Chart Feed – 09.01.12

“There shouldn’t be much to report on this week’s Chart Feed because Beyoncé had her baby and nothing else would be on the news, right?” Sometimes I feel like my little brother is the only one who gets the way the world should be run.

On this week’s Chart Feed, the festive season’s definitely been canned now with Michael Bublé‘s career-defining Christmas album freefalling out of the Top 20 everywhere. We all knew it would come to this. Meanwhile, Empress Adele returns to top the US and UK album charts and comes closer to breaking more records, Kelly Clarkson discounts her way back up the charts, and I have a fit over the new Will Young, The Saturdays and Rebecca Ferguson single choices.

Alesha Dixon feat. Jay Sean ‘Every Little Part of Me’ Remix EP

I’m sorry, you’re gonna have to remove me. I just can’t control myself when this song comes on.

Alesha Dixon‘s The Entertainer may not have won the affection of record buyers with its first two singles but everyone deserves ‘Every Little Part of Me’.

The British pop singer has just uploaded the ‘Every Little Part of Me’ remix EP, take a listen and tell us what you think:

‘Every Little Part Of Me’ (Ft. Jay Sean) – The Remixes by aleshadixon

Personally, I thought the album version was superb as it was. If anything, I thought she’d go for a more Euro club-centric crop of remixes as opposed to pushing this dub-step, garage urban flavour.

There’s a massive pop hook in ‘Every Little Part of Me’ that could illuminate if given to the right purveyors of electro house. Ms Alesha needs to get in touch with Laidback Luke, TV Rock and Denzal Park.

Footnotes [15 February update]:

Seems like I spoke a week too soon or my incessant whinings have made some kind of impact in the right places.

Our friends at AuspOp  just confirmed that Warner Music Australia will be releasing ‘Every Little Part of Me’ (both single and remix EP) on iTunes on 11 March.

Neon Records (see: home to Melbourne’s dance princess Zoe Badwi and mah gurl Wynter Gordon) will be servicing a swag of ‘ELPOM’ remixes to clubs.

Alesha Dixon‘s The Entertainer is set to drop in Australia on 8 April.

Alesha Dixon ‘Every Little Part of Me’ Music Video

How do you turn this shit around? Seriously.

Spare a Kleenex for Alesha Dixon. After all the hype about her newly Americanised sonics and the resurrected MC style, turns out, no one got up to buy the album! The Entertainer (which only managed to peak at #84 in the UK) and all its spawned releases so far have flopped hard. In fact, I’m actually surprised that she is threatening a third single.

Having said that, if there was a big enough song on file that could save this floundering project, it’ll be ‘Every Little Part of Me’. The pulsating pop piece is easily one of the catchiest tracks she’s done and better yet, it sounds completely current and bankable.

Check out three mini-cinematic moments in Alesha and Jay Sean‘s ‘Every Little Part of Me’ promo, which was shot in Miami:

1) Alesha the Traffic Stopping Siren.

Utter vision of perfection, isn’t she? The video itself is nothing elaborate but both stars look bangin’ rocking their respective complementary colours (green lights for Alesha and reds for Jay). Multi-storey car park, vehicles zooming, traffic light colours – I see what they’re doing now.

2) Somebody alert the authorities.

Catsuit, heels and hair flicks – this hawt bitch is giving me all kinds of fever. For someone who’s supposedly making away with a bag full of money, she’s not being very inconspicuously attired, is she?

3) Blurs.

I was gonna say something about Jay Sean but why bother when I can make a valid critique instead? Can we pull focus on the irritating overuse of blur effects in this video? I mean, come on, you know you’re overdoing it when the whole thing starts looking like a hazy ass Saturday night out through my eyes. Fail.

Footnotes:

No news on when ‘Every Little Part of Me’ will be out or serviced to UK radios. Alesha‘s The Entertainer has disappeared off Warner Music’s Australian release schedule. Ba-bow! Shame, too. This song sounds promising.

