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Popchartfreak

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  1. It's a 21st for Rein Me In as The Reytons climb the album pinnacle


    Boosted by all the media articles, the record-breaking keeps on going for Rein Me In with a 21st non-consecutive week on top of the single-track chart, and that 6 months total for Sam Fender and Olivia Dean is looking increasingly likely week on week. That the only serious contender continues to be the World Cup song after the competition has ended underlines how difficult other tracks find it to get the ball in the back of the net. Dai Dai sticks at 2 for Shakira and Burna Boy still clear of two contenders for runner-up in Movin' To The Sun at 4 (HUGEL, Imael Angel & Ultra Nate would make a great number one!) and Choosin' Texas at 3 again - the fixture ruling the US Charts has only 2 or 3 tracks ahead of Ella Langley's for total weeks on top there. That leaves Olivia Rodrigo's Stupid Song at 5 again. 

    The highest new entry is trying to do its' best to hang onto a top 10 slot with varieties of purchase options - I've download the 59p radio mix version - but falls short of the top 5, but it's still great to see Madonna and Kylie Minogue revamping one of the best tracks off Confessions II in Love Sensation, giving Her Madgeness 3 top 40 tracks off an album, something she's not done since 2008's Hard Candy, and not to mention her 2nd top 10 of the 2020's and first top 10 as lead act since 2009 and her 61st top 10. Phew! Princess Kylie has her second of 2026 including the XMAS hangover from number one. Madonna is on 42 years of hits and Kylie a mere 38 years and 37 top 10's. I guarantee most people in the Eighties would not have put any money on that happening, and not even me. Well, maybe a pound on Madonna in 1989 on long-odds. 

    Sienna Spiro climbs to a new peak of 7 with Great Expectation, Silva Bumpa keep that gradual climb ongoing as On 2nite sneaks in to the top 10 at 10. Stella Lefty (upper case name ignored here) goes back up to a new peak of 9 with the sweet Boston. I like to imagine it's about the town in my old stomping ground Lincolnshire, but the accent isn't quite right. 'Iyah Bostun! 'Iyah Lincun! Ey yup Nework! 

    Malcolm Todd hangs his earrings up at 15, Temper City are up to 24 with Self Aware, and Tame Impala's Loser is up to a new peak of 14, great to see, and Alyssa Grace is up another few spots at 18 with Bloodstream. At 28 Ella Langley's Be Her at last breaks into the top 40 after 19 weeks of trying, a great song and record that one, and her 2nd top 40. Alex Warren has yet another new track debuting at 39 with Rescuer, he's been bunging 'em out at pace but Ordinary is still refusing to vacate the 40. This is his 10th top 40 since Carry You Home in 2024.

    Ella and Alex are not the only ones getting a second top 40 this week as HUGEL joins the club, with SOLTO (FR) on board - more shouty text please! - new at 34 with Jamaican (Bam Bam), and Steve Lacy is in at 23 with oh yeah? Chalk Spiderman: Brand New Day up for a second hit on top of Tame Impala. US musician Steve had a number 8 hit in 2022 with Bad Habit, so this is his 2nd top 40 in an Indie-style that seem to be getting better at cracking the charts. I like it! 

    Sabrina Carpenter gets an anniversary vinyl boost to add to the swarm of oldies clogging up the chart 2 and a half years after first topping, with the fab Espresso back in at 26. I love seeing a classic oldie returning to the chart after years away. 2 years is the same as never leaving the chart though, and it's like getting nostalgic for that minty bar of chocolate you enjoyed a few weeks back. 

    A sprinkling of a new peak for Audrey Hobert (Sue Me) at 29 among a sea of perma-charters, the award for this week's "Surely It's Out The Chart Now!" trophy is given to Midnight Sun, Zara Larsson for indirectly costing us 45 quid winnings in a pub quiz Monday cos I couldnt remember the title from the 2 lines of lyrics quoted from it. Doh! Brain-freeze is a terrible thing...



    Over in albums, it's a comfortable new entry at 1 for The Reyton's new album A Love Letter To A Broken Town, that is presumably home-town Rotherham, which I've been acquainted with over the years, along with Sheffield. The band have charted 2 EP's, a live album, and this is their 2nd studio number one from 4 in 5 years. I'm guessing a lot of the sales are from fans following their huge live gig at Clifton Park in 2024 playing to 20,000. 
    FLO is nearest new runner-up at 5, with Therapy At The Club, the British Girl Group's previous album peaked at 3 (Access All Areas), and is pipped to 2 by Essential Michael Jackson, Olivia Rodrigo still seeming pretty sad at 3, and Ariana's Petal wilting already at 4. Role Model is another all caps singer, as is all the vogue these days, the US singer-songwriter is from Maine, not traditionally a deep well of famous male singers, and Chuck Timely & The Hourglass is the first of his 3 albums to crack the UK top 10 at 6, though he's been making more waves in the US for the last couple of years since his first album under his current name in 2022. 

    There's a rush of new albums from little-known acts scattered throughout the top 40, starting with Overmono dropping in at 12 on Pure Devotion, Welsh brothers Tom & Ed Russell brand of electronic music previously peaked at 11 in 2023 with Good Lies.

    Kylie Minogue has brought out a batch of vinyl editions of several albums this week, one of them, X, has not previously been available in that format and duly enters the highest at 26. The other 3 fall short of the 40. Man/Woman/Chainsaw sound like a Rock Band, that'll be cos they are, the London schoolchum collective chart with their second album Cannonball at 33. 

    Liverpool band Keyside debut at 38 with their eponymous album, having only  previously dropped EP's, and have a buzz for their brand of jangle-indie-pop going on. Sounds promising! 

    Finally a quick shout-out to Electric Callboy who just fell short of the top 40 at 62, annoyingly, with TANZNEID - the shouty hardcore-punk-ish German band have a fun sense of humour and appeared at Download this summer - my nieces and nephews were there - and Ive bought a couple of fun singles with The Offspring and Babymetal.


    That should be all from me for a bit, if my calendar-keeping is correct, as Suedey has a welcome return next week, raging wildfires across the nation permitting - it currently takes up to 2 hours to get from Poole to Southampton via back-roads after the New Forest caught fire and the main dual carriageway is still closed until at least next Thursday. Simon is near the seaside though so fingers-crossed all will be well. Yay!
  2. Sam & Olivia make it a 20 week Rein reign, Ariana's 6th number 1 Petal blooms on Albums


    After the headline news of last week, the number one record extends further to 20 weeks non-consecutive weeks on top. Stating the obvious but Sam Fender and Olivia Dean are only 6 weeks away from a full 6 months on top. Half a year! 5% of the decade. Dai Dai dies back a bit on combined sales but holds at 2 for Shakira and Burna Boy. I just bought it. You're welcome! 

    Ariana Grande has a new album, and therefore has the allotted 3 tracks in the chart, headed by title track Petal at 4, with album track Kiss Me at 15 and ex-number-one Hate That I Made You Love Me back up at 3. I make that 46 top 40 tracks so far. There has been some media focus on Ariana as she has announced she is stepping away from the public eye after her UK tour. I'm pleased she is going to be focusing on herself, she's been through a lot all-in-all.

