Daft Punk help to elevate Kanye West to his first UK No.1 single

 

American rapper/producer Kanye West has jumped two places in the Official UK Singles Chart to No.1 with ‘Stronger’. The single, which climbed from its debut position of No.3 last week, is heavily based on the Daft Punk single ‘Harder Better Faster Stronger’ which debuted and peaked at #25 in 2001 and while not a big commercial success, is fondly remembered by fans as one of the French dance duo’s finest moments. Kanye’s upward movement has meant that last week’s chart topper, Sweden’s Robyn, has fallen a place to No.2 with dance track ‘With Every Heartbeat’ which features producer Kleerup. It was however close all week with Robyn looking in with a chance of holding on to No.1, particularly as 4 versions of the single have been in the iTunes top 100 singles chart for the majority of the week. However, Kanye’s Saturday sales, probably helped hugely by his performance on Channel 4 show ‘The Friday Night Project’ meant that he edged in front of Robyn at the last minute by just 67 sales. ‘Stronger’ is the fifth American R&B No.1 this year following two from Timbaland, Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ and Beyonce & Shakira’s duet. Sean Kingston is likely to become the sixth when he releases the heavily demanded single ‘Beautiful Girls’.

 

The rest of the top 10 is as follows; Timbaland falls to No.3 after 7 weeks in the top 10 with ‘The Way I Are’ while Kate Nash is a non-mover at No.4 with ‘Foundations’ which has now spent two months in the top 5. American Indie rock act Plain White T’s continue their upward surge with the former US No.1 ‘Hey There Delilah’ which is up to No.5 on its third week in the top 10 and still awaiting a physical release. Producer Axwell makes it two Swedes in the top 10 as the infectious dance track ‘I Found U’ is his first top 10 hit in the UK following the No.16 hit ‘Feel The Vibe’ from 2005 and ‘Watch The Sunrise’ that reached No.70 last year. It also gives ailing dance label Positiva records their first top 10 hit of 2007, the previous market leaders of commercial dance music who have had huge success in the last ten years with acts such as Alice Deejay, Vengaboys, Fragma, Spiller and The Shapeshifters.

 

No.7 this week is Fergie whose single ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ falls a couple of places to No.7 after 7 weeks in the top 10 while Gym Class Heroes score the highest new entry in the top 75 at No.8 with ‘Clothes Off’, the follow up to the No.3 single Cupid’s Chokehold. This cover of a single by Jermaine Stewart has also been covered by Clea and Lil’ Chris. Gym Class Heroes have made the lyrics slightly more risqué than the message Jermaine Stewart had previously aimed to promote of not having to strip to have fun. This single, like the last one, features Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump on chorus vocal duties while Travis McCoy raps through the verses. No.9 this week is David Guetta who jumps 12 places from No.21 with ‘Love Is Gone’, the follow up to last summer’s top 3 single ‘Love Don’t Let Me Go’. It has done surprisingly well for the French DJ seeing as the track is incredibly similar to its predecessor, though the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ routine worked well in the 1990’s for europop acts such as 2Unlimited, Clock and Eiffel 65. British singer Newton Faulkner rounds off the top 10 with ‘Dream Catch Me’ which is on its fourth week in the top 20.

 

Elsewhere in the top 20 Elvis Presley has restarted his re-releasing of classic singles a week at a time starting with the classic 1969 No.2 single ‘Suspicious Minds’. Its entry at No.11 must be a worry for record label RCA after all of his 2005 re-releases went top 5 in early 2005, though singles sales were lower at that point. British rock band Hard-Fi return at No.12 with ‘Suburban Kinghts’, the first single from their forthcoming album ‘Once Upon A Time In The West’. This is the band’s 6th top 20 hit, their biggest being the No.9 single ‘Hard To Beat’. Rihanna’s two singles line up at No.13 and No.14 with ‘Shut Up & Drive’ falling to No.14 despite the fact that it has not yet been physically released. Amy Winehouse scores her second biggest hit to date as ‘Tears Dry On Their Own’ jumps to No.16 while British band The Pigeon Detectives jump from No.58 to No.20 to score their third top 20 hit ‘Take Her Back’

 

