007 Chart Commentary - Year 2012 (Part 1 of 2)

January

The start of the year saw Coldplay rise to #1 with their huge hit Paradise and score their 2nd chart topper. After debuting at #2 and spending several weeks in the top 10, Good Feeling by Flo Rida rose to #1. The same Etta James sample was used to provide Avicii with a #4 smash Levels. Taio Cruz made a return to the top 3 with Troublemaker, first of 2 big hits entitled Troublemaker in 2012. Jessie J scored her second #1 with Domino and Pixie Lott got an unexpected 3rd top 10 hit from album #2 with Kiss The Stars. Lana Del Rey scored a 2nd #9 hit with Born To Die, whilst still selling well with Video Games from last year. Michael Kiwinuka came top of the BBC Sound of 2012 poll but could only make minor top 30 with his debut single Home Again. Cover Drive scored their first #1 with Twilight but dropped quite quickly. Flo Rida teamed up with Sia to get another top 5 hit with Wild Ones, meanwhile Kelly Clarkson also got a top 10 follow up single with #8 hit Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You). Several big albums returned to #1 in January - Ed Sheeran's +, Bruno Mars' Doo Wops & Hooligans and the already huge selling 21 by Adele.

February

Next we saw David Guetta score a huge #1 alongside the aforementioned Sia with Titanium, ahead of Canadian singer Alyssa Reid with her 80's cover Alone Again. Ed Sheeran got Drunk with a #9 hit, whilst Will.i.am teamed up with Mick Jagger and JLo and claimed to be The Hardest Ever! Madonna's comeback flopped terribly as she teamed up with Nicki Minaj who scored another 2 top 10 hits with her own massive #2 Starships and David Guetta's #8 Turn Me On. Whitney Houston sadly passed away and several of her hits recharted. Emeli Sande scored a massive #2 hit single with Next To Me and had the year's only million selling album with Our Version Of Events. Somebody That I Used To Know started its massive chart run for Gotye featuring Kimbra, a track that would go on to sell over 1.3m as the year's biggest single. DJ Fresh scored his second chart topper with Hot Right Now, also providing Rita Ora with the first of her 3 chart toppers. 2 of the year's biggest albums were released in February, as well as the aforementioned Emeli Sande, Lana Del Rey hit #1 with Born To Die.

March

March was the month that girl group Stooshe made their debut with #5 hit Love Me and Pixie Lott scored another top 10 alongside Tinchy Stryder on Bright Lights. X-Factor runner up Marcus Collins debuted at #9 with his cover of Seven Nation Army. Dappy followed up his #1 No Regrets with #2 hit Rock Star, alongside Queen guitarist Brian May. Jay Z & Kanye West released the biggest of their collaborative singles Niggas In Paris, which peaked at #10 but had a big impact all the same. Jason Mraz scored a second huge #11 hit with I Won't Give Up, whilst Alexandra Burke hit #3 with comeback single Elephant but dropped quickly. Sean Paul unexpectedly returned to #2 with She Doesn't Mind, whilst Labrinth hit #4 with Last Time and JLS #6 with charity single Proud. Swedish House Mafia scored another huge hit with Antidote, featuring Knife Party. Plan B's protest single iLL Manners hit #6 and Katy Perry scored a #1 with Part Of Me. There were also #1 albums from Bruce Springsteen, Military Wives and Paul Weller in this month.

April

Chris Brown scored his first #1 with Turn Up The Music in April, even although it plummeted quickly. Carly Rae Jespen's Call Me Maybe on the other hand was massive, spedning 4 weeks at #1 and selling over 1 million copies. Olly Murs scored a top 20 hit with Oh My Goodness, as did Azealia Banks with her bad language in 212. Alex Day scored another single week chart hit with his cover of Lady Godiva, making #15. Justin Bieber got his biggest hit to date with #2 Boyfriend, and Conor Maynard also debuted at #2 with Can't Say No. Jesise J scored another top 5 hit with a little help from David Guetta on Laserlight. Usher hit top 5 with Climax and Train began their massive chart run with Drive By, as did Alex Clare with the massive Too Close. Fun made their debut and hit #1 with We Are Young, going on to sell almost 1 million. There were #1 albums from Madonna with MDNA and Nicki Minaj with Pink Friday : Roman Reloaded, neither of them lasted very long though.

May

May saw the solo debut from X-Factor judge and N-Dubz singer Tulisa with #1 hit Young. Rita Ora also scored a huge #1 with RIP, as did Rudimental with Feel The Love. Girl group the Saturdays made the top 10 fleetingly with 30 Days, still in search of that #1 single! Scissor Sisters made #12 with Only The Horses. Emeli Sande peaked at #17 with My Kind Of Love but stuck around for some time, same for Labrinth's Express Yourself peaking at #12. The Wanted returned to the upper reaches with #2 hit Chasing The Sun. Paloma Faith scored her first top 10 hit with Picking Up The Pieces, and Loreen hit #3 with the Eurovision winning Euphoria. Boy band Lawson debuted at #4 with When She Was Mine and Justin Bieber hit #7 with Far East Movement on Live My Life. Calvin Harris hit #2 for the 3rd time with Let's Go, featuring vocals from Neyo. Another couple of #1 albums that didn't last long were from Jack White and Marina & The Diamonds, however Keane sold a bit better with Strangeland.

June

This was the month of the Queen's Jubilee, Gary Barow recorded the track Sing for the occasion by teaming up with children from around the world. Cheryl Cole went straight to #1 with Call My Name, as did Maroon 5 with their Payphone, both on big sales. Usher scored another top 5 hit with Scream, as did Colplay with a little help from Rihanna on Princess Of China. Flo Rida got a #2 hit with Whistle, as did Chris Brown with Don't Wake Me Up. Will.i.am topped the charts with Eva Simons on This Is Love, the 2nd of 3 big top 3 hits of the year for Mr i.am. Nelly Furtado's comeback didn't do to well as new single Big Hoops only scraped top 20 and her album flopped majorly. Stooshe came back with a huge 2nd single as Black Heart peaked at #3. Taio Cruz and Pitbull scored a top 20 hit single with There She Goes, as did Muse with their Olympics theme Survival. Gary Barlow & The Commonwealth band also topped the album charts in June, keeping off Paloma Faith's Fall To Grace. Justin Bieber, Cheryl Cole, Linkin Park and Maroon 5 also had top 3 albums.

Edited January 1, 201312 yr by loudjamesbond