Chart Commentary from James Masterton 05/11/07

http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/charts/comment.html

CHART COMMENTARY from JAMES MASTERTON

05/11/07

Source: uk.launch

It may be the more wrinkled and superannuated generation dominating the

album chart, with new entries for The Eagles ('Long Road Out Of Eden'

incredibly their first ever Number One album in this country), Robert

Plant/Alison Krauss and er, Britney Spears, but the brightest of bright

youth reigns supreme at the top of the singles chart. 'Bleeding Love' by

Leona Lewis once again crushes all competition before her to easily notch up

a second week at Number One. The success of the single is particularly sweet

for co-songwriter and producer Ryan Tedder who can claim a hand in two of

the Top 5 singles of the week, thanks to his other life as lead singer of

One Republic, the collaborators on Timbaland's 'Apologize' which rises 7-4

on the singles chart after its own physical release. Tedder's association

with X-Factor winners doesn't stop there either as he has a hand in writing

and producing several tracks on Shayne Ward's forthcoming second album. The

other co-writer of 'Bleeding Love' is former American boy band star Jesse

McCartney whose only solo hit to date is 'Beautiful Soul' which made Number

16 in February 2006.

Looking at their release patterns since their 2005 'comeback', it is now

obvious that Westlife are officially Foster and Allen for a new generation.

With impeccable timing they release new singles and albums crammed full with

sentimental MOR balladry just in time for the big Christmas market and thus

guaranteeing them massive sales. With impressive regularity they have also

been responsible for reviving unjustly overlooked songs and turning them

into the huge hits they probably always deserved to be. Just look at some of

their most recent releases - 'Mandy', 'You Raise Me Up' and of course last

year 'The Rose'.

The pattern continues now in 2007 as 'Home' becomes the lead single from the

Irish group's attempt to sew up the Granny's present market for yet another

year. In its original version by Michael Buble, the song has become one of

those long-running chart singles that never quite broke through to the big

stage. His debut chart single in April 2005, its first release saw it inch

its way to Number 31 in a four week chart run. In December that same year it

was back, re-released thanks to copious airplay by easy listening network

Magic and with its lyrics centre stage in a TV commercial that the radio

station ran around the same time. Second time around it crept to Number 61

but has remained a moderate seller in the lower reaches of the Top 200

pretty much ever since. The arrival of the Westlife version has prompted an

upswing in its sales once more and the original version of 'Home' this week

has pride of place at Number 52, its highest chart placing since that first

release almost three years ago.

It is however Westlife who now make the song a major hit single although

given their past track record, only charting at Number 3 will be a major

blow. Not that they failed to sell of course, it is just that they faced

competition from both Leona Lewis and Take That which proved insurmountable

in the end. Nonetheless it seems almost certain that they will fail to top

the charts with the lead single from an album for the first time in their 8

year chart career.

As expected the physical release of Samim's 'Heater' gives the club track a

huge boost, sending it soaring 29-12, sadly short of what should have been

an easy Top 10 hit single. We can hardly complain, the rash of quality

product on the market at the moment is making hit singles harder to come by

than they have been all year.

Not that it seems to bother the ghost of Elvis Presley. The 12th single

release of the current re-issue programme gives him his 12th straight Top 20

hit single, 'Viva Las Vegas' becoming the third to peak at Number 15. In an

odd break to the more or less chronological sequence of releases, we this

time jump back to 1964 for this single, released from the soundtrack of the

film of the same name and one of the few highlights of his c**p movie

period. The 2007 re-release actually improves on the peak of the original

which only climbed to Number 17, at the time his smallest hit single for

over seven years. The song has had a more modern revival thanks to ZZ Top

who landed a Number 10 hit with a memorable cover version back in 1992.

One place below at Number 16 is 'The Crash', the latest hit single from the

determinedly independent minded Koopa. Their third hit of the year, it has

the honour of being the biggest and gives them their first ever taste of Top

20 success. It is a suitable end to a successful 2007 after they began the

year by making chart history, charting the download-only track 'Blag Steal

And Borrow' to become the first ever "unsigned" act to make the UK charts.

