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Suedehead2

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  1. After it was replaced at number one last week, people might have thought that Alex Warren’s Ordinary had had its time at the top. The first signs that they were wrong came on Sunday when it was back at number one in the first update of the week. It is still there at the end of the week, giving it a thirteenth week at number one in total. It thereby creates another chart record. Its return to the top after an initial twelve week run shatters the record set by Frankie Laine’s I Believe way back in 1953. That song’s first run at number one lasted for nine weeks before it lost its hold on the top spot. However, after just one week, it returned and stayed there for a further six weeks. It then bounced back up again for a three week run. Its total of eighteen weeks at number one remains a record over seventy years later.


    The return of Alex Warren to the top spot means that Sabrina Carpenter’s fourth number one Manjchild comes to an end after just one week. Of course, she may yet return to extend her run.


    Ravyn Lenae’s Love Me Not remains at number three with Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club another non-mover, at number four. The big mover of the week is MK and Chrystal’s Dior which jumps twelve places to number five.


    Most of this week’s new entries come from, or feature, acts with a relatively long chart history. The first (measured simply by the order in which I am covering them)comes from Twenty One Pilots who made their top forty debut with Stressed Out in 2016. They haven’t exactly been regular visitors to the top forty since then. The Contract, a new entry at number 33, is only their fourth single to reach the top forty although others have spent time in the lower reaches of the chart.


    Mark Ronson’s first chart outing came in 2003 when Ooh Wee reached number fifteen. His first major success came with his 2007 album Version, a collection of cover versions with guest singers. That included his version of The Zutons’ Valerie with Amy Winehouse on vocals. Ronson had previously produced many of the songs on Winehouse’s classic back To Black album. Suzanne, a new entry at number 34, features vocals from Raye and is Ronson’s thirteenth top forty hit, his first since 2019.


    Regular readers will know that I am a bit of a Sparks fan. Unfortunately, old age and the need to be up for work in the morning meant that I didn’t see either of their London gigs this week. However, thye band does join the list of chart acts whose name has also been the title of a top forty single. Rather unexpectedly, it has happened because Coldplay’s song Sparks, from their debut alum Parachutes released in 2000, is a new entry at number 40. Coldplay made their singles chart debut in the same year.


    The song which least deserves to be described as being from an act with a long chart history is the one where that act, Tinashe, is the featured artist. In fact, all three of her top forty hits since 2015 has seen her in a featuring role. On No Broke Boys, which enters at number 37, she plays second fiddle to Disco Lines, a new name to the top forty.


    The exception to the established acts rule comes from BTS member J-hope. His first top forty single as a solo artist came as recently as 2023. He now gets his second with Killin’ It girl at number 30. It features GloRilla which I’m guessing isn’t their real name.


    The Black Eyed Peas’ Rock That Body has been allowed back in to the top forty at number 35. It reached number eleven in 2010.



    The writer of the Official Chart Company’s write-up of the albums chart is still proudly using their new word, multihyphenate. This week they have used it to describe James Marriott, the Brighton-based musician who has a surprise number one album this week. His previous album reached number seventeen but a social media fanbase has propelled Don’t Tell The Dog all the way to the top.


    A combination of a new (very expensive) vinyl edition and the imminence of their live comeback has lifted Oasis’s Time Flies compilation to number two.


    Sabrina Carpenter’s Short ‘n’ Sweet is at number three. It has been in the top five for 43 consecutive weeks, a new record for a studio album. It has a little way to go to beat the South Pacific soundtrack album which entered the top five in April 1958 and stayed there until October 1961. It spent 114 weeks at number one, including the whole of 1959.


    For many years Van Morrison was one of the most highly-acclaimed singer-songwriters. Chart watchers have also been able to comment on the fact that Astral Weeks, an album which regularly features on critics’ lists of the best albums of all time, was not a hit. Later albums have been more successful. His reputation took a bit of a knock when he rai9led against measures taken to protect people from Covid, including recording a song about it. However, his latest album, Remembering Now, has been well received and it is a new entry at number eleven.


    To the delight of many, The Cure reached number one with their Songs Of A Lost World album topped the chart last year. They have now released an album of remixes o songs from that record and it is at number nine this week.


    New York rapper Lil Tecca is at number seventeen with Dopamine. AJ Tracey 37 with the cheerfully-titled Don’t Die Before You’re Dead.


    Last week saw the sad news of the death of Brian Wilson, the last surviving of the three brothers who formed The Beach Boys. It is impossible to exaggerate just how revolutionary songs such as God Only Knows and Good Vibrations sounded when they were released in 1966, almost sixty years ago. The news came too late to influence last week’s chart but their 1983 compilation The Very Best Of The Beach Boys is at number 32 this week.


  2. After many weeks when Alex Warren’s Ordinary finished well clear of all  rivals at the top of the singles chart, he finally faced a real challenge this week. It came from Sabrina Carpenter with her new single Manchild.

    In Monday's update, Manchild had a fairly clear lead over Ordinary. However, by Wednesday the lead had narrowed leaving the final outcome in doubt. The lack of an additional update yesterday (Thursday) was perhaps a hint that  Sabrina Carpenter’s lead had either stabilised or even increased.

    Whether the lack of news on Thursday was a hint or not, Alex Warren has finally been toppled. Ordinary is down to number two after a far from ordinary twelve weeks at the top. Only four songs have had a longer continuous run at the top. Two of them are by Canadian solo artists, Drake and Bryan Adams. One is by a Scottish band, Wet Wet Wet, and the other is by an English singer, Ed Sheeran.


    That finally leaves the way for a new chart-topper. Sabrina Carpenter had three number one singles last year. Manchild is her first of 2025. All four songs have used only one word in the title although one of them did use that word three times. Neneh Cherry’s song of the same name reached number five in 1989.


    Ravyn Lenae’s Love Me Not is back down to number three. Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club is at number four. Thanks to Jimwatts at Buzzjack for pointing out that Pink Pony Club is the ninth song to spend eighteen consecutive weeks in the top five and the first by a female solo artist.


    Sombr’s Undressed falls one place to number five. He is also at number seven with Back To Friends.


    Ed Sheeran’s new album is still a few months away. Sapphire, a new single from the album, enters at number nine. The song has a slightl;y odd start before becoming one of Sheerans lively songs. It is his 43rd top ten, and 65th top forty, hit.  His 42nd top ten hit Azizam is one place lower, at number ten. The cover art for Sapphire is very similar to that of Moby’s album Play. Play just happens to be the title of the forthcoming Sheeran album.


    As a follow-up to The Days, Chrystal has made a shameless pitch to receive some free stuff by teaming up with MK to release a song called Dior. That has to be more attractive than a weekend in Milton Keynes. The song is a new entry at number seventeen.


    Teddy Swims’ Lose Control has spent the last five weeks outside the top forty. In that time, it hasn’t dropped any lower than number 45. This week it is back up to number 40. Chappell Roan’s Good Luck Babe returns at number 38 and Gracie Abrams’ That’s So true re-enters one place higher.



    It is very easy for me to find out when I first saw Pulp perform live. It was the day that Arsenal played Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup final, 15 May 1993. How is that significant? It was at the Highbury Garage, Arsenal were still playing at Highbury and Pulp were a band from Sheffield.


    At the time, Pulp were a band who had been together for 15 years but were still playing at small venues. The Garage had a capacity of just 600. However, they were finally starting to get noticed and the following year they had their first top forty single with So You Remember The First Time?


    Back at the Garage gig, it was immediately apparent that Jarvis Cocker was a brilliantly flamboyant front-man. By August the following year, they were playing on the main stage at the Reading Festival and I was in the audience once again. Unusually for a festival set, they played a new song. So new that Jarvis Cocker had only finished writing it the day before. That song was Common People, the one that gave them major chart success the following year. Indeed, it was at number three this week thirty years ago.


    Jarvis Cocker also demonstrated his stage presence in one of my favourite Top of the Pops performances. Cocker had written Walk Like A Panther for Sheffield band All Seeing I. The song featured vocals by another Yorkshireman Tony Christie. However, when the band were asked to perform on Top of the Pops Christie was unavailable, so Cocker stepped in to take his place (although Christie’s vocals were also in the background).


    Pulp have disbanded and re-formed twice, re-forming most recently in 2023. The first re-formation was purely for live dates with no new album. This time, though, Jarvis Cocker decided that he had enough material (some written several years ago) to treat fans to something new. The result is More, an album which is very Pulp-like, meaning that it is mostly great. It becomes their third number one album after the classic Different Class (1995) and This Is hardcore (1998).


    The Official Charts Company (OCC) have reported excitedly that Addison Rae has scored her first top five album this week with Addisn at number two. As it is her debut album, the bit about it being her first in the top five is not really big news. Still, they have to generate headlines somehow.


    What is rather more noteworthy is that Sabrina Carpenter’s Short ‘n’ Sweet is at number four. While two places below its more customary spot, its 42 successive weeks in the top five is a record for a solo female artist. Her previous five albums didn’t get anywhere near the top five although the EP Fruitcake did spend a week at number five last December, a year after it was released. Carpenter announced this week that she will be releasing a new album in August.


    Somebody at the OCC seems to have come across the word multihyphenate this week as it has been used to describe both Addison Rae and Little Simz. It doesn’t mean someone who uses lots of hyphens. Instead it means someone with several professions or skills. Little Simz is an actor as well as a rapper which apparently qualifies her as a multihyphenate .Her sixth album Lotus is at number three.


