Friday, July 07, 2006

UK Singles Chart Analysis, 7/8/2006

1. Hips Don’t Lie – Shakira Featuring Wyclef Jean

It’s already topped every chart in the US, and now in its 3rd week, Shakira scores her first #1 hit on the UK singles chart with “Hips Don’t Lie,” becoming her biggest hit ever in the UK and all over the world. She knocks Nelly Furtado from #1, who in fact knocked Shakira from #1 in the US. Take that!

3. Buttons – The Pussycat Dolls Featuring Snoop Dogg

The Pussycat Dolls keep up their winning streak with their 4th top 3 hit, “Buttons,” which follows the #2 peak of last single “Beep.” I really don’t care much for this song, as they’ve strayed too far into hip-hop territory for my taste, but the song’s a genuine hit in both the UK and the US.

5. Sexy Love – Ne-Yo

Ne-Yo follows up his #1 hit “So Sick” with a top 5 placing for “Sexy Love.” Ne-Yo smartly skipped over “So Sick’s” US follow-up, the sexist “When You’re Mad,” in favor of this superior retro-flavored track.

7. She Moves in Her Own Way – The Kooks

The Kooks follow-up the top 5 career-best placing of “Naïve” with another Top 10 hit. “She Moves in Her Own Way” is a fantastic single, and remains at #2 on the UK airplay chart. The band is bigger than ever now, and their album Inside In/Inside Out has responded in kind, climbing up to #3 this week on the albums chart.

13. Smile – Lily Allen
Newcomer Lily Allen has the official highest debut of the week with her first single, “Smile,” which charts quite high on downloads only. It’s a strong contender for #1 next week. Lily Allen does take after people like Corinne Bailey Rae and Norah Jones, but it’s still a pretty decent track in it’s own right.

15. In the Morning – Razorlight

Another strong debut based on digital sales is Razorlight’s latest, “In the Morning,” from their forthcoming new album. The band first hit it big 2 years ago with top 10 “Golden Touch,” and then hit #2 last year with “Somewhere Else.” Their new release is just as good and should be top 5 next week.

19. Blood on the Dancefloor – Michael Jackson

Michael’s blood’s been shed, which means we’ve finally come to the end of the ill-conceived re-release of a large set of Michael Jackson’s greatest video hits. Singles were chosen because of their hit status and video (so great songs such as “Man in the Mirror” that didn’t have videos didn’t make the cut). Here’s how the lot performed, from best on down, with their original best peaks in parentheses. None of the tracks spent more than a week in the top 40, which is to be expected considering they were limited releases with limited in-store availability. His earlier hits fared better than his later ones, which may have been more a sign of fatigue for the process than an indicator of their success, given that many of Jackson’s later releases were significantly bigger hits in the UK than in the US, particularly “Earth Song,” which spent 6 weeks at #1, but was the lowest peforming track of the re-release bunch. Classic “Billie Jean,” a #1 in the UK and the US, easily topped the lot deservedly as Michael Jackson’s best single ever.

#11 Billie Jean (#1)
#15 Leave Me Alone (#2)
#15 Beat It (#3)
#15 Rock With You (#7)
#16 Bad (#3)
#17 Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough (#3)
#17 The Way You Make Me Feel (#3)
#17 Dirty Diana (#4)#18 Black or White (#1)
#19 Blood on the Dancefloor (#1)
#19 Smooth Criminal (#8)
#22 Remember the Time (#3)
#22 Stranger in Moscow (#4)
#22 Jam (#13)
#26 They Don’t Care About Us (#4)
#27 Heal the World (#2)
#30 You Are Not Alone (#1)
#34 Earth Song (#1)

22. Breakaway – Kelly Clarkson

“Breakaway” was Kelly Clarkson’s first US release from her second album of the same name, but was held back from UK release until now, as the 5th and final release from her album. It doesn’t do very well, despite the fact that it’s #6 on the UK airplay chart. Kelly Clarkson has become a genuine hit in the UK over the last 2 years, having landed top 10 hits with “Since U Been Gone,” “Behind These Hazel Eyes,” and “Because of You,” all of which were HUGE top 40 hits in the US. Surely she’ll be back in the top 10 once she gets some new material out.

39. That Old Pair of Jeans – Fatboy Slim

Eight years ago, Fatboy Slim released an album that scored four top 10 hits, “The Rockafeller Skank” (#6), “Gangster Tripping” (#3), “Praise You” (#1), and “Right Here, Right Now” (#2). But that was 8 years ago. Clearly, no one cares anymore.

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