Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

I've just checked the Radio 1 chart update page, eager to see where Josh Dubovie's Eurovision entry is in the midweeks, and it isn't in the top 40 at all. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised, after Jade Ewen only made #27 last year, after weeks of publicity on Your Country Needs You, whereas Josh was on one atrocious hour-long programme two months ago - and I don't know if any radio stations, anywhere, are playing the single. Josh doesn't even exist on the hmv website, and the track is only listed on amazon as an album track from the Eurovision compilation, which seems to make the CD copy that the kindly BBC people gave me something of a rarity. iTunes has four versions of the track available, but that seems to be about the only place to buy it.

To miss the Top 40 completely would be a disaster, and unheard of in recent years for our Eurovision entry. There will be a surge of download sales on Saturday night, but will it be enough? Josh is a lovely lad - I'd like to see him with a hit.

Labels: charts, Eurovision 2010, Josh Dubovie

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Milestone UK number one singles

100th Do You Mind? - Anthony Newley (April 1960)
200th Help! - The Beatles (April 1965)
300th Knock Three Times - Dawn (May 1971)
400th Don't Cry For Me, Argentina (February 1977)
500th A Little Peace - Nicole (May 1982)
600th China In Your Hand - T'Pau (November 1987)
700th Twist And Shout - Chaka Demus & Pliers featuring Jack Radics and Taxi Gang (January 1994)
800th Bootie Call - All Saints (September 1998)
900th Lady Marmalade - Christina Aguilera / Lil' Kim / Mya / P!nk (June 2001)
1,000th One Night / I Got Stung - Elvis Presley (January 2005)
1,100th Evacuate The Dancefloor - Cascada (July 2009) TODAY!



Michael Jackson's 'Man In The Mirror' was leading the midweek charts every day this week, but Cascada's new single was closing in on it every day, at a rate which made it look as if they would claim today's number one spot and the 1,100th UK number one, and indeed they have. At least they're alive and available for any PR that the Official Charts Company may want to do with them. The OCC had to put up with Elvis Presley posthumously claiming the 1,000th number one in 2005, so they may have been dreading another dead artist claiming the 1,100th today. (And it's not as if Michael Jackson needs any more publicity at the moment.) The OCC could start by mentioning this milestone to Radio 1. Reggie Yates has presented the Top 40 for three hours this afternoon without mentioning this chart milestone at all, even when he announced Cascada as the number one at the end. The team behind the Radio 1 chart show really is useless.

Cascada are German and Elvis Presley was American, as were the four acts on 'Lady Marmalade', the 900th number one, so the last UK act to claim a 'century number one' remains All Saints, who secured the 800th with Bootie Call in 1998.

'Man In The Mirror' therefore fails to make number one (although there's always next week, with the continued Jacko publicity that his memorial service and funeral will bring in the coming days). This will no doubt surprise the many people who are convinced that it's number one already. Two of my colleagues last Monday informed me that Michael Jackson was number one. I pointed out that Man In The Mirror was number 11, the highest of his six tracks in the top 40, but "it was on Sky News" that Jacko had topped the chart, therefore it must be true, in their eyes. Sky News (and also independent radio) was quoting the 'Big Top 40', which was solely based on iTunes last week. It was not the official chart, which included the (admittedly minimal) physical sales and a much wider range of download outlets. Some people seem to think iTunes IS the UK's music retail industry, but it's not there yet, and history so far will not record a posthumous Michael Jackson number one.

Jackson has however, shattered Presley's record of seven concurrent top 40 hits, with an incredible thirteen of today's Top 40 being by him, up from last week's six entries. All of them climb today and four of them are in consecutive positions #32 to #35. 'Thriller' almost outpeaked its original 1983 peak of #10, but fell away towards the end of the week to land at #12 today. 'Man In The Mirror' at #2 has easily surpassed its original peak of #21.

