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This is Edition 497

Chart Chat is updated every week usually on a Tuesday

Radio Index

United Kingdom Radio station guide.
 (Listen while you surf)

Daniel Merriweather stayed the same at no.5 with ‘Red’ and Soulja Boy featuring Sammie were the only top ten climber going up two to no.6. La Roux fell a place to no.7 with ‘In For The Kill’ while The Veronicas entered at no.8 with ‘Untouched’. Lily Allen went down two places to no.9 with ‘Not Fair’ and the picture was rounded off by Eminem falling six to no.10 with ‘We Made You’.

There was one new entry and a further two climbers in what remained of the top twenty. Keri Hilson featuring Kanye West & Neyo climbed twelve to no.12 with ‘Knock You Down’ while the hotly tipped Little Boots got her debut hit as ‘New In Town’ entered at no.13. The only other mover was Flo Rida featuring Wynter who climbed nine places to no.19 with ‘Sugar’.

There were four climbers and two new entries in the lower half of the chart this week. Shontelle featuring Akon climbed seven places to no.24 with ‘Stuck With Each Other’ while Empire Of The Sun went up eleven to no.26 with ‘People Of The Sun’. Katy Perry advanced five places to no.31 with ‘Waking Up In Vegas’ while You Me At Six went straight in at no.33 with ‘Finders Keepers’. Jason Mraz went back up a place to no.34 with ‘I’m Yours’ and Escala completed the picture as ‘Palladio’ debuted at no.39.

Demi Lovato releases her single ‘La La Land’ on CD format this week. Lovato is perhaps best known for her role in the Disney film Camp Rock though she is now carving out a music career and released her ‘Don’t Forget’ album back in April. It includes her collaboration with the Jonas Brothers on the track ‘On The Line’. The single has already made the top forty in the UK but may be boosted by the presence of a physical format.  It achieved his highest placing in Ireland where it made no.30 but in the US it made just no.52. Her highest charting single was ‘This Is Me’ which she recorded with Joe Jonas and saw her achieve top ten success in the States. I think this track may have had its day so I’m not convinced this will re-emerge into the top forty next weekend.

Placebo return with their new single ‘For What Its Worth’ this week. Despite being available for download since the end of April the track has yet to make an impression in the top forty. They have been away from the music scene for three years working on the follow up to their 2006 album ‘Meds’ and are about to release their sixth studio album ‘Battle For The Sun’. It’s been ten years since they last made the top ten with ‘You Don’t Care About Us’ but their biggest hits were ‘Nancy Boy’ and ‘Pure Morning’ both of which peaked at no.4. With the need to secure download sales to ensure a hit Placebo are a bit behind the curve so I expect only a low top thirty new entry for this.  That shouldn’t impact their album sales or popularity so 2009 should still be a good year for them.

Pet Shop Boys opened their chart account with ‘West End Girls’ back in 1985 and haven’t looked back since.  2009 saw them honoured for Lifetime Achievement at the Brit Awards while their ‘Love Etc’ single gave them a forty first top forty hit. This week sees them release their new single ‘Did You See Me Coming’ on two CD’s and a 12” vinyl format. The maxi CD has the PSB Possibly More Mix of the main track alongside ‘The Former Enfant Terrible’ and ‘Up & Down’ while the two track version has ‘After The Event’ as the bonus track. The vinyl version features the Unicorn Kid Mix.  It’s the second single to be lifted from their top five album ‘Yes’ which was their thirteenth top ten success.  Their standards rarely drop and this is another pop classic in the making.  

American born superstar Kelly Clarkson has only had nine hits in the UK but her last single ‘My Life Would Suck Without You’ gave her her first number one. She initially emerged in the UK way back in 2003 following her runaway success in American Idol with ‘Miss Independent’ which got to no.6.  However it wasn’t until 2005’s ‘Breakaway’ album that she really started to she hit her stride with ‘Since U Been Gone’, ‘Behind These Hazel Eyes’ and ‘Because Of You’ delivering three consecutive top ten hits. Now she releases ‘I Do Not Hook Up’ on a physical CD format - the second single to be taken from her current top three album ‘All I Ever Wanted’. The track has already made the top thirty in America and looks almost certain to repeat that success over here. 

