This week's Official UK Singles Chart

I think it is time to resurrect something. I stopped doing it in the mid-90s when, OK the format of this column did not have room for it but also because it had somehow stopped being relevant. Now I think it is time to restart the tradition as it nicely tells the tale of the story of the singles chart for the week and just how much upheaval is going on.

So for the first time in 11 years - the Top 40 this week places host to 4 new entries, 3 re-entries, 7 climbers and one non-mover.

The big news is of course that the non-mover isn't at the top with the reign of the Scissor Sisters coming to an end as they dip to Number 2. Their replacements are Razorlight who were denied their first ever Number One single last year when Somewhere Else played the runner up to Tony Christie but who this week surge 15-1 as America gets a full shop release. The common fan sentiment appears to be that the single may not necessarily rank as their best ever but as a mass appeal commercial hit it presses all the right buttons, complete with its "uh-uh-oh" chorus (comparisons with Talking Heads notwithstanding) that is enough to load it onto thousands of internal jukeboxes the whole nation over. If America winds up as a modern day classic then it will be nothing less than appropriate and it has also given previous single In The Morning a helping hand as well, the single rising 49-38 to return to the Top 40 after a three-week absence. America is also the third Number One hit in the last four to ascend to the top from outside the Top 10. Whilst the Scissor Sisters only climbed 4-1, Justin Timberlake shot 13-1 with Beyonce before him moving 21-1.

The highest new entry of the week is a single which smashes into the Top 3 not only by dint of having a comparatively rare simultaneous shop and online release but also thanks to a grassroots internet campaign to send the single to the very top of the chart. Twenty years on from Knight Rider and a decade away from the TV dominance of Baywatch, actor David Hasselhoff appears to have slipped nicely into his third wave of fame this time as an adopted national treasure. His status as a cultural reference point for two whole generations has led to him embracing his current status as an ironic cult figure with some gusto. Alongside his role in the new movie 'Click' he has now managed to turn the nation on to the other thing he has until now been famous for everywhere in Europe but here - singing.

Yes, he sang one version of the Baywatch theme and yes, we've all heard tales of how Looking For Freedom is one of Germany's biggest selling records ever and how he performed it on top of the Berlin Wall when it came down 17 years ago, but until now his only link with the UK charts has been the Number 35 single If I Could Only Say Goodbye which charted in November 1993 at the height of Baywatch mania. All that changes this week with the arrival on the chart of Jump In My Car which, complete with its high camp and very self-aware video storms in at Number 3. I still can't work out just how aware he is that the hero worship that follows his every move on these shores is done in celebration of his apparent naffness rather than out of genuine admiration but if he does know it, he has picked the perfect way to milk it to the full. The song itself actually predates all his career achievements, having originally been a hit in Australia for Ted Mulry way back in 1975. The closest the track has ever come to being a UK hit came a year later when Chris Spedding released a version which failed to tickle the charts.

The highest climber this week is the 30-4 leap of P Diddy and Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger with Come To Me. P Diddy's recent chart record is a confusing one with his last two singles both topping the chart despite a minimal presence from the man himself on both. He topped the chart earlier this year as one of a cast of thousands (almost) on the remix of Notorious BIG's Nasty Girl, that single being his first direct credit since his supporting role on Marion Winans' I Don't Wanna Know in June 2004. With his two Top 40 appearances prior to those being as guest star on records by Lenny Kravitz and Nelly respectively, it seems almost astonishing to relate that Come To Me' is his first single as sole lead artist since Let's Get Ill (needless to say also starring Kelis) charted at Number 25 in September 2003. As the lead track from a brand new album the single was always due to chart strongly, and so it proves, landing him (Number One collaborations aside) his first Top 5 hit single since I Need A Girl also hit Number 4 in August 2002.

Also on the rise are Bob Sinclar and Cutee B with Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now) which contrary to what I wrote last week is, in fact, the third hit in a year for the Frenchman following both Love Generation and World Hold On. This new hit surges past the chart peak of both to give him his first ever Top 5 hit single. It is possible that he could have had a Number One hit in the late 90s had a copyright wrangle not prevented the single release of club smash Gymtonic, leaving British duo Spacedust to nip in instead with their own facsimile version which did indeed top the chart.

As far as upper reaches action goes, that is pretty much it with the rest of the Top 20 all making varying degrees of downward progression to make way for the Top 5 newcomers. It is left to My Chemical Romance to claim the second new entry of the week, landing at Number 23 with Welcome To The Black Parade. It is the first hit in a year for the American group and the lead single from their forthcoming new album The Black Parade which hits the shops in a fortnight. With this chart position based on downloads alone, there is a good chance the combined sales of the single will at the very least help it beat the Number 19 peak of I'm Not Okay (I Promise) from March 2005 which for the moment stands as their biggest hit to date.

One place below them at Number 24 is the frustratingly struggling When The Night Feels My Song by Bedouin Soundclash which despite all our hopes has only managed to match the peak it originally scaled just over a year ago. The single has at least managed something of a chart first due to the fact that it is a straight re-release rather than a re-issue. The difference is important as it means the single retained its original catalogue number so instead of appearing as a new entry last week (when sales of the 2006 release became chart eligible) it merely continued the chart run of the 2005 release whilst at the same time sidestepping the 52 week rule that ordinarily would have seen it removed from the chart a fortnight ago. With chart anoraks the nation over foaming at the mouth over the arbitrary nature of the "two weeks after deletion" removal rule it is a rather welcome sight to see a single exploit the rules so that if it continues to sell it will theoretically be able to register 58 weeks on a singles chart that is only supposed to allow a maximum of 53.