    Ed Sheeran’s Tour Collection falls three places to number four.


    Marina Diamankis, now performing simply as Marina having dropped the Diamonds bit, is at number seven with Princess Of Power.


    With two Larsens and a Poulsen in their line-up it is no surprise that Volbeat are a Danish band. Their ninth studio set God Of Angels Trust is at number 24, giving them a fourth top forty album. American punk band Turnstile are at number eleven with Never Enough.


    This week’s anniversary edition is My Chemical Romance’s Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge. My Chemical Romance’s second album reached number 34 when it was released twenty years ago. This new edition is at number nine.





  3. Alex Warren’s Ordinary spends a twelfth week at number one in the singles chart. Just four other songs have had a twelfth successive week at number one; all four of them managed at least one more week at the top. Ordinary now has the second longest time at the top for a first number one as the lead artist, behind Drake’s One dance which spent an interminable fifteen weeks there in 2016. He had spent time at number one before, but not as the lead artist. He was the featured artist on Rihanna’s What’s My Name.


    Ravyn Lenae’s Love Me Not goes back up to number two. Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club slips to number three. It is in its seventeenth successive week in the top five. Sombr’s Undressed is still at number four. He now has two singles in the top ten as Back To Friends climbs to a new peak of number nine. Skye Newman’s Family Matters climbs to number five.


    The highest new entry of the week is Tate McRae’s Just Keep Watching at number ??? The song features in a film about people who drive cars very fast without actually going anywhere. It is co-written by OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder who seemed to have a new entry almost every week a few years ago.


    Two of the remaining three new entries are also by female solo artists. Olivia Dean had her first hit with a Christmas song in 2021. However, she didn’t get another hit until earlier this year when It Isn’t Perfect But It Might Be reached number 36. She now gets her second hit of the year with the rather soporific Nice To Each Other at number 28.


    One place above Olivia Dean, at number 27, Addison Rae has a new entry with Fame Is A Gun. As with Dean, this is Rae’s third top forty hit and her second this year. Her first hit was rather more recent though. Diet Pepsi was in the top ten last year. Fame Is A Gun has rather more life to it than the song one place below.


    Levi Heron gets his first top forty hit with The Glen at number 37. It is a dance remix of a song originally recorded by Scottish folk-rock act Beluga Lagoon in 2019. Levi Heron is both the first Levi and the first Heron to be named on a UK chart hit. The original version reached number 25 in the Sales Chart earlier this year.



    The top of the albums chart sends two very clear messages this week. One is about the state of the albums market in the middle of the 2020s; the other is more about a specific artist.


    Ed Sheeran’s Tour Collection returns to number one. The album hasn’t been particularly successful by Sheeran’s standards. This is only its second week at the top after it climbed to the summit at the start of the year. Its presence at the top of the chat this week is a clear indication of just how low albums sales are.


    After spending a sixth non-successive week back at number one last week, Sabrina Carpenter’s Short ‘n’ Sweet is now back in the more familiar surroundings of the number two spot. The album went straight to number one when it was released last autumn before falling one place to spend the first of a record-breaking 26th (and counting) week in second place.


    The second clear message is that the career of Miley Cyrus, never a massive album-selling artist, may be on the wane. In a low-sales week, her new album Something beautiful can only get to number three. Furthermore, there has been no hit single from the album.


    Two more compilations complete the top five. Fleetwood Mac’s 50 Years Don’t Stop collection is at number four. The Weeknd’s Highlights is at five.


    Garbage, one of those 90s indie bands who are still around, are at number 24 with Let All That We Imagine be The Light. Their seventh studio album is their lowest-charting set. Their previous low was with Strange Little Birds which peaked at number seventeen in 2016.


    The National released a new album at the end of last year but it didn’t get anywhere near the top forty. Their singer Matt Berninger has fared rather better with his second solo album. Get Sunk, which I prefer to his band’s material, is at number 27.


  4. Alex Warren’s Ordinary continues its run at the top of the singles chart into an eleventh week. Just three other songs have had a run of exactly eleven weeks at the top. Slim Whitman’s Rose marie did it in the early years of the chart in 1955. While four songs have subsequently had longer runs, the next song to spend exactly eleven weeks at number one was Dance Monkey by Tones & I in 2019. Ed Sheeran’s Bad Habits (2021) has since matched that run.


    Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club moves back up to number three, swapping places with Ravyn Lenae’s Love Me Not which slips back to number three. Roan’s Good Luck Babe re-enters at number 39 just in time for the resumption of GCSE exams next week. It first entered the chart shortly before last year’s exams.


    That is the only change in the top five. Sombr’s Undressed is still at number four. Show Me Love by WizTheMC and Bees & Honey remains at number five.


    As well as extending his run at the top of the singles chart, Alex Warren also has this week’s highest new entry with Bloodline at number nine. The song features rapper Jason DeFord who performs under the moniker Jelly Roll. Yummy. Roll has spent time in jail although he did at least use the time to improve his educational qualifications. Like Warren’s other two non-number one hits, Bloodline is better than ordinary, a song whose huge success continues to baffle many people.


    Jelly Roll also featured on Machine Gun Kelly's first charting single after changing his name to MGK. Lonely Road reached number 67 last year. Now he gets his first top forty hit since that name change with Cliche at number 31. While many musical cliches have entered the charts over the decades, this is the first time the word has featured in the title of a top forty hit. That said, another Kelly, Kelly Jones, was the featured artist on Manchild’s The Cliches Are True which reached number 60 in 2000.


    Cousins Max and Luke Dean enter at number nineteen with their debut hit Can’t Decide. They are joined on this housey track by someone called Locky who is another chart debutant.


    Myles Smith has a new entry at number 32 with Gold. The song is cheerful enough without offering anything terribly different from his previous hits.


    As well as Good Luck Babe, Gracie Abrams’ That’s So True is also a re-entry, at number 38. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ Die With A Smile is back at number 37.


    Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things falls to number ten. In its 33 weeks in the top ten it has now spent at least one week in each position. It has also spent a week at number eleven. Thanks to Jimwatts at Buzzjack for the information that it is the third song to occupy every top ten position after Harry Styles’ As It Was and (over several chart runs) Wham’s Last Christmas. As there is a BBC compilation of their material tonight (Friday), it is worth a reminder that Eurythmics have had one, and only one, song peaking at nine of the top ten positions.





    Two bands with an album entering the chart this week feature brothers. Many brothers in bands fall into one of two categories. There are those such as the Gallaghers or the Everly Brothers who are constantly at loggerheads. Others maintain a harmonious relationship, even when the band lasts for decades.


    Sparks definitely fall into the latter category. Ron and Russ Mael formed Halfnelson in 1968. In 1971 they became Sparks and have kept the name ever since. While the line-up of backing musicians has changed many times, the core of the band is still Russ on vocals and Ron as the main songwriter and keyboardist. 


    Two things about Sparks’ new album immediately strike people familiar with their output as typical of the band. First, there’s the title of the album - MAD! The only surprise is that they hadn’t thought of using the title for one of their previous 27 albums. Track one on the album is called Do Things My Own Way, something they have definitely been doing for over half a century. The whole album is remarkably fresh for a band who started their recording career long before anyone in the current singles chart was even born.


    After enjoying initial success with singles such as the brilliant This This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us, Sparks rather dropped off the radar from the late 1970s. They had a minor hit with When Do I Get To Sing My Way in 1994 and again the following year. Their Lil’ Beethoven album in 2002 received deserved critical acclaim, but further commercial success still eluded them.


    When Sparks released Hello Young Lovers in 2006, another fantastic album, they played a few shows in the UK where they played the album in full, followed by a second set of songs from their back catalogue. Two years later, they played a series of gigs where they played each of their then 21 albums in full, including songs that they had never played live before. Hello Young Lovers was their first album to chart in the UK for over twenty years, although it sadly missed out on a top forty place.


    In a belated upturn in fortune, Sparks’ last three studio albums all reached number seven. The fact that this was  a fairly quiet week for new releases would have led to optimism in the Sparks camp that MAD! could go even further. That optimism was enhanced when Sparks were at number one in the first midweek update, ahead of other new releases and, more significantly, Sabrina Carpenter’s perennial number two Short ‘n’ Sweet. Wednesday’s update showed them still ahead with their lead over Carpenter almost unchanged. However, with further real sales on Wednesday and Thursday likely to be low for both albums, the question was whether Sparks would pick enough additional streams to hold off against Carpenter.


    Including streaming in the albums chart was never an easy task. In downplaying streams of the two most popular tracks, the Official Charts Company attempted to avoid albums getting a boost from streams of just a couple very popular tracks. However, they haven’t attempted to distinguish between streams of all - or most - of an album and streams of songs that have been hit singles. That gave Sabrina Carpenter an advantage, even if more people streamed MAD! in full than streamed the whole of Short ‘n’ Sweet.


    Sadly, Sparks didn’t quite get their first number one album. However, MAD!’s number two makes it their highest charting album, beating the number four peak of Kimono My House way back in 1974. It is at least at number one in the Physical chart as well as the CD and vinyl charts.


    That means that Sabrina Carpenter’s Short ‘n’ Sweet hits the top for a fifth time. Each previous spell at number one has lasted just a single week. Ed Sheeran’s Tour Collection is at number three while Tate McRae is at number five with So Close To What.


