We’ve seen the charts light up like it was Christmas this month, thanks to the heavy flow of new albums taking over the shelves.
For only the second time in history, the entire top six spots on the US Billboard 200 are filled with debut entries. Here in Australia, we have eight new albums scaling our ARIA Top 20, while over in the UK, they have six.
Y’all can obviously expect for it to get even more competitive in the coming months as all the strong sellers come out to play for your seasonal spendings.
This has been a good week for Pink, The Killers, Carly Rae Jepsen, Kanye West and – definitely more than ever – PSY, the K-pop icon responsible for ‘Gangnam Style’.
More flash in the pan sellers falling off the charts just as quickly as they came. You really come to appreciate what Adele‘s 21 achieved last year in anchoring the music industry, don’t you?
This week the sun shines on K-pop star PSY and his incredible viral single ‘Gangnam Style’. Guy Sebastian, Matchbox Twenty, Flo Rida, Ne-Yo and TobyMac also come through with the goods.
A whole season must’ve passed beneath our feet, moons come and gone, colours of the wind changed, since our last Chart Feed – but I’m now ready to immerse myself back into a regime of tireless research on Monday nights.
Perhaps once the choir of angels performing their celebratory rendition of ‘You Bring Me Joy’has ascended back to heaven, we can begin this week’s pickings of the ARIA, UK Official and US Billboard charts.
This was a particularly rosy week for Justice Crew and Conor Maynard, featuring new entries also from The Veronicas, Kelendria Trene Rowland and Scissor Sisters.
Reece Mastin‘s ‘Good Night’ checks off its second week on top of our ARIA singles chart, now clocking over 70,000 sales to become one of the fastest selling singles here this year. ‘Good Night’ is unsurprisingly also the biggest gainer on our Aussie airplay chart (between 24 to 30 November), rising to #23.
Guy Sebastian‘s ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ improves on last week’s debut, now rising to #4 on the ARIA chart in its second week. Probably thanks to some decent radio rotation too. ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ leaps from #54 to #27 on the Australian airplay chart.
Adele has the biggest selling music DVD in Australia this week with Live at Royal Albert Hall debuting on top of the charts, beating off two other new tour DVD releases: Lady Gaga‘s Monster Ball Tour (#2) and Kylie‘s Aphrodite Les Folies (#3). I suppose someone should mention that Britney‘s Femme Fatale tour DVD arrived at #8? Such a non-factor.
Over in the UK, Kylie‘s Aphrodite Les Folies Live in London debuts at #72 on the album charts. It should show up on the DVD charts next week.
Watch Adele performing ‘Turning Tables’ live at The Royal Albert Hall:
Hilltop Hoods featuring Sia‘s ‘I Love It’ is the biggest new single in Australia this week, debuting at #18. It is also the second most added new song to local radios. This is now Sia‘s second appearance in the ARIA Top 20 this year, following her other smash guest appearance ‘Titanium’ with David Guetta.
Jessica Mauboy and Stan Walker‘s redundant ballad ‘Galaxy’ sits at #20 on the ARIA Top 50 and registers the biggest drop on the Australian airplay chart in the last week, sinking from #17 to #31. The song has strangely appeared on the UK release schedule with a tentative 12 December launch date. Meanwhile, Stan‘s new album Let The Music Play worringly drops from #18 to #27 in its second week here.
Kelly Clarkson‘s ‘What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)’ leaps to #44 on our ARIA singles chart this week, while its predecessor ‘Mr Know It All’ falls to #29. All these lesser songs need to take note and move out of the way too. Kelly‘s hit album Stronger falls to #20 in its sixth week here.
Lana Del Rey‘s ‘Video Games’ breaks into a new peak of #56 on our ARIA charts. The gospel of Del Rey continues to spread across Europe – in fact, ‘Video Games’ is currently reigning in the iTunes Top 10 in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.
Watch Lana perform ‘Blue Jeans’ – a track featured on her ‘Video Games’ EP:
One Direction has the biggest selling new album in Australia this week with Up All Night making a strong debut at #5, simultaneously certifying gold sales of 35,000 copies shipped.
Olly Murs finally gets a UK #1 album with In Case You Didn’t Know debuting on top, selling 148,000 copies in its first week. His first album Olly Murs arrived at roughly the same time last year but only managed to sell 108,000 copies to debut at #2. Well done, you.
