UK Singles Chart, November 28, 2009

1. You Are Not Alone - The X Factor Finalists

To no one's surprise, the X Factor Finalists top the UK singles chart this week with "You Are Not Alone," their remake of the 1995 Michael Jackson #1 hit. The power of the X Factor has been a recurring theme on the singles chart this fall, which has been dominated by tracks performed by established artists (Alexandra Burke, Cheryl Cole, JLS, Black Eyed Peas in particular, who saw their singles hit #1) and re-entries from the original artist's versions of songs the contestants sang on the show. Finally the contestants themselves get a crack at the chart, selling over 193,000 copies, more than twice what Black Eyed Peas' "Meet Me Halfway" sold to be this week's #2.

As great as that sounds though, this is actually not as wonderful as it could have been. For one, it's a far cry from the 312,000 that the 2008 X Factor Finalists sold last year of "Hero" in its first week. When "Hero" hit #1, it did so with a week's worth of sales that was about 5 times bigger than any other single had done that year. In contrast, this year's finalists did about as well as Alexandra Burke did a few weeks ago with "Bad Boys," and about 100k less than Cheryl Cole did recently when she bowed with "Fight for This Love." Could the show's popularity be slipping a bit? After all, this even had the Michael Jackson nostalgia factor going for it (this is the first remake of a Michael Jackson song to hit #1). Of course the real test will be how the winner does Christmas week--less than 1 month away now.

3. Whatcha Say - Jason DeRulo

A recent US #1 becomes a UK #3 as Jason DeRulo's "Whatcha Say" debuts at #3. This is DeRulo's first hit single.

8. Bad Romance - Lady GaGa

Lady GaGa climbs back into the top 10 at #8, achieving a new peak position. Her new EP The Fame Monster hits stores next week. Will it push the single up even further? In the US, "Bad Romance" is currently #1 at iTunes.

15. To Love Again - Alesha Dixon

Alesha Dixon debuts at #15 with "To Love Again," the new single to promote the re-release of her album The Alesha Show. I'm surprised to not see this in the top 10, as it's a pretty decent song. At #15, it charts lower than the three singles from the original version of the album. "To Love Again" is co-written by Take That member Gary Barlow.

16. You've Got the Love - Florence and the Machine

Florence and the Machine scores her second top 40 hit with "You've Got the Love," a remake of the Candi Staton dance classic, "You Got the Love." The single first emerged in 1986, but wasn't a hit until 1991, when a remix of the song--credited then and afterward to The Source featuring Candi Staton--hit #4. Six years later, a new version, the "Now Voyagers Remix" hit #3. Seven years after that in 2004, the Now Voyagers Remix was featured in the final moments of the last episode of Sex and the City. Then in 2006, another remix, the "New Voyagers Remix" came out, sending the single once again into the top 10 at #7. Florence misses the top 10, but does gives us the fourth top 40 version of this song--the first by a different artist.

23. Baby By Me - 50 Cent (feat. Ne-Yo)

50 Cent lands his 19th top 40 hit. Ne-Yo nabs his 10th.

40. I Need You Now - Agnes

Somebody has messed up big time. No other way to explain how Swedish pop singer Agnes, who had a major summer hit with "Release Me," now gets a flop follow-up. Here are the mistakes as I see them: 1) Failing to capitalize on "Release Me." "Release Me" was a great single--good enough to launch the album Dance Love Pop (it's not like it wasn't ready to go, it came in Sweden over a year ago--I have it, it's great). At a minimum, there should have been a follow-up single sooner. 2) Remixing a slow song. Even dance pop artists need to show some diversity, and it's a common practice to release a ballad as a third or fourth single after a few uptempo hits. "I Need You Now" is one of Dance Love Pop's great slow songs, but by turning it into a dance tune--of which there were already several other great choices--they lost the opportunity to use the song in that manner. 3) Lack of promotion. "I Need You Now" is only #45 on the UK airplay chart and it's not on either the BBC Radio 1 or Radio 2 playlists. Isn't anyone doing PR for her? I hope this doesn't spell an end to Agnes' chances of getting her album out in the UK.