Michael Jackson hits in today's Top 40:

02 (11) Man In The Mirror

10 (25) Billie Jean

12 (23) Thriller
13 (28) Smooth Criminal

19 (30) Beat It

25 (45) Black Or White
26 (50) Dirty Diana

32 (67) They Don't Care About Us
33 (38) Earth Song
34 (47) The Way You Make Me Feel
35 (44) You Are Not Alone

38 (48) Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough

40 (57) Bad

Michael Jackson has also replaced himself at the top of today's album chart, as 'The Essential' pushes 'Number Ones' down to #3, with La Roux's eponymous début album entering at #2. 'King Of Pop' at #5 completes three top five albums for Jacko.

While I was listening to the Top 40 via the earpiece on my mobile, I was multi-tasking, watching the amazingly long Wimbledon final between Federer and Roddick. Pete Sampras was there to see Federer rub Sampras's name from the record books as he moved up to fifteen Grand Slam titles, beating the record of fourteen titles which they held jointly since last month, when Federer won the French Open for the first time. Federer has now won six of the last seven Wimbledon titles, only one behind Sampras himself, while Andy Roddick has lost three Wimbledon finals, all to Federer. I felt so sorry for him. He's never won it, and this looked like it may have been his best chance ever. Federer didn't break Roddick's service at all until right at the end, as he only won two earlier sets on tie breaks, whereas Roddick had won his two sets by breaking Federer's serve twice. It's all part of the glorious unfairness of tennis, where you can win a match by wining fewer games overall, or by breaking your opponent fewer times. Roddick was in tears after losing the final set 16-14. It's not surprising, the poor thing. This picture says it all.

Labels: charts, Number One, Wimbledon

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The top eight albums on the UK's iTunes yesterday were all Michael Jackson or The Jacksons, with a similar situation in most countries that have iTunes, so it's no surprise that his 'Number Ones' album has rocketed from #121 to #1 in the official UK chart today. The compilation originally topped the chart on release in November 2003, so this makes it the third biggest gap for the same album topping the UK chart, behind two longer gaps for ABBA's Gold album.

In the singles chart, Michael Jackson has smashed The Jam's record of having thirteen singles in the top 75. He has twenty in total; 16 solo, 3 by The Jackson 5 and one more by their later incarnation, The Jacksons. Six of them have made the top 40, leaving him just short of the record of seven consecutive top 40 hits, held by Elvis Presley. It was close though, and who's to say it won't change next week? Today's chart covers seven days of sales, with only the last 48 hours being post-Jackson's death, so the impact could continue next week.

La Roux claim the UK's 1,099th number one today, with Bulletproof. The 1,000th number one was an Elvis Presley re-release. Could it be that Michael Jackson will continue the posthumous trend and get the 1,100 milestone next week?

These are the six Michael Jackson tracks in today's top 40:

11 (RE) Man In The Mirror - Michael Jackson. (The only Jacko track to reach a new peak in the Top 40 today, surpassing its #21 peak from Feb 1988. Also made #55 in Nov 2008, after Diana Vickers performed it on The X Factor.)

23 (193) Thriller – Michael Jackson (#10 in Nov 1983. #35 in Nov 2008. Always lurking around the bottom of the top 200 anyway, this now becomes the biggest ever climber to #23.)

25 (RE) Billie Jean – Michael Jackson (#1 in Feb 1983 for 1 week. #11 in Mar 2006.)

28 (RE) Smooth Criminal – Michael Jackson (#8 in Nov 1988. #19 in Apr 2006.)

30 (RE) Beat It – Michael Jackson (#3 in Apr 1983. #15 in Mar 2006)

38 (RE) Earth Song – Michael Jackson (Jacko's biggest-selling UK single. His only million seller. Entered at #1 in Dec 1995. #1 for 6 weeks. Also #34 in Jun 2006.)