Chart Feed – 06.12.10

Guy Sebastian stans are gonna be all over me like plague on Prince of Egypt. I sense a major back handing of ‘I-told-you-so’s coming this way because ‘Who’s That Girl’ has bulleted – as they predicted – from its #11 debut to #2 on the Aussie charts, selling a whopping over 19,940 copies this week. Moral of the story, Guy has still got it. Don’t write off the mack muscle teddy. Elsewhere, Altiyan Childs‘ winning single ‘Somewhere In The World’ drops out of the Top 10. No one blinks.

Pink continues to reign supreme on top of the ARIA charts, moving 26,300 copies of her Greatest Hits… So Far!!! in its third week. The compilation’s second single ‘Fucking Perfect’ continues to garner decent radio rotation here. Check out snaps from the video shoot on this fan site. Damn, I don’t think Pink has stopped groping herself since she got knocked up. Heck, I’d do the same too if my mammaries suddenly copped a growth spurt. Over Stateside, ‘Raise Your Glass’ has topped the Billboard charts making it Pink‘s second US #1 – the first one being ‘So What’ two years ago.

Them Glee kids have the highest charting new album here this week. Volume 4 – featuring choons belted on the first half of season two – debuted at #3, selling over 15,700 first week copies. On the flip side, their rendition of Bruno Mars‘ ‘Marry You’ debuts at #27 while the original single cracks the chart at #50.

Martin Solveig and Dragonette‘s ‘Hello’ continues to top the Australian club charts while the single enters the main charts at #48 this week. Elsewhere, scene queen Zoe Badwi‘s ‘Freefallin’ is now the longest rotating track on the club Top 30, spending over 21 weeks up there. That follow up single has got some tough act to follow.

Jessica Mauboy‘s ‘Saturday Night’ remixes crack the club charts at #16 this week. The princess first premiered the ace Thieves of Aon mix on YouTube last month. Now, for what it’s worth, it could do her good to continue pushing this track and its remixes in the dance sphere. The ghetto fab schtick hasn’t exactly flown like concord with the public, has it?

Scarlett Belle‘s third single ‘Lover Boy’ wasn’t even a bleep on the Top 100 this week. According to Auspop, the only sign of the track so far has been a meagre placement of #137 on the Aussie iTunes chart. Queens, you need to get behind this like Sophie Monk, Holly Valance and Leah Haywood‘s combined pop comebacks depended on it.

Nicole Scherzinger was robbed. Any other week in the X Factor season and ‘Poison’ would’ve been a shoo-in at #1 – especially after that crowd pleasing performance – but no, she had to drop it when the finalists’ charity single was still going strong. Scherzy‘s last stab at a solo career – ‘Baby Love’ – peaked at #14 three years ago in the UK, so ‘Poison’ coming in at #3 and ranking as the second most downloaded track in the country is a bloody huge arse slap of vindication in itself.

The Wanted‘s third single ‘Lose My Mind’ creeps in at #29 this week. Shit. Talk about getting lost up in the haze of other competing bloke bands. Generations to come will read about this in the great Popjustice folklore and giggle at the three-line discography aptly summing up these lads as “the Ultra of the 2010/2011 wave of British boy bandism”.

Cheryl Cole‘s ‘The Flood’ is rising just on track downloads alone, carrying it up the charts from #156 to #74 this week. The actual single itself is not scheduled to hit stores until 3 January. Meanwhile, if the tabloids are to be believed, Tesco has pulled the plug on Nuhdeen‘s second single ‘Put Your Hands Up’. Some bitches don’t even get a second glance. This industry’s hard but don’t think for a second that Cheryl‘s catching a feeling. She’s too busy wiping her derry with them million dollar bills to see what Nuhdeen‘s up to.

Alesha Dixon‘s ‘Radio’ enters at #46 while the sophomore album The Entertainer bombs at #84 this week. What the hell is happening over at her camp now? They’re just not exploiting her Strictly Come Dancing association hard enough. In Australia, Warner Music had nudged her last project along far enough to make the most of ‘The Boy Does Nothing’ but with The Entertainer, they haven’t even set a release date. Who can blame them?

