Chart Watch Weekly(?) - April 17th 2023
This time I've got a good excuse - I was on holiday last week. But wow, check out the stories to tell this time around.
After a few weeks of stagnation pop music has suddenly started to get really interesting. And the person who is No.1 on both singles and albums chart has pulled off a pretty unique trick. As I shall explain below.
Also wearing bin liner trousers in a record shop this week:
Lewis Capaldi, being inorganic as usual.
America, who appear to have gone Mariachi crazy.
Spain, who give us something interesting to listen to.
Love Her Like We Do
I can't recall precisely when it was elevated to be "a thing", but Official Charts like to market the Chart Double as the pinnacle of artistic achievement, so who are we to argue with them.
For the second time this year, a female artist pulls off the trick of topping both singles and albums charts simultaneously, Ellie Goulding following in the footsteps of Miley Cyrus just a few short weeks ago.
Yes, you are correct. That was completely unexpected. For while Ellie's fifth album Higher Than Heaven always stood a good chance of following three of the previous four to the top, none of its singles prior to release had exactly set the charts alight. None of the three tracks released prior to the album - Easy Lover, Let It Die and Like A Saviour - had come within a sniff of a singles ranking. And they were certainly never going to be anywhere near the No.1 position when the parent album came out.
Yet a double winner she is, thanks to Ellie's presence on the Calvin Harris single Miracle which this week spends its second week comfortably atop the Official UK Singles chart.
It means that Ellie Goulding does something that in modern-day terms is quite unique - doing the chart double with a single that is not featured (at least for now) on the corresponding No.1 album. This wasn't unusual back in the early days of the charts when the idea of turning album tracks into singles (or vice versa) hadn't quite taken hold and the two formats flowed separately side by side. But to find the last time we had this kind of separation you have to go back almost 50 years.
So let’s journey back to the 70s. In August 1975 The Stylistics were top of the singles chart with Can't Give You Anything (But My Love) and top of the albums chart with a hits collection The Best Of The Stylistics that did not feature said single. Similarly three years later Elvis Presley's posthumous No.1 single Way Down was joined at the top by a 1974 album Elvis Presley's 40 Greatest Hits, and needless to sayWay Down was not one of them.
There may well have been a third, and I'm trying to chase down the answer. In May 1976 ABBA were No.1 with Fernando and their first Greatest Hits collection. But while most copies of this album do feature the single as the final track on Side 2, this was only after it was hurriedly re-issued with it included to capitalise on the success of the single. I'm unsure whether the copies being sold at that point included the No.1 single or not. I've contacted some dedicated fans to find out for certain.
Never Forgotten
Lewis Capaldi's label is clearly very keen for him to have a high profile ahead of the release of his second album. And why not after all, following the utterly phenomenal success of Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent and its accompanying singles he has a heck of a lot to live up to. Hence they have gone to some quite extraordinary lengths to ensure his singles have performed well - even if that has meant that much of their chart success has been shall we say slightly inorganic. Just look at the way Pointless was engineered for a week at No.1 back in January with the sudden release of some discounted signed singles. It all meant the track enjoyed a meteoric 15-1-12 chart run over the course of three weeks.
Well, this week they have done it again. The release of his Netflix documentary How I'm Feeling Now (trailer above) clearly merited Capaldi having some kind of chart presence, it is just that awkwardly his latest single - the title track of the doc - had failed to catch fire in the way it should, entering a few weeks ago at No.24 and then drifting gently out of the Top 40.
Hence this week what was clearly a late decision to request an ACR reset for the track that was still proving more popular than any of its successors. Barely anywhere in the midweek flashes, former No.1 Forget Me suddenly rocketed from 45 back to No.8 to reach the Top 10 for the first time since last November. The aforementioned Pointless was also thusly gifted, returning to No.17 after having been absent from the chart for the previous fortnight. Meanwhile How I'm Feeling Now has at least enjoyed a more organic surge in support, returning to its No.24 peak in its fourth week on the chart.
The ironic part? It seems almost certain to be relegated from the chart under the 3MAX rule thanks to the arrival this week of a fourth new Capaldi track Wish You The Best that's currently tracking for a Top 3 entry.
Meanwhile speaking of inorganic, it cannot have escaped anyone's attention that three of this week's Top 10 singles are 2022 hits which have been RUTHed back from ACR - Fine Line, Green Green Grass and Forget Me - and have returned for another chart wander. So much for the hit parade of the hottest new sounds around.