    Elsewhere in the upper reaches, Choosin' Texas drops to 5, as the lovely Be Here falls short yet again of the top 40, doh!  HUGEL, Imael Angel and Ultra Nate stay at 7 with the very infectious Movin' To The Sun, presumably summing up everyone in the northern hemisphere's Summer Of '26, while Sienna Spiro makes it a second top 10 as Great Expectation goes where Die On This Hill has already been - albeit one slot lower than the former's number 9. 

    In at 27, the rather good Loser finally charts for Tame Impala, after falling short of the top 75 last year before Dracula hit big, and all thanks to its inclusion in the new box-office monster Spiderman: Brand New Day, which I will see soon, after the previous triple-Spidey fab movie. I bought Loser when it first dropped, along with a lot of their stuff over the many, many years Kevin wasn't getting hit singles - Loser is the 3rd top 40, all off the current album Deadbeat. 

    ADELA with an accent over the 'E' is new in at 32 with Ain't in LA, which 99.9% of the world can relate to (at least), debuting on the chart with a decent track I have heard once so far, the Slovakian electronic-pop act seems to have come out of nowhere suddenly, if only to prove that new acts can still break through where others with fan bases can drop great records for years on end without that elusive hit . That has to give cause for optmism amongst all the perma-charters. 

    In at 37, it's a bit of a Country moment as Luke Combs enters with Where The Wild Things Are, grabbing Luke his 3rd top 40 hit after his Fast Car cover and 2024 collab with Post Malone, Guy For That. He's been getting a lot of support from Radio 2 to boot, but whether that is impacting much on sales improvements week on week, who knows! 

    Finally, dance track On 2nite hits a new peak of 13 for Silva Bumpa, an act that needs grammar and spelling tutoring. Or should that be 2-2-rng? Temper City take Self Aware to a new peak of 26, and Audrey Hobert climbs 7 to 33 with Sue Me. Certain politicians might take that as an invitation, so fingers-crossed for Audrey! Other perma-charters shuffle about a bit without doing anything interestingly new, other than offering up a number of candidates for the "Surely It's Gone From The Charts Now!?" award of the week. Winner this week: Unwritten. I ironically just wrote it....




    In albums, it's an easy win for Petal, Ariana Grande's 8th top 10 album in a row dating back to 2013's Yours Truly, and her 6th number one in a row. AI tells me that equals Arctic Monkeys, The Police, Pink Floyd, Lana Del Ray and assorted others inlcuding err, The Script, so it must be factual (NB, I checked, yes it is, I'm not stupid enough to believe anything AI tells me). Essential Michael Jackson is at 2, Olivia Rodrigo's You Seem Pretty Sad at 3. Olivia Dean's The Art Of Loving is at 4 leaving Sienna Spiro to take up spot number 5.

    Katy Perry's HIts collection, The Ones That Got The Plays, hits a peak of 8 after 13 weeks on the chart - it sounds like her back catalogue will be doing the Biz as much as other acts hits collections do with streaming: Hang Around (not unreasonably). Her best album Teenage Dream, meanwhile continues to chart at 38. In other top 40 news....there isn't any. The Rolling Stones have managed a 4th week inside the 40, so that's notable for Foreign Tongues. All my other electrifying facts for mid-week albums entering are all but dust in the wind now. No Olivia Dean EP Growth (42), no Durutti Column (Renascent) grabbing a first-ever chart slot at 54 after 48 years on their first studio album in 15 years. No Davido, with Oriade at 98.




  3. Rein Me In gets that record 19th week on top, Charli xcx gets a 4th album number one

    Sam Fender and Olivia Dean do the seemingly impossible and take the chart record by a slender margin. Rein Me In was trailing in the first two chart updates, by a declining margin as memories of the World Cup half-time show fade, but Shakira couldnt quite get that second chart-topper with Dai Dai. Burna Boy's flame therefore has been extinguished too. Ah well, maybe in four years time then. With thanks to Simon for the info, Rein Me In is also only the 3rd track to hold the most-weeks record and the first by British acts. Is any other summer record drop going to challenge Rein Me In hanging on at the top until the end of the decade and increasing on its historic 19 weeks? Tune in next week! 

    Ella Langley, ANOTR featuring Ultra 54 and Olivia Rodrigo continue to tussle over the 3, 4 and 5 slots, with this week Ella coming out on top with the still-classy Choosin' Texas up to a new peak of 3 on its 30th chart week. For those looking for a UK version there's always Choosin' Wessex, done Bardcore Medieval stylee by Hildegarde von Blingin' which is lovely and amusing and references Coventry and Glastonbury instead of the USA place-names. Talk To Me still bangs for me at 5, and Olivia's stupid song is good at 4.

    French EDM DJ/producer HUGEL meanwhile climbs to 7 with the fab Movin' To The Sun, aided and abetted by Imael Angel, UK EDM House producer who has a similar-sounding goodie out in I'm Alive, and 90's hitmaker Ultra Nate. The pair of producers had already collaborated on a remix of Ultra's classic Free, so thoughtfully drafted her in for the vocals on their new song, meaning she gets her first top 10 since Found A Cure peaked at 6 in 1998, and third in total since Free hit 4 in 1997.

    STELLA LEFTY, as she likes to shouty-text stylize, moves to a new peak of 14 as the very catchy and upbeat song finds new fans week on week with Boston. I once got bumped from a flight from Logan Airport and ferried to a hotel at 4am by a manic taxi driver playing Jimi Hendrix on 11, after 24 hours in the airport and on a faulty plane. Consequently my theoretical song about Boston would be pre-date Stella's by 37 years and be much less fun. 
    Cats' eyes save huge numbers of lives annually, thanks to Percy Shaw and his 1934 road reflector invention. KATSEYE are another shouty-text act, based in L.A. I also have an anecdote about being stranded at L.A. Airport, but it's not as thrilling as the last one. Hooray! The global-origined girl group are another reality show creation and are on their 5th top 40 track in just over a year, with Animal entering at 16. Sadly it's not a cover of the Def Leppard song. 

    Sienna Spiro has had to modify her Great Expectation, just up the four spots to 15, but her first name always gives me huge Tuscany-rooted nostalgia as a postage stamp reddish-brown descriptor back in the days when my exciting youth lifestyle involved collecting stamps. I really knew how to live it up! Another hobby was taking photographs on my camera. Charli XCX has a new single, Camera, in at 22 which I count as her 27th top 40 hit in the 14 years since I Love It got the ball rolling with Icona Pop. One has to admire her work ethic and album chart placing (see below). The rather good Temper City climb one place to a new peak of 27 with Self Aware, meanwhile, as Katy Perry reaches a new second-time-around peak of 24, and Bloodstream is up to 20 and a new peak for Alyssa Grace.

    Robyn's Dancing On My Own smash from 2010 makes it's first top 40 re-appearance since, one of several others of late after the World Cup ended, though her newer stuff struggles a bit to chart sadly. Noah Kahan is up 4 spots to 36 with Orbiter, and finally, in at 40 it's Audrey Hobert with Sue Me. Very kind offer, but I'll pass. Friend of Gracie Abrams and a co-writer and her first ever hit, and a surprise entry for me! 




