Sunday, July 10, 2011

UK Singles Chart, July 16, 2011


1. (NEW) Louder - DJ Fresh (feat. Sian Evans)
2. (NEW) How We Roll - Loick Essien (feat. Tanya Lacey)

It's not the liveliest chart week this week, except at the very top, where (for a change) there was a nice contest for #1 featuring two relatively unknown acts. It reminds me of the good ol' days (i.e. the late '90s/early '00s) when the UK singles chart was a competitive showcase of new songs frequently by new names. Lately, it's been trending toward having pretty much the same songs at the top that are big in the US, with few surprises. This week then is a nice change with two new songs by relatively unexposed artists (both have been in the top 40 before, but with nothing nearly as big as these songs) duking it out for #1.

In the end, British dance act DJ Fresh scores his first #1 with Louder, an awfully fun throwback drum-n-bass dance track. He's had singles out as far back as 2003, but scored his first top 10 last year with "Gold Dust" (#24). Loick Essien, settles for #2. His song is more typical of the current R&B-pop sound, is a British singer who also had his first top 40 hit last year ("Stuttering," #36).

12. (21) Set Fire to the Rain - Adele

Well, it came close to the top 10, closer than it looked at midweek. Still, would love to see this climb a bit higher. I was also surprised it wasn't this week's airplay #1, an honor that went to Coldplay's "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall," which fell out of the top 10 this week.

24. (39) Next to You - Chris Brown (feat. Justin Bieber)

Brown and Bieber make a big 15-spot leap this week. Will they follow previous hits "Beautiful People" and "Yeah 3X" into the top 10? Perhaps, although Bieber has only seen the top 10 twice before, hitting #3 with his "Baby" and #9 with Sean Kingston with "Eenie Meenie."

28. (NEW) The Mack - Mann (feat. Snoop Dogg & Iyaz)

Mann's first single, "Buzzin'" cribbed heavily from Nu Shooz's '80s hit, "I Can Wait." For the follow-up, Mann advances the clock 10 years, mining Mark Morrison's '90s hit "Return of the Mack" for the more obviously titled "The Mack." It's not quite as loveable as "Buzzin'," so it will be interesting to see if the song ends up taking off over time like "Buzzin'" did (it debuted at #24 and 3 weeks later peaked at #6).

3 comments:

Myfizzypop said...

wow, i have no clue what the top 2 sound like. i'm turning into my dad but with a smaller waistline and more hair :P I thought The Wanted were out this week but i guess not? I think it must be today...

Cook In / Dine Out said...

Yes, they're out today. So is the new single by Scouting for Girls.

Project Mobius said...

Neither of those top 2 songs are particularly great. They're both mid-level songs, as far as talent goes in my ears. What's interesting is how their genres are completely different. It's nice to see that two songs that are nothing alike can both have a chance to top the British charts... not so in America, for the most part (although PRA's gotten popular, along with "Rolling in the Deep").