I left y’all scratching at the post a little last week because I took my ass on a little vacaycay to Brisbane.
Bitch, you should’ve seen me lounging on the beach in an island that was practically deserted on a Monday arvo. I was having a Mariah moment frolicking in the sand, trying to look cute for my Instagram photos. But hey, I am back now and here comes your chart feed – which might cover some things I didn’t get to touch on last week.
This has been a good week for Robbie Williams who scored his first simulatenous UK #1 album-and-single action in 11 years. Elsewhere, the following chart showboaters can’t complain either: Taylor Swift, Calvin Harris, Little Mix, Of Monsters and Men, The Wanted, and to a certain extent, Christina Aguilera. SAY!
Pull up a seat. The beginning of what’s set to be Taylor Swift‘s global chart massacre has begun.
The young country superstar has made clear she’s a force to be reckoned with on the Australian, UK and New Zealand album charts this week with her newest offering Red debuting straight at #1 in these territories. Check out the damage after the jump.
Elsewhere, it’s been a good week for Brandy, Mika, Labrinth and Emeli Sandé, Kelly Clarkson and – heck – even Girls Aloud is back on the charts.
It’s just past midnight and I’ve been compiling this post for the past four hours non-stop. It’s somewhat understandable that I want to just drop dead now to the sound of Madonna‘s ‘Gang Bang’ on repeat and never wake up again.
This week’s Chart Feed is one for the history books – especially if you’re the world’s biggest boyband of the moment: One Direction. Their legendary storming of the US Billboard charts makes them the first ever British band to have their first album go #1 in the States.
Elsewhere, Katy Perry blasts to #1 on the UK charts and we also look ahead to new releases by The Saturdays, Scissor Sisters and Calvin Harris.
“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.
X Factor Australia winner Reece Mastin snatched wigs all the way to the top of the ARIAs this week with his debut single ‘Good Night’. It was reported that ‘Good Night’ managed to sell one copy every 2.7 seconds on Wednesday alone – easily clocking 32,000 sales in the first 24 hours.
Reece‘s debut album – featuring studio recordings of 10 songs he covered on the show – will drop on 9 December. Knowingly missing from the mix is the much-detested cover of ‘All By Myself’. Reece Mastin – the album – is currently charting at #60 on our Aussie iTunes based on pre-orders alone.
Guy Sebastian‘s ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ is the second biggest new single on the ARIA charts – winding up at #7. The X Factor judge was positioned at #2 on our iTunes charts for a few days, behind his apprentice Reece.
Watch Guy‘s brilliant new video ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’:
Israel Cruz‘s ‘Party Up’ rises to #33, somehow resurrecting after looking like it was destined to be another home grown crunk’n’b flop. The Aussie producer – who has crafted numbers for the likes of Jessica Mauboy, Elen Levon and Scarlett Belle – last appeared in the Top 50 seven years ago with ‘Old Skool Luv’.
Ricki-Lee‘s ‘Raining Diamonds’ plummets from #19 to #36, clocking only one week in the ARIA Top 20. Be very fucking worried. The slamming dance/pop epic managed to rise to #23 on the Australian airplay chart in the last week – evidently not enough to sustain interest.
The forthcoming ‘Raining Diamonds’ video sees our girl channeling some kind of Sasha Fierce/Barbarella realness – watch the behind the scenes before the full production premieres hopefully sometime during the week:
Rihanna‘s Talk That Talk debuts at #5 in Australia, sending three new tracks to our ARIA Top 100 in its wake – ‘You Da One’ (#41), the frenetic future club smash ‘Where Have You Been’ (#46) and ‘Talk That Talk’ (#61). The project’s lead single ‘We Found Love’ sits at #4 and is still the most played song on Aussie radios.
Over in the UK, Talk That Talk debuts at #1 – racking up over 160,000 opening week sales to become one of the fastest selling albums there this year. Just so you know, TTT crossed north of 100,000 copies in the first three days alone. RiRi also has four tracks in the UK Top 75 this week – ‘We Found Love’ (still at #1), ‘Talk That Talk (#25), ‘You Da One’ (#39), ‘Where Have You Been’ (#61).
Over in America, Talk That Talk is slated to debut at #3 or #4 this week with predicted sales between 200,000 – 210,000 copies. ‘We Found Love’ is still the most downloaded song in the country while its follow up ‘You Da One’ debuts at #9 on the US Billboard Digital Songs chart, selling 124,000 copies.
