American star Kid Rock has celebrated his fourth week in the top ten by climbing another place up to the top of the charts. Last week’s No.1 Dance Wiv Me from Dizzee Rascal, Calvin Harris & Chrome slides a place to No.2 whilst Irish band The Script surge from No.30 to No.3 with The Man Who Can’t Be Moved.

 

Kid Rock, a big name in the US but best known in the UK for being the ex-husband of supermodel Pamela Anderson, had minor hits at the end of the 1990s and the start of this decade in the UK. However, All Summer Long stormed into the top forty at No.6 on downloads alone and has since risen 3-2-1. It is by far the biggest ever international hit single for the singer and is currently huge across Europe, having been at No.1 in Germany for weeks. The song, which samples Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama and Warren Zevon’s Werewolves Of London, looks set to be one of the year’s biggest selling singles. It is the eleventh UK chart topper of 2008 and looks poised to become the fourth to only spend a week at No.1, as Katy Perry’s I Kissed A Girl should soar to the top next week after its first full week of sales.

 

Dizzee Rascal, Calvin Harris and Chrome’s current single, Dance Wiv Me, has been at the top of the UK chart for four weeks but surrenders its crown this week to the American. It has gone silver already, shifting well over 200,000 copies in five weeks. Irish male three piece The Script debuted at No.30 last week with The Man Who Can’t Be Moved, but surge a whopping twenty seven places to No.3 this week following its physical release and hugely growing download sales. The trio’s debut single, We Cry, was a fairly successful No.15 hit earlier in the year, but it is this radio friendly pop-rock anthem that looks set to propel them to further success, and should ensure a stellar debut for their debut self titled album, which is due out on August 11th.

 

The highest new entry this week goes to American singer Katy Perry, whose debut UK single I Kissed A Girl goes straight into the top forty at No.4. Although its physical release is not due until early next month it is quickly becoming the summer’s biggest hit and will be No.1 in the UK next week without a doubt and possibly up until and after the physical single finally receives its release. This single proves that the old method of the late 1990’s-2005/2006 of holding back singles for six to eight weeks after initial promotion has kicked in does not work anymore. If people want a song, they will download it illegally if it is not available to buy, so it makes sense for record companies to release the downloads to legal stores instantly and minimise any potential losses. In this case, tribute versions of the song by Nicki Bliss and Barnicle had been selling well on iTunes before Katy’s release, Nicki selling enough to debut at No.50 this week.

 

Though it has perhaps not had much advance promotion in the UK, many people are aware of the track as it has been causing a stir elsewhere. It has been at the top of the US Billboard charts for over two months, largely on its sales merit alone, as its airplay in the US started off slowly and is only now growing. This is a commendable achievement in a country that is usually dominated by either rap or country music. Katy is a twenty three year old singer songwriter from California who was previously part of famous US production team The Matrix, who have worked with Avril Lavigne and Britney Spears most notably. I Kissed A Girl is about a woman having an enjoyable short fling with another woman despite being in a relationship with a man at the time. Though its lyrics have caused some controversy, the simplicity of Katy’s delivery of the song as well twinned with the infectious electro-pop melody have insured that this will become one of the year’s biggest hits. The song was also co-written by Cathy Dennis, most famous perhaps not for her solo career but for her songwriting talent. She has been the writer behind many pop classics including Kylie Minogue’s legendary Can’t Get You Out Of My Head, Toxic by Britney Spears, About You Now by Sugababes, and S Club 7’s Never Had A Dream Come True, Have You Ever and Say Goodbye, amongst many others.

 

Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown spend a sixth week inside the top five with No Air but it slides two places to No.5 this week. Ne-Yo’s former No.1 Closer slides two places to No.6 and Basshunter is down to No.7 with the former No.2 single All I Ever Wanted. The next new entry is from a new British girlband, The Saturdays, who go straight in at No.8 with If This Is Love. The five piece are a new Polydor signing and are being lined up as the successors to Sugababes and Girls Aloud. The band features two ex-members of S Club Juniors/8; Frankie and Rochelle, and the single samples Yazoo’s track Situtation. It is a good debut for the band in an era when new groups of their kind find it hard to make an impression on the charts and they will hope that this song can grow in the coming weeks to pave the way for subsequent releases. The Ting Tings’ Shut Up & Let Me Go slides three places to No.9 this week whilst Noah & The Whale are the next climbers in the chart this week. Their current single 5 Years Time jumps up to No.10 on its third week inside the chart and should jump further next week when physically released, particularly when considering that songs of this genre often sell well physically. The top ten this week therefore includes four American acts, four Brits, an Irish act and a Swede.

