Dave gets his fourth number one single, helping Tems to get her first. Robbie Williams gets a record-breaking sixteenth number one album.

Dave’s Raindance entered the top ten last November and was one of the few non-festive songs to remain in the top forty for the whole of December. After climbing to number three last week, it now climbs to the summit to give him a fourth number one single. It also helps Tems, the featured artist, to get her first chart-topping single. Solder readers will remember that the UK experienced a lot of rainfall throughout Rihanna’s ten-week stay at number one with Umbrella. Judging by this week’s weather, Raindance is threatening to repeat the trick.

Djo’s End Of The Beginning slips to number two after a fortnight at the top. Raye’s search for her husband goes on. She climbs to number three in Where Is My Husband’s sixteenth week in the top ten. Taylor Swift’s The Fate Of Ophelia is at number four. Bruno Mars climbs to number five with I Just Might.

There is a distinct lack of new entries this week, but there is a re=entry for a particularly brilliant song which is over 45 years old. The Cure released Boys Don’t Cry in 1979, but it wasn’t a hit. They had to wait until the following year for A Forest to see them in the top forty for the first time. In 1986, they released a new recording of Boys Don’t Cry. By this time they had become regular visitors to the singles chart and the remix reached number 22. A video accompanied by the song has become popular on TikTok which means that it is back in the chart at number 39.

The week’s other re-entry is a song that entered the chart last summer. Gunna and Burna Boy went on to spend two weeks at number 22 with Wgft before it fell out of the chart along with almost everything else at the end of the year. It is now back in the top forty at number 30.

The story of Robbie Williams’ solo career has been recounted many times. After leaving Take That he reached number two with his first two solo singles in 1996 and ‘97. The next two singles did less well, suggesting that he might struggle to achieve a successful solo career. Indeed, I was able to get a ticket to see him at the 1,700- capacity Southampton Guildhall just a few days before the date of the gig. By the day  itself, it was not a sell-out.

Everything changed for Robbie Williams when he released Angels as a single in December 1997. While it didn’t get to number one, it became a massive hit, spending twelve weeks in the top ten. The host album, Life Thru A Lens, had only reached number eleven and soon left the chart. The success of Angels gave the album a major boost, sending it into the top ten for the first time and, eventually, to number one in April 1998.

Since Life Thru A Lens, Robbie Williams has notched up a further fourteen number one albums, the most recent of which was the Better Man soundtrack last year. That fifteenth number one album saw him draw level with The Beatles as the artist with the most number one albums. At the time, he made no secret of the fact that he wanted to beat the record.

The first reports of Robbie Williams latest album, Britpop, suggested that it was due for release last autumn. The existence of a Taylor Swift release has been suggested as a reason for its delay, although there was never an official autumn release date. Until last week, the album was expected on 6 February, but Williams sprung a surprise by releasing it last Friday (16 January). He has described the album as the one he would have liked to release as his solo debut, and there are certainly strong mid- to late 1990s indie vibes on many tracks. The album has been written without his regular writing partner Guy Chambers. Instead, Williams has collaborated with a number of writers including his former bandmate Gary Barlow and Gaz Coombes of Supergrass.

There was never any real doubt that Robbie Williams would succeed in his aim of getting a record-breaking sixteenth number one album. There was simply no serious opposition to overcome. The artist best placed to take his record is the aforementioned Taylor Swift who has, so far, had fourteen chart-topping albums.

Singer-songwriter Madison Beer’s first two albums both entered the chart at number 28 before dropping straight back out again, never to return. Her third set, Locket, has already outperformed them by entering at number three. Whether this one gets a second week in the chart remains to be seen.

Nathan Evans remains best-known for his unexpected number one single Wellerman in 2021. He now gets his most successful album with Angels’ Share, a collaboration with Saint Phnx Band, at number four. It is at number one in the Scottish Albums Chart.

Olivia Dean’s The Art Of Loving falls to number two after spending the last three weeks at the summit. Fleetwood Mac’s 50 Years: Don’t Stop collection is at number five.

As misleading band names go, Sleaford Mods is up (or should it be down) there with the best. They aren’t really a mod band at all. They are at number six with The Demise Of Planet X.

Still on the subject of misleading names, ASAP Rocky doesn’t make rock music, although he has given the writer Official Chart Company’s summary the chance to use their favourite word - multi-hyphenate - again. He is at number eight with Don’t Be Dumb.

Bristolian singer Elles Bailey got to number twelve in 2024 with her seventh album Beneath The Neon Glow. Its predecessor, Shining In The Half Light, was her first album to reach the chart but it fell just short of the top forty. She is now back in the chart with her latest album, Can’t Take My Story Away, at number fourteen.

Following the announcement of a new album and tour, two old Harry Styles albums return to the top forty. The most obvious successor to Robbie Williams as a former boyband member enjoying a hugely successful solo career is at number 32 with Harry’s House and number 37 with Fine Line.