    In the albums chart it's an easy 4th-in-a-row chart-topper for Charli XCX with Music, Fashion, Film and her second of the year following Wuthering Heights. As intimated above, she's quite prolific. Snow Patrol meanwhile enter with their 20th anniversary expanded edition of Eyes Open. It may or may not count as a new album, I will wait until the OCC makes its' mind up as there isn't necessarily a guaranteed well-defined rule for this. It is, however, Charli XCX's 7th top 40 album from 8 releases. Or 9 from a lot more if you include EP's mixtapes live remixes hits and anything else I've missed. Essential Jacko is at 2, and pretty sad Olivia Rodrigo at 3 and Olivia Dean as per usual at 5.

    Shania Twain is back, come on over Little Miss Twain! The Canadian 90's country star, Eileen to her family, is on her 7th top 40 studio album in well over 30 years, which is about half as prolific as Charli XCX on average. It is, though, her 6th top 10 album in a row going back to 1995, but falls short of a 4th number one at 7 as Charli XCX grabs that stat instead.

    Reality Awaits is the latest album from The Strokes, new at 8, as they struggle to get any headline pre-plays these days ahead of release-dates bar the fan-base, but have a 24-year span of chart success anyway. I can't claim to have seen them in concert, but I have seen guitarist Albert Hammond Jr's British dad locally. In another spooky "7th studio album" coincidence that's the same as Shania Twain in a decade less. 

    British road-rapper/Hip hop acts Nines is back again. Any hooray he is also on a 7th album charter since 2017 which is out-prolific-ing even Charli XCX, but Lost Tapes so far is download only and falls short of the top 10 at 14 and is listed as a Mixtape not a studio album."

    That concludes the album news and various filler anecdotes. Stay away from heathland and woodland, and stay safe!


    And with that best wishes to Simon in France and hoping the raging fires are not anywhere nearby! 



  4. 18 record-breaking weeks for Rein Me In, 2nd album topper for Gracie Abrams


    Simon is on holiday in France for a rest and break, hopefully no-one mentions football matches while there!

    It's an historic chart week I don't need to research wikipedia for facts and stats because for my entire life the only record to spend 18 weeks on top of the UK singles chart has been Frankie Laine's 1953 smash I Believe, pretty much since the chart began in the early 1950's. There was the excitement around Bryan Adams getting within 2 weeks of catching up in 1991, but no track ever looked likely to beat that even in the streaming era since the introduction of ACR to stop records hogging the top spot forever. But they hadn't counted on the chart legs of Sam Fender and Olivia Dean's nice ballad confounding the chart rules through sheer consistency, much as Everything I Do did in 1991, albeit with pure sales in those days. So they now share the record and there are no signs that they can't continue to break it for the forseeable near future. Maybe a chart-rule change will bring it to an end....!

    This is bad news of course for the nearest challengers, first and foremost Shakira and Burna Boy, as Dai Dai rises to 2 following the half-time final concert where she gave it some oomph! Her first UK chart biggie Whenever Wherever also hit 2 back in 2002-ish and pretty big in clubs at the time it was too. The other football tracks all plummet despite England's amazing game against France for the Bronze Fifa medal, and I'm guessing no Argentina songs will be selling in Spain any time soon judging by their behaviour on losing. Everyone else should be streaming Y Viva Espana just to rub it in. Next nearest challenger is ANOTR featuring Ultra 54 and the catchy dance track Talk To You which is up to 3. It would be great if it could make the top spot at some point. Olivia Rodrigo's stupid song bounces back to 4. You're welcome, I just bought it last week.

    Another record is turning out to be the US version of Rein Me In - Ella Langley's Choosin' Texas is enjoying it's 14th week on top of the US charts, and like Rein Me In has been kicked off multiple times to bounce back. Rein Me In is yet to break the US top 40 despite months of trying, but Choosin' Texas has been rising gradually, yo-yo-ing and rising again and again all year and now back to her previous peak of 5 while her other great country-ballad Be Her does the same just short of the 40.

    There's a lot of rebounding this week as the World Cup ends, and nothing new has come along to fill the football song gaps, but Free Your Mind hits a new peak of 6 for Prospa & Cloonee and there are new peaks for HUGEL, Imael Angel & Ultra Nate's fab Movin' To The Sun at 11, that's Ultra Nate's biggest track since Found A Cure went top 10 in 1998, 30 years on and still charting can't be bad. Stella Lefty also hits a new peak of 15 for Boston, the folk-y song is really amiable and catchy, so it's good to see, and Sienna Spiro has a Great Expectation at number 19. No, not that sort of Expectation. Bloodstream flows up to 23 for Alyssa Grace, presumably not an heir to the Grace Brothers store. Topical 70's sitcom reference there.

    Katy Perry takes her number 18 peak 2011 song up to a new post-peak peak of 25. The One That Got Away sort of did at the time, co-incidentally, but has had the last laugh with the new popularity and it did of course top the most important chart in 2011: Mine. There's an actual new entry, for BTS at 36 with Normal, that's wildly fallen short of becoming their 8th top 20 hit, apparently. Ah, well, next time maybe. Finally, there's Noah Kahan in at 40, on a bit of a roll this year, Orbiter off his latest album has taken 9 weeks but it's crept in as an album track which is something Olivia Rodrigo did last week with the fab Honeybee which drops a tad.

    Down the lower end there's a load of re-entries to the top 40, most notably Mr Brightside back yet again, it's never far away for The Killers, and just to rub it in that I couldnt get tickets to see Brandon Flowers in concert. How annoying! The last time It was in the top 40 was in 2024, so that was the last time I wistfully recalled giant rats hopping about near St Mary's Stadium in Southampton as I wandered off early from The Killers set with strains of Mr Brightside following me down the road.




    Over on albums, Gracie Abrams grabs her 2nd chart-topper in a row with Daughter From Hell, and her 3rd top 3 in a row since debuting in 2023. Had there been charts back in the 1920's and 1920's she could have been said to have followed in the footstes of another Gracie - Our Gracie (Fields). In response to the streaming success 2 of the singles are almost in the 40, Hit The Wall is at 32, and Look At My Life just short at 41, as yet another female singer-songwriter keeps The Essential Michael Jackson at 2, with Olivia Rodrigo hanging in at 3, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love as The Rolling Stones keep those Foreign Tongues wagging at 5, down from the top spot. Olivia Dean's The Art Of Loving is at 4 again.

    New entries this week lower down from English band Yard Act at 15, You're Gonna Need A Little Music falling short of making a hat-trick of top 10's, each peaking lower than the previous, their first The Overload peaking at 2 in 2022. BRIT-nominated and MOBO award winner Nia Archives, English DJ and songwriter/producer hit 16 with her debut album Silence Is Loud in 2024. Follow-up Emotional Junglist enters at 30 with a focus on everything "new gen Junglist". Not that I'd know what that is, but new labels and rebrands are always useful for younger fans wanting to not be like the last lot of genre fans.

    That leaves Motionless In White, New Jersey Heavy Metal band, to enter at 31 with Decades, easily their highest-placed set and first top 40 slot in the UK in 16 years of album releases. 7th Time Lucky!


