Calling All Avenging Angels
Not for the first time in my writing career, I have cause to note that it can be a dangerous business flagging up potential records a week early. Because you have to repeat yourself seven days later. And in a week when there is precious little else to discuss this gets doubly awkward.
Yes, that metatextual opening serves just one purpose - to note that Alex Warren is No.1 on the Official UK Singles chart with Ordinary for the ninth week running. The big headline is that Ordinary is now one of the all-time longest-running No.1 singles by a solo American artist. Brushing past the eight week run of Elvis' It's Now Or Never, Ordinary now matches the nine week run of Here In My Heart by Al Martino (famously the canonical first ever No.1 hit in 1952) and in terms of continuous runs is second only to Rose Marie by Slim Whitman which lasted 11 weeks in 1955. There's still one record in the distance, the all-time total weeks at No.1 champion was also performed by an American male - Frankie Laine's rendition of I Believe had a total of 18 weeks at the top in 1953, nine of those also being consecutive.
So, yes these are records from the dawn of chart history, but ones that have rarely been approached since.
Many questions have been asked about just where the extended appeal of what, let's not pretend otherwise, remains a very beautiful, heartfelt and moving song. Conspiracy theories have it that the label has been ordered to throw every single resource at the song to make its singer a superstar, and there may be some truth in that. But what has also helped was the discovery early on that Ordinary is the perfect song to walk down the aisle to, a small adjustment in playback speed making it the perfect tempo for a bridal procession. Indeed such is that unusual sync that a special "wedding version" was made available for streaming, a new mix that essentially removes the drums and somehow makes the track even more moving and intense. And wouldn't you just know it, this week a new video for that mix was release. Featuring footage from Alex Warren's actual wedding. You could hardly plan it better.
I've left the fun bit until last. The promotion of the alternative version may well have handed Ordinary another lifeline. Streams of the track are up this week, only by a little mind, but enough to reset the track's ACR clock again. While there is still room for a big superstar release to overtake it, for now the chasing pack remains some way in the distance. The path is clear for Ordinary to do what precious few singles manage in the era of the ACR rules and sustain a No.1 run that stretches well into double figures. Indeed, if Ordinary makes it to 12 weeks at the summit (as it is on course to do now) then it will be the longest-running No.1 single since Ed Sheeran's 13 weeks (plus a bonus return) at the top with Shape Of You way back in 2017.
Sobering really isn't it? The No.2 single is, despite a few midweek scares, once again Ravyn Lenae's Love Me Not. A mere 27,752 chart units behind the champ. Which feels a lot, although it is still the closest anyone has come since Alex Warren's first week at the summit. It is assuming a great deal, but people are now wondering out loud if Alex Warren is destined to replace himself at No.1 - he's set to release viral Jelly Roll collaboration Bloodline next Friday (23rd).
Something Out Of The Highlands
For all the moaning about stagnation, we do have a new entry inside the Top 10. There's no guarantee that name value plays any part in chart prospects any more, but it is good to know that genuine home-grown stars like Calvin Harris (for it is he) can blast their way into the upper reaches of the chart without trying. Blessings is the track in question, an instantaneous No.8 hit that goes some way to redressing the failure of the Scotsman's last single Smoke The Pain Away to progress any further than No.46. It is his first Top 10 hit single for almost two years, his highest charting hit since the Sam Smith-starring Desire reached No.6 in 2023. Singer of choice this time around is serial collaboratrix and former Sonny Fodera muse Clementine Douglas, this her second Top 10 single after she featured on the former's Asking which was a No.7 hit, also two years ago.
The Unkillables
It is nice to meet Myles Smith's Nice To Meet You again. With a climb to No.10 it is a Top 10 single once more, this for the third time of asking and after an absence of an extraordinary nine weeks. The track first charted in mid-November and peaked (for now) at No.6 in mid-January. It is just one of a large number of apparently unkillable singles, ones that have had an extended chart run by dint of, well, being popular over a long period and at the same time managing to avoid week in week out the always impending ACR axe. The rules whereby the value of streams for older songs are halved assume that the popularity of songs traces a gentle bell curve - rising to a peak and then consistently falling. But when tracks don't fall away but just hover in place, the ACR rules (declining more than the market for three consecutive weeks) take a long time to trigger.
Meanwhile, Benson Boone's Beautiful Things remains in the Top 10 for what is now its 31st week in total and the 14th of this current comeback run. It is No.7 for the fifth week running, making it only the fourth single in chart history to match that particular record. It is the first to pull this trick off since Feel The Love by Rudimental featuring John Newman back in 2012. Benson Boone's newer hit also creeps ever closer to the Top 10, Mystical Magical now up to a new peak of No.13. Its immediate predecessor also climbs, Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else hits No.20 after spending the whole of the first ten weeks of its chart career hurtling about between 30 and 21.
Back with momentum on its side: Shake It To The Max (Fly) by Moliy and Silent Addy. After moving 25-26-26 over the last three weeks it rockets to a new peak of No.15 and seems finally to be heading for the upper end of the chart. Unless the market decides otherwise of course.
Four weeks after dropping off the Top 100 altogether Timeless by The Weeknd and Playboi Carti earns itself an ACR reset and re-debuts at No.30. I won't pretend I've unearthed the reason why, but someone in the comments will explain.
Re-Election Day
The albums chart this week is dominated by Sleep Token who shifted almost 30,000 sales worth of their new album Even In Arcadia. Having cracked the code for getting rock fans to stream their music, the semi-anonymous group find themselves nicely distributed across the singles chart too. The title track is No.31, previous hit Caramel is back up to No.33 and Look To Windward is No.38.
Producer and DJ Ely Oaks' chart single Running Around may not have quite managed to catch fire in the way that was hoped, with a peak of a mere No.28 to its name so far, but it now charts concurrently with what seems to be a faster growing follow up. Virality propels Borderline rapidly up the chart and it now sits at No.35. The frantically sped up vocalist is 21 year old Lavinia Hope whose nationality you can debate until the cows come home. She was born in Italy, grew up in the UK and is now based in Germany. Something out of the ordinary you might say.
