Posted February 25, 200718 yr Mika loses chart grip 25 February 2007 - 19:00:32 After a fortnight at number one simultaneously on both charts, Mika loses his grip on the singles chart summit and the album apex this week, writes Alan Jones. On the singles chart, his conquerors are the Kaiser Chiefs, whose Ruby takes advantage of Grace Kelly’s understandable fatigue - its sales dipped 25.6% to just short of 32,000, bringing the curtain down on its five week run at number one, a longer stint than 200 of the 21st century’s previous 204 chart toppers. Sales of Ruby last week increased by 48.1% to 38,000, and its arrival at the top of the chart a day before parent album Yours Truly, Angry Mob’s release is a triumph of marketing. Ruby’s release was staggered - it was on download only on week one, CDs were added on week two, and 7-inch vinyl last week. Completing the medal positions, Kelis vaults into the top five for the fifth time in her career, with Lil Star, which jumps 15-3 this week on sales of 18,000. Produced by Gnarls Barkley vocalist Cee-Lo, who also sings on it, it is the second single from her current album Kelis Was Here, following Bossy, which reached number 22 last year. The album debuted and peaked at number 41 last September, and returns to the Top 200 after a 20 week gap, at number 185 on sales of 1,100. It has sold fewer than 20,000 copies to date. More than three years after Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s last release, her comeback single Catch You accelerates into the Top 10 this week, following its physical release. The track, which had a setback last week, has moved 28-18-24-8 and is Ellis-Bextor’s sixth Top 10 solo hit from seven releases. It is taken from her third album Trip The Light Fantastic, which is scheduled for release in May. Ellis-Bextor’s husband Richard Jones of The Feeling has less luck than his wife, as his band’s latest single Rose falls 38-55 this week. While Patience dips 10-15, following its Brits-inspired revival, Take That’s new single Shine rises 11-10 on sales up 15% at 11,000. It has become Take That’s 15th Top 10 hit on downloads alone, and is set to rise higher following its physical release tomorrow (February 26). The band’s Beautiful World album, which rocketed 17-5 last week remains in fifth place although its sales slide by 23.7% to 25,500. Former colleague Robbie Williams’ She’s Madonna collaboration with Pet Shop Boys is still a week away from physical release but looks very unlikely to match Shine’s success - it ranks only 112th, and sold 1,000 copies last week. As mentioned earlier, Mika’s Life In Cartoon Motion retreats from the top of the albums chart. After a fortnight at the summit, it suffered a 53.5% dip to 38,000 sales, allowing the resurgent Amy Winehouse to reclaim pole position with her second album Back To Black, which registers a 29.7% dip in sales week-on-week but is still well ahead with sales of 47,000. Back To Black debuted at number three last October and dipped as low as number 41 before Rehab helped it to stage a successful recovery. It eventually topped the chart for a fortnight in January and its Brits success facilitates its returns to pole position this week after a four week gap. Rehab continues to improve too; after peaking at number seven last October, the song declined slowly but has redounded in the last fortnight. On the Top 75 for 20 weeks so far, it has sold 128,000 copies, including 7,000 last week. With the Valentine’s Day effect working its way out of the figures, the fading of the Brits effect and most children returning to school after the half-term break, sales looked a little threadbare. Only four of the Top 40 artist albums increased their sales last week - quite a contrast to the previous week, when only six posted declines. Overall artist and compilation album sales, at 2,362,944, were down 23.5% week-on-week but up by a tiny 0.93% over the same week last year. Singles were also down, but not so badly, falling 7% on the week to 1,394,814, while remaining a healthy 28.4% ahead of the same week in 2006. One act who can’t be blamed for the decline in either sector is the Gossip. On its last week before being made available again in physical form, the American trio’s single Standing In The Way Of Control increases sales for the eighth week in a row, and climbs 17-13. First released last October, the single has now sold 41,000 copies, including 9,000 last week, and has been helped by substantial radio support and the use of the tune in TV promos for new drama Skins Their album, also called Standing In The Way Of Control, was released last July, and entered the Top 75 for the first time in January. It jumps 62-33 this week, on sales up 47.2% at 6,500, lifting its overall tally to 45,500. Like many American bands, including