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Album Review: Leona Lewis - Echo (4/5)

One can forgive Leona Lewis for basically remaking Spirit in Echo. After all, her 2007 debut has become the 27th best-selling album of all time in Britain (not a small feat considering the current state of album sales). Led by "Bleeding Love," which was the #1 single of 2007 in Britain, the biggest pop single of 2008 in the U.S., and a #1 hit in just about every country that tracks such things, the album was a success on a level unexpected for a new artist, even one launched with the help of Simon Cowell. After Kelly Clarkson, she became the second major international superstar launched from his Idol/X-Factor machine.

The similarities are apparent right off the back with "Happy," produced and co-written by Ryan Tedder, the OneRepublic frontman who, since producing and co-writing "Bleeding Love," has become one of the hottest commodities in pop music. "Happy" is "Bleeding Love" mark 2, a soaring, high-production ballad with the same thundering beat Tedder employs for these sorts of songs (see also Beyonce's "Halo" and Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone"). Just because its similar doesn't mean it's bad though, as the song is gorgeous, backed as it is by a string section, tinkling piano refrain and background singers (it's a shame "Happy" has failed in the US, charting lower at top 40 radio than even Spirit's third single "I Will Be").

Ryan Tedder shows up for two more songs that are decent, although not quite as grand as the opener."You Don't Care," another typical Tedder-ish ballad with that booming rhythm section and some woodwinds added to the strings, and "Lost Then Found," on which Tedder joins Lewis along with the rest of his band. It sounds like a pretty typical OneRepublic song--grand gestures and hooks that, for some reason, just don't add up like it should.

After "Happy," many of the tracks that follow at the beginning of the album are among its strongest. I absolutely adore "I Got You," a mid-tempo love song that unleashes Leona and the backing musicians during the strong chorus. This would make a perfect second single. It's produced by Arnthor Birgisson, who also helms another highlight, the tender "My Hands." "Can't Breathe" pushes the production flourishes a little more toward contemporary R&B with its synth layering and electronic bleeps and stutters. Elegant "Brave" exudes a Middle Eastern vibe.

"Outta My Head" represents one of Echo's key departures from Sprit--the inclusion of some dance pop. Produced by the Swedish team of Max Martin and Shellback, it's an enjoyable high-velocity, synth-based ditty. Also pushing up the RPMs are "Love Letter," a pop-rock song in the Kelly Clarkson mold produced by Kevin Rudolf ("Let It Rock"), and the rockin' also Clarkson-ish "Naked." All these songs are good, but particularly enjoyable is the '80s-mining "Fly Here Now," which has a really compelling beat.

Among the album's remaining slow songs, the best is "Stop Crying Your Heart Out," a remake of the 2003 Oasis hit, which manages the similar feat of turning a rock ballad into an atmospheric pop song that Lewis achieved last year with Snow Patrol's "Run." I'd be surprised if this wasn't released as a single in Britain, although I don't understand why this was omitted from the US release (similarly, I don't see why "Fly Here Now" wasn't included on the UK version).

The other ballads are fine, but not stand outs. "Broken" is supposed to be a sad lost-love type song, but it production is so overblown it comes across as angry. "Don't Let Me Down" is co-written by Justin Timberlake, and features him on backup vocals, but that doesn't save this from being an unremarkable Timbaland wannabe. "Alive" is not bad, but it comes rather late in the album to make it a standout against earlier, similar songs.

On balance, Echo is a slight improvement over Spirit, but not dramatically so. I like the broader mix of sounds, particularly the more up-tempo stuff, but there's still this nagging sense of a lack of artistry from Lewis herself. She's got a gorgeous voice, no doubt, and she can sing lots of different kinds of songs (she wouldn't have won X Factor if that wasn't the case), but I'm still not getting a sense of her in all this. Who is Leona Lewis? Where does her passion lie? I'm afraid she's getting lost among all this technical proficiency and elevated expectations for global domination. When Lewis was recently assaulted during a public appearance it was rather shocking, not just because it was a crazy, mean thing to do, but because who can get so worked up over a singer so seemingly innocuous?

