Posted January 20, 200817 yr Adele makes impressive chart debut but fails to dislodge Basshunter from No.1 New 19 year old British soul singer Adele has debuted inside the UK chart at No.2 with her first fully released single Chasing Pavements, though she has failed to dislodge Swedish DJ Basshunter from No.1 as he makes it week number two in control. Adele has been tipped for the top by many bigwigs in the music industry in the last few weeks. She has already been named as the winner of the Brits’ Critics Choice Award, which is a new award dedicated to the act most likely to make it big in the 12 months after the award has been given. She also topped the BBC ‘Sound of 2008’ list beating Welsh rival Duffy, who releases Mercy in a few weeks and is also set for huge success. A No.2 download entry for Chasing Pavements, more or less guarantees Adele with a number one single next week after its physical release. The song is nice, if not groundbreaking and sounds like a cross between Amy Winehouse and James Morrison. However, it is Swedish DJ Basshunter who continues to impress with Now You’re Gone which spends a second week in control. Few people expected the song to top the chart in the first place so to do it for a second week is rather impressive though it can owe its continued success to the fact that it has only just started to receive regular airplay on Radio 1 who initially ignored the song. It also outshines the last two dance chart toppers, from Robyn and Fedde LeGrand, who both only managed a week at the top of the UK chart. Britney Spears benefits from constant press attention as Piece Of Me only drops a place this week on its second week in the top 3, already an improvement of the album’s first single Gimme More, which spent its first week at No.3 before leaving the top five altogether the following week. US rapper Lupe Fiasco’s duet Superstar with folk singer Matthew Santos had been expected to give Basshunter a run for the top spot by many people but it can only climb as high as No.4 after a physical release. It is however, Lupe’s first top five hit as his only other top ten appearance was on Kanye West’s 2006 No.6 hit Touch The Sky. Oddly enough, it replaces Nickelback’s Rockstar at No.4 meaning two consecutive No.4 singles have been about stardom. Barbados born Robyn Rihanna Fenty is the first lady named Robyn in the top ten this week as Don’t Stop The Music climbs yet again to reach a new peak of No.5 to become her 7th top five hit in less than three years. It is worth noting that the 4th single from the album Good Girl Gone Bad is still not released physically for another few weeks so could go even higher. The aforementioned Nickelback spend a third week in the top ten with country rock track Rockstar which moves down a couple of places to No.6 as sales start to increase on the chart after the early January lull. Soulja Boy leaves the top five after a five week residency with Crank That which slides to No.7 while Scouting For Girls prove that the download era has brought the chart 360 degrees as many more songs climb week by week as opposed to entering high and falling instantly. Elvis Ain’t Dead climbed into the top ten last week and reaches a new peak once again this week as it moves up two places to No.8, just a place short of the peak of their last single She’s So Lovely. Kanye West’s second single from his No.1 album Graduation, The Good Life, was a chart flop in his terms missing the top 20 late last year. However, the third single from the album, Homecoming, which features vocals from Coldplay’s Chris Martin is up to a new peak of No.9 this week on downloads alone as the physical release is a few weeks away. It is his 7th UK top ten hit to date though he also featured on Brandy’s 2004 No.6 hit Talk About Our Love. Rounding off the top ten is the second Swede of the week, and the second lady named Robyn of the week. Robyn Carlsson, better known simply as Robyn, climbs thirteen places to No.10 with Be Mine Following its physical release. The song, which was originally released in Sweden back in 2005, is regarded by many of her fans to be the highlight of her current album Robyn (which climbs to a new UK peak of No.15 this week). Having been languishing outside the top ten in the midweeks, her promotional appearances on Never Mind The Buzzcocks and GM:TV have given the singer her third UK top 10 hit following 1998’s No.8 hit Show Me Love and last year’s No.1 single With Every Heartbeat. In a truly international UK top 10 this week we therefore have four Americans, a Canadian, two Brits, two Swedes and Barbados’ Rihanna. Perhaps the fact that there is as many Swedes as Brits in the British top ten says something about the current state of British music which was dominating the top ten at the back end of 2007. Timbaland’s Apologize ends its long top ten residency as it slides to No.11 this week while Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse’s long runner Valerie is back up a place to