Week Ending December 13th 2008
I'm consistently entertained by the ever growing gap between the two methods of music consumption - the old-school world of freshly minted CDs and eager shop-bound purchases, and the bold new age of digital purchasers, where music is brought to the consumer by means of a single click. The different issues this throws up are nicely highlighted this week by the two stories that developed at the summit of the singles and albums charts.
The story of the album chart was the simultaneous release of two almost identically titled albums and no small measure of concern about whether there was going to be enough product available to satisfy demand. Having enough people to buy your music is one thing, actually getting the stuff into the shops is another thing altogether, and the collapse into administration a week ago of the Woolworths Group and in particular its distribution arm EUK left several labels scrambling for alternatives. EUK's share of the market was quite considerable, with many of the majors trusting the logistics of getting discs into stores to the company. With its future on a less than sound financial footing, handing over thousands of freshly minted CDs was seen as more of a risk than many were willing to take and so at the very last minute some important plans were changed. This left more than few retailers sweating on the prospect of consumers seeking copies of both 'The Circus' by Take That and 'Circus' by Britney Spears and the nightmare scenario that they would run short of stock within a few days - just as the Christmas shopping rush got into full swing.
In the end it appears that any problems of supply were limited, but far from being the two horse race many predicted, it is Take That who end up the runaway winners. They crash into the Number One position and leaving Ms Spears languishing at Number 4. Indeed such was the lack of supply problems that 'The Circus' clocked up a phenomenal first week sale of over 432,000 copies, enough to rank as the third highest one week sale of all time in this country. Only 'X&Y' and 'Be Here Now' can boast a seven day sale higher than this - that is the league in which Take That are now operating. The chances of the man band having the biggest selling album of the holiday period look extremely likely.
This will inevitably sweeten the pill of seeing their single 'Greatest Day' deposed from its own Number One position after a solitary week, replaced instead by the lady who is fast becoming their own chart nemesis. In one of those strange coincidences that synchronised release schedules sometimes manage to throw up, they are replaced at Number One by the same act that deposed 'Patience' from top in 2006 and who prevented 'Rule The World' from topping the chart in 2007 - Leona Lewis.
She does so with a track that is firmly in the new world of digital sales, for not only is 'Run' technically nothing more than an album track subject to enormous public demand, but in seven days it has notched up a staggering 133,000 downloaded copies - officially the greatest ever single week sale for an exclusively digital track. Much as we criticised the decision of her label to delay the digital availability of the brand new tracks from the deluxe re-release of her debut album 'Spirit', it now looks to be a masterstroke of marketing. Following her show-stopping debut of the recording on the X Factor show a few weeks ago and near saturation airplay ever since, her mesmerising cover of the Snow Patrol hit has been the most anticipated single release I can remember for some considerable time. A Number One (her third, for anyone counting) was all but guaranteed but I don't think anyone could have predicted just what a success it has turned out to be.
For all that, opinion on the single itself is actually rather divided. It is a theme that will actually become even more relevant as we march towards the Christmas chart, but your view on the record is almost certainly coloured by your regard for the original version (which slips to Number 42 this week following its own spontaneous resurrection a fortnight ago). If you thought Snow Patrol were definitive, then the lavish production of the Leona Lewis version and her trademark vocal trilling will seem rather irritating and will only serve to suck the life out of the simple beauty of the song. On the other hand if you are like me and had little regard for the original, then you will be absolutely knocked sideways by this new version. Leona's 'Run' is that rare beast, a pop record with the power to knock you sideways with its intensity and all but compel you to pay close attention to the crystal clear beauty of her voice and the way it drags the track to a whole new level.
Its success, and commanding lead over the rest of the market, means that 'Run' is in pole position to head the "Christmas Number One without X Factor" market, and indeed Paddy Power at the time of writing has the track installed as the 10-11 odds-on favourite. Listeners to the podcast three weeks ago who took me up on my advice to back her then when she was as far out as 8-1 should be well on their way to a nice early Christmas bonus.