Best: Happy, I Got You, Stop Crying Your Heart Out, Brave, Outta My Head, My Hands, Can't Breathe, Fly Here Now, Naked

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Best of 2000s: Duffy - Rockferry (5/5)

If Amy Winehouse cornered the bad-girl retro '60s market in 2006, Duffy showed there was room enough for a good-girl competitor in 2008. On the back of her heady breakthrough single, "Mercy," Duffy delivered 2008's best album. Rockferry was a gorgeous, soulful debut, with many of the songs focusing on the desire to leave or move on from a toxic relationship. A smash success in Britain, Rockferry also caught on in the US, where "Mercy" was a minor hit and Rockferry went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Pop Album.

Best: Mercy, Warwick Avenue, Stepping Stone, Serious, Hanging on Too Long

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NME's Best Albums of the Decade

New Musical Express has published its list of the 100 greatest albums of the decade. How exciting to see these start to come out! Being NME, the list is almost exclusively alternative rock. They've set up the article nicely with music clips and links to all the original reviews. Here's the top 10:

1. The Strokes - Is This It
2. The Libertines - Up the Bracket
3. Primal Scream - XTRMNTR
4. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell
6. PJ Harvey - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
7. Arcade Fire - Funeral
8. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
9. The Streets - Original Pirate Material
10. Radiohead - In Rainbows

Other highlights

14. Radiohead - Kid A
16. The Streets - A Grand Don't Come for Free
18. The White Stripes - Elephant
19. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
27. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
33. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
49. Muse - Absolution
51. The Good, the Bad and the Queen
55. Hard-Fi - Stars of CCTV
65. Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
70. Glasvegas
77. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Ballad of the Broken Seas
100. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

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Personal Chart, 11/21/2009

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Billboard Hot 100, November 28, 2009

1. Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z Featuring Alicia Keys

Jay-Z summits the Hot 100 for the first time as the lead performer with "Empire State of Mind," the lovely second single from The Blueprint 3. The single features female R&B singer Alicia Keys, earning her fourth #1 hit. Jay-Z has topped the chart three time previously as a featured rapper--all for very prominent female artists: with Mariah Carey in 1999 on "Heartbreaker," his wife Beyonce in 2003 on "Crazy in Love" and in 2007 with Rihanna on "Umbrella." This is the 7th week in a row that the Hot 100's #1 single has been something different than the previous week, a rate of turnover unseen since the advent of the Soundscan era in late 1991. The last time there was such a stretch was in the latter half of 1990, a 7-week period beginning with Nelson's "Cant Live Without Your (Love and Affection)" and ending with Mariah Carey's "Love Takes Time," which spent 3 consecutive weeks at #1. In 1989 there was an 8-week stretch beginning with Michael Damian's "Rock On" and ending with Martika's "Toy Soldiers."

5. Need You Now - Lady Antebellum

Last week's Country Music Awards (CMA) had quite the impact on the Hot 100 this week--a rare showing for country, the Hot 100's 4th-place genre after R&B, pop and rock. Lady Antebellum was one of the evening's big winners, picking up single of the year (for "I Run to You") and best vocal group. "Need You Now" is the group's newest single and first to be in the top 10.

10. Tik Tok - Ke$ha

Ke$ha lands her first top 10 solo hit. I think I already mentioned she was #1 earlier this year as a guest on Flo Rida's "Right Round."

26. Fifteen - Taylor Swift

Nice jump for Taylor Swift's "Fifteen," up 12 to #26 (but wouldn't a 15-spot jump have been nice? Maybe it will land on #15 at some point).

