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This is Edition 555

Chart Chat is updated every week usually on a Tuesday

Radio Index

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

B.o.B. featuring Hayley Williams went down one to no.3 with 'Airplanes' while Eminem feauturing Rihanna climbed two places to no.4 with 'Love The Way You Lie'. Yolanda Be Cool & D Cup went straight in at no.5 with 'We Speak No Americano' and Enrique Iglesias feauturing Pitbull dropped two to no.6 with 'I Like It'. 3OH!3 featuring Ke$ha got a new entry at no.7 with 'My First Kiss' and Lady Gaga fell a place to no.8 with 'Alejandro'. Kylie Minogue fell six to no.9 with 'All The Lovers' and Example rounded proceeedings off with 'Kickstarts' at no.10. The only other new entry inside the top twenty went to Eliza Doolittle at no.12 with 'Pack Up'. 

There were three new entries and two climbers in the lower half of the chart. Plan B climbed twelve to no.24 with 'Prayin'' and Train went back up two to no.28 with 'Hey Soul Sister'. Kelis got a new entry at no.32 with '4th Of July (Fireworks)' and Lee Ryan went straight in at no.33 with 'I Am Who I Am / Secret Love'. The final new entry of the week came at no.36 and went to Drake with 'Find Your Love'. 

Professor Green burst onto the music scene earlier this year scoring a top three hit with his INXS sampling hit 'I Need You Tonight'. The track was just 200 copies short of the top spot when the midweek charts were announced but its challenge faded away as the weekend approached. It was his first outing on the Virgin label, having previously been signed to Mike Skinner's The Beats label. On that occasion he was helped by Ed Drewett but on his new single 'Just Good To Be Green' it's the turn of Lily Allen to collaborate. It's the second single to be taken from his second studio album 'Alive Till I'm Dead' which follows up 2006's 'Lecture #1'. He won the inaugral JumpOff MySpace battle rap tournament in July 2008 and met Lily Allen on her The Brilly-Allent Tour. This will go someway to addressing any critics concern that he might just be a one hit wonder and will leave fans eager to see the accompanying album release. 

Twenty one year old Dutch singer Esmee Denters was initially discovered by Justin Timberlake and this week he guests on her brand new single 'Love Dealer'. The track was written two years ago by Denters along with Timberlake and production team Stargate. In the UK she initially scored success with her debut single 'Outta Here' which peaked at no.7 and she also featured on Chipmunk's top three single 'Until You Were Gone'. Last year saw her appear live supporting Enrique Iglesias, Ne-Yo and N-Dubz and she had minor success with her album which made no.48, though it did peak at no.5 in her native Netherlands.  Now 'Love Dealer' is the third track to be lifted from the album, and it comes accompanied by a video directed by The Malloys. It's the follow up to second single 'Admit It' which only got as far as no.56 but the introduction of Timberlake has resulted in more widespread airplay.  

Producer and artist in his own right Mark Ronson makes his long awaited return this week with his new single 'Bang Bang Bang'. He won a Brit Award in 2008 for Best Male Artist despite not singing on any of the covers on his 'Version' album.  Instead he worked with a cross section of other artists including Lily Allen, Daniel Merriweather and Phantom Planet. He has now assembled a new band entitled The Business Intl and they back him on his new album 'Record Collection' which is due for release in September. Behind the mixing desk he has been a producer for a variety of artists including Adele, Kaiser Chiefs, Robbie Williams and Amy Winehouse and is currently rumoured to be working with both Duran Duran and Geri Halliwell on their latest albums. 'Bang Bang Bang' has a lot to live up to but it shows off Ronson's creative side well and bodes well for his new album. 

The highly rated American rock band Paramore release their new single 'Careful' this week. The track was co-written by guitarist Josh Farro and lead vocalist / keyboard player Hayley Williams. Last year saw them make it big in the UK with their third studio album 'Brand New Eyes' going straight in at the top of the charts.  To date it has yielded two top forty hits including 'Ignorance' which is their biggest hit to date, peaking at no.14. Second single 'Brick By Boring Brick' failed to dent the top 75 but this fourth release should do much better for them. They are due to play a short UK tour in November of this year and have recently been supporting Green Day on some dates of their world tour. It may have taken some time for them to catch on in the UK but now it looks like they are here to stay.  That said positive album sales may impact the ability of this to make the top forty and only time will tell. 

Rapper M.I.A. is mainly known in the UK and the US for her hit 'Paper Planes' which featured in the award winning film Slumdog Millionaire. The track was nominated for an Oscar though it did not appear on any of her studio albums. However she did make a brief chart appearance back in 2005 when guesting on Jamesy P's hit 'Nookie'. Although only recently enjoying mainstream popularity her first album 'Arular' was released on the XL label five years ago. Her third studio album 'Maya' is due for release shortly and earlier this year yielded the excellent digital single 'Born Free'.  'XXXO' is the second single and was produced by Rusko and Blaqstarr while the accompanying video has been directed by Hype Williams who has worked with artists as diverse as Missy Elliot, LL Cool J, Aaliyah and Christina Aguilera. I think this will go on and do enough to give her a second UK hit. 

'Kiss That Grrl' is the latest single release from twenty two year old Irish born singer Kate Nash and is the second single to be taken from her current studio album 'My Best Friend Is You'.  The album received mixed reviews from the music press and so far it has failed to match the chart topping success of its predecessor 'Made Of Bricks', peaking at just no.8 on its release earlier this year. The opening single 'Do-Wah-Doo' made a respectable no.15 though this was a far cry from the no.2 hit 'Foundations' which opened Nash's chart account. If successful this will become her fifth top forty hit in her three year career. She is due to play a handful of gigs this Summer across Europe though her main UK appearances will come at the iTunes Festival and the V Festival. For me this is a much better choice of single than its predecessor and may well do a little better for her. 

Sometimes stars with more money than sense like to indulge themselves and release singles.  That has to be the case this week with Katie Price (aka Jordan), who unleashes her new single 'Free To Love Again' on an unsuspecting public.  Back in 2006 while on the crest of a PR wave with former husband Peter Andre she released the album 'Whole New World' which sold a respectable 180k copies and was certified gold.  It yielded the single of the same name which made no.12 in the charts.  However now her popularity has dipped again it seems she is ready to do anything and everything to keep herself in the public eye.  This isn't actually a bad song, but its exactly the sort of track that would vanish without trace for any other artist.  And in fact even with her name behind it I suspect that it may well suffer that fate. 

The press will have a field day with the fact that Dane Bowers is also releasing a single this week. Despite seven top ten hits with Another Level and four as a solo artist it seems now he gets more column inches for being Jordan's ex than for his own artistic talents.  As a solo artist every one of his releases has made the top ten though new single 'All She Needs' is his first single since his appearance back in 2006 as part of the boy band Upper Street. His last hit as a solo artist was the no.9 hit 'Another Lover' which charted back in 2001. He has more recently appeared on Celebrity Big Brother and Celebrity Come Dine With Me while he has also managed to establish himself as a DJ.  He is now aged thirty and despite his attempts to keep himself in the public eye he is no longer such a big draw and I expect this to end his run of top ten appearances. 

North London based singer / songwriter Alan Pownall releases his latest single 'Colourful Day' on Mercury Records this week. His debut single 'Chasing Time' was released earlier this year to great critical acclaim and he also supported Adele on her high profile UK tour. He recorded a live session for BBC Introducing back in February and is keenly supported by prominent Radio 1 DJ Fearne Cotton. He is due to play at the Eden Project in Cornwall this week and then has gigs in London, Ipswich and Newquay next month. He shares a flat with fellow singer / songwriter Jay Jay Pistolet where they live above Winson and Marcus from Mumford & Sons. He recently appeared at the Wireless and iTunes festivals. His debut album 'True Love Stories' is due for release next week and so he will have his fingers crossed that this can at least secure enough airplay to promote its release.  

Also released this week are 'God Moves In Irresponsible Ways' by 17th Boulevard, 'In The Summer' by Crystal Fighters, 'Up In The Clouds' by Darwin Deez, 'Fire Escape' by Fanfarlo, 'Self Machine' by I Blame Coco, 'Worlds End / Devils Son' by Lupen Crook and 'Come Back Home' by Two Door Cinema Club. Download only releases this week include 'Jacqueline' by Alabama 3 featuring Steve Van Zandt, 'Full Focus' by Armin van Buuren, 'Chemistry' by Bang Bang Club,  'She Got It Bad' by BeBe Vox, 'Dead Famous' by Diagram Of The Heart, 'Seventeen' by Jet, 'Brand New Day' by Joshua Radin, 'Un Oh' by Kyrah, 'Stay The Night' by Millionaires, 'Tiny World' by Seth Lakeman, 'Pop A Bottle' by Sway featuring Donae'o, 'Already Taken' by Trey Songz and 'Oh!' by We Have Band. 

JLS might still manage to hold on but expect strong challenges from B.o.B. featuring Hayley Williams and new entries by Mark Ronson and Professor Green featuring Lily Allen. Don't forget to stop by next week when artists releasing new singles look set to include Ash, Basshunter, Diana Vickers and Faithless. Until then have yourself a good week.

JHME Music Correspondent