Charts – 21 July 2023
It’s a fairly busy week for new releases. But at the top of the singles chart…
1. Dave & Central Cee – “Sprinter”
That’s seven weeks, which beats the six-week run of its immediate predecessor “Miracle”. It still need another three weeks to match Miley Cyrus’s ten-week run with “Flowers” earlier this year. We seem to be in an era where records either get 1-2 weeks at number 1, or stay there forever. Its sister tracks “UK Rap” and “Trojan Horse” are still clinging in there, at 33 and 40 respectively. It holds Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” at number 2 for a second week.
3. Jung Kook featuring Latto – “Seven”
This is the solo debut of BTS’s Jeon Jung-Kook, and it matches the peak of BTS’s biggest hits – “Dynamite”, “Butter”, and their appearance on Coldplay’s “My Universe”. Technically he was on a Charlie Puth single last year, but it only got to 41, so we can pretend it didn’t happen. Latto’s bit of the video is, um, something. It’s only her second hit, following “Big Energy” getting to 21 last year.
Charts – 14 July 2023
We’ve missed a couple of weeks, but not much has changed.
1. Dave & Central Cee – “Sprinter”
That’s six weeks, which is a record for Dave. As a result, this record has spent two weeks stuck at number 2…
2. Olivia Rodrigo – “Vampire”
This is the lead single from her second album, which was expected to be a surefire number 1 but… well, it’s been stuck behind a juggernaut. Nice melodramatic video.
Charts – 23 June 2023
Not the most memorable of top 10s. We have a static top four, and nine of the ten songs were there last week too. So for a third week…
1. Dave & Central Cee – “Sprinter”
… is number one.
11. Leigh-Anne – “Don’t Say Love”
That would be Leigh-Anne Pinnock of Little Mix, whose surname has apparently been deemed unsuitable for solo status. The fact that she misses the top 10 is likely to cause a bit of concern, but Little Mix tracks have climbed from mid-table entries before, so the jury is still out. The track itself is… okay, I guess?
Charts – 16 June 2023
Intro.
1. Dave & Central Cee – “Sprinter”
Dave and Central Cee hang on for a second week, and the other two tracks from the “Split Decision” EP both climb – “Trojan Horse” moves 14-12, and “UK Rap” 17-14.
2. J Hus featuring Drake – “Who Told You”
More UK rap, but it’s not quite enough to shift Dave. This is comfortably J Hus’s biggest hit – he made it to number 5 in 2019 with “Must Be”, but he hasn’t made the top 10 since then. His only other top 10 hit was in 2017, when “Did You See” managed a week at 9. This is the second single from his upcoming album, following “It’s Crazy”, which could only manage number 15. Drake’s name is likely hurting here, even though his actual contribution is on autopilot. But the record itself is also one of J Hus’s more commercial tracks.
Charts – 9 June 2023
So, “Miracle” doesn’t hold on for a ninth week at number 1. Instead…
1. Dave & Central Cee – “Sprinter”
14. Dave & Central Cee – “Trojan Horse”
17. Dave & Central Cee – “UK Rap”
For once, this isn’t three tracks from an album. “Sprinter” was released as a regular single and dutifully sails to number 1 with 13.4 million streams in its first week. The other two tracks are from a surprise follow-up EP, “Split Decision”. “Sprinter” appears on the EP too, but the remaining track, “Our 25th Birthday”, gets disqualified by the three-song rule. As that title might suggest, even though Dave has been having hits for longer, they’re the same age – their birthdays are one day apart, and the EP was timed for that.
Charts – 2 June 2023
Ah, so this is going to be around forever, then.
1. Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding – “Miracle”
That’s eight weeks, so it ties with “One Kiss” as Calvin Harris’s longest-reigning number one. Goulding broke her record a few weeks back. It’s been on the chart for a total of 12 weeks now. “Daylight” by David Kushner is a non-mover at 2 – it’s now spent a total of five weeks stuck behind “Miracle”. Perhaps more surprisingly, number 3 is “Calm Down” by Rema, which has been in the top 10 for 24 weeks now, and has been on the top 40 since September. I haven’t mentioned it in a while because it reached number 4 for the first time back in March – and thus hasn’t achieved a new peak since, until now – but it’s huge.
12. Taylor Swift – “Karma”
18. Taylor Swift – “Hits Different”
24. Taylor Swift featuring Lana Del Rey – “Snow on the Beach”
Taylor Swift is so big that she can get three tracks into the top 40 on the release of the deluxe edition of an album from six months ago. Who does that?
Charts – 26 May 2023
Apparently it’s late-career hit week on the singles chart. But first…
1. Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding – “Miracle”
That’s week seven. One more week for it to match “One Kiss” as Calvin Harris’s longest-running number one. “Daylight” by David Kushner returns to number 2 for a fourth week, after getting pushed down to 3 last time.
9. Lana Del Rey – “Say Yes to Heaven”
Lana Del Rey did have hit singles right at the start of her career – “Video Games” made number 9 in 2011, and “Born To Die” did the same the following year. In fact, that’s as high as she’s ever got with a regular single. Technically she has three higher placed singles to her credit – the 2013 remix of “Summertime Sadness”, which reached number 4; her inexplicable collaboration with Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus on “Don’t Call Me Angel (Charlie’s Angels)”, which got to number 2 in 2019; and her guest appearance on Taylor Swift’s “Snow on the Beach”, which reached number 4 last year. But she hasn’t had a top 40 hit with one her own records since “Lust For Life”, which scraped the bottom of the chart in 2017.
Charts – 19 May 2023
It’s the post-Eurovision chart, and for once, there’s a real impact in the top ten. But first…
1. Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding – “Miracle”
…this gets a fairly comfortable sixth week at number one. Still another two weeks to go before it matches “One Kiss” as Calvin Harris’s longest running number 1.
Embedding doesn’t seem to be working right now, so I’ll just do links. You know how to open in a new window, after all.
It’s not unusual for tracks from Eurovision to show up in the top 40 in the following week, but their sales and streams tend to be frontloaded in the days after the contest. This year, four songs make the chart, but they all had actual sustained success and wind up in the top 10 – they’re legitimate hits. Part of that may be because the viewing figures were high this year, possibly because it was held in the UK (subbing for last year’s winner Ukraine). Part of it may be that the standard was unusually high.
Charts – 12 May 2023
Well, Ed Sheeran has a new album out, and we all know what that means.
Oh, hold on.
1. Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding – “Miracle”
That’s a total of five weeks, albeit with a one-week interruption by Lewis Capaldi in the middle. That overtakes “Love Me Like You Do” to be Ellie Goulding’s longest running number one. (Calvin Harris’s record is eight weeks, with “One Kiss”.) The midweeks have it holding on for a sixth week.
9. The Krown Jewelz – “Scrap the Monarchy”
Charts – 5 May 2023
To celebrate His Majesty’s coronation, virtually nothing is happening on the singles chart this week.
1. Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding – “Miracle”
That’s a total of four weeks. It matches 2015’s “Love Me Like You Do” as Ellie Goulding’s longest running number one. (Calvin Harris’s record is eight weeks, with “One Kiss” in 2018.) If you’re wondering, the number one single on the day of Elizabeth II’s coronation was Frankie Laine’s “I Believe”.
10. Nines – “Tony Soprano 2”
19. Nines – “Calendar”
34. Nines featuring J Styles – “Favela”
The maximum three tracks from his album “Crop Circle 2”, which enters the album chart at number 1. He reached number 1 with his previous album, “Crabs in a Bucket” – the first “Crop Circle” was a 2018 mixtape that number 5.