Now she may have missed out in the albums race, but the week long Britney Spears bandwagon that has rolled into town has at least helped her where singles are concerned. Lead track 'Womanizer' which had fallen as far back as Number 9 a fortnight ago rebounds in spectacular fashion to land a brand new peak of Number 3. Perhaps more intriguingly though is the unexpected Top 40 debut at Number 32 of the albums title track 'Circus'. Already being promoted to radio Stateside, and with the release of its video brought forward this week following an internet leak, the track is technically slated to be her next single proper on these shores too - but not until well into the new year. This may of course be just a one-off bounce thanks to cherrypicking of the best tracks from the album (of which 'Circus' is most definitely one) but it does mean that the eventual impact of the new single is going to be lessened when it finally does make its way onto release schedules.
The two Britney singles are actually just a small part of an extraordinary characteristic of this weeks Top 10. No less than eight of the ten acts at the top of the table can boast two (and in one case three) simultaneous Top 40 singles at the present time. Just count them:
- Leona Lewis - 'Run' (No.1) and 'Forgive Me' (No.24)
- Take That - 'Greatest Day' (No.2) and 'Rule The World' (No.40)
- Britney Spears - 'Womanizer' (No.3) and 'Circus' (No.32)
- Katy Perry - 'Hot N Cold' (No.4) and 'I Kissed A Girl' (No.38)
- Beyonce - 'If I Were A Boy' (No.6) and 'Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)' (No.37)
- Rihanna - 'Live Your Life' (No.7 with TI), 'Rehab' (No.20) and 'Disturbia' (No.35)
- Akon - 'Right Now (Na Na Na) (No.8) and 'Dangerous' (No.26 with Kardinal Offishall)
- Kings Of Leon - 'Use Somebody' (No.10) and 'Sex On Fire' (No.14)
What if Oasis released a new single and nobody really cared? Such is the fate that has befallen 'I'm Outta Time' which makes its chart debut at Number 12 as the second chart single from the 'Dig Out Your Soul' album. Their problem is that with this album they have fallen victim to what I term "Depeche Mode syndrome" where a long established act slips into a seemingly endless pattern of releasing albums that are no better and no worse than any of their others, but which as a consequence make little or no cultural impact and sell only to an ever constant hard core of collectors and fans. When I voiced this theory to a well known industry mogul once he responded with "who are we to make value judgements ?" Well sorry, but I am. I want to hear great acts making music that still matters, that adds to their opus and which dare I say it, has a point to it and proves they still have something to contribute. By charting at Number 12 and almost inevitably progressing no further, 'I'm Outta Time' is destined to become only the third official Oasis single ever to miss the Top 10, and the first to fall short since 'Shakermaker' hit Number 11 way back in the summer of 1994.
Seeing as we are two weeks away from the Christmas chart, we must naturally pay due attention to the arrival of an important annual tradition. I refer of course to the one achingly credible club hit which always seems to grab itself a place in the Christmas charts and which serves as an oddly comforting reminder that it isn't all about sentimental slush and irritating novelty hits which have no business muscling in on the most hectic sales period of the year. Leading the charge to become this years 'Heartbroken' or 'Boogie 2Nite' is 'Cash In My Pocket' from Wiley which lands at Number 18. Technically it is actually just the follow- up to his breakthrough smash hit 'Wearing My Rolex' from earlier in the summer, but in a chart that is largely devoid for the moment of any strong influences from clubland (I'm still of a generation which is having trouble adjusting to the notion of Guru Josh being cool), it is worth welcoming the single as a neat injection of credibility. I suspect however that it will be heading south before the parties really kick in which is a bit of a shame. Also featuring on the single is Daniel Merriweather, the Australian singer who first came to attention as the vocalist on Mark Ronson's 'Stop Me' in 2007. Reports are that he has a solo album of his own set for release in 2009, so chalk him up as a name to watch out for.