Listen to Rihanna‘s slamming ‘Where Have You Been’:
Katy Perry‘s ‘The One That Got Away’ slowly edges up to #32 on our ARIA charts. The driving pop ballad drops from #20 to #29 on our Australian airplay charts in the last week. Meanwhile over the States, ‘The One That Got Away’ cracks the Top 10, making Teenage Dream now the first album in 17 years to spawn six Top 10 smashes.
The last record holder was Janet Jackson‘s Janet circa 1994. Note: only seven albums in music history have snatched six or more US Top 10 hits. Janet‘s Rhythm Nation was the first album by a female artist to do so.
Lady Gaga‘s ‘Marry The Night’ drops out of our ARIA Top 100 altogether this week. Gag! No radio support, no video out, and various competing Gaga releases all continue to undermind this single’s potential.
Over in the UK, ‘Marry The Night’ stalls at #18 while her brand new Born This Way remix album debuts at #77. Looking at the UK iTunes store now, A Very Gaga Holiday EP sits comfortably at #18 on its first day out. There’s no way this ho’s gonna go through the festive season without making a dollar or two.
Over in the US, ‘Marry The Night’ re-enters the US Billboard Hot 100 at #97 – thanks in some small way to radio pick up and general awareness. ‘Marry The Night’ is the most played new song on US airwaves, debuting at #65 on the airplay charts.
Watch Glam Ma Monster perform ‘Marry The Night’ for A Very Gaga Thanksgiving:
Kelly Clarkson‘s ‘What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)’ is making a killing already on the Australian airplay charts – leaping from #49 to #21. The future smash is currently placed at #42 on our Aussie iTunes charts. Over in the States, ‘WDKY’ re-enters the US Billboard Hot 100 at #99 and on the digital charts at #64. She needs to stop flogging ‘Mr Know It All’ and just go to town on this one already.
Other notable new singles buzzing about our Aussie iTunes include: will.i.am featuring Jennifer Lopez and Mick Jagger‘s ‘T.H.E.’ (#62) and Cher Lloyd‘s summer-correct ‘With Ur Love’ (#63).
Kylie Minogue‘s Ultimate Kylie compilation shoots up to a breathtaking #95 on the Aussie iTunes chart while Aphrodite – Les Folies Live in London sits at #169 after her defining induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame. No other Kylie albums have returned to the Top 200 in light of all this publicity. Let’s hope her stunning Aphrodite – Les Folies Live in London DVD racks up some serious sales because that tour was just fucking everything. The Aphrodite Live in London album is currently charting at #85 on UK iTunes.
Watch Kylie perform ‘Love At First Sight/Can’t Fight The Feeling’:
Stan Walker‘s Let The Music Play debuts at #18, making it the biggest new Aussie album on the charts this week. Not that there’s much competition – sorry David Campbell. Stan‘s album has done well to stand up in the Top 20 given that ‘Light It Up’ flopped and all he’s got to represent is that ballad borrowed from Jessica Mauboy‘s album.
Dolly Parton‘s new album Better Day debuts at #29 in Australia this week, supported by her recent tour around the country, which included some dates up in some proper country area. I honestly can’t go back far enough to tell you when was the last time the defining music legend had a Top 50 ARIA hit but let’s just say, it’s the first time this century.
Olly Murs‘ new single ‘Dance With Me Tonight’ debuts at #2 in the UK this week, suffering the ultimate cock block by Rihanna‘s ‘We Found Love’. In the first three days on sale, the spunky X Factor star managed to surpass RiRi‘s ‘We Found Love’ by 2,000 copies – but by the end of Thursday, ‘We Found Love’ had pulled up worryingly close at just 49 units away from overtaking Olly. Come weekend, look what happened.
Olly‘s sophomore album In Case You Didn’t Know is currently charting at #2 on the UK iTunes store on its first day out. Check out the dapper man performing ‘Dance With Me Tonight’ on UK X Factor with The Muppets:
Kelendria Trene Rowland, welcome back to the muhfuggin’ UK charts. ‘Down For Whatever’ enters at #6 this week, becoming the former-DC glamazon’s sixth solo Top 10 hit in the region. She’ll be engaging in some serious promo this week to flog the international edition of Here I Am which features her two huge dance collabos: ‘When Love Takes Over’ (with David Guetta) and ‘What A Feeling’ (with Alex Gaudino). Here I Am (International Edition) is currently charting at #26 on UK iTunes on its first day out.
