{"id":1685,"date":"2012-12-03T23:10:44","date_gmt":"2012-12-03T23:10:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=1685"},"modified":"2012-12-03T23:10:44","modified_gmt":"2012-12-03T23:10:44","slug":"charts-2-december-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=1685","title":{"rendered":"Charts – 2 December 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

The regular music industry is already shutting down for Christmas. \u00a0Coming up: Christmas records, a charity record, stuff promoted on X Factor<\/em>, and a handful of actual regular releases.<\/p>\n

40. \u00a0Athlete – “Wires”\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Covered on\u00a0X Factor<\/em> last weekend, and since it’s not that well known to the general public, it’s the sort of record that sees real benefits from that. \u00a0“Wires” was Athlete’s only top 10 hit, making number 4 in 2005. \u00a0The group are still together, but haven’t released any new material since 2010.<\/p>\n

You may have noticed that\u00a0X Factor<\/em> hasn’t had quite the same impact on the charts this year, though it’s cropped up here and there. \u00a0They also mercifully spared us the annual charity single. \u00a0With the producers keen to avoid another unedifying squabble over the Christmas number 1 slot, the final is actually next week, so that the winners’ single will be on sale on 9 December to (they hope) be number 1 on 16 December. \u00a0Much of the media coverage is centred on whether a chap called Christopher Maloney who has been panned by the judges since day one might actually win, which would apparently be some sort of disaster – though bear in mind that most stories of this sort actually emanate from the producers working their own angle.<\/p>\n

39. \u00a0Ladywell Primary School – “O Holy Night”\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, it’s not an indie band with a self-consciously quirky name. \u00a0(I’m looking at you, The Cast Of Cheers.) \u00a0This really is a primary school choir performing “O Holy Night”.<\/p>\n

It’s in the chart because a six-year-old pupil, Caden Beggan, died last week from meningococcal septicaemia, and a Facebook page about his illness, set up by his parents, had 35,000 followers. \u00a0Nonetheless, the record was given very little attention, because nobody was trying to get it into the chart in the first place. \u00a0According to the school, the track was originally recorded for a fundraising CD they were planning to sell locally, and was then put on iTunes with the thinking that they might sell a few more copies that way. \u00a0Its appearance on the top 40 seems to have come as a genuine surprise to everyone.<\/p>\n

For fairly obvious reasons, it’s not on YouTube. \u00a0Suffice to say that the target audience is clearly friends and family, and that it’s not likely to cross over beyond that. \u00a0Obviously, judging this sort of record by musical standards somewhat misses the point.<\/p>\n

38. \u00a0The Script – “Six Degrees of Separation”<\/strong><\/p>\n