Posted March 1, 200916 yr A third No1 single in 7 months for Max Martin as Kelly Clarkson enters at the top in an all download top4. NEW 01 Kelly Clarkson My Life Would Suck Without You Texan born Kelly Clarkson returns with a bang this week after an absence from the UK singles chart of nearly two years by entering at No1 with My life Would Suck Without You on download sales alone. The success of My Life Would Suck Without You is in no small part down to the song writing partnership of Max Martin and Dr Luke who between them have written and produced many of the biggest hits of the latter half of this decade. Max Martin’s early career at Cheiron records saw him work with fellow Swedes Ace Of Base and Rednex. His international breakthrough came in 1997 when he began writing for The Backstreet Boys’ writing hits such as Quit Playing Games (With My Heart) No2, Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) No3 and As Long As You Love Me No3. Hits were then penned for Robyn (Show Me Love No8 1998), 5ive (Slam Dunk (Da Funk) No10, Until The Time Is Through No2 1997/8) and Bryan Adams (Cloud Number 9 No6 1998). The biggest success of Max Martin’s career came in 1999 when he wrote Baby One More Time for Britney Spears which duly stormed to No1 in February 1999 shifting a staggering 463,722 copies in it’s first week alone and went on to become the biggest selling record of 1999 shifting just over 1.45 million copies. He went on to write and produce further No1’s for Backstreet Boys (I Want It That Way 1999) and Britney Spears (Oops!… I Did It Again 2000). Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald aka Dr Luke has written and produced outside of his writing partnership with Max Martin massive hits for Avril Lavigne (Girlfriend No2 2007), Sugababes (About You Now No1 for 4 weeks 2007), Britney Spears (Circus No13) and the forthcoming Flo Rida single Round Round. The combination of Max Martin and Dr Luke has already produced Katy Perry’s I Kissed A Girl which spent 5 weeks at No1 last August/September As well as the follow up Hot ‘N’ Cold (No4) and P!nk’s 2006 hit’s Who Knew (No5) and U + Ur Hand (No10). Max Martin also wrote P!nk’s No1 So What which spent 3 weeks at No1 last October as well as Britney Spears’ forthcoming single If U Seek Amy. The association between Kelly Clarkson and Martin/Dr Luke dates back to 2005 when they penned the top10 hits Since U Been Gone (No5) and Behind These Hazel Eyes (No9). It was the first series of the US music talent TV show American Idol in 2002 that brought Kelly Clarkson to prominence as she progressed through the competition eventually beating Justin Guarini in the final. Her first single in the US was A Moment Like This co-written by one half of 90’s Scottish dance act Nightcrawlers, which four years later Leona Lewis covered as the coronation song for the third series of the X Factor. Her debut UK chart hit was Miss Independent, which reached No6 in September 2003 was from her No41 debut album Thankful. The second release a double A-Side Low/The Trouble With Love Is however didn’t fare so well stalling at No35 in November the same year. She retuned in 2005 with the Max Martin Dr Luke written top10 hits Since U Been Gone and Behind These Hazel Eyes, which were given a rockier vibe to be in vogue. The album Breakaway reached No3 in the UK selling well over a million copies and spawned further hits: Because Of You (No7), Walk Away (No21) and Breakaway (No22). She returned in July 2007 with the No9 single Never Again and the album My December reached No2 but only sold a fraction of the amount Breakaway did ~300,000. Fast-forward nearly two years and once again with a Max Martin/Dr Luke track. As electro pop is the flavour of the year the rock-lite sound has been somewhat modified. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of My Life Would Suck Without You’s success is that it comes against the background of radio resistance with the track yet to crack the top20 of the airplay chart compared to record-breaking airplay stateside. A run of five consecutive No1’s by a main solo female artist: Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke, Lady GaGa, Lily Allen and Kelly Clarkson; is unprecedented in chart history. Although for completion it’s worth mentioning that a male artist, Colby O’Donis has a credited featuring role on Just Dance. The last time we had a longer run of No1’s containing a main female vocal was at the end of 1998; when Melanie B Feat. Missy Elliott, B*Witched, Billie, Spacedust, Cher, B*witched and The Spice Girls topped the charts in succession. Spacedust were a British production duo Paul Glancey and Duncan Glasson who used an un-credited Jane Fonda sound alike singer for their fleeting No1 Gym & Tonic. To date every download/physical single, which has topped the chart on download sales alone: Gnarls Barkley, MIKA, Rihanna Feat. Jay-Z, Sugababes, Duffy, Estelle Feat. Kanye West, Madonna, Dizzee Rascal, Katy Perry, Kings Of Leon and Lady Gaga Feat. Colby O’Donnis; has retained the No1 spot after their physical release. Coldplay’s Viva La Vida and Leona Lewis’ cover of Run were album tracks that topped the chart, while Mint Royale’s revival after Britain’s Got Talent was not supported by a physical release. 22 02 Taylor Swift Love Story Nineteen-year-old American country-pop singer-songwriter Taylor Alison Swift climbs twenty places with her debut UK hit Love Story in it’s first full week of digital release. The physical is out today/tomorrow however it seems unlikely she’ll make any more progress up the chart with Kelly Clarkson blocking her progress and the official Comic Relief single set to make waves this week. The last country-pop star to reach the top2 was LeAnn Rhymes whose Coyote Ugly theme Can’t Fight The Moonlight entered at No1 on sales of 113,500 in November 2000. 15 03 Lady GaGa Poker Face 22 year old New Yorker Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta aka Lady GaGa scores her second successive top3 hit from her debut No3 album The Fame as Poker Face explodes 15-3- following increasing rotation on music TV and radio airplay. 30-26-28-24-22-15-3- 17 04 T.I. Feat. Justin Timberlake Dead And Gone A second top5 smash for T.I. from the No49 album Paper Trail and is released physically on the 9th March potentially allowing time for some more progression up the chart which has been relentless thus far: 58-47-30-17-4-. 01 05 Lily Allen The Fear After 4 weeks in control Lily Allen’s The Fear slides four places to No5 1-1-1-1-5-. It’s the first No1 to fall 1-5- since Leon Jackson slipped 1-1-1-5- in January 2008 and the biggest fall for a four week No1 since Leona Lewis’ debut A Moment Like This slumped 1-1-1-1-6-. 06 08 Shontelle T-Shirt Barbadian singer-songwriter and rapper Shontelle’s debut hit T-Shirt slides two places despite being physically released last week having moved 43-25-13-10-6-8- in its 6 week chart career. 10 09 The Pussycat Dolls Feat. Missy Elliott Whatcha Think About That California based burlesque girl group The Pussycat Dolls fair slightly better following the physical release of Whatcha Think About That, which gains a place in a competitive week 36-16-15-10-9-. Rounding out the top10: Lady GaGa’s Just Dance slides four places to No6 after an 8 week residency in the top3 3-1-1-1-2-2-2-2-6-, while with the Brit’s effect inevitably fading out Kings Of Leon’s Use Somebody bows 3-7- this week and finally Alesha Dixon’s No3 hit Breathe Slow slides five places to No10: 39-23-13-6-5-3-5-10-. 37 17 Take That Up All Night An impressive twenty-place climb for Up All Night, the second single from The Circus, which becomes Mancunian man band Take That’s 20th UK top20 hit. It is physically released today/tomorrow and should give them another top10 smash 7 days forth. However it looks likely to be the first second single from a Take That album not to reach No1 since Promises made No38 in November 1991 taken from their No2 debut album Take That And Party. 23 19 All-American Rejects Gives You Hell Okalahoma pop-rockers rebound back into the top twenty as the Brit’s effect continues to wane with what in Gives You Hell is turning out to be quite the slow burner. 34 28 M.I.A Paper Planes 31-year-old Hounslow born Londoner Mathangi Arulpragasam sees another further climb for her No19 2008 hit powered by its use in the Brit flick ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ moving 54-46-43-45-33-34-28- in the past 7 weeks. 