Joe McElderry‘s Wide Awake is dangling on a floss at the arse end of the UK Top 100. This album better not fall off the face of the earth. Ain’t no telling what I’d do. Single numero deux ‘Someone Wake Me Up’ is out this week basking in its Narnia association so, fingers crossed, it’ll send my boo levitating to the loftier end of the charts.

Olly Murs saw his self-titled album enter at #2 this week, behind none other than Take That‘s towering Progress. This will probably hurt my boo so I’ll have to type it fast and hurry over to kiss it better – but Olly Murs managed to sell 108,000 copies making it the UK’s biggest first week sales for a debut artist this year. Does that make sense or do we need Olly stans to rub it in spell it out for us?

Kanye West‘s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy tops the US charts, selling over 496,000 copies to square off his chart duel against Nicki Minaj, whose eagerly anticipated debut Pink Friday entered at #2 off the back of 375,000 first-week sales. Pink Friday now has the second highest weekly sales recorded for a female hip hop artist, behind Lauryn Hill‘s 1998 classic The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Nicki apparently has plans to film music videos for four album tracks: ‘Fly’ (feat. Rihanna), ‘Moment 4 Life’ (feat. Drake), ‘Girls Fall Like Dominoes’ and ‘Save Me’. Get ready.

Alesha Dixon “The Entertainer” Album Details

It’s been two years since Alesha broke through with The Alesha Show and now she’s finally got a follow up to show for.

The Entertainer is said to be grittier than her last album. It features production and songwriting creds from an eclectic bunch – read: Toby Gad (writer behind Beyonce‘s ‘If I Were A Boy’), Kuk Harrell, Naughty Boy, The Fairground and Stereotypes (producer of Danity Kane‘s killer ‘Damaged’).

Here’s the tracklisting:

1 – Baddest Chick
2 – Radio
3 – Every Little Part of Me (feat. Jay Sean)
4 – Take Control (with Roll Deep)
5 – Drummer Boy
6 – The Entertainer
7 – Colour
8 – Tug of War
9 – On Top
10 – La La La
11 – Cool With Me
12 – Radio (feat. Wiley)

The lead single ‘Drummer Boy’ only managed to peak at #15 in the UK and Alesha‘s collabo with Roll Deep debuted at #29 this week.

The Aussie market probably won’t break a shrug for this and that’s cool – pretty sure the feeling’s mutual – because I don’t think Alesha‘s got plans to release this album here.

‘The Boy Does Nothing’ remains as the Mis-Teeq singer’s only charting single here. Go figure.

Footnote:

The Entertainer is out in the UK on 29 November, a day after the second single ‘Radio’ is released.

Chart Feed – 14.09.10

Before you proceed, stop and go take a look at yourself in the mirror. Child, that’s what yo’ scrawny ass looks like when your Monday Chart Feed arrives a day late. Apologies – it was my birthday and the energy company decided they’d honour it as a night of rest by shutting down the power in my area.

Nelly is back and his new single ‘Just A Dream’ debuts at #24 in Australia this week. The Jim Jonsin-produced track is the lead single from his upcoming Nelly 5.0 album and don’t call it a comeback because it’s only been two years since his last Top 30 hit here – ‘Party People’ with Fergie.

Local lass Zoe Badwi has finally crossed over to the mainstream Top 50. Her latest solo single ‘Freefallin’ has been scorching up the dance charts for close to a month now but has only debuted at#36 on the main charts this week. Zoe may be a Melbourne dance scene queen these days but lest we forget – she was once part of the Aussie pop trio Sirens, the warblers behind Sara Marie‘s ‘I’m So Excited (The Bum Dance Song)’. Bless.

The Wombats‘ new single ‘Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)’ enter at #35 here this week. The indie rockers are reportedly going for a more “produced” sound for their second album but fans will have to wait ’til November to hear the goodies.