    Apologies for the delay in posting, stuck in London traffic!

  5. Another Record-Breaking Rein Me In singles week, and also for Madonna on albums.

    Suedey is in France this week, braving the hot weather with boisterous yung-'uns, so I think I have the easier job this week doing the chart commentary. Have fun Simon!!



    Back in the days of purchased-based charts, the notion that a record could be on top of the charts after well over 12 months in the top 20 would have stretched credulity. That it could have equalled Bryan Adam's 16 week-run on top would have sounded insane - and at least that Robin Hood movie soundtrack had a reason for boosting Everything I Do (I Do It For You) over a 4-month stretch, and it then had the good taste to slowly depart never to darken the chart doors again, as opposed to keep coming back for more chart-topping month after month. Sam Fender and Olivia Dean's pleasant ballad, though, clearly has its eye on the 18-week all-time record of Frankie Laine's I Believe. Given the ongoing lack of ACR-status, that could well happen by the end of the month, barring any big new artist releases over the summer.

    In the top 5, Michael Jackson's 1983 classic Billie-Jean drops to 4, Ariana Grande's hate that i made you love me is back up to 3. The most-exciting development is Choosin' Texas going top 5 at long last for Ella Langley, presumably due to the endless runs on top in the USA and returning holidaymakers streaming that great track they heard on rotation radio over there, climbing to number 5. Olivia Rodrigo's stupid song holds at 2 meanwhile, in runner-up - hey don't blame me if that sounds rude, I always insist on Capital letters for song titles in my charts! Just outside the top 10, the infectious Talk To You bops up to a new peak of 14 for ANOTR featuring 54 Ultra, making 2 Ultra's in the top 40 for an Ultra Ultra Top 40. 

    Other items of interest in the singles chart are manifold this week. Everything is relative, though: Prospa & Cloonee take Free Your Mind to cling on to their number 10 peak. Always enjoyed George's Aunt Rosemary's records, so nice to see Mr. Cloonee follow her into the charts. Would I lie to you? Sound of people rushing to AI to check accuracy - just remember AI tells lies and I recently battled it into submission over a track by The Fireman on a free-with-newspaper CD from the Noughties! It's not a Paul McCartney/Youth dance obscurity after all, but AI denied its' existence entirely.

    Meanwhile, another chart movie-related-song (and despite her new album) sees Sienna Spiro drop one place to 15 with Material Lover. Sienna's new entry Great Expectation, though, is doing well due to the new album (see below), at 32 to grab her 5th top 40 song in under two years, while Die On This Hill returns at 19. Oh, and sombr goes up one place to 26 with My Body Isn't Ready, but his records have a tendancy to oscillate a bit, chart-wise. 

    Football football football, yes I've ignored it all and all of the highs and lows. Not so for many others though, as Shakira gets her highest-placed chart hit since her last footie theme, Dai Dai, with added Burna Boy, shaking those hips at 13 as Oasis' Wonderwall just refuses to stay out of the charts on yet another top 20 placing thanks to England success, up to 11. I think it's time Back Home re-charted instead of Three Lions (up to 21 ahead of a match with Norway, apparently) and assorted others.

    HUGEL, Imael Angel and Ultra Nate, meanwhile get a deserved climb to 22 with the rather fab Movin' To The Sun afrobeats-ish dance track. DJ/producer HUGEL has had some good singles over the last few years, none of them hits, but Ultra Nate is now on her 7th top 40 hit since first charting in 1989 and last cropping up in 2005, notably on her wonderful 90's smash Free. This new track reminds of a snippet from Nomad's 1990 hit I Wanna Give You Devotion.

    Finally, you thought you'd seen the last of that obscure-at-the-time-in-the-UK 80's song from Journey, but you hadn't counted on a re-set to SCR for Don't Stop Believin', reasons I know not, but it may well be part of the general nostalgia for the Noughties, or Glee. Either Way, it's back after pottering around the tail-end of the chart for 3 years, in at number 27. I haven't stopped believin' - it'll be popping in and out of the UK charts for the next 50 years, that is. Something to look forward to for those not of advanced years, then. If I'm still sighing on future chart re-entries in 2076 I will also be in the Guinness Book Of Records as the World's Oldest Man and Chart-Watcher. Those of you in your 70's and 80's can take me clubbing to celebrate.




    Madonna has a new album, Confessions II turning out to be her best since Confessions On A Dance Floor over 20 years ago, and the last tour I caught her on (Cardiff, she was fab), back at last doing what she has always done best - dance/pop music. Her collab with Sabrina Carpenter Bring Your Love was her 73rd top 40 hit a few weeks ago, while arguably the best track on the album, Danceteria, must be a single proper too as it sneaks into this week's top 40 at 38 which is not bad for someone about to turn 68 and with 5 different decades of straight charting. The album comfortably hovers near 40k sales to become her first number one since 2012 and 13th in total, including the Evita Soundtrack, putting her on a par with Elvis Presley's 13. Ahead of her are Taylor Swift and The Rolling Stones with 14, The Beatles on 15 and Robbie Williams on 16.

    That means Sienna Spiro enters at 2 with her debut album Visitor: the English Singer/Songwriter was born in 2005. She basically has no memory of the Noughties and debuted mere weeks ahead of Madonna's first Confessions album. If that doesn't make you feel old try saying it again a couple of times! Unless you are under 25, of course. Olivia Rodrigo drops to 3 with you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, Michael Jackson is still Essential at 4, Olivia Dean's The Art Of Loving is at 5 and Deep Purple go Splat! at 12. That's just missing out on a 12th top 10 album for a band that have been incredibly charting 24 studio albums for 58 years, near enough. I was a boy of 13 when I first noticed them on their manic hit Fireball. Yes, they and lead singer Ian Gillan are THAT old!

    The Shires have been fairly consistent over the last decade or so, and the British duo just fall short of a 6th top 10 placing with their brand of Country Music, new at 28 while mary in the junkyard go all lower case for new album Role Model Hermit. The London band have previously released EP's and toured extensively, but this is their debut album. New in at 30. 

  6. Rein Me In holds at the top and Gorillaz grab a 3rd album number one.

    Simon is unable to do the commentary today and this is a shoddy replacement bus service, so there may be errors. Or not!

    Brits winner for Song Of The Year Rein Me In gets a post-win boost to hold at one for a 3rd week for Sam Fender and Olivia Dean as it faced strong competition from Alex Warren’s new track Fever Dream. I downloaded both so neither benefitted from my purchase! Alex Warren has to make do with number 3 for now, with Ordinary also going up a few spots and showing no sign of exiting anytime soon. Number 2 and up 2 is Bella Kay and iloveitiloveitiloveit. That’s the song not me commenting, I actually haven’t heard it yet being in New Zealand for a month and all.  Pink Pantheress drops 1 to 4 with Stateside and Olivia Dean is down 3 with So Easy despite dominating the awards on Sunday, but bonus she enters at 19 with yet another track at 19 - The Hardest Part an old track from 2020. 