The Killers and the Scissor Sisters, the Gossip’s UK success occurs ahead of recognition in their homeland, where they have yet to dent the singles or albums charts. After reaching number 72 a fortnight ago on sales of imports and downloads alone, How To Save A Life - the introductory album by Colorado’s melodic rock band The Fray - moved to full release status last week, and explodes 105-4 on sales of 29,000. The title track continues to climb the singles chart, moving 7-5 this week, with a further 15,500 sales lifting its cumulative tally to 63,000. The album thus exceeds its number 14 peak in America, where the single fared better, reaching number three. Johnny Cash’s highest charting album, peaking at number two in 1969, At San Quentin leaps back into the chart this week at number 20 on sales of 10,500 copies of the new and much expanded Legacy edition issued to mark what would have been his 75th birthday tomorrow (February 26). Since his death in 2003, sales of Cash albums have soared - he had 64 albums among the Top 10,000 albums of 2006, with total sales of 1,188,000 (including 24,000 for At San Quentin) making him the year’s seventh biggest selling artist. 54 year old singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams comfortably straddles the rock/folk/country divide, and has been making records for nearly 30 years. She first dented the Top 200 with her 1998 album Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. It reached number 144, a position improved upon by Essence (number 63, 2001) and World Without Tears (number 48, 2003). New album West ups the ante further, debuting at number 30 on sales of 6,500. Car Wheels is Williams’ biggest selling album, with 60,000 buyers to date, followed by World Without Tears (32,000) While fourth single All Good Things inches forward 16-14 to reach a new peak, Nelly Furtado’s Loose album is in more of a hurry, and rebounds 18-9 to force a resumption of its Top 10 career after a gap of 22 weeks. The album sold 17,000 copies last week to lift its career tally to 527,000, and looks increasingly likely to overhaul the 647,000 sales of her 2001 debut Whoa!, Nelly to become Furtado’s biggest seller. Her second album, Folklore, was much less successful, selling 236,000 copies. On the compilation album chart the loss of the Valentine’s Day effect results in savage declines for the previously dominant love songs albums, none more than One Love, which was number one a week ago and now plummets to number 17, with sales down by more than 90%. In its stead, the Brits Hits album jumps 3-1, even though its sales are down 24.1% week-on-week at 21,100. It’s the first ever album of Brits nominees to top the compilation chart this century, beating the number two peaks of Brits 2001 and the silver anniversary celebration Brits 25 in 2005. Singles 01 Kaiser Chiefs 38000 02 Mika 32,000 03 Kelis 18,000 05 Fray 15.500 10 Take That 11.000 13 The Gossip 9,000 18 Amy Winehouse 7.000 112 Robbie Williams 1.000 Albums 01 Amy Winehouse 47,000. 02 Mika 38,000 04 Fray 29.000 05 Take That 25.500 09 Nelly Furtado 17,000 20 Johnny Cash 10.500 30 Lucinda Williams 6.500 33 The Gossip 6,500 185 Kelis 1,100
February 25, 200718 yr Author I think it's Mika who sold that amount... Yep, that MW report is kinda very slim this week, no more official sales figures :unsure: how odd :wacko:
February 25, 200718 yr Author Not only are sales threadbare this week, so is MW's info :o :wacko: very, I'm gobsmacked
February 25, 200718 yr Why no sales for Kaiser Chiefs? Seriously I think it's a bit of a waste if they cant even be bothered to give sale figures for the #1 song and they produce crappy vague reports for midweeks every week.
February 25, 200718 yr :wacko: very, I'm gobsmacked Me too, no sales even for the #1! Why no sales for Kaiser Chiefs? Seriously I think it's a bit of a waste if they cant even be bothered to give sale figures for the #1 song and they produce crappy vague reports for midweeks every week. I agree, and what is more annoying of late is how they round figures up! :rolleyes:
February 25, 200718 yr i'd take this with a pinch of salt but someone from UKMix reckons Sophie Ellis-Bextor sold 12,780 Don't know if it's true.
February 25, 200718 yr Author Wow there aint much this week is there :lol: There probably more nits on my cat :unsure:
February 25, 200718 yr This is almost nothing! MW don't wanna work anymore? First: mistake on the sales of the last week of 2006, second: rounded up sales and now almost no info! This is not a good way. :(
February 25, 200718 yr Author I'm hoping the above report is just a scale down version, so fingers cross it gets updated in the morning with more sales info, sorry guys that's all I can offer so far.
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