Take That’s Progress Live album enters at #12 in the UK this week, making sure Gary Barlow‘s not left penniless this Christmas while his X Factor cohorts all manage chart appearances. Progress Live remains as the biggest selling music DVD in the UK for the second week in a row, keeping Adele‘s Live At Royal Hall from claiming the throne.
Watch Take That performing one of my faves ‘Kidz’ live on their Progress tour:
Joe McElderry‘s Classic Christmas album debuts at #15 in the UK this week. This time next year, Craig Colton will be doing the same.
N-Dubz‘s Greatest Hits debuts at a humble #38 this week. It was such a pointless cash grab to coincide with Tulisa‘s X Factor gig and Dappy’s recent solo success. Tulisa‘s own solo album’s not slated for release until the first quarter of next year.
Kelly Rowland‘s Here I Am (International Version) cops a red-faced flop in the UK this week, entering at #56 despite all the promo she’s put in during the week including a mini concert for BBC 1Xtra – which was an utter hot mess, by the way. The album turns up at #23 on the UK digital charts, which doesn’t look too bad I guess. Kelendria‘s current single ‘Down For Whatever’ drops to #9 there while the sexy American urban smash ‘Lay It On Me’ starts charting at #81 in the UK.
Here I Am has a slight chance of faring better in its second week, especially after today’s X Factor performance. Look, I really don’t think it’s gonna significantly turn fortunes around for the diva but kudos for trying anyway.
Watch Ms Kelly turn out a medley performance of ‘When Love Takes Over/Down For Whatever’ on UK X Factor:
The Saturdays‘ On Your Radar sinks from its disappointing #23 debut to #53 this week. It’s officially a success of Sweet 7 proportions now, am I right – guys? The pop quintet has just kicked off their All Fired Up tour so with any luck, this should support sales a little.
X Factor Finalists‘ woeful charity single ‘Wishing On A Star’ did go #1 after all, making this the fourth consecutive year where the show has slapped a benefit release on top of the charts.
Jessie J‘s defining ballad ‘Who You Are’ races from #37 to #8 this week, thanks to her performance on the UK X Factor and not to mention a complimentary warble by axed contestant Misha B.
Rebecca Ferguson‘s debut album Heaven arrives in UK storefronts today and it’ll be interesting to see where it ends up given the lukewarm chart response to ‘Nothing’s Real But Love’. The slow-burning single does a death drop from #10 to #30 this week.
Emeli Sandé‘s second solo single ‘Daddy’ debuts at #21 this week, obviously gonna be a hard match for ‘Heaven’s peak at #2. The flawless singer/songwriter will drop her debut album Our Version of Events on 6 February.
Watch Emeli‘s video for ‘Daddy’:
Beyoncé‘s ‘Love On Top’ flies to #28 in the UK this week, making this Queen Bey‘s 19th solo Top 30 smash in the country. The last closest reach she had was with ‘Countdown’ just a few weeks ago, peaking at #35.
Michael Buble‘s Christmas album squeezes to the #1 spot on the US Billboard 200 with a marginal 0.18% lead over Nickelback‘s Here and Now, which debuted at #2. This is said to be the closest race to the top since November 2007.
Christmas is Buble‘s third US #1 album and with 227,000 copies sold, this is actually the biggest weekly sales he’s ever clocked. I’m thinking he’s gonna be doing seasonal records more often now. Interestingly enough with Justin Bieber‘s Under The Mistletoe and Michael Buble‘s Christmas going #1, 2011 is now the first year to yield two US #1 Christmas albums since 1957, when Elvis and Bing Crosby scaled such heights.
Watch Michael Buble recording ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’:
Nickelback‘s Here and Now is the band’s third consecutive album to make the US top two. Although, the opening week sales don’t quite match that of 2005’s All The Right Reasons (325,000) and 2008’s Dark Horse (326,000).
Rihanna‘s Talk That Talk debuts at #3 in the US, nabbing 197,000 first week sales. Last year’s blockbuster album Loud managed to debut at #2 with 207,000 copies sold. Over at the singles bar, ‘We Found Love’ continues to reign on top of the US Billboard Hot 100 while ‘Talk That Talk’ becomes the biggest new single in the country, debuting at #31. Elsewhere, ‘You Da One’ drops from #14 to #22 while ‘Where Have You Been’ cracks the Top 100 at #65.
In the UK, Talk That Talk drops to #3 in its second week. The pull downwards is also reflected on the singles chart with ‘We Found Love’ slipping to #3 and ‘You Da One’ dipping one spot to #40. The more drastic drops were felt by album tracks: ‘Talk That Talk’ (#25 to #47) and ‘Where Have You Been’ (#61 to #94).
