Charts – 18 March 2022
Another quiet week for singles.
That’s two weeks, and it’s on course for a third.
2. Aitch featuring Ashanti – “Baby”
Dave might be able to afford to buy out the sample credits, but Aitch is still doing it the traditional way. Ashanti’s “featuring” credit is thanks to this track sampling her 2003 hit “Rock Wit U (Aww Baby)”. That track got to number 7 in the UK and was part of a respectable run of top 10 hits, though her only number one was as a guest on a Ja Rule single, “Wonderful”. She hasn’t had a hit single since 2008.
Charts – 11 March 2022
Behold the changing of the guard.
1. Dave – “Starlight”
Surprise release of (presumably) the lead single from his new album. It’s his second number one, the first being 2018’s “Funky Driday”, but he’s had another nine top ten hits in the interim. So hardly a surprise that he gets there in the end.
Somehow or other, Dave has managed to get himself a sole writer credit on this, despite the entire backing track being based on the Macaron Project’s cover of “Fly Me To The Moon”.
Charts – 4 March 2022
Well, at least nothing’s happening on the chart.
That’s seven weeks at number one. All three Encanto songs are still in the top 10, with “Surface Pressure” at 5 and “The Family Madrigal” at 10 – the other two do seem to have peaked, though. And our highest new entry is…
25. Central Cee – “Straight Back To It”
Ah, filming your video at Chelsea’s stadium. Good week for that. Anyway, this is the last in a veritable barrage of singles that Central Cee has released in support of his album “23”, which enters at number 1 – his debut last year, “Wild West”, was a number 2 album. Central Cee has really churned out the supporting singles for this album, which is an interesting technique – “Straight Back To It” is his fifth top 40 hit of the year. One was the “Daily Duppy” freestyle (number 35), but the four proper singles all landed between 21 and 25. No guest stars on any of them, either – Central Cee has appeared as a guest on the D-Block Europe song “Overseas” (currently at 9), but he’s unusually un-keen on having other people on his own records.
Charts – 25 February 2022
We talk about him incessantly, I think you’ll find.
That’s six weeks. As for the other Encanto songs, “Surface Pressure” returns to 3 this week – it’s spent six weeks now hovering between 3 and 5 – while “The Family Madrigal” is still at 8.
6. Mimi Webb – “House On Fire”
Presumably the first single from her next album. This becomes her highest placing single, beating last year’s “Good Without” (which got to number 8). The singles from the last album were mostly mid paced ballads, so this is a bit of a shift, positioning her more as an 80s pop act. It’s not subtle, but I like the hook.
Charts – 18 February 2022
This really does seem to be unshiftable.
Five weeks. It has peaked, but it’s still comfortably in the lead. As for the other two Encanto songs, “Surface Pressure” drops to 4, and “The Family Madrigal” rebounds 9-8 (which is still below its peak of 7).
2. Ed Sheeran – “The Joker and the Queen”
Not an obvious choice of single, this is the track from last year’s “=” album that Ed Sheeran performed at the Brit Awards, and then followed up with a new version featuring Taylor Swift. Even though that’s the version with the video, and it accounts for the vast majority of streams, for some reason the label hasn’t nominated it as the lead version – and so the song appears on the chart credited simply to Ed Sheeran as per the original album version.
Charts – 11 February 2021
Well, this just isn’t going anywhere, is it?”
There are still three Encanto songs in the top 10, with “Surface Pressure” climbing to 3, and “The Family Madrigal” hanging in there at 9.
5. ArrDee & Aitch – “War”
That matches the peak of ArrDee’s last single “Flowers”, and two of his other 2021 singles peaked at 6. He’s certainly consistent. Aitch gets his first hit of the year, and returns to the top 10 for the first time since spring 2020. It’s not bad at all, but I’ve heard better Aitch singles.
Charts – 4 February 2022
The Disney era continues.
Three weeks. The top 4 is static, which means “Surface Pressure” by Jessica Darrow gets a second week at number 4. And “The Family Madrigal” by Stephanie Beatriz, Olga Merediz & The Cast of Encanto climbs 11-7, giving Disney three top ten hits. It’s not the first time that the top 10 has contained three songs from the same soundtrack, but you have to go back to the late 70s (Grease and Saturday Night Fever).
As for new entries… yeah, it’s quiet.
25. Central Cee – “Cold Shoulder”
Already on to his third hit single of 2022, and it’s only the start of February. In fact, if you count his appearance on “Overseas” by D-Block Europe it’s four – that song entered at 8 just before Christmas, returned to the top 10 after the festive glut, and finally reaches a new peak of number 6 this week. Central Cee’s own 2022 hits have all peaked outside the top 20, but boy there’s a lot of them.
Charts – 28 January 2022
It’s a very quiet week on the singles chart.
Two weeks, and currently on course for a third. We have one new entry in the … er, top 38.
9. Digga D & Still Brickin’ – “Pump 101”
The sort of drill record that would be very radio friendly if it weren’t for… well, pretty much all the lyrics. Which is partly because it’s not really drill; it’s close to being a cover of G-Unit’s “Stunt 101” (number 25 in 2003). It’s Digga D’s third top ten hit, and the debut hit for Still Brickin’, whose motivation for choosing that name eludes me. He’s a Liverpool rapper who seems to be pretty obscure – no bio on Genius, no other tracks on Spotify. Maybe he feels strongly about vaccine disinformation.
Charts – 21 January 2022
I love unexpected number ones.
1. Carolina Gaitan, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero & Stephanie Beatriz – “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”
Or “The Cast of Encanto“, if you prefer, but that’s the official credit. “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is a great song, but it’s an unlikely number one. It’s a song designed to advance the plot of a musical, and it doesn’t really make much sense if you haven’t seen the movie. And it’s a Disney song. Yes, “Let it Go” hung around the top 40 for ages, but it peaked at number 11.
Charts – 14 January 2022
Well, here we go. Now we’re getting back to regular business.
1. Gayle – “ABCDEFU”
This is one of the handful of non-Christmas songs that hung in there during the Christmas period when everything was swamped with Christmas records. As a result, it reaches number one on its ninth week, with the improbable track record of 40-14-2-5-5-6-14-2-1. Rather depressingly, this is the first number one not to feature any of Ed Sheeran, Elton John or Adele since last July (when Olivia Rodrigo was number 1).