Meanwhile across the Atlantic, Kelendria‘s ‘Lay It On Me’ can probably be written off as a certified flop. The summer radio ready smash sinks to #77 on the US R&B/Hip Hop charts, unable to even scale the Top 30 following ‘Motivation’‘s surprise #1 reign just a few months ago.
Rebecca Ferguson‘s gorgeous debut single ‘Nothing’s Real But Love’ enters at #10 on the UK charts this week. No, it isn’t crash hot by any major label pop star’s standards but I have a really soft spot for the girl. My mind, body and spirit is completely ready for her album Heaven, which arrives next Monday in the UK.
Watch Rebecca‘s charming interview on This Morning and performance of ‘Nothing’s Real But Love’:
One Direction‘s Up All Night debuts at #2 in the UK this week, managing 138,000 opening week sales. The lads’ single ‘Gotta Be You’ does a death drop from its #3 debut last week to #16.
Here in Australia, the physical copy of Up All Night is going at retail outlets for $13 – certainly an enticing offer given that they’re only really known for one very new hit single at the moment. The album is currently placed at #9 on Aussie iTunes. Over on our ARIA Top 100, ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ rises to #8 this week while its b-side ‘Na Na Na’ has astonishingly made it at #84.
The Saturdays‘ On Your Radar shockingly debuts at #23 on the UK charts this week, making it the girls’ first album to completely miss the Top 10. Fuck, I know the album wasn’t that great but surely it deserved more than this epic floppage? Regardless of the results, On Your Radar has surprisingly been quietly released on Aussie iTunes – making this the first Saturdays album to reach our shores since Chasing Lights. I need to lie down.
Pixie Lott continues the flow of British pop flops with Young Foolish Happy plummeting from #18 to #42 in its second week. Her underappreciated new single ‘What Do You Take Me For’ sinks from #20 to #42. Pixie‘s label has swung into damage control, bringing forward the third single – ‘Kiss The Stars’ – for a 26 December release. Here in Australia, I guess Pixie‘s Young Foolish Happy is doing alright to even be seen at #165 on our Aussie iTunes chart.
Watch Pixie flog ‘What Do You Take Me For’ on Loose Women:
The X Factor Finalists 2011‘s charity single ‘Wishing On A Star’ is surprisingly reigning at #1 on the UK iTunes chart right now on its first day out. Surprising reception given how shit it is but also altogether unsurprising given the involvement of JLS and One Direction.
Drake scores the third largest opening week album sales of 2011 with Take Care pushing 631,000 copies to debut at #1 on the US Billboard 200. It’s a sizable improvement on Drake‘s 2010 smash Thank Me Later, which managed 447,000 first week sales to also debut at #1.
Adele‘s 21 clocks its 39th consecutive week in the US Billboard 200 Top 5 bracket, making history as the longest time an album has remained in the Top 5 since its debut. The last record holder was Michael Jackson‘s legendary 1987 album Bad, which clocked 38 weeks.
Watch Adele perform ‘Turning Tables’ live at Royal Albert Hall:
Glee‘s The Christmas Album, Vol. 2 debuts at #6 in the US Billboard 200 at #6, pulling 71,000 opening week sales. Talk about a significant drop compared to the cast’s first Christmas album, which debuted at #8 with 161,000 first week sales last year.
Elsewhere, the Glee cast’s A-grade mash up of Adele‘s ‘Rumour Has It/ Someone Like You’ debuts at #5 on the US Billboard Digital Songs chart, racking up 160,000 downloads. This is now Glee‘s fifth largest weekly sales figure for any of their singles. ‘Rumour Has It/ Someone Like You’ is only bettered by ‘Teenage Dream’ (214,000), ‘Loser Like Me’ (one of two originals written for the cast – 210,000), ‘Forget You’ (192,000) and ‘Don’t Stop Believin” (177,000).
Mariah Carey continues to bathe in gold this lucrative Christmas season. Her classic ‘All I Want For Christmas’ is currently covered in three albums in the US Billboard Top 10 – Michael Buble‘s seasonal record (#2), Bieber‘s Under The Mistletoe (#5) and Glee‘s newest Christmas album (#6).
Selena Gomez & The Scene‘s ‘Love You Like A Love Song’ still has some unbelievable mileage left in it. The single rises to #46 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the A-level remixes soar to #2 on the dance/club play chart.
Watch the stunning video for Selena‘s next single ‘Hit The Lights’:
Other notable new entries on the dance/club play chart include Taio Cruz and Flo Rida‘s ‘Hangover’ (the biggest debut at #33), Florence + The Machine‘s ‘Shake It Out’ (entering at #45) and Flo Rida‘s ‘Good Feeling’ (opening at #46).
