UK Singles Chart, September 24, 2011

1.(NEW) What Makes You Beautiful - One Direction

The field of new hit boybands dominated so far by JLS and The Wanted just got a new contender in One Direction. Like JLS, they originated on The X Factor, placing third in last year's contest. Their first #1 hit is a big one--over 150,000 copies sold--the biggest #1 sales tally so far this year. The production on this has more of a "California" sound to my ears--along the lines of something from McFly or Busted. Not a bad song actually.

4.(6) Heart Skips a Beat - Olly Murs (feat. Rizzle Kicks)
9.(12) Jealousy - Will Young

Both of these tracks climb back up a bit this week, including a return to the top 10 for Will Young. I'm surprised, but pleased, to see the turnaround. Was a reality show performance responsible for this?

15.(26) Cheers (Drink to That) - Rihanna

Rihanna climbs 11 notches this week but misses the top 10 with "Cheers (Drink to That)," the latest single from her album Loud. Never fear--Rihanna has announced she'll put out her next (sixth) album before the end of the year. So a new Rihanna single is all but certain to be coming in just a few weeks.

20.(NEW) AKA...What a Life - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Lots of head-scratchers on the chart this week. Here's another--the second top 20 in a month's time from former Oasis-man Noel Gallagher and his new band. The album is due October 17, and a third single is forthcoming before that. Did this even get much promotion? It's not on Radio 1's playlist.

28.(NEW) Days Are Forgotten - Kasabian

British rockers Kasabian scores their 12th top 40, the first single from their new album Velociraptor!, out this week. This is a much quieter launch than what their last album, West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, enjoyed, when its first single, "Fire" hit #3 just over 2 years ago.

31.(NEW) Without You - David Guetta (feat. Usher)

Doesn't it feel like David Guetta puts out a new single every week? He's put out lots of tracks from Nothing But the Beat album as promotional releases, following the official release from earlier this year--"Where My Girls At" and "Little Bad Girl"--both of which reached the top 5. So I'm a bit surprised to see this apparently official single charting so low, as it's actually a decent release and featuring one of the biggest guest vocalists he's ever had. Perhaps it's fallen victim to overkill.

38.(NEW) You and I - Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga scores her 13th top 40, the fifth track from her album Born This Way to do so. The single is out this week, so I expect a good climb on next weekend's chart.

40.(NEW) Body & Soul - Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse

I'd have thought this, the last recording by Amy Winehouse, would have charted higher. The track is from Tony Bennett's new album Duets II, out this week. It's a remake of the '30s-era jazz standard covered many times, although as far as I can tell, it's never been in the top 40 before (a song called "Body and Soul" by Mai Tai hit #10 in 1985, but it's not the same song).

This is Tony Bennett's first top 40 hit in quite a long time. He had string of hits in the '50s and '60s, including the #1 hit "Stranger in Paradise." Bennett's career revived quite nicely in the U.S. in the mid '90s with the release of the live album MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett, which won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. His 2006 Duets album was also a decent hit.

This the 9th top 40 for Bennett and the 7th for Winehouse.

??? Paradise - Coldplay

If you expected to see Coldplay in the top 40 this week, you'll be disappointed, because they aren't there. Apparently, since "Paradise" was offered as a "freebie" for pre-ordering their album, the song's sales weren't tracked for the chart, even though it was also sold as a standalone download. Seems a bit ridiculous to me, as this would possibly have been a top 10 hit otherwise.