Suedehead2

The word ass is in the Bible. We'll be seeing the word bathroom censored next, just because Americans can't bring themselves to say toil;et.

Only just seen this episode. All three pairs were great.

To all the people expecting a retro track from Suedeonia, my apologies for entering a song from 2024

Chelsea 2-0 Fulham Manchester United 2-0 Burnley Sunderland 1-1 Brentford Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 AFC Bournemouth Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Everton Leeds United 1-3 Newcastle United Brighton & Hove Albion 2-2 Manchester City Nottingham Forest 2-0 West Ham United Liverpool 2-2 Arsenal Aston Villa 2-1 Crystal Palace

It's always a bit of a risk chart-wise to go ahead with a digital-only release, as I said in this week's commentary. A top ten position suggests that his record company were right to go ahead without waiting for physical copies. We'll see what happens when the CDs and vinyls are released. No doubt the record company are hoping that his profile will be even higher by then.

Not sure. I assume it's Tik Tok.

This week's ramblings can be found from the Blogs page or the Forum index.

The dictionary definition of hell might well be attending a singalong screening of the KPop Demon Hunters film. Nonetheless, many people seem to have decided to put themselves through that particular form of torture. People who chose to stay at home and watch it on Netflix have contributed to making it the most-watched film of all time on the streaming platform. Meanwhile, the animated film continues its grip on the upper reaches of the singles chart. Golden by HUNTR/X, EJAE, AUDREY NUNA, REI AMI & KPop Demon Hunters Cast remains at number one for a fourth week. Saja Boys, Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee & KPop Demon Hunters Cast are at number four with Soda Pop and also at number six with Your Idol. Olivia Dean climbs to number two with Man I Need. The top five is completed by No Broke Boys by Disco Lines and Tinashe at number three and Chappell Roan’s The Subway at number five. Doja Cat gets her second top forty hit of the year with Jealous Type at number thirteen. As with many of her hits, it by no means terrible, but it also isn’t particularly good. Two Jealous songs have topped the chart. Alvin Stardust spent a week at number one in 1974 with Jealous Mind and Roxy Music’s version of John Lennon’s Jealous Guy was number one for a week in 1981. Olivia Dean’s Dive entered the top 100 and has remained there for most of the time since then, dropping out a coup[le times because of the rule restricting the number of songs one artist can have in the chart at the same time. Now it is back as one of her three most popular songs and enters the top forty for the first time at number 31. Lady Lady has dropped out to make way for it. The overall result is positive as Dive is a much better song than Lady Lady. Rockabilly revivalists Stray Cats had a number of top forty hits in the 1980s. Last year some stray young goats followed them into the top forty with Chk Chk Boom,a song that entered and left the chart while I was on holiday without me noticing. Now South Korean boyband Stray Kids (yes, another one) are back with Ceremony at number 37. To put it mildly, it is dreadful. I’m now listening to the New Order song of the same name to recover. This week’s random new entry is a track from Rihanna’s 2007 album Good Girl Gone Bad. Breakin’ dishes enters at number 40 to give Ms Fenty her first top forty hit since 2022. She hasn’t released an album since Anti in 2016. Before that, she had released seven albums in as many years up to 2012. Breakin’ Dishes is Rihanna’s 51st top forty single. There is also a random re-entry in the form of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida at number twenty. It has been in the chart for most of the year but has now been given a boost after the Official Charts Company allowed it to revert to the Standard Chart Ratio, meaning that its streams now have the same value as those of newer songs. The song topped the chart in 2008. Oh, and there’s another one. Their first big hit Yellow (number four in 2000) has received the same treatment, so it is back at number nineteen. Last weekend Chappell Roan was one of the headline acts at the Reading and Leeds festival. There was a time when the audience, largely rock fans, would have recoiled in horror at this. However, her performance was very well-received and Hot To Go returns to the chart at number 28. The Hope & Anchor pub in Islington became well-known in the 1970s as one of the venues to host early gigs by a number of punk bands including The Stranglers. It also featured in the video for Madness’s One Step Beyond single. A chance meeting with another band at an open mic night in the pub in 2010 led to Wolf Alice getting their first gig as a support act to April In The Shade. That band went nowhere, but Wolf Alice have done rather better. Their first two albums reached number two before the third, Blue Weekend, went to number one in 2021. They now have a second chart-topping album with their fourth release The Clearing. American alternative metal band released their first album in 1995 and have continued to put out a new set every few years since then. For a long time their biggest success was with their eponymous 2003 release which peaked at number seven. However, a combination of a loyal fan base and low albums sales saw them beat that with their two most recent releases, both of which made it to number five. They now get a new high with Private Music at number two. Some people are forever saddled with being known more for who they are not than for who they are. Laufey will always be known to many people as the Icelandic female singer-songwriter who isn’t Bjork. Her full name is Laufey Lin Bing Jonsdottir which also makes her the Bing who isn’t Crosby. This week she gets her first top ten album with A Matter Of Time at number three. The dictionary definition of optimism might well be booking tickets for the final dates of this year’s Oasis reunion tour. Nonetheless, the Gallaghert brothers have - so far at least - avoided a massive falling-out and the tour has now moved on to the USA. Their Time Flies collection remains in the top five, at number four. A highly expensive boxed set of all their studio albums is at number 39. Alex warren’sYou’ll Be Alright Kid is at number five. Irish folk band Kingfishr (sic) are at number seven with Halcyon. Pendulum are at number eight with Inertia, their first new album for seven years. Artists, and their record labels, now find themselves with a decision to make once an album has been recorded, mixed, edited etc. If they are enjoying singles chart success, perhaps for the first time, there is a temptation to get the album out top the public as soon as possible. However, that is likely to mean releasing it for download and streaming only with physical copies coming along later, thereby potentially consigning it to a lower chart position. Sombr currently has three songs in the top forty, so it is understandable that his record label decided to release his album I Barely Know Her without waiting for physical copies. The best of the songs are very good although there are a couple that I would describe as filler. For now, it is at number ten. It remains to be seen whether it climbs higher when physical copies are available. Royel Otis make their chart debut with their second album Hickey at number fourteen. Stray Kids (see above) are at number 22 with Karma (not Chameleon or Police). Rudimental return to the chart after a four-year absence with Rudim3ntal at number 31. Ten years ago Tyler The Creator reached number sixteen with Cherry Bomb. A new edition of the album has done half as well. It is at number 32. Over their long career, The Who have played several gigs at various cricket grounds around the country. A recording of their gig at Surrey’s ground The Oval in 1971 is at number 40 (I think).

