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[ThePensmith]

Hello everyone, hope those of you enjoying the half term have been enjoying it - or if you're just giving yourself a break, hope you're enjoying it too. Time for my personal top 20 this week - are Julia Michaels and Niall Horan about to hang on for a second week, or have new entries from Take That and Jamie Lawson proved too much of a tight run for them? Here's your answer...

THEPENSMITH'S TOP 20 SINGLES CHART
Week ending 22nd February 2019
© AM LIMITED 2019

1. (1) JULIA MICHAELS FEAT. NIALL HORAN - What A Time
2. (2) BUSTED - Radio
3. (3) LSD - Mountains
4. (HNE) TAKE THAT - Everlasting
5. (6) JACK & JACK - Daydreaming
6. (4) FOUR OF DIAMONDS - Blind
7. (5) DIDO - Give You Up
8. (NE) JAMIE LAWSON - The Answer
9. (8) WESTLIFE - Hello My Love
10. (7) NOW UNITED - All Day

11. (9) UNPERFECT - Gots To Give The Girl
12. (NE) HANNE LELAND - Ego Talking
13. (NE) BRYAN ADAMS - Shine A Light
14. (NE) JAMES MORRISON FEAT. JOSS STONE - My Love Goes On
15. (11) JENNIFER LOPEZ - Limitless
16. (13) MATE - Myself
17. (14) CLAIRE RICHARDS - Shame On You
18. (15) LOS UNIDADES FEAT. PHARRELL WILLIAMS & JOZZY - E-Lo
19. (17) LAUV - Superhero
20. (10) PET SHOP BOYS - Give Stupidity A Chance

Compiled from my own personal listening in the last seven days across streaming, digital and physical formats.

KEY

(1) - last week's position
(HNE) - highest new entry
(NE) - new entry
(RE) - re-entry

CHART COMMENTARY



It's been a return to a more familiar sight on my chart this week. Last week's top 3 all remain static, meaning of course, that Julia Michaels and Niall Horan notch up a second week at the top with 'What A Time'. The last time the top 3 records all held steady was at the very end of last year when Jess Glynne spent her third and final week at number one with 'Thursday', meaning that the rapid turnover of number ones we saw last month is over for now. Sometimes all it takes is the right song to ensure a run of at least several weeks at the top, and 'What A Time' - as illustrated by Julia and Niall's performance of it on The Late Late Show with James Corden over in America - is just such a record.



We have to correct ourselves slightly regarding an observation we made last week. Jonas Blue's 'Rise' with Jack & Jack (who incidentally climb a place to #5 with current single 'Daydreaming' this week) wasn't the biggest single on my chart last year to not reach number one. It was the third biggest. The actual title for that honour was jointly held between Michael Bublé's 'Love You Anymore' and Take That's 'Out Of Our Heads', both reaching #2 over the course of their three month apiece chart runs from October to December. Gary, Mark and Howard now finally follow up that huge hit with 'Everlasting', the second single to be lifted off their chart topping reworked 'best of' package 'Odyssey', which is this week's highest new entry at #4. I fancy it won't be around for quite as long as its predecessor, but it's another magical example of the pop they do best for sure.



For the first time in his career, Jamie Lawson has back to back top 10 hits on my personal chart - and his third such hit overall. 'Testify' was his last single, hitting #7 in December, and now the follow-up, 'The Answer' lands just one place short of that by debuting at this week's #8. Both singles are taken from the follow-up album to his 2015 chart topping self titled album, and is titled 'The Years In Between', which will hit shelves on 29th March.



This week's five newcomers to my top 20 are slightly disparately placed apart from one another - and the remaining three all line up one after another in the top 15. Hanne Leland scores her fourth straight top 20 hit a couple of weeks shy of a year after she made her debut with 'Carry On', which reached #10. 'Ego Talking' marks a slight recovery in form after her last single, 'Underdogs' could only hit #18 in November, the #12 entry point of this new single matching that of the peak and entry she achieved with her second single 'Fortress' in September.



Not one but two returning male solo stars follow Hanne at #13 and #14 this week. Canadian rocker Bryan Adams has had a litany of hits on my personal chart in the past - biggest of all being his chart topper almost 19 years ago to the week with Chicane on 'Don't Give Up'. The first single and title track from his fourteenth studio album 'Shine A Light' - which hits shelves next Friday - is his first top 20 single since 'Here I Am' made #11 back in July 2002.



One of the brightest hopes for success in the singer-songwriter boom of the early 00s, James Morrison made good on that promise with top 10 smashes for the likes of 'You Give Me Something', 'Wonderful World' and 'Broken Strings' with Nelly Furtado - the latter remaining his biggest hit to date when it made #2 on my chart in January 2009. His fifth studio album 'You're Stronger Than You Know' arrives on 8th March, and this first single, 'My Love Goes On' - a collaboration with Joss Stone, who now has her first top 20 hit since her own 'You Had Me' in September 2004 - debuts at #14.



FLASHBACK TOP 10
Your chance to see how my personal top 10 was looking on this week in the last 20 years. This week in 2002: No Doubt spend a second week at number one and break S Club 7's consecutive run of number ones, plus classic hits from DB Boulevard, Brandy and Victoria Beckham



1. (1) NO DOUBT FEAT. BOUNTY KILLER - Hey Baby



2. (HNE) S CLUB 7 - You
3. (NE) DB BOULEVARD - Point Of View
4. (NE) BRANDY - What About Us?
5. (NE) VICTORIA BECKHAM - A Mind Of Its Own
6. (2) P!NK - Get The Party Started
7. (NE) ALIZEE - Moi...Lolita
8. (3) BRITNEY SPEARS - Overprotected
9. (4) A1 - Caught In The Middle
10. (5) PURETONE - Addicted To Bass