band their first and only Robbie-fronted chart-topper.

As the UK tucked into its Easter eggs this weekend 20 years ago, the Official Singles Chart was experiencing a sugar rush of its very own, thanks to a super-sweet Number 1 from everybody’s favourite fivesome Take That.

Everything Changes was the fourth single to be taken from the group’s chart-topping second album of the same name. It was a fairly unusual release for Take That in that for the second time in a row, lead singer Gary Barlow stepped aside to let someone else have a go at taking the mic.

Fresh from the Number 1 success of Mark Owen-led Babe, it was Robbie’s turn to take prime crooning position on this jaunty number. It wasn’t Rob’s first shot at the mic, of course – he’d sung lead vocals on 1992 hits I Found Heaven (15) and the Barry Manilow cover Could It Be Magic (3). But it was the first time a Robbie-heavy track would propel Take That all the way to Number 1 and, believe it or not, it was also the last.

Everything Changes was the fourth consecutive chart-topper for the boys, and one of seven the group would have with Robbie as a member. It’s sold 265,000 copies. It’s a little way off their bestselling single, however: Rule The World claims that prize with 990,000 copies sold.

Robbie certainly got a taste for that microphone – 1996 saw the group decide to split following Robbie’s departure the year before. They did, of course, reunite as a quartet a decade later.

Everything Changes was the last Take That single to feature Robbie on lead vocals for over 16 years – he rejoined Gary, Mark, Jason and Howard in 2010’s The Flood, but a Number 1 eluded them. Jason is the only Take That member not to sing lead on any single. Maybe on the new album, eh, Jase?

Take a look at Take That’s comeback as a fivesome before we count down the rest of this week’s retro Top 5.

2: Doop – Doop

Doop was a song that ticked a lot of chart boxes. It was a novelty record, spawned a dance craze, was produced by a dance act that nobody knew what they looked like, and it knocked Mariah Carey’s heartwrenching Without You off Number 1. Spending three weeks at Number 1, Doop had us all doing the Charleston (extremely badly) and it almost felt like the ‘20s again – aside from the jumbo jets, extended life expectancy and, you know, the Official Charts. It’s sold 350,000 copies in the UK and is a true one-hit wonder – Doop would never again grace the Top 40.

3: Bruce Springsteen: Streets Of Philadelphia

The Boss – as we know him – dropped one place from his highest ever chart position with this track taken from the film Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks. The then-controversial movie told the tale of a lawyer with AIDS who fought against a sacking by his employers and scored Oscars for both its leading man and this song. The haunting video featured Bruce taking an emotional trudge round Philadelphia. If you watch (and listen) closely, you will see Bruce is actually singing live as he walks. His vocals were recorded there and then on the video shoot on a hidden mic.

4: Symbol – The Most Beautiful Girl In The World

It’s hard to imagine now, but before Prince was doing loads of exclusive gigs and turning up and stealing the show at awards ceremonies, he had a period where he was sick of being Prince and wanted to be someone else. In the early ‘90s, he changed his name to a symbol that was unpronounceable – the Love Symbol. This week in 1994, he was a new entry with this tune dedicated to all the ladies of the world. It would eventually turn out to be his first and only Number 1, selling over 250,000 copies.

5: Ace Of Base – The Sign

Following on from a Number 1 with 1993’s All That She Wants, Sweden’s poppiest export since you-know-who (we mean Abba, in case you didn’t guess), Ace Of Base were feeling very pleased with themselves upon scoring their second Top 10 with The Sign. The track had peaked at Number 2, and this week in 1994 was on its way down. The Sign sold over 350,000 copies and three more Top 10s would follow it, including covers of Aswad’s Don’t Turn Around and Bananarama’s Cruel Summer.

See the full Top 40 from this week in 1994.