    The other band of brothers to enter the chart this week are Orbital, the name used by brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll since 1987. The band has split and reformed several times, including one split before they had achieved any success. Following the example set by Peter Gabriel, but calling a halt a little earlier, they called both of their first two albums eponymously. They became known as the Green and Brown albums. 


    For no obvious reason, they have released a deluxe edition of their second (Brown) album 32 years after its initial release. Still, it provided a good excuse to listen to it again. The album originally reached number 28. This version is at number thirteen. Just as an aside, it should be mentioned that  Sparks played on a song called Acid Pants (a very Sparks-like title) on Orbital’s final album.


    My O Level Geography lessons from many years ago taught me that the palace where rivers meet is called a confluence, as long as the rivers are of similar size. A look at Google Maps tells me that that (sort of) happens at Brightlingsea in Essex. That, then, may have led to a band from that town calling themselves When Rivers Meet. Or perhaps not. Regardless, they are at number four with their fifth album Addicted To You.


    One of the consequences of going to a large number of gigs, particularly before the internet, is that you get to see a lot of awful support acts. Even if you know you don’t like the act, they might be playing between two acts you do want to see. That is how I have seen Skunk Anansie more times than I would have liked. They, along with Texas, went on to enjoy significant success without my ever feeling tempted to buy any of their material. They are at number seven with The Painful Truth, their first album for nine years and a new high for the band in the albums chart.


    Among the bands I willingly saw many times in the 1990s were Stereolab, fronted by French singer Laetitia Sadier. Sadly, songs such as French Disco and Superelectric failed to become the big hits that they should have been. They have just released their first new album after a fifteen-year gap. Instant Holograms On Metal Foil, their eleventh studio album, is their fourth to reach the top forty as a new entry at number 29.


    Sports Team, formed at Cambridge University, have their third top forty album (from three releases) with Boys These Days. While the first track sounds a little like The Blow Monkeys, it improves significantly from there. The album is at number eleven, a disappointment after the two previous albums reached the top three.


    Louise Redknapp is at number eight with Confessions, her first top ten album since a Best Of compilation in 2001. Her last studio  album to reach the top ten was Woman In Me in 1997.
  5. Alex Warren’s Ordinary gets a tenth week at the top of the singles chart. While it is only the fourteenth single to spend at least ten successive weeks at number one, it is the fourth in the 2020s. The last song to do it was Dave and Central Cee’s Sprinter which had a run of ten weeks in 2023.


    Last weekend some newspapers (and tabloids) reported that Warren had broken the record for a US solo artist’s consecutive weeks at number one. Others added the word male. Both were wrong. Slim Whitman’s Rose Marie spent eleven successive weeks at number one in 1955. Two US women solo artists, Whitney Houston and Miley Cyrus have had ten-week runs at number one. The overall record for successive weeks at the top is still held by Canadian Bryan Adams with (Everything I Do) I Do It For You in 1991. The only song to spend longer at the summit is Frankie Lain’s I Believe which spent a total of eighteen weeks there (in runs of nine, six and three weeks) in 1953.


    Alex Warren heads an unchanged top three. Ravyn Lenae’s Love Me Not is still at number two, one place ahead of Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club. Sombr’s Undressed climbs one place to number four, swapping places with WizTheMC and Bees & Honey’s Show Me Love.


    Skye Newman had her first chart hit earlier this month with Hairdresser. That song climbs to a new peak of number sixteen this week. It is joined, and surpassed, by Family matters, a new entry at number eight. She still has no Wikipedia page. The available information about her is generally on promotional websites so can be somewhat hyperbolic.


    Last night (Thursday) the 2025 Ivor Novello Awards ceremony was held in London. The awards were established in 1956 and celebrate achievements in song composition and soundtracks. The winner of the Rising Star award was Lola Young who topped the chart with Messy earlier this year. This week she has a new entry at number 25 with One Thing. The only other charting single with One Thing in the title was by One Direction, unless you count The Fall’s Teleph One Thing. Which you probably don’t.


    Last weekend the Eurovision Song Contest was held in Basel. It was won by Austria who, in my opinion, just happened to have the best entry. In recent years, there have often been a few Eurovision songs in the following week’s chart. This year, there are three. The highest is the British entry which finished in eighteenth place. What The Hell Just Happened by Remember Monday put up a respectable showing in the jury vote, but no country put it in their top ten in the public vote, so it received the dreaded nul points in that part. I have always played down suggestions that the voting is political. However, some of this year’s scores from the public vote were a little odd. Anyway, the British public seem to have a better view of the song than the rest of Europe and it is a new entry at number 31.


    As mentioned above, Eurovision was won by Austria meaning that next year’s contest will be held in the country better known for classical composers such as Mozart and two Strausses rather than for pop music. The winning entry didn’t make it. However, the German entry Baller by Austrian siblings Abor and Tynna, is at number 34. 


    The more eccentric Eurovision entries tend to be rather hit and miss with me. I either think they are gloriously daft, or rubbish. The third Eurovision song in the chart this week, Espresso Macchiato by Tommy Cash, is at number 40. The Estonian entry was a song about Italy. Obviously. It finished third in Basel.



    Some artists enjoy major success in the UK with their early material while others build up a following gradually. Others muddle along for a few years before finally having a major hit. On such artist is singer-songwriter Morgan Wallen. His first three albums reached the top ten in her native USA, with two of them topping the chart. The best he could manage in the UK was a number 40 placing with One Thing At A Time in 2023. His major breakthrough in the UK came last year when he was the featured artist on Post Malone’s number two hit I Had Some Help. His fourth album, I’m The Problem, has outdone all of that by going to number one. What I Want, a song that features Tate McRae enters the singles chart at number 32.


    Sabrina Carpenter’s Short ‘n’ Sweet continues its record-breaking run at number two. Ed Sheeran’s Tour Collection is at number three. 


    Many people, including this writer, thought that The Sherlocks would be in contention for the number one album this week. Three of the indie band’s four albums reached the top ten with 2023’s People Like Me & You getting to number four. Sadly, it was not to be and Everything Must Make Sense is at number four, matching its immediate predecessor.


    One of the notable things about Sleep Token’s Even In Arcadia album last week was that it picked up a lot more streams than most rock albums. That gave a hint that it would not be yet another album to drop straight out of the chart. It has held up very well, falling four places to number five.


    There are many words that could be used to describe the career of Peter Doherty, including colourful and controversial. As a member of The Libertines and, later, Babyshambles, releases were too infrequent to build up any real momentum. His solo releases have been more regular, but with limited success. This week he gets his biggest solo success with Felt Better Alive at number seven.


    When CD players first hit the shop shelves, one of the first purchases for many was a copy of Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms. The album was the Geordie band’s second number one, spending two weeks there in May and June 1985. It returned to the top in the summer, but really got going in May 1986 when it returned to the top and stayed there for ten weeks. We are, of course, now forty years on from 1985 and many young people are barely aware of what a CD is. A fortieth anniversary edition of Brothers In Arms is at number eight.


    It is now eight years since the sad death of Swedish DJ Tim Bergling, better known as Avicii. The track listing of a new compilation, Forever, gives a hint of what he might have gone on to achieve. Songs such as Wake Me Up, Levels and Hey Brother still sound good today. The album is a new entry at number twenty.


    Southampton metal band Bury Tomorrow are at number 33 with their eighth album Will You Haunt Me With That Same Patience. They have now had an album peak at every position between numbers 33 and 36 inclusive.


  6. Alex Warren’s run at the top of the singles chart continues as Ordinary gets a ninth week  at number one. The last single to spend exactly nine weeks at the top came fairly recently - Sabrina Carpenter’s Taste last autumn.


    Ravyn Lenae’s Love Me Not is still at number two. Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club still tethered at number three. WithTheMC with added Bees & Honey remain at number four with Show me Love. Sombr’s Undressed continues its steady climb up the chart. It is up one palace to number five.


    Calvin Harris made his chart debut with Acceptable In The 80s in 2007. Since then, he has had at least one top forty hit every year. He extends that run to an impressive nineteenth year with Blessings at number eight. The song is sung byClementine Douglas who now has four top forty hits as a featured artist or part of a duo but has yet to chart on her own. It is Harris’s 31st top ten hit and his 44th song to reach the top forty.


    Austrian producer Ely Oaks enters at number 35 with Borderline. He is joined by Lavinia who was born in Italy but raised in the UK. She then moved to Berlin where Ely Oaks also lives. Borderline is one place higher than Oaks’ previous hit Running Around.


    After climbing to number 21 twice, Benson Boone’s Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else finally makes it into the top twenty at number twenty. It is in its eleventh week in the top forty. Myles Smith’s Nice To meet You climbs back up to numb ten. It was last in the top ten in January but has remained in the top twenty all year.


    This does not mean that there is another lack of new entries and re-entries in the singles chart this week. It’s just that some of them fit in better with the albums round-up. Speaking of which,...



    It has been an extraordinarily successful year for rock band Sleep Token. At the beginning of the year, their chart record comprised two top forty albums, including a number three hit, and no hit singles. In March, they had their first hit single with two more following in April and May. The singles weren’t even flash-in-the-pans, two of them gained further weeks in the top forty. That meant that hopes for the new album were high, with the likelihood that they would get their first number one album. That has indeed come to pass as Even In Arcadia, a pretty strong album, finishes clear of all rivals this week.


