Rudimental have a number one single before making it in to Wikipedia. Gary Barlow tops the albums chart.

Rudimental make their singles chart debut at number one despite nobody knowing who they are and Gary Barlow tops the albums chart.

Oh what a tangled web we weave. This is a great week for lovers of obscure links.

Well, it had to happen some time, this week’s number one single come from an outfit who are so obscure that they don’t yet have a Wikipedia page. Richard Osman and lovers of Pointless will be celebrating this triumph of obscurity. Rudimental’s last.fm page informs us that they are a quartet from east London who have stated that their mission is to bring back soul into electronic music. Hey ho. Their single Feel The Love features John Newman who is equally hard to research, not least because his name is not exactly uncommon.

fun. drop to number two after just a week at the top although a return to the summit cannot be ruled out.

The Eurovision song contest was held last week and it ended in triumph for Sweden, one of the few countries who can afford to stage it next year. The winning song, Loreen’s Euphoria is a new entry at number three, the highest position for a foreign winning song since A Little Peace by Nicole who won the contest for West Germany (as it then was) in 1982. It matches the peak of the last British winner, Love Shine A Light by Katrina and the Waves in 1997. Loreen (Lorine Zineb Noka Talhaoui) got her breakthrough when she came fourth Swedish Idol in 2004. However, after just one single she took a break before returning in 2011. Euphoria had already been number one in several European countries before the contest, unlike the UK entry which hasn’t been anywhere near number one anywhere.

The members of Lawson come from various English cities and are now based in London. The band were originally called The Grove but changed their namer to Lawson last year after the singer had a brain tumour removed by a neurosurgeon called David Lawson. Isn’t that awesome? The fact that they supported The Wanted (whose latest effort falls to number ten this week) on tour tells you all you need to know about what sort of band they are. Their debut single When She Was Mine enters at number four this week.

Carly Rae Jepsen’s slow descent continues as Call Me Maybe slips two places to number five in its fifth week since falling from number one.

Very few people will have been expecting a musical masterpiece when they heard that Gary Barlow had been commissioned to write a song to commemorate the fact that Betsy Windsor has survived 60 years of luxury since her dad died. However, not many people will have been prepared for just how horrific this saccharine-infested, sycophantic tripe would be. Barlow has written some of the best pop songs of the 21st century. However, when he writes for anyone other than Take That, all his musical ability seems to disappear. How may of the people who have got Sing, credited to Barlow and the Commonwealth Choir, to number 11 will listen to it again after this week?

Inevitably there was a campaign to get the Sex Pistols’ God Save The Queen to number one this week. In the event it didn’t even make the top 75. The song initially reached number two in 1977, beaten to the top by Rod Stewart in the week that some people were celebrating 25 years of Betsy. It is now generally accepted that the various conspiracy theories were false and that the Rod Stewart single was genuinely the best selling single in chart return shops. Whether that was influenced by the number of shops which refused to sell the record - perhaps forcing people to buy it from shops which were not part of the chart return panel - will probably never be known. All that can be said is that the refusal of individual retailers to sell a song is unlikely to influence the chart now that almost all legitimate sales are counted.

Sebastian Ingrosso (one third of Swedish House Mafia) enters at number 19 with Calling (Lose My Mind). He is joined by fellow Swdish DJ Alesso (the plural of which Alessi had a top ten hit in 1977 - that year again - with Oh Lori) and Ryan Tedder of One Republic. Of course, if the UK was one republic (presumably renamed), we would have been spared Gary Barlow’s monstrosity. Until December 2010 there had never been a hit single called Lose My Mind. The Wanted (them again) broke that duck and now there have been two. The Pet shop Boys produced Losing My Mind was Liza Minnelli’s only top ten single in the UK.

Last night (Saturday) Leanne Mitchell was crowned the winner of the first UK series of The Voice. Today, another shouty talent show winner returns to the chart. However, in a further sign that Alexandra Burke’s career is in the wane, Let It Go can only get to number 33.

Non Beliebers may have wished they had avoided the early part of the chart show today as little Justin appears three times. Live My Life (number 29) and Boyfriend (37) are both falling but they are joined this week by Die In Your Arms at number 34. It is the first chart hit called Die In Your Arms although (I Just) Died In Your Arms was a 1986 hit for Cutting Crew whose singer Nicky Eede was in the year above me at school. The song topped the American chart which leaves me able to claim that I have performed on stage with someone who has had a number one single in the US. OK, so I was part of the band who were out of sight while he played the lead role in Benjamin Britten’s adaptation of Noye’s Fludde but it still counts.

Wretch 32 and Ed Sheeran enter at number 35 with Hush Little Baby. Ed is likely to appear in next week’s chart with a song about the baby before it actually is a baby.

Coldplay & Rihanna continue to climb, reaching number 13 with Princess Of China.

After last week’s false hope Sexy And I Know it has finally left the chart this week after 36 weeks. That leaves Take Care by Rihanna and Drake as the only survivor from the last chart of 2011. The song has now spent 26 weeks in the top 40. Titanium has been around for 23 weeks and Somebody That I Used To Know is on 21. The latter song has dropped out of the top ten this week after a run of 18 weeks.

There are six new albums in the top ten this week including the whole of the top five.

As if the single wasn’t enough Gary Barlow and chums have also released an album to provide an even longer slush-fest. Again, while the album has gone straight to number one, it is hard to imagine many buyers will listen to it much after this week.

Paloma Faith’s second album Fall To Grace led the way in the midweek updates but ends the week at number two, seven places ahead of the peak position achieved by her debut Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful in 2009.