OK then I'll stop teasing. What is now certain to become the annual invasion of the Christmas classics is well underway with 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' now charting at Number 17, 'Fairytale Of New York' arriving at Number 19 and 'Last Christmas' at Number 36. As an entertaining diversion, bookmakers such as Paddy Power are also publishing odds on what will be the highest charting seasonal classic come Christmas week itself. Based on last years performance (and it seems chart trends thus far) it is the Mariah Carey track which is the clear favourite with The Pogues not far behind. If we are short of amusement in a fortnights time, I may take time out to note whether the Christmas hits all line up in the same sales order as last year. How strange would that be?
Gratuitous plugs to end with this week, remember the annual Record Of The Year TV shows from a few years back? Well the organisers still run the popular vote online even in the absence of a televised special. At the moment the race is too close to call, although thankfully the early lead of 'Rockstar' is well on its way to being whittled away to nothing.
Also of interest to chart fans is a two part BBC Radio 2 documentary on our favourite musical medium "Straight In At Number One" which is being broadcast on Saturday nights at the moment. Part One went out last weekend, with Part Two following at 7pm. Yes, it cleverly clashes with the X Factor final but it is worth checking out via your preferred catch up service. You may recognise at least one of the "experts" featured within.
Oh yes, and if we are permitted a small flashback to the events of four weeks ago it was fun to read some disparaging comments in relation to my reaction to Will Young's track 'Grace' bombing out at Number 35. "James Masterton need shed no tears for Will Young's new single Grace reaching 35 in the charts, it's not released until Dec.1st. Do try to keep up James!" was one of my favourite ones. This week the single was indeed released "properly" and bounces back from the depths to a new peak of, er Number 33. Still far and away his worst chart performance ever and one that more or less kills any further promotion for the album stone dead. See, I'm not always just pretending to know what I'm talking about. Do try to keep up.
Ahh, thanks grumpyoldgit, I forgot that 'I Believe''s 18 weeks at the top in three separate stints would almost certainly give Frankie Laine the record for 'hit furthest into its chart run while still at No.1'... Also for clearing up the 'Bohemian Rhapsody' confusion I was suffering seeing as its reissue spent 'just' its first five weeks at the top so not an obvious contender - but haplessboyrussell, I see what you were getting at now, you were adding that to its original 17-week run to create a Celine-beating total of 22 weeks! But yes, we have to disqualify that on the technicality that it was a (double-sided) reissue.
What a sweet tale of those far-off days of '94-'95, poster 58 :) It's true that 'Think Twice' is a relatively rare example of a big diva ballad that isn't all about the vocal gymnastics... And I'd agree that it's a shame about 'No More 'I Love Yous'' being held off No.1!
www.chartstats.com
I can't think of another song likely to better this feat off the top of my head but I'll sleep on it.
Well done Leona for making my hair bristle and bringing a tear to my eye with her version of "Run". Quality and a worthy number 1!
To grumpyoldgit, I think gooner's figure actually refers to the Top 75 rather than 40, so it all depends on which size of chart we're using... Followed your previous link to everyhit.com - wow, that's a dangerous site for us chart nerds to ge lost in for hours, how have I not stumbled across it before?? I'm curious to see they give Top 40 records even in the modern era - I would always think in terms of Top 75 as that's what's used by British Hit Singles for its chart stats; at least, they use the whole published chart from each era, so Top 75 for hits from the last 30 years, Top 50 for the previous period, Top 30 before that and so on. This does tend to blur some achievements, e.g it's not readily apparent from the bald stats that Frank Sinatra's record 124-week tally for 'My Way' is not only still miles ahead even of 'Chasing Cars' et al, it was almost all achieved in an era when there were only 50 places to chart at. I guess 'Top 40 records' are fairer in that respect since they apply equally to hits from both Top 75 and Top 50 days, though I reckon I'll carry on thinking in terms of the larger chart...
By the way, has anyone got the new version of British Hit Singles now it's moved from Guinness to Virgin; I think it was out last month, and has unfortunately dropped the albums again...? Any verdicts?
