Chart Commentary by gooddelta: Sun 14/9/08

Posted September 14, 200816 yr

American indie rock act Kings Of Leon have made a stunning return to the UK singles chart this week as new single Sex On Fire goes straight in at No.1. Last week’s No.1, I Kissed A Girl by Katy Perry dips to No.2 after five weeks in control and Thank You For A Lifetime, the new single by veteran pop icon Cliff Richard goes in at No.3 this week.

Family band Kings Of Leon are a four piece from America made up of brothers Nathan, Caleb and Jared Followill and their cousin Matthew Followill. They formed as a band at the start of the decade, their first notable UK success coming in 2003 when they achieved a top three album with their debut Youth & Young Manhood. Their singles, though not usually huge sellers, have gained cult status over the past few years their highest charting single until now being the 2007 No.13 hit Fans. The band’s second album Aha Shake Heartbreak also went to No.3 whilst last years Because Of The Times was their first No.1 album. Only By The Night is the name of the band’s fourth album and the anthemic Sex On Fire is the first single to be lifted from that album. A hugely anticipated release by their loyal fanbase and new fans alike, the single has gone straight in at No.1 on downloads alone to become by far the biggest hit of their career. It is the thirteenth UK chart topper of 2008 and the sixth to debut in pole position after Duffy, Estelle, The Ting Tings, Coldplay and Dizzee Rascal, Calvin Harris and Chrome. With downloads taking over as the dominant format, it looks as if debuts at No.1 will soon once again be commonplace in the UK for the biggest, most highly anticipated tracks.

Katy Perry had looked to be set for a sixth week at the top of the chart with the pop anthem I Kissed A Girl but the shock arrival of Kings Of Leon has pushed Katy down a place to No.2, now on her seventh week inside the top five. This puts her time at the top equal with Basshunter and Duffy with nobody yet to pass the five week mark so far this year. Last year two singles managed more than five weeks at the top, Bleeding Love and Umbrella, ultimately the two biggest selling singles of 2007.

Making his debut in the late 1950s, teenager Cliff Richard quickly won over the hearts of young girls and became a pop idol. His career has incredibly lasted over five decades and Cliff has had chart topping singles in every decade since the 1950s except this one. He released a new single this week, Thank You For A Lifetime to try and achieve his dream but falls a tad short, ending up at No.3 as the second highest new entry. Cliff’s last top three single was not that long ago, his last Christmas offering, 21st Century Christmas, went to No.2 in December 2006. Cliff’s last UK chart topper was of course his 1999 hit single The Millennium Prayer which combined The Lord’s Prayer with Auld Lang Syne to chart topping effect; the single sold almost a million copies in the UK despite being snubbed by radio. Perhaps in the era of download dominance Cliff will be unlikely to ever see the top of the UK charts again when the large majority of his sales come from physical buyers, often the fans that have followed his transformation from a teen idol to a veteran pop pensioner. But the fact that his fanbase have rallied around to get him yet another UK top three single, in a top five which he shares with artists a third of his age, suggests that he could yet have a few more hit singles to come in the next few years. It is incredibly unlikely that the singer will score another No.1 single in the closing fifteen months of this decade, but nothing seems to be impossible where Cliff is concerned.

With the unexpectedly high debuts of Kings Of Leon and Cliff Richard, burlesque urban pop band Pussycat Dolls are forced down a place to No.4 on their second week in the chart, despite the physical version of the single When I Grow Up being released this week. Such a high profile drop on the physical release week has not happened since late last year when Gimme More, the comeback single from Britney Spears, was forced down from No.3 by huge selling singles by Leona Lewis, Take That and McFly. The US group’s second album Doll Domination is due out on September 22nd. In turn, Rihanna’s Disturbia, a download only release, is edged down a place to No.5, having now spent four weeks inside the top five, six inside the top ten. The physical release of the single has now been cancelled so Disturbia could well have already seen its peak position of No.3 as there are some highly anticipated comebacks arriving at the end of the month which may keep her from going back up again.