    The old-fashioned among us will welcome the length of the tracks, and the album itself. Stereophonics’ recent chart-topper had just eight tracks with a running time under half-an-hour. Sleep Token’s album, by contrast, has ten tracks with a running time a few minutes short of an hour.


    Tracks from Even In Arcadia are in the singles chart once again. Look To Windward, one of the tracks not made available in advance, is at number 38. Caramel, which reached number ten last month, is a re-entry at number 33 and the album’s title track is at number  31. They have now had five top forty hits, highly unusual for a rock band.


    Some recent number one albums have picked up only around 1,000 “sales” from streams, some significantly lower than that. Unusually for a rock album, Even In Arcadia has around 7,000 “sales” from streams. Whether the album continues to be streamed in significant numbers next week remains to be seen.


    Sabrina Carpenter’s Short ‘n’ Sweet gets a 24th week at number two. It now holds the record for the most weeks at number two, beating the record for a studio album held by Simon and garfunkel’s fabulous Bridge Over Troubled Water album. That album’s 23 weeks were spread over a period of over two years. Carpenter’s run has taken about nine months. Ed Sheeran’s Tour Collection is at number four.


    While The Kooks can hardly claim to be among the very best bands to come out of Brighton, their song Naive is regularly one of the most streamed songs from 2006. Nevertheless, they still manage to sell albums in reasonable numbers - most of the time. Their last album, 2022’s 10 Tracks To Echo In The Darks only got to number 32, making it their lowest charting album by some margin. By contrast, album number seven Never / Know enters at number five, their highest position since Konk reached number two in 2008.


    There is a certain degree of pinkness to two of the new entries and that is without anything new from the singer born Alecia Moore. PinkPantheress enters the top ten of the albums chart for the first time with her mixtape Fancy That. Arcade Fire are at number eighteen with Pink Elephant. Any hope that they might one day match the excellence of Funeral is surely long gone.


    The final new entry comes from Berkshire-based The Amazons. Their new album 21st Century Fiction, probably my favourite of last week’s releases, is at number 26.


    Last week saw the release of a film to accompany The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow album. As a result, it leaps back into the top forty at number 25. Timeless from the album, which featured Playboy Carti reached number seven last year. It returns to the top forty this week at number thirty. The album contains a remix of the song by one of the current flavours of the month, Doechii.


  7. There is still no stopping Alex Warren as Ordinary gets an eighth week at number one in the singles chart. The last song to spend exactly eight weeks at the top was Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding’s Miracle in two separate runs in 2023. Afraid To Feel by LF System was the last song to have a single run of exactly eight weeks, in 2022. Warren’s album You’ll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) enters the top ten for the first time, at number nine.


    Ravyn Linae’s Love Me Not climbs three places to number two. Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club finally vacates the number two spot after being three for the last six weeks. It is now at number three. Show Me Love by WizTheMC along with Bees & Honey slips one place to number four.


    Normality has returned this week with just two new entries in the singles chart. The first is from Ed Sheeran who brings his tally of hits up to 64. Old Phone is about exactly that; yes, he really has written a song about finding an old phone. There was a time when even a song about such an odd subject would have gone straight to the top simply for being by Ed Sheeran. Old Phone enters at number seventeen. The release of a physical version of Sheeran’s Azizam is not enough to stop it falling one place to number five.


    Jorja Smith made her UK chart debut as a featured artist on Drake’s Get It Together. She has had a further seven top forty hits since then although just one has made it to the top ten. This week she gets top forty hit number nine with The Way I Love You at number 39. 


    Sombr’s two hits continue to climb. Back To Friends is up to number fifteen. Undressed enters the top ten, climbing seven places to number six. Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things gets a thirtieth week in the top ten. Thanks to Mrpopquiz on Buzzjack for the information that only six songs have spent longer there. Of the ten songs to have spent at least 26 weeks (six months) in the top ten, five have been released since 2018. Three of the others are Christmas songs which notch up extra weeks every year.



    Although they didn’t become a massive name until the release of Dark Side Of The Moon in 1973, Pink Floyd had been releasing albums since 1967. Therefore, by the time they toured in 1971, they had plenty of material. They also chose to record a live film in the ancient Italian city of Pompeii. The film was recorded over four nights with some additional material shot in Paris. The film was released in 1972, but without an accompanying album. A DVD was released in 2002; a CD followed in 2016 as part of the Early Years boxed set which reached number nineteen in the albus chart. Now we have a remastered double-CD version to enjoy.


    The first update, on Tuesday because of the May Day Bank Holiday, showed this new release at the top of the charge. However, the lead was relatively modest, making it uncertain whether it would stay there. Twenty-four hours later, the lead had been cut, but only narrowly. That left me more confident that it would hold on and, by the time the final chart was compiled, it was indeed still on top. Pink Floyd At Pompeii - MCMLXXII is theri seventh number one album. The list, which famously does not include Dark Side Of the Moon, began in 1970 with Atom Heart Mother.


    That leaves Sabrina Carpenter's Short 'n' Sweet back in its regular slot at number two. The remainder of the top five are all compilation albums. Ed Sheeran’s Tour Collection is at number three. As it is also known as the Mathematics Tour, I would like to congratulate Maths graduate Robert Prevosdt on becoming Pope Leo XIV. Fleetwood Mac’s 50 Years:Don’t Stop is at number four. The Weeknd’s Highlights is at number five.


    The first thing to do when an Andy Bell solo album is announced is to check which Andy Bell it is. Is it the vocalist with Ride or the one from Erasure? With the two Andy Bells having very different voices, a listen is generally enough to find out. That brings us to ten Crowns, a new solo album from the Erasure Andy Bell, his first solo release since 2010. Ride’s Andy Bell is not likely to release such a strongly pop-sounding album. Bell’s two previous solo albums failed to reach the top 100. Ten Crowns is at number fourteen.


    Live albums rarely make a major impact on the charts. It is particularly unusual to have two live albums entering in the same week. That, however, is what has happened this week. As well as Pink Floyd, James have a new live album out, albeit one recorded a lot more recently. The fact that Tim Booth was only eleven in 1971 may have played a part in that. Like the Floyd album, this was recorded at an ancient site, the Acropolis in Athens. As an extra treat, they played with an orchestra. James, Live at the Acropolis is at number 27.


    Singer-songwriter Andrew Cushn scores his first top forty album with his second release Love Is For Everyone at number 35.


  8. Alex Warren’s Ordinary stays at the top of the singles chart for a seventh week. It is the longest continuous run at the top by a male solo artist since Noah Kahan’s Stick Season at the beginning of last year.


    Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club is at number two for a fifth successive week, and a sixth in total. WizTheMC, along with Bees And Honey, continues to climb. Show Me Love is now at number three. Ed Sheeran slips to number four with Azizam. Ravyn lenae climbs four places to number five with Love Me Not.


    After last week’s miserable one new entry, this week there is a positive glut of them. There was a time when five new entries would be considered very low, but it now counts as a reasonably healthy number.


    Lorde started her career with the number one hit Royals in 2013. Sadly for her, she has yet to get a second top ten single. She has come close this week as What Was That enters at number eleven. Will she enjoy better luck next week?


    Benson Boone gets his fifth top forty single with Mystical Magical at number seventeen. It is only the second chart hit with those two words in the title, following the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour EP in 1967.


    Sleep Token, or more likely their record company, must be congratulating themselves on their decision to release several singles from their new album before the release of the album itself. Most rock bands struggle to get any hit singles from one album. Sleep Token have now had three from Even In Arcadia which is released next week (9 May). Damocles is the third of those songs; it is at number 25 this week. I wasn’t too impressed with Caramel, but this is a good deal better.


    Charli XCX made her chart debut as the featured artist on Icona Pop’s number one single I Love It in 2013. She continued to be a fairly regular visitor to the charts for the next few years. However, after 2018 she didn’t have a top forty hit as the lead artist until Beg For You in 2022. Since then she has resumed her regular visits to the chart and she has a new entry this week at number 34 with Party 4 U.


    The new entry most likely to make older people think “What on Earth is this? Do people call this music?” is probably Skye Newman’s Hairdresser at number 35. Its unusual instrumentation and strained vocals make it stand out, although not necessarily in a good way. It is, not surprisingly, the first chart hit to have the word hairdresser in its title. 


    Teddy Swims’ Lose Control is at number 40 for the third time in four weeks. That will be the cause of dismay for some Radio 1 Chart Show listeners as they always play the song at number 40 unless it is something unbroadcastable. 




    There was a battle between two new albums this week for the top of the albums chart between veteran Welsh band Stereophionics and Swedish rock band Ghost. When Monday’s update showed Stereophonics with a healthy lead, they appeared to have number one in the bag. After all, neither band would be expecting to add substantial sales from streams. Almost all of their sales would be actual sales of downloads or physical copies.


    However, Wednesday’s update showed that Stereophonics' lead had narrowed, suggesting that Ghost had a real chance of getting their first number one album. Eventually, though, Stereophonics held on and Make ‘Em Laugh, Make ‘En Cry, Make ‘Em Wait becomes their ninth number one album.


    Ghost have been achieving steadily higher positions with each new album. Most recently, Prequelle reached number three in 2018 (becoming their second top ten album) and Impera got to number two in 2022. They haven’t quite managed to complete that progression as Skeleta also gets to number two. If it is any consolation for their fans, it is at number one on the vinyl albums chart.


