Monday, May 7, 2007

Love Alone is not enough at the Top

Little action affects the top spot this week as Beyoncé and Shakira rack up a third week on top. Just below them, the Manic Street Preachers bullet 26-2 with ‘Your Love Alone Is Not Enough’, their first top ten in ions and the single predicted to take them to the top. A mere 5000 copies separate them from ‘Beautiful Liar’ but for this week, anyway they’ll have to settle for a respectable number 2.

Gym Class Heroes move into the number 3 position with ‘Cupid's Chokehold’ and the rest of the top ten reads much like last week until we get to the lower portion. Groove Armada Ft Stush plough into the top ten at 9 with ‘Get Down’ the song they debuted with last week at 32. This placing gives them their biggest hit ever despite being around since 1999 when they debuted with 'If Everybody Looked The Same' from the soundtrack to Madonna’s film “The Next Best Thing’.

Right behind them at 10, Hellogoodbye attack the entire chart with ‘Here (in Your Arms)’. From California, this band vocodes, bleeps and spins enough sunshine to overpower any other hit on the chart. This single sounds like nothing else on the entire 75 single chart. A cross between Daft Punk and Cher, and Sonny and Cher splitting a coke, this track bubbles with enough fun to claim summer anthem status a whole month and a half before beach season arrives.

While long considered a possible one hit wonder, Amerie climbs 28 – 13 with ‘Take Control’ a guitar strumming romp through super powerful woman land. She belts out her vocal with enough attitude to make you soon forget that this song is about absolutely nothing. A sure-fire top ten in a week.

New at 18, Dada Ft Sandy Rivera & Trix sweeten up the top 20 with ‘Lollipop’. Dada first charted with Deepest Blue a few years back but now along with club track singer Sandy the trio have their first dance chart cross over hit. While not necessarily a subtle single about enjoying the desserts of a lover, the beat infects and makes a great kick off to the summer club scene.

New at 37, crooner Michael Bublé flies the maple leaf along with fellow Canadians, Avril Lavigne (5) and Nelly Furtado (4 - Give It To Me and 27 - Say It Right) with his new single ‘Everything’. Not to be confused with the single of the same name that Alanis Morrissette charted with in 2004, this original recording is surprisingly only Bublé’s second. ‘Home’ his first hit charted in 2005 peaked at 31 but became such a huge hit on radio, stayed around for what seemed forever.

Snow Patrol return to the chart this week with ‘Signal Fire’ from the Spiderman 3 Soundtrack at number 50. Meanwhile eternal flame ‘Chasing Cars” moves up two to number 45 this week.

New at 56, Right Said Fred comeback to the chart with ‘I'm too Sexy 2007’ as if it wasn’t all bad enough. Could those two shirtless Maawdolls have what it takes to shake it at the top 15 years later or is the modern listening public to sexy for this song?

The last new noteworthy track bumps in barely at 74. DJ extraordinaire, Armand Van Helden returns with ‘NYC Beat’. Another summer potential.

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Arctic Monkeys Settle for Less; Beautiful Liar Holds On

While the week started off hot with many predicting a full 18 songs charting by the Arctic Monkey, Beyoncé and Shakira head the pack with ‘Beautiful Liar’ for a second week. The monkey’s great new single proper ‘Brainstorm’ slips all the way to number 7 possibly because all their new tracks became available for download as singles according to the new rules.

They do, however, have the distinction of the only act with three new tracks on the chart including ‘Brainstorm’ as well as Fluorescent Adolescent (60) and 505 (74).

Up one notch each are last week’s 3 and 4, Timbaland featuring Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake with ‘Give it to me’ and Avril Lavigne with ‘Girlfriend’.

NeYo edges up to 4 with ‘Because of you’ while Mark Ronson Ft D Merriweather hold steady at 5 with ‘Stop me’. Apparently, their song was self-predicting.

Mika lands a second straight top tenner with ‘Love Today’ jumping all the way up from 18 to 6. This move proves he is no one hit wonder. To confirm the power of this greatest new discovery, former number one ‘Grace Kelly’ clings to the number 25 position while ‘Lollipop’ returns to the top 75 at number 73.

Gym Class Heroes has one of the highest movers this week with ‘Cupid's Chokehold’ up 24 – 8. Natasha Bedingfield slips 2 with ‘I wanna have your babies’ while Travis returns to the top ten with ‘Closer’. I never would have predicted a 26-notch jump for Travis since the song is mediocre at best, but then I did predict a number one for the Arctic Monkeys.

Two great debuts clock into the top forty this week. Dame Shirley Bassey makes a dramatic return to the top forty at number 38. Last heard on the Propellerheads fantastic track 'History Repeating' in 1999, Shirley makes yet another comeback.

More or less known as the dame that sings the Bond tunes, this song is neither a celebrated collaboration nor a soundtrack song. It's unclear really why the woman with the unmistakeable voice chose to come back now, unless it was to celebrate 50 years in the biz, but for this week at least she brings her special touch of class to the chart.

'The living Tree' is a slow burner that winds up to a belting chorus as Bassey begs to 'dance till her shoes cry" she howls for freedom and redemption over a tightly performed string arrangement. A beautiful Bond song this would make, in the meantime it’s the 27th chart single for this powerhouse who first hit the charts all the way back in 1957.

My second favourite debut comes from everyone's favourite drama queen. Amy Winehouse, caps off the list of impressive debuts this week that includes new tracks from The Manic Street Preachers (26) and Amerie (28) as well as the returns of Groove Armanda (32) and Lostprophets (34).

At 40 Amy strolls back into the charts with the title track to her international smash album 'Back to Black'. A song of tortured endearment, Amy comes to terms with the death of her relationship. "You go back to her and I go back to black". Truly tragic, truly magnificent. Someone pour this girl a glass of wine – she needs it more than anyone.