Ed Sheeran continues to win Aussies over with his smash ‘The A Team’ rising to #2 on our ARIA charts. 1.5 million people tuned in to watch the nail-biting X Factor Australia decider last Tuesday, which featured Ed‘s “live” performance of ‘The A Team’. Truth is, that performance was actually taped the week before when the ginger singer/songwriter was actually in the country. Ed‘s album + shoots from #21 to #8 on our ARIA charts.
Rihanna‘s ‘We Found Love’ continues to rule at #3 on our ARIA charts. The dance/pop single is the most played song on Australian radios (counting from period 10 to 16 November, seeing as the airplay charts get updated every Thursday).
Her new single ‘You Da One’ debuts at #60 on our ARIA charts and becomes the most added new song to Aussie radios this week. Talk That Talk deluxe album is currently #5 on the Australian iTunes and #1 on the UK store.
Over in America, ‘We Found Love’ is still the most downloaded song in the country and the most played song in the clubs. Her next smash ‘You Da One’ debuts at #73 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and becomes the biggest new song on American radios, debuting at #28 on the airplay charts.
Watch Rihanna flog ‘We Found Love’ on US X Factor with a rather overpowering backing track:
Jessica Mauboy‘s ‘Galaxy’ featuring Stan Walker drops out of the ARIA Top 20. It’s probably not a sign of waning interest, just fiercer competition at the top end. The big ballad managed a new peak of #19 on our Australian airplay charts. All this excitement causing J Mally‘s last smash ‘Inescapable’ to almost fall out of the airplay Top 30 altogether.
Stan Walker‘s new single ‘Light It Up’ is not getting much radio love. It plummets to #36 on our local airplay charts, leaving ‘Galaxy’ to be the most current ambassador for his new album. ‘Light It Up’ plummets to #64 on the ARIA charts. Stan‘s album Let The Music Play is currently placed at #55 on our iTunes charts after three days.
Glee‘s spectacular mash up of Adele‘s ‘Rumour Has It/Someone Like You’ debuts at #39 on our ARIA charts, making it the first Glee single of Season 3 to make our Top 40. I’ve clocked it rising as high at #10 on our iTunes chart but could it keep selling this hard? Over in the UK, ‘Rumour Has It/ Someone Like You’ begins charting at #35.
Listen, I don’t normally care for Glee covers but this is evidently the greatest:
Ricki-Lee‘s ‘Raining Diamonds’ breaks higher ground at #19 on our ARIA charts to become her eighth Top 20 smash. Hard to believe but this mega pop single’s actually not getting as much radio rotation as Jess and Stan‘s dated ballad. That baffles me. ‘Raining Diamonds’ is only perched at #26 on the airplay charts.
Katy Perry‘s ‘The One That Got Away’ creeps back up to #35 on our ARIA Top 100, thanks to some decent airplay kicking in at last. The sixth Teenage Dream single took an epic leap from #62 to #37 in the UK this week. Its remixes managed to debut at #31 on the US Billboard Dance/Club charts.
Lady Gaga‘s ‘Marry The Night’ needs all the help it can get. The single is slowly crawling up at #80 on our ARIA charts – the minimal radio rotation’s not doing any favours. ‘Marry The Night’ registered the biggest drop on the Australian airplay charts in the last week, falling from #23 to #32. Over in the UK, ‘Marry The Night’ debuts at #18 – thanks in no small part to her X Factor appearance.
Watch ‘Marry The Night: Prelude Pathetique’, the full-length video is expected out soon:
Guy Sebastian‘s new single ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ is the second most added new song to Aussie radios this week. The feel good song managed to scale up to #76 in the first 24 hours on iTunes. Watch this sky rocket after its debut performance on X Factor‘s grand final extravaganza tomorrow.
Kelly Clarkson‘s next smash ‘What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)’ becomes the fourth most added new song to Aussie radios this week. The track is currently charting at #52 on our iTunes store.
Kelly Rowland‘s down for a major pop comeback. Her flawless dance smash ‘Down For Whatever’ finally arrives on UK store fronts today and it’s already scaling up to #4 on iTunes. You know, if all goes well, ‘Down For Whatever’ could get a US release sooner rather than later. Her last club endeavour ‘Commander’ managed to reign at #1 on the US Billboard Dance/Club charts. How about giving this a go?
