Regular readers will know, or will have guessed, that I write at least some of a week’s commentary before the chart is unveiled on Friday. In particular, I might write about the number ones in one or both charts. If the race is close, I have two main choices. I can write two alternative versions. When the chart was announced on a Sunday (and that last happened ten years ago), I would often write two alternative versions. That has become more difficult with the chart being unveiled on a weekday. My tactic now tends to be a little different. I can write paragraphs about each of the contenders, including the significance of each of them getting to number one. Then, when the final outcome is announced on Radio 1, I can just write a short paragraph saying what has happened. That strategy works reasonably well when there are two contenders for number one. It becomes rather more awkward when there are four. That made things difficult this week when the top four were separated by only around 2,000 sales. Clearly, I am not going to write 24 different versions to allow for each possible permutation. So, let’s stick with the other alternative. One of the contenders, although it was in third place on Monday, was last week’s number one, Lewis Capaldi’s Survive. He spent seven weeks at number one with Someone You Loved, but each of his four subsequent chart-toppers spent just a week each at number one. By Wednesday’s update, it looked very likely that Survive would be a fifth seven-day wonder as it had fallen to number four. The song in pole position on both Monday and Wednesday was last week’s number two, Dior by MK featuring Chrystal. If it finished the week still at the top of the pile, it would be a first number one for both artists. This would be a particularly impressive achievement for MK whose first chart entry came in 1995, although he didn’t reach the top forty until the same song, Always, reached number twelve. Also in contention was Sabrina Carpenter’s Manchild. Two of her three number one singles last year had two spells at number one in their chart run, and all three spent at least four weeks at the top. Two of those songs were at numbers one and two last week. Manchild’s performance to date, then, is modest by comparison. The fourth possibility has spent nineteen weeks in the top forty so far, more than the other three combined. Ravyn Lenae’s Love me Not has spent four weeks at number two, but by last week it was at number four. Could it finally climb to the top in its twentieth week in the top forty? So, what happened? MK duly gets that first number one in a thirty-year chart career as Dior climbs three places to the top. Sabrina Carpenter climbs to number two with Manchild. Ravyn Lenae spends its twentieth week in the top forty at number three. Lewis Capaldi gets another seven-day number one as Survive drops to number four. Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club remains tethered at number five. It’s just as well there was an exciting contest at the top of the chart as there is a distinct lack of brand new songs in the top forty. To make it even more boring, the sole brand new song is the 97th top forty hit from Drake, What Did I Miss? I can’t speak for anyone else, but I missed a large part of the “song” as I couldn’t bear it any longer. It is at number 27. Last week’s list of new album releases was very short. A cunning record company could have looked at the list and changed the release date for one of their relatively unknown artists in the hope that they would bag the number one. However, none of them did so. That has left us with a top four comprising three albums from the same band and an album that has taken up permanent residence in the top five. The final outcome highlighted one of the issues many people have with the way streams contribute to the albums chart. A single stream of a song can contribute to three different chart entries. It contributes to the song’s standing in the singles chart, the studio album on which it appeared (if any), and a Greatest Hits-type album (if any). In the wake of their first gigs since their acrimonious split, it is not surprising that the most-streamed Oasis songs are from their first two albums, and that many of those songs also appear on their Time Flies compilation released in 2010. The track listing of Time Flies is heavily biased towards those two albums, meaning that streams of that whole album will contribute significantly towards both those parent albums and Time Flies. That helps to explain why Time Flies is the most popular Oasis album in the chart this week and it has gone all the way to the top. It went to number one when it was released. Fifteen years later, it finally gets a second week at the top. Their debut album Definitely Maybe clocked up its 600th week in the full chart (top 100) last week. Like Time Flies, it only spent one week at the top when it was released. That album had to wait thirty years for a second week at the top last year. It is at number four this week. Oasis’s biggest album in chart terms is their second set (What’s The Story) Morning Glory. Once again, it initially topped the chart for one week. However, it went on to spend a total of ten weeks at number one between its debut in October 1995 and March the following year. It has spent104 more weeks (two years) in the chart than Definitely maybe. Returning, briefly, to the singles chart, note that I specifically referred to brand new songs. There is another new entry, but it isn’t a new song. Acquiesce by Oasis, the song in question, was originally the b-side of Some Might Say, the band’s first number one single. As with many Oasis b-side, it could easily have been a single in its own right but only appeared on an album when they released Masterplan, a collection of b-sides. In their comeback shows it has been the second song in their set, following the predictable opening song Hello. As one of thew few songs where the Gallagher brothers share the lead vocals, it was a logical choice to be part of the set opening. It now makes its chart debut at number seventeen. It is the band’s 27th top forty hit. The song was certified platinum (300,000 “sales“) just three months ago. Now it leaves the list of songs that have been certified platinum without ever making the top forty. Thanks to DanielCarey at Buzzjack for that information. Two other Oasis tracks return to the top forty, and they are both higher than the Drake new entry. Justice! Live Forever became Oasis’s first top ten hit when it reached number ten in 1994. Following the announcement of new dates last year, it returned to the top forty at a nwe peak of number eight. It is back again at number nineteen. Another Oasis number one, Don’t Look Back In Anger returned to the chart in 2017 when it became an unofficial Manchester anthem following the terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in the city. It was also one of the songs that returned last year and now returns at number eighteen. Sabrina Carpenter prevents Oasis filling up the whole to three. Her Short ‘n’ Sweet album is at number three. Ed Sheeran’s Mathematics Tour Collection is at number five. As a proud pedant, I regard a self-titled album to be one where the artist has chosen the title rather than leaving it for someone else to do. An album that sheares its name with that of the artist is eponymous. However, Kate Tempest's new album is literally self-titled. That is what it is called. It is this week’s sole new entry at number 25. This week’s anniversary edition is of Hard-Fi’s 2005 debut Stars Of CCTV. The album originally went to number one, as did its successor Once Upon A Time In The West. Sadly, they released just one more album (which reached number nine) before splitting up. The new edition is at number eighteen.
Oops, that's what I meant to type. Apologies to them.