Incidentally, what a shame Oasis missed the Top 10 again at long long last, after over 14 years - to think, in 1994 when 'Shakermaker' reached No.11 and then 'Live Forever' made No.10 to start the run off, that was back before Celine Dion had charted with 'Think Twice'! I'd enjoyed for years how their record was ongoing, barely ever missing the Top 2 even, and which had stretched over almost half my life.
Hey, while we're on the subject, is that a record for the longest (in time) consistent run of Top 10 hits?? I know it's hard to quantify 'consistent', but I mean as opposed to Take That, say, who technically managed a span from 1992-2007 without missing the Top 10 (including consecutive No.1s over 12 1/2 years) but obviously broke up and took a decade off in the middle of that. Or Perez Prado, as mentioned above, who had a run of 2 + 1 Top 10 hits split not only by 37 years but also his death, which is naturally much longer in fact but not in spirit as far as this particular record goes... I can't think of any obvious candidates for a lengthier unbroken run: even the likes of Madonna's record for longest run of consecutive hits (by number) were achieved in shorter time periods. I'll throw this one out there and see if there's any takers!
There are about 8,000 music outlets in the UK that sell some sort of music. However, only about half of these really matter.
In round numbers:-
HMV: 250 stores
Zavvi: 100
specialist independent music stores: 400 and declining fast)
Then:-
Woolworths: 800 (for the next 2 weeks or so)
WH Smiths: 500 (but a continuously decreasing range of items available)
Borders: 50
Supermarkets:-
Tesco: 750
Sainsburys: 550
Morrisons: 350
Asda: 350
So, in terms of stores that continuously stock a reasonable selection of current CDs, there are about 4,100.
The other 4,000 or so, are smaller supermarkets, petrol stations & motorway services, corner shops, Marks & Spencer etc - none of which make the slightest difference to the Charts.
For the singles Chart, the physical retailers are now almost irrelevant, as well over 90% of sales this year are digital.
Different for albums, where digital hasn't yet reached 10%. Here, HMV is the most important, followed by Tesco, Woolworths, Zavvi, Asda and Amazon. These 6 stores account for almost 70% of album sales.
The imminent loss of Woolworths will be a big blow to those of us who like the physical format, and want the high street to be both competitive and stocking a wide selection.
I know it seems i would only defend Coldplay because i'm a massive fan, but i've just heard this "If I Could Fly" song and to me the only bit that sounds even remotely similar to "Viva La Vida" is the melody used during lines such as "I used to Roll The Dice" which last about 2-3 seconds...(that melody is only used in the chorus of "If I Could Fly" but the rest of the song sounds nothing like "Viva La Vida" Sure that 2-3 second melody might sound similar, but alot of songs sound similar to one another. For example, to me, Keane sounds quite similar to the sort of music Coldplay would do, (Not that thats a bad thing i love Keane :)) and i feel the same way about Busted and Mcfly, and its the same with Hip-Hop music, alot of the beats for individual songs sound similar to one another. I don't really believe in that criticism "Oh no, that band/artist sucks. All of their songs sound the same" saying they sound the SAME is a bit silly to me. Cause when you think about alot of songs sound similar to one another, but again not a criticism, i don't have any issues with songs sounding similar to one another. I have a very varied taste in music (to anyone who assumed my music taste was limited to just Coldplay lol) and even if i feel all songs by an artist/band sound SIMILAR (NOT the SAME) i'll still like them. So when i first heard "Somewhere Only We Know" for the first time i didn't immediately think "This sucks. They are just a Coldplay rip-off band" but thought "Ah this is quite good. It sounds similar to the sortof thing Coldplay does, so if i love Coldplay i'm bound to like this band! :)Not as much as Coldplay though lol
Wait maybe i'm going off the point abit...my point is alot of songs sound similar to one another, but i don't mind at all, they can still be awsome songs, and it doesn't mean that someone is ripping off someone else's work. So maybe "Viva La Vida" does sound ABIT similar to "If I Could Fly" but that doesn't mean Coldplay stole it or anything. Coldplay wouldn't stoop that low :) So in my opinion its not worth taking to court unless this Satriani guy has plenty of evidence to back him up...
