Resting In Pieces
We've only just passed the 25th anniversary of that weird day when Princess Diana died. I remember what I was doing quite vividly, sitting preparing to write the commentary of that week's Top 40 which had arrived at lunchtime as usual and then turning on the radio to hear Mark Goodier (the then host) announce that along with everything else the chart show was being cancelled. But I was being paid to write it all up for dotmusic so I shrugged my shoulders and focused on the music.
This week of course is similarly weird, a royal death meaning everyone scratches their head and wonders just what is and isn't appropriate. Of course there was no Official Chart Show on Radio One. They are still in sombre music mode as they will be for the next week. And Official Charts themselves struck a similarly sonorous tone, almost apologetic that they had to push out their usual data to the industry and the public at large:
In light of current events, the Official Charts are published simply as a matter of record this evening.
— Official Charts (@officialcharts) September 9, 2022
The charts will be accessible at https://t.co/3g6cKUqJfE pic.twitter.com/NRPd6qjgp7
But a chart there is and a chart we still have. The first No.1 single of the reign of King Charles III is the one that saw out the reign of his mother as B.O.T.A. (Baddest Of Them All) by Eliza Rose and Interplanetary Criminal reigns supreme at the top of the charts for a second week. As with the record that preceded it at the top, the origins of its sampled core continue to be a matter of some intrigue. As is well documented the synth line at the heart of the track is held to have originated with a remix of the Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam track Let The Beat Hit Em from back in 1991. But as readers to the Chart Watch newsletter will have learned during the week, the direct inspiration may could just as easily have come from semi-obscure 2001 Top 20 hit Happiness by Sound De-Zign which used precisely the same melody. This all starts to make sense when you note that Happiness was itself derivative, effectively a cut-up remix of a 1997 cover of Let The Beat Hit 'Em as performed by Shena.
Isn't dance music fascinating?
No, move on James
It is the end of another era as LF System's Afraid To Feel finally collapses to ACR after an impressive 15 week chart run, sliding 2-15 on the rankings. That means there is a vacancy in second place, filled neatly by David Guetta and Bebe Rexha's I'm Good (Blue) which makes a five place jump. You will note that is now just a place behind the 1999 peak of Eiffel 65's Blue (Da Ba Dee) on which the track is based. Despite their name, Eiffel 65 were Italian rather than French, unlike David Guetta who is notably the most successful French artist in chart history. Nonetheless, he hasn't been quite this high on the chart for some time. Notwithstanding the trio of No.3 hits he created last year this is Guetta's biggest hit single since Lovers On The Sun hit the top just over eight years ago. I'm Good (Blue) is however Bebe Rexha's biggest hit ever, the first Top 3 hit she has enjoyed in her own eight-year chart career thus far.
Time To Breathe
This is another of those weeks without any big new hits of note, but there are pleasingly plenty of notable moves amongst the incumbent hits. I Ain't Worried by OneRepublic continues its quite unexpected run, lifting a further place to a brand new peak of No.3 which in a strange continuation of a theme becomes their first Top 3 hit for - yes! - eight years, Love Runs Out their last to climb this high in August 2014l
Not Over Yet by KSI and Tom Grennan completes its turnaround, climbing back to its original No.4 peak from four weeks ago, the release of a remix featuring Nines & Headie One is credited for this particular revival.
But it is another pair of dramatic turnarounds which grab all the biggest headlines. People this week appear to have gone Harry Styles crazy, the long-awaited premiere at the Venice film festival of Don't Worry Darling which sees the former boy band star make his acting debut has rebounded with a flurry of interest in his music. It means Late Night Talking is back in the Top 10 for a third time, four weeks after it briefly rebounded to No.8 following a physical release another drop of product propels it up to No.5, now its highest position since it was No.4 on its second week on the chart back in June. Other Styles hits enjoying a bump in listening are the now vintage As It Was, rising to an ACRd No.18 and what looks set to be his next promoted single Matilda which rockets 57-37.
Continuing a recent theme of "tracks we wrote off prematurely", the release of the video for Nicki Minaj's Super Freaky Girl has had a positive effect on its own consumption and the track rebounds to a brand new peak of No.6 having dropped out of the Top 10 last week.
It Doesn't End There
The parade of slow but steady climbers does not end there. Steve Lacy's Bad Habit returns to its peak of No.12 after three weeks away while just below Under The Influence now becomes Chris Brown's first Top 20 hit as either a guest or lead artist since 2015 as it makes another jump to No.14. No Excuses by Bru-C is still rattling around as well, No.17 this week in what is now its eighth consecutive week as a Top 20 single.
But the comeback to end all comebacks is at No.20. Originally a No.10 hit in 2013, Another Love by Tom Odell has turned out to be one of those under the radar streaming perennials, first resurfacing last year when it returned for another chart wander which saw it creep back to No.60. The track has been floating around the chart for much of the last six months as well, Tik Tok trends having resurfaced it. Official Charts are crediting its present revival to a viral video clip of a Leicester Square busker, but I suspect the arrival of a Tiesto remix earlier the summer is the most crucial factor. In any event the renewed level of interest has now prompted the label to ask for an ACR reset - and duly granted the single takes off like a rocket, firing its way to No.20 to occupy its highest chart position since the chart of July 13th 2013.
Only Calling When High
Also making a fascinating rise, fascinating because you genuinely would not expect it to have consolidated its appeal, There'd Better Be A Mirrorball from Arctic Monkeys, rising 38-26. The most-streamed Arctics track at the moment is 505 (taken from their 2007 album Favourite Worst Nightmare) which is No.37 on the streaming charts, compared to No.48 for this one. But ACR is keeping the 15 year old catalogue track hidden well out of sight.
But we've kept everyone waiting long enough. Time for the highest new entry of this phenomenally quiet week. I'm In Love With You is the third teaser single from the new album from The 1975, although the first of them to chart as high as the Top 40. Following Part Of The Band (No.57 in July), and Happiness (No.46 in August) the latest release lands smartly at No.29 - only the 8th Top 30 hit of their quarter of a century of Top 75 singles to date. All the tracks are taken from Being Funny In A Foreign Language, due for release at the end of next month.
Mopping Up
Also new to the Top 40 are 2 Be Loved (I Am Ready) from Lizzo, the second single from her Special album and one which was released to radio as far back as July but which only now appears to be gaining traction. Eight weeks into its chart life it jumps to No.38. One place behind is Energy from Bugzy Malone & Mist, a single which narrowly missed the Top 40 last week but enjoys a sixth place climb on this frame.
So what is the first No.1 album of the reign of King Charles III? The self-titled third album from YUNGBLUD which slams into No.1 to give him his second chart-topping record in a row (its predecessor Weird! also hit the heights in 2020). I guess we all have cause to be thankful it wasn't Megadeth, The Sick The Dying And The Dead (ahem) is the week's second biggest new release at No.3.
