wibble

On the singles chart it’s a fairly quiet week this week as the top 3 singles remain locked at the top. It’s that quiet that three songs climb within the Top 10, and overall there are 8 singles climbing in the Top 75 this week. Simon Webbe climbs three places from #7 to #4 with No Worries, and his previous entry, Lay Your Hands, registers a 6 place climb further down the chart (#64 to #58).

Although a quiet week, there’s only slightly less than the usual number of entries in the Top 75, but only 4 of the 18 this week manage to debut within the Top 20. The highest of these new entries goes to Gorillaz whose Dirty Harry track enters at #6. This means that they currently have 3 songs in the chart - Dirty Harry #6, Dare #28, Feel Good Inc #68.

Feel Good Inc registers its 30th week in the Top 75 and there are currently a few contenders who could top this before leaving the chart. James Blunt’s You’re Beautiful is currently on it’s 26th week, and just outside the Top 40, and Daniel Powter’s Bad Day in on 18 weeks and sitting at #20. Surely downloads are bringing some ’stability’ to the chart these days?

On the albums chart, Madonna stays at the summit for another week, only narrowly staying ahead of Will Young’s latest offering by 3,000 copies. This is Will Young’s third album in four years and his first week sales are way down on previous tallies.

Enya does her usual and releases a new album just in time for Christmas and enters at #8. However, with this album sounding just like the rest, it will be interesting to see if any previous success can be emulated. In the US, where Only Time was played constantly after the 9/11 attacks, it will be even more interesting to see if the new album catches on more.

Busted re-incarnation Son Of Dork only manage to enter at #35. Definitely not worth splitting up for…

#1 singles sales this year:

It’s a busy week this week at the top of the singles chart with six new entries in the Top 10 alone - Black Eyed Peas, Girls Aloud, Will Young, Liberty X, The Darkness and the White Stripes making their entrance in the Top 10. For all of them it’s not their debut single, so I would presume it’s the start of the big guns getting ready for the Christmas market and the usual Christmas cash-in album that usually gets released. It’s interesting that the rest of the new entries further down the chart are by not as big artists as those at the top.

Take That make a return to the albums chart, complete with the talk of recent weeks that they are considering a ‘reunion’. They’re still popular despite quitting about 10 years ago, in part due to everyone being reminded of them in the form of Robbie Williams, but I feel a reunion would not be in their best interests. Although pop is still pop, times and tastes have changed since then.

Alanis Morrissette mirrors the poor showing of her last single with her latest album, a Greatest Hits package entering at #44. There was a time when she’d be sitting near the top of the charts. The War Of The Worlds makes a return this week as well, no doubt helped by the release of the DVD last week, and also as Christmas presents.

Spare a thought for Bananarama this week - their single takes a dive down the singles chart, but this is not as bad as the debut position of their latest album, which only manages to enter at #169. A sad state of affairs for one of the great groups of the 80s.
#1 singles sales this year:

At #3 is Son Of Dork, created by ‘the one who left Busted’. Even though Busted are no more as a result of this, Son Of Dork manage to release a song which sounds just like Busted… - so was it worth the split, and why such a silly name>

Further down the chart is an oddity - Monkey Hangerz. This song is for Hartlepool United Football Club, and the proceeds are going into the Youth programme at the club. While this is nothing new, it’s interesting that the song has managed to sell so well and get to #24, entering higher than releases by established artists Jamiroquai (#27) and Bananarama (#26).

Bananarama are back with a typically Bananarama sound, brought up to date production-wise. This release comes before the release of the album next week, which sounds like the Bananrama of old.

For some reason I’m not sure of, James Blunt leaps 12 places back into the Top 40, which isn’t bad for a song that’s been on the chart for 24 weeks so far. The James Blunt soundalike Daniel Powter becomes involved in a chart mix-up this week, as his latest single becomes ineligible because it carries a live version of an existing charting song, Bad Day. This is against the chart rules and therefore has not been included in this weeks chart.

On the albums chart, Westlife are deposed after one week by the second offering from Il Divo. Throughout the week it was a race between Il Divo and Kate Bush, with Il Divo being the winner and Kate Bush being relegated to third place behind Westlife. Kate Bush releases her latest album since Red Shoes in 1993, and it does indeed sound typically Kate Bush. Listening to the Kate Bush album, you can definitely hear the influence she has had on Tori Amos.

As I wrote last week, Texas and Eurythmics enter the albums chart this week, although Eurythmics do far better, entering at #5, while Texas have to settle for #16. Along with these two acts, some other older artists released albums this week - Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler at #20, Bob Marley at #26, Foster And Allen at #30 and Elvis Presley at #31.

#1 singles sales this year:

This week sees the return of two 80s groups - Texas at #13 and Eurythmics at #14, although Texas have been steadily churning out the songs since the late 80s. Eurythmics are soon to release a Greatest Hits package, and this song is the teaser for the album.

Way down at #65 is Alanis Morissette, with a cover of Seal’s Crazy. Again, this is in preparation for a Greatest Hits package, but with no promotion, the song is unlikely to climb any further.

Onthe albums chart, Westlife manage a large lead over second placed Robbie Williams - a lead of about 90,000. However, their lead will be threatened over the next few weeks by releases from Kate Bush and Madonna.

Rod Stewart releases the fourth in his collection of ‘Great American Songbook’ titles, and we’re assured that it’s going to be the last. Perhaps this comment accounted for the increase in first week sales over its predecessor?

Other than entries from Katherine Jenkins and Blink-182 in the top 10, most of the debuts this week are further down the chart, most of which are selling less than 10,000 each. All in all, a quiet week then.

#1 singles sales this year: