Chart Commentary by gooddelta: Sun 24/8/08

Posted August 24, 200816 yr

American singer Katy Perry has kept hold of the UK No.1 spot for a third week in a very slow chart period where new entries are few and far between making older songs climb back up by default. The Script jump to a new peak of No.2 and Kid Rock slides a place at No.3 this week.

I Kissed A Girl, Katy Perry’s debut UK single, debuted at No.4 on its initial download release before climbing to No.1 where it has remained now for a third week. The song is finally released physically next Monday, September 1st. The Man Who Can’t Be Moved by The Script takes advantage of a relative chart lull and moves up a place to a new peak of No.2 this week. It has moved 30-3-4-3-2 in its first five weeks inside the chart, although the sheer sales gulf between them and Katy Perry currently looks too difficult to overcome if they were aiming for a No.1 hit with this single. Kid Rock’s All Summer Long continues to sell well but drops a place to No.3 this week having sat in second place for the past two weeks.

Rihanna’s Disturbia is still not scheduled for a physical release but moves up two places to a new peak position of No.4 this week, becoming her eighth UK top five hit. Every time the Barbados born singer has gone top ten in the UK, she has reached the top five sooner or later with all of these releases. Only If It’s Lovin’ That You Want, We Ride and Hate That I Love You missed the top ten, although all three singles reached the top twenty. Disturbia will need to progress a further two places to become her fourth No.2 single, or three places higher to become Rihanna’s third UK No.1. Norwegian rap duo Madcon complete this week’s top five. The pair entered the chart at No.7 last week with their Frankie Valli cover, Beggin’, and as predicted climb into the top five this week, a very international top five featuring artists from four different countries this week.

Dizzee Rascal, Calvin Harris and Chrome slide a place to No.6 this week with their former No.1 single Dance Wiv Me, now on its eighth week inside the top ten. Meanwhile, The Verve’s comeback single Love Is Noise slides three places to No.7 ahead of the release of new album Forth, due out on Monday. Noah & The Whale achieve a fourth week inside the top ten with Five Years Time, back up a place to No.8 this week, whilst Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown are down a place to No.9 with No Air. Scottish rock act Biffy Clyro score this week’s highest new entry. Mountains, in at No.10 on downloads alone, is by far the biggest chart success to date for the trio consisting of lead singer Simon Neil and brothers James and Ben Johnston. More accessible than the typical Biffy Clyro single, Mountains has picked up reasonable radio support, being A-Listed on Radio 1. The trio, although being big album sellers, have never reached the UK top ten before, their previous biggest success being the 2007 No.13 hit Saturday Superhouse. With the physical release of Mountains due on Monday, the single is looking likely to become an even bigger success in seven days time. This week’s top ten therefore includes four Brits, three Americans, a Barbadian, a Norwegian act and an Irish act.

In a slow week for chart action a handful of singles go back up the chart this week. London rapper Ironik’s former No.5 single, Stay With Me, bounces back up a couple of places to No.13 this week having spent nine weeks in the top fifteen now. Australian sixteen year old pop soul singer Gabriella Cilmi jumps places back up three places No.15 with Sweet About Me, which has spent twenty weeks inside the top forty so far this year. The second highest new entry comes from British indie group The Automatic. The Welsh band, now a quartet following the departure of former member Alex Pennie, experienced chart success in 2006 with Recover and Raoul but most notably with the festival anthem Monster which reached No.4. New single Steve McQueen is taken from their upcoming second album This Is A Fix and debuts at No.16 after a simultaneous physical and digital release. British male electro-soul artist Taio Cruz soars into the top twenty this week following his physical release of She’s Like A Star. The single, which jumps from No.32 to No.20 is the third consecutive top twenty hit for the singer and the fifth top thirty hit from his album Departure, which has sold relatively little when considering the hit machine that it has turned into.