    Former talent show winner James Arthur gets his sixth top three album in six release with Pisces at number three. There are no prizes for guessing what his star sign is.


    Sabrina Carpenter’s Short ‘n’ Sweet makes another of its occasional visits to a position other than numbertwo. It is at number four this week.


    Rebecca Taylor, recording as Self Esteem, gets her first top ten album with A Complicated Woman at number five.


    The remaining two new entries are both by Scottish bands, one of which has been around for nine years and one that was probably formed before any members of the younger band were born.


    The newer of the two bands are folk pop band Tide Lines. Their last two albums have fallen just short of the top ten. Now they have done it again, but have come even closer to making it into the upper tier. Glasgow Love Story is a new entry at number eleven.


    Simple Minds released their first album in 1979 but didn’t score a major hit until their fifth release New Gold Dream in 1982 which peaked at number three. The next four albums, including a live compilation, all topped the chart. This week they have another live album in the chart. Live In The City Of Diamonds, recorded in Amsterdam last year, is at number twenty.


  9. Alex Warren spends a sixth week at the top of the singles chart with ordinary. The last song to get at least six weeks at number one was Sabrina Carpenter's Taste which had a run of nine weeks from the end of August last year. The last song with exactly six weeks at the summit was Taylor Swift’s Anti-Hero which went to number one in October 2022. Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding’s Miracle had a six-week run starting in April 2023 but that came after a previous two-week run.


    Once again, the top three remains unchanged. Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club is still reading at number two. Ed Sheeran’s Azizam is still at number three. Then comes the exciting bit of the top five with some actual movement. WizTheMC with Bees & Honey climb to number four with Show Me Love while Doechii falls one place to number five with Anxiety. 


    There is a dearth of new entries in both the singles and albums charts this week. The singles chart lives up to its name by having just a single one. In the week of Easter Monday it comes from Addison Rae Easterling. She had a top ten hit last year with Diet Pepsi (a title the BBC felt unable to mention in full) and now gets a second top forty hit with Headphones On at number 24. Thankfully for Auntie Beeb, the song doesn’t mention a particular brand of headphones. In my opinion, this new one is the better of her two hits.


    Once again, there are more re-entries than new entries, something that should really only happen around Christmas and New Year. Two new entries are by Teddy Swims - Lose Control is back at number 40 and The Door is at number 37. Lose Control has now spent 63 weeks in the top forty. Just nine songs have spent longer there. Thanks to Jim Watts at Buzzjack for that information. Lady Gaga’s Abracadabra has magiced its way back in at number 36.




    Anniversary editions of albums have become a regular presence in the charts for some time. However, the time between the original release and the new edition has generally been long enough to be able to say that it is aimed at new buyers. The same cannot be said of this week’s example. Taylor Swift released The Tortured Poets Department just a year ago. It went to number one and spent two weeks there. A combination of new versions on vinyl, cassette, shellac and a version where all the instruments have been replaced by kazoos (I may have made some of these up) and quiet release weeks saw it append a total of ten weeks at the top by the end of the year. Now her people have decided that this is a suitable time for an anniversary edition with some new signed copies. The album is back at number one.


    It almost seems superfluous to say that Sabrina Carpenter’s Short ‘n’ Sweet is ast number two. Ed Sheeran’s Tour Collection is at number three. Another compilation album is at number four. Fleetwood Mac’s 50 Years Don’t Stop collection was released in November 2018 and reached number five the following May. This week, its 336th in the chart, it hits a new high of number four. This is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the chart rules which favour a Greatest Hits set with a number of very popular songs rather than a few songs which are streamed far more than the rest. Yet another compilation, The Weeknd’s Highlights,is at number five.


    The arrival of 5ive in the albums chart may have been a cause of excitement for some and dismay for others. However, it is not a new album by the boyband although that may yet happen. It is the arrival of an album of that name by David Akeleke, known simply as Davido, at number six


    After a headlining set at the Coachella Festival, Lady Gaga is back at number 36 with her debut album The Fame. Fontaines DC are back at number 24 with Romance following the release of a deluxe edition featuring new tracks.


    The final new entry isn’t exactly new. Doechii released her debut album Alligator Bites Never Heal was released at the end of August last year. Thanks to the success of Anxiety and a vinyl release, it now makes its top forty debut at number 40.


  10. Alex Warren remains well clear of the opposition at the top of the singles chart. Ordinary’s fifth week at the summit makes it the longest-running number one single of the year so far. The last five-week number one was Gracie Abrams’ That’s So True in November and December of last year. This means that this year’s Easter number one matches the song that was replaced by last year’s Christmas number one.


    Ordinary heads an unchanged top four. Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club remains at number two. Ed Sheeran’s Azizam is at number three for a second week with Doechii’s Anxiety at number four. Therefore, we still have an X, three Ys and two Zs in the titles of the top four singles. There is just one E and no Ss.


    Tate McRae drives her Sports Car up to number five.


    Many charting singles from films aimed at children have been of a particularly low quality. Think of Let It Go for example. Some of them do at least have the virtue of being short. Such is the case with Jack Black’s Steve’s Lava Chicken from the Minecraft film. Yes, it’s diabolically bad, but at least it is only 34 seconds long. It is a new entry at number 21 and so becomes the shortest song ever to enter the UK singles chart. 


    Listening to Lana Del Rey’s new single Henry, Come On is a much more pleasant experience than listening to that chicken thing. Del Rey first entered the chart with the sublime Video Games in 2011. Her chart performance since then has been a little patchy. Henry, Come On is her 38th top 100 hit, but only the 13th to make the top forty, a strike rate of only one in three. As a new entry at number 30, it is only her second top forty single as the lead artist since 2017. She has, however, had no fewer than three number 87 hits in that time which is three more than Ed Sheeran has had in his entire career.


    Ghanaian singer-songwriter Moliy made her UK chart debut in November 2021 as the featured artist on Amaarae’s Sad Girlz Luv Money. Perhaps as punishment for crimes against spelling (not that Slade ever suffered), she has had to wait almost three-and-a-half years to get another hit. Her drought ends this week as Shake It To The Max (Fly), which features someone called Silent Addy who we haven’t heard from before, enters at number 35.




    The battle for supremacy in the albums chart was between Welsh band Those Damn Crows and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short ‘n’ Sweet. Those Damn Crows were ahead in the midweek up[dates but their lead on Wednesday was a fairly slender one. In the event, they did hold on and God Shaped Hole, their fourth album, becomes their first number one. It completes a run of higher peaks for each album after starting with an album that didn’t make the charts at all.


    Sabrina Carpenter, therefore continues her residency at number two.


    Last Friday (11 April) was the latest Record Store Day which meant another long list of special releases, available only in independent record shops. Some of the releases are limited to so few copies that they have no chance of entering the chart while others are simply a new edition of an album that is already widely available. One such this time round is Oasis’s Time Flies compilation, originally released in 2010. The album was at number seventeen last week. This week, thanks to the new edition, it climbs to number three.


    One of the brand new releases for Record Store Day was a six-track EP from Sam Fender, Me And The Dog. Two of the tracks are new releases and there is also a live version of the title track from his latest album People Watching. It is at number fourteen.


    Two other Record Store Day releases also enter the top forty. Liam Gallagher has an Acoustic Sessions collection at number 33 and CVharli XCX is at number 37 with Number 1 Angel.


    Record Store Day has also had an impact on the singles chart. A vinyl edition of Taylor Swift’s Fortnight was also among the items on sale and the song returns to the chart at number 29 just under a year since its one week at number one.


    It is now nearly twenty years since Justin Vernon formed his band Bon Iver. In that time they have generally enjoyed more success with the critics than with the wider public. Their latest album, Sable Fable, is at number four.


    Ed Sheeran’s Mathematics Tour collection is at number five.


  11. Alex Warren still has the number one single. Elton John gets another number one album.


    Alex Warren’s Ordinary remains at the top of the chart for a fourth week at number one. It is the second song to spend a month at the summit this year after Lola Young’s Messy. Yes, we have had a messy month and now we have an ordinary one.


    Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club spends a third consecutive week at number two, it’s fourth week in the runner-up slot in total.


    When Ed Sheeran released - in 2023m he said that it marked the end of his albums named after arithmetic symbols. Now he is about to start a new collection of albums.These are to be named after buttons on a CD player (or various other devices), starting with Play. The first single from the album Azizam (Persian for my dear) was released last week and it is this week’s highest new entry, at number three. He is joined on the song by a number of Iranian and Indian musicians, playing traditional instruments. It is Sheeran’s 63rd top forty hit, the 42nd to make the top ten and the 30th to reach the top five. The lad from Halifax (and who spent most of his childhood in Suffolk) has done quite well.


    Doechii’s Anxiety slips one place to number four. Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things clocks up a twentieth week in the top five. It is at number five this week.


    Having surprised many people by getting a top twenty hit earlier this year, Sleep Token have done even better with Caramel at number ten. This all bodes well for their new album which is released next month.


    With all the turmoil caused by the acts of an ego on the other side of the Atlantic, now might seem a good time to release a song called End Of The World although a new version of a similarly-titled REM song might have been even more apt (and less apocalyptic). Miley Cyrus, for it is she, might even have re-released Wrecking Ball instead. However, she has gone with End Of The World and it is at number 23. As it is a good deal better than Wrecking Ball, I’m not complaining. It is her 26th top forty hit.