31. Defying Gravity - Glee Cast featuring Chris Colfer and Lea Michele

Glee scores its 6th top 40 hit with "Defying Gravity," the subject of a diva-off between Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Rachel (Lea Michele). Rachel won the contest when Kurt failed to hit the song's high note. The album version is actually different than what appeared on the show, as the song has been re-arranged to be a duet (and Kurt doesn't miss that note). Fun fact: Broadway star and Glee guest star Kristin Chenoweth sang this song as part of the cast of Wicked. Hopefully something from this week's Glee will appear in the top 40 next week--Rachel's disco-ey version of Jennifer Paige's "Crush?" Finn's goofy rendition of "You're Having My Baby" or, better, his version of The Pretenders' "I'll Stand By You?" Rachel and Mr. Schuester's lovely yet creepy "Endless Love?" or perhaps the full-cast finale of "Lean on Me?"

32. I'm Alive - Kenny Chesney feat. Dave Matthews
35. Do I - Luke Bryan
38. White Liar - Miranda Lambert
39. Consider Me Gone - Reba

Just look at all that country music. Perhaps the music industry just needs a few more awards shows.

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Songs of My Lifetime: Janet jackson - "If"

Doing the write-up of Number Ones put me in the mood to reminisce about "If," hands down my favorite Janet Jackson song ever. When Janet. came out in the summer of 1993, I listened to the whole album nonstop, but this was an early and immediate favorite. My friends and I used to try to copy the video's dance moves--particularly the robotic arm motions during the instrumental middle section.

A few years later while in college, my friend Layla, who was an extraordinary dancer (and now a DJ), got a group of us together to perform "If" at DragFest, our college's big spring gay dance--the social event of the season. We rehearsed daily for about a week leading up to the dance, and it was a lot of fun. I've always loved the videos with the big choreographed dance sequences--many of the best of which were Janet Jackson's (When I Think of You, Miss You Much, Rhythm Nation, and Alright, in particular). Thanks to Layla, I actually got to be part of one. Her choreography was pretty faithful to the video moves (see below). When we performed on stage at the dance, it was a big hit.

The song itself is pretty amazing dance pop. Its unrelenting tempo, heavy bass beat, layers of synths, and fuzzy electric guitar form the perfect background for Janet's horny declarations ("I closed my eyes and thought about us a hundred different ways") and thinly veiled allusions to oral sex ("your smooth and shiny feels so good against my lips, sugar"). Indeed. This is one to turn up--way up.

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Janet Jackson - Number Ones

Like Madonna did recently, this week Janet Jackson released a 2-disc, career-spanning greatest hits collection. This is Janet's second retrospective, following Design of a Decade (DOAD), the 1995 release that included all the singles from Control and Rhythm Nation 1814, plus two new tracks. A drawback of that set was that since it was released on A&M, her former label, it included only one track from Janet., which had been released under her new label Virgin. So while it had "That's the Way Love Goes," it was missing "If," "Again," and "Any Time, Any Place," which were all major hits.

Number Ones corrects that oversight and more, delivering a satisfying and comprehensive set of Janet's remastered hits, spanning her A&M, Virgin and Island years from "What Have You Done for Me Lately" to new single "Make Me" Nothing from Janet Jackson or Dream Street is included, but that's no surprise, given that neither album generated any major hits. The concept behind Number Ones is that every track here was #1 on some Billboard chart, be it the Hot 100, dance club play or R&B chart (abroad, where Janet's chart prospects didn't fare as well, this is known as The Best).

Number Ones generally contains single versions, which is good, since Janet was notorious for putting out singles that differed--sometimes substantially--from the album version. "Alright," "Come Back to Me," and "Black Cat," Rhythm Nation's 4th, 5th, and 6th singles, in particular, were quite different from their album versions. DOAD generally included single versions, but here there are some nice touches that depart from DOAD, like using the video version of "Alright," which, in addition to having a different arrangement from the album version, also included a rap from Heavy D. Here's an era-by-era rundown of Number Ones:

Control (1986-1987)

Pros: All six Control singles are here, including the single version of "Let's Wait Awhile," which is nice, since that was one of the few single versions DOAD did not include. More significantly, "Diamonds," the 1987 top 10 hit with Herb Alpert, makes its first appearance on a Janet Jackson disc. This is probably the biggest treat of the whole collection, since "Diamonds" did not appear on DOAD (or Control), and has not been available from digital outlets. "Control" includes the spoken-word intro, which DOAD omitted.