American soul duo Little Jackie, who debuted at No.26 last week with The World Should Revolve Around Me, climb to No.21 this week, a week ahead of the single’s physical release. Keane jump a couple of places to No.26 with new single Spiralling, a previously free download only release, whilst Nickelback’s Rockstar is still hanging around, and jumps back up two places to No.29 this week. Incredibly, this week marks the song’s 37th week inside the UK top forty in total. Irish trio The Script are back up two places with the former No.15 hit We Cry, up from No.33 to No.31 this week. With the ongoing success of Sweet About Me, like so many acts this year Gabriella Cilmi’s second single suffers from being overshadowed by the previous one. Save The Lies (Good To Me) is the second song to be lifted from the Australian singer’s debut album Lessons To Be Learned. It enters the top forty at No.33 this week, but with relatively low download sales it will take a Sweet About Me style turnaround to become a second big single for Gabriella. In her native Australia, she’s all but been resigned to one hit wonder status. Don’t Want To Go To Bed Now, her second release down under, has not even made the top twenty whereas its predecessor went all the way to No.1 there.

Three other singles also join the back end of the top forty this week. Danish six piece Alphabeat follow their hit singles Fascination (#6) and 10,000 Nights (#16) with third single Boyfriend. The infectious single is due out physically on Monday and should therefore find itself a bit higher this time next week. American metal band Metallica have had a very good week as festival fever kicks in. Nothing Else Matters and Enter Sandman both return to the top seventy five and new single The Day That Never Comes, the first release to be taken from their upcoming ninth studio album Death Magnetic, debuts at No.36 after just a few days of sales, and should find itself safely inside the top twenty next week. Finally, drum and bass act J Majik’s new collaboration with Wickaman is a surprise entry to the top forty this week. Crazy World jumps in at No.37 this week following a simultaneous physical and download release. J, real name Jamie Spratling, is a big name on the drum and bass scene and has collaborated in the past with Goldie, Adam F and Kathy Brown amongst others.

There’s barely any change yet again in the album chart this week, which has seen few major releases in the last couple of months. Irish trio The Script ease to a second week at No.1 with their eponymous debut album, ahead of non-movers from ABBA, Duffy and Coldplay at No.2, No.3 and No.4 respectively. Blur’s Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, best known collectively for creating animated band Gorillaz together have the highest new entry with their Monkey project. The soundtrack to the opera Journey To The West debuts at No.5 this week. Kid Rock stays at No.6 with Rock & Roll Jesus this week whilst Noah & The Whale slide two places to No.7 with Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down. Disturbia continues to aid Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded, as Rihanna jumps back up two places to No.8 this week. Jane McDonald’s Jane dips a couple of places at No.9 and Scouting For Girls’ eponymous debut album returns to the top ten, back up five places from No.15 to No.10 this week.

Next week’s chart should finally see some action with the highly anticipated download release of Pjanoo by Eric Prydz. The instrumental dance track, by the Swedish producer who has already had two huge UK hits, is available to download from Monday and following huge radio support, should make a huge impact this time next week. Katy Perry will be aiming for a fourth week at No.1 however with I Kissed A Girl which uniquely receives its physical release on Friday this week whilst her downloads are still strong. The Script, Rihanna, Kid Rock and Madcon should remain high up and Biffy Clyro are in strong contention for a top five placing with Mountains, out physically on Monday. Other notable physical releases are due from Alphabeat, Blackout Crew, Glasvegas, Hamfatter, Little Jackie, Miley Cyrus, Mystery Jets, Paul Weller, Subways and Will.I.Am, although it is doubtful that many of these will dent a top forty that refuses to allow much weekly turnover these days. The Verve will easily reach the top of the album chart with long awaited comeback album Forth, despite the new LP getting reasonably harsh reviews. Other new entries in the album chart can be expected from Slipknot, The Game, The Automatic, Teddy Thompson, Eva Cassidy, Glen Campbell, ABBA and New Kids On The Block.