 

Most other singles in the top twenty are sliders from last week although Norwegian singer Ida Maria progresses a couple of places to No.16 with I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked. Ultrabeat vs. Darren Styles’ Discolights surges eight places to No.23 after its physical release and is another hit single for independent record label All Around The World. The best year for the record label came in 2004 when they topped the singles charts with LMC vs. U2, DJ Casper and Frankee, although they have had more albums success recently with top ten successes from Cascada and Scooter and Ultrabeat and Darren Styles themselves. Usher’s Moving Mountains made slow progress last week but looks determined not to end up as his smallest ever single. Despite only reaching No.28 after physical sales had been added, the single jumps three places to a new peak of No.25 this week, helped undoubtedly by the release of the new ‘FP Remix’ that has been airplayed by many radio stations over the official radio version.

 

The next new entry this week is at No.32 and comes courtesy of Numb by Honey Ryder. Honey Ryder are a male/female indie-rock duo from London and Numb is their first single to chart, having sold enough to enter on download sales alone this week. Rihanna’s Disturbia has been outside the top forty a few times since its download release but the track, currently not confirmed as an official UK single, has been cherry picked from her Good Girl Gone Bad – Reloaded Edition enough times to make an entry at No.34 this week. The track, which owes a lot to the Europop sound of the 1990s, is bound to be a huge success in the coming weeks with the video now having been added to British music channels. It should give Rihanna a fifth top ten single from that project in the coming weeks, the others being Umbrella (#1), Shut Up & Drive (#5), Don’t Stop The Music (#4) and Take A Bow (#1). Two other tracks from the Reloaded edition of the album; Hate That I Love You and If I Never See Your Face Again peaked at No.15 and No.28 respectively. Achieving seven top forty singles from an album was almost always unheard of but achieving this feat in today’s chart climate, where many acts even struggle to reach the chart with a second single, it shows how much of a superstar Rihanna has really become in the past couple of years.

 

The final new entry to the chart is another download only success. Kylie Minogue’s The One goes straight in at No.36 on download sales alone. The fourth single to be taken from Kylie’s current album X, the track, produced by Brighton duo The Freemasons, follows the top ten singles 2 Hearts, Wow and In My Arms. The One is Kylie’s first single of the decade not to reach the UK top ten and is indeed her lowest charting single to date, coming in far below the 1997 No.22 hit Some Kind Of Bliss, although that was the lead single from Impossible Princess, as opposed to the fourth. The Australian superstar did however reach No.63 with GBI in 1998 which was a collaboration with Japanese DJ Towa Tei. However, The One had no official music video, far less airplay than its predecessors and no physical release, so the fact that it made the top forty at all is rather impressive.

 

The album chart sees an amazing achievement this week as Abba’s Gold – The Greatest Hits moves back up to No.1 for the first time since 1999, and is now officially the UK’s fourth biggest selling album of all time, having sold well over four million copies. Coldplay slide back to No.2 with Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends which has spent all of its first eight chart weeks inside the top two, six of those at No.1. Duffy continues to sell well after an incredible twenty two weeks inside the top four, and climbs back up a place to No.3 with the now million selling debut album Rockferry. Kid Rock scores his first top ten album to date with Rock ‘N’ Roll Jesus, which goes in at No.4 whilst Basshunter’s former chart topper Now You’re Gone – The Album is down two places to No.5. We Started Nothing is a non-mover at No.6 for The Ting Tings this week followed by Sharleen Spiteri who falls two places to No.7 with Melody. The Bachelors are down a place to No.8 with I Believe – The Very Best Of and Chris Brown is also down a place with Exclusive – The Forever Edition at No.9. Nickelback round off the top ten, staying at No.10 with All The Right Reasons.