No.12. British indie band The Wombats have the next big climber this week with Moving To New York which climbs from No.37 to No.13 after a physical release and outshines the peak of last single Let’s Dance To Joy Division by two places. Take That and Leon Jackson also end their top ten runs this week, with singles from Girls Aloud, Leona Lewis, T2 and Booty Luv all remaining top twenty this week. Another upcoming indie band, The Courteeners, round off the top twenty with a new entry, What Took You So Long at No.20. Madness return to the top 40 at No.24 this week with new single NW5 which is a brand new recording from the ska-pop band whose biggest hit is the 1982 No.1 single House Of Fun. Their last single, Sorry, was a No.23 hit in March last year while their last visit to the top ten was 1999’s Lovestruck. Kylie Minogue continues her slow ascent with X’s second single Wow. The song, which is classic Kylie pop in stark contrast to the subtle electro-pop of 2 Hearts, moves up to a new peak of No.27 this week with the physical release over a month away and a video yet to be aired. Radiohead have a low new entry at No.30 with the first single from In Rainbows, Jigsaw Falling Into Place, though this is probably due to the fact that many people will have downloaded the song last year as part of their controversial ‘pay what you like’ album deal or have the song on the physical version of the album which came out a few weeks ago. Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland has had huge hits in the past with Dilemma (No.1, 2002) and Stole (No.2, 2003) and her latest top 40 hit is the second single from Ms. Kelly, Work, which moves into the top 40 at No.31 this week. However, while this is a respectable enough follow up to last year’s top five comeback hit, Like This, it is not a true reflection of this song’s potential. British dance duo Freemasons have remixed the album track and it is this version that is getting the lion’s share of the airplay. As soon as this remix is released the song should give Kelly her 5th UK top five single away from Destiny’s Child. The final change to the top 40 is a re-entry at No.39 for Robyn’s August 2007 No.1 single With Every Heartbeat. Her second single from her new album, Handle Me, returns to the top 75 this week giving the star three simultaneous top 75 hits, impressive for a woman who was a one hit wonder in the late 90’s. The album chart has another new victor this week as British indie-pop band Scouting For Girls climb three places to take pole position with their debut self titled album. The album initially missed the top ten on its release but various price cuts as well as the increasing success of Elvis Ain’t Dead have helped the band to match the success of The Hoosiers, the contemporary act that they could be most compared to. Last week’s No.1 album This Is The Life by Amy MacDonald slides a place to No.2 while Take That’s Beautiful World incredibly stays at No.3 despite being owned by well over two million people in the UK alone. Newton Faulkner’s Hand Built By Robots climbs back up three places to No.4 while Robert Plant and Alison Krauss move back into the top five with Raising Sand at No.5. Radiohead move down to No.6 with In Rainbows while Mika’s Life In Cartoon Motion slides to No.7. The Hoosiers are back up to No.8 with The Trick To Life while Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad is incredibly the 8th chart topping album in the top 9 this week as it returns to the top ten at No.9. The highest new entry, Do You Like Rock Music, from British Sea Power, a British indie band, debuts at No.10. Smart money is on Adele for the top spot next week as the eagerly anticipated Chasing Pavements is released physically. There are few other new singles out physically tomorrow with only Jay Sean, Jennifer Lopez and Bullet For My Valentine likely to make an impact on the top 75. Basshunter, Britney Spears, Rihanna and Lupe Fiasco are the other contenders for next week’s No.1 spot while Kelly Rowland should continue to climb with Work, particularly if the Freemasons remix surfaces on the download outlets at any point during the week.
January 20, 200817 yr Madness' #1 was House Of Fun, not It Must Be Love. Other than that, a great read!
January 20, 200817 yr Madness' #1 was House Of Fun, not It Must Be Love. and talking of Labi Siffre dont you think 'I Got The...' should be in the retroclash again M&M's Echo Beach next??
January 21, 200817 yr Author Madness' #1 was House Of Fun, not It Must Be Love. Other than that, a great read! My mistake, I'll correct it :D
January 22, 200817 yr Britney Spears benefits from constant press attention as Piece Of Me only drops a place this week on its second week in the top 3, already an improvement of the album’s first single Gimme More, which spent its first week at No.3 before leaving the top five altogether the following week Interesting. Thanks for another great report.
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