Alex Warren gets a fourth week at number one with Ordinary. Elton John, in collaboration with Brandi Carlile gets his tenth number one album

Alex Warren still has the number one single. Elton John gets another number one album.

Alex Warren’s Ordinary remains at the top of the chart for a fourth week at number one. It is the second song to spend a month at the summit this year after Lola Young’s Messy. Yes, we have had a messy month and now we have an ordinary one.

Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club spends a third consecutive week at number two, it’s fourth week in the runner-up slot in total.

When Ed Sheeran released - in 2023m he said that it marked the end of his albums named after arithmetic symbols. Now he is about to start a new collection of albums.These are to be named after buttons on a CD player (or various other devices), starting with Play. The first single from the album Azizam (Persian for my dear) was released last week and it is this week’s highest new entry, at number three. He is joined on the song by a number of Iranian and Indian musicians, playing traditional instruments. It is Sheeran’s 63rd top forty hit, the 42nd to make the top ten and the 30th to reach the top five. The lad from Halifax (and who spent most of his childhood in Suffolk) has done quite well.

Doechii’s Anxiety slips one place to number four. Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things clocks up a twentieth week in the top five. It is at number five this week.

Having surprised many people by getting a top twenty hit earlier this year, Sleep Token have done even better with Caramel at number ten. This all bodes well for their new album which is released next month.

With all the turmoil caused by the acts of an ego on the other side of the Atlantic, now might seem a good time to release a song called End Of The World although a new version of a similarly-titled REM song might have been even more apt (and less apocalyptic). Miley Cyrus, for it is she, might even have re-released Wrecking Ball instead. However, she has gone with End Of The World and it is at number 23. As it is a good deal better than Wrecking Ball, I’m not complaining. It is her 26th top forty hit.

Just a few weeks ago we were treated to an album featuring an excellent live performance by Florence and the Machine at last year’s BBC Proms. Now she is back in the singles chart thanks to a remix of Spectrum by a Manchester producer who goes by the glorious name of Morgan Seatree. As far as I can tell, that is his real name. Spectrum, taken from the Ceremonials album, reached number one in 2012 while the London Olympics were in full flow. This version, under the title Say My Name, is at number 31.

Pink Pantheress enters at number 35 with Tonight. It is her fifth top forty hit although, so far, only one of them has been a major hit. Boy’s A Liar reached number two in 2023 but none of her other songs have made the top twenty.

Nathan Dawe and Abi Flynn’s Here In Your Arms is at number 36 after floating around outside the top forty for the last couple months.

Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso has dropped out of the chart as it is no longer her third ranked song. It has been replaced by Taste at number 37. It was last in the top forty in February. She also has a re-entry at number 34 with Juno. That song left the chart in December.

Sombr’s Undressed reaches a deserved new peak of number 28. His other charting song Back To Friends also climbs to new heights. It is at number 25. Last week Show Me Love by WizTheMC and bees & honey took a little rest, staying at number fourteen after a 24-place jump the previous week. This week it climbs into the top ten at number eight.

Elton John famously had to wait until 1990 to get his first solo number one single, nearly two decades after his first hit. By contrast, he had his first chart-topping album in 1973 with Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player, his sixth album in under four years. His most recent compilation Diamonds, released in 2017, became his ninth number one album at the beginning of this year.

Last week he released an album in collaboration with US singer Brandi Carlisle, Who Believes In Angels? The album instantly becomes Elton John’s tenth number one and allows Carlisle to enter the top forty in the UK for the first time. The songs on the album were co-written by John and Carlisle along with John’s regular collaborator Bernie Taupin.

Added to his ten number one singles, his twenty chart-toppers see him pull ahead of Madonna. Only eleven acts have spent longer at the top of the two main charts. His new total of 60 weeks at the top of the charts again sees him pull clear of Madonna. He draws level with Take That in joint seventh place in the all-time list. Many thanks again to Colin for the figures he sent me at the beginning of the year.

After a week in unfamiliar territory Sabrina Carpenter’s Short ‘n’ Sweet is back at number two for a twentieth week.

Shortly before the release of their second album in 2002, Black Country New Road’s vocalist Isaac Wood announced that he was leaving the band for mental health reasons. For their new album they have used three vocalists, all of them women. One of them, Tyler Hyde, is the daughter of Underworld’s Karl Hyde. Forever Howlong is a new entry at number three.

Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine is at number four. Two of the songs from the album that were in the chart last week (Dandelion and Intro) have left the top forty. Twilight Zone has dropped ten places to number fifteen. Ed Sheeran’s Tour Collection climbs back up to number five after the release of his new single.

As I have commented before, there are times when it is not hard to see why a singer has chosen not to use their real name. Would Derek Dick have succeeded under that name? The are other times when a singer’s real name is rather more exotic than their chosen alternative. If your name was really Hayden Silas Anhedönia, why would you choose to record under the name Ethel Cain? Still, it’s her choice  She released her debut album Preacher’s Daughter in March 2022 to be greeted by near universal indifference. Following the release of a physical version last week, it enters the chart for the first time at number ten.

Billy Joel’s Piano Man compilation returns to the top forty at number 37. It has been in the top 100 almost continuously since the beginning of 2022, but this is its first appearance in the top forty since July 2010.

Before Lush  the brand, we had Lush the band. They were formed in 1987 and became part of the shoegaze movement that was a prominent part of the indie scene in the 1990s. Miki Berenyi, who provided the aptly lush vocals for the band, is now involved in two other musical projects. One of them, the Miki Berenyi trio, released a superb debut album Tripla last week.

Lush disbanded following the death of their drummer Chris Acland. They later re-formed with Justin Welch on drums. He had previously worked with Elastica, the band formed by Justine Friuschmann after she left Suede. Welch also preceded Simon Gilbert briefly as Suede’s drummer. Before that they had used a (Psycho for) drum machine.

The above two paragraphs were written at the beginning of the week when Tripla was at number twelve in the first midweek update. I had thought that that would be enough to see it just about hold on to a top forty place in the final chart. Alas, that was not to be. However, there is a reason for keeping it in and it has nothing to do with the opportunity to mention Suede.

Regular readers will know that I usually only pay tribute to a musician who has died in the preceding week if they can be linked to a song in the current chart. The last paragraph illustrates just how far I will go to find an excuse to mention the death of a member of one of my all-time favourite bands. It wasn;t just an excuse to mention Suede.

Drummers are a much-maligned breed. What do you call someone who hangs around with musicians? A drummer. Ho ho ho. Yet, drummers can be as essential a part of a band as a conductor is for an orchestra. One such was Clem Burke of Blondie who died this week aged 70. Debbie Harry (who, for obvious reasons, gained most of the attention) and Chris Stein were founder members of the band and Burke joined them shortly after, remaining a member ever since. Such was his brilliance that Dreaming, one of their number one hits in the UK, has been described as a drum solo with other members able to join in. 

Like Lush, Blondie had a spell on hiatus before, in their case, returning with the brilliant number one single Maria. In that time Clem Burke played with The Ramones (as Elvis Ramone) as well as Eurythmics, Bob Dylan and others. The music world is poorer without him.