My Hundred Is Hot(ter)
Wow, loads to unpick from the Hot 100 this week.
First, Morgan Wallen remains No.1 for a third week in total and a second in a row, Last Night having returned to the top last week after being interrupted briefly by Jimin (of whom more later). You will notice that track has started to catch fire in Britain too, entering the Top 40 this week for the first time.
It means Drake is relegated to the highest new entry at No.2 with Search And Rescue, that track also going Top 10 in Britain.
But just look at the track at No.10, Ella Baila Sola from Eslabon Armado x Peso Pluma. Billboard are noting this as the first “regional Mexican” song ever to make the Top 10 in America. Right now you can guarantee the industry’s greatest minds are trying to locate a big name English-language star to feature on an international remix. Although I can’t quite see this becoming the next Despacito.
But what of Jimin? The man who was proudly No.1 a fortnight ago. Well as you might expect his sales in Week 2 fell off the proverbial cliff, Like Crazy taking an unprecedented tumble all the way down to No.45. It seems quite likely it may not feature at all when the full Hot 100 is revealed tomorrow, giving it the most spectacular in and out performance of any Hot 100 chart-topper ever.
This is partly down to a semi-controversial rule change that Billboard implemented, becoming wise to the ability of large armies of fans to game the gold standard singles chart with some mass purchasing. Consequently it is believed they have implemented a “once in a lifetime” rule, meaning that multiple repeat purchases of a track are no longer eligible for ranking points. Attempts by Jimin fans to stretch their buys out for a second week were all for nothing.
Aus Tra Lia
Morgan Wallen can add Australia to the list of countries whose charts he has managed to dominate - making his still slow progress up the table in Britain all the more interesting. Although selling American country songs without novelty value over here is more of a challenge.
Drake splashes down at No.8, but notice that Ed Sheeran’s Eyes Closed has made its way to the Top 10 after a relatively slow start.
Hola
https://twitter.com/portaldemusica/status/1647976462991884289
Tweet embedding being currently broken means a slightly sub-optimal way of linking to the top end of the Spanish charts this week, but no matter.
The Portal Demusica is showing a vibrancy lacking from many other regional listings, as the lack of familiar names noted above illustrates. Here’s the current No.1 single in Spain. It isn’t Mexican for sure.
The Blasts From The Past
Five years ago: A technical issue at Spotify meant that the first midweek updates of the week were wildly inaccurate, as the article will explain. Drake was back at the top of the charts although thankfully for not quite as long a run as previously, and given that we presently have two Voice USA contestants in the UK charts, this flash back is from the week when the UK series finally spawned another sizable hit single. Although alas it turned out to be the only one for the artist in question.
Ten years ago: Ding Dong. Yes, it was that week. Maggie passed away and the worst people in the world all went slightly nuts. But boy, did it make for a fascinating story to tell.
Twenty Years ago: Kym Marsh had a No.2 solo hit. What do you mean you had forgotten? What I had forgotten though is the extent to which she’d been the subject of all manner of barbs about her attitude and demeanour since the Popstars years, to the extent that the archive article was at pains to point them out. As my later editorial note goes on to point out, reinventing herself as an actress transformed her public image quite dramatically.
Midweek Teases
We seem set for a third week at No.1 for Calvin and Ellie, Miracle still enjoying a commanding lead over the chasing pack. But unusually for this era we could well see no fewer than two new entries inside the Top 3. The aforementioned Lewis Capaldi track is one, but leading the race to be second this week is a viral smash that has emerged from online fandom and which is about to propel a man who hitherto has a single No.39 hit to his name to an unexpected moment of mainstream stardom.
On the albums chart Metallica are almost certain to enjoy their first No.1 album for 15 years. 72 Seasons has already posted over 23,000 chart sales - 19,000 of those physically. The No.2 album INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (sic) by Waterparks has just 2,000 to its name.
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The new UK charts are announced by Radio One from 4pm every Friday, can be seen in full on officialcharts.com and musicweek.com, and you can read my own detailed charts analysis - now celebrating its 32nd year online - at chart-watch.uk.
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With regards to the once only purchase on Billboard, when are they going to implement the once only strreaming rule then? If they restrict the number of sales then they should restrict the number of streams too. A purchase is a purchase, it shouldn't matter who does the purchasing or how many times - unless its the record company. The fact that someone may want to buy mutiple copies still gives the record companies money and that is who the charts are for so i'm not sure why they'd want this restricted... The fact that people are prepared to buy something rather than just streaming it should be celebrated not penalized.