This week’s commentary is by Popchartfreak

Sabrina Carpenter’s back on top part 2, Slim Shady isn’t dead yet on albums.


Please Please Please has been denied the top spot for the last 2 weeks thanks to Espresso domination, but as that track hits ACR she replaces herself on top for the 2nd time and grabs a fourth week at number one for a total of 11 weeks this year. Billie Eilish’s fabulous BIRDS OF A FEATHER and Chappell Roan’s wonderful Good Luck, Babe both battled it out for a close number 2 new peak behind the also excellent Sabrina single - in the event Billie got 2 and Chappell 3, but it was wafer thin. BTS spin-off’s continue as Jimin enters at 4 with Who. That would be more impressive if there hadnt been about 150 versions of the song out to buy to make sure that top 10 slot was booked. That’ll be a 4th solo hit then. Completing the top 5, Myles Smith also hits a new peak of 5 with Stargazing, a great track Radio 2 picked up on from release.

Second-Highest new entry comes from Little Mix’er JADE with new track Angel Of My Dreams at 7 giving her a debut hit that samples Sandie Shaw’s Puppet On A String 1967 Eurovision winner. Actual Sandie is there at the intro, so she features in her first chart hit of any order for 30 years, her first top 40 for 40 years, and first top 10 for 55 years. I bet Sandie likes this decent track more than her own, though she did remix it for charity last year. This Sandie Shaw fan likes to be able to say JADE got her a chart span of 60 years. Elsewhere in the top 10, Dasha’s back up again, to 8 with the catchy Austin, and Kendrick Lamarr is Not Like Us at 10, Espresso at 9 and Houdini at 6.

Bl3ss and CamrinWatsin join the club of annoyingly spelt names to go top 20 up from 24 to 13 with Kisses featuring bbyclose. P0pchrtfrk sez lern2spll. The record prob sounds better in a club with triple bacardi and some shots. Jordan Adetunji also climbs up, to 17 with KEHLANI, oh hang on while i get that Phone. Too late! Heavy on autotune, so enough of that for now. Chappell Roan is Hot To Go at 19 so Chappell has three consecutive peakers, ooerrr, as the poptastic Red Wine Supernova is also back in the top 40 at a peak of 39. Charlie xcx meanwhile has yet another track out with Apple debuting at 23 to join 360 climbing back up. All I can say is “Core!” as once more there are lots of little repetitive touches to distract one’s attention from the song. Just been nominated for a Mercury Prize, the current album. Hmmm, I’m guessing notgonnawin...

Stray Kids debut at 30 with Chk Chk Boom seems to be a K-pop spin-off of Deadpool & Wolverine, the very funny new movie has a great soundtrack and lols galore. If it hadn’t been for the Hollywood writer’s strike Stray Kids might have been in the film as opposed to Ryan and Hugh just being in their video, so there’s something to say for industrial action. As for the song, Jonathan King once sang Chick A Boom, which at least one person I know (me) could sing with no problem. I’m guessing Ryan’s kids love this though. Me, I’m hoping to see Jimmy Durante chart next week from the movie, with his archive version of the 1938 song I’ll Be Seeing You. I may be disappointed.

Adam Port & Stryvo Move up 14, Eminem’s back with another album song, Brand New Dance, at 38 as people realise there are other better songs to stream outside the first 2 tracks. Track 4 for example (this one). It’s so easy to predict which new album tracks will chart highest. It’s always the first 2 as people play them and some then get bored and go do something else. Dominic Fike is in at 34, with Misses, after bubbling under a few weeks. Dominic gets his first top 40 hit in 5 years-ish, since 3 Nights went top 3. Finally, we have Majestic at 40 with a mash-up of Celine Dion’s I’m Alive and The Whispers’ And The Beat Goes On from my final summer at Uni, and which works really well. I bought Set My Heart On Fire first week of release and it’s only taken 10 chart weeks to get there, Radio 2 finally getting behind it, and me mentioning Celine singing “when you call on me” sounds like something else entirely. Majestic has charted before recently with remixes (Boney M’s Rasputin) but Celine hasn’t charted since 2007, and is the second Eurovision winner to get a mention this week.


Over on albums Eminem holds on to the top spot for a second week, as reports of Slim Shady’s death are clearly exaggerated, so a bit of a Coup de Grace there. Olivia Rodrigo climbs for some reason I’m not aware of, as her GUTS rests in runner-up position, with the two highest new entries at 3 for SOFT PLAY (with Heavy Jelly) and Glass Animals at 5 (I Love You So F-Expletive Much). Soft Play are an English rock punk duo from Royal Tunbridge Wells aka Slaves, so this makes 4 top 10 albums in a row in 9 years, while Glass Animals are an English indie band that had that massive global hit Heat Waves 3 years back. This is their second top album, and third top 40, in 8 years, though it falls short of the number 2 of Dreamland.

Taylor Swift continues to torture poets in her department, dropping to 4, and other new entries include Los Campesinos! at 14 with All Hell. The Welsh indie-pop band have been knocking about since 2006, and releasing albums since 2008, but this is the first to chart inside the top 40. 10th time lucky then! Deep Purple are iconic, they’ve been having Progrock/Metal hits, singles and albums, since 1968, still tour, and lead singer Ian Gillan had his own 80’s career as Gillan, after doing the lead singing on their early classic albums. Ignoring live albums, compilations and the like, (an industry in itself for their loyal fans, one of my friends has the lot) =1 new at 12 is their 23rd studio album, their 15th top 40, they have 2 studio number ones, and a total of 26 top 40 albums including live albums and hits albums.

Next in, Morrisson drops British Trap Royalty at 28, and I assume he’s the British rapper who’s on his first ever album, and album chart hit with a bit of brag in the title. It seems unlikely that it’s a supermarket compilation, so I’ll go for that. Childish Gambino likes to keep busy, and Bando Stone and the New World is in at 33, fairly low for one so well-known, aka Actor/wriiter Donald Glover. I liked him best in The Martian, Solo, Spider-Man: Homecoming, but his albums have never been huge - this is just his third of 5 to go top 40. I was a big fan of his early UK flop single Redbone in 2016, so it’s nice to see him still around beyond Summertime Magic and This Is America.

Finally, I hope Simon is enjoying his French connection, and isn’t at the moment waiting for a train for hours!