ThePensmith's Top 20 Singles Chart

Posted November 11, 20186 yr

Hi everyone, happy Sunday, hope you're all OK. I'm sorry my personal chart was a bit later than scheduled this week, but I was at the Olly Murs signing in Chelmsford all day Friday, and spent much of yesterday experiencing a viral infection/sore throat, hence why this week's top 20 is only appearing now.

Anyway, moving swiftly on...is George Ezra still at the top for another week, or has he met his match with challenges from a resurgent Michael Bublé, Take That or new entries from Busted and Tom Fletcher? Here's where we find out...

THEPENSMITH'S TOP 20 SINGLES CHART

Week ending 9th November 2018

1. (1) GEORGE EZRA - Hold My Girl

2. (4) MICHAEL BUBLÉ - Love You Anymore

3. (5) TAKE THAT - Out Of Our Heads

4. (HNE) BUSTED - Nineties

5. (6) PALOMA FAITH - Loyal

6. (2) RAK-SU - I Want You To Freak

7. (NE) TOM FLETCHER - Don't Turn Out The Light

8. (3) OLLY MURS FEAT. SNOOP DOGG - Moves

9. (NE) THE SHIRES - Ahead of the Storm

10. (7) LAUV - I Like Me Better

11. (8) LSD - Thunderclouds

12. (NE) RUDIMENTAL FEAT. TOM WALKER - Walk Alone

13. (11) ED DREWETT - The Unfortunate Gent

14. (9) CLAIRE RICHARDS - End Before We Start)

15. (13) THE VAMPS - Just My Type

16. (12) WARD THOMAS - Never Know

17. (10) KYLIE MINOGUE FEAT. JACK SAVORETTI - The Music's Too Sad Without You

18. (NE) CHER - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)

19. (17) ZARA LARSSON - Ruin My Life

20. (15) LITTLE MIX FEAT. NICKI MINAJ - Woman Like Me

Compiled from my own personal listening in the last seven days across streaming, digital and physical formats.

KEY

(1) - last week's position

(HNE) - highest new entry

(NE) - new entry

CHART COMMENTARY

Chalk that up as a fortnight at number one now for George Ezra with 'Hold My Girl'. Adding to the five and seven weeks at the top that 'Paradise' and 'Shotgun' enjoyed earlier in the year, it means he has now spent more weeks in pole position in 2018 than any other artist on my personal chart. Michael Bublé however, did run exceptionally close to stopping that from happening, as 'Love You Anymore' advances to a new peak of #2, meaning for now, he is still waiting on a second number one to follow 2016's chart topper, 'Nobody But Me'. Take That also regain their top 3 berth from three weeks ago for 'Out Of Our Heads', following the release of its Hanna Barbera inspired music video last Friday.

Just behind them at #4 comes the week's biggest new hit. Busted's fourth studio album, set to hit the shops in February, is called 'Half Way There'. It's so titled of course, in reference to the fact they are now half way to releasing their fabled 'seventh album' from the lyrics of their biggest hit on my personal chart, the chart topping 'Year 3000' from January 2003. 'Nineties' is its first single, and is now their tenth top 10 hit.

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Three places below Busted is a man who they know quite well, and who was almost part of their original line-up (and, on technicality, was for two singles in 2014, as part of the supergroup project McBusted that James Bourne and Matt Willis were also part of). I am of course talking about Tom Fletcher, who we last saw almost a year ago challenging for my Christmas number one for 2017 with 'Afraid Of Heights' (it got as high as #3).

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That song was from the soundtrack of the stage version to the McFly frontman's popular children's novel, The Christmasaurus. He's now applying the same treatment to another of his bestsellers, The Creakers, which is due to arrive next spring. 'Don't Turn Out The Lights' went online last week as its first cut, and although it arrives somewhat belatedly given Halloween was last week, it sets itself up to be a future spooky classic as it debuts at #7 - his second solo top 10 hit to add to the twenty (of which half were number ones) he managed with McFly. His colleague Danny Jones, meanwhile, is still yet to follow up his July top 5 solo debut with 'Is This Still Love'.

The Shires or Ward Thomas? For the moment, it seems like Ben and Crissie have lucked out as the UK's favourite country duo. For whilst 'Never Know', last week's new entry from Ward Thomas tumbles four places to #16, 'Ahead of the Storm' enters at #9 to give them a third top 10 hit from their current album 'Accidentally on Purpose', following the success of 'Guilty' (#6 in April) and 'Echo' (#7 in August).

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'These Days' crowned Rudimental with their second number one after a seven week climb on my personal chart back in April. Its follow-up, 'Let Me Live', failed to make my top 20 in June, so it's good news for 'Walk Alone', a collaboration with singer-songwriter Tom Walker, as it debuts at a very respectable #12 this week.

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Arriving just a couple of weeks after the 20th anniversary of her mega-hit 'Believe', pop icon Cher lands her fifth top 20 hit on my personal chart. It was inevitable that an album of ABBA covers would be next from her following her cameo in the second Mamma Mia film in the summer, and so it has proved. 'Dancing Queen' has already been a huge selling album, and her take on 'Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)' is its first single, our last new entry of the week at #18.

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However, she's not the first to take an ABBA cover into my personal chart. Step forward fellow Swedes *ATeens, whose version of 'Mamma Mia' was their first of two top 10 hits in August 1999, and also Westlife, who had a top 30 with their cover of 'I Have A Dream' at Christmas that same year. And then of course, most famously, Madonna sampled the very song Cher has covered for 'Hung Up', her #2 hit from 13 years ago this very week.

FLASHBACK TOP 10

Your chance to see how my personal top 10 was looking on this week in the last 20 years. This week in 2009: JLS bag their second chart topper, plus classic hits from Black Eyed Peas and The Saturdays

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