Sliding from No.2 to outside the top five is almost unheard of these days in such a slow chart era but Pjanoo, the current single from Eric Prydz, follows two weeks at No.2 with a four place drop to No.6 this week. Eric is no stranger to large drops from No.2 however. His 2004 No.1 single Call On Me slid 2-8 on the week after it had left No.1 for the second time, while his 2007 single Proper Education went 2-5 after two consecutive weeks at No.2. The Script’s huge radio anthem The Man Who Can’t Be Moved, also a former No.2 single, dips two places to No.7 followed by two place slides from Madcon’s Beggin’, Kid Rock’s All Summer Long and Biffy Clyro’s Mountains, falling 6-8, 7-9 and 8-10 respectively. The top ten this week therefore features just two British acts, four Americans, a Swede, a Norwegian, a Barbadian and an Irish act.

The top forty, for the second week in a row, is not short of action lower down, with no fewer than nine other songs either joining or rejoining the rankings this week which, along with Kings Of Leon and Cliff, has pushed out eleven songs from last week’s top forty, a turnover unheard of in 2008. US pop singer Miley Cyrus continues her upwards progress once again. Having jumped from No.23 to No.14 last week, See You Again now climbs a further three places to No.11. Cookie Jar by US band Gym Class Heroes went in at No.16 last week and jumps to No.12 this week following its physical release, although it could have been higher had it not been mysteriously deleted from iTunes halfway through the week. Ne-Yo’s Miss Independent, the second single from his upcoming new album Year Of The Gentleman, is also on the up again, this week leaping from No.18 to No.14 and following the example of its predecessor Closer, which slowly but surely made its way up from No.22 to No.1 over the course of a couple of months at the start of the summer with just one minor setback when it fell to No.24 on its second week.

American hip hop/rock band Flobots jump to No.18 with Handlebars, which debuted inside the top forty at No.35 last week and looks as if it could well be a future top ten hit. The third highest new entry comes from American indie/alternative group Iglu & Hartly. The young band have had notable support from Radio 1 who have A listed the track, In This City, and they are rewarded with a top forty hit. The single goes in at No.21 this week on the strength of download sales whilst the physical versions of the single are due out on Monday which should lift the song into the top twenty in seven days time.

McFly have taken a risk with new single Lies, for the first time releasing it on downloads before the physical release. The single goes in at No.23 and is almost certain to leap into the top five next week when their loyal fanbase snap up the CD versions of Lies. The follow up to One For The Radio, Lies was not part of the free version of their new album Radio: Active which was given away free with The Mail On Sunday in July. A new deluxe retail version of the album featuring new tracks, full sleeve notes and a bonus DVD will come out on September 22nd. One of the surprise success stories of 2008 has been the continuing success of Swedish DJ Basshunter. The singer/producer started the year on a high with the gold selling No.1 single Now You’re Gone and also scored a No.1 album with the album of the same name. His second single, All I Ever Wanted was a summer No.2 hit and third single Angel In The Night makes an impact this week, debuting at No.24 on download sales to give him a third top forty hit in 2008. Unlike his former singles, this is not an older Swedish release converted into English but a brand new track for the UK market, which, like All I Ever Wanted, Basshunter sings on himself. He is also the star of the music video, whereas he did not feature in the first two.

Just Stand Up, the download only superstar collaboration credited to Artists Stand Up To Cancer, which features fifteen of American and Britain’s biggest female singers, also makes an impressive climb this week, moving from No.39 to No.26, having reached No.11 in the US this week. American rapper Flo Rida scores his third top forty hit of the year this week with new single In The Ayer which features Will I Am. The new single goes in at No.29 following its physical release and follows the No.2 single Low, the year’s seventh biggest seller on sales approaching 360,000 copies, and the No.20 follow up Elevator. All three singles are from Flo Rida’s album Mail On Sunday.

Queen were one of the defining bands of the twentieth century, scoring adoration worldwide with their flamboyant brand of rock music led by Freddie Mercury. The band mark their chart return this week with new vocalist Paul Rodgers taking the lead on C-Lebrity, which goes in at No.33 this week following a simultaneous physical and digital release. The chart’s first re-entry this week is from British rock band Elbow. One Day Like This, the band’s last single, was a No.39 hit in June and it reappears at a new peak of No.35 for two reasons this week. The song was played over the highlights of this year’s Big Brother final last Friday prompting the song to re-enter the iTunes chart inside the top fifty. Then midweek, the band won the 2008 Mercury Music Prize for current album The Seldom Seen Kid which helped to push the single even higher. An epic six and a half minute anthem, it is surprising that it never went higher in the first place. The other re-entry to the chart this week at No.36 is Black & Gold by Australian singer Sam Sparro. One of the biggest hits of the year, the electro pop anthem peaked at No.2 and has sold almost 400,000 copies so far this year in the UK, making it the sixth biggest seller of 2008.

