Welcome to the official home page of James Masterton, author of an alarmingly long-running weekly analysis of the UK singles and albums charts.
I've been writing about the British charts online since 1992, my weekly column dedicated to telling the story behind each hit, putting chart moves and records in their full context. Across many different publications this has been essential reading for music fans since the very earliest days of the internet. Each week I've tried to tell the full story behind this week's UK charts. Who is Number One, and why? What are this week's biggest new entries? And who is this Drake guy anyway?
You can also read here the archives of my past work, a library of columns dating back to October 1992.
But here you can also read some of my other writings, from retrospective pieces on old chart countdowns through to memories of favourite songs and other more in-depth looks at issues relating to the British music charts. Updates to these tend to be rather more sporadic than I would sometimes wish, but the latest articles can be found on the feed below, or in a more structured form by clicking on the blog link above.
Latest Blog Posts
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Chappell Roan x 3
Good luck babe, there's a total giver dancing at the Pink Pony club. How do you pick one Chappell Roan song for Steve and Sharon to break apart? You don't. You pick her two smash hits from the past 12 months and stir in new single The Giver, and listen to the magic happen.
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Not Like Us
The Super Bowl blew this one up, sending it skyrocketing to the Top 3 after months in abeyance. We all know Not Like Us is Kendrick Lamar's brutal (and at times libellous) takedown of Drake. But just what exactly is he saying?
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Messy
Breaking news: Messy has finally made it to the top of the charts for Lola Young. Further breaking news: Steve believes the song "speaks to a change in our culture". We find out more inside.
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From The Vault: How Soon Is Now
"A shyness that is criminally vulgar". The Smiths' ode to the angst of the unloved is - scarily - 40 years old. It remains Morrissey's most celebrated and affecting lyric.
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Defying Gravity
It ain't easy being green, just ask Elphaba. The signature song from Wicked winds up a UK Top 10 hit for the very first time thanks to the brand new movie. But just what is the song all about deep down?
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From The Vault: Pillowtalk
Topical, as he's staging live shows in Britain for the first time in forever, a short and sweet dive into ZAYN's debut solo hit (and his only UK No.1 single to date) - Pillowtalk.
