RSS Feed
Sep 1

Charts – 31 August 2014

Posted on Monday, September 1, 2014 by Paul in Music

Another quiet week for new releases, while the turnover of number 1 singles continues with another hitherto obscure act.  But first…

38.  Katy Perry – “This Is How We Do”

Bit plodding, isn’t it?  It’s the fifth single from last year’s “Prism” album, so it’s not really expected to sell so much as to remind people that the album is still available.  iTunes shows it climbing a bit, but hardly racing up the charts; it’s presently on course to be her third straight single to miss the top 20.

20.  Ariana Grande – “Break Free”

The follow-up to Grande’s number 1 hit “Problem” has been floating around the iTunes chart for a while, but as the second instant gratification track from her album “My Everything”, it was ineligible for the chart until the album came out this week.  It would probably have registered higher a couple of weeks ago, but this is still enough to strike her name off the one-hit wonder list.  It’s produced by Zedd, who had a number 2 hit in his own right with “Stay the Night” earlier this year.

11.  Lethal Bizzle featuring JME and Tempa T – “Rari WorkOut”

Lethal Bizzle feels strongly that we should all spend more time in the gym, and also drive nicer cars.  This is pretty good, actually.  “Rari” is short for Ferrari, but the video budget doesn’t really run to trying to convince us about Lethal Bizzle’s celebrity lifestyle, so instead we get a video which has quite transparently blown 90% of the modest budget on hiring a Ferrari for the day.  Which is kind of awesome.  If you can’t be convincing, you can at least be ostentatiously unconvincing.

This is Lethal Bizzle’s joint biggest hit, finally matching the number 11 peak of his debut “Pow!” from 2005.  It’s JME’s fourth chart appearance, all of which have been with guest verses on other UK rap tracks.  Tempa T makes his chart debut, though he was on Chase & Status’ 2011 single “Hypest Hype”, which missed the top 40.

9.  Sam Smith – “I’m Not The Only One”
7.  Iggy Azalea featuring Rita Ora – “Black Widow”

Both climbing 8 places, giving Smith the odd distinction of being the highest climber two weeks running.

2.  Maroon 5 – “Maps”

Basically what you’d get if you nailed the verses of a Police song onto a chorus by Ryan Tedder.  Maroon 5 are one of those bands whom it’s hard to imagine being anyone’s favourite, even within the audience for their genre – but this is their sixth top 5 hit over a 10 year period, so they’re clearly doing something right, even if it leaves me cold.

1.  Lilly Wood & Robin Schulz – “Prayer in C”

Lilly Wood isn’t a person, but a French alt-folk duo consisting of singer Nili Hadida and guitarist Benjamin Cotto.  They’re regularly credited as Lilly Wood & The Prick, in fact, but the UK release does indeed seem to be under the less interesting name which I have grudgingly used above.

They’ve had modest success in their home country (which is to say, their previous album made the top 20), but “Prayer in C” is another of those tracks to have become a number 1 hit across western Europe after receiving the tender attentions of a remixer.  Here’s the original; it’s a track from their 2010 album “Invincible Friends”, and no-one’s idea of an obvious chart-topper.

Robin Schulz has basically sped it up and whacked some drums on it, but he has actually left the song intact.  Since the UK release is specifically of the remix, and Schulz gets co-credit on the chart.  Technically, this is his debut UK hit; in practice, it’s his second number 1 of the year, because he was also responsible for the version of “Waves” by Mr Probz that made number 1.  Which he also sped up and whacked some drums on.  He’s arguably better at spotting overlooked pop potential in obscure records than he is at actually remixing them.

Over on the album chart:

  • “Royal Blood” by Royal Blood at 1.  A White Stripes-style rock duo.  Their last single “Figure It Out” peaked at 50.
  • “My Everything” by Ariana Grande at 3.  The former number 1 “Problem” is still hanging in the top 20, and as noted, “Break Free” joins it this week.
  • “The Whole Story” by Kate Bush climbs to 9, with “Hounds of Love” at 9, “50 Words For Snow” at 20, “The Kick Inside” at 24, “The Sensual World” at 26, “The Dreaming” at 37, “Never For Ever” at 38 and “Lionheart” at 40, as publicity for her comeback shows apparently reminds an awful lot of people that they really want to own some more Kate Bush albums.
  • “Pale Communion” by Opeth at 14.  Swedish prog metal band.  This is their 11th studio album, and the third to chart (with the highest position).  Single: “Cusp of Eternity”.  (I did say they were a prog metal band.)
  • “Junto” by Basement Jaxx at 30.  People seem to have stopped caring about Basement Jaxx with their 2009 albums “Scars” and “Zephyr”, neither of which could get any higher than 37.  This is their first album since then, and marks only a marginal improvement.  Single: “Never Say Never”.
  • “Alarms in the Heart” by Dry the River at 31.  A folk-rock band.  This is the follow-up to the 2012 album “Shallow Bed”, which got to 28.  Single: “Gethsemane”.
  • “Moonshine in the Trunk” by Brad Paisley at 34.  One of those odd quirks of declining album sales: a UK chart debut (just) for a US country singer on his 10th album.  Single: “River Bank”.  The waterskiing squirrel is apparently a professional, so fear not.
  • “Waking the Fallen” by Avenged Sevenfold at 35.  This is a reissue of Avenged Sevenfold’s second studio album, which didn’t chart on original release, and is now joined by the obligatory clutch of demos and live tracks on a second disc.  It was meant to be the tenth anniversary reissue, but they didn’t get it out in time, so now it’s the eleventh anniversary reissue instead.

Bring on the comments

  1. Joe S. Walker says:

    Apparently Kate Bush isn’t doing anything she recorded before 1993, which excludes more than half those albums???

Leave a Reply