Watch Kelendria attack ‘Down For Whatever’ live on Children In Need Rocks Manchester:
One Direction‘s ‘Gotta Be You’ debuts at #3 in the UK this week. I am clutching my pearls in shock to learn that Flo Rida‘s new single ‘Good Feeling’ outsold this to debut at #2.
Over here in Australia, 1D‘s early hit ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ goes Top 10 – thankfully picking up a great deal of radio rotation as the summer kicks in. ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ leaps from #37 to #26 on our Australian airplay charts. Up All Night arrives in Australia this Friday – it’s currently the most pre-ordered album on our iTunes store, charting at #28.
The Saturdays‘ wintery break up ballad ‘My Heart Takes Over’ debuts at #15 in the UK. Not a good look at all. Both The Sats and 1D will now take on the album chart wars together with their respective LPs landing today. Day one and The Saturdays‘ On Your Radar‘s trailing at #20 on iTunes while 1D‘s Up All Night blazes up to #2.
Rebecca Ferguson‘s debut single ‘Nothing’s Real But Love’ is currently placed at #8 on UK iTunes. Further down, her album track ‘Fairytale (Let Me Live My Lie This Way)’ charts at #124. Becca‘s debut LP Heaven will drop on 5 December in the UK.
Watch her heartwarming debut TV performance of ‘Nothing’s Real But Love’:
JLS predictably has the biggest selling new album this week with Jukebox entering the UK charts at #2. Meanwhile, his nearest pop competitor Pixie Lott flops disastrously at #18 with her sophomore Young Foolish Happy. It feels like a lifetime since she had a #1 single with ‘All About Tonight’.
Cher Lloyd‘s album Sticks + Stones sinks from #4 to #12 in its second week. Snaps for success – here in Australia, ‘With Ur Love’ becomes the fifth most added new song to local radio.
Nicole Scherzinger‘s Killer Love album re-enters the UK Top 100 at #65, thanks to a sleek Christmas-ready repackage. The brand new single ‘Try With Me’ flops hard, nosediving from #29 to #64 in its third week.
Justin Bieber‘s Under The Mistletoe plummets from #1 to #6 in the US, registering a 54% drop with 97,000 second week sales. Justin and Mimi‘s new generation duet on her classic ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ is faring well. The video directed by Sanaa Hamri is expected out soon.
Check out this delightful new Mariah interview where she talks about the shoot and another new Xmas duet:
Mariah‘s seasonal smashes are already making their way back up the US Billboard 200. With Christmas being only a month away now, I guess it totally makes sense to start bumping these festive choons. Her classic 90s Merry Christmas album leaps back at #142 while last year’s sequel Merry Christmas II You re-enters at #194. Fans best refrain from purchasing the individual records because Mimi‘s gonna be doing some deluxe package for both albums with new material.
Susan Boyle‘s third album Someone To Watch Over Me drops from #4 to #7 on the US Billboard 200, registering a 46% sales drop with 72,000 second week figures.
Noel Gallagher‘s first solo album High Flying Birds perches at #28 on the US Billboard 200, which isn’t too far off from his estranged brother Liam‘s placement of #31 with his band Beady Eye. That album flopped in the States, managing to only sell 29,000 copies to date.
Watch Noel Gallagher‘s ‘AKA… What A Life!’ music video:
Taylor Swift is assaulting the digital charts now with three previously released tracks appearing on online stores for the first time. ‘If This Was A Movie’, ‘Ours’ and ‘Superman’ were previously only available on the deluxe CD edition of her Speak Now album through Target. In their first week on the digital charts ‘If This Was A Movie’ managed to debut at #3 with 162,000 downloads, ‘Ours’ made #5 with 148,000 downloads, and ‘Superman’ landed at #13 with 91,000 downloads.
Britney Spears‘ ‘Criminal’ continues to struggle, tumbling to #64 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in its fifth week. Despite the excitement of new remixes, the single’s not flying up the typically easy to scale dance/club charts. ‘Criminal’ is also flopping big time on the airplay charts. This is the bleakest, especially following a major radio success like ‘I Wanna Go’.
Beyoncé‘s ‘Countdown’ isn’t moving in the right direction on the overall US Billboard Hot 100, slipping to #75 in its fifth week. It has only just shown up on the US Airplay Top 100 so maybe it’ll be late bloomer? Meanwhile over on the dance/club charts, ‘Countdown’ becomes a blazing success shooting to a new peak of #6. Could this be the third 4 single to top the dance charts?
On the flip side, Queen Bey‘s urban smash ‘Party’ remains at #54 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and stays in the Top 40 radio airplay charts.
