Chart Chat Edition 786 – W/C 14.12.14

Chart Chat Edition 786 – Week Commencing Sunday 14th December 2014 

Introduction

Welcome to edition 786 of Chart Chat, the music review site which has been running for over fifteen years.  You can find us on Twitter as @ChartChatUK so feel free to follow us and pass comment on the weeks new releases yourselves.  As always we will take a look at the current top forty followed by some reviews of the weeks new releases.  There is a new edition published weekly so if you are new here then I hope you will choose to revisit.

Chart Review

There were four new entries, three re-entries, eleven climbers, twenty two songs going down on this weeks chart. It wasn’t due to be releaseduntil January but Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars went straight in at no.1 with ‘Uptown Funk’ although they have a lot to thank X Factor contestant Fleur East for as it was her performance which introduced the track to the masses. Their success meant that Ed Sheeran fell one place to no.2 with ‘Thinking Out Loud’.

Band Aid went back up nine places to no.3 following the release of the CD format of ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ while Take That fell one to no.4 with ‘These Days’. Oliver Heldens featuring KStewart went straight in at no.5 with ‘Last Night (Koala)’ and Taylor Swift went down two to no.6 with ‘Blank Space’. One Direction climbed twelve places to no.7 with ‘Night Changes’ while Olly Murs featuring Travie McCoy went down three to no.8 with ‘Wrapped Up’. Calvin Harris featuring Ellie Goulding climbed back up one to no.9 and Clean Bandit & Jess Glynn completed the top ten going down four with ‘Real Love’.

One new entry and two climbers were to be found in the remainder of the top twenty. The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl went up seven places to no.11 with ‘Fairytale Of New York’ and Mariah Carey climbed one to no.16 with ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’. The new entry came at no.17 and went to ‘Drown’ by Bring Me The Horizon.

There was one new entry, three re-entries and six climbers in the lower half of the charts. Fifth Harmony went straight in at no.21 with ‘Bo$$’ and Hozier climbed five to no.22 with ‘Take Me To Church’. George Ezra went up six places to no.23 with ‘Budapest’ while Idina Menzel climbed two to no.24 with ‘Let It Go’. Sam Smith went up three places to no.25 with ‘Stay With Me’ and Taylor Swift climbed back up three to no.29 with ‘Shake It Off’. Wizzard re-entered at no.35 with ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everday’ while Wham! climbed up three to no.36 with ‘Last Christmas’. Ella Henderson re-entered at no.37 with ‘Ghost’ and Ed Sheeran rounded off proceedings re-entering at no.39 with ‘Sing’.

Ben Haenow – ‘Something I Need’

The 2014 X Factor winner Ben Haenow releases his debut single this week and it would be a bold man to bet against him being this years Christmas no.1. The track was originally recored by the American band OneRepublic and features on their most recent album’Native’. It has not been a UK hit before although it has made the top ten in Australia, Austria and New Zealand. Ironically the track which is likely to run him closest is the Mark Ronson single ‘Uptown Funk’ which was made famous by fellow finalist Fleur East. There are numerous high profile campaigns behind other tracks but they will need strong sales if they are to defeat Ben. Sometimes winning the X Factor can be a curse and he has plenty of hard work ahead if he is to become a long term star but for new it looks likely that this week will end up belonging to Ben.

BrEaCh featuring Kelis – ‘The Key’

English DJ Breach has enjoyed two hits so far (‘Jack’ and ‘Everything You Never Had (We Had It All)’), both of which reached no.9 and now they will be aiming for a third with ‘The Key’ which is released this week on the Ninja Tune label. Kelis joins them for vocal duties and she will be hoping to replicate the no.2 success she enjoyed when she featured on Calvin Harris’s track ‘Bounce’. That was the last of her nine top ten hits and came back in 2011 though her 2014 album ‘Food’ did see her back inside the top twenty despite its lack of hits. BrEaCh’s next appearance will come at AIRspace in Brixton on 6th December when he will appear alongside Cinnaman at an all night event (22:00 to 04:00). He is certainly an artist who seems to have had no problem transitioning from the dance chart to the mainstream and with such high profile assistance I expect to see him in the chart on Sunday.

Diztortion – ‘Bandolero’

Diztortion is another Dutch born producer who is aiming for the charts.  His biggest success to date was the Stylo G hit ‘Soundbwoy’ which made no.18 last year but he has also produced hits for Lethal Bizzle. This week sees the release of his own brand new single ‘Bandolero’ which comes as both a single track download and a digital bundle containing four new mixes; the Break Remix, the Bassboy Remix, the LuvBug Remix and the Instrumental. The music video which accompanies the track was originally uploaded in November but it only managed just over 10k views during its first week. Personally I like the track but wonder if it is commercial enough to make the mainstream chart. It looks almost certain to be big on the dancefloors of the UK in the coming weeks even if it does face stiff competition over the next week to reach the top forty.

