Rolling UK Pop/Chart/"Few people would dispute that Elbow have given us the album of the year" Thread 2009

The Sun's interview series is bloody tricky to navigate, yes, cos they've not given it much attention due to Gordon Smart boldly predicting that a bunch of acts from the Sound of 2009 longlist plus Kasabian and Noel Gallagher will have big years.

Part 1 - White Lies, Lady GaGa, VV Brown
Part 2 (expect billed as part 1 continued) - Passion Pit, Eliza Doolittle, First Aid Kit, Kid British
Part 3 (but called part 2 for some reason) - La Roux, Empire of the Sun, Karima Francis
Part 3 (except billed as part 2) - Flossie, Jazmine, Little Boots, Gary Go plus a "best of the rest" bit

The pavements are frozen, Wedgwood are about to go into administration, Saints are out of the FA Cup - yes, it's time for the first new chart of the year!

And what a chart it isn't. Simon Cowell's Christmas Miracle continues into the New Year, with Alex and Leona occupying the top two places, but it's a smashing great new entry at number three for Lady GaGa ON DOWNLOADS ALONE so give it a fortnight and it might yet make number two.

Nothing else of interest happens in the top 20 - Buckley slips to 22 (HUSTLIN' HUSTLIN' HUS-HUS-HUSTLIN'), one ahead of Sugababes Have Made A Car Out Of Men. Both the Saturdays' current hits climb this week, with "Issues" at 27 and "Up" at 29, and there's re-entries for "Dance Wiv Me" (31), "Viva La Vida" (33), That One MGMT Single That I Can't Remember How It Goes (37) and The Most Insipid Girls Aloud Single Ever (39). Kevin "Mark Ronson Without The Skillz" Rudolf gets a top 40 bow at number 40 exactly.

Albums this week dominated by new entries, unless you take "dominated" to mean "topped", in which case it's still dominated by Take That. However, there's a not-entirely-expected re-entry for Girls Aloud's Greatest Hits at 6, along with slightly more predictable post-Christmas re-emergences for Elbow (11), MGMT (13), A Michael Jackson Compilation (20), The Previous Take That Album (30), ABBA Gold (34) and Vampire Weekend (39), who possibly benefited from having "A-Punk" included in Xmas TOTP's montage of hits from the first half of 2008. At time of writing, "A-Punk"'s chart peak - number 55. Hmm...

"A-Punk" played everywhere, everybody loves it, but the 'on-sale' version was a 7" with a CD for double the price. (2 tracks, total)...

... which presumably 'made' people 'continue' to buy the album.

Sound of 2009 finished today, and your winner: Little Boots. White Lies were runners-up, then Flossie, Him Out Of The Sleepy Jackson, La Roux (incidentally, if you didn't like her before, then have a watch of the interview with her walking round an indoor market in Brixton - totally change your mind, that will), GaGa, VV Brown, Kid Cudi, Passion Pit and Dan Black. In that order.

And of that lot, the first Radio 1 playlist of the year has Kid Cudi on A-List, White Lies on B, and Empire of the Sun on '1 Upfront'. HMV favourite Gary Go also finds himself on '1 Upfront', while Scott Mills has Red Light Company as his record of the week.

Viewing the playlist in non-HOT/NEW/HOT&NEW terms: Lily, Franz and The Fray spearhead the A-List. Razorlight and Snow Patrol's flagging new albums get another push (one interesting fact gleaned from those articles last week - Slipway Fires apparently only managed three weeks inside the top 75), and are joined by Jason Mraz, and, somewhat out of the blue, Tinchy Stryder. No, really.

B-List sees Ida Maria having a go at following up her hit from, ooh, about a year ago now? She's accompanied by student faves Pendulum and Frank Turner, more album-pushing from Bloc Party, Keane, Coldplay, Flobbadob Boy and The Game, Jordin Sparks confirming it'll be a year or two before she gets her hands on another "No Air", the first proper solo single for Daniel Merriweather (heard "Stop Me" for the first time in ages the other night, really enjoyed it), another punt for Jay Sean (continuing his run of fantastic song titles with "Tonight") and... The Airborne Toxic Event. I have not heard them, but from their name I'm imagining thay might not be A Good Thing. Also, "Spaceman" by The Killers gets its first week on the playlist.