‘Countdown’ is not only struggling in America but the UK as well, plummeting from #51 to #80 while ‘Love On Top’ soars from #141 to #87. The latter will be released as Bey’s fourth 4 single in the UK on 5 December.
Watch the exclusive VEVO streaming of Bey‘s Live at Roseland concert. Like for real.
Wynter Gordon‘s ‘Buy My Love’ blitzes to a new peak of #14 on the US Billboard Dance/Club charts. Mah gurl has been in the studio with the likes of MNEK (upcoming British music sensation who has worked with Florrie and co-penned The Saturdays‘ mega ‘All Fired Up’) and Victoria Hansen who co-wrote Aggro Santos/Kimberly Wyatt‘s ‘Candy’.
Ricki-Lee‘s ‘Raining Diamonds’ rockets back up the charts from #96 to #23 this week, thanks to her no-expense-spared X Factor Australia performance and Sunrise jaunt the morning after. The track immediately leapt from #57 to the Top 5 on iTunes right after Tuesday night’s performance and the girl even became a Twitter trending topic worldwide.
The fabulous Idol star is putting the finishing touches on her album now – which is expected to arrive in the first half of 2012 – and word is, her label has already approved a follow up single to ‘Raining Diamonds’. There’s a few good tidbits in her auspop interview – go have a read.
Watch Ricki-Lee turn out ‘Raining Diamonds’ on X Factor Australia.
Jessica Mauboy and Stan Walker‘s ‘Galaxy’ ascends to a new peak of #13 in Australia, making this J. Mally‘s 10th Top 20 smash and Stan‘s fourth. Meanwhile, Jess‘ Get ‘Em Girls album plummets to #100 on our ARIA charts proving that she might just be a more bankable singles seller after all.
Susan Boyle has once again made her annual showing on top of the album charts with her third LP Someone To Watch Over Me reigning at #1 in Australia and the UK. The chairman cash cow of Simon Cowell‘s label made her maiden trip Down Under last week to promote the new album and voila for results. Over in the US, Someone To Watch Over Me debuts at #4 with opening week sales of 132,000 copies. SuBo will probably never recapture the hysterical success of her debut I Dreamed A Dream – which opened at #1 in the US, selling 701,000 copies in its first week. But I reckon she’ll be right.
There are seven new entries in our ARIA Top 20 this week and I reckon it’s only gonna get more competitive over the next few weeks with new releases falling like rain. Triple J‘s Like A Version 7, which was topping the iTunes charts for most of the week, managed to debut at #6. Other debuts include: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 soundtrack (#9), Il Divo‘s Wicked Game (#11), Powderfinger‘s Fingerprints and Footprints (#15), The Getaway Plan‘s Requiem (#17) and Chris Tomlin‘s Glory In The Highest Christian Christmas compilation (#19).
Watch Angus & Julia Stone do folky cover of Nelly Furtado‘s ‘Say It Right’, which is featured on Triple J‘s Like A Version 7:
The Wiggles tribute album is probably the best thing them indie folk types have come up with ever. Making children’s music is serious shit, y’guys. There’s no fooling around with ‘The Hot Potato’. ReWiggled: A Tribute to The Wiggles debuts at #25 this week on our ARIA charts and it features the likes of Washington doing a very straight-faced rendition of ‘The Monkey Dance’, Architecture in Helsinki giving fluorescent realness in ‘Wiggly Party’ and Living End doing a rocking cover of the aforementioned spud song.
Ed Sheeran has himself a little Aussie hit in his hands, thanks to some promo work. The ginger strummy la la artist’s ‘The A Team’ leaps to #5 on our ARIA singles chart while the album + shoots to #21. Ed has so far earned three UK Top 10 smashes with ‘You Need Me, I Don’t Need You’ and ‘Lego House’ both managing to follow the success of ‘A Team’. His album managed to debut on top of the British charts last month, garnering opening week sales of over 102,000 copies.
Jessie J‘s Who You Are album leaps back into the Australian Top 50 this week, placing itself at #35. Interest surrounding the new single ‘Domino’, which is still lingering in our Top 20, has got to help. The Christmas cash-in re-release of Who You Are arrived locally last Friday – that will also help the cause. Over in the UK, Jessie J launches her fifth single ‘Who You Are’ today, so we can expect for the track to break into the Top 20 next week. Over in America, ‘Domino’ rises to #67 on the Billboard Hot 100, thanks in some part to her killer US X Factor performance.