It's be Farage. He's on everything else.

The much anticipated film of Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club is now available on Netflix. It has received fairly lukewarm reviews so far. I enjoyed the book, but it was never going to win any awards. The same applies to the film. It's good fun, but it won't win any Oscars. For me, Celia Imrie as Joyce is the best casting. She is truly wonderful.

There is a Suedeonia comeback

If we have to use all of the numbers, 0*0*8*1*3*8*2*5*5 + 7 + 2

Robert Jenrick might disagree.

I'm sure I wrote about their number one album, and then immediately forgot about it

Patrick Wolf's The Magic Position peaked at number 69

Another five journalists murdered by Israel today. Hostility towards Israel is increasing, including many people starting to question their right to exist as a state. This is all terribly depressing and worrying.

There were other, equally hateful, comments on her phone. She sems to have had so many "heats of the moment" it's surprising she hasn't spontaneously combusted.

She pleaded guilty. There were other equally hateful, racist posts on her phone that were not reported. Why are you supporting someone who called for people to be burned alive?

Much as I despise the Tories, I never thought I would see the day when their leader supported someone who openly called for people to be burned alive. I clearly underestimated the depths to which they would sink.

This week's ramblings can be found in the Blogs section or from the Forums front page.

Golden, the single whose credited artists take nearly as long to say as the length of the song itself, spends a third week at number one. HUNTR/X, EJAE, AUDREY NUNA, REI AMI & KPop Demon Hunters Cast, Old Uncle Tom Cobley and All had a healthy lead in Wednesday’s update so we may have to endure this for a while yet. The best single with the word Golden in the title is Suede’s Life Is Golden whose video was filmed in the Ukrainian town of Pripyat which has been abandoned since the Chernobyl disaster. Disco Lines and Tinashe continue their steady progress up the chart. No Broke Boys climbs one place to number two. Chappell Roan’s Subway is at number four. Time for another deep breath. Soda Pop by Saja Boys, Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee & KPop Demon Hunters Cast, Dave Dee, Dozy Beaky, Mick and Tich is at number three. The same artists are at number six with Saja Boys. MK and Chrystal slip one place to number five with Dior. At the start of this year Olivia Dean had one hit single to her name - a random version of The Christmas Song that charted in 2021 and hasn’t been seen again since. She had a couple weeks in the top forty with a new song at the start of this year, but in the last few months her chart career has really taken off. She reached the top[ ten for the first time, alongside Sam Fender, in June before getting her first solo top ten single shortly afterwards. Olivia Dean now has four singles in the chart. As only the lead artist is counted, her duet with Sam Fender doesn’t count towards her limit of three songs in the chart. She has two new entries this week. Man I Need is at number eight, immediately becoming her highest charting solo single, while Lady Lady is at number 38. The gap in chart positions is a fair reflection of the quality of the two songs. Gunna has a new entry at number 34 with WGFT, an entity that features additional contributions from Burnah Boy. Frankly, I wish they hadn’t bothered. At a guess, WGFT either stands for Wednesday Goes ‘Fore Thursday or We Give Free Tea. Twice, appropriately enough, have two songs in the chart, adding to the KPop Demon Hunters tally.. Takedown is joined by Strategy at number 35. Incidentally, the ‘w’ in the word two used to be pronounced. Its retention in the spelling preserves the link with words such as twelve, twenty, between and, of course, twice. As a further aside, I have no idea why there is no ‘u’ in forty. I'd love it to be because it means the letters are all in alphabetical order, but it probably isn’t. Anyway, back to the actual top forties. The introduction of the Accelerated Chart Ratio (ACR), whereby the value of streams is cut by half for a song that has been in the chart for at least ten weeks and has seen reduced streams for the last three weeks, has made it more difficult for a song to spend prolonged periods in the top ten. Benson Boone’s feat of getting two lengthy runs in the upper tier is, therefore, particularly notable. It