Undiscriminating patriots rejoice!  The weekly turnover of number one singles continues, and it has apparently been decreed that a new chart record has been set: eleven consecutive number ones by British acts.  That would be DJ Fresh, the Wanted, JLS, Cher Lloyd, Nero, Wretch 32, Olly Murs, Example, Pixie Lott, One Direction (who have an Irish member, but it seems the Official Charts Company determines nationality by majority vote) and now…

…the one with the stupid hats from N-Dubz.

That’s “No Regrets” by Dappy, which is pretty much an archetypal example of the sort of UK pop/rap crossover material that’s been dominating the chart for the last couple of years now.   Whatever else you say about them, N-Dubz were at the forefront of that sub-genre, so they kind of get a pass for making records that sound like this.

N-Dubz now seem to be going their separate ways, with Tulisa becoming a judge on the UK version of X Factor, and the other two making solo albums.  Dappy is something of a tough sell as a kiddy-suitable pop artist due to his unfortunate habit of occasionally doing something monumentally stupid.  Who could forget the time he appeared on the Chris Moyles show and was so incensed by a derogatory text message from a listener that he noted her number and texted her abusive messages, leading to the band being unceremoniously dumped from an anti-bullying campaign they’d only just launched?

But he’s making enough radio-friendly singles that he seems to be getting by happily enough.  This is technically his first solo single, though he also appeared with Tinchy Stryder on “Spaceship” in June.

It won’t be number one on Sunday – the midweeks have it at number 4.  And the run of British number one singles looks set to come to a screeching halt as well, in favour of a belated novelty record.  But more of that next week.

There are two other new entries in the top ten, neither of them much to write home about.  Number 4 is “It Girl” by Jason Derulo, which does have a proper video, but you might have more enjoyment watching the lyric video from his official channel, which is jawdroppingly crap.  It’s his seventh UK hit.

Number 5 is “I Won’t Let You Go” by James Morrison, which is… well, a safe choice of lead single for his third album.  Bit retro-MOR.  The fans will like it.  You can easily imagine it soundtracking an emotional scene in a Sunday night ITV drama set somewhere rural and timeless.  (This is not necessarily a good thing.)  It’s his biggest hit since “Broken Strings” in 2008, though admittedly he’s not released much since then.  The end of the video is rather shamelessly lifted from Radiohead’s “Just”, which is a better video.

The only other new entry this week is “Lucky Day” by Nicola Roberts.  “Could this be my lucky day?” she sings.  Probably not, since she’s scraping the chart at number 40, and there’s no sign of her on the midweeks.  Unlike some of her colleagues in Girls Aloud, she’s at least had good reviews for her solo album, but after the eccentric “Beat of my Drum” stalled at 27 in June, she must be wondering what she has to do get things moving.  The album came out on Monday and it’s at 14 in the midweeks, so all is not lost.

That said, she really should sack her stylist if this video is anything to go by.  But the single itself is rather good.

Notable climbers this week: “Go” by Delilah is up from 33 to 21, which is a pleasant surprise for a fairly unusual record.  David Guetta’s “Without You” is up from 31 to 19, as the belated video continues to draw attention.  And thanks to an X Factor audition performance a week last Saturday, with most of the sales falling into this week, “Cannonball” by Damien Rice leaps from 39 to 9.

Certainly an unusual video.  This was Damien Rice’s first hit back in 2003, though its previous peak was at 19 on a re-release the following year.  He’s probably best known for his album “O”, and his songs get used in soundtracks quite a bit.  He also hasn’t released anything since 2007, though he continues to tour, so I’m sure he’ll be perfectly happy with the free publicity.  It worked for Adele last year, after all.

Next week: most likely, a number one single that could charitably be called self-reviewing.