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Oct 30

Charts – 30 October 2020

Posted on Friday, October 30, 2020 by Paul in Music

Internet Money only managed a single week at number one, because… well, they’re not going to compete with this, are they?

1. Ariana Grande – “Positions”

Ah, the A list. This is the title track from the surprise album of the same name, which was released today. It’s her seventh number one, starting with her debut UK hit “Problem” in 2014. The reviews are middling to positive, and certainly this is a track which never quite gets past “above average”.

3. KSI featuring Craig David & Digital Farm Animals – “Really Love”

A slightly dated-sounding pop-rap crossover track, but it does have a great hook. This is KSI’s joint highest-placing single – the other was his guest appearance on Nathan Dawe’s “Lighter”, which falls to 36 this week. Of course, he’s the lead on this one. Craig David, whose first hit was last century, gets his highest position since 2005 (with a largely forgotten track called “All the Way”). Producer Digital Farm Animals – yes, there’s just one of him – doesn’t normally take a featured artist credit, but he’s had a few; his previous best was number 8, for a Louis Tomlinson solo single in 2017.

“See Nobody” by Wes Nelson & Hardy Capario climbs 6-4.

8. Little Mix – “Sweet Melody”

Their sixteenth top 10 hit, and it’s rather good. The previous single “Holiday” only made number 15, but they do have a primetime talent show on BBC 1 at the moment, which has to help. This one deserves its top ten place, though.

Not much else going on in the top 20, though “Diamonds” by Sam Smith climbs 20-17.

24. James Arthur – “Train Wreck”

James Arthur’s current single is meant to be “Lasting Lover” with Sigala (which falls to 12 this week). TikTok has other ideas, and has sent this track viral instead. It’s the one that goes “pull me out”. It’s a track from his 2016 album “Back from the Edge”. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Arthur has quickly knocked out the acoustic video above (which isn’t a million miles from the original).

Number 30 is “I Miss U” by Jax Jones featuring Au/ra, climbing from 39 – and matching the position of Au/ra’s only other hit.

37. Central Cee – “Loading”

This week’s UK rap debut. He’s not a masked rapper; either he’s taking Covid very seriously or he really hates lip synching. Great production.

39. Bring Me The Horizon – “Teardrops”

More variety than usual in this week’s new entries. This isn’t a genre that regularly makes the chart any more, but Bring Me The Horizon has managed to place three singles in a row within the top 40. They tend to plummet the next week, so I assume there’s a fanbase factor at work, but it still stands out.

On the album chart…

1. Bruce Springsteen – “Letter to You”

As you might expect from an artist of his generation, this is at the top overwhelmingly on the strength of sales rather than streams. It’s Bruce Springsteen’s twelfth number one album; the record is 15, held by the Beatles, with Elvis Presley, Robbie Williams and the Rolling Stones all tied for second on 13. Springsteen is now 71, but he still has a reasonable shot of joining them. He also becomes the first solo artist to have a number 1 in five consecutive decades, without having to count his work in bands.

2. Gorillaz – “Song Machine Season One – Strange Timez”

A compilation of the songs already released on Gorillaz’ collaboration YouTube series Song Machine. It’s their third number 2 album; 2005’s “Demon Days” remains their only number 1.

3. Nothing But Thieves – “Moral Panic”

Their third album, all of which have made the top 10.

5. Blossoms – “In Isolation / Live from the Plaza Theatre”

Exactly what it sounds like – a collection of tracks recorded during lockdown, and a live album. It maintains their perfect record of getting their albums into the top 5, which is actually quite impressive for this sort of release.

6. Faithless – “All Blessed”

Faithless have only missed the top 10 with a studio album twice – once with their 1996 debut “Reverence” (which got to number 26) and once in 2006 when “To All New Arrivals” somehow stalled at 30.

7. Joe Bonamassa – “Royal Tea”

Exactly the same position as his previous studio album in 2018.

10. Russell Watson – “20”

Celebrating 20 years since his debut album “The Voice”, which reached number 5 but hung around on the top 40 for half a year. It’s his 17th top 40 album, and his 9th to make the top 10.

21. This is the Kit – “Off Off On”

Kate Stables has been active for over a decade, and this is her fifth album, but the first to make the top 40. Worth a play, this.

25. The Nolans – “Gold”

Another of these budget multi-CD compilations. Whether the world really needed a three-CD retrospective on the Nolans, who only had eight top 40 hit singles, is debatable – though in fairness, they did release seven top 40 albums. “I’m in the Mood for Dancing” was their biggest hit, reaching number 3 in 1979. (It was also a number 1 hit in Japan.)

36. Kidz Bop Kids – “Kidz Bop 2021”

Another of these covers compilations aimed at younger children. As always, the editing choices are bizarre – a quick skim through it on Spotify turns up a version of Dua Lipa’s “Physical” that changes the lyric “All night I’ll riot with you” to “All day I’ll sing it with you” – yet keeps “Who needs to go to sleep, when I got you next to me?” It’s a 44 track double album that ends with a bunch of foreign language tracks from other iterations of the franchise. It’s… odd.

40. Melody Gardot – “Sunset in the Blue”

A fourth top 40 album… just. The chart positions have gone 12-18-31-40.

Bring on the comments

  1. Evilgus says:

    I second the odd choices of lyrics in Kidsbop albums. My nephews listen to them all the time. I am so puzzled how some very dodgy double entendres get through, merely as they are sung in a vaguely wholesome way!

    Whichever music conglomerate came up with the concept must be raking it in, though. Not only as a child-friendly concept, but as you don’t seem to get compilation albums these days. Do they still make “Now that’s what I call…” These days?

    P.s. thanks for these chart blog posts. I find the gradual erosion of what constitutes a number one single and general gerrymandering of chart positioning over the last decade utterly fascinating.

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