This week's Official UK Singles Chart
After the madness of the last couple of weeks, things calm down a little on both singles and album charts - but that doesn't result in any change at the top end.
Singles-wise Cascada clock up a second week at Number One with Evacuate The Dancefloor, their closest rivals coming from the act they deposed La Roux who ease back up to Number 2 with Bulletproof. On the album chart, it is still naturally all about Michael Jackson with Number One album The Essential one of no less than six Jackson albums inside the Top 10, his long players now selling in comfortable fashion now that physical stocks have cranked up to meet the demand.
The highest new entry on the singles chart goes to Chipmunk who in tandem with guest singer Emeli Sande shoots to Number 6 with Diamond Rings. It is the second chart single for the 18-year-old rap star as the lead artist, the follow-up to Chip Diddy Chip which climbed to Number 21 back in March. Since then his stock has risen considerably, not least thanks to his collaboration with Ironik on the Elton John-sampling Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer) which made the Top 3 back in May. The new single arrives with a swagger and a style that more than justifies its lofty chart placing. Somehow he sounds less like a cheeky schoolboy mouthing meaningless braggadocio but instead steps up to the plate as the rapper of note that we are continually being told he has the potential to be. Singer Emeli [here making a "soft landing" debut on a track which she had originally penned with Naughty Boy and which Chipmunk picked up to turn into his own rap] gives the track the necessary sophistication to turn the track into an appealing pop record, and overall you can chalk this entire track up as a successful exercise. Based on the first single I didn't buy into the Chipmunk project at all. Now I get it entirely.
Also new to the Top 10 after a 29 place rise are the Black Eyed Peas who land at Number 10 with I Gotta Feeling. The follow-up to Boom Boom Pow, this was the track that gave them historic back to back Number One hits on the Hot 100 in America and has to date led to them maintaining a stranglehold on the American charts for the last 14 weeks. On these shores, it gives them a rather more relaxed seventh Top 10 hit in a row and their 10th overall. If Boom Boom Pow annoyed the effluent out of you then this single should be much more to mainstream tastes, an FM radio-friendly summertime pop hit devoted to extolling the joys of the party and a night on the town. In a sense it sums up the beauty of the Black Eyed Peas perfectly, their ability to switch between hard and dirty hip-hop and unashamedly brilliant pop music in the blink of an eye means you are never quite sure what to expect next.
Also moving in the right direction once more is Jordin Sparks whose acclaimed single Battlefield stalled at a still non too shabby Number 11 three weeks ago. After dipping as low as Number 20 last week, the single appears to have gained a second wind and now jumps back nine places to re-take its place just outside the Top 10.
One place below her, however, is what is possibly the most talked about and most eagerly anticipated new singles of the week. The Arctic Monkeys have never been ones to plough a conventional promotional furrow at the best of times, their rise to fame from seemingly nowhere coming after they developed a huge fanbase through online promotion and the shocking tactic of giving away their early recordings for nothing at concerts and through websites. For new single Crying Lightning, they have turned convention on its head once more. The track remained shrouded in mystery until Monday night last week when it received its first airing on the Zane Lowe show on Radio One. Simultaneously with that premiere, it was released to online stores, instantly taking up residence near the top of the iTunes daily rankings. Needless to say, this makes it rather difficult to judge the relative sales performance of the track. On the one hand, it is something of a shock to see this, the first Arctic Monkey single for two years and the first track to be lifted from their forthcoming third album chart so low. Then again, the single was effectively a midweek release and so was at a disadvantage compared to the competition, particularly when you consider that most people would not have even heard the track before it appeared in online charts. It is also worth considering the last time they had brand new material out, back in 2007 when Brianstorm became the first single from their second album Favourite Worst Nightmare. Demonstrating that Arctics fans are into their collectables, the single spent two weeks locked at Number 11 and only shot to its Number 2 peak when the physical version was made available. Maybe a similar fate will befall this track, although its digital lead-in is substantially longer, Crying Lightning not due for a physical release until August 17, just one week ahead of their third album Humbug.
To continue the run of hits not quite managing to shatter the glass ceiling of the Top 10, let's take a moment to appreciate I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) from Pitbull which jumps 28-13. It is the first UK hit single for the Miami based rapper whose music pays full homage to his Cuban-American roots, giving him a fresh latin-flavoured sound, easily the unique selling point of this single. His first chart hit in his own right, his only other appearances on the best sellers listings in the past have been as the guest star on other, smaller hits. He first received a chart credit on Shake, a 2006 single from the Ying Yang Twins which made Number 49 whilst a year later he was the featured star on Crazy by Lumidee which could only make a rather lowly Number 74.
Significant chart activity elsewhere is by necessity restricted by the old Michael Jackson hits clogging things up. This week his Top 40 presence is reduced to only(!) 11 singles, the one newcomer being Who's Lovin' You from the Jackson 5 which rockets to Number 36 this week. A soul standard for many years, the track had never been a UK chart hit until last May when it landed in the Top 75 following Shaheen Jafargholi's performance of the track on Britain's Got Talent. It is thanks to the young star that the single makes its biggest chart impression yet, inspired by his rendition at the memorial service for the late star which gave him a worldwide television audience. Insert your own "12-year-old boy performing for Michael Jackson" jokes here. [Too soon].