Cons: It might have been nice to include the video version of "When I Think of You," which was slightly remixed from the original, but this is a small gripe.

Best: Nasty, When I Think of You, What Have You Done for Me Lately

Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989-1992)

Pros: The aforementioned rap version of "Alright," A different mix of "Rhythm Nation," that, unlike DOAD includes the spoken-word "Pledge" introduction, which DOAD omitted. It includes the same single version of "Come Back to Me" as DOAD and a similar single version of "Black Cat" (it has a shorter middle section guitar solo).

Cons: The album misses an opportunity to finally put out the radio version of "State of the World," the "United Nations Remix Edit." I would so love to have this, but alas, it wasn't ever #1. Also, I prefer the bubblier remix of "The Best Things in Life Are Free" to the album version which appears here.

Best: Rhythm Nation, Miss You Much, Love Will Never Do, Come Back to Me, Alright

Janet./Design of a Decade (1993-1995)

Pros: Finally, the Janet. singles appear. In my market, the pop radio station (Z100, Portland) played remixes of "That's The Way Love Goes" and "If." While I liked the former, the original version of "If" is superior, so I'm glad that appears here. "Any Time, Any Place" appears in its single version, the R. Kelly remix.

Cons: "You Want This" didn't make the cut, which is a shame, since the single version contains a rap by MC Lyte and would be nice to have. "Twenty Foreplay" was also significantly remade (and improved) for its single release, but that was such a minor release, I didn't expect it would be here.

Best: If, That's the Way Love Goes, Runaway

The Velvet Rope (1997-1999)

Pros: Interesting version of "Got 'til It's Gone," which includes a little intro from Q-tip, but is otherwise pretty close to the album version. Single edit of "Together Again" (not a remix, and there were some fun remixes of this song). "What's It Gonna Be" with Busta Rhymes makes an appearance, while the BLACKstreet collaboration "Girlfriend/Boyfriend" does not.

Con: One of the few times they didn't use a single version that I would have championed is the TNT Remix Edit of "I Get Lonely," which has a funkier beat and more prominently features BLACKstreet. I wouldn't have minded having her Shaggy collaboration, "Luv Me, Luv Me." And why oh why wasn't The Velvet Rope's title track a single? "Velvet Rope" is such a cool song.

Best: Got 'til It's Gone, Together Again

All for You (2000-2002)

Pro: The video version of "All for You" appears, which I've always championed to the single version since it has that fun middle-section interlude that interpolates little snips of "The Pleasure Principle" and "Go Deep." Also included is the original single version of "Doesn't Really Matter," which was always better than the ridiculous remix they put on the album.

Cons: No complaints here, but there were so few singles from All for You there's little to discuss.

Best: Someone to Call My Lover, All for You, Doesn't Really Matter

Nipplegate and beyond (2004-2009)

Pro: This is when Janet's career nosedived, along with the quality of her music, so despite what might have been an inclination to load this with the more recent but less popular singles, they resisted, and so we just get "All Nite," "Call on Me," and "Feedback." "Make Me" is a fun song, an ode to her brother Michael's #1 hit "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough."

Con: A shame "Just a Little While" couldn't be here, as that's probably my favorite Janet song of this era (although I do love the groove of "All Nite").

Best: All Nite (Don't Stop)

So, overall a pretty decent set with no major missteps and quite a lot of nice inclusions, particularly if you're a fan with her albums but not her singles.