    Bruno Mars is back up 2 with an album boost for I Just Might at 6, as he enters with the more laid-back track Risk It All at 15. Harry Styles did a great performance of Aperture and is rewarded with a Brits boost to 10. I may be biased - OK I am biased - but one week on top is not enough for this fabulous record. Dominic Fike is up to 14 with Babydoll and also has a new entry joining it lower down at 27: White Keys.

    Tame Impala rise 4 to 22, almost matching the 2025 peak of 21, and it was sounding fab in an Auckland pub bar last week. Dracula still bites! RAYE joins the theme of the week with another new release joining the existing hit, Nightingale Lane at 20 is quite tastefully nice, following in the tradition of A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square. See Tori Amos for a good version of that one.

    Who had Madonna’s 1985 smash number one back in the charts this week at 40? No, me neither, even if Into The Groove is still fab over 40 years on! Tikkety Tokkety or something I expect. Meanwhile Scottish DJ Ewan McVicar debuts Share The House at 38, his 2nd top 40 in 6 years.


    Gorillaz debut comfortably at 1 with The Mountain, their 3rd number one from 9 studio albums. Damon Albarn certainly stays busy. The animated band is seeing off a Brits boosted Olivia Dean at 2 and Bruno Mars’ surprisingly low entry at 3 for The Romantic. Given his Gaga and ROSE hits one might have expected more fanbase anticipation. US Singer-songwriter Mitski debuts Nothing’s About To Happen To Me at 4, her 8th album, and PinkPantheress re-enters at 5 with Fancy That for a busy top 5.


    Elsewhere K-pop girl group Blackpink debut at 11 with 3rd Mini Album (Deadline) for a 5th charting hit as the Brits Effect pulls in re-entries for Sam Fender at 28 People Watching, Rosalia’ Lux at 37 following a great show stopper on Berghain, and The 1975’s I Like It….etc at 40. That leaves Paul McCartney extending his album career to a whopping Beatles-inclusive 63 years as Man On The Run OST album pops in at 35. I haven’t seen the streaming TV documentary yet. It’s Macca’s 5th hits compilation. 
  7. Suedehead2’s Substitute Chart Commentary 15th Aug 2025: Demon Hunters back slaying and Time Flies on albums.

    This substitute European heatwave special comes from sweltering Gran Canaria. Other baking venues are available.


    Back up on top after the Chappell Roan surprise release dethroned them for one week, we find The KPop Demon Hunters clan still going Up Up Up with Golden. That makes 2 weeks on top for the movie cast, varied and many, with Soda Pop holding at 6 and Your Idol up to 7. Note spelling, it’s not an accusation: You’re Idle. Previous movie-related golden chart-hits include Shirley Bassey’s Goldfinger and the UK number one about the Gold Rush of the American West: Lee Marvin’s 1970 smash Wand’rin Star. That Leaves The Subway down to 2 for Chappell Roan, Dior holds at 4 for MK and Chrystal and No Broke Boys at a new peak of 3 for Disco Lines and Tinache, with Daisies rounding off the top 5 with Justin Bieber, but YUKON climbs to a new peak of 12 so good-news/bad-news for Beliebers.


    Ed Sheeran is at his happiest with multiple chart entries, but the latest is more modest: the Sapphire bop is at 9 while he adds A Little More at 18 for a fourth top 20 of 2025. If I hadn’t lost one vital point in a quiz last night due to me not recognising South Of The Border I would be more pre-disposed to his habitual entire-album charting tendencies: Play is not even out yet! sombr is up a measly two places to a new peak of 17 with the good 12 to 12, and Oasis have yet another 3rd-track syndrome new entry as Cigarettes & Alcohol pops back in over 30 years on at 34. It peaked at 7, hung around in and out of the top 100 for years, and yet this is only the 4th top 40 chart week for it. I was hoping for a Demon Hunter link: The Importance Of Being Idol would have been better for that. Sparks is up to 30 for Coldplay amongst all the ancient tracks yo-yoing as per the norm in the streaming age, and Lola Young lifts her s£aler to 31, while Sammy Virji x Skepta hit a new peak of 36 with Cops & Robbers. There are 2 new entries from tracks I know nothing about coming up.


    TAKEDOWN by TWICE is FROM is A kpop TRACK new at 35. Sorry, no more shouty text! It features in the Demon Hunters movie along with another version, so I’m assuming as the song is also on TWICE’s album it qualifies under that for a 5th charted Demon Hunters song. It’s Down Down Down rather than Up Up Up but just as hyper-active. Sit child in front of TV, add sugary treats and they will be on a high for a couple of hours. Parental Advisory Warning gifted from recent experience. You’re welcome! Denon Reed and Cru2 are new at 37 with Let Him Go, it’s a dance track debut from Birmingham DJ Denon, who sounds like a jeans brand, and Cru2 which is actually a brand designed to reviving bassline events. It’s hyper enough to feature in Demon Hunters if they expanded the genres a bit.


    Over on albums it’s a low-sales week allowing Oasis to return to the top spot with Time Flies. I bought it for a couple of quid in a pre-owned pile so that will never have counted as a sale, nor will my playing of it. Streaming, however lifts it high so the 900th album number one grabs a third week on top as Morning Glory rises to 3, and Definitely Maybe ponders number 7. So in that climate, congrats to The Royston Club getting overt 8,000 punters to shell out cash on Songs To The Spine. The Welsh rock band’s second album goes 12 places higher than their debut did and grab their first top 5, but also new at 2 and the highest of the week is lost americana from mgk - formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly - and it’s his 4th top 40 hit and third top 5 in a row. Shhh nobody mention the Bad Boy label, Interscope have dropped it. A bit like the former name, then. Alex Warren is still Alright, Kid at 5. Gunna, meanwhile, debuts The Last Wun at 9. It’s his 6th album in 6 years, all charting, which shows consistency for the Atlanta rapper if nothing else. We get to number 10 before we have a familiar name entering the chart, and it’s Craig David on his 25th year of album charting with his 9th consecutive top 40 album, Commitment. Craig has 10 in all, including Greatest Hits compilations. Six of the tracks have already been out as singles, including some I’ve bought like In It With You, a collab with JoJo which I rather like.


    New in at 12 with a second top 20 album Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You is US singer-songwriter Ethel Cain. Nice to see Ethel back in use as a name after Ray Stevens did his bit to make it unfashionable in The Streak - “Don’t Look Ethel!”. At 16, it’s Halestorm, sounding like a superhero name in this spelling version, and new album Everest which didn’t quite make the summit. The Pennsylvania rock band are just missing their 4th consecutive top 10 album, dating back to 2015. Just behind at 17 BABYMETAL enter with METAL FORTH, shouty text sneaking back in again. The Japanese female Metal band have been around for 11 years, as Metal Forth becomes their 4th top 40 album in a row. Like Craig, there have been 6 singles ahead of album release, one of which I am partial to - Ratatata a collab with Electric Callboy is a right old romp.
    That concludes this jaunt and I hope everyone is staying cool and hydrated!
  8. Simon is still enjoying hols and in the charts Chappell Roan’s The Subway is her 2nd chart-topper while in albums Renee Rapp gets a first number one.