    Just a few weeks ago we were treated to an album featuring an excellent live performance by Florence and the Machine at last year’s BBC Proms. Now she is back in the singles chart thanks to a remix of Spectrum by a Manchester producer who goes by the glorious name of Morgan Seatree. As far as I can tell, that is his real name. Spectrum, taken from the Ceremonials album, reached number one in 2012 while the London Olympics were in full flow. This version, under the title Say My Name, is at number 31.


    Pink Pantheress enters at number 35 with Tonight. It is her fifth top forty hit although, so far, only one of them has been a major hit. Boy’s A Liar reached number two in 2023 but none of her other songs have made the top twenty.


    Nathan Dawe and Abi Flynn’s Here In Your Arms is at number 36 after floating around outside the top forty for the last couple months.


    Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso has dropped out of the chart as it is no longer her third ranked song. It has been replaced by Taste at number 37. It was last in the top forty in February. She also has a re-entry at number 34 with Juno. That song left the chart in December.


    Sombr’s Undressed reaches a deserved new peak of number 28. His other charting song Back To Friends also climbs to new heights. It is at number 25. Last week Show Me Love by WizTheMC and bees & honey took a little rest, staying at number fourteen after a 24-place jump the previous week. This week it climbs into the top ten at number eight.



    Elton John famously had to wait until 1990 to get his first solo number one single, nearly two decades after his first hit. By contrast, he had his first chart-topping album in 1973 with Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player, his sixth album in under four years. His most recent compilation Diamonds, released in 2017, became his ninth number one album at the beginning of this year.


    Last week he released an album in collaboration with US singer Brandi Carlisle, Who Believes In Angels? The album instantly becomes Elton John’s tenth number one and allows Carlisle to enter the top forty in the UK for the first time. The songs on the album were co-written by John and Carlisle along with John’s regular collaborator Bernie Taupin.


    Added to his ten number one singles, his twenty chart-toppers see him pull ahead of Madonna. Only eleven acts have spent longer at the top of the two main charts. His new total of 60 weeks at the top of the charts again sees him pull clear of Madonna. He draws level with Take That in joint seventh place in the all-time list. Many thanks again to Colin for the figures he sent me at the beginning of the year.


    After a week in unfamiliar territory Sabrina Carpenter’s Short ‘n’ Sweet is back at number two for a twentieth week.


    Shortly before the release of their second album in 2002, Black Country New Road’s vocalist Isaac Wood announced that he was leaving the band for mental health reasons. For their new album they have used three vocalists, all of them women. One of them, Tyler Hyde, is the daughter of Underworld’s Karl Hyde. Forever Howlong is a new entry at number three.


    Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine is at number four. Two of the songs from the album that were in the chart last week (Dandelion and Intro) have left the top forty. Twilight Zone has dropped ten places to number fifteen. Ed Sheeran’s Tour Collection climbs back up to number five after the release of his new single.


    As I have commented before, there are times when it is not hard to see why a singer has chosen not to use their real name. Would Derek Dick have succeeded under that name? The are other times when a singer’s real name is rather more exotic than their chosen alternative. If your name was really Hayden Silas Anhedönia, why would you choose to record under the name Ethel Cain? Still, it’s her choice  She released her debut album Preacher’s Daughter in March 2022 to be greeted by near universal indifference. Following the release of a physical version last week, it enters the chart for the first time at number ten.


    Billy Joel’s Piano Man compilation returns to the top forty at number 37. It has been in the top 100 almost continuously since the beginning of 2022, but this is its first appearance in the top forty since July 2010.


    Before Lush  the brand, we had Lush the band. They were formed in 1987 and became part of the shoegaze movement that was a prominent part of the indie scene in the 1990s. Miki Berenyi, who provided the aptly lush vocals for the band, is now involved in two other musical projects. One of them, the Miki Berenyi trio, released a superb debut album Tripla last week.


    Lush disbanded following the death of their drummer Chris Acland. They later re-formed with Justin Welch on drums. He had previously worked with Elastica, the band formed by Justine Friuschmann after she left Suede. Welch also preceded Simon Gilbert briefly as Suede’s drummer. Before that they had used a (Psycho for) drum machine.


    The above two paragraphs were written at the beginning of the week when Tripla was at number twelve in the first midweek update. I had thought that that would be enough to see it just about hold on to a top forty place in the final chart. Alas, that was not to be. However, there is a reason for keeping it in and it has nothing to do with the opportunity to mention Suede.


    Regular readers will know that I usually only pay tribute to a musician who has died in the preceding week if they can be linked to a song in the current chart. The last paragraph illustrates just how far I will go to find an excuse to mention the death of a member of one of my all-time favourite bands. It wasn;t just an excuse to mention Suede.


    Drummers are a much-maligned breed. What do you call someone who hangs around with musicians? A drummer. Ho ho ho. Yet, drummers can be as essential a part of a band as a conductor is for an orchestra. One such was Clem Burke of Blondie who died this week aged 70. Debbie Harry (who, for obvious reasons, gained most of the attention) and Chris Stein were founder members of the band and Burke joined them shortly after, remaining a member ever since. Such was his brilliance that Dreaming, one of their number one hits in the UK, has been described as a drum solo with other members able to join in. 


    Like Lush, Blondie had a spell on hiatus before, in their case, returning with the brilliant number one single Maria. In that time Clem Burke played with The Ramones (as Elvis Ramone) as well as Eurythmics, Bob Dylan and others. The music world is poorer without him.


  12. Alex Warren gets a third week at number one with his Ordinary single. If he loses the top spot next week, Ordinary will be the first single this year to spend an odd number of weeks at the summit. Warren’s Carry You Home climbs one place to a new peak of number nine.


    Alex Warren heads an unchanged top four. Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club remains at number two. Doechii’s Anxiety, which sounds even better each time I hear it, is still at number three. Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things holds on at number four. The song has spent 25 weeks in the top ten since it first entered the upper tier in February of last year. 


    Ariana Grande released a new version of her Eternal Sunshine album last week. Predictably enough, three of the new songs enter the top forty this week. Twilight Zone is at number five. It is the fourth song of that name to reach the top forty. The song generally known as Just A Song At Twilight is actually called Love’s Old Sweet Song. Moreover, as it was written in 1884, it has never been a hit. Dandelion is at number nineteen. The only other song with Dandelion in the title to be a top forty hit was by the Rolling Stones in 1967 as part of a double a-side with We Love You. Intro is at number 26. Sadly, The Intro And The Outro by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band has never been a hit. Grande has now had 42 top forty hits.


    His Apple Music profile (otherwise known as promotional puff from his record company) states that Sombr’s song Caroline was a viral hit. However, it wasn’t an actual hit. Undressed, on the other hand, has now become a hit. It is a new entry at number 37. In even better news for him. Another song, Back To Friends, enters two places higher. He will reach the grand old age of 20 in July.


    For some of us, the appeal of Central Cee’s “music” is one of life’s great mysteries on a par with “Why do people run marathons?” and “How can someone not like chocolate?”. Nevertheless, he has managed to recruit a string of fellow performers to record with him. This week their number has been boosted to include Manchester rapper Nemzzz. His moniker’s last three letters are highly appropriate. Their collaboration Dilemma is at number 39. The title does not describe my thoughts about the prospect of hearing it again.


    One of the biggest victims of the dominance of American playlists of Christmas songs are surely The Darkness. Their gloriously over the top Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End) hasn’t even reached the top 100 since 2020.  They do, however, still clearly have their fans. While two of their last four albums missed out on a top ten place, their eighth studio album Dreams On Toast enters at numb two. Its sales would have been enough to give them a second number one album (after their 2003 debut Permission To Land) in some weeks this year.



    Mumford and Sons, whose name still sounds like one you would expect to see on the side of a removal van, are one of those bands whose biggest album didn’t get to number one. Sigh No More was released in October 2009. It entered the chart at number eleven and spent just one more week in the top forty. However, after singled from the album enjoyed chart success, the album returned to the top forty the following January. It hit a new peak every few months before reaching number two in February 2011. Its eventual success also meant that the following two albums both topped the chart.


    Mumford and Sons’ fourth album Delta didn’t quite match that, reaching number two behind Michael Buble. This week, after a six-and-a-half year absence, they return with Rushmere and get a third number one album.


    As mentioned above, Ariana Grande has released a deluxe edition of her Eternal Sunshine album. On a day when the sun has indeed shone all day (in Brighton at least), it enters at number three. The original release spent two weeks at number one last spring. 


    Sabrina Carpenter’s Short ‘n’ Sweet takes a break from its customary number two position to spend a week at number four.


    American singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus released albums in 2016, 2018 and 2021. Two of them failed to chart in the UK at all while the third stumbled to number 85. Just a month before her thirtieth birthday, album number four Forever Is A Feeling has given her a first big hit in the UK. It is a new entry at number five.


    Two rap releases complete this week’s new entries. Nemzzz is at number six with his mixtape Rent’s Due. Lil Durk gets his seventh top forty album in nine releases as Deep Thoughts lands at number twenty.


    Alex Warren’s You’ll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) continues to climb. After finally entering the top forty last week, it is up to number ten this week.