first reached the top ten in February of last year (cue Killers song going through head) and stayed there for seventeen successive weeks before going on to ACR. Beautiful Things returned to the top ten in February this year (having increased its streams by enough to get it back on the standard ratio) and remained there for another 16-week run. It has remained close to (or back in) the top ten ever since. That is, until this week. Another three weeks of declining streams means that it is back on ACR and it slumps to number 32. It has now spent a total of 34 weeks in the top ten and 54 weeks (just over a year) in the top twenty. That total of 54 weeks is more than any non-Christmas single in UK chart history. The longest consecutive run in the top twenty is still held by Mr ‘Acker’ Bilk’s Stranger On The Shore which had a 37-week run beginning in December 1961. Now it is time for the latest episode in the occasional series UK Town With Little Or No Musical History. Wikipedia’s list of musicians to have come from Bedford includes people such as members of Squeeza and Keane, but Tom Grennan is really the only one to be anywhere near a household name. Even he is hardly rated alongside the likes of Taylor Swift or Ed Sheeran in the fame stakes. Still; Grennan has achieved something that neither Sheeran nor Swift has managed this week - he has the number one album in the UK. Time for yet another deep breath. Everywhere I Went Led Me To Where I Didn’t Want To Be is Grennan’s third number one album following Evering Road (2021) and What Ifs & Maybes (2023). His 2018 debut Lighting Matches reached number five. Each of American singer-songwriter Conan Gray’s albums has peaked higher than its predecessor in the UK. That continues this week as Wishbone lands at number two. Anyone with a vinyl copy who doesn’t live the sleeve art cou;ld always burn it, thereby creating some Wishbone ash. Oasis still have two albums in the top five. Their Time Flies compilation is at number three, one place ahead of (What’s The Story) Morning Glory. Outside the top five, Definitely Maybe is at number nine. Nottingham band As December Falls have fallen into the habit of releasing albums in the summer. The last of those albums, Join The Club, gave them their first taste of chart success when it reached number eleven two years ago. This week the follow-up, Everything’s On Fire But I’m Fine is at number eight. Alison Goldfrapp’s second solo album, Flux, is at number thirteen. US country singer Jordan Davis has a top forty album at the third attempt with Learn The Hard Way at number 25. OneRepublic may have had six top ten singles, but their popularity has declined somewhat since then. A compilation under the boring title The Collection is at number 29. A brief episode in the occasional series Albums By Acts From Brighton now. Black Honey are at number 31 with Soak. Now it’s time for a bumper episode in the regular series This Week’s Anniversary releases. The first of two this week is a sign that things are getting silly. For reasons best known to her record company, we get a first anniversary edition of Billie Eilish’s Hit me Hard And Soft. The original release topped the chart last year and has remained in the top thirty since then. The anniversary edition sees it back in the top ten at number ten. Former One Directioner Niall Horan gets a fifth anniversary edition of his chart-topping Heartbreak Weather. The album re-enters at number 23 having last been in the top forty just a couple weeks after it was released. While Bedford's list of successful musicians is rather short, Sheffield’s list is substantially greater. Many of the acts on the list, such as Pulp, Arctic Monkeys and Reverend And The Makers played some of their early gigs at The Leadmill in their home city. Sadly, a dispute with the landlord led to the venue closing at the end of June. As a southerner, I never got to visit one of the country’s best-known smaller venues, but its loss will be heavily felt by Sheffield’s musicians and music fans. Arctic Monkeys' excellent 2013 release AM is one of the albums that now has a permanent place in the top forty. Its current run started in July 2022 and it has now accumulated 306 weeks in the top forty. Finally, many thanks to John (Popchartfreak) for his commentaries while I have been on holiday, enjoying the French sun, food and wine and getting through plenty of books. Thanks to the ereader, my days of suffering from abibliophobia are now consigned to history.

