Sunday, June 12, 2011

UK Singles Chart, June 18, 2011


1. Changed the Way You Kiss Me - Example (NEW)

British dance/hip-hop act Example lands his first #1 hit with the first single from his forthcoming third album. More of a club record than a rap track--its rapped verses with sung choruses recalls the early '90s dance tracks where this was quite popular (Snap! and C&C Music Factory, for example). Example's career on the chart has been steadily building. He scored his first top 40 hit in 2009 with "Watch the Sun Come Up" (#19). The following year, he hit #6 with "Won't Go Quietly" and then scored his best-known hit to date, "Kickstarts" (#3). Earlier this year he reached #2 as guest on Wretch 32's big hit single, "Unorthodox."

3. Right There - Nicole Scherzinger feat. 50 Cent (14)

Ms. Scherzinger climbs 11 notches to #3, scoring her third straight solo top 10 hit. The new single matches the success of her album's first single, "Poison," even if it falls slightly short of the #1 placing of her last single, "Don't Hold Your Breath," which is still in the top 40 at #36 this week.

6. Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall - Coldplay (NEW)

Coldplay's new single "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" storms onto the chart at #6, becoming the group's 11th top 10 hit. While to some this may look like a disappointment to not be in the top 5, but actually Coldplay has never performed like gangbusters on the singles chart. They've had only the one #1 hit ("Viva La Vida") and in fact this #6 placing is better than they did with their last album's first single, "Violet Hill," which reached only #8. Coldplay's strength is on the albums chart, where their new disc will likely take on Adele for 2011's biggest-seller.

13. Fast Car - Tracy Chapman (28)

When this 1988 single got its recent resurgence, it went as high as #4. Then 2 weeks ago it was back down to #40. Now back up to #13. It just won't die. It must be this year's "Make Me Feel My Love" (which mercifully is not in the top 40 this week).

17. Don't Stop the Party - Black Eyed Peas (30)

The Peas are up 13 spots this week with their new single, the follow-up to "Just Can't Get Enough." This single has not yet taken off in the US.

21. Monster - Paramore (NEW)

Paramore scores their fourth top 40 hit. They hit #31 last year with "The Only Exception," a song that was a comparatively bigger hit in the US, where it seemed to stick around forever.

25. Easy Please Me - Katy B (41)

Katy B scores her fifth top 40 hit, although falls short of the top 10 placings she's achieved with her previous three singles. Perhaps this will rise a bit, but I'm not expecting anything dramatic, as frankly this wasn't one of the album's standout tracks for me.

27. Beat of My Drum - Nicola Roberts (NEW)

Nicola becomes the fourth member of Girls Aloud to reach the top 40 solo. Of course Cheryl Cole remains the most successful--by a wide margin--having scored two #1 hits plus several other top 10s. Kimberly Walsh reached the top 10 early this year as a featured vocalist on Aggro Santos' "Like U Like," and Nadine Coyle, who hit #26 last year with he first single.

32. I Giorni - Ludovico Einaudi (NEW)

An instrumental piano composition in the top 40? How extraordinary. Einaudi is an Italian composer and pianist. Not sure why it's appearing on the chart, but nice to hear something different.

11 comments:

Project Mobius said...

I'm a big Example fan - I first loved his sound off of "Kicksstarts", and then I thought he progressed well with "Shot Yourself in the Foot Again" and "Unorthodox". However, quite honestly, "Changed the Way You Kissed Me" doesn't have the same effect on me as his previous songs.

At any rate, "Right There" has about a 0% chance to be successful in the U.S. Also, I'm as clueless to you why the Italian piano instrumental is in the Top 40. In June 2011.

Cook In / Dine Out said...

I wouldn't think Nicole's song would do well either--yet it's #31 at top 40 radio with not massive but decent growth.

Myfizzypop said...

i've not been this disappointed about a chart performance (Nicola R) in ages and ages. Poor Nicola! Beaten by Nadine!!

Myfizzypop said...

oh PS - i think the piano instrumental is something to do with Britain's Got Talent. Some pianist played it on there maybe??

Project Mobius said...

"The title track, "I Giorni" has recently had a lot of interest due to Greg James' recent airing of the piece on BBC Radio 1. Due to this and repeated airings by Greg James over the next week, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at #32 on 12 June 2011."

This was taken from Wikipedia, so we can't be sure.

Cook In / Dine Out said...

Thanks Mobius. I listened to the Chart Show this morning. Reg also said it was because Greg said it was good to study to, so lots of students are apparently buying it to listen to while they study for finals (or what "finals" are called in Britain).

Matt said...

Haven't posted here in a while! Interesting chart this week; never heard of Example, I may have to check it out. It'll also be interesting to see how that Coldplay single fares given it's incredibly mixed reaction from fans, though the synth-pop style could help them on the charts.

Also, the new Black Eyed Peas song is ridiculously long for a pop single. Or, at least, it seemed like it was when I saw the video. Don't see it being a big hit here.

Cook In / Dine Out said...

I haven't really liked any of the BEP recent singles. "Just Can't Get Enough" was tolerable, but this one isn't very good. Matt, are you in the US? if so, you can get Example's "Kickstarts" and a few other tracks from iTunes.

Matt said...

Nope, Canada. We miss out on a lot of music-related stuff :P.

Agreed on Black Eyed Peas. Wasn't a huge fan of the E.N.D. stuff either, but at least they were recognizably well done dance pop (and obviously struck a chord with people). The new stuff is just lazy seeming. Though I agree that JCGE was slightly more tolerable then the The Time or this new one.

Project Mobius said...

Yeah, the Black Eyed Peas are definitely faltering with their most recent album. On top of that, their Super Bowl performance wasn't exactly noticeable.

By the way, did anyone notice that "Changed the Way You Kissed Me" came out and charted #1 almost exactly a year after "Kickstarts"? It can't be coincidence, can it?

Cook In / Dine Out said...

Matt - Canada! That's fantastic. Some Example songs are available from iTunes in Canada, including "Kickstarts."

Mobius - I didn't notice that. Good observation.