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Sep 9

Charts – 8 September 2017

Posted on Saturday, September 9, 2017 by Paul in Music

Ooookay… so I hoped that I would start catching up on reviews last week, but, well, my hope was misplaced.  Anyway, let’s do the chart post first…

1.  Taylor Swift – “Look What You Made Me Do”

Two weeks.  It’s number one on sales, but not on streams, where Dua Lipa is back on top.  My guess is that it won’t be number one for too long, because it’s not a song so much as an event, and the event has happened now.  But we’ll see.

“Mi Gente” by J Balvin & Willy William climbs 9-5, and…

7.  Taylor Swift – “…Ready For It?”

This is a midweek release (in terms of the chart week, anyway), and it’s not the official single from the album, it’s a promotional single.  The concept of a promotional single is downright weird these days – it used to mean a single that was only sent to radio stations instead of getting a proper release, but now it seems to mean that it’s a single that does get a proper release but still isn’t supposed to count as a single.   What makes it “promotional” is the fact that it isn’t  promoted.  Anyway, this is more of a song than “Look What You Made Me Do” and probably a better showcase for her new direction – though it’s still no classic.

“Sorry Not Sorry” by Demi Lovato climbs 12-9, giving her a fifth top 10 hit.  “Havana” by Camila Cabello featuring Young Thus climbs 24-11, which beats her previous peak of number 12 for “Crying in the Club”.  “Rain” by The Script climbs 18-5, and “Questions” by Chris Brown moves 19-16.  “Swish Swish” by Katy Perry featuring Nicki Minaj climbs 29-22.

23.  Maroon 5 featuring SZA – “What Lovers Do”

Love?

This is the third single from Maroon 5’s upcoming album, and it’s based loosely on last year’s top 5 hit  “Sexual” by Neiked, which was infinitely better.  It beats the previous single “Cold” by one place, so it’s now their biggest hit since “Sugar” at the start of 2015.  American singer SZA makes her first UK top 40 appearance, though she did guest on “Consideration” by Rihanna, which made number 88 last March.

“Boys” by Charli XCX climbs 36-31, so it’s still alive.

32.  Jason Derulo – “If I’m Lucky”

Oh, it’s the own-brand “Thriller”.  The lyrical conceit is that things didn’t work out in this life, but maybe next time around.  So one for the Hawkman fans.

“Lonely Together” by Avicii featuring Rita Ora climbs 37-35, and “Spirit” by J Hus moves 39-36.

38.  Marshmello featuring Khalid – “Silence”

First chart appearance for Marshmello, an American DJ who performs under a mask.  He used to be anonymous, and technically he still is, in the sense that there’s never been a public statement about his identity.  But it seems pretty clear that it’s Chris Comstock, who also releases music under the name “Dotcom”.  That’s been widely rumoured for a while, on top of which, he’s the credited writer of this song in the ASCAP database.  The song’s pretty good, if firmly in established EDM territory, and the lyrics at least steer clear of the standard tropes.  Khalid is teenage singer Khalid Robinson, who’s previously worked with Calvin Harris, and he’s also making his chart debut.

On the album chart:

  • “Freedom Child” by The Script debuts at number 1.  We’ve mentioned the single already.
  • “American Dream” by LCD Soundsystem is number 3.  It’s been seven years since James Murphy released an album, whether as “LCD Soundsystem” or anything else.  In the interim, aside from the occasional collaboration, he has been developing his own espresso, attempting to change the sound of the New York subway turnstiles , opening a wine bar, and remixing tennis matches from the 2014 US Open.  Single: “Tonite”.
  • “The Punishment of Luxury” by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark is number 3.  Blimey.  Not quite their highest ever placing – that’s the 1988 greatest hits album which reached number 2 – but joint highest for a studio album, along with 1991’s “Sugar Tax” and 1981’s “Architecture and Morality”.  In fact, OMD haven’t even made the top 10 since “Sugar Tax”.  Title track.
  • “Every Country’s Sun” by Mogwai at 6.  A new high for Mogwai, whose previous best was number 10 with the 2014 album “Rave Tapes”.  Mogwai have been around since 1997 but seem to have graduated into album chart mainstays.  Single: “Party in the Dark”.
  • “Hearts That Strain” by Jake Bugg at 7.  His fourth album in five years, and they’ve all made the top ten.  Single: “How Soon The Dawn”
  • “Hit The Ground Running” by Newton Faulkner at 13.  That’s a return to normal after his last album inexplicably failed to get past 40.  Title track.
  • “Under Cover” by Motörhead at 19.  A decent interval has passed since the death of Lemmy in 2015, so it’s time to look in the vault.  This is a collection of cover versions.  Single: “Heroes”.
  • “Bicep” by Bicep at 20.  Anonymous electronica, like when I was young!  They’re a duo from Belfast.  Single: “Aura”.  It feels like something that MTV UK would have shown on 120 Minutes fifteen years ago.
  • “All This Life” by Starsailor at 23.  Their first album since 2009, though they’ve been touring again for since 2014.  Title track.
  • “Greatest Hits Live” by Steve Winwood at 34, which is self-explanatory.  Single: “Higher Love”.

Bring on the comments

  1. K says:

    The OMD reunion in 2010 sounded like the kind of reunion that could have gone either way.

    But no, they figured it out and they keep getting better. This album charted on the level of the classics because it rises to those heights.

  2. LiamKav says:

    I come for the musical analysis, but I stay for the Hawkman burns.

  3. Liam says:

    I’m still very impressed with the performance of New Rules. A real breakthrough hit from a contemporary solo female artist in a year dominated by male acts so far.

    Also I hope you do an episode this weekend because I need to hear your opinion on the New Runaways. I was so happy with the tone, characterisation and art style but still somehow completely underwhelmed by the whole thing. I’d love to hear what you’ve got to say about it!

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