    The Subway dropped and immediately headed the chart updates during the week, Chappell Roan having quite the pent-up demand since her 2024 breakthrough as material as old as 5 years filtered through to mass popularity following Good Luck Babe finally getting her that break. Notably Pink Pony Club hit the UK top spot 5 years late, making The Subway her first chart-topper with new material. The video shows her on the Subway doing a Cousin Itt impression which should be a good enough reason for anybody to stream it. This was bad news for the still-popular Golden - HUNTR/X, EJAE, AUDREY NUNA, REI AMI & KPop Demon Hunters Cast are shoved down to 2 while the other two Demon Hunters songs both climb too, meanwhile, as the boy demons singing Soda Pop climb to 6 as Your Idol climbs to 8 for a hat trick of top 10‘s. There likely would be even more in the top 40 were it not for the 3-song-limit, send any thanks to Ed Sheeran for that. For the record, the acts on both are: Saja Boys, Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee & KPop Demon Hunters Cast. If only Betty Boo could do a collab with Kevin Woo just so I can enjoy the artist credit. Featuring LaRoux, please.

    Justin Beiber is down to 3 with his Daisies as Yukon climbs to a new peak of 24, and Dior slides to 4 for MK and Chrystal. Disco Lines & Tinashe are up to 5 with No Broke Boys and the other slots in the top 10 are dropping tracks Manchild at 7, Blessings at 9 and Sapphire at 10. Outside the top 10, sombr makes it 4 top 20’s as the good 12 to 12 is up 12 places to 19, and Oasis enter at 31 with Slide Away replacing last week’s 3rd-placed Oasis track re-entry Wonderwall, the first chart appearance for the track therefore gives Oasis a 28th top 40 hit 31 years since it appeared on Definitely Maybe, though it was also on B sides of big hits in the olden days when B sides could contribute to physical sales. The album is at 6 this week, 3rd of 3 for Oasis in the top 10. Lola Young’s D£aler is up one to 33 and Coldplay reach a new peak with another vintage album track, Sparks at 36.



    On albums, Renee Rapp enters at 1 with BITE ME, with around 10,000 physical sales. Renee (no accents on the final “e” on my laptop, sorry Renee!) is a 25-year-old US singer-songwriter and actor, who has starred in Broadway shows and now reaches the top with her second album, Snow Angel having peaked at 7 2023. Oasis ain’t shifting from 2 and 3 with their Time Flies compilation and Morning Glory, and that leaves Alex Warren hanging in at 4 with You’ll Be Alright Kid. Or if it were an Oasis album You’ll Be Ahright ah kid. Back into the top 5 we have Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don’t Stop, which is how long I expect the (admittedly great) Hits album to be charting.

    Richard Hawley returns at 16 with his classic album Coles Corner getting a new peak chart placing after inexplicably peaking at 37 first time out. Presumably it’s a 20th anniversary version and one to check out if the Mercury-nominated album is unfamiliar. Coles Corner is historically a meeting place for lovers in Sheffield. It’s not as romantic as it sounds as it’s named after a department store that has gone the way of most department stores. Thank you Amazon. Maybe someone can release an album called Amazon Parcel Pick-Up Point Near The Bingo Hall for our local equivalent. You can pick up the other half and your latest parcel for a Twofer. Not quite as romantic sounding though.

    Roger Waters, he once of Pink Floyd, is back in new at 20 with a live album “Roger Waters: This Is Not a Drill - Live from Prague”. Having one’s name in the title makes it sound like one is talking to oneself, which may or not be the case these days, but it is his 3rd live album to make the top 40, adding to his 58-year career including Pink Floyd albums. It’s also his 8th top 40 including studio albums going back to 1984, the last of which was a remake of Dark Side Of The Moon in 2023. New in at 31 Cian Ducrot has Little Dreaming. I’ve seen the name around a lot but Haven’t really been aware of the career - he’s an Irish Singer-songwriter who arrived via Tik Tok in 2022, and a number one album in the UK with Victory, but album 2 is a bit more modest in name and chart position. Finally, Ozzy Osbourne’s The Essential is back in at 40 to join the Black Sabbath Ultimate Collection at 36 inside the top 40.


    My next epistle will be from Playa Del Ingles, late booking. Que tal, chicos! Manyana!
  9. Suedehead2 Chart Commentary 1st August 2025: The K‘s slay on singles & albums: KPop Demon Hunters and The K’s.


    Justin Bieber’s Jack Johnson-ish ballad might have been expected to hang on to the top spot after just one week reigning, but Daisies was up against repeat viewings of the KPop Demon Hunters by little kids. Children have a voracious appetite to repeat play faves so I’m putting the climb to the top spot for Golden down to that. I look forward with dread to future pop quiz questions asking who had the number one hit in 2025 with Golden - there’s no way I will remember HUNTR/X, EJAE, AUDREY NUNA, REI AMI & KPop Demon Hunters Cast so kudos to those of you who have already memorised it! That pushes Daisies, sorry, DAISIES in shouty text, down to 2, and a fashion brand to 3 for MK and Chrystal. The other two Demon Hunters songs both climb too, meanwhile, as the boy demons singing Soda Pop climb to 11 as Your Idol just hangs on to a higher spot at 10.

    Highest new entry at 4 comes from Drake and Central Cee. I won’t bother quoting their new massive totals of top 10 hits as that will no doubt change again in a fortnight and be out of date. Which One they enquire, This trap-rap (rhyming slang) sees Drake sounding even more disinterested as the two of ‘em brag about girls they can pull, and go into some detail about how they do it all. Being rich never looked more attractive, I think we can all agree. I would enjoy the track a lot more if it were an instrumental. Pretty sure Sabrina Carpenter would have something to say to them as the rather good Manchild holds at 5. Other top 10 slots are occupied by Ed Sheeran’s good Sapphire climbing back up to 7, and Disco Lines & Tinashe breaking in at 18. Blessings is at 6 for Calvin Harris & Clementine Douglas and Alex Warren is Ordinary at 9 as t’other ballad plummets from 3 out of the top 10 - Eternity not quite living up to its name...

    Paranoid climbs into the top 20 at 20 for Black Sabbath 6 weeks short of its 55th anniversary, its third run as Ozzy Osbourne tributes continue to impact with Crazy Train entering at 25. The track was Ozzy’s first solo single in 1980 but fell short of the top 40. 45 years on, it finally makes it, and I finally get to listen to it being as Radio One never playlisted it at the time, and it’s more upbeat than I was expecting and hooray for a guitar solo being in an actual 2025 chart. sombr is meanwhile back in the top 40 for a 4th time with new track 12 to 12, a bit more of a bop than previous singles and hopefully will climb from entry slot of 31. It also bizarrely gives sombr 3 tracks adjacent each other, and the even odder thing is Oasis and the KPop Demon Hunters have 2 tracks side by side. As does Lola Young who is also returning, with a 3rd top 40 track at 34, D£aler, sounding as if making sensible life choices is something she could do with a hand with. Fingers-crossed it all works out! Finally, Coldplay’s old album track Sparks returns to the top 40 at a 39 peak. I was hoping it would be Sparks with a new track called Coldplay, but hey ho, not to be.



