Okay, so… yes, I was going to do a Watch With Father post before this, but it’s been a busy week, plus there’s been a lot of mesmerisingly distracting stuff on the news, plus there haven’t been any storylines wrapping up in the X-books.  But we’re settling down again now, so we really should be getting back into a more regular schedule.

Meanwhile… in a terrifying and uncertain world, one thing is immutable.

1.  Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla – “One Dance”

Thirteen weeks.  Thirteen.  On a pure sales chart it wouldn’t even be in the top 10 any more, but it’s just not shifting from the streaming charts.  The sales number one would be “This Girl” by Kungs vs Cookin’ on 3 Burners, which is stuck at number 2 on the combined chart for the fourth week.

So let’s take a step back to consider what on earth is going on here.

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We’re going through another of those phases when all the X-books are in mid-storyline (not least because the three core X-Men titles are in the middle of a supposed crossover that isn’t actually crossing over), and with one thing or another I’ve been distracted from following up some of the other regulars, but we should be getting back to a more normal posting schedule over the next week or so.  In the meantime, on the singles chart, all is quiet – three new entries, all outside the top 30.

1.  Drake featuring Wizkid and Kyla – “One Dance”

And that’s twelve weeks.  This is entirely due to continued streaming popularity – at this point, “One Dance” is number 9 on the pure sales chart – and there are starting to be murmurings that the chart compilers may be looking again at the weighting of sales to streams.  Time will tell whether these sorts of extended runs are going to be the new normal in the current era, but it does seem to be something of a fluke, given more normal turnover of records at number 2 over the same period: “Cheap Thrills” by Sia (3 weeks), “This is What You Came For” by Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna (2 weeks), “Can’t Stop The Feeling” by Justin Timberlake (4 weeks) and “This Girl” by Kungs vs Cookin’ on Three Burners (3 weeks).

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I was going to do a Watch With Father over the weekend but, well, I’ve been otherwise diverted.  No matter!  In these interesting times we need an oasis of stability, and the UK top 40 more than delivers.

1.  Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla – “One Dance”

Clinging on by a 5% margin over the number 2 single, it’s still here after eleven weeks at number 1.  It is flagging in both sales and streams, but nothing else has come along to replace it yet.  Even allowing for the general slowing of the chart in the streaming era, this is pretty amazing: only two records have ever had longer runs at number one, namely “Everything I Do (I Do It For You)” by Bryan Adams (16 weeks in 1991) and “Love is all Around” by Wet Wet Wet (15 weeks in 1994).  Since its notional total sale of 60,000 is the lowest for a number 1 single since October, this surely has to be it – doesn’t it?

9.  Sigala featuring John Newman & Nile Rodgers – “Give Me Your Love”

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Dear god, really?  Still…?!

1.  Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla – “One Dance”

And that’s ten weeks, matching “Umbrella” from 2007.  “One Dance” was not number one in the midweeks, and it only held on by a relatively narrow margin – the equivalent of 178,000 streams, compared with its streaming total this week of 4.77 million.  On a pure sales chart it would be number 9, but it’s the streaming data that matters these days.

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Once again, the charts are refreshingly keen to make my life easy by having not very much happen.

1.  Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla – “One Dance”

That’s nine weeks.  Just one more needed to match “Umbrella”‘s ten-week run from 2007.  I’ve already explained why the change to streaming data, which has slowed down the charts generally, means that this isn’t strictly comparable, but it’s still impressive.  If it does manage to match “Umbrella” – and the midweeks say it won’t, but you never know – then the next record in sight will be the epic 15 week run of Wet Wet Wet’s “Love Is All Around” in 1994.   (more…)

So, after a bit of experimenting, I’m thinking a better way of doing these things is to go back to doing them weekly and accepting that they’re going to be fairly short.  Let’s try that for a bit and see how it goes.  On this week’s singles chart…

1.  Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla – “One Dance” 

Eight weeks at number one, the longest reign since “Umbrella”, but I’ve said before that these things aren’t entirely comparable, because adding streaming to the charts makes sustained replay appeal much more of a factor than it ever was in the past.  On pure sales, this would be number 5 (and Justin Timberlake would be number 1).  The top three has now been static for three weeks, with Timberlake and Calvin Harris in the other two slots.  The era of stasis.

6.  Clean Bandit featuring Louisa Johnson – “Tears”

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