Leicester based rockers Kasabian have been working away on ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Aslyum’, the follow up album to their 2006 success ‘Empire’.  The album is due for release later this month but this week sees the release of ‘Fire’, the first single to be taken from it. The single is available on a 2 track CD and 10” vinyl with fans also able to download a live version of the track recorded at the Roundhouse. The CD format includes ‘Runaway’ recorded live at the Little Noise Sessions while the 10” has the Richard Fearless Mix of the main track. Over their career then band have enjoyed eight top forty hits with 2005’s ‘Cutt Off’ remaining the biggest, peaking at no.8.  They possess a strong fanbase and as such this could end up challenging for a place in the top ten.

Although he has been a recording artist since 2001, American rapper TI did not make any appearances on the UK chart until ‘ASAP’ in 2005. However he has come into his own in the past year with his Rihanna collaboration ‘Live Your Life’ and Justin Timberlake duet ‘Dead And Gone’ both making the top five.  This week sees him reissue his 2008 hit ‘Whatever You Like’ which made just no.47 in the UK despite making the top spot in the US . It’s the fourth single taken from his ‘Paper Trail’ album and is released on a CD format. He is often seen playing second fiddle to other artists with last year seeing him guest on tracks by Mariah Carey, Ludacris and Jamie Foxx. I think this will do ok this time but will struggle to match the top five success of his recent singles.

Empire Of The Sun reissue their ‘We Are The People’ single this week.  This time around it is available on 7” vinyl with the b side being new track ‘Romance To Me’ whereas on its original February release it was only manufactured on CD. The band are an electronic duo comprising of Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore. They hail from Australia and are signed to the EMI label. They finished in fourth place on the BBC Sound Of 2009 poll and took their name from J.G. Ballard’s 1984 novel. Their debut album ‘Walking On A Dream’ was released in October last year and peaked at a respectable no.21.  So far the previous issue of the ‘We Are The People’ single was their highest charting hit reaching no.52 on its initial release. I’m not sure this issue will beat that.  

The highly rated Hertfordshire based four piece Enter Shikari release their new single ‘Juggernauts’ on CD this week. It features the brand new track ‘All Eyes On The Saint’ alongside the Nero Mix and Blue Bear True Tiger Mix Edit of the main track. It’s their sixth single release in the UK with so far only ‘Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour’ making the chart, peaking at no.27. This is the first single to be taken from their second studio album ‘Common Dreads’ (which is set for a mid June release) with the follow up already rumoured to be ‘No Sleep Tonight’.  They are playing the Rock IM Festival in Nurnberg and its sister event Rock AM Festival at the Nurburgring this week with their only confirmed UK dates being the Leeds / Reading festival in late August.  

‘I Am Leaving’ is the brand new single by the Bradford based act Blue Roses and it gets released on 7” vinyl this week with the bonus track being ‘Moments Before Sleep’. Fans wishing to catch Blue Roses can pop along to the Wilmington Arms in South London where she will be performing this coming Wednesday. It has already won the accolade of Radio 2 Record Of The Week and looks destined to bring Laura Groves to a wider audience. It’s taken from her self titled debut album which has received rave reviews from publications as wide ranging as NME and The Sun. Despite that critical acclaim I’m not sure her material is commercial enough to generate a hit single but if it gets her some airplay and more people buy her album then it is a job well done.  

Also released this week are ‘You Keep Me Up Till 3 O’Clock’ by Andy Stedman, ‘Show Me What I’m Looking For’ by Carolina Liar, ‘Learn To Lose’ by Hockey, ‘Lessons Learned’ by Matt & Kim, ‘Lover Gone’ by Peggy Sue and ‘I Go I Go I Go’ by Wave Machines.  Download only releases this week include ‘You Can Run’ by Blackbud, ‘This Kiss’ by Kissy Sell Out, ‘New Divide’ by Linkin Park, ‘Golden Phone’ by Micachu & The Shapes, ‘The Only Bridge I Need (EP)’ by Nate Campany & The Serenade, ‘Snake Charmer’ by Panjabi MC, ‘Love Can Move Mountains’ by The Proclaimers, ‘That’s The Reason’ by The Rakes and ‘T.O.N.Y.’ by Solange.  

Can anyone stop Dizzee Rascal from holding on at the top?  Agnes should have another strong week and looks set to run him close but I think he can see her challenge off. Don’t forget to stop by next week when artists releasing new singles look set to include Katy Perry, Lemonheads, Neil Sedaka and Pixie Lott. Until then have yourself a good week.

JHME Music Correspondent