Tuesday, January 02, 2007

UK Charts of 2006

The UK year-end charts are out. Unlike Billboard, the UK Official Chart Company bases their year-end charts on the calendar year, and singles charts are based solely on sales (no airplay). Here are Britain's best-selling singles and albums for 2006:

Top 10 Singles of 2006:

1. Crazy - Gnarls Barkley (9 weeks @ #1)
2. A Moment Like This - Leona Lewis (2 wks @ #1)
3. Hips Don't Lie - Shakira (5 wks @ #1)
4. I Don't Feel Like Dancin' - Scissor Sisters (4 wks @ #1)
5. I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (with Flowers in My Hair) - Sandi Thom (1 wk @ #1)
6. From Paris to Berlin - Infernal (1 wk @ #2)
7. Maneater - Nelly Furtado (3 wks @ #1)
8. Patience - Take That (4 wks @ #1)
9. SOS - Rihanna (2 wks @ #2)
10. Sexyback - Justin Timberlake (1 wk @ #1)

Gnarls Barkley has the year's biggest hit with "Crazy," a single that topped the UK chart for 9 weeks, the longest stay at the top in 12 years. Sadly, the act couldn't find another hit this year; "Smiley Faces" hit #10, "Who Cares" a lousy #60. X Factor winner Leona Lewis comes at #2 with her debut, a remake of "A Moment Like This." The single had the year's best one-week sales figure, moving 572,000 copies its debut week. Ultimately, the single will likely eclipse the sales of "Crazy" as it continues to sell into the new year.

"Crazy," along with "SOS," "Sexyback," and "Hips Don't Lie" were also big hits in the US this year. "Maneater," however, was a huge hit in Britain, but peaked at only #16 in the US, while "Promiscuous" was the third biggest hit of the year on Billboard. Take That lands their first single on the year-end top 10 list since 1995, when "Back For Good" was #4 for the year.

Top 10 Albums of 2006:

1. Eyes Open - Snow Patrol (3 wks @ #1)
2. Beautiful World - Take That (4 wks @ #1)
3. Ta-Dah - Scissor Sisters (2 wks @ #1)
4. Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not - Arctic Monkeys (4 wks @ #1)
5. Inside In / Inside Out - The Kooks (#2)
6. Razorlight - Razorlight (2 wks @ #1)
7. Stop the Clocks - Oasis (#2)
8. The Love Album - Westlife (1 wk @ #1)
9. I'm Not Dead - Pink (#3)
10. Undiscovered - James Morrison (2 wks @ #1)

Snow Patrol has the top-selling album in the UK for 2006. A bit of a surprise to me, as I expected Arctic Monkeys to have the year's #1 album, but they are down at #4. Snow Patrol last album, Final Straw, was #9 for the year in 2004. Scissor Sisters, who had the #1 album of 2005 with their eponymous debut, land at #3. Their sales competitor in 2004, Keane (#2 that year with Hopes and Fears), lands outside the top 10 at #14.

Pink returns to the year-end top 10 this year with her fourth album. Her second album, M!ssundaztood, was #2 for 2002. Oasis and Westlife, two acts that are no strangers to the year-end albums top 10, land at #7 and #8 respectively. This is the fifth appearance for both acts in the year-end top 10. Westlife's previous appeances were Face-to-Face (#7, 2005), Unbreakable (#8, 2002), Coast to Coast (#4, 2000), and Westlife (#9, 1999); Oasis's were Heathen Chemistry (#10, 2002), Be Here Now (#1, 1997), and What's the Story Morning Glory (#3, 1996 and #2, 1995),

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