{"id":581,"date":"2010-11-01T22:03:26","date_gmt":"2010-11-01T22:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=581"},"modified":"2010-11-01T22:03:26","modified_gmt":"2010-11-01T22:03:26","slug":"charts-24-october-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=581","title":{"rendered":"Charts – 24 October 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m running behind on these again, so this is the chart from the week before last – plenty of new entries, few of them particularly noteworthy.<\/p>\n

There’s a change at the top, but unusually, it’s the return of a previous number 1 – “Just The Way You Are (Amazing)” by Bruno Mars.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I can’t say this made a huge impression on me when it first came out, but it’s proved more enduring than I’d have thought. \u00a0Sales have gained a second wind, presumably because it’s actually growing on people. \u00a0It returns to the top in its fifth week on the chart, having made an unusual 1-2-4-2-1 meander around the top 5. \u00a0It’s not unknown to return to the top after such a long gap, but it’s unusual – the last record to do it was “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira<\/a> in 2006.<\/p>\n

It can’t have hurt that Mars’ song was covered on X Factor<\/em> by Matt Cardle, but sales had already started recovering last week, so at best it’s just a contributing . You’ll note, by the way, that we’re seeing far fewer re-entries for old songs covered on The X Factor<\/em> than we did in previous years. \u00a0Presumably that’s because those sales have been diverted to downloads of the performances from the live finals – which, as I’ve mentioned before, are being withheld from the charts to avoid giving away who’s winning. \u00a0Though supposedly things might change next week, as “Stay” by Shakespear’s Sister has been selling well since Cher Lloyd sang it on Saturday. \u00a0At time of writing, it’s at number 8 on iTunes.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, the record industry usually has its own ideas of who ought to be number 1, and things like this screw up the script. \u00a0The unfortunate act who find themselves derailed by the Bruno Mars resurgency are the Wanted<\/strong>, who end up at number 2 with “Heart Vacancy”<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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The Wanted are an unabashed attempt to revive the boy band format, and this is their second single. \u00a0Their debut, “All Time Low”<\/a>, entered at number 1 in August, and promptly dived to number 5 the next week. \u00a0“Heart Vacancy” plunged to 9 in its second week on the chart. \u00a0Entering high and plummetting is traditionally a sign that you’re selling to a hardcore fanbase but your songs aren’t crossing over to a wider audience. \u00a0While the Wanted have been very effectively marketed to a core audience of young girls, they’re less obviously appealing to… well, anyone else. \u00a0That said, it’s not impossible to bridge the gap – Take That managed it, so did East 17 back in the day. \u00a0And there’s some reason to think that the Wanted’s problem is more with the presentation than the material. \u00a0Instead of vanishing completely, “All Time Low” has been floating around the top 40 for fourteen weeks now – it dropped as far as 36 two weeks ago, but it’s now climbed back to the mid-twenties.<\/p>\n

The other new entries from last week:<\/p>\n