Kris

I read that as well, though I'd be staggered if that was true. Even if no one bought it/ordered it after Monday surely it wouldn't drop over 130 places, that's ridiculous.

Every time there's a documentary on the making of FONY, at least one of the Pogues makes a bitter and twisted comment about how the song was beaten by two queens and a drum machine, or words to that effect. It is a classic Christmas song, so it's a shame it didn't make #1; I've just always resented the fact that they twist history and make it sound like a) Always on my mind was some novelty hit like Shaddap Your Face, and b) that Pet Shop Boys 'snatched' the number one position from them when AOMY was already there anyway. At least Kirsty liked it. :(

Just been forwarded this thread, which was a terrific read so thanks very much. I've always wanted to know what the sales were for the 1987 chart bearing in mind the constant bitterness of the Pogues towards Always on my mind (I'm a PSB fan!). Looking at the relatively small difference between the two, and the fact FONY's sales must have rocketed from the previous week (when they were #8?), I'm quite surprised FONY wasn't number one the week after the definitive Christmas chart bearing in mind there were still four days available to purchase the single before Christmas Day itself and the chart (on 27th?). Anyway, thanks again as I never thought I'd be able to find out those stats!

A reliable source has reported that PSB had sold 7,664 units of DYSM before yesterday's sales (no update today so far) so that guarantees top 40 and by the end of the week top 30 should be in the bag as well.

Wow, I had no idea the Lightning Seeds were releasing new material. Great stuff!

Interesting. Does that mean Love Etc is still there? Gutted about Yes' mighty fall but it was expected unfortunately.

They were never scheduled to be on Jonathan Ross. :huh:

Ronan has the #1 album sewn up, unfortunately. His album is selling at a constant rate of around 4,000 units a day, whereas PSB's daily sales are shrinking by around 50% each time. The forthcoming appearances on Graham Norton and The Album Chart Show should boost Yes enough to hold on to #2 but Ronan will still be comfortably clear by Sunday.

:angry: :cry: Looks like The Sun's report was correct.

Absolutely fantastic to see PSB at #1. However, the passage in the MusicWeek report about Yes being docked 2,500 iTunes sales worries me. Have those already been removed or does the current figure still include them, meaning that the album, in reality, is at #2?

It's very unlikely, unfortunately, as Love Etc is currently over 3,000 sales behind Kings Of Leon at #10 according to a reliable source. He also claims that it's massively tight in the top 20 as a whole and that LE is only 700 sales ahead of the song at #21, so even a top 20 position isn't guaranteed yet. Having said that, if the CD singles are sufficiently restocked asap then top 15 should be a certainty. To emphasise how bad that situation is, LE has only sold 2,500 physical copies so far and 2,200 of them were on Monday! If it isn't resolved, the chart position will depend entirely on digital sales so the song needs to hold up on iTunes between now and Sunday.

Thing is, although you are obviously right about the death of the physical single, PSB are one of the few exceptions to the rule because fans, mostly being of a more mature age, still very much enjoy owning a CD single and many are collectors. For a start, PSB b-sides are famous for their high quality so the fanbase will always look to buy a PSB single, even if they already have the main track on the album. And in this case, there's a b-side that isn't available to download so there was always going to be a reasonable demand for the CD single. The fact is, Love Etc has been woefully stocked and fans all around the country have been unable to buy CD1 so far. I went to three London branches of HMV on Monday and CD1 was sold out by midday! I've still yet to find it so I ended up ordering it and the guy who served me said it may not be delivered until next week. While I accept that there is far less of an incentive for HMV to stock a CD single nowadays, demand has outweighed supply quite significantly on this occasion and it's pathetic that the main CD was out of stock in large parts of the UK so quickly. And it's particularly frustrating because the song, if it was well stocked, would have an outside chance of charting inside the top 10. Now, it may miss the top 20, which would be a great shame. At least it appears to be holding its own in the iTunes chart at the moment.

I think Pet Shop Boys will struggle to make the top 10 unfortunately. A lot of fans, myself included, couldn't get hold of CD1 because HMV appeared to order a pitiful number of copies and they sold out quickly. The question is whether they can make enough of an impression on iTunes.

Any news on PSB and Erasure in the album chart? Thanks.

Thanks spiidey.