Here are his other tracks in the top 75:

44 You Are Not Alone
45 Black Or White
47 The Way You Make Me Feel
48 Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
50 Dirty Diana
55 I Want You Back - The Jackson 5
57 Bad
58 Ben
65 ABC - The Jackson 5
67 They Don't Care About Us
71 I'll Be There - The Jackson 5
72 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
73 Rock With You
75 Blame It On The Boogie - The Jacksons

And the rest of the top 200:

78 Heal The World
85 Off The Wall
86 Can You Feel It? - The Jacksons
92 I Just Can't Stop Loving You
95 She's Out Of My Life
96 Ain't No Sunshine
97 You Rock My World
99 One Day In Your Life

106 Scream - Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson
109 Human Nature
111 Rockin' Robin
112 Who's Lovin' You? - The Jackson 5(?)
115 Remember The Time
117 Give In To Me
118 Liberian Girl
119 Leave Me Alone
120 Will You Be There?
125 P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
135 Stranger In Moscow
149 ???
172 The Girl Is Mine (Not sure if this is the 1982 version with Paul McCartney or the one with Will.I.Am from last year.)
177 Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground) - The Jacksons
190 Blood On The Dancefloor

Labels: charts, Michael Jackson

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Selections from the UK's iTunes top 100, as of around 13:00 today.

13 Man In the Mirror - Michael Jackson
30 Thriller (Single Version) - Michael Jackson
32 Billie Jean (Single Version) - Michael Jackson
40 Beat It (Single Version) - Michael Jackson
48 I Want You Back - The Jackson 5
49 Ben - Michael Jackson
51 Earth Song (Radio Edit) - Michael Jackson
53 You Are Not Alone (Single Version) - Michael Jackson
56 Black or White - Michael Jackson
57 Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson
59 The Way You Make Me Feel - Michael Jackson
62 Smooth Criminal (Radio Edit) - Michael Jackson
64 Dirty Diana - Michael Jackson
65 Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
69 Off the Wall (Single Version) - Michael Jackson
75 Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (Edited Single) - Michael Jackson
76 Man In the Mirror - Michael Jackson
78 Bad - Michael Jackson
88 Liberian Girl - Michael Jackson
89 Ain't No Sunshine - Michael Jackson
91 They Don't Care About Us (Edit) - Michael Jackson
92 Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (Single Version) - Michael Jackson
96 I'll Be There - The Jackson 5

Labels: charts, iTunes, Michael Jackson

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...which means he still hasn't had a number 1 single in the noughties, to give him a chart-topper in six consecutive decades.

It was a close-run thing all week between Kings Of Leon, who have entered at number one on downloads only, Katy Perry, who slips to #2 and Cliff Richard, who enters at #3. Up to Wednesday night, Kings of Leon had sold 36.2% of sales between the three of them, Katy Perry 32.6% and Cliff 31.2%. It's quite surprising that he didn't at least overtake Katy Perry, in her seventh week on sale, especially as he has done the rounds of daytime TV all week. Still, there's something delicious about Cliff being denied the chart achievement by one song about raunchy sex and a bi-curious anthem. It also gave Fearne Cotton the opportunity to tell American Caleb from the Kings of Leon that, "you have beaten off Cliff Richard" on the Radio 1 chart show, in one of those double entendres that gets lost on the Yanks.

It goes to show that you can't have a number one single just because you ask people nicely to give you the chart record. Here's some advice for Cliff's record company if they want to try again, say at Christmas.

1) Don't restrict sales of the CD to Woolworth's only. Cliff's fans, like the rest of us, would have had trouble locating the singles section in any Woolworth's these days, because the display is so small. By Christmas, it will be impossible, as Woolworth's were due to stop selling singles last month anyway. If the single had been in HMV, Cliff would probably have been number one today.

2) Teach your fans how to buy downloads. Start by teaching them how to turn on a PC. Cliff has at least topped the physical singles chart today. Hardly any of his sales were of the digital variety.

3) Release a better song. 'Thank You For A Lifetime' is syrupy rubbish. To be fair, it would have been nice if Cliff had achieved his noughties number one in 2006, with 21st Century Christmas, which was lyrically original and interesting, unlike this new load of mush. It ended up being stuck at #2, behind Leona Lewis's début single.