Here in Australia, ‘We Found Love’ is still securely seated in the ARIA Top 5 while its predecessor ‘You Da One’ ascends to a new peak of #31. Its other sister tracks ‘Where Have You Been’ and ‘Talk That Talk’ drop to #63 and #73 respectively, while the new album slides to #7 in its second week. Talk That Talk has now been certified gold sales for shipments of 35,000 copies in Australia.
Listen to Rihanna‘s fierce as fuck ‘Cockiness (Love It)’:
Lady Gaga‘s Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden is the biggest selling music DVD in the US, debuting straight at #1 ahead of two other major titles out in the same week: Britney‘s The Femme Fatale Tour (#2) and Beyoncé‘s Live at Roseland (#3).
A Very Gaga Holiday EP debuts at #52 on the US Billboard 200 while Born This Way – The Remix enters at a lowly #105. Over at the singles chart, ‘You and I’ sits at #29 while ‘Marry The Night’ ascends from #97 to #59.
In the UK, Born This Way – The Remix debuts at #77 while ‘Marry The Night’ edges to a new peak of #16. Here in Australia, Born This Way – The Remix debuts at #62 on our ARIA charts but ‘Marry The Night’ has yet to return to our ARIA Top 100.
Watch the hilarious Cooking with Gaga segment on Alan Carr‘s Chatty Man:
will.i.am‘s new single ‘T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)’ featuring Mick Jagger and Jennifer Lopez debuts at #36 on the US Billboard Hot 100, selling 70,000 first week downloads. Meanwhile here in Australia, ‘T.H.E.’ enters our ARIA charts at #68. The Black Eyed Peas frontman’s last solo hit here was last year’s ‘Check It Out’ (featuring Nicki Minaj), which made #21.
Monica‘s new ballad ‘Until It’s Gone’ moves up to a new peak of #26 on the US R&B/Hip Hop charts. There hasn’t been as much of a buzz with this new era for Mo so let’s hope things pick up in the new year. Her seventh studio album New Life is slated for a 21 February release in the States.
Selena Gomez & The Scene‘s ‘Love You Like A Love Song’ finally tops the US Billboard Dance/Club play charts with Beyoncé‘s ‘Countdown’ closing in at #2. Shout out to these key risers: Wynter Gordon‘s amazing ‘Buy My Love’ (#7), Nervo‘s ‘We’re All No One’ (#8) and Katy Perry‘s ‘The One That Got Away’ (#13).
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).
Kimbra lands the biggest selling new album in Australia this week with Vows debuting at #5 on our ARIA charts. The Kiwi indie pop siren kicked off her album tour last Friday with a show at Melbourne’s iconic Forum theatre and is set to take the country by storm over the coming weeks. On the ARIA singles chart – she’s still co-reigning on top with Gotye‘s ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’, which managed to once again keep Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera‘s ‘Moves Like Jagger’ from claiming the crown. Kimbra‘s own new single ‘Good Intent’ creeps in at #98 this week but who gives when you’re selling that many albums?
If y’all are loving hard on Kimbra‘s Vows, you should treat yourself to this A-grade interview I did with her [Editor’s note: so modest] where she elaborated on the album’s art direction and creative processes.
Pete Murray‘s new album Blue Sky Blue debuts at #6 in Australia this week. The new single ‘Always A Winner’ [the title reeks of an Adam Reilly co-write that was rejected by Idol hopefuls circa 2005] may not be in Aussie radio’s overall Top 10 most played but it’s certainly getting love in Geelong where it’s the fourth most played track. Bless. Geelong also bumps a lot of Michael Paynter. Again – bless.
Nicole Scherzinger‘s Killer Love finally pops on our ARIA charts, entering at an underwhelming #28 this week. Is it because Universal Music Australia didn’t tell a soul that this album was finally hitting shelves? I know the situation confused a few queens because the album technically had been on sale via JB HiFi for months now, but now that it is officially out physically and digitally (with the 50 Cent remix of ‘Right There’) – there’s something chartworthy to report on. Said single exits our ARIA Top 20 this week while over in the UK, her sexy RedOne stomper ‘Wet’ sinks to #27.
