Charts – 28 September 2014
It’s another very quiet week for new releases. But we do have a genuine moment of chart history that will live on pub quizzes for years to come. And here it is now.
33. Meghan Trainor – “All About That Bass”
Charts – 21 September 2014
Charts – 14 September 2014
Quiet week. (In the chart. Not generally.)
And for no particular reason, let’s pause to ask ourselves how each of these tracks did on the Scottish chart. How different are we, really?
26. A Great Big World featuring Christina Aguilera – “Say Something”
Originally released in March, when it made number 4. Why is it back? Why, because X Factor is back on the air, and “Say Something” is thoroughly suited for use in X Factor. And so X Factor is duly hammering it. It showed up in the midweeks for the previous chart, but vanished by Sunday; this time it shows a bit more staying power.
Scottish chart position: n/a. Yes, Scotland is less likely to buy X Factor backing music. We’re off to a good start, Scotland!
22. Fall Out Boy – “Centuries”
Charts – 31 August 2014
Charts – 24 August 2014
This was looking like a busy chart in the midweeks, but it calmed down drastically by Sunday – once again, front loaded sales mean that three singles that looked on track to make the top 40 are gone by the time of the chart proper, including one that was showing as high as 20. We’re left with…
34. Saint Motel – “My Type”
Charts – 17 August 2014
Charts – 3 August 2014
This chart ends up rather quieter than the midweeks seemed to promise. Outside the top 40, it’s worth noting “Home” by Leah McFall featuring will.i.am, in which the overpunctuated producer nobly attempts to help launch the career of one of the acts he mentored during the last season of The Voice (and who he plainly thought should have won). Remarkably, Radio 1 hasn’t supported the record even though the BBC1 show could use all the help it can get. But to be fair, whatever airplay it got on independent radio hasn’t done it much good either. Result: number 56. That’s astonishing for a record which really isn’t bad, which was on a major label, and which was promoted by will.i.am. It tends to suggest that The Voice UK is now an outright toxic brand in terms of mainstream pop music.
37. Vic Mensa – “Down on my Luck”
Charts – 27 July 2014
A very top-heavy chart this week, with all the new entries landing in the top 20. Of mild note, Cher Lloyd’s comeback single “Sirens” – you know, her from X Factor – lands at 41, which I guess is actually marginally better than landing at 39, in as much as fewer people will notice it happened.
19. Jamie N Commons & X Ambassadors – “Jungle”
