1. Only Girl (in the World) - Rihanna
2. The Flood - Take That
National tragedy befalls Britain this weekend, as Rihanna's 3-week old single beats the brand new Take That track #1. "The Flood" is a brilliant pop single, one of my favorites this year, and the first Take That single to feature Robbie Williams in 15 years. But it's not as good as "Only Girl," according to the British record-buying public, who give the Barbadian pop singer's dance pop track a second week at #1. According to early sources, it wasn't even really that close, with Rihanna selling 93,000 to Take That doing just under 70,000. Considering that most big new hits have been clearing 100,000 lately and "The Flood" has had significant radio exposure, this is a real disappointment.
Rihanna's also #1 in the US this week, although with a different single, "What's My Hame." When did that happen last? It's quite rare actually. In 2006, two artists came close: Nelly Furtado and Akon were both #1 in the UK (with "Maneater" and "Smack That") and then a week later were #1 in the US with a different song ("Promiscuous" and "I Wanna Love You"), but not during the same week. That same year, Nelly was #1 in the US with "Grillz" and a week later appeared on Notorious BIG's UK #1, "Nasty Girl." Going back as far as 2002, I can't find another instance of this.
So Take That are at #2 then, a spot they've been in before with the first single from Everything Changes, "Why Can't I Wake Up With You" (held from #1 by 2 Unlimited's "No Limit") and 3 years ago with "Rule the World" (held from #1 by Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love"). Although I'm disappointed, I'm going to find a silver lining...somewhere. Perhaps it's reassuring that their biggest album of their early career, Everything Changes, was launched with a #2 hit. Perhaps Progress is destined to go on to greatness anyway. This is the group's 23rd top 40 hit and their 19th to reach the top 10.
3. Firework - Katy Perry
Still climbing this one, up another notch to #3.
4. Shine a Light - McFly (feat. Taio Cruz)
While one boyband I expected to do well this week fell short, another manages to do better than expected. McFly underperformed a bit with their last single, "Party Girl," the first single from their upcoming album, which missed the top 5 earlier this fall in uncharacteristic fashion for the group. They reverse their fortunes with its follow-up, "Shine a Light," which becomes their 15th top 5 hit. It's also reassuring for Taio Cruz; he had a guest appearance on a big single last week, but it only managed to reach #22 (and is gone from the top 40 this week).
9. Make Me Feel My Love - Adele
And the weirdness that is this week's chart continues. A 2-year old single that's been on the chart for 14 weeks total now climbs back into the top 10, beating out several key releases from major artists.
11. The Time (Dirty Bit) - Black Eyed Peas
While Adele basks in the top 10 sunlight, three big-name artists see their latest efforts fall just short of the top 10. First up is Black Eyed Peas, who last year scored three #1 hits, can't even land in the top 10 this week with the first single from their new album, The Beginning. Ouch. This matches the peak of "Rock Your Body," the fourth single from their last album, which came out earlier this year.
12. Gotta Be Somebody - Shayne Ward
The second X Factor winner returns after a 3-year hiatus with the first single from his third album. Surely a spot in the top 10 was hoped for, but alas, it is out of reach. This isn't "drop him now" bad, but he's got to pull a hit out of his hat next. Apart from the third single from his debut, every other Shayne Ward single has reached the top 10, and his first, "That's My Goal," was among the 10 best-selling singles of the last decade.
13. Raise Your Glass - P!nk
Although it's become a top 10 hit in the US, "Raise Your Glass" fails to do the same in the UK. The track is one of the new songs included on the singer's greatest hits collection, out next week. I'm really surprised this missed the top 10. Pink's generally good for a top 10 hit--all of her albums have had at least one.
20. 2 Minute Silence - British Royal Legion
How insulting would it have been if this had charted higher than some of these artists' new singles? I guess it is insulting to the new singles from My Chemical Romance and Ellie Goulding that appear below it...people would rather listen to literally nothing than listen to them. This has to be among the oddest things that ever charted. I know it's for charity, but really, selling silence is quite silly. Very "Emperor's New Clothes" of them to expect people would buy it.
New Releases:
Nov. 15
Love You More - JLS
Safe - Westlife
Like a G6 - Far*East Movement (download)
Heavy in Your Arms - Florence & the Machine (download)
Runaway - Kanye West feat. Pusha T (download)
Sister Marie Says - OMD (download)
Stay - Hurts
Two Lives - Example (download)
Infinity Guitars - Sleigh Bells (download)
Nov. 22
Heroes - X Factor Finalists
Well, Well, Well - Duffy
Thinking of Me - Olly Murs
Nothing - The Script (download)
The Sky's the Limit - Jason Derulo
Deja Vu - Inna feat. Bob Taylor
Boo000m Blast & Ruin - Biffy Clyro
I Speak Because I Can - Laura Marling
Logical World - Charlotte Church (download)
Nov. 29
Hold My Hand - Michael Jackson feat. Akon
Who's that Chick - David Guetta feat. Rihanna (download)
Right Thru Me - Nicki Minaj
Turn Around (5,4,3,2,1) - Flo Rida
Falling in Love - Taio Cruz
Angel - Akon
Only the Young - Brandon Flowers
Poison - Nicole Scherzinger (download)
Together - Pet Shop Boys
Somebody to Love Me - Mark Ronson & the Business Intl. feat. Boy George & Andrew Wyatt
Under the Stars - Morning Parade
Indesctructible - Robyn
Fancy/Best I Ever Had - Drake
Radio - Alesha Dixon
Limit to Your Love - James Blake
Haters - Kelly Rowland
Dec. 6
Whip My Hair - Willow
Night Is Young - Nelly Furtado
Someone Wake Me Up - Joe McElderry
Better than Today - Kylie Minogue
Perfect Nightmare - Shontelle
Pyro - Kings of Leon
Give a Little Love - Maroon 5
Love Goes Down - Plan B
Fade Like a Shadow - KT Tunstall
Do It Like a Dude - Jessie J
Niton - Eric Prydz
Dec. 13
The X Factor Winner
Loca - Shakira feat. Dizzee Rascal
It's OK - Cee Lo Green
More - Usher
Lights On - Katy B feat. Ms. Dynamite
Girls - N-Dubz
Who Owns My Heart - Miley Cyrus (download)
2 comments:
Re: TT - i think a LOT of people are holding out for the album. The documentary (yawn) was on saturday night, the x factor performance will help so I think the exquisite Flood will be around for a while yet. BTW I think Why Can't I Wake Up With You was actually the final single from their debut album, with the reswizzled version making Everything Changes... not sure. would have to check!
Pleased by McFly, disappointed by Shayne and P!nk!!
I hope you're right. Regarding "Why Can't I Wake Up With You," it's kind of gray, although from what I've read, it's considered the first Everything Changes single because it was the new version that was the single and was eventually included on the album.
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