4) Check the release schedules and don't go up against something as good as the Kings of Leon single. They may never have made higher than #13 in the singles chart before, but this is a stormer of a track and a well-deserved chart-topper. The CD single hits the shops tomorrow.

For the record, Cliff Richard has appeared on fifteen UK number one singles so far, in each of the first five decades of the chart era, but not the sixth:

Twice in the 1950s:
Living Doll (1959). With The Drifters (the early name for The Shadows).
Travellin' Light (1959). With The Shadows.

Seven times in the 1960s:
Please Don't Tease, I Love You (both 1960). Both with The Shadows.
The Young Ones (1962). With The Shadows.
The Next Time/Bachelor Boy (1962), Summer Holiday (1963). Both with The Shadows and The Norrie Paramor Strings.
The Minute You're Gone (1965)
Congratulations (1968)

Once in the 1970s:
We Don't Talk Anymore (1979).

Three times in the 1980s:
Living Doll (1986). With The Young Ones, featuring Hank Marvin
Mistletoe & Wine (1988).
Do They Know It's Christmas? (1989). Part of Band Aid II.

Twice in the 1990s:
Saviour's Day (1990).
The Millennium Prayer (1999).

This total of 15 chart-toppers includes the Band Aid II single from 1989, which some sources choose to ignore. Only six of the fifteen have been under Cliff Richard's solo name; the other nine have all been collaborations or had co-credits.

Labels: charts, Cliff Richard, Katy Perry, Kings of Leon

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Leona Lewis is bleeding well Number One in America! Well done. It's quite an achievement, as the first video below was the last single by a British woman to make number one in the States. Twenty-one years ago! Kim Wilde's achievement in 1987 was all the sweeter for her because she never topped the charts in the UK at all, with singles or albums. 'You Keep Me Hangin' On' made #2 for two weeks here in 1986, blocked by the theme from Top Gun, before it topped the US chart in June the next year. Her 'Kids In America' début also made #2 here.

Poor Kim can't even claim a number one via the original Band Aid single, because she wasn't on it, possibly because her career was big before and after 1984, but in 1984 itself was having a bit of a dip. Or maybe it was because Geldof and Ure failed to invite any women who weren't in Bananarama or, er, Shalamar.

Anyway, this song is fab, and so is 'Bleeding Love'. What a great excuse to post Leona's stunning performance from this year's Brit Awards. The choreography is amazing, which can't quite be said for Kim Wilde's efforts. Watch the beginning and cringe. I think she's left the hangers in that jacket.


Kim Wilde - You Keep Me Hangin' On (The Wide Awake Club - 1986)




Leona Lewis - 'Bleeding Love' (The Brit Awards - 2008)

Labels: charts, Kim Wilde, Leona Lewis, Number One, usa

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Congratulations are due to our chums down the road at Chig's second home, the Nightingale Club, who have scored a top forty hit single today in week one of their first release as a record label. Nightingale Records has been formed specially for the release of 'Beautiful Ones', the debut for boyband Billiam. (Catalogue number = NIGHTINGALE1.) The single was released last Monday (17th) and enters the chart today at #32. This seems quite impressive considering that;

(a) boybands aren't exactly flavour of the month these days
(b) it's a first release on a new label
(c) I haven't heard any mention of the single on TV or radio at all
(d) 'Billiam' is a really crap name

It seems that supporting Westlife on tour and doing loads of club PAs really can pay off. Oh, and getting your kits off for the gay mags.

Here's Billiam's video:

Labels: Billiam, charts, Nightingale Club

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Psst! Don't tell anyone I told you, but if you can't wait for the charts to be revealed in the usual way on Radio1 this afternoon, no need to worry. For reasons I don't understand, Yahoo! Music has published them early! (It's 14:10 as I write this. These charts can't usually be published online until 19:00.) So, congrats to Sean Kingston (again), Plain White Ts (again) and James Blunt (new entry) on their number one singles, downloads and albums respectively.

Singles here, albums here and downloads here.

Labels: charts, leak

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