Chart Commentary from James Masterton 21/04/08

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

CHART COMMENTARY from JAMES MASTERTON

21/04/08

Source: uk.launch

Here's a secret for you (even though it isn't). 90% of chartwatching is

based around precedent, noting how a single is expected to behave in the

sales market, based on the way similar singles have moved in the past. As

satisfying as it is to watch a record do exactly as expected, it is even

more fascinating when a single moves in a way that is utterly unexpected and

better yet if this is almost totally without precedent.

Step forward then Madonna whose single '4 Minutes' has spent the past month

bouncing around the Top 10 as a popular but unremarkable download track but

which this week blasts away all competition to make a three place leap to

Number One, dethroning Estelle's 'American Boy' one short of its

record-setting five week target in the process. What makes this all the more

remarkable is that Madonna's sales surge has come without the benefit of

physical sales, '4 Minutes' only this week (April 21) becoming available on

CD. No download-only single has ever climbed to Number One after such a long

period in the market, particularly when at one point it had fallen as low as

Number 8. Plenty of others may well do just that in the future, but all will

be following the benchmark of sales growth that Madonna (and of course JT)

have this week established.

All this is before we have even noted that this is of course another Number

One hit for Madonna. It is her 13th in total, a figure that keeps her in

sixth in the all-time table and requiring just one more to draw level with

Cliff Richard and Westlife who share fourth place with 14th chart-toppers

apiece. It is her first Number One single for just over two years and

ensures that her forthcoming new album 'Hard Candy' will be the fourth of

the five albums she has released in the last decade to have its introductory

track top the singles charts. Her list of Number One records now spans

almost 23 years, dating back to the arrival of 'Into The Groove' at the top

in August 1985. No other female act in history can claim such a span of

longevity. Even Kylie, her most currently active challenger can only claim a

15 year span of Number One hits, her last chart-topper having been four and

a half years ago.

We should of course not overlook the co-credit on '4 Minutes' for Justin

Timberlake who can thus also claim a Number One hit. It is his third

credited appearance on a chart-topping single albeit now the second as a

featured guest star. He was last at the top exactly a year ago this week on

Timbaland's 'Give It To Me', his only chart-topper in his own right being

'Sexyback' which had a week at the summit in 2006. Such is his deep-rooted

association with a certain superstar producer, it seems almost a needless

aside to note that all three of his Number One singles have had Timbaland at

the helm.

Finally, for those whose taste in chart facts leans to the quirky side, it

is worth noting that '4 Minutes' is the second single in just over a year to

feature a numerical digit in the title, hard on the heels of charity single

'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)' which hit the top in April last year. Although a

rare occurrence, such numerically titled singles do seem top the chart with

reasonable regularity. In the last decade we have had '5 Colours In Her

Hair' by McFly and '3AM' from Busted (both 2004), Mambo No.5 (twice thanks

to Bob The Builder in 2001 and Lou Bega in 1999), '7 Days' from Craig David

in 2000 and '9pm (Til I Come)' from ATB once again in 1999. One could also

argue the case for 'Three Lions 98' to be included but as the number was

merely to indicate the date of the remix rather than being part of the title

of the song it probably does not count. Incidentally only one Number One hit

has ever been known by a number rather than a name, said track being '19' by

Paul Hardcastle from 1985 which I'm fond of pointing out ranks as the

shortest ever title for a hit single given that it actually contains no

letters at all.

As predicted on these pages last week, three of the big physical releases of

the week make Top 10 inroads. Already around was September's 'Cry For You'

which duly advances four places to Number 5. Hard on their heels are Usher

and Young Jeezy with 'Love In This Club', the single surging 14-6 after

three weeks as a Top 20 hit based on download sales.

The biggest climber of all however is 'The Age Of The Understatement' from

the Last Shadow Puppets which surges 24-9 to give the group a Top 10 hit on

their debut almost from nowhere. The level of interest is perhaps less

surprising when you consider the personnel behind the name, the group being

a side project of Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys and Miles Kane from

The Rascals. It is the culmination of a friendship that stretches back to

2005 when Kane's old band The Little Flames supported the Arctics on tour.

'The Age Of The Understatement' is an epic sounding single, drenched in

orchestration and layered guitars and with the voices of the two men

combining gloriously in a mid 60s-esque harmony. Side projects work best

when they afford the participants the chance to make music that just

wouldn't fit with their usual style. The music of the Last Shadow Puppets is

as far removed from the Arctics sound as it is possible to get and you

cannot help but feel that the world would have been a poorer place if we had

never had the chance to hear it.

Making moves in the Top 20 are Scouting For Girls who are still climbing

with the fully available 'Heartbeat' which is now up at Number 14. Britney

Spears looks on the verge of having her smallest ever chart hit after the

physical release of 'Break The Ice' can only stagger to Number 15. Before

today she has only ever had two of her singles miss the Top 10, the smallest

being 'I Love Rock And Roll' which limped to Number 13 in late 2002.

Hottest download only track of the moment (aside from Madonna) appears to be

will.i.am's 'Heartbreaker' which rises 29-18 this week, still some weeks

away from its planned May 5 release. The early success of the single is a

rather curious state of affairs simply because it is being promoted on the

basis of a version that isn't yet available for purchase. Initially a track

from his 'Songs About Girls' album, the UK release of the single is set to

be a remixed version featuring a video and minor vocal contribution from

Cheryl Cole of Girls Aloud. Whilst the video for the single (in which she

appears prominently) is in rotation already, the remix will not be available

for purchase until its official May 5 release date. Thus all sales of the

track to date have been for the Cole-free album version, making

'Heartbreaker' yet another example of a single becoming a hit in the wrong

version several weeks ahead schedule. See also 'Something Good 08' and most

notably Kelly Rowland's 'Work' which made the Top 40 in January even before

the single remix had hit the online stores.

Not every physical release this week managed to hit the heights. Goldfrapp

make a rather disappointing Number 25 with 'Happiness' but the biggest shock

of the week is reserved for Kanye West's 'Flashing Lights' which became a

physical single this week but which has only limped to Number 29 on the

singles chart.

Down at the bottom end of the listings, the most extraordinary performance

of the week is that of 2007 American Idol winner Jordin Sparks. The first

"Idol" winner since Kelly Clarkson to have her singles promoted in Europe,

she is already making slow but sure progress with American Top 10 hit

'Tattoo' which rises to Number 50 this week. Few expect it to be a huge hit,

simply because it has been released as a download only single and will not

be granted a physical release. Combine that with the vocal chord problems

which have forced her to cancel a whole string of performances back home and

you can perhaps understand that the UK market is not the highest priority

for her people at the moment. What makes her chart presence more

extraordinary this week is the unexpected appearance of her current American

single 'No Air' which arrives on the chart at Number 58. A duet with Chris

Brown (and in truth a single with far more chart prospects than 'Tattoo'),

its surge in sales is almost certainly down to the screening here of her

performance on the Idol results show a week ago. This is the sort of thing

that causes record labels to have kittens. Whilst 'Tattoo' was a low-key way

to introduce her to the British public, 'No Air' is pencilled in for a

proper release later in the summer when there is every expectation that the

Chris Brown factor will turn it into a major hit. Here it is as a chart

single already, treading on the toes of her existing release and at a time

when she is physically unable to promote it anyway. Who'd be a marketeer?