Watch Jessie J wail the house down on ‘Domino’:
Lady Gaga‘s Born This Way is out of the Australian Top 50 for the first time since it dropped in May. The epic top-selling album drops to #63 this week but I reckon it won’t be long before we see the bitch fight back with a vengeance. The project’s next single ‘Marry The Night’ debuts at #88 this week. Y’all better have a ton of popcorn ready too because Gaga has just announced that the forthcoming video for ‘Marry The Night’ will be her longest mini-movie yet.
Darren Hayes‘ Secret Codes and Battleships does a death drop from #15 to #53 in its third week on our ARIA Top 100. I want y’all to stop rocking in the corner because we knew this was bound to happen as soon as all promo activity wraps.
Dazza – although admirable in his plight for a sparkling commercial comeback – will always be one of those pop artists with a cult following. Pick up for his singles ‘Talk Talk Talk’ and ‘Bloodstained Heart’ haven’t improved since the album arrived but then again, he hasn’t had a solo single that really grabbed the Aussie public since 2005’s ‘So Beautiful’. And that was boosted by interest surrounding the Savage Garden best-of compilation.
Listen to Darren Hayes‘ ‘Bloodstained Heart (Monsieur Adi Remix)’:
Kele of Bloc Party‘s new EP The Hunter debuts at #79 in Australia this week. The collection of six new original songs and a cover of Q Lazzarus‘ ‘Goodbye Horses’ arrives a little over a year after Kele‘s first solo album. The Boxer managed to peak at #35 in Australia and #20 in the UK.
Cher Lloyd‘s wigsnatching debut Sticks & Stones shows up at #4 this week, making it the second biggest new album on the UK charts. After the first two days on shelves, the album had already racked up over 26,000 sales – putting the girl roughly 4,000 copies behind SuBo. Over at the singles bar, ‘With Ur Love’ dips a little to #6 in its second week while her fierce chart topping smash ‘Swagger Jagger’ rockets back up to #41.
Here in Australia, they’re actually trying to launch young Cher again after ‘Swagger Jagger’ flopped disastrously. Basically two radio stations in the entire country added that shit. My friend auspop informed me that ‘With Ur Love’ has picked up some local radio love in the last week, getting added to Nova 106.9 (Queensland) and The Edge 96.1 (Sydney) – just to name a few. It’s already on course to fare better than ‘Swagger Jagger’ so we’ll see what comes of it.
Catch a glimpse of Cher Lloyd‘s secret acoustic gig:
The Wanted‘s Battleground becomes the third biggest new release on the UK album charts this week, entering at #5 after selling over 25,000 copies in the first two days. The sophomore album’s a mostly consistent blend of present day boy band fodder. The best showing here is definitely the singles ‘Glad You Came’, ‘Lightning’ (although I prefer the Alias Radio Edit) and future hit ‘Warzone’ (which debuted at #64 this week thanks to interest surrounding the video/album).
JLS‘ big ballad ‘Take A Chance On Me’ debuts at #2 to become the biggest selling new single in the UK this week. The next major impacting new single is Pixie Lott‘s rather dated pop/R&B submission ‘What Do You Take Me For’, which entered at a meagre #10. Both JLS and Pixie launch their respective albums Jukebox and Young Foolish Happy today, so it’ll be interesting to see where they end up next Monday. Right now, JLS‘ album sits at #6 on the UK iTunes charts while Pixie‘s record pulls up at #29.
Watch Pixie Lott‘s sleek ‘What Do You Take Me For’ video:
Next week’s British chart battle would also see two pop groups with two stunning winter ballads go head to head. In one corner, there’s One Direction‘s flawless ‘Gotta Be You’ and the other, The Saturdays‘ ‘My Heart Takes Over’. Day one on the digital shelves and One Direction‘s currently perched at #2 on the iTunes singles chart while The Saturdays trail behind at #17. Both bands will take up battle again on 21 November when their albums drop on the same day.
Looking ahead, 28 November is gonna be a nerve-wracking day at the UK X Factor camp with Kelly Rowland releasing the international edition of Here I Am and fellow judge Tulisa foisting an N-Dubz greatest hits compilation. Xtra Factor host and former show contestant Olly Murs will also drop his sophomore album In Case You Didn’t Know on the same day, while fellow series winner Joe McElderry launches his third album Classic Christmas.
Parade‘s self-titled debut album isn’t about to snatch any trophies, let’s be real about that. But the struggling girl band isn’t doing too badly right now with their record rising to #88 on the UK iTunes album charts. Can they keep it chugging along for the rest of the week?
