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Jul 1

Charts – 29 June 2018

Posted on Sunday, July 1, 2018 by Paul in Music

They’re changing the chart rules again!  But first…

1.  George Ezra – “Shotgun”

Our third new number one in a row.  This is more like it!  “Shotgun” entered at number 35 back in April as an album track download, vanished into the lower reaches, and returned four weeks ago when it got promoted to a single.  It’s George Ezra’s first number one, coming a little under three months after “Paradise” reached number two.

But let’s talk about the rule changes.  There are two of them, and the chart company, who’ve been trialling them for a while, say that the differences shouldn’t be drastic.  Time will tell, once people start targetting them.  First, they’re going to give more weight to paid streams than free ones.  Whether this is a good idea depends very much on what you think the chart is meant to be measuring.  From the point of view of record companies, they certainly care more about the preferences of people who pay.  Whether it makes a difference to the public is another matter.

Second, they’re going to start counting video streams.  This was inevitable given how many people use YouTube as their main streaming service.  The counter argument is a reasonable one – you risk records making the chart based purely on viral videos without nearly as many people being interested in the music.  But apparently the trial runs suggest that’s not going to be a problem.  They haven’t repeated the error of the Billboard charts, which initially counted any YouTube video that featured copyrighted music, even if it was just being used as a soundtrack to user generated content – a rule that promptly led to “Harlem Shake” going to number one.  For the UK chart, the label have to be claiming copyright in the video as well as the soundtrack.

This kicks in next week.  So we’ll see if we notice the difference…

5.  XXXTentacion – “Sad!”

The death of an artist usually causes a surge of interest, but it rarely grows in the second week.  But all three XXXTentacion singles climb this week, with “Sad” leaping 31-5, “Moonlight” going from 32-17, and “Changes” from 33-22.  He’d never previously got above number 19.

It now turns out that a video for “Sad” was filmed shortly before his death, and a grimly ironic one, since it shows him attending his own funeral.  It seems to be gesturing at moving beyond his violent past, or at least wanting to, although given his history and the very serious allegations on which he was still due to face trial, this was troubling territory.  The media haven’t been sure quite how to play XXXTentacion’s death; Spotify ran a tribute playlist, and were attacked both for doing so, and for apparent hypocrisy given that they’d only recently pulled him from their playlists on moral grounds.  Radio 1 isn’t playing the single at all, even on the chart show, apparently on the basis that his record of violence is too appalling to be seen to be commemorating him.  And while “Sad” has nothing inherently offensive in its lyrics, it does feature him talking about how very, very upset he gets when his girlfriend leaves, which can’t help but bring other things to mind…

There are four new entries this week, all outside the top 30…

32.  Cheat Codes & Little Mix – “Only You”

We last saw Cheat Codes a year ago when “No Promises” scraped the top 20.  And we haven’t seen Little Mix since they guested on the UK version of “Reggaeton (Lento)” last autumn.  This track is from a Love Island tie-in album (don’t ask, Americans), and it’s better than that might lead you to expect, but nothing out of the ordinary.

34.  Tyga featuring Offset – “Taste”

Oh, this guy.  Tyga shows up occasionally as a guest, but his only previous appearance as a lead artist was in 2012, when “Rack City” got to number 39.  He’s not got any more interesting in the last six years.

Number 36 is “Apeshit” by the Carters, but we had that video last week for the album.

39.  Dennis Lloyd – “Nevermind”

Dennis Lloyd is an Israeli singer, but this is really a Wankelmut remix of a track which he first released in 2016.  You might remember Wankelmut remixing “One Day / Reckoning Song” back in 2012.  This has done okay on the continent – it’s been number one in Austria.

40.  Jax Jones & Mabel  featuring Rich the Kid – “Ring Ring”

First time we’ve seen Jax Jones this year.  Mabel is the daughter of Neneh Cherry, who had a hit earlier this year with “Fine Line”.

This week’s other climbers:

  • “If You’re Over Me” by Years & Years climbs 8-6.
  • “I Like It” by Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny & J Balvin climbs 9-8.
  • “Youngblood” by 5 Seconds of Summer climbs 13-11.  Didn’t think I’d see a 5 Seconds of Summer track climbing two weeks running in 2018.
  • “Rise” by Jonas Blue featuring Jack & Jack climbs 17-12.
  • “Familiar” by Liam Payne & J Balvin climbs 16-14.
  • “Lucid Dreams” by Juice WRLD climbs 23-18.
  • “First Time” by M-22 featuring Medina climbs 28-24.  This one has a video now.
  • “Oh My” by Dappy featuring Ay Em climbs 34-31.  Could it actually crawl into the top 30?

On the album chart, The Greatest Showman soundtrack is still number one, for a 21st week in total, which must be deeply annoying to…

2.  Panic at the Disco – “Pray for the Wicked”

Panic at the Disco have never had a number one album, though “Pretty Odd” did reach number 2 in 2008.  Now they’ve got… another number two.  Oh well.  They long since dumped their rock influences to compete in Maroon 5 territory.

6.  Jane McDonald – “Cruising With Jane McDonald”

Ah, the album chart.  Jane McDonald is a cruise singer who had the good fortune to appear in a BBC reality show in 1998, and leveraged the exposure into a career.  This is a soundtrack album for her Channel 5 travelogue show, which won a Bafta last year.  She hasn’t had an album this far up the charts since 2008, when “Jane” reached number 7; her career peak was her self-titled debut, which reached number one in 1998.

12.  Nine Inch Nails – “Bad Witch”

Their last album proper, 2013’s “Hesitation Marks”, reached number 2 – though at 30 mins, this is close to being an EP, and that’s how it started off.  The track above is really good.

13.  Kamasi Washington – “Heaven & Earth”

He’s a jazz saxophonist, and this is his first album to chart, though he’s been releasing music for years.  his previous EP, “Harmony of Difference”, was very well reviewed.

32.  Headie One – “The One Two”

This week’s UK rap mixtape.   And at 33, we have Bebe Rexha’s “Expectations”; the single “Meant to Be” reached number 11 in the spring.

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