    Ever since physical sales of albums were almost entirely concentrated in the first week or two of release, it has become common for the number one album to drop straight out of the top forty the following week. That has happened again this week with The Lottery Winners nowhere to be seen. However, thanks to the way an album’s streams are calculated, other albums have become almost a permanent fixture in the top forty. Many of them are compilations of some sort, in particular those whose streams are spread across several different tracks rather than one or two. This means that there are now a substantial number of albums in the chart which have topped the chart at some point, including some whose time at the top was many years ago. This week’s top forty contains 24 which have spent time at the summit in their (sometimes very long) chart history.


    Finally, many thanks to popchartfreak for providing last week’s commentary while I was heading along the south coast to Bexhill.


  13. Alex Warren gets his first number one single. Steve Wilson narrowly misses out on a first number one album.


    Alex Warren climbs to the top of the singles chart to get his first UK number one. Sadly, it is with the aptly-titled Ordinary rather than the significantly better Carry You Home which is back up to number twenty this week. The Californian singer-songwriter released his first music in 2021, but didn’t enter the UK ((or US) top forty until last year.


    At the beginning of the week, it was a distinct possibility that Chappell Roan could replace herself at number one with her new single The Giver. As it is, the song - which has a certain country feel to it - lands at number two. If she had topped the chart she wouldn’t have been the first act to replace themselves at the top. However, it would have been the first time that an act’s first spell at number one had been replaced by their second chart-topper. Thanks to various Buzzjack members for help with this fact.


    Chappell Roan is also at number four with Pink Pony Club which has spent the last two weeks at number one.


    Doechii climbs to number three with her version of Anxiety. The Sleepy Hallow version (on which Doechii also appears) falls to number 34.


    A Comic Relief event led to the BBC canning this week’s chart show. That meant there was no chance to hear them play a 6 1/2 -minute rock song, or complain about them skipping it. British band Sleep Token have, to date, released three albums without spending any time in either the singles or albums chart. That changes in style this week with the arrival at number seventeen of their epic Emergence, a track from their forthcominourth album. Let’s hope it is still in the chart next week to give Radio 1 the chance to play it (even though they will probably choose not to).


    Former Little Mix member Jade (Thirlwaal) is at number 25 with her new single FUFN. The subtitle spells out what the initials stand for, but let’s pretend it is Fossilised Unicorns? Fake News! While I won’t exactly be in a hurry to hear it again, it is at least good enough to be described as OK.


    When Lil Tecca made his singles chart debut in 2019 with the top ten hit Ransom it was at a time when there was a plethora of Lils in the chart. Now they are not quite so ubiquitous, although they are still around. This particular Lil has had a few minor hits since Ransom, but he hasn’t returned to the top forty until now. Dark Thoughts, whose greatest merit is that it is only just over two minutes long, is at number 30.


    South African / German rapper (a phrase which I don’t believe has appeared here before) WizTheMC gets his first top forty hit at number 38 with Show Me Love. Bees and Honey also appear on it, apparently.


    Austrian producer Ely Oaks is another top forty debutant, landing at number 40 with Running Around.


    The latest random TikTok-inspired re-entry is Adele’s Hometown Glory. It reached number nineteen in 2007 and is now back at number 31.


    As Playboi Carti doesn’t seem to be a very pleasant person, I shall simply mention that his new album Music is at number one. Three tracks from the album enter the singles chart.


    Steven Wilson’s band The Porcupine Tree released their first album in 1992. They finally reached the top forty albums chart with their ninth release Fear Of A Blank Planet in 2007.Their last album, 2022’s Closure /  Continuation reached number two. His solo career has seen a similar trajectory. The first five albums each reached a steadily higher peak until To The Bone reached number three in 2017. The trend was broken when the next two albums went to number four. This week, the generally upward trajectory is back as The Overview goes all the way to number two. It is at number one in the vinyl chart.


    Outside the top five there are two great albums by British acts. The higher of the two is Out Of A Dream by manchester band Slow Readers Club. Their progress seemed to have gone into reverse when their top ten album The Joy Of The Return was followed by albums peaking at numbers 29 and 33. Thankfully, Out Of A Dream has done rather better. It enters at number eleven.


    The other great album comes from a rather better-known act, Florence + The Machine. Florence Welch performed at last year’s BBC Proms with an orchestra conducted by Jules Buckley. A recording of the gig has now been released under the title Symphony Of Lungs (BBC Proms at the Albert Hall) and it sounds fantastic. It is a new entry at number 38. Buckley has previously worked with artists such as Arctic Monkeys, Emeli Sande and Tori Amos.


    Ricky Warwick, who has worked with Status Quo and Black Star Riders gets his highest-placed solo album with Blood Ties at number 25. A remix version of Charli XCX’s latest album, under the sesquipedalian title Brat and it’s completely different but still Brat is at number 40.


    I shall be at a Public Service Broadcasting gig next Friday. In my absence, Popchartfreak has kindly agreed to provide an alternative commentary. Just as a link into one of this week’s albums chart new entries, Public Service Broadcasting have performed at the BBC Proms twice. 


  14. Chappell Roan remains at the top of the singles chart. Lady Gaga gets her fifth number one album.


    Having climbed to the top of the singles chart last week, Chappell Roan remains at number one with her Pink Pony Club. It therefore avoids becoming the first one-week number one since Gigi Perez’s Sailor Song four months ago.


    Alex Warren climbs one place to number two with Ordinary.


    The release of Lady Gaga’s new album helps Abracadabra climb three places to number three, matching its previous peak. She also climbs back up to number eighteen with Die With A Smile (assisted by Bruno Mars) and has a new entry at number 23 with Garden Of Eden. That becomes her 32nd top forty single. Four versions of a song called Garden Of Eden were in the charts in January 1957. That would have made for a rather repetitive Chart Show if one had existed at the time.


    Last week Sleepy Hallow had a new entry with Anxiety, featuring vocals from Doechii who released a solo version of the song in 2019. That version falls one place to number sixteen this week. However, it has triggered renewed interest in the original version which is a new entry at number four. Thankfully, it is so much better than Denial Is A River that it’s hard to believe they are by the same singer.


    Benson  Boone’s Beautiful Things falls one place to number five.


    Blackpink member Jennie’s singles chart record so far has been rather underwhelming (thankfully). This week she gets her fourth solo top forty single as the lead artist. By entering at number 36, Like Jennie has already outperformed the three previous hits. Much as I dislike the song, it seems rather odd that the Radio 1 chose not to play it on the Chart Show. Surely all new entries should be played unless there is no version suitable for a play on teatime radio.


    Australian-born Sonny Fodera gets his fourth top forty hit with Tell Me at number 39. The song is graced with vocals from Clementine Douglas who also feature on Fodera’s number seven hit Asking in 2023.


    Teddy Sims has a re-entry at number 35 after a four-week absence.


    Lady Gaga’s career has been a near constant success.Her debut single Just Dance was the first of six number one singles and all but one of her studio albums has topped the chart. She has also had two top ten albums with veteran singer Tony Bennett. With her continued success in the singles chart, one not enjoyed by many artists who first entered the chart as long as sixteen years ago, her new album Mayhem was always likely to top the chart. OK, it has to be said. A few weeks ago, the top of the singles chart was Messy; now there is Mayhem at the top of the albums chart.


    As predicted last week (not that it was hard), Sabrina Carpenter’s latest run at number one with Short ‘n’ Sweet lived up to the album’s title once again. It is back at number two for a seventeenth week in the runner-up position. Its five weeks away from the number two opposition is its longest so far. Carpenter released her debut album, Emails I Can’t Send, in 2022. It spent a week at number 76. It returned to the chart last year after she finally started to achieve significant success, eventually getting to number 41 in June. This week it finally makes it into the top forty at number 40.


    The arrival of a new single from Jennie in the top forty coincides with the release of her debut solo album. Ruby is a new entry in the albums chart at number three.


    Tate McRae is at number four with So Close To What. Sam Fender’s People Watching is at number five.


    Lady Gaga is a very long way from being the oldest act to have a new entry this week. That honour falls to folk-rock band Jethro Tull who formed in 1967 and had their first top forty album the following year. Ian Anderson is the only remaining founder member of the band. Curious Ruminant, at number 25, is their 26th top forty album. Just one of those album’s 1969’s Stand Up, went all the way to the top.


    Many bands, including Jethro Tull, have split up and then re-formed. Rather fewer bands do it as often as The Wildhearts. They were formed in Newcastle in 1989. When they split up in 2022, it was the fourth time they had done so. Now they are back yet again and have released a new album. Satanic Rites Of The Wildhearts enters at number 26 to give them a sixth top forty album.


    Hot Wax was the name of a record company formed by the legendary songwriting partnership of Holland-Dozier-Holland when they broke away from Motown. HotWax, on the other hand, are a rock band from Hastings. Their debut album, Hot Shock, is at number 38. They appear to be the first charting act from the East Sussex coastal town. The partying there should go on all night.


  15. Chappell Roan finally gets to the top of the singles chart. Sabrina Carpenter returns to the top of the albums chart.


    Chappell Roan was one of the biggest new stars of 2024 but still ended the year without a number one single to her name. Her success has continued into the early months of 2025; as of last week’s chart, she had spent a total of 29 weeks in the top ten with Good Luck Babem Hot To Go and, to complete the trio of three-word titles, Pink Pony Club. Still, however, a chart-topping single had eluded her. That finally changes this week as Pink Pony Club, originally released five years ago to general indifference bags the number one spot.


    Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us falls to number two after a fortnight at the top. Tate McRae’s Sports Car falls two places to number five.


    Sleepy Hallow, whose name sounds like a soporific version of a Harry Potter book, has the week’s highest new entry at number fifteen with Anxiety. The song was originally released independently by Doechii in 2109, but in this version she has been relegated to the role of featured artist. Thankfully, the song is a lot better than Denial Is A River.


    Benson Boone gets his fourth top forty hit with Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else at number 30. Much as I like his number one beautiful Things, I also like the more restrained vocals on this one. It also has rather more of a sense of fun. Beautiful Things is at number four this week.


    Brit School graduate Olivia Dean made her chart debut in 2021 with her version of The Christmas Song. A little over three years later, she gets a second hit with It Isn’t Perfect But It Might Be. If that refers to the song, it isn’t perfect. It comes from the soundtrack of the latest Bridget Jones film.


    Ravyn Lenae Washington this week joins the list of top forty singers who have used their two forenames as their professional name, dropping the surname. She makes her top forty debut this week with the perfectly pleasant Love Me Not. The singers of those two new entries will be supporting Sabrina Carpenter on tour.


    One purpose of the midweek chart updates is to allow any potential acts of chart rigging to be spotted early. There have been occasions in the past of songs being disqualified from the chart for breaches of the rules. It is, therefore, a little surprising to see Jimin’s Who re-enter once again at number 24. There is no obvious reason why this song has done so much better than other solo songs by members of BTS. Furthermore, it has developed a habit of getting a sudden increase in streams each time it is in danger of going on to the Accelerated Chart Ratio (ACR) whereby the value of streams is halved. Again, there is no obvious reason such as the release of a new mix to explain these conveniently-timed surges.


    There are several re-entries in the lower reaches of the chart, but also one in the top ten. Myles Smith performed his catchy hit Nice To meet You at the Brit Awards last weekend. The song had been subject to ACR, meaning it dropped out of the top forty. However, the increase in streams this week has seen it restored to the standard ratio, It is back in the chart at number eight.


    Alex Warren has a re-entry at number 37 with Burning Down. The song has now spent four weeks in the top forty (starting last autumn) but has yet to climb beyond number 34. Warren’s Ordinary is faring rather better. That climbs to number three this week.


    Just a week after slipping out of the top forty, Teddy Swims’ Lose Control is back at number 32. Tate McRae’s It’s Ok I’m OK returns at number 35. 


    The story of the top of the albums chart this week is a curious one. At the start of the week the battle was presented as a two-horse race between new albums. By the end of the week, neither of those albums made the top two. Instead, the top two comprises an album returning to the summit and a third new album.


    The album returning to the summit is Sabrina Carpenter's Short ‘n’ Sweet, helped by her exposure at last weekend’s Brit Awards. It is the fourth time the album has gone to number one. On each of the three previous occasions it lost the top spot after a week. With a new Lady Gaga album out today (Friday), we can expect the same to happen next week.


    Brighton band Architects surprisingly topped the chart in 2021 with their tenth studio album For Those That Wish To Exist. Only three of their previous albums had reached the top forty with none of them getting into the top ten. Album number eleven The Sky, The Earth And All Between lands this week at number two.


    The album topping the chart in both Monday and Wednesday’s updates (albeit by a very narrow margin) was the fourth album from The Lathums, Matter Does Not Define. Their two previous albums each topped the chart (including one that edged out Public Service Broadcasting), so they were always expected to be contenders for number one. The album is decent enough although it is not exactly vastly different from the last two. It enters at number three.


    In those early updates, Doves were at number two album number six Constellations For the Lonely. There seems to be a scientific trend in the names of this week’s high new entries. Doves’ comeback album The Universal Want (2020) went to number one. This one is at number five.


    Last week’s number one Sam Fender’s People Watching, is at number five.


    There are just two  more new entries from totally new albums and they are both debut solo albums by people previously associated with a band. Vamps had four top forty albums between 2014 and 2020, including two number ones. The band still exists, albeit rather quietly at the moment, but Bradley Simpson has found time to record a solo album. The Panic Years is at number seven.


    Blackpink member Lisa makes her solo debut in the albums chart at number twenty with Alter Ego.


    There is, however, one more new entry. Lola Young’s debut album This Wasn’t meant For You Anyway went almost unnoticed when it was released last year. It failed to reach even the top 100. However, the success of Messy, and a Brits performance, sees it make the chart at last at number sixteen.


    A week after Oasis had a re-entry in the singles chart with Whatever, they have one in the albums chart with a new edition of 2000 album Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants. It is at number eleven, ten places below its original peak.


  16. Kendrick Lamar holds on for a second week at the top of the singles chart. Sam Fender has the fastest selling album by a British solo artist for a few years.


    There was a close race at the top of the singles chart this week with last week’s number one from Kendrick Lamar facing stiff competition from Chappell Roan. The Roan song in question, Pink Pony Club, was released five years ago. However, it made no impact on the chart until last year when it reached number thirteen. This followed the success of Hot To Go and Good Luck Babe which both reached the top five.


    Pink Pony Club returned to the chart at the beginning of the year, but only really took off this month (February) when her record company started to promote it as a “new” single. It climbed to number three last week and was in second place behind Kendrick Lamar in the midweek updates but only by a very small margin.


    Sadly, Kendrick Lamar was still at the top of the pile at the end of the week, giving Not Like Us a second week at number one. Pink Pony Club climbs to number two.


    Selena Gomez gets her 21st top forty hit with Call Me When You Break Up  at number 28. Despite an impressive number of top forty hits, she has yet to make it really big. Indeed, in a fifteen-year career, only five of those songs have made the top ten. Call Me When You Break Up, in its very short running time, also manages to fit in Benny Blanco and Gracie Abrams.


    Like Selena Gomez, Tate McRae started the week with five top ten hits to her name. However, McRae has reached that total in well under five years and from ten top forty hits, including her latest I Know Love, a new entry at number 25, a song that features Kid Laroi. Curiously, two of McRae’s top ten hits have peaked at number three; the other three peaked at number eight. One of those number eight songs was Sports Car which drove into the chart in that position last week. This week, it climbs to - guess where? - number three. However, that chart oddity is spoiled for now at least by the presence of new entry Revolving Door at number ten. The phrase “”Revolving Door at number ten” is a good summary of British politics in recent years.


    Blackpink member Jennie enters at number 37 with the weirdly-titled ExtraL. She is joined by American rapper Doechii who made her top forty debut this year with the diabolical Denial Is A River. ExtraL is pretty rubbish too. It is Jennie’s third top forty single as lead artist but she has yet to get into the elite top 36. Her biggest hit to date is as a featured artist on The Weeknd’s One Of The Girls.


    Regular readers may remember that I have made a number of favourable comments about Irish band Fontaines DC. So far, those comments have all been in the albums chart section. Today, that changes as they reach the top forty singles chart for the first time with It’s Amazing To Be Young at number 39. The song does not appear on their highly successful Romance album which suggests that a deluxe version of the album is on its way. The album gets its nineteenth week in the top forty this week, re-entering at number 36.


    When Oasis announced in 199 that they were going to release a 6 ½-minute single, more than a few eyebrows were raised. While the band were very much on the way up, such a long single, complete with a string section, seemed to have the potential to be something of an indulgence. Thankfully, the song in question was the excellent Whatever, still one of their very best singles. It went to number three and spent four weeks in the top ten. Now, just past the song’s thirtieth anniversary, a highly expensive new vinyl version has been released. Sales of the song were enough to see it at the top of the chart in Sunday’s update. However, most streaming data from Saturday is missing from that chart, so a song with high actual sales will always over-perform. By the end of the week, Whatever was at number 36.


    In January Imogen Heap got her first top forty hit with a song almost twenty years old, Headlock. Now, in its seventh week in the top forty, it becomes her first top thirty hit by climbing to number 30. Aitch and Boo spent a week at number 40 a few weeks ago with Raving In The Studio. Thankfully, it dropped out the following week. This week it is back at number 22.


    One year ago Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things was at number two. This week it climbs to number five.


    There are some weeks where it is easy to predict which new release will top the chart, almost regardless of the competition. That was the case this week with the release of Sam Fender’s third album People Watching. His 2019 debut Hypersonic Missiles topped the chart and spent its first nineteen weeks in the top forty. The follow-up Seventeen Going Under (2021) also topped the chart and gave him his first top hit single with the title track which eventually got to number three.


    People Watching, then, was released with high expectations. It easily lived up to those expectations, in sales terms at least. It accumulated over 100,000 chart units, more than the combined first-week sales of Hypersonic Missiles and Seventeen Going Under. Its sales were the highest for an album by a British artist since Harry Styles released Harry's House in 2022. Its 43,000 vinyl sales are the highest for a British act this century.


    Sam Fender also gets his fifth top forty single with Little Bit Closer at number 24. The title track rebounds thirteen places to number thirteen.


    Tate McRae gets her highest position to date in the album chart as her third album So Close To What enters at number two. Her first two albums also reached the top ten.


    Pitbull’s greatest Hits album has spent a total of three years in the albums chart without ever polluting the top forty. The announcement of some London shows in the summer (why?) sees the album climb to number 28.


    In the week that Fontaines DC finally managed a first top forty single, fellow Dubliners The Murder Capital enter the albums chart at number 31 with Blindness.