If we thought that Iron Maiden scoring a heavy metal #1 was unexpected, then it seems positively mainstream compared with the intro of our next chart-topper.
Sadeness Part I, by Enigma (their 1st and only #1)
1 week, from 13th – 20th January 1991
For how about some Gregorian chanting (in Latin, of course) to kick off 1991? Chanting that is mixed with a chilled-out dance beat, and then replaced by some electronic pan pipes. It’s the culmination of the new-age vibe that’s been infiltrating pop music over the past few years – think Enya, Simple Minds, even recent Cliff – and it means that this record sounds highly innovative and unusual; and yet truly dated.
A bit later a crunchy guitar comes in, while a woman mutters breathily in French, reminding me of Serge & Jane. These are the moments that lift this record above being something you’d hear in the background as someone performs an aromatherapy massage. I do like the drop, the do-doop-de-doo fill, too. It’s way beyond my usual wheelhouse – I have a deep distrust of anything that could feature in a ‘chillout’ playlist – but there’s enough going on here, a lot even, to keep things interesting.
The lyrics, such as they are, appear in Latin and in French. And if you were thinking a song this weird couldn’t possibly have banal lyrics about love and laughter then you’d be correct. It’s written in the form of an address to the Marquis de Sade (hence the title), the notorious 18th century French author and libertine responsible for some of the most outrageously explicit writing in history. (As an aside, I studied literature at university, and the only time we received a content warning, and were allowed to skip a text if we felt uncomfortable, was as we were about to read Sade’s ‘Justine’. There’s a reason the man gave his name to the term ‘Sadism’…) Anyway. Sade tell me, What are you looking for…? the song asks. Sade, are you evil or divine…?
I’m loath to label this as ‘not good’. When it comes to writing these posts, a record featuring chanting monks and pan-pipes, about a notorious sex-offender, is certainly more interesting to write about than your average dance hit. And it’s amazing how sophisticated dance music has become in the past couple of years, since the Hi-NRG heyday of SAW, and how quickly things have chilled out. But at the same time. ‘Sadeness Part 1’ isn’t something I’d ever incorporate into my daily playlists.
Enigma were a German ‘musical project’, helmed by German-Romanian producer Michael Cretu, and this was their breakthrough hit. And what a hit: number one across Europe, and Top 5 in the US. They struggled to match this success until the lead single from their second album, ‘Return to Innocence’, made #3 three years later. That record ditched the monks and went for more ethnic, tribal chanting.
Since then, Enigma have continued to record without particularly bothering the charts, including a 2006 concept album based on an imagined collision between the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies. Because why not? Cretu’s greatest moment may have come long before Enigma and his championing of world music, though: he played keyboards on Boney M’s 1978 #1 ‘Rivers of Babylon’…
The UK Number Ones Blog 
I recall this one very slightly, but it wasn’t really my playlist material either and it rather passed me by. Fascinating story, though – it certainly gave you something very different to write about, from the creepy literary illusions to the Boney M connection!
Yes, it’s a curio. I think I mention in my next post that this must be one of strangest runs of number ones ever…
I wouldn’t call myself a ‘new age’ music person, but I did rather enjoy the Enya No. 1, mainly because there was quite a strong melodic hook to it. I often thought of ‘Tubular Bells’ and Mike Oldfield’s epics as being the start of new age music in rock, but the great thing about Mike was that his music wasn’t ambient, as I see it. His longer pieces would lull you into this sonic, peaceful musical dreamworld, and then suddenly bring you down to earth with this astonishing (and very hooky) guitar solo, something eccentric like the grunting caveman on TB Side 2, or a bit of Celtic folk, hornpipe, or whatever. But I do occasionally blame him a little for having been the inspiration for younger musicians who may have talent but lack his imagination!
I remember when this came out. I was 24. It was so different. I loved it. Of course, I’m one of those types that like “new agey” music.
For the longest time, I had no idea what “sadeness” was. I always thought it was a misspelling of “sadness.” LOL!
Me too! I mean, it’s hardly obvious what on earth it’s about, so a misspelling makes sense…
Yes, I remember you were a fan of the Enya tune I posted a few months ago!
As you say, this is a weird selection of number one songs, the next three included. Compare it to the recent charts though, weeks and weeks of Sheeran, Bieber and Adele and I’m glad this was my era
I think this is the start of a good decade and a half of variety and interest on the singles chart (not that it will all be good, far from it!), and it will be fun to relive and write about it. Until downloads, and then streaming, come in to ruin everything…
This one is strange…it almost sounds like a movie soundtrack…in parts the Exorcist lol.
Yes I can hear that. Hint of Tubular Bells…
I Loved New Age, Ambient, loved Tubular Bells, loved this and loved their 1994 album. I also loved his missus’ vocals on it, and her classic 80’s Eurohit I’m Never Gonna Be Maria Magdalena (Sandra). In the UK it was known as Sadness, so that sadist link went unnoticed! It is, regardless, a unique number one and extremely laid-back and groovy, and it’s still pretty much highly-regarded and by new music fans who weren’t around at the time – probably because it sounds like nothing else.
Interestingly, all the official charts seem to refer to it now as ‘Sadeness’. Must have been retrospectively altered. But I did see many of the record’s sleeves omitted the ‘e’ at the time. I think ‘Sadness’ works just as well as a title for this strange, melancholy song…