Friday 22nd August West Ham United 0-2 Chelsea (20:00) Saturday 23rd August Manchester City 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur (12:30) AFC Bournemouth 3-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers Brentford 0-2 Aston Villa Burnley 0-2 Sunderland Arsenal 2-0 Leeds United (17:30) Sunday 24th August Crystal Palace 0-2 Nottingham Forest (14:00) Everton 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion (14:00) Fulham 1-3 Manchester United (16:30) Monday 25th August Newcastle United 1-2 Liverpool (20:00)

Best Adam And The Ants - Antmusic Blondie - The Tide Is High Jona Lewie - Stop The Cavalry Spandau Ballet - To Cut A Long Story Short Queen feat Brian Blessed - Flash Worst St Winifred's School Choir - There's No-One Quite Like Grandma The Nolans - Who's Gonna Rock You Racey - Runaround Sue

Sorry I missed today’s session. I didn’t get to my hotel in Calais until 17:15 UK time, and went out to eat within the hour. Back in the UK for next week’s session.

The Banjul gig was very different from the others. It highlighted how much he adapted his act to suit a European audience. One thing I didn’t find out until I got to the Banjul gig was that the Gambian president was there! That explained why so many of the women were so beautifully dressed. I too have planned trips abroad around gigs. That has included seeing Hard-Fi, Arctic Monkeys, Subways, Futureheads, Editors and Antony and the Johnsons (as they were then) over two days in Paris, Vampire Weekend in Berlin and Paris within a few days, and The Killers at The Bataclan (now, sadly, known for a terrible terrorist attack) at a time when they were playing at much larger venues in the UK.