Thats just my opinion. I'm happy to hear everyone else's opinions if they are interested in this story and i would enjoy debating it with them :)
Take Care Guys :)
Bohemian Rhapsody - yep, on rethink, I absolutely agree - two chart runs. Frankie Laine's "I Believe" is probably the winner, but I think it falls into that grey period in the 50s where people disagree on what chart counts.
I also remember watching the chart run of "Think Twice" closely. I think I'm right in saying it spent a single week around #29, then fell out of the Top 40 for a couple of months before returning for its slow ascent to the top. Think there might have been a re-issue at some point. I also really liked "(Pour Que) Tu M'Aimes Encore", although as a 14-yr old teenage boy, it wasn't something I chose to share with friends at the time!
Post 59 - as per previous posts, the record of "Amazed" has certainly not been beaten since. Along the same lines, "Superhuman" by Chris Brown recently spent six continuous weeks in the Top 40 without reaching the Top 30... I'm sure that's been done before, but anyone know when?? I had a brief scan over the last few years, and didn't spot anything...
I heard a track off the new Take That album, and part of the tune, is a complete rip off of 50 ways to leave your lover, by Paul Simon.
I wonder if he'll be out to get them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Singles_Chart_records
"I also remember watching the chart run of "Think Twice" closely. I think I'm right in saying it spent a single week around #29, then fell out of the Top 40 for a couple of months before returning for its slow ascent to the top".
haplessboyrussell you are being lazy and should know by now that you only have to visit www.chartstats.com to find answers to most chart related questions. Sorry for sounding grumpy but one does have a reputation to live up to after all!
The slowest climb to #1 was at the beginning of 1985 when Dead or Alive climb to the top spot with YOU SPIN ME AROUND(LIKE A RECORD).
P.S.: ALSO GREAT STATISTICS HERE ON THE BRITISH CHART MADE BY JAMES.
Let's clear this up then. It depends on what you define the chart to be - i.e. top 40, 75 or 100. I previously said that Celine Dion holds the record for the slowest climb to the top inside the top 40 and she does - all of 13 weeks. However, she spent 3 more weeks (16 total)inside the top 100 before getting to No.1.
Dead or Alive on the other hand spent 17 weeks inside the top 100 before "You Spin me around" hit the top, but only 5 weeks inside the top 40.
Jennifer Rush also took 17-weeks to climb to the top within the top 100, but only 4 of these weeks were spent inside the top 40.
So you see it all depends on where you place the goal posts as what you define the chart to be.
Post 65 by vanderelt poses an interesting question regarding Oasis and their 14 year record of top 10 hits. I can say that really no other group comes close to matching this achievement as an unbroken run over such a time period. Even the Rolling Stones fall short but perhaps the nearest challengers are Status Quo.
Oasis failed to chart in 4 of their years (1999,2001,2004 & 2006) whilst the Stones managed to chart in all but 2 of them (1970 & 1977).
On the other hand Oasis secured 22 top 10 hits during their time span to the Stones's 19.
Jeeez - you can tell I haven't much going on tonight can't you???
I definetly agree with Johnny about Kings of Leon...overated rubbish. I'd never even heard of them until i heard "Sex On Fire" and didn't realise they are quite an old band...no matter how many times I hear "Sex On Fire," or "Use Somebody" (which is quite alot annoyingly) whether its on the Radio, playing in a retail shop, in a restraunt etc i can never remember how the song goes...very forgettable songs in my opinion (lyrically)...I just find their music boring and non-catchy...although i must disagree with you i think Oasis is much better than Kings Of Leon...at least i remember how their songs go...heres hoping Kings of Leons next single flops...
I hope Ne-Yo can get another Top 10 hit with "Mad"! already showing strong downloads on itunes (Top 30). Anyone know when/if it gets a physical release?
I also woundn't mind seeing Ne-Yo score a 3rd Top 10 hit from his "Year of The Gentleman" album :) I haven't seen the music video on the music channels yet, so maybe its benifitting mostly from Radio airplay... :)