Y’all know US X Factor is gonna premiere on 21 September – featuring Nicole’s fabulous self behind the judging panel alongside her idol Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid. Take a look at this dramatic extended preview here:
Sade‘s Ultimate Collection compilation re-enters our local chart at #35 this week, buoyed by excitement of their forthcoming Aussie tour in December. This will be the gang’s first trip to Australia in over 20 years, tickets are going on sale this Friday so expect for shit to be snapped up fast. Now just for comparison sake, here’s another tour/greatest hits package situation for you to chew on.
Roxette‘s Hits compilation enters our ARIA charts at #71 this week despite all this excitement about them finally touring Down Under for the first time in over 15 years. The ‘It Must Have Been Love’ pair recently added shows around the country for the month of February, so get with it. Speaking of flaming old duos getting down here – y’all can be Bananarama‘s back up dancers on stage when they play the Rewind 80’s Festival in Wollongong by simply entering this here JOY 94.9 competition. Trust the nation’s gay and lesbian radio station to be on board.
Jessie J‘s brand new single ‘Domino’ becomes the highest selling new single in Australia this week, debuting at #12. While stations all over the world continue to bump that, she’s still peddling the sinister ‘Who’s Laughing Now’ in the UK. The single dips to #21 this week. Check out her feisty performance on Red or Black?:
The girl’s ankle can now apparently tell when it’s going to rain, thanks to the foot injury she’s still nursing. Until X Factor peaks at its live show phase, Red or Black? really is the top-rating go-to show on UK telly if you got a single to flog. Leona Lewis premiered her first live performance of ‘Collide’ there last week and One Direction‘s also done a spot. We’ll address Leona’s little chart showdown further down the post so as they say in TV land – don’t go anywhere.
Adele‘s ‘Set Fire to The Rain’ bullets to #26 in Australia this week while the Moto Blanco remix re-enters our club charts at #25. Seriously, I wanna set fire to my scrotum every time I hear that housed up version. Why am I in such a foul mood over this? I mean, I should thank my lucky stars there weren’t any cheesy dance remixes commissioned for ‘Someone Like You’. Always try to look on the bright side, Limmy. Over in the States, ‘Someone Like You’ makes Billboard chart history for registering the biggest leap to #1 position ever on the Hot 100 (not including the obvious #1 debuts).
Dev‘s ‘In The Dark’ managed to debut at #64 here this week. For a more favourable outlook, it enters at #19 on our Australian dance charts and #20 on the US Billboard dance charts. Elsewhere, Israel Cruz‘s comeback single ‘Party Up’ sinks from #75 to #83 – perhaps a future as producer/record mogul will prove to be a more dignified option. The Potbelleez‘s ‘Midnight Midnight’ tumbles hard from its peak of #48 last week to #80. How embarrassment.
Sneaky Sound System‘s ‘Big’ remixes take a massive leap into the ARIA club charts Top 10 this week. The simple-yet-effective music video premiered sometime last week and it sees our Aussie dance duo hitting up Vegas. I started writing a blog post just for it but then I realised I only have approximately this much to say.
Let’s have Connie’s stunning sequined dress do all the talking for me:
Nicki Minaj and Rihanna‘s inspirational piece ‘Fly’ flutters in at #38 this week. I will allow you to roll your eyes discreetly re: pun. This really is one of my faves from the album and it’s just the kinda track you can bring home to meet mother, am I right? It highlights Nicki using rap for the powers of good and not evil. The latter is also perfectly acceptable if you’re down with tracks like ‘Did It On ‘Em’ and ‘Roman’s Revenge’. I secretly live for it when Mama Lim’s church prayer group aren’t watching. ‘Fly’ re-enters the US Billboard Hot 100 at #64.
Beyoncé‘s splendid ‘Love On Top’ cracks our ARIA charts at #40 this week thanks to the defining VMA’s performance and of course, swift radio additions. Somebody tell me what the fuck is going on with single number three campaign. I know ‘Party’ (featuring André 3000) is already clinking wine glasses with everyone on the US urban chart, so what about the rest of the world? Who’s gonna run this motha when ‘Best Thing I Never Had’ retires and the Queen Mother begins to seriously nurse her belleh? As much as I love ‘Countdown’ and ‘End of Time’ – and I see them waiting at the wings – I’m gonna have to let ‘Love On Top’ fly its course. How can you deny its excellence? The song managed to debut at #20 on the US Billboard chart on Thursday. This is evidently its time.