C-List has a return for Cage The Elephant, the rock equivalent of trying to make 'fetch' happen. Also: Alesha, The View (second single off their album, you'd be forgiven for not noticing the first one), "Sirrrrr-cuss", All-American Rejects (top 20 in the US at the moment, innit?), your friends and mine FLEET FOXES, and Chase & Status ft. Kano, which might well be the most Zane Lowe combination of all time. Alongside Empire and Gaz on 1-Upfront, there's TV On The Radio, Timmy Vegas and Innerpartysystem, which might be an even worse band name than The Airborne Toxic Event. I am not sure.

GaGa number one in the midweeks.

Jason Mraz has just had his first UK hit at number 34.

And "Gangsta's Paradise" has re-entered, at number 31.

We are going to have so much fun on this thread.

2 out of 3 ain't bad

And so Lady Gaga's number one, and at number two we have James "Interesting" Morrison. Alexandra slips to three. Lots of big climbs - "Issues" rises up to 6, Keving Rudlof is now at 10, Kanye Can Only Express His Sadness Via The Jetsons is at 14, and, in a development that can only possibly be a good thing, UMMGUMMT climb from 37 to 16 with That One That Goes "See Something Something TREEEEES Something". "Mad" climbs to number 22, with "Circus" climbing back to 24. Coolio re-enters at 31. Jason Mraz 34, Pink 37, Alesha 39.

I can't be bollixed saying owt about albums, except that Kings of Leon are back at number one. Kylie Remix Extravaganza is your sole new entry at 28, but there's all kinds of re-entries all over the place.

"And "Gangsta's Paradise" has re-entered, at number 31."

what no Same Old Brand New You? :-(

anyone placing any bets on Kid Cudi knocking off GaGa the top? Please, she's horrible.

anyone keeping Morrison off the top is alright by me

Stop hating, Steve. HE CAN'T TELL YOU SOMETHING THAT AIN'T REAL.

LAMMO WEIGHS IN

http://homepages.nyu.edu/~rsa221/Logan

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7823982.stm

anyone keeping Morrison off the top is alright by me

I don't mind the Morrison actually, it's an innocuous duet that's basically a rewrite of the Snow Patrol/Martha Wainwright one. It even rips off the video of them singing at each other through a glass window.

I don't feel like slapping Morrison the way I do GaGa.

Kid Cudi will knock them both off anyway

i feel like slapping them both aside but the diff is that beyonce has done the job on morrison already.

hang on what lol kid cudi vs crookers is going to be no 1? oh, british public, six months behind at best.

oh, british public, buying a record that now has an official UK release.

How can the public buy something that wasnt out til now? Blame the artist/record label

http://www.discogs.com/Kid-Cudi-Vs-Crookers-Day-N-Nite/release/1535006

released early nov 08

Country: Italy
Released: 10 Nov 2008

To be fair to Lex, you can get a £30 return to Italy nowadays. It says a lot for the backwards thinking and, yeah I'll say it, RACISM of the British music-buying public that they weren't prepared to take a day off, throw down three beer tokens, jet off to buy a Kid Cudi single, and return back.

yeah lex stop blaming public when it's promoters and execs to blame. same stupid deal with 'do u mind' after all.

"country" on discogs refers to the nationality of the artist o_0

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Day-n-Nite-Kid-Cudi/dp/B001MIVU12/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1231807969&sr=1-1

January 12 2009

Discogs lists, as you'd presume being as it's fucking discogs, the vinyl release.

Did you buy it in November, Lex?