 

Katy Perry will almost certainly move up to the top of the UK chart next week to begin probably a very long reign in control with I Kissed A Girl. Kid Rock, The Script, Dizzee Rascal & Calvin Harris, The Saturdays and Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown should still be about to keep her company at the top end of the chart. The Verve are likely to be a big new entry on downloads alone whilst Noah & The Whale will almost certainly reach a new peak next week with 5 Years Time which is physically released on Monday. Other notable physical releases are due from Bob Sinclar, Cascada, Scouting For Girls and Tinchy Stryder. After a couple of very slow weeks of album releases, things are unlikely to improve with no big new albums due out on Monday, meaning that Abba, Coldplay and Duffy should be once again fighting for the top spot in seven days time. Albums that should make at least a minor impact next week are due from Natty, Conor Oberst, Lloyd and Cool Kids, though it is doubtful that any of these will make too much of an impression.

Thanks gooddelta.

 

One thing I wanted to point out - in the US, Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl has now peaked on airplay and spins/AI is starting to decrease.

oh has it :o I thought it was still growing, thanks for clearing that up :D

This single proves that the old method of the late 1990’s-2005/2006 of holding back singles for six to eight weeks after initial promotion has kicked in does not work anymore. If people want a song, they will download it illegally if it is not available to buy

 

Too true. :mellow:

 

Great commentary as always :D

Too true. :mellow:

 

Great commentary as always :D

 

thans Harve :D

Great review as always Rich. :D

Scouting For Girls, I don't think they have chance in the top 40 next week, I can see them flopping, all their other tracks are still hanging about.

Great review as always Rich. :D

 

cheers Gaz :D

The report always manages to provide snippets like this:

 

The final new entry to the chart is another download only success. Kylie Minogue’s The One goes straight in at No.36 on download sales alone. The fourth single to be taken from Kylie’s current album X, the track, produced by Brighton duo The Freemasons, follows the top ten singles 2 Hearts, Wow and In My Arms. The One is Kylie’s first single of the decade not to reach the UK top ten and is indeed her lowest charting single to date, coming in far below the 1997 No.22 hit Some Kind Of Bliss, although that was the lead single from Impossible Princess, as opposed to the fourth. The Australian superstar did however reach No.63 with GBI in 1998 which was a collaboration with Japanese DJ Towa Tei. However, The One had no official music video, far less airplay than its predecessors and no physical release, so the fact that it made the top forty at all is rather impressive

 

that I wouldn't have otherwise known.

 

Thanks as always.

Scouting For Girls, I don't think they have chance in the top 40 next week, I can see them flopping, all their other tracks are still hanging about.

 

well yes, but it will definitely make the top 75, which is 'notable' in my eyes :heehee:

The report always manages to provide snippets like this:

that I wouldn't have otherwise known.

 

Thanks as always.

 

you're welcome, glad to see I'm educating you :lol: :wub:

 

Out comes another prize eventhough not much commentary this week because there isn't much to talk about but still :wub:

Out comes another prize eventhough not much commentary this week because there isn't much to talk about but still :wub:

Yeah a commentary of 75 non movers would probably still be really good :P

I really don't have the time :heehee:

 

this commentary took me a good couple of hours to write as it is!

Great read as usual Rich. Interesting points you make.

 

But the thing where you point out notable new releases... I am thinking, are people SERIOUSLY shocked at how low album sales are recently when there are NO "notable" new releases at all this week? I think we could see a new low for album sales again this week :(

Great read as usual Rich. Interesting points you make.

 

But the thing where you point out notable new releases... I am thinking, are people SERIOUSLY shocked at how low album sales are recently when there are NO "notable" new releases at all this week? I think we could see a new low for album sales again this week :(

 

thanks Johnjo :D

 

I'm not shocked at album sales being low, the releases recently have been truly awful, I've been buying a lot of imports this year because UK released albums have been so poor...

 

I don't think they'll stoop to low though, Abba and Coldplay should both at least shift another 25k