    Over on albums, Merseyside-band The K’s easily outsold the competition, virtually all 23,000 of them paid-for, and improves on the previous peak of 3 for 2024 album number one, as Pretty On The Internet easily lands on top. I would like to say that sounds like special K’s, but wouldn’t want to risk alienating Kellogg’s for a bit of cheap wordplay. Time Flies, Oasis’ hits package, is going nowhere, up to 2, with Morning Glory holding up at 3. Paul Weller has a new covers album out new in at 5, the best track may be his cover of 1974’s Brian Protheroe minor hit Pinball. With The Jam and The Style Council, Paul has been charting albums for 48 years. Finding El Dorado is incredibly his 18th consecutive top 10 solo studio album in 33 years, and 29th top 40 solo album including hits packages and live albums. Bung in previous groups and he’s on 34 top 10’s.

    In a bumper crop of new entries this week, we have: Alice Cooper: The Revenge Of Alice Cooper in at 9, the first album since 1973 to apparently be credited to the group Alice Cooper as opposed to solo star Alice Cooper. Either way it’s the 9th studio album to go top 10, and the only decade Alice failed to grab a top 10 was the Noughties since the early 70’s in 54 years of charting. Tim Minchin, Aussie comedian, actor, poet and musician/musical creator is new in at 11 with Time Machine - I bet the OCC use a long word for his creativity - his second album to chart in 5 years. Madonna enters the chart with virtually no fanfare or PR that I’ve noticed so it can’t be a studio album at 23 named Veronica Electronica. Google confirms it’s a remix project intended to come out as a Ray Of Light companion circa 1998/9 but never actually released. There’s one unreleased song on it, Gone Gone Gone, which is not bad at all. It’s her first compilation/remix album in 3 years to chart and only her 7th in total, but it’s the first album not to go top 10 except for live albums.

    Talking of live albums... Gary Numan has one out, new at 34, A Perfect Circle (Live at OVO Arena Wembley. It’s his 19th top 40 album in total, dating back to Tubeway Army in 1979. Black Sabbath Paranoid enters the top 40 at 38 for the first time in decades, just as their Ultimate Collection hits a new peak of 14, and Ozzy Osbourne’s Memoirs Of A Madman returns at 32. We get to more-current acts down the bottom end with Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist at 28 with Alfredo 2 - I say more-current, but USA act Freddie is in his 40’s and has been rapping albums since 2013, but this is his first Top 40 UK album. Fellow US veteran The Alchemist is even older at 47 and also has his first UK hit album. Nice to see older acts making it, if nothing else.


    Suedey is still en vacances so see ya next week, but it may be a little delayed as I may be out at a concert. I couldn’t possibly say who, but I might be under the moon of love.
  10. Justin Bieber gets an 8th Number One single and Alex Warren gets a first number one album


    Simon est en vacances, Bon Voyage Simon!


    Meanwhile in the UK, Dior almost hung on for a 3rd week at Number One (other fashion brands are available) for MK featuring Chrystal, though at the weekend a mere 800 copies were between Justin Biebers’ Daisies rising to 2 and Alex Warren’s Eternity entering at 3. In the event Justin scored his 8th number one with Daisies ten years on from his first and his first this decade. I’m hearing it for the first time right now, and it’s rather pleasant - and I’m thankful it’s not the other Daisy song I know, as sung by the malfunctioning computer HAL in 2001: A Space Oddysey as it was being lobotomised after committing murder. Justin’s other 2 album tracks dropped this week along with the album, while Alex Warren possibly might have been setting a new singles chart-record had Ordinary not been knocked down to 7 due to ACR. His new album track, Eternity enters at 3, Bloodline, also on the new album, re-enters at 19 with Jelly Roll. The latter has more oomph to it than Eternity, which was last troubling the top end of the charts as a lacklustre song title from Robbie Williams in 2004. Mk and Chrystal are at 2.


    Sabrina Carpenter drops to 5 with Manchild and the KPop movie Demon Hunters cast alongside HUNTR/X, EJAE, AUDREY NUNA, REI AMI on Golden climb to 4. My Great Niece loves that movie and the songs. Makes a change from the fab APT I guess, (which coincidentally is back in at 40) but anyone older than 6 may have other views, or they may not! Your Idol, from the same film, climbs to 14 and the 3rd title from the film is replaced by another track this week: Soda Pop new in at 17. The Latter two tracks have the official marathon billing: Saja Boys, Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee & KPop Demon Hunters Cast, Uncle Tom Cobbley & All. Outside the top 5 Ed Sheeran’s Sapphire also drops a tad to 9 as Lewis Capaldi survives one more week at 10, leaving Fred Again.., Skepta & PlaqueBoyMax taking that Victory Lap a little too soon at 8, dropping along with the PlaqueBoyMax may wish to change his toothpaste and just go by Max as he goes on. At 6, Calvin Harris & Clementine Douglas drop from 3.


    Other tracks peaking include Disco Lines & Tinashe up to 12, which take me back to the 70’s when discos had lines and I had a Tache. ‘Taches are back in fashion, if Benson Boone is any guide, and his Beautiful Things up to 11 feels like it’s been around since the late 70’s while his fabulous Mystical Magical is sadly dropping out much too soon. The chart rules are often mysterious. Oasis are affected by the 3-track-rule as Wonderwall returns at 27 after many previous chart runs dating back to 1995 and increasing the number of unique years it has appeared inside the top 75 to 6. Acqiuesce exits after 2 weeks on the chart. Funny old chart rule as tracks come and go then come back again. Some Might Say it’s nonsense, but some might Roll With It. I just stress The Importance Of Being Idle. There is one other re-entry this week, as Sammy Virji & Skepta take Cops & Robbers back to its previous peak of 39. Finally, Ozzy Osbourne passed away this week, the original voice of Black Sabbath coming back to global celebrity in the early 2000’s with his family reality show. Loveable to many, and a rapscallion to some, Ozzy always did things his own way right to the end and his final Home-ground concert 2 weeks ago despite not being at all well. There could be no better tribute than seeing Paranoid rapidly enter the top 40 for a third time, first in 1970 when it peaked at 4 for the Sabbath, then again in 1980 hitting number 14, and now a hat-trick at 32 55 years on from debuting as a monster Metal anthem. The Ultimate Black Sabbath meanwhile re-enters at 22 on the album chart, just 2 places lower than its previous peak of 20. R.I.P. Ozzy.




    Alex Warren has released an extended version of his long-running 2024 EP You’ll Be Alright Kid Part 1. So it is now essentially a double album with new tracks to add to the hits from the EP, giving it the push it needed to get a serious attempt at the top spot. Job done? By Wednesday it was holding off the triple Oasis threat remaining in the top 5 as last weeks new entries tumble, and the new album from Tyler The Creator. It was a close thing, but in the end it was Alex Warren that edged out on top. Tyler got his 8th top 40 album with Don’t Tap The Glass not quite able to get a second number one album following on from Chromakopia in 2024, new in at 2 in his decade-long chart career. That leaves Time Flies at 3, and the first two studio albums for Oasis at 4 and 5. It’s amazing what a reunion can do for back catalogue sales!

