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This is Edition 498

Chart Chat is updated every week usually on a Tuesday

Radio Index

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

Daniel Merriweather was a non mover at no.5 with ‘Red’ and Keri Hilson featuring Kanye West and Ne-Yo went up six to no.6 with ‘Knock You Down’. Soulja Boy featuring Sammie fell a place to no.7 with ‘Kiss Me Thru The Phone’ and Tinchy Stryder featuring N-Dubz went down four places to no.8 with ‘Number 1’. The Veronicas went down one to no.9 with ‘Untouched’ and the top ten was concluded by La Roux who went down three to no.10 with ‘In For The Kill’.  

There were a further two climbers in the remainder of the top twenty as Empire Of The Sun climbed twelve to no.14 with ‘We Are The People’ and Deadmaus & Kaskade went back up three to no.19 with ‘I Remember’.  

There were four new entries, one re-entry and two climbers in the lower half of the chart. Pet Shop Boys got the highest of those new entries as ‘Did You See Me Coming’ made its debut at no.21 while Katy Perry climbed five to no.26 with ‘Waking Up In Vegas’. Paolo Nutini went up three to no.27 with ‘Candy’ while St Albans Enter Shikari got a new entry at no.28 with ‘Juggernauts’. Carolina Liar made her debut at no.31 with ‘Show Me What I’m Looking For’ and Kelly Clarkson went in at no.36 with ‘I Do Not Hook Up’. The only re-entry went to Bill Withers who returned at no.40 with ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ following on from Shaun Smith’s performance of the track on the recent Britains Got Talent final.  

Ash have scored eighteen top forty hits since their inception, but they recently declared their last album ‘Twilight Of The Innocents’ to be their last.  They believe that with the download market being so strong, people can pick and choose what songs to download and so every album track has to be of single quality.  Hence their decision to release singles only from now on, and ‘Return Of The White Rabbit’ is the first in the series of twenty six single releases scheduled to take place at fortnightly intervals between now and June 2010.  This is available to fans as a free download from the bands website but is also available as a very limited vinyl edition with a pressing of just 1000 copies taking place.  It’s a great song, though not necessarily them at their best.  

Pixie Lott is a brightly talented eighteen year old singer from Kent who attended the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.  She did not complete that course, but she has appeared in the West End production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and also guested on BBC1’s ‘A Celebration To The Sound Of Music’ where she appeared as Louisa Von Trapp. She is due to support The Saturdays on their tour and has her new single ‘Mama Do’ scheduled for release this week. It’s the first single to be lifted from her forthcoming studio album ‘Turn It Up’ which is pencilled in for a September release.  Over the Summer she is due to play at the Isle Of Wight festival and the V Festivals in August.  It is released on CD this week with the new song ‘Want You’ being the bonus track.  

All American Rejects release their latest single ‘I Wanna’ this week.  It’s available on CD and 7” vinyl formats with the former featuring the Mark Hoppus remix of the main track while the 7” has the Discotech remix. It’s taken from the bands third studio album ‘When The World Comes Down’ which also features their recent top twenty hit ‘Gives You Hell’.  So far the album has failed to get any higher than no.48 in the UK though it did reach the top twenty in their native US. Their biggest hit to date remains their 2002 debut ‘Swing Swing’ which was taken from their self titled debut album and peaked at no.13 in the UK despite it failing to chart significantly anywhere else.  If successful this will become only their fourth top forty hit in their seven year career.  

The Jonas Brothers have so far managed three top thirty hits in the UK, with the most notable being ‘SOS’ which peaked at no.12 back in 2007.  This week sees them release their new single ‘Paranoid’, the first to be lifted from their forthcoming album ‘Lines, Vines & Trying Times’. It’s released on CD and 7” vinyl formats with the CD featuring a live version of ‘Pushin’ Me Away’ while the 7” comes with ‘Lovebug’ on the flip side. They rose to fame in the States through their appearances on the Disney Channel and broadened their appeal in the film Camp Rock where Joe Jonas duetted with Demi Lovato on the top forty hit ‘This Is Me’. There are plans afoot for the sequel Camp Rock 2 to be made and scripts are being finalised with the brothers reprising their existing roles.  

