Predictably, the Beatles don’t manage two weeks. Their chart score last week was heavy on the physical sales, and while some more physical copies were released in week two (which is why they were number one on the midweeks), reality has reasserted itself. “Now and Then” drops to number 6 in its second week, still eminently respectable.

So does that mean that cässo finally gets his week at number 1 with “Prada”? Well, no. It doesn’t.

1. Jack Harlow – “Lovin On Me”

That’s Jack Harlow’s first number one, though he was unlucky not to make it with “First Class”, which spent five weeks locked at number 2 behind Harry Styles. I wouldn’t have placed it as an obvious number 1, but it does grow on you, and the midweeks have it staying for a second week.. It’s (presumably) the lead single from his next album. The sample is from a 1995 track called “Whatever (Bass Soliloquy)” by Cadillac Dale, which doesn’t seem to have been a hit anywhere on release.

“Lovin On Me” is a slight surprise as a number 1, not because of the Beatles, but because it comes out in the same week as…

2. Dua Lipa – “Houdini”

Again, this is presumably the lead single from her next album. She’s had four previous number ones, though oddly, she seems to have better luck with side projects than she does with her core releases – there’s “New Rules” from 2017, but also the Calvin Harris collaboration “One Kiss” in 2018, the Elton John remix “Cold Heart” in 2019, and the Barbie soundtrack single “Dance the Night” earlier this year. It’s a good record, so it might have a chance either before or after the full Christmas deluge – but then again, it drops to 7 in the midweeks, which isn’t a good start.

16. Noah Kahan – “Northern Attitude”

This has been out for a year, but it’s being re-promoted with a version that features Hozier. “Stick Season” climbs into the top 5 this week, but this is his third top 40 hit of the year, and he really does seem to be having a commercial breakthrough that goes beyond that song. The album “Stick Season” is also seeing movement – it scored a week at number 17 on its release in June, but re-entered five weeks ago and now climbs this week to number 6. That’s notable – almost nothing climbs on the album chart. All that being said, the midweeks suggest this is a one-week surge due to the Hozier version.

18. Mazza L20 – “Murdaside”

Debut hit. He’s a drill rapper who went to jail in 2016 and achieved some notoriety by recording and even  making videos while there, when that wasn’t supposed to be possible. One of them was a version of this track, though the version that’s actually getting the most attention is the one above, with big name guest stars in the form of Aitch and Potter Payper. The record itself is good, I guess.

20. PinkPantheress featuring Central Cee – “Nice to Meet You”

This is the release week single for her album “Heaven Knows”, which enters at number 28. Two previous singles from the album have done nothing, but this one does have the advantage of an appearance by Central Cee, returning the favour from when he sampled “Just For Me” on his 2021 hit “Obsessed With You”. The midweeks have this dropping straight out of the top 40.

27. Chase & Status featuring Stefflon Don – “Selecta”

Chase & Status’ extraordinary singles career resurgence continues, with the release week single from their album “2 Ruff – Vol 1”. “Baddadan” is still in the top 10, “Liquor & Cigarettes” is a non-mover at 17, and “Disconnect” with Becky Hill is at number 37. And yes, that’s four tracks, despite the three-song rule. That’s because “Disconnect” is classed as a guest appearance on a Becky Hill single (which, to be fair, it is – it’s not even on the same label).

Stefflon Don had a few hits in 2017-2019 – her peak was number 7 with “Hurtin’ Me” – but this is the first time we’ve seen her since then. The hook is sampled from “Only U” by Ashanti, a number 2 hit in 2005. In fact, it was her biggest UK hit as a solo artist, though she did have a number 1 as a guest on a Ja Rule single.

The album enters at number 4, which matches their 2022 album “What Came Before”; their all time best is number 2, with their 2011 and 2013 albums “No More Idols” and “Brand New Machine”.

That’s the last of the week’s new entries, so on to this week’s climbers. And there aren’t many.

• “Stick Season” by Noah Kahan climbs 8-5.
• “On My Love” by Zara Larsson & David Guetta climbs 22-21.
• “Last Christmas” by Wham! climbs 37-26, and “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey climbs 40-28. Despite those climbs, they remain the only two Christmas records in the top 40… for now.
• “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus climbs 38-34.

The records leaving the top 40 are:

• “Get Him Back” by Olivia Rodrigo, which peaked at 7 and reaches its downweighting week.
• “Ten” by fred again.. & Jozzy which peaked at 16 and lasted three weeks.
• “Back on 74” by Jungle, peaking at 25 and lasting 6 weeks in the top 40.
• “Me & U” by Tems, which peaked at 34 but did last three weeks.
• “Seven” by Jung Kook featuring Latto, which re-entered at 35. By the way, last week’s new entry “Standing Next To You” plunges from 6 to 30, so very much a fanbase record.
• “Ecstacy” by Suicidal-Idol, which peaked at 26 and had 6 weeks in the top 40.

On the album chart, “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” by Taylor Swift gets a third week at number 1.

2. The Beatles – “1967-1970”
3. The Beatles – “1962-1966”

The red and blue compilation albums, in other words. They’ve been reissued on the back of “Now and Then”. Neither of them ever reached number 1 – they spent three weeks locked at 2 and 3 respectively, on their release in 1973, behind David Bowie’s “Aladdin Sane”. The double pack charts separately at number 33 (on physical sales alone, because all streams will have been credited to the main versions).

Number 4 is Chase & Status, so we move on to…

5. Baby Queen – “Quarter Life Crisis”

Debut album. She’s a South African singer based in London.

7. Passenger – “All the Little Lights – Anniversary Edition”

Not a re-issue of his 2013 breakthrough album, but a re-recording with guest stars. The original reached number 3, though oddly Passenger’s highest placing album was 2016’s “Young as the Morning, Old as the Sea”, which was a number 1.

10. New Order – “Substance”

Remastered reissue of their 1987 compilation album. I assume it was meant to be a 25th anniversary edition, but it’s wound up as 26. It reached number 3 on release, at which point it was called “Substance 1987”.

11. Chris Brown – “11:11”

It was bound to happen eventually: a Chris Brown album that produces no hit singles. The single above did best, and it only got to number 63. That said, number 11 isn’t too far out of Brown’s normal range on the album chart – he normally makes the lower end of the top 10.

17. James Marriott – “Are We There Yet”

Debut album.

22. Chris Stapleton – “Higher”

That matches the peak of his most successful UK album, 2017’s “From a Room – vol 1”. His previous album only got to 31.

Number 28 is the PinkPantheress album.

29. The Kid Laroi – “The First Time”

Officially his first studio album, because its predecessor was supposedly a mixtape. It includes the singles “Love Again” (number 16) and “Too Much” (number 10).

And finally, number 32 is “Christmas” by Michael Bublé, back yet again for another year.