Melanie C‘s new bruised ballad ‘Weak’ debuts at #29 on the UK indie singles chart. Despite the barrage of TV and radio promo in the last week – performing on Daybreak, This Morning and other places – the Old Spice couldn’t get the track to crack the Top 100.
Watch Mel deliver a knock out live acoustic performance of ‘Weak’:
Nicole Scherzinger‘s ‘Try With Me’ plummets to #29 in its second week on the UK charts. The ex-Pussycat team leader is relaunching her Killer Love album in the UK today with three new tracks, plus the 50 Cent remix of ‘Right There’, which was used to launch her career in the States.
Here’s what you need to know about the new recordings: ‘Try With Me’ – the Nervo co-write – is acceptable but not really on the level of immediate pop excellence like say ‘Killer Love’, ‘Trust Me I Lie’ is an unnecessarily dramatic ballad written by Diane Warren, and ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ is a mid-tempo with a wistful Teenage Dream flavour, probably because it’s a Bonnie McKee co-write.
Little Boots‘ new single ‘Shake’ is currently placed at #105 on the UK iTunes charts after just day on the digital shelves. A feat she said she wasn’t expecting for a “six minute song with no video”. This really is a good Litmus test for Victoria’s fan base because there’s really been no promo prior to this.
Justin Bieber has the #1 album in America with Under The Mistletoe, nabbing first-week sales of 210,000 copies. The teen megastar also made history as the first Christmas album by a male artist to debut at #1 in Billboard’s 55-year chart history. Susan Boyle‘s 2010 The Gift was the only other Christmas album to ever open on top of the US charts.
Coldplay‘s Mylo Xyloto (last week’s big #1 entry) and Kelly Clarkson‘s Stronger (last week’s #2 hot shot debut) falls to #7 and #10 respectively on the US Billboard 200. Mylo Xyloto registered a 76% drop in sales (selling 104,000 copies in its second week) while Stronger slumped with 69% sales drop (selling 51,000 copies in its second week).
Listen to Coldplay‘s ‘Paradise (Fedde Le Grand Remix)’:
Rihanna‘s ‘We Found Love’ clocks its second week on top of the US Billboard Hot 100 and picks up even more airplay to support it. The single is still the most downloaded song in America, racking in 236,000 digital sales in the last week. ‘We Found Love’ also managed to top the US Billboard Dance/Club play charts.
Meanwhile, the Rihanna Navy is already going to work stanning for her next single ‘You Da One’. The album Talk That Talk leaked over the weekend and while I have no interest (at the moment) to hear it in web quality, everyone’s already saying that it’s better than Loud.
Katy Perry‘s ‘The One That Got Away’ finally leaps into the US Top 20, placing itself at #18. This chart upgrade was supported by growing radio rotation, which saw the song rise from #33 to #26 on the US airplay charts. ‘The One That Got Away’ dips to #41 in Australia this week and #62 in the UK. Now that the video’s dropped, expect for the single to really pick up pace.
Listen to ‘The One That Got Away (JRMX Remix)’:
Beyoncé‘s ‘Party’ rises to #3 on the US R&B/Hip Hop song chart while her hubby Jay-Z reigns on top with ‘Niggas in Paris’. Looking on the overall Billboard Hot 100, ‘Party’ rises to #54 and continues to lead the pack of 4 tracks currently littered all over the charts. Further down, we have ‘Countdown’ picking up pace to #71. While ‘Party’ is the stronger performer on the American radio airplay charts, ‘Countdown’ is making waves over on the US dance/club play charts – rising to a new peak of #9 this week.
Britney Spears‘ ‘Criminal’ is still slowly happening in the States, rising to a new peak of #55 on the Billboard Hot 100. I honestly can’t see this song scaling the Top 20 unless radio comes around to playing it more. The song tumbles from #67 to #74 on the American airplay chart – not at all promising. ‘Criminal’ has yet to crack the ARIA Top 100 and as for its fate in the UK, we’ll have to see after it’s formally released on 21 November.
Wynter Gordon‘s ‘Buy My Love’ moves up to #21 on the US Billboard Dance/Club play charts. Almost in the Top 20 league, boo boo. Elsewhere, other exciting new movers in the club sphere include Anjulie‘s ‘Brand New Bitch’ (#18), Eddie Amador and Kimberly Cole‘s ‘Arrow Through My Heart’ (#32) and Chris Willis‘ new piece ‘Too Much In Love’ (debuting at #40).
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