Rumer’s debut album Seasons Of My Soul was a surprise hit in late 2010 / early 2011. The follow-up Boys Don’t Cry was released this week and enters at number three, matching Seasons Of My Soul. She may well be the only person called Sarah Joyce to have been born in Islamabad. Boys Don’t Cry was a hit for The Cure in 1986 but no song of that name appears on the album. While her debut album was mostly self-penned, this one contains songs by the writers as diverse as Jimmy Webb (not McArthur Park), Isaac Hayes, Richie Havens, Hall & Oates and Todd Rundgren. Just to continue our theme of links, there is also a song by Ronnie Laine who was a member of the Small Faces. When they disbanded, some of the members (not Laine) formed a new group called simply The Faces with Rod Stewart (yes, he’s back).

The Scissor Sisters’ first two albums reached number one in 2004 and 2006 while their third release Night Work fell one place short. Therefore, they may be rather cut up about the fact that their fourth set Magic Hour can only get to number four. They have played a few dates in the UK to promote the album and will be back later this year.

Most of Russell Watson’s albums have been released to exploit the Christmas market. However, his latest album jumps on a different bandwagon. The title, Anthems, is a bit of a giveaway. Predictably it is not a collection of Britpop anthems such as Wake Up Boo! and Common People. Instead it includes songs such as White Cliffs Of Dover (with Vera Lynn), Danny Boy, Flower Of Scotland and Calon Lan. The last named song is the Welsh Rugby Union team song and was performed by that Welsh choir on Britain’s Got Talent. It is a new entry at number five.

Iceland’s contribution to the British charts have been fairly limited and almost exclusively odd. The Sugarcubes had fairly limited success but they did give us Björk who might be described as a bit like Kate Bush, only more bonkers. Then there is Sigur Rós who are also decidedly weird. After all, not many bands call an album () or invent their own language (Hopelandic). They are, of course, best known for the wonderful Hoppipolla, their only top 40 hit and a version of which - retitled Poppiholla - gave Chicane a top ten hit in 2009. Their best chart performance was with their 2009 album Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust which reached number five. This week they return to the top ten, at number eight, with Valtari, their sixth studio album.

Even with six new entries in the top ten Adele is one of the four survivors from last week. She drops to number ten, the lowest position for 21 in its 71st week in the chart. Coldplay almost return to the top ten as Mylo Xyloto climbs back up to number 11. Their UK tour has just got underway with support from the still brilliant Ash.

Melody Gardot last graced the top 40 in June 2009 with her second album My One And Only Thrill. It may no longer be her only thrill as she now gets a second top 40 success with The Absence at number 18.

One place lower Alt-J have their first chart appearance with their debut album An Awesome Wave. The band met at Leeds University but are now based in Cambridge. The band are named after the Mac keyboard command for a delta sign. ∆. See, it works.

In their early days Ultravox were led by John Foxx and had an exclamation mark after their name. They didn’t achieve any significant commercial success until they were resurrected with Foxx replaced by Midge Ure who had previously been in boyband Slik and the punk-ish Rich Kids, a band formed with former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock (this really is a good week for everything linking together). Midge Ure acquired his name when he was the second Jim in an earlier band so they just reversed it to Mij. He also worked with Visage and, briefly, Thin Lizzy when Gary Moore left. Now, of course, he is best known as that other bloke who wrote the Band Aid song with Bob Geldof.

As for Ultravox they will forever be known for the classic Vienna which has gone down in history as one of the unluckiest number two singles. In its first week at number two in early 1981 it was beaten by the recently assassinated John Lennon and then spent three agonising weeks behind one of the worst chart toppers of the decade (or any decade for that matter). When the NME asked Vic Reeves (whose real name, Jim Moir, is uncannily like Jim Ure) to contribute to their album to commemorate 40 years of number ones (Ruby Trax), he chose to do a cover of Vienna and nobody at the NME wanted to point out that it wasn’t actually a number one so it made it onto the album.

Ultravox’s last two studio albums, Revelation (1993) and Ingenuity (1994) were made without Midge Ure. His last album with them was U-Vox in 1986. They have now re-formed again with Ure back on vocals and their new album Brilliant is a new entry at number 21, their best chart position since U-Vox.

Regina Spektor’s first four albums all failed to make any impact on the top 40. That finally changed in 2009 when her fifth album, Far, got to number 30. Her sixth album has continued the improvement in chart position (although probably with lower first week sales) as What We Saw From The Cheap Seats is a new entry at number 24. Welcome To The Cheap Seats was a hit single for The Wonder Stuff with backing vocals from the wonderful, much missed Kirsty MacColl. It was the follow-up to their number one hit Dizzy which they performed with Vic Reeves so there is another link.

Returning to the Sex Pistols theme for the last time, their most famous member John Lydon (Johnny Rotten as was) formed Public Image Limited after the Pistols disintegrated. They released their first album in 1978 with Metal Box - which was indeed packaged in a metal box - following a year later. Their last studio album, That What Is Not was released in 1992. Now, twenty years on, they join the list of re-formed bands to release some new material and This Is PiL is a new entry at number 35.

The only re-entry this week is The Black Keys’ El Camino at number 38.

Once again there are some massive falls for some of last week’s high new entries. Joe Bonamassa tumbles from number two all the way to number 33. If he had held on to the top spot last week - he was ahead in the early midweeks - he would have broken the record for a fall from number one. John Mayer crashes from number four to number 30 and Tom Jones drop 18 places to 26. The Enemy drop out of the top 40 altogether from last week’s number nine. Adele’s 19 leaves the top 40 for only the second time since it returned to the top ten in January last year. It has spent a total of 107 weeks in the top 40.