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You Are Not Alone

The X Factor Finalists' single "You Are Not Alone" is out and selling like gangbusters. Today's midweek report shows its already moved 82,000 copies. That's about 3,000 copies less than Leona Lewis's "Happy" sold all last week. So obviously, it will be this week's #1 hit, and likely the biggest selling single to date this year (that is until one of these finalists releases his, her or their debut single Christmas week).

"You Are Not Alone" is, of course, a remake of Michael Jackson's 1995 #1 hit. Now that he's gone, I imagine we'll be seeing a lot more covers of Michael Jackson songs. There are relatively few major ones--the only other one that comes to mind is Alien Ant Farm's 2001 version of "Smooth Criminal," a #3 hit in the UK. Mariah Carey had a US #1 in 1992 with "I'll Be There," but technically that's a Jackson 5 remake.

Several of Jackson's or Jackson 5's songs have been sampled prominently: "Human Nature" on SWV's "Right Here (Human Nature)," "Can You Feel It" on The Tamperer feat. Maya's "Feel It," and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" on Rihanna's "Don't Stop the Music."

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Black Eyed Peas #1 Hits

I failed to mention yesterday that "Meet Me Halfway's" appearance at #1 on the British singles chart signifies another important chart record: It makes The E.N.D. the first album this decade to generate three #1 hits.

Now, some of you may do some Google and Wikipedia searches and come up with some other examples, but....they all need asterisks, while The E.N.D. did it outright.

The other potential albums all included #1 hits that were #1s way before the albums were released (and thus conceptually weren't really part of the album), or were re-released with new tracks and one of the new tracks was #1 (and thus not part of the original album as released). Westlife's Coast to Coast and World of Our Own for example, depending on which version you have, may include "Uptown Girl," thus making three #1 hits on each. But "Uptown Girl" was a one-off and not really part of either album.

S Club 7's Sunshine had three #1 hits because it contained "Never Had a Dream Come True," a #1 hit from a year prior that first appeared on the re-release of their previous album, 7. Same goes for Dizzee Rascal's Tongue N' Cheek, which includes "Dance Wiv Me," a #1 hit a year before the album's release.

Will Young and Gareth Gates both scored three #1 hits from their debut albums, but in both cases the first two singles were recorded significantly ahead of the albums' releases.

McFly's third album, Motion in the Ocean, can count as having three #1 hits if you consider the re-released "tour edition" also included #1 hit "Baby's Coming Back." Nelly's Sweatsuit, a re-release of tracks from his albums Sweat and Suit, contains three #1 hits, including new track "Nasty Girl."

Two albums achieve the feat by having both #1 hits that were hits way before the albums were released and #1 hits that were new tracks added to a re-release. Daniel Bedingfield's Gotta Get Thru This included the late 2001 #1 hit "Gotta Get Thru This," the late 2002 #1 hit "If You're Not the One," released just after the album, and the summer 2003 #1 included on the re-release, "Never Gonna Leave Your Side." Leona Lewis's Spirit likewise includes her X Factor victory hit "A Moment Like This," proper album single "Bleeding Love," and re-release #1, "Run."

The '90s, particularly the late '90s, saw quite a few albums give us 3 or more #1 hits. This, despite the fact that back then there was none of this re-release nonsense to puff up albums. There were even a few that had 4 #1s! Here's a list of those in the latter half of the decade:

Westlife (1999): Swear It Again, If I Let You Go, Flying Without Wings, Fool Again

Geri Halliwell's Schizophrenic (1999): Mi Chico Latino, Lift Me Up, and Bag It Up

B*Witched (1998): C'est La Vie, Rollercoaster, To You I Belong, Blame It on the Weatherman

All Saints (1997): Never Ever, Under the Bridge/Lady Marmalade, Booty Call

Spice Girls Spiceworld (1997): Spice Up Your Life, Too Much, Viva Forever

Aqua Aquarium (1997): Barbie Girl, Doctor Jones, Turn Back Time

Spice Girls Spice (1996): Wannabe, Say You'll Be There, 2 Become 1, Mama/Who Do You Think You Are

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