The Lemonheads return this week with their new single ‘I Just Can’t Take It Anymore’, the first single to be lifted from their cover versions album ‘Varshons’. It is released on 7” vinyl and comes with the new track ‘Special To Me’ on the b side. It’s been over twenty years since their debut album ‘Hate Your Friends’ was released, though it was 1992’s ‘It’s A Shame About Ray’ that brought them to the UK public’s attention with the title track and a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Mrs Robinson’ both making the top forty. It has now been ten years since their last chart appearance when ‘If I Could Talk I’d Tell You’ made no.39, but this could secure a return for them as it’s a great single.  They have a further album scheduled for a 2009 release so it looks like a busy year for them.  

‘Crocodile’ is the brand new single by Hatcham Social which features ‘Dissected’ on the flip side. The band play live in London on Thursday and are also pencilled in to play the Isle Of Wight festival later this week. The band are then heading to the States but have gigs lined up at the 1234 Festival in London , The Loop Festival in Brighton and the Beautiful Days Festival in Devon . Their debut album ‘You Dig The Tunnel, I’ll Hide The Soil’ was released on the Fierce Panda label and has been receiving some great reviews though it has yet to produce a hit single with last release ‘Murder In The Dark’ dropping short of the top forty. Their fans include Tim Burgess from The Charlatans and The Guardian even managed to describe them as being “irresistible”. 

Indie band Silent Film Project release ‘Two Days’ this week.  It comes available on just a limited edition numbered 7” vinyl format on KIDS Records with new track ‘Alligator’ on the flip side. The band are a five piece based in Scunthorpe and they have gigs scheduled this week in Derby , Sheffield and Camden . The band list their influences as including Coldplay, Bob Dylan, Pulp, Blur, Iron and Wine and Billy Bragg among others and are tipped by many industry journalists to be big during 2009. This single has seen them feature on Steve Lamacq’s Rebel Playlist and should lead to a full scale album release later in the year.  The NME have compared them to Indie favourites The Holloways while the Daily Music Guide simply said “they’re going to be big”.  

Katy Perry releases her fourth official UK single ‘Waking Up In Vegas’ this week.  It’s taken from her ‘One Of The Boys’ album which has already spawned top five hits ‘I Kissed A Girl’ and ‘Hot N Cold’. It is available on a CD format which also features a new  Calvin Harris mix of the track. Her last single release was ‘Thinking Of You’ which made just no.27 but this latest release has proved itself by hitting the top ten in America . Her larger than life persona have made her popular with the tabloids and she has received no shortage of press coverage in recent months.  This is an uptempo song which suits her vocal style much better and certainly deserves to see her enjoy another top twenty appearance when the charts are announced on Sunday afternoon.  

California based rockers Linkin Park release their brand new single ‘New Divide’ this week, and it is only available on download. It features in the soundtrack to the new film ‘Transformers : Revenge Of The Fallen’ and has already made the top ten in Australia and the US . Their last top forty appearance came back in 2007 with ‘Bleed It Out’ while their highest charting single remains ‘What I’ve Done’. Their last studio album ‘Minutes To Midnight’ topped the charts around the world though their last album release was a recording of their live concert at the Milton Keynes Bowl.  They are arguably the biggest rock band around in the world today and with their vast fanbase this should at least find its way into the top twenty this weekend, and possibly even the top ten.  

Other singles released this week on physical formats include ‘Release Me’ by Agnes, ‘Ambivalence Avenue’ by Bibio, ‘The Woods’ by Cartridge, ‘Rider’ by Davinche, ‘Leave Your Boyfriend Behind’ by Leona Naess, ‘Songs For Sorrow (EP)’ by Mika, ‘Start/Stop/Synchro’ by Rose Elinor Dougall and ‘Baptized By Fire’ by Spinnerette. Download only releases this week include ‘Happiness Is Overrate’ by Airborne Toxic Event, ‘Can You Feel’ by Client, ‘The Show’ by Lenka, ‘Oblivion’ by Mastodon, ‘Gotta Have It’ by MJ Cole featuring Digga, ‘Breaking Free’ by Skyla, ‘I’ll Be There’ by Stunt, ‘Surrender’ by The Troubadours and ‘Just Go Home’ by The X-Certs.  

Pixie Lott looks the most likely act to rival Black Eyed Peas and it could well be a closely fought battle although my money is on her to win out. Don’t forget to stop by next week when artists releasing new singles look set to include Depeche Mode, Jarvis Cocker, The Script and Take That.  Until then have yourself a good week

JHME Music Correspondent