The huge attention MIA was receiving stateside has had a deserved effect in her home country as Paper Planes becomes the first top forty hit in the UK for the experimental singer, having already made the top five in the US. A fan favourite from her album Kala, Paper Planes was initially released as a single earlier in the year but failed to reach the top 75 after minimal promotion. With MIA’s US success coupled with the track featuring on the soundtrack of new movie Pineapple Express, the song finally becomes a hit. It makes its top forty debut at No.37 on downloads alone and its physical re-release date is set for October 13th. The singer, born in Britain to Sri Lankan parents, is known for her eccentric music and clever use of samples. Previous single Jimmy sampled Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja by Indian actor Parvati Khan, whilst Paper Planes uses a sample from Straight To Hell by The Clash. And rounding off the top forty with perhaps the most long awaited hit of the year is Can’t Stop Moving by Liverpudlian dance artist Sonny J. The song, which has been compared to artists ranging from The Jackson Five to The Avalanches, was initially released to great critical fanfare last summer but failed to make the top 75. Since then, Sonny J has released two further singles, which also failed to chart. So it is long overdue that courtesy of a remix by French producer Mirwais, Can’t Stop Moving finally gives Sonny J his first top forty hit, as it climbs five places to make its first ever appearance inside the top forty at No.40.

As expected, the album chart sees a new look top two this week following the release of two eagerly anticipated albums. Death Magnetic, the long awaited comeback from American metal band Metallica, goes straight in at No.1 after just two days worth of sales, having not been made available until Friday, although some shops were reported to have started selling it earlier. It is the band’s first UK chart topper since 1996’s Load. Previous album, 2003’s St Anger was poorly received, and could only peak at No.3 in the UK. Scottish band Glasvegas released their eponymous debut album on Monday and it goes straight in behind Metallica at No.2, having led for most of the week.

Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad album was a No.1 success last year following the chart topping success of Umbrella and has been a chart fixture ever since. This week, the Reloaded edition of the album climbs to No.3, its highest position of 2008 aided by both the exposure of current single Disturbia, and a temporary price cut to £5 in Woolworths stores this week. The album is closing in quickly on a million sales in the UK and is by far Rihanna’s biggest album to date. The Verve slide three places to No.4 after two weeks at the top with comeback album Forth and Duffy’s Rockferry, by far the biggest selling album of 2008, is down a spot to No.5. The Script are down four places to No.6 with their eponymous debut album whilst Mercury Music Prize winning album, The Seldom Seen Kid by Elbow, makes its top ten return, jumping back up from No.61 to No.7 this week. Michael Jackson’s King Of Pop compilation dips five places to No.8 this week, ABBA’s Gold is down three spots to No.9 and Coldplay’s Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends falls a place to No.10

Next week’s chart should see Kings Of Leon score a second week at the top with Sex On Fire with the physical formats of the single due out on Monday. Katy Perry, Rihanna and Pussycat Dolls should hang around at the top end of the chart whilst Cliff Richard will probably drop hugely with his single largely being a fanbase buy. Ne-Yo, Flobots, MIA, Basshunter and Elbow should continue to climb on downloads whilst Will Young and Jennifer Hudson should enter the top forty with their downloads out now. A number of other singles receive their physical release on Monday. Physically released singles that may make an impact on the top 75 next week include Chris Brown, Colbie Caillat, Estelle, The Feeling, Iglu & Hartly, James Doman, Ladyhawke, McFly, Moby, Steve Mac, Tilly & The Wall, Travis and We Are Scientists. McFly are likely to have the biggest impact with Lies almost certain to leap into the top five next week. Metallica and Glasvegas look as though they will battle for the top album honours again with notable new releases due from Queen & Paul Rodgers, Ne-Yo, The Streets, The Coral, Avenged Sevenfold, Gym Class Heroes, Nelly, LL Cool J, The Metros, Daniel Powter and Little Man Tate with re-releases due from Sonny J and Colbie Caillat.

Thanks to Polyhex, EveryHit, ManicKangaroo and Play.com for various information and resources