Alexandra Burke is back on top, baby! Her robo-reggae single ‘Start Without You’ debuted straight at #1 in the UK this week, making it her third chart topper there. It’s just the kind of mascara-running moment of validation Alex needed after her last two singles – ‘Broken Heels’ and ‘All Night Long’ – failed to sustain.

Brandon Flowers‘ debut solo album Flamingo enters at #1 in the UK and #5 in Australia, selling over 5000 copies here in its first week. Fingers crossed, our spunky Killers frontman will also achieve the same chart results in the States, where the album drops today. Flamingo was the second most downloaded album in Australia last week.

McFly‘s wild new single ‘Party Girl’ debuts at #6 in the UK this week. Yes, the boys have our attention now after posing nude for Attitude magazine a few months ago. Their forthcoming album Above The Noise – which will hopefully feature cuts written with Taio Cruz and super producer Dallas Austin – is due 15 November.

Alesha Dixon‘s mind-numbing ‘Drummer Boy’ debuts at #15 in the UK. Keep an eye out for remixes by Benny Benassi and Aussie dance sensation, Yolanda Be Cool, on the digital EP. For real, can anyone salvage this mess?

The Saturdays just keep hustling. Their solid new single ‘Higher’ (the original mix, not the soon-to-be-revealed Flo Rida remix) has shot from #167 to #62 in the UK this week. The video, which was filmed in L.A. two weeks ago, reportedly sees them rocking an NYC backdrop. In other words, their desperation for an American crossover was kept pretty understated.

Beyonce‘s ‘Why Don’t You Love Me’ leaps 20 places up to #51 in the UK this week. What kind of promo undercurrent has inspired this? Because the Brits should only have eyes for the other two children of Destiny right now: Michelle (check Strictly Come Dancing) and Kelly (check the Guetta-crafted singles ‘Commander’ and ‘Forever And A Day’).

The Xx sees their self-titled album leap to #3 in the UK after scoring the coveted Mercury Prize last week. This’ll probably encourage the English pop rockers to re-release a few more singles. Tracks like ‘Crystalised’ and ‘Islands’ have both been granted a second wind.

Hurts‘ Happiness album debuts at #4 in the UK this week, proving that there’s justice on the pop charts. There is no date set for an Australian release just yet but if it’s any consolation, their ace single ‘Wonderful Lie’ was our iTunes Single of The Week two weeks ago. Meanwhile, an album track ‘Illuminated’ has charted at #68 in the UK this week.

Katy Perry‘s ‘Teenage Dream’ single has gone #1 in the US this week, making this her second consecutive American chart topper this year. Kitty‘s onto a mighty good run now and I can’t see this slowing down with her next song ‘Firework’. Prepare for an all-hands-in-the-air affair when the remixes hit clubs. The single is slated for an October release with the video due later this month.

Hark! 70s rockers Heart has reformed and they’re peddling a new album. Wait a minute, they’ve released five albums in my lifetime? Well, it’s time we stop referring to these old timers in the past tense because their latest album, Red Velvet Car, debuted at #10 in America this week, making it their first Top 10 hit in 20 years.

Everyone please be upstanding with your best golf claps as the last ever Hannah Montana record exits the US Top 200. The Hannah Montana movie soundtrack is literally clinging onto the bottom of the chart now while Miley‘s own pop album Can’t Be Tamed sits at #63 after three months of invading shelf space.

Feed Limmy’s Top 20 Most Played:
#1 Nadine Coyle – Insatiable*
#2 Willow Smith – Whip My Hair*
#3 Girls Aloud – Memory of You
#4 Shakira – Loca (feat. Dizzee Rascal)
#5 davidlim – Get Crazy
#6 davidlim – Running Away
#7 Savage Skulls feat. Robyn – Bad Gal*
#8 Kylie Minogue – Like A Drug
#9 Frankie Finch – I’m Such A Problem
#10 Little Boots – Remedy
#11 Sugababes – Thank You For The Heartbreak
#12 davidlim – #1
#13 Christina Aguilera – Not Myself Tonight
#14 Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Not Giving Up On Love (Acoustic)
#15 Armin Van Buuren vs Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Not Giving Up On Love
#16 Kelly Rowland – Commander
#17 Rachel Stevens – Nothing Good About This Goodbye
#18 Girls Aloud – Sexy! No No No…
#19 Little Jackie – 28 Butts
#20 Asher Roth – His Dream
* = Added to playlist this week.