Ella Henderson – ‘Yours’

Former X Factor contestant Ella Henderson has already enjoyed top twenty success with this track but this week sees its official release as a single. It is released as a digital bundle which features four new mixes of the track; the Wideboys Remix, the Philip George Remix, the Tobtok Remix and the Patrick Hagenaar Colour Code Remix. If this can get a boost it will give her a much deserved third top ten hit although her year has already been impressive thanks to her debut album ‘Chapter One’ hitting the top of the charts. The black and white promotional video which accompanies the track was first uploaded at the start of December and it has picked up over 675k views since then. It faces some stiff competition over the busy festive period but I still think that it will pick up enough airplay for it to perform well, and it could even climb further early in 2015.

Gorgon City featuring Jennifer Hudson – ‘Go All Night’

North London based production duo Gorgon City are aiming for a fourth hit in 2014 with their brand new single ‘Go All Night’.  Their biggest hit in the year so far has been their MNEK collaboration ‘Ready For Your Love’ which peaked at no.4 but the follow up ‘Here For You’ also made the top ten. This latest track sees them team up with the American singer Jennifer Hudson and it features on their recent album ‘Sirens’. The video to accompany the track was first uploaded on the 6th November and it managed to receive 260k views during its first two weeks. The duo are currently on a tour of Europe and are taking in gigs in Denmark, Netherlands, Germany and France this week. They will make their next UK appearance in Aberdeen on 7th February. For now this will need to pick up some mainstream airplay if it is to make the transition to the singles chart.

John Otway – ‘OK Father Christma5’

If ever there has been an example of fan power then John Otway is it. Readers of the record books could be forgiven for only finding two hits, but the ability of his fans to get behind a campaign has been demonstrated on several occasions.  There was the top ten hit ‘Bunsen Burner’ which was released to celebrate his 50th birthday, and there was the film ‘Otway The Movie’ which was financed by his fans in honour of his 60th celebrations. Fans also helped to get his track ‘Beware Of The Flowers’ become the 7th greatest lyric of all time, while they also ensured his movie was voted the second best of 2013 in a poll by The Guardian losing out only to the award nominated Gravity. So if the fans really get going behind this anything is possible and it would be fantastic if John can secure a third hit of his career next weekend.  The b-side (‘Rocking With The Reindeer’) is pretty good too!

The Peace Collective – ‘Alltogether Now’

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without an ensemble of artists coming together to raise awareness / funds for their chosen charity.  This year is no exception, and aside from Band Aid 30 the most high profile release is the Peace Collective update of The Farm classic ‘Alltogether Now’. It features a variety of artists including Alexandra Burke, The Proclaimers, Engelbert Humperdinck, Holly Johnson and Jane McDonald. The track originally charted in 1990 for The Farm when it reached no.4, but it became a football anthem returning to the chart in 1995 courtesy of Everton Football Club and then 2004 when it was selected to be the official England song of the 2004 European Championships. It looks certain to be a top forty hit for a fourth time with some people backing this to go all the way to the top of the Christmas top forty.

Redfoo – ‘New Thang’

Redfoo enjoyed plenty of success as part of the duo LMFAO but as a solo star he has yet to trouble the UK chart. He has however found chart glory in Australia where his last single ‘Let’s Get Ridiculous’ topped the chart and his latest track ‘New Thang’ has reached the top three.  This success is due in no small part to his role as one of the judges on the Australian version of X Factor. The video to the track was first uploaded back in August and it has received over 15m views since then. The track features on his album ‘I Look Good Naked’ though this has yet to gain a full release in the UK. It’s a bold move to release this single on the busiest weak for sales and there is a risk that this could end up going missing.  It’s catchy enough and perhaps it will end up edging up the chart during the coming weeks.  It would certainly work well at those new year parties!

Susanne Sundfor – ‘Fade Away’

Norwegian singer / songwriter Susanne Sundfor releases her new EP ‘Fade Away’ this week’. It comes released as a digital bundle featuring four new mixes of the track; the Maps Remix, the Coucheron Remix, the Bjorn Torske Remix and the Big Black Delta Remix. She has enjoyed two top three singles and two chart topping albums in her native Norway but she has yet to achieve any significant success in the UK. She was originally booked to play a gig at the Lexington in London on 15th March next year but the venue has been upgraded to Scala to cope with demand for tickets. My feeling is that fans are more likely to wait for the release of her new album ‘Ten Love Songs’ which is out next February and as such I am not sure this will be a hit on the singles chart. However Susanne clearly has a growing following and 2015 looks set to be a big year ahead for her.

Also released this week are ‘Miracles’ by Coldplay, ‘Tuesday’ by I Love Makonnen featuring Drake, ‘Sleep For England’ by Julian Lennon & Stephen Emmer, ‘Time Capsule’ by Little Sims & Jakwob, ‘LION BABE’ by LION BABE, ‘Run’ by Nicole Scherzinger, ‘Night Changes’ by One Direction, ‘You’re Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile 2014’ by Sia and ‘Don’t Look Any Further’ by The Writers Block.

Next Week…

Although there are one or two acts that I would like to see put in a strong performance it’s hard to see anyone stopping Ben Haenow. Don’t forget to stop by next week when artists releasing new singles look set to include Annie Lennox, Idina Menzel featuring Michael Buble, Paloma Faith and Tiga. Until then have yourself a good week.

Ian Anderson