Leaping up the chart at Number 17 is Robyn who appears to be struggling now

the novelty of Number One hit 'With Every Heartbeat' has worn off. 'Handle

Me' has been selected as the next single from the album and having hoovered

up a handful of downloads to rank at Number 43 last week it now leaps into

the Top 20 following physical release. With its predecessor still hanging

around (ranking at Number 51 currently) and in truth not being half as good,

it is hard to see just how 'Handle Me' was ever going to live up to what

went before. All the more puzzling why novelty rap 'Konichiwa Bitches'

wasn't re-released instead. OK so it flopped totally back in March, but with

Robyn suddenly cool again there seems no reason not to give it another go.

Two years after he showed the nation that he was no flash in the pan, Craig

David is back once more with a brand new album and what looks set to be

another successful assault on the singles chart. Released online one week

ahead of its CD version, his new single 'Hot Stuff (Let's Dance)' charges

into the chart at Number 19. In a move which may well prove to be the most

inspired revival of the year, the single is based extensively around samples

from 'Let's Dance', Number One single which revived David Bowie's career

back in 1983 when Craig David himself was barely out of nappies. Borrowing

the Rogers and Edwards bassline and brass, it makes for a track that is the

best R&B single you will hear this side of Timbaland and what will

inevitably become his seventh Top 5 hit by this time next week.

One single that hasn't been so lucky is 'Sorry Blame It On Me' by Akon which

despite physical release this week can only stagger up to Number 22. Whilst

it is still a better performance than his last single 'Mama Africa' which

missed the Top 40 altogether in August, better things were expected of the

track which was added to the "platinum edition" re-release of the

'Konvicted' album earlier in the summer.

Two places behind is still 'Hate That I Love You' from Rihanna which climbs

to a new peak of Number 24, still two weeks ahead of its own physical

release, a prospect which Avril Lavigne surely wishes she had ahead of her.

Instead her third single of the year 'Hot' limps into the Top 40 at Number

30 on physical sales, a chart performance which is set to make it her

smallest ever hit single. Prior to today she had never been lower than

Number 24, a peak scaled by 'Nobody's Home' in November 2004.

Back to the future hits that are hits already and new in at Number 26 is

Alicia Keys with download sales of 'No One'. Marking her chart return after

an absence of three and a half years, the single is as diverting as you

might expect. A heartfelt ballad underpinned by a simple piano melody and a

thundering rhythm track, 'No One' isn't quite an instant classic but gets

under your skin nicely after just one listen. Surprising as it may seem her

only solo Top 10 hit remains her 2001 debut 'Fallin' although she also

reached Number 6 a year later as guest star on Eve's 'Gangsta Lovin'. Watch

with interest whether this track manages to erase that rather unwanted

record.

Also creeping in to the Top 30 (just) are Elliot Minor with their third hit

single of the year, 'The White One Is Evil' disappointingly failing to build

on the success of Top 20 hit 'Jessica' from earlier in the summer. The

endless parade of badly made tribute videos to them on YouTube proves that

their fanbase is there and growing. Look out for a tactically released

January single to build up to the release of their debut album which is

tentatively set for a February release.

New Cliff Richard releases may well be little more than final footnotes to

his long and distinguished career, but even his legion of fans will be

rather shocked at the Number 38 entry of his new single 'When I Need You'.

Written by songwriting legend Carole Bayer Sager, the song was a Number One

hit for Leo Sayer in 1977 and was more recently covered by Will Mellor who

made Number 5 with a version in 1998. Cliff on the other hand can't repeat

the feat of a Hollyoaks actor and shocking though it may seem this will wind

up as his smallest chart hit since 'Be With Me Always' hit a lowly Number 52

in early 1997.

Finally for this week, those of us with an eye on the effect popular culture

has on download sales of old hits were watching avidly for the effect that

the British screening of the final episode of The Sopranos would have on

sales of 'Don't Stop Believin' by Journey which soundtracks the last five

minutes of the episode. A lowly Number 62 chart single when released in

1982, iTunes currently ranks it as the most popular purchase of the 150

tracks by the California rock band yet despite this it makes a rather

listless rise to a non-canon Number 94. The only Journey song ever to have

been a major hit single in this country is 'Open Arms' thanks to a Mariah

Carey rendition which reached Number 4 in 1996.

Oh yes, and just in case you were thinking of taking a short holiday from

music next week, don't. The immovable rock that is Leona Lewis is about to

clash headlong with the unstoppable force that is the 2007 comeback of Brave

Kylie. Who will survive?