56 30 Akon Feat. Colby O'Donis & Kardinal Offishall Beautiful Belatedly physically released today/tomorrow having been a sizable club smash for several months and has moved 60-56-xx-xx-xx-xx-66-59-53-52-56-54-56-30- since initially being picked up on by cherry pickers when the No21 album Freedom was released at the end of last year. 70 35 Madcon Beggin’ The use of the Pilooski Re-Edit of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons Beggin’ in the latest Adidas originals advert sees renewed interest in the Norwegian Hip-Hop groups 2008 version which has moved 70-35- since the advert began airing last week. 49 39 MGMT Time To Pretend A return to the top40 for MGMT’s debut single for the first time since the track peaked at No35 last April after it was used in the TV series Skins. Albums The Prodigy score a fifth consecutive UK No1 album with Invaders Must Die going straight in at No1 following: Music For A Jilted Generation (1994), Fat Of The Land (1997), Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned (2004) and the greatest hits package Their Law - The Singles 1990-2005 (2005). Their most successful album to date was Fat Of The Land, which spent 6 consecutive weeks at the top of the album chart in July/August 1997. Meanwhile last weeks No1 Kings Of Leon Only By The Night slides a place to No2 1-2-, after 3 weeks Lily Allen’s It’s Not Me, It’s You slides another place moving 1-2-3-. Duffy’s post Brit’s renaissance continues with Rockferry a non-mover at No4. With Poker Face at No3 and Just Dance No6 in the singles chart Lady GaGa’s No3 debut album moves back into the top5 moving 7-5-. Elbow’s The Seldom Seen Kid slides a place to No6 5-6- while after the limited physical release of We Walk The Ting Tings former No1 album moves up one place 8-7- to No7. With promotional activity building for the release of Up All Night this coming week Take That’s latest No1 smash album climbs eight places from last weeks No16 to this weeks No8 having moved 1-1-1-1-1-2-6-15-19-24-17-16-8-. The Fleet Foxes self-titled No3 debut moves back up a place to No9 10-9-, as The Killers Day & Age slides four places to No10 6-10. Next Week One of two long running chart phenomena will come to an end next week. For every official Comic Relief charity single has topped the chart since 1995, while as I mentioned earlier every single with a staggered digital/physical release, which has topped the chart on downloads alone has remained at the top after the physical has been released. So will Kelly Clarkson’s My Life Would Suck Without You become the first ever No1 to be knocked off the top on the physical release week? Or will The Saturday’s official Comic Relief charity record Just Can’t Get Enough be the first official single not to top the charts since 1993? Watch out for a high download only entry for Flo Rida’s Dr Luke penned Round Round. Physical singles due out today/tomorrow include: The Saturdays, Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, Take That, Akon, Will Young, Lemar, Kings Of Leon, Chipmunk, Friendly Fires, Wombats, Ladyhawke and VV Brown. On the album chart U2 will be looking to score a 10th UK No1 album with their first studio album in just over four years: No Line On The Horizon. The Prodigy should also still be selling well in 7 days time. Edited March 1, 200916 yr by Ethan.
March 1, 200916 yr Thanks. Great read. U2 a certainty for No.1 album next week but singles is anyone's guess between Saturdays and Kelly.
March 1, 200916 yr Excellent Ethan. Your write ups are good. This bit is interesting. To date every download/physical single, which has topped the chart on download sales alone: Gnarls Barkley, MIKA, Rihanna Feat. Jay-Z, Sugababes, Duffy, Estelle Feat. Kanye West, Madonna, Katy Perry, Kings Of Leon and Lady Gaga Feat. Colby O’Donnis; has retained the No1 spot after their physical release. Coldplay’s Viva La Vida and Leona Lewis’ cover of Run were album tracks that topped the chart, while Mint Royale’s revival after Britain’s Got Talent was not supported by a physical release.
March 1, 200916 yr I haven't finished making my commentary but I know that there will be someone to make one so that my time will not be wasted. :D Anyway, great read. :D
March 1, 200916 yr Thanks for this Ethan. I find your commentary excellent, full of facts and a great read. In particular, your commentary on Kelly Clarkson was brilliant. Looking forward to many more commentaries from you!
March 1, 200916 yr Love the intro to the commentary, in regarding to Kelly Clarkson, nice bit of chart trivia, well written.
March 4, 200916 yr Ethan, I found that commentary absolutely excellent, very informative and fact filled. Look forward to future ones from you, you certainly seem like the right man for the job :D
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