Other movements of note in the top 40 this week come from Mario, the US singer who climbs to No.21 with ‘How Do I Breathe’ and fellow countryman 50 Cent, the rapper debuts at No.23 with comeback single ‘Ayo Technology’ which features Justin Timberlake. R Kelly and Usher surge to No.26 after the physical release of ‘Same Girl’ while American rock act Foo Fighters debut at No.28 with ‘The Pretender’ Scottish singer KT Tunstall debuts at No.34 with comeback single ‘Hold On’ while American female rapper Eve climbs three places with ‘Tambourine’ at No.35. Upcoming British indie act Ben’s Brother score their first top 40 hit with ‘Let Me Out’ at No.38 while fellow British act Athelete debut at No.39 with new single Hurricane, the band’s biggest hit being the No.4 2005 single ‘Wires’.

 

Related Link: http://www.buzzjack.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=47535

 

Next week there are physical releases from Hard-Fi, Calvin Harris, Elvis Presley, Eve, Gym Class Heroes, Kaiser Chiefs, Linkin Park and Remi Nicole, none of which are likely to reach No.1. If Sean Kingston is released to download he is quite likely to debut at No.1 with ‘Beautiful Girls’ otherwise the Kanye West vs. Robyn battle will continue.

 

In the album chart, the 30th anniversary of Elvis’ death helps him to debut at No.1 with his new collection ‘The King’ which knocks Kate Nash off the No.1 spot after just a week. Newton Faulkner stays at No.3 while two of the year’s biggest albums from Amy Winehouse and Mika return to the top 5. The only other new entry in the top 20 is from Robyn whose self-titled album debuts at No.20.

 

Star Profile: KT Tunstall

 

Kate "KT" Tunstall (born June 23, 1975) is a Grammy-nominated, BRIT Award-winning Scottish singer/songwriter. Tunstall was born in Edinburgh and was subsequently adopted. Her adoptive father was a physics lecturer at the University of St Andrews, and her adoptive mother a school teacher. Tunstall's adoptive family also included an older brother named Joe and a younger brother named Daniel.

In her twenties, Tunstall met her birth mother, who told her that her biological father was a folk musician. She spent time performing on Church Street in Burlington, Vermont, and at a commune in rural Vermont. Since 2003, Tunstall has been dating Luke Bullen, the drummer in her band. She has indicated her intention to live in Edinburgh with Bullen. Her birth mother is half Chinese and her father, whom she never met, is Irish.

 

Tunstall studied at the High School of Dundee in Dundee, Madras College in St Andrews, Kent School in Connecticut, and at Royal Holloway College near London. Throughout her twenties, she mostly played in independent bands including Elia Drew and Tomoko, and focused on songwriting. Her debut album, Eye to the Telescope, was released in late 2004. Tunstall's style of music varies from folk to pop. In Edinburgh and St Andrews, she played in a band called Red Light Stylus, which was regarded as one of the better bands to emerge from the limited Fife scene.

Tunstall's first appearance of note was a solo performance of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Later with Jools Holland. The performance was notable as she had only 24 hours to prepare after scheduled performer Nas cancelled due to his father's ill health. Her performance caught the eye of many viewers, upstaging more established acts such as The Cure, Embrace, and The Futureheads; she then went on to top the post-show poll on the website for that episode.

 

Shortly after the "Later" appearance, Eye to the Telescope was re-released and shot up the UK charts, eventually peaking at #3 (on its first release it had entered at #73); it was nominated for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize. It was released in the U.S. on February 7, 2006.

 

Tunstall released a new acoustic album in May 2006, KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza, which was first only available via mail order from her website. The album was re-released in stores worldwide in October 2006.

 

Tunstall co-wrote the song "Under The Moonlight" (in which she sings) with Scottish band Travis for their new album The Boy With No Name, released on May 7, 2007 (see the album's article).

 

According to her official website, the recording of Tunstall's second album called Drastic Fantastic is complete. It is set to be released on September 3, 2007 in the UK and September 18, 2007, in the US.

 

Bio: Wikipedia

Nice write up again

Cheers Mikey, bit more detailed this week as I had a bit of extra time on my hands :D