{"id":1221,"date":"2012-01-02T18:12:27","date_gmt":"2012-01-02T18:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=1221"},"modified":"2012-01-02T18:12:27","modified_gmt":"2012-01-02T18:12:27","slug":"charts-1-january-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=1221","title":{"rendered":"Charts – 1 January 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the annual chart covering the dead week between Christmas and New Year, when no new records are released. \u00a0But that doesn’t mean it’s completely dormant. \u00a0The records that were being pushed specifically for Christmas week are all gone; the Christmas singles from the back catalogue have vanished too. \u00a0In their place are a handful of new entries, and a raft of re-entries sparked by “year in review” playlisting.<\/p>\n

Perhaps surprisingly, given its titanic first-week sales, the Military Wives single didn’t manage a second week at the top. \u00a0That’s partly because its sales were front loaded into Christmas week, and also because its sales were overwhelming in physical format – meaning that it takes a particular hit from the shops being closed. \u00a0Instead, the surprise first number one of 2012 is “Paradise” by Coldplay<\/em><\/strong>, which came out in September.<\/p>\n

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You might assume it’s number one by default, but it actually shifted over 108,000 copies last week, which is remarkable for a single that’s been out for so long.<\/p>\n

“Paradise” was the lead single from the “Mylo Xyloto” album, but it was initially ineligible for the chart because it was also available as an advance download to people pre-ordering the album. \u00a0(Apparently the chart compilers don’t have the data to distinguish accurately between free-standing downloads of the single, and advance sales of the album, and their only solution is to disqualify the record from the chart.) \u00a0It became chart-eligible with the release of the album in late October, and then meandered around the charts for weeks:\u00a014-17-20-13-11-12-7-2-5-1. \u00a0Performing it on the X Factor<\/em>\u00a0final probably didn’t hurt either. \u00a0The last single to take this long to reach number one was “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga, although that didn’t have a period in limbo before its chart run began.<\/p>\n

It’s Coldplay’s second number one single, following “Viva La Vida” (which was released on a similar basis, and likewise only made the chart after the parent album was released).<\/p>\n

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Further down the chart, there are three actual new entries. \u00a0Number 21 is “Warzone” by the Wanted<\/strong><\/em>, which is the fourth single from their current album, and was actually released as a single on December 26, in what I can only take as an attempt to steal a high chart placing in a quiet week. \u00a0Obviously that hasn’t really worked out for them. \u00a0The Wanted remain an odd proposition; their records show a bit more effort than you might expect from a boy band, but they just don’t seem able to spread their appeal beyond their core fanbase. \u00a0They may be falling between two stools – they don’t interest a wider audience, but their attempts to do so alienate the kids who buy One Direction singles.<\/p>\n

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Number 34 is “Domino” by Jessie J<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, which is the bonus track from the “special edition” re-issue of her debut album and is now being promoted as a single (rather oddly, after<\/em>\u00a0the album itself was released). \u00a0It’s pretty forgettable and sounds like it ought to be a Katy Perry B-side. \u00a0But if the iTunes chart is anything to go by, it’s going to leap up the charts on Sunday.<\/p>\n

And number 35 is “Up” by James Morrison featuring Jessie J<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, which seems to be a bit of a flop. \u00a0The video’s been around since October, the single came out at the start of December, and it’s taken it this long just to make the top 40. \u00a0It’s not unpleasant, and I can see why somebody thought it might work as a single, but it’s a bit too melancholy to get airplay over Christmas. \u00a0You never know, it might<\/em>\u00a0go somewhere now, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.<\/p>\n

The parade of year-end re-entries: “Read All About It” by Professor Green at 23; “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO at 24; “Someone Like You” by Adele at 27 (the biggest selling single of the year); “Marry You” by Bruno Mars at 28; “Without You” by David Guetta at 31; “Set Fire to the Rain” by Adele at 32; “Party All Night” by Sean Kingston (uh, really?) at 33; “Lightning” by the Wanted at 37; “Mr Know It All” by Kelly Clarkson at 38; “Price Tag” by Jessie J at 39; and “When I was a Youngster” by Rizzle Kicks at 40.<\/p>\n

And finally, let us note that “Cannonball” by Little Mix (currently at number 6) now has an official video. \u00a0Is it, as I predicted two weeks ago, “a mixture of audition footage, the band standing in a studio in front of a back-projected screen of moving landscapes, and a pause just before the rousing key change to insert their victory announcement”? \u00a0Let’s find out!<\/p>\n

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Mmm. \u00a0Close enough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the annual chart covering the dead week between Christmas and New Year, when no new records are released. \u00a0But that doesn’t mean it’s completely dormant. \u00a0The records that were being pushed specifically for Christmas week are all gone; the Christmas singles from the back catalogue have vanished too. \u00a0In their place are a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1221"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1222,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1221\/revisions\/1222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}