UK Singles Chart Commentary, 7/29/2006

1. Don't Stop Me Now / Please, Please - McFly

McFly scores their 9th straight top 10 hit and their 5th #1 with a double A-side of "Don't Stop Me Now," a remake of the Queen song, and "Please Please," a new track. It's a charity release, with the proceeds going to Sport Relief. Neither track appears on McFly's last album.

2. Unfaithful - Rihanna

Rihanna scores her 3rd #2 hit this week with the ballad "Unfaithful." She's been stopped from #1 by Oasis, Gorillaz, Gnarls Barkley, and now McFly, so her lack of a #1 is really just bad luck, as shown by the fact that "SOS" is one of the best-selling singles of the year so far.

5. You Give Me Something - James Morrison

Could this be the next James Blunt? British singer James Morrison hits the top 10 this week with his debut single, "You Give Me Something," a classic and classy pop track. Don't know much about James yet, but apparently he's only 21, which should give this lady a reason to be interested.

10. Smiley Faces - Gnarls Barkley

So how do you follow-up the best-selling hit of the year and the longest-running #1 single in 12 years? Apparently by scoring a lousy #10 placing for its follow-up, despite the fact that it's a decent track. It may be counter-intuitive, but it's actually pretty hard to follow-up mega hits. Look at Daniel Powter's lack of success with anything other than "Bad Day," which remains his only top 40 hit despite having released 3 other singles. Gnarls Barkley, like Powter, may be victims of their own success, with the music-buying public refusing to go in for anything by them other than "Crazy."

16. Tell Me Baby - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Here's another follow-up disappointment, although here I suspect it's because their fans have already bought the album, Stadium Arcadium, one the year's biggest hits. The Peppers have acutally never managed two top 10 hits from the same album, and the pattern here echoes that of their last album, 2002's By the Way, which gave us a #2 single in "By the Way," followed by the #11 placing of the second single, "The Zephyr Song." "Tell Me Baby," like "Dani California" embodies the classic RHCP sound and is a decent single from a once-troubled band that is now celebrating their third straight hit album.

18. Ain't No Other Man - Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera's fabulous new single "Ain't No Other Man," debuts at #18 on downloads, and is a strong challenger for #1 next week. If it makes it, it will be her fifth record to reach the top. Last time she charted was the end of 2004, hitting #4 in November with "Car Wash" and then #5 in December as a guest on Nelly's "Tilt Ya Head Back."

22. Never Gonna Be the Same - Sean Paul
23. Gimme That - Chris Brown

The law of diminishing returns is proven yet again this week by Sean Paul and Chris Brown. Their latest albums scored them #2 hits--"We Be Burnin"" for Sean Paul and "Run It!" for Chris Brown, follwed by tracks that just missed the top 10. Now they're outside the top 40.

25. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol

I'm crossing my fingers this will go top 10 next week, as it's a beautiful song from them. Downloads only this week.

30. Eleanor Put Your Boots On - Franz Ferdinand

Again, it's the law of diminishing returns, as the fourth single from Franz Ferdinand's second album, You Could Have It So Much Better, limps in at #30, despite being a fantastic song. Second-best release from the album in my opinion after "Do You Want To."

36. Tell Me Why - Supermode

The looped-vocal House treatment strikes Jimmy Sommerville this week, as his band Bronski Beat's '80s hit gets recycled for the new century by Supermode to become "Tell Me Why." Top 10 next week?