UK Chart Analysis, 3/4/2006

Very exciting week in the charts. Madonna scores her 12th #1 hit with "Sorry," beating out stiff competition by Corinne Bailey Rae and Westlife--the latter enjoying their 20th consecutive top 5 hit. Madonna also tops the airplay chart for a 4th week. On the albums chart, Arctic Monkeys are finally pushed aside at #1, but the victor is a surprise--Jack Johnson. Click below to read it all.

Singles:

1. Sorry - Madonna

Madonna pulls out another chart victory in a fairly difficult week with high-profile releases from several new and vetaran artists. "Sorry" is the second single and second #1 hit from Confessions on a Dancefloor, following last year's #1 hit "Hung Up." It brings Madonna's total of UK #1s to 12--equal the number she's had in the States. Combined, she's had 19 songs hit #1 in either (or both) countries:

1. Like a Virgin (US 6 wks)
2. Crazy For You (US 1 wk)
3. Into the Groove (UK 4 wks)
4. Live to Tell (US 1 wk)
5. Papa Don't Preach (US 2 wks, UK 3 wks)
6. True Blue (UK 1 wk)
7. Open Your Heart (US 1 wk)
8. La Isla Bonita (UK 2 wks)
9. Who's That Girl (US 1 wk, UK 1 wk)
10. Like a Prayer (US 3 wks, UK 3 wks)
11. Vogue (US 3 wks, UK 4 wks)
12. Justify My Love (US 2 wks)
13. This Used to Be My Playground (US 1 wk)
14. Take a Bow (US 7 wks)
15. Frozen (UK 1 wk)
16. American Pie (UK 1 wk)
17. Music (US 4 wks, UK 1 wk)
18. Hung Up (UK 3 wks)
19. Sorry (UK, 1 wk so far)

2. Put Your Records On - Corinne Bailey Rae

Corinne Bailey Rae is getting a lot of buzz as one of 2006's hot new British artists. Her album is out tomorrow and her sound is somewhere between Norah Jones and Macy Gray. Soulful pop for sunny days. I thought this record had a shot at #1, but in the end Madonna asserted her supremacy. Still, #2 ain't bad. Although touted by some media as her first single, this is actually the follow-up to "Like a Star," which hit #34 in November without much notice.

4. Amazing - Westlife

Westlife hit a milestone this week with "Amazing," their 20th top 40 hit. This group is nothing if not consisent: all 20 of their singles have hit the top 5, including 13 that made it to #1. This one is rather formulaic, and heavily apes Backstreet Boy's #1 1999 hit, "I Want it That Way." Nonetheless, it's a decent track even if it's easy to make the butt of a joke: "1: Have you heard Westlife's new single? It's 'Amazing.' 2: Really? I heard it's crap."

8. Is It Just Me? - The Darkness

The Darkness scores their 6th top hit this week, 5th in a row to make the top 10. "Is It Just Me?" matches the #8 debut of their last single, "One Way Ticket." The single adheres closely to their formula of hairband drama-fueled guitar rock.

16. After All This Time - Simon Webbe

After 2 consecutive top 5 hits, former Blue member Simon Webbe has to settle for top 20 this time, not even matching the #15 placing of Lee Ryan's third single "When I Think of You." Too bad, as it's a pretty good song, although I agree not as good as his last two.

17. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson

Good grief. So Elvis last year annoying re-released most of his #1 hits (okay, I guess he didn't do it, but you get the picture) with 1 a week over the course of 18 weeks. Since whatever's good enough for Elvis is good enough for Michael, we now have 20 Michael Jackson singles coming out over the next few months, with 1 a week except this week, which also included the release of "Thriller" in a large otherwise empty box that you can use to collect all of the subsequently released singles ("Thriller" is chart ineligible because of the packaging and cost). The only motivation here is greed as far as I can tell. These aren't even all #1 hits. Thankfully, unlike the Elvis thing, which proved to be quite popular, returing 3 of the re-releases to #1, the first MJ re-release didn't even make the top 10. Here's the list of what's coming and when:

Rock With You (2/27)
Billie Jean (3/6)
Beat it (3/13)
Bad (3/20)
The Way You Make me Feel (3/27)
Dirty Diana (4/3)
Smooth Criminal (4/10)
Leave Me Alone (4/17)
Black or White (4/24)
Remember the Time (5/1)
In The Closet (May 8th)
Jam (May 15th)
Heal The World (May 22nd)
You Are Not Alone (May 29th)
Earth Song (June 5th)
They Don’t Care About Us (June 12th)
Stranger In Moscow (June 19th)
Blood On The Dancefloor (June 26th)

20. Hung Up - Madonna

"Hung Up" deserves special mention for spending 16 weeks in the top 40 as of this week--the most weeks a Madonna single has spent in the top 40 without the benefit of a re-release. Even the release of "Sorry" doesn't slow it down much as it's only down 4 spots this week. Madonna is definitely on a roll.

Albums:

After 4 weeks at #1, Arctic Monkeys get knocked to #2 by none other than Jack Johnson with In Between Dreams, his first #1 album and a real surprise for #1 I think. This is the album's 18th week on the chart. Jack Johnson also earned his first #1 album in the US last week with the Curious George Soundtrack. At midweek, Kaiser Chiefs looked like they might actually hit #1 for the first time, but Employment actually falls 2 spots this week to #4.

Airplay:

Madonna's "Sorry" is #1 for a 4th week, holding off Corinne Bailey Rae at #2. The Feeling's "Sewn" is up this week to #4, and moving up 8 spots to #5 is the Sugababes with "Red Dress."