Headlines – 04.09.10

Making headlines in pop music this week…

A snippet of Cheryl Cole‘s new single ‘Promise This’ leaked yesterday. I’m sorry Nadine – I’mma let chu finish hyping your first single – but Chezza is dangling a fresh piece and we urgently need to attend to this.

The track is produced by Wayne Wilkins (the man behind her debut single ‘Fight For This Love’ and Michelle Williams‘ mighty ‘We Break The Dawn’) and the 50-second teaser hears Cheryl channeling a very sellable style of urban dance. Sonically, it sounds like someone had rendered wispy synths over the beats on Kristinia DeBarge‘s ‘Sabotage’.

Links to the leak were promptly taken down several hours later. I bet Cheryl was behind this. You know, just firing a warning shot to get Nadine shaking in her boots?

Nadine Coyle – yes, darl, it’s your turn now – broke news of her debut solo single this week. ‘Insatiable’ is a throw back to an 80s Bangles style and there’s no release date set yet but it’ll be out sometime this year.

Nadine has also recorded a track originally sung by the latest Sugababes recruit, Jade Ewen. I love how karmically aware Jade is.

She told The Sun, “I don’t know how I’ll feel when I hear it. It will be weird but I guess it will be like when Keisha would have listened to the stuff I re-recorded.”

But the golden quote goes to Heidi Sugababe who when asked to comment on Nadine‘s rumoured ousting from Girls Aloud said, “I don’t think we’re the ones to dish out advice on whether they should replace Nadine or carry on as a foursome.”

Diplomatic but wicked delicious if you read between the lines.

Rihanna will premiere her new single ‘Only Girl (In The World)’ on Ryan Seacrest‘s radio show next Tuesday, a week before its scheduled radio release. The track is written by her regular hit wordsmith Ne-Yo, so get excited.

Shakira unveils her new album and single covers. Hark! Sale El Sol, her forthcoming bilingual album, and its lead single ‘Loca’.

Fame whore Melanie B is premiering her new reality show It’s A Scary World in the US on Sunday.

I’ve always said that Mel B‘s larger-than-life personality and infectious laugh deserved a place on TV but peddling a reality show and thrusting your family into the limelight? Please. Where’s that line, Scary? Check out the first episode here:

The show is rumoured to have been picked up in the UK (airing October) and Australia (probably to air on a cable network in November).

Entrepreneur Scary is also rolling out her fitness video game this month. It’s reportedly been two years in the making but so is that third studio album of her’s and I honestly can’t say which will give me a bigger LOL to find in the bargain bins.

The Saturdays have roped Flo Rida in for a remix of their next single, ‘Higher’. Listen, if you’re resorting to this level of try-hard fuckery at least do it right? Flo Rida is so last year’s rent-a-rapper. Most folks are booking Pitbull these days.

Alesha Dixon has gone back to rapping. The former Mis-Teeq MC who found solo success with ‘The Boy Does Nothing’ last year haven’t rapped on a track since she left the band, so this’ll be a welcome return of “tha Mis-Teeq flow”, if you will. Alesha‘s forthcoming album The Entertainer is due later this year.

Sign of the apocalypse #27: Mama Celine braves a magazine cover sans make up. While I wish for world peace and for pregnancies to flatter all womankind, there’s no denying that ballooning with a child fucks with your hormones and better judgement.

There was no way in Hades’ lair the real Celine Dion would ever let a tabloid run untouched photos of her. God bless the twins she’s carrying but please, restore our lady to her proper diva mode.