Watch part one of 4 Intimate Nights with Beyonce – Behind The Scenes. I am absolutely dying for the DVD:
Florence + The Machine is drowning a little with her new piece ‘What The Water Gave Me’. The song has yet to properly manifest itself on airwaves and on our charts, as it sinks to #43 this week. Meanwhile, past glories like ‘You’ve Got The Love’ and ‘Dog Days Are Over’ hit back at #51 and #60 respectively – the latter being the highest chart position recorded for ‘Dog Days Are Over’. I’mma chin stroke and say it might have something to do with X Factor Australia hopeful Tyla Bertolli‘s audition. If you’re following the series and are not already engaging with my wonderful corresponding blog posts – do you enjoy bashing puppies?
Speaking of the local X Factor touch, Usher‘s classic ‘U Got It Bad’ makes a comeback at #55 on this week’s ARIA singles chart and #16 over on the urban charts. Thanks again to another popular contestant – Josh Brookes – audition. Elsewhere, Tracy Chapman‘s ‘Talkin’ Bout A Revolution’ revisits at #66 after Zaachariaha Fielding‘s sublime performance. Meanwhile, X Factor judge Ronan Keating sees his compilation 10 Years of Hits leap from #81 to #66.
Wynter Gordon‘s ‘Buy My Love’ is nowhere to be seen, y’all. What the fuck is going on here? How can it be one of the Top 10 most added new songs to Aussie radio last week and not even see that reflected in an ARIA Top 100 entry? Gurl, it is not even in the iTunes Top 200. Now I’m pressed. HerAustralian X Factor appearance (for two nights) presented a perfect opportunity to drum up some publicity but as far as I know, she hasn’t had any promo lined up for the local single release.
I recognise that my gurl is busy doing shows around the States right now but couldn’t her local label Warner/Neon have done something? I mean, Darren Hayes also got the same amount of time on X Factor but his team managed to put the word out and cross promote the Aussie single ‘Bloodstained Heart’. More could’ve been done to support ‘Buy My Love’.
Pixie Lott has earned herself another #1 smash with ‘All About Tonight’ pulling over 88,000 first week sales. Something tells me the devil was behind this. In fact, call it premonition but before the charts came in I received a random text from my ex with nothing but ‘All About Tonight’ lyrics. The song, which has been earmarked for an American release at some point, is Pixie’s third UK chart topper – following her first two releases ‘Mama Do’ and ‘Boys and Girls’.
Check out her performance of ‘All About Tonight’ on Red or Black? where she criminally tries to be The Saturdays. The nerve!
The Saturdays take silver for this weeks epic chart showdown between Pixie, Leona Lewis and themselves. The girls’ ridiculously catchy new single ‘All Fired Up’ comes in at #3 in the UK, the second biggest new release of the week. The race was well documented on pop music forums – turning into something of a spectator sport, really – when the midweeks came in. ‘All Fired Up’ managed over 40,000 sales by last Wednesday and ended the week with over 70,000 copies. Easily their best first-week sales yet but y’all know The Saturdays have always been headfirst sellers – their manic fans pre-order everything and rush out with massive campaigns on the release day/week itself. The last monster first-week seller they had was the charity single ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’, pulling 65,000 copies.
Leona Lewis didn’t realistically have a chance against the former two female pop acts on this week’s chart. As much as I’m rooting for her Glassheart era, the diva is struggling to get adequate radio support for ‘Collide’ in the UK and honestly, if it weren’t for her legion of hardcore fans, the single wouldn’t even have come as far as #4 on this week’s charts.
Looking on the UK airplay charts – Pixie Lott‘s ‘All About Tonight’ edges up to #4, The Saturdays‘ ‘All Fired Up’ managed to climb to #18 but Leona/Avicii‘s ‘Collide’ is all the way down at #44. You see what I mean? ‘Collide’ becomes Leona’s seventh UK Top 5 smash – her biggest evidently being her #1 singles: ‘A Moment Like This’, ‘Bleeding Love’ and ‘Run’. Over on the US dance charts, ‘Collide’ ascends to a new peak of #6.
Melanie C‘s The Sea and accompanying single ‘Think About It’ was left choking in the dust this week with a debut of #45 and #95 respectively. Damn, #95 has to be her lowest chart effort yet, not far off from ‘This Time’ which floundered at #94. It’s no wonder the Spice memaw’s a little tentative about touring the UK with this album. I mean, she’s always gonna sell out random intimate shows here and there but I don’t think it’ll be anything as major as what we’d like.