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

63% buy the item featured on this page:
Day 'n' Nite

15% buy
Just Dance (2)
£0.59

7% buy
Oracular Spectacular (41)
£6.98

7% buy
The Bang Gang Deejays 'D Is For Disco, E Is For Dancing'
£12.99

Music in 2009: it's awesome

"country" on discogs refers to the nationality of the artist o_0

― lex pretend

Not in my experience it doesn't.

e.g.

http://www.discogs.com/Alejandro-Vivanco-Madre-Tierra/release/1351258

http://www.discogs.com/Ice-Cube-You-Can-Do-It/release/342575

Straight outta Bromsgrove

I just want to know if the lex bought it in november

i was sent the mp3 in, like, may 08. at which point it was already ubiquitous in clubs. anyway i ain't blaming the public, it's just funny and sort of sweet when they catch on so late (like with benga & coki's 'night' like a year later lol), it's also funny and sort of sweet that mes haterz suddenly care about kid cudi release dates!

http://www.discogs.com/Ellen-Allien-Sool/release/1311694

^^only released in GER clearly

it's prob the nationality of the label or something, who really cares

And here's the first 1Xtra playlist of the year. Of particular note - Donaeo's "African Warrior/Devil in a Blue Dress" is on there. Much like it was last August. 1Xtra seems a weirdly depressing place to be, somehow - their schedule on Saturday night simultaneously broadcasts Trevor Nelson's Radio 1 show. Whatever for?

im not a hater.

There's a lot less out-there/underground UK crossover stuff on the 1Xtra playlist than there used to be. Annoying. Also, does "Crack A Bottle" really need to be on a fucking A-list anywhere in 2009?

I can't remember the last time i heard the radio that wasn't when i was in someones car.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/entertainment_enl_1232017849/img/1.jpg

Former Spice Girl Emma Bunton (left) has ruled out the possibility of another reunion while encouraging the public to ditch white bread as part of the Hovis Wholemeal Challenge. Meanwhile, former bandmate Victoria Beckham (right) features on a new campaign for Emporio Armani women's underwear.

And in playlist news - Radio 1 promotes Coldplay, Ida Maria and Danny Merriweather to the A-List. Somewhat confusingly, "Single Ladies" hadn't been on their playlist before, but they're gonna be a bit cautious and just put it on the B-List for now, see if it clicks with the public. It is joined by the new U2 single. Miley Cyrus, The King Blues, N-Dubz, The Prodigy and Rudenko are all added to the C, where they're joined by the entirety of last week's 1-Upfront list - Empire of the Sun, Gary Go and Innerpartysystem - as well as UMMGUMMT, who are valiantly reviving the art of indie bands re-releasing singles for fuck-all reason, in this case with "Time To Pretend" (this being compounded by the fact that "Kids" is the song of theirs that's currently inside the top 20. Hmm). Your all-new 1-Upfront bunch - Blame, Kyla & Crazy Cousins, and Little Boots.

Meanwhile, on Radio 2:

A LIST

JEM - It's Amazing
GIRLS ALOUD – The Loving Kind
DANIEL MERRIWEATHER - Change
*NEW* MORRISSEY - I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
FLEET FOXES - Mykonos
PAUL CARRACK - I Don’t Want Your Love
JAMES TAYLOR - It's Growing
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND - Working On A Dream
LILY ALLEN - The Fear
COLDPLAY - Life In Technicolor II

B LIST

THE FIREMAN - Dance Till We're High
ANASTACIA - Absolutely Positively
IMELDA MAY - Johnny Got A Boom Boom
BRYN CHRISTOPHER - Fearless
JAMES MORRISON - Broken Strings feat. Nelly Furtado
*NEW* TOM JONES - Give A Little Love
*NEW* ALESHA DIXON - Breathe Slow
*NEW* STONE WALTERS - Trouble
*NEW* THE KILLERS - Spaceman
*NEW* GARY GO - Wonderful
ENYA - My! My! Time Flies!