    Elsewhere in the top 40, Joe Bonamassa is on his 10th solo top 40 studio album in 16 years, and 20th overall including live albums and collaborations as Breakthrough enters at 38, which is pretty consistent for an act that is largely based on word of mouth and live tours, not troubling singles charts or radio or television that much. Lower down new entries for Welsh Band Panic Shack on their debut album of the same name at 32 and Lewisham rapper Jim Legxacy on afrobeats Mixtape black british music (2025) new at 29.

    See you next week!
  11. Alex Warren holds at 1 on the Single Track chart, and The Lottery Winners lucky number comes up in albums. That number is 1.


    Alex Warren makes it week number 2 at number one for Ordinary, a great ballad with gospel choir touches, making it the first time since Kate Bush was Running back Up That Hill that my personal chart and the Official Chart have the same number one. Alex’s previous good hits also get a boost with Carry You Home at a new peak of 10 (and his second top 10 hit) and Burning Down is up to 23. It’s neck and neck on streaming “sales” for Chappell Roan and Doechii at 2 and 3 - except that Chappell’s The Giver has dropped from 2 to 5 and her Pink Pony rears back up to leap over Gotye. Sorry, I mean Doechii’s Anxiety. Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things, meanwhile, really don’t know when to confess they have lost their sparkle after a year clogging up the charts at 4, though his much fresher Harry-Styles-ish Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else is back up, to a new peak of 24, which is good news.

    The upper end of the chart is otherwise giving me a sense of Groundhog Day, bar Gaga’s relatively newie Abracadabra, until one gets down to a climber for WizTheMc & bees & honey who want to Show Me Love at 14. Using commas instead of ampersands will be enough, thanks, mates. Drake is up to a new peak of 12 with NOKIA. I have literally, as I type this, just had 3 calls from a random woman claiming I rang her and wanting to know why. I have made zero calls on my mobile today, and that incident is only marginally less annoying than a new Drake track wittling on about himself and the trials of being rich and famous. Lots of famous rich people give it all up for a less stressful life. Just saying.

    Ravyn Lenae sounds like a club under the arches in London, but the American singer is very much not a dancehall. Love Me Not is up to a new peak of 19, and it sounds like a decent r'n'b tinged pop record, with a vocal that really is quite pleasant. Lil Tecca meanwhile has Dark Thoughts at 20, climbing up from 30. Given the furore about the seven dwarfs in Snow White, I’m surprised anyone still feels the need to re-re-re-re-use the term “Lil” unless that is Lil as short for Lillian. I just googled. It’s not. Tyler-Justin Sharpe is a perfectly good name for a rapper/singer and this track despite the obligatory autotune is fairly decent.

    New entry: Leon Thomas debuts at 26 with MUTT. I love dogs, and records featuring them - Who let the dogs out! Ruff Mix! He’s A Tramp! Mutt Lange! Leon is an American soul-singer-songwriter, and is something of a throwback to earlier decades in the musical roots department, which comes as a nice surprise to this old Soul fan. I’ll forgive the B word, as it might be about another dog not his ex. Ely is a great old Biblical name which one of my great-great-uncles had, so nice to see it back in vogue up two place to 36 with Ely Oaks taking dance track Runnin’ Around into the charts. Ely is from Austria, and I’m not entirely sure my great-great-uncle would have enjoyed this OK track being as he was more likely to have been singing along to The Pirates Of Penzance in the 19th century. That leaves Adele's Hometown Glory oldie up two to 29 and 2 re-entries, Olivia Dean's Bridget Jones track is back at 40 and Sonny Fodera and Clementine Douglas' Tell Me at 39. I get very nostalgic for 1960's USA when I hear names like Sonny & Clementine are now back in fashion.


    *********************************


    In the album charts, it’s straight in on top for The Lottery Winners with these-days decent sales of over 11,000 for KOKO, almost all of them paid-for. Streamers might not be fans, but the band is good and the current and previous singles You Again (with the fabulous Reverend And The Makers) and current Radio 2 A/B list Turn Around, both great. Their previous studio album, Anxiety Replacement Therapy, topped the album chart two years ago and it’s their 4th top 40 album in 5 years. Guests on the album include Shed Seven, who recently dropped the fabulous single Waiting For The Catch, Frank Turner, and the very unexpected Chad Kroeger of Nickelback fame/infamy (delete as appropriate). The latter song is Ragdoll, not to be confused with the Four Seasons classic and is clearly the best track Chad has been on in 20 years. The number 3 slot is comfortably grabbed by Deacon Blue, 36 years into their album chart career. The Scottish band had a long run of hit singles from 1987 through to the mid-90’s and recent airplay from Radio 2 as well has helped a bit of a revival for their best material in 30 years. They last topped the album chart in 1988 with When The World Knows Your Name, but The Great Western Road gets them a highest chart position in 34 years and keeps up their ongoing revival in fortune in the 2020’s in terms of radio-friendly 80’s-referring good singles, not least Late ’88 and current fave Turn Up Your Radio. It’s also their 11th top 40 album, they’ve never flopped, and their 5th top 10.

    Sabrina Carpenter is holding at 2 with her ever-present Short n’ Sweet, the recent addition of new tracks not hurting one iota, while Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco have an unlikely collaboration on the heels of recent minor hit single Call Me When You Break Up (with added Gracie Adams) and the current excellent Sunset Blvd which deserves to be a huge hit, but probably won’t be. I Said I Love You First enters at 4 to become Selena’s 4th studio album in 12 years, and only the second to go top 10. Quite apart from her music career, I love her in the fabulous Only Murders In The Building with Steve Martin and Martin Short and a host of famous names. Benny Blanco has had quite the career as music producer/songwriter since 2008 and artist since 2018 but no previous charting albums under his own name. Hit collaborations include quality pop like Hot ‘n’ Cold, Teenage Dream, California Gurls and I Kissed A Girl (Katy Perry), Dynamite (Taio Cruz), Moves Like Jagger (Maroon 5), Diamonds (Rihanna) some Ed Sheeran monsters, and just about everybody significant in the music industry since 2008. So he’s quite good then!

    Lady Gaga’s Mayhem, not to be confused with Imelda May’s Mayhem, may, ahem, be the first or second-best album with that title. I haven’t decided yet, but I did buy the lovely Imelda’s album after seeing her in concert and having a chat while she signed her debut album for me. Gaga, to date, hasn’t been too fussed about having a chat with me. It’s her loss, clearly! Anyway Gaga is at 5, and the next new entry is at 16 for The Horrors. My old mucker John used to greet stress at work with an impression of Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now: “The. Horror!” and that’s what I always think of when I hear their name. Night Life is the Sarfend-on-Sea band’s 6th studio album since 2007 and the 4th to go top 20. Lower down the top 40, Alex Warren just scrapes in with his album You’ll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) debuting at 30, no doubt from all the streaming success of the 3 singles rather than belated physical sales, and the rest of the chart is comprised of albums plummeting, streaming hit compilations albums grabbing a one millionth week on the chart collectively (note: Maths may not be a strong point) and Teddy Swims’ I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy Parts 1 and 2 and presumably to be joined by 3 and 4 at some stage.