The Sea was clinging to #35 at the midweeks but come Sunday, it finished outside the Top 40 with a total of 3,735 copies sold. The album washed in at #29 on the UK digital charts and #6 on the UK indie charts. ‘Think About It’ only managed to sell 2,630 copies.
Do yourselves a favour and look up her splendid G-A-Y set featuring acoustic and club-appropriate performances of her new material and classics. This is one of my faves of the night: ‘Burn’. Future single, anyone?
Will Young‘s Echoes slips under Joe McElderry‘s Classic this week, dropping to #5 while the latter moves up to #3. We really can’t compare the success of these two talent show pop stars, can we? Will’s ‘Jealousy’ picks up airplay to become the third most played song on UK radios this week but the single drops to #12. Meanwhile, Joe hasn’t got a single on the radios but like all covers album artists – think: Susan Boyle – he need not any to bring home bacon. Echoes managed over 24,890 copies this week while Classic picks up pace with over 29,700 sales.
Kelly Rowland is still surprising shoppers when they see her Here I Am album in stores, largely due to its under promotion over in the UK. How is it that Bey‘s barely there fetus can sell more records than a woman on prime time telly? The X Factor judge extraordinaire‘s album is nowhere in the UK Top 100 but across the Atlantic, it clings to #35 on the US Billboard Hot 200 and #8 on the R&B charts. Her latest single ‘Lay It On Me’ continues to pick up US rhythmic radio support and sees it fittingly slide up to #69 on the US Billboard R&B charts where ‘Motivation’ still holds tight to #2.
Kelendria is re-engaging the services of ‘Motivation’ director Sarah Chatfield for her next two videos: ‘Lay It On Me’ and ‘Down For Whatever’. Take a quick peek on the set of ‘Lay It On Me’ – Suzie the baby elephant is sadly not featured. The young pachyderm got to play with Kelly in another scene:
Cobra Starship‘s Night Shades debut at #50 in the US with a modest 9,000 first week sales. They’re faring a lot better in Australia and New Zealand where the lead single ‘You Make Me Feel’ reaches #6 and #1 respectively. Speaking of dance, Yoko Ono managed to smack Beyoncé well off the top of the US dance/club charts with ‘Talking To The Universe’ becoming her sixth consecutive #1 smash.
Here’s a lovely response from Yoko when Billboard asked about her connection to dance music and her recent slew of club chart toppers:
“Many of my songs were dance orientated from way back. That’s because I love dance! When I hear a dance number, just hearing the first eight bars, it immediately makes my bod start moving and dancing. That’s how I was from a long, long time ago. I can’t help it. But now that I am very involved with making dance tracks, I feel I finally came home!
One thing I didn’t know, and now I know: DJs are in incredible competition, musically. And they are the most musically creative and sensitive people in all the music charts. I am amazed how they are. Without their creativity, my songs could never have become #1. I have so much respect and love for the DJs on the dance chart, you just don’t know. One day, the dance charts will be the biggest chart in the music world. Because we all need to dance. This planet will be a fun planet when the judges in court will end the day with a dance!”
God I love her. Y’all noticed how I placed a Dolly Parton quote in last week’s post? I plan to keep planting these seeds of diva wisdom into my weekly Chart Feed because these memaws just have so much to offer. So much more than just their music.
Gloria Estefan‘s ‘Wepa’ continues to tear it up, moving to a new peak of #14 on the US dance/club charts – certified the “greatest gainer” of the week. The Latin pop mami’s comeback album Little Miss Havana will be released exclusively via Target in America on 27 September. I am slightly concerned to hear that she’s covered J.Lo‘s awful anthem ‘Let’s Get Loud’ for the deluxe edition. Speaking of old divas on the dance floor, Taylor Dayne‘s club comeback single ‘Floor On Fire’ bullets to #39 on the US dance charts. She has no business trying to sound like Cascada. In fact, no one does.
Jennifer Hudson has found herself a surprise dance smash in ‘No One Gonna Love You’. The single rises to #19 on the US dance/club charts, bettering what I thought would’ve been a stronger contender: ‘Night of Your Life’ (with David Guetta). It’s still early days for said track, given that the album just dropped two weeks ago. ‘No One Gonna Love You’ has had an enormous head start.
Elsewhere on the dance/club charts – Joe Jonas‘ fierce new piece ‘Love Slayer’ enters at #47, Taryn Manning‘s crunktastic comeback ‘Turn It Up’ breaks at #48 while Nicole Scherzinger‘s ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’ bullets to #45.
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