C LIST

GLENN TILBROOK AND THE FLUFFERS - Still
*NEW* WAYNE GIDDEN - I've Changed My Ways
HENRY PRIESTMAN - Grey Is The New Blonde
LISBEE STAINTON - Red

lol "fluffers"

that is the best photo of posh i've ever seen

and the 2nd best of emma

Somewhat confusingly, "Single Ladies" hadn't been on their playlist before, but they're gonna be a bit cautious and just put it on the B-List for now, see if it clicks with the public

you would think its current top 10 position would give them some indication of this

"Single Ladies" hadn't been on their playlist before

Unforgiveable. Fuck Radio 1.

And so Gaga was number one again and Kid Cudi was number two and everything else = zzzzzzzzzzzzzz... well, I mean, I suppose it's kind of noteworthy that The Saturdays are at number 4 and Girls Aloud are at number 10, or that "Heartless" is at 11, or that "Breathe Slow" climbs to 23, or that there are first-evah hits for White Lies and Tinchy Stryder, but it's just really not very interesting anymore, is it? Lady Gaga has her second-evah hit at number 30 with the ineffably tedious "Poker Face" and A Jordin Sparks Single Or Something is also new.

So come on the albums, let's get some life into - oh wait The Script are number one never mind then. Lady Gaga is at 3, Fleet Foxes 13 (fiver in HMV is probably a contributing factor, I guess), Roger Whittaker 17, Animal Collective 26.

and rabid Girls Aloud fans breathe a collective sigh of relief as "The Loving Kind" just barely manages to keep their top 10 singles run intact. It's their 20th but was apparently only 500 copies clear of Kanye.

Kevin Rudolf up to 5 - a number one in the making if the UK public has any sense. Great single.

Midweeks:

The Lady still holding off the Kid at the top & the top five completely unchanged; Tinchy up to 8, Kanye to 9, new FRanz F only makes it to 22.

In the albums the fucking awful White Lies are in at number one FFS OBTUSE BRITISH PUBLIC GIVE ME SOME DECENT NUMBER ONE ALBUMS TO WRITE ABOUT IN MY OLD AGE and the new Antony is in at 6.

Perhaps worth pointing out that the current number one album, i.e. The Script, is in the 2 for £10 at HMV.

Antony at 6 and Animal Collective at 26 in the same week Kaka turned down City = my faith in humanity is restored. Tinchy breaking the top 10 is great too.

The Grauniad says the charts matter again.

Question is: it's all very well saying that "single sales" were up last year, but what price "single sales" when at 79p per download the business is making zero money out of them?

'Bonkers' doesn't seem particularly trebly - probably why i quite like it now

'bonkers' is lame for difft reasons - actually it's not even that bad, there's the hint of an amazing banger in it, except it just sounds like all concerned gave up 5% into the process

^^^^ Such a spot on description.

Apparently this scottish band might be denting the charts with the summers big novelty hit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta-Z_psXODw

think its got a chance?

Jacko still dominating the top 40?

"Man In The Mirror" is at #3, every other MJ track has slipped down 10-15 places from last week. Still ten songs in total, plus a Jackson 5 cut.

As for Alestorm, they might just be the Joe Dolce in a chart full of MJ tributes, MJ re-releases, and other acts who are just treading water.

What might prevent it doing well is the vocals. But ilm will always get behind a keytar.

"Man In The Mirror" is at #3, every other MJ track has slipped down 10-15 places from last week. Still ten songs in total, plus a Jackson 5 cut.

― how wide is a lawnmower? (snoball), Sunday, 12 July 2009 18:47 (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

"They don't care about us" is up places, the rest are down.

Still, the top ten albums are dominated (6 albums are MJackson)..

Of the wall the lowest position?

"Who's Lovin' You" is also up from 118 to 36, following repeated mentions/archive footage at the MJ tribute show.

Other post-tribute bounces (outside the Top 40, in descending order): "Heal The World", "I'll Be There", "Will You Be There", "Human Nature", "Smile", "We Are The World".

just wait for the Alestorm cover version of Beat It.

Beat It, Wench