GreyAsh

Last week ‘The Chain’ stretched its lead over ‘Everywhere’ - but this week they are back to being neck and neck. I’m convinced that ‘Everywhere’ will lead the battle of the two this week, following Valentine’s Day.

It’s still looking close between Man I Need and Lush Life for number 3 - but I think Man I Need isn’t closing the gap. And ‘Landslide’ has been marginally ahead of last week 5 days out of 6 so should have earned itself an extra week on SCR (in addition to the 3 extra it earned last week) - so could continue to creep up the chart.

It would be history in the making! That’s what’s exciting for me.

Olivia Dean news: it looks like Man I Need doesn’t quite have what it takes to overtake Lush Life to give Olivia the kind of chart domination only previously seen in the immediate few weeks after an album release, or by Justin Bieber. But who knows?! In Fleetwood Mac news - The Chain is probably catching up with Everywhere for the week now, but I feel that Valentine’s Day might have been sufficient for Everywhere to chart for the first time since early January - having been starred out since the emergence of Landslide. And as for Landslide - it continues to be ahead of this time last week on Spotify, so should get a sales gain, and stay on zero weeks of decline.

We have a 19 match! Including your top 12.

So a match with me of 17 tracks. Higher than anyone in the first semi. Including 12 of your top 13

+25 Kylie Minogue - Padam Padam +24 Linkin Park - In The End +23 Darren Hayes - Insatiable +22 The Veronicas - Untouched +21 Bananarama - Venus +20 Robyn - Dancing On My Own +19 Eurythmics - Here Comes The Rain Again +18 Sylvester - You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) +17 Kelly Clarkson - Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) +16 Amy Winehouse - Back To Black +15 The Supremes - You Keep Me Hangin' On +14 Pet Shop Boys - Suburbia +13 Katrina and the Waves - Walking On Sunshine +12 Eagles - Hotel California +11 Muse - Time Is Running Out +10 Natalie Imbruglia - Shiver +9 Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends +8 Nicki Minaj - Super Bass +7 Evanescence - Going Under +6 Groove Armada featuring Mutya Buena - Song 4 Mutya (Out Of Control) +5 Whitney Houston - Greatest Love Of All +4 Michael Jackson - Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' +3 The Beloved - Sweet Harmony +2 Oasis - Live Forever +1 Rihanna - California King Bed I’ve disqualified Utah Saints from my votes for the following reason. The original mix was superior and reached number 4. It would have made my top 25 (if it had been a number 8). The remix had too much noise and probably just misses out at 26. But also the OCC counts them as the same track - a re-entry, not a brand new track. These days a remix or re-release on the same label are combined. Therefore I personally wouldn’t include it in the vote.

First two great releases of the year: Sombr and Myles Smith.

I guess Bad Bunny is not popular on Amazon. Generally, Amazon goes for older tracks. And I know people are surprised at how well Opalite is doing so far this week. It’s actually quite high on Apple when we only look at SCR tracks. I imagine it is doing well on Amazon too.

Gut feeling is I agree with you, but I haven’t looked in detail at this semi-final yet. That said, I’ve shortlisted only about 27, whereas last time I’m sure I shortlisted more.

So if that sale for Olivia includes physicals, it looks like Rein Me In will be Number 1. And with Bad Bunny on the decline, it looks as though Lush Life will repeak, and be the only song stopping Olivia from holding the top 3! Has any artist previously had the top three other than on the release week of an album, or subsequent weeks? Or 3 of the top 4? I can’t remember how many songs John Lennon had simultaneously after he passed away

What a surprise ! Mine will be similar to this.

I haven’t actually heard it yet! I love a lot of Alex Warren tracks. Only a couple of them don’t inspire me, and as with many people here, one of those is ‘Ordinary’. But then again, Olivia Dean’s music doesn’t inspire me, but I still want her to do well.

But if it’s the case that Olivia beats Olivia - despite the fact that she’s only previously had 1 week at number 1 - I don’t understand your argument.

Because it’ll be iconic! The song that holds the record for yo-yoing in and out of the top 10 becomes number 1.

Big movements for Olivia Dean on Spotify. Olivia coming for the whole of the top 3 of the OCC this week 🙈 And because of Valentine’s Day, Everywhere might kick The Chain out of the chart come Friday.

But the streaming charts have never reflected how well ‘Rein Me In’ is doing - as the Sam Fender solo version is typically not included in those charts, but is included in the OCC figure. Therefore, it has always been an unpredictable track.

It would be interesting to know how many top 10 singles there have been last year, and how this compares with previous years. Songs seem to be spending longer and longer hanging around.

Mine were dropping like flies originally, but I’ve only lost one in the last 10 I think. Surprised to see ‘Many of Horror’ drop out. But impressed that 15 of my top 25 made it through, but that also means that of the 25 to make the final, I voted for the 15 of them - which seems a high proportion. Edit: oops - I actually lost at least a couple between 30 and 35 too.

But all of the ACR songs ahead of it have been number 1! All of the top 22 on Apple except one (12 to 12) are: former number 1s; by Olivia Dean; or are on SCR. Or a combination! So I would say it deserves to be number 1 - or if not, then a different Olivia Dean track.

I’m not a fan of the song, but I support you on this. To me it feels a bit bland, but I’m glad that a song, particularly one by British artists, has connected with the public - and grown in strength. It’s growing on me tbh but I’m not an Olivia Dean fan. I think the point is: we’ve heard a lot of people moaning about this song and the moaning gets a bit boring after a while too. (As does me talking about Fleetwood Mac all of the time now that Kylie and Wham! are out of the singles chart - but, like Rein Me In, FM keep growing in strength!)

‘Landslide’ up on Spotify compared with this time last week. Could it end up becoming one of those songs that stays on SCR for a long time? It’s clearly not just The Stranger Things effect any more, and unlike the other ST songs is no longer in decline.

Just based on the sales figures we get given on Buzzjack, there’s a high chance that ‘Landslide’ increased its streaming sales this week by my estimation (and it definitely increased its streams marginally on Spotify). So I reckon it’s back to SCR.

Yup. So it’s a question of whether Taylor has sold enough to overtake Dave, and I think the way her team work, they would not have dispatched it if they didn’t think they could do it. But looking at the way things are at present, and this week’s release schedule, I genuinely think it is going to be ‘Rein Me In’ next week - who would have seen that coming?

Love them both!