{"id":409,"date":"2010-07-17T23:15:25","date_gmt":"2010-07-17T22:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=409"},"modified":"2010-07-17T18:48:22","modified_gmt":"2010-07-17T17:48:22","slug":"number-1s-of-2010-11-july-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=409","title":{"rendered":"Number 1s of 2010 – 11 July 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Aside: I normally try to avoid posting these things on the same day as a podcast, but the record won’t be number one this time tomorrow, so I’d better get it out of the way. \u00a0Look one post below for this week’s show.)<\/p>\n

So, Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” lasted a fortnight at the top. \u00a0It was replaced last Sunday by something we don’t see that often in the download era – a record that got to number one largely on the strength of fans buying it in the first few days. \u00a0The ability to download album tracks has largely blunted that sort of sales pattern, but it can still happen with the first single from a new album.<\/p>\n

If you haven’t heard this before, prepare to ask yourself “What were they thinking?” in the first ten seconds.<\/p>\n

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This is “The Club is Alive”<\/strong>, the lead single from JLS<\/strong>‘s second album. \u00a0JLS came second in the 2008 season of X-Factor<\/em>, losing out to Alexandra Burke. \u00a0Simon Cowell didn’t pick up his option to sign them, but they’ve done pretty well for themselves. \u00a0Their debut album last year had two number one hits (“Beat Again”<\/a> and “Everybody in Love”<\/a>), and the other single “One Shot”<\/a> still made number 6. \u00a0None of them was especially good – the over-literal dance routine in the “Beat Again” video is truly dire – but there was clearly a gap in the market somewhere for a British R&B act. \u00a0Whether that’ll translate to foreign markets – and apparently the plan with the second album is to try and break them overseas – I have my doubts. \u00a0But still, three number ones from four singles. \u00a0That’s an impressive strike rate.<\/p>\n

The single, though… let’s be kind and say that it’s divided reviewers. \u00a0More accurately, I’ve seen a couple of positive reviews of it, but the accompanying comment threads seem to be pretty unanimous in thinking it’s a dud. \u00a0It’s autotuned to within an inch of its life, even by today’s standards. \u00a0And the chorus is based around “The Hills are Alive”. \u00a0A bold move by any standard. \u00a0Referencing The Sound of Music<\/em> in a pop song rarely turns out well. \u00a0And if you’re going to do it, you might as well commit and be completely insane.<\/p>\n

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I don’t particularly hate “The Club Is Alive” – I’m too busy being baffled by it. \u00a0The chorus just seems insanely out of place in a record that’s trying to be a mainstream R&B pop track.<\/p>\n

Anyway, it made number one on the strength of big sales in the first few days of lat week. \u00a0It had dropped off the top of the iTunes chart even by Sunday when it was announced as the new number one. \u00a0It won’t be number one again tomorrow. The midweek charts have it at number 7. \u00a0This is the sort of thing that used to happen with McFly singles – once the fanbase had all bought a copy, sales crashed, because there wasn’t much wider appeal.<\/p>\n

Ironically, because there aren’t many major releases this week, it will very probably be replaced by a record which has already been on the charts for the better part of two months, steadily building an audience. \u00a0But that’s another column.<\/p>\n

Also entering the chart over the last couple of weeks:<\/p>\n