SINGLES
Two weeks ago, we didn't even know it existed but Hello, the first single from Adele's upcoming third album 25, smashes its way to a number one debut following its release last Friday (23rd)
Including a contribution of 73,244 sales from streaming - the highest for any track at any stage of its career - Hello sold 332,599 copies in the week. Although that is only the 16th highest weekly sale of the 21st century, it is the highest since James Arthur's Impossible sold 489,560 copies on debut nearly three years ago, and easily the highest of Adele's career eclipsing the 116,347 copies that her first number one, Someone Like You, sold on its third week at the summit in 2011. It is Adele's first single since Skyfall, her Bond theme, dropped in 2012, securing 84,010 sales on its first frame in just two days.
Someone Like You (number 74, 6,043 sales) and Skyfall (number 83, 5,621 sales) are also the top two of seven Adele re-entries into the Top 200, following interest sparked by the release of Hello, and the subsequent announcement of 25. Both of her studio albums also take flight, with 21 soaring 60-11 (6,878 sales) to achieve its highest chart position since July 2012, and 19 jumping 166-31 (2,835 sales) to secure its highest position since June 2012.
Hello's sudden release stymied Justin Bieber's chances of scoring his second number one single with Sorry just a week after his first, What Do You Mean?, completed its fifth week at the summit.
The second single from Bieber's upcoming album (Purpose), Sorry sold 101,561 copies last week, including 44,846 from streams - the latter breaking the old record for streams but falling way short of those recorded by Hello last week. Sorry sold more copies last week than What Do You Mean sold in any of its five weeks at number one, more than the number one sold in 28 of 44 chart weeks in 2015, and more than all but three of the year's previous number twos. It is 21 year old Bieber's 34th hit.
Drake's Hotline Bling bounces 4-3 (57,584 sales) to equal the peak position it scaled a fortnight ago.
With new Bond movie Spectre hitting cinemas today, Sam Smith's theme song, Writing's On The Wall recovers 11-4 (56,576 sales). It was also helped by being released on CD, with 4,854 of its sales last week coming in that format. It tops the physical singles chart at a canter - number two song If I Can Dream by Elvis Presley sold 525 copies last week.
Everything else in the Top 10 is in decline. The Hills falls 3-5 (54,724 sales) for The Weeknd, Turn The Music Louder (Rumble) dives 1-6 (49,229 sales) for KDA feat. Tinie Tempah & Katy B, What Do You Mean dips 5-7 (47,638 sales) for Justin Bieber, Runnin' (Lose It All) descends 6-8 (41,709 sales) for Naughty Boy feat. Beyonce & Arrow Benjamin, Perfect collapses 2-9 (37,659 sales) for One Direction and Wasn't Expecting That recedes 7-10 (35,912 sales) for Jamie Lawson.
There are Top 10 exits for Locked Away (9-12, 33,376 sales) by R. City feat. Adam Levine, Be Right There (8-15, 29,362 sales) by Sleepy Tom & Diplo and On My Mind (10-16, 27,855 sales) by Ellie Goulding.
Although the top two singles are debuts, there's only two more in the rest of the Top 75 - Ellie Goulding's Lost And Found at number 57 (7,803 sales), and Working For It at number 71 (6,317 sales) for ZHU x Skrillex x THEY.
So far in 2015, we have had an average of less than seven debuts in the Top 75 per week - that is less than a third of the record high of more than 22 a week scaled in 1997, and on schedule for a 41 year low. The decline has speeded since streaming was incorporated into the chart. The massive reduction in singles chart debuts has coincided with an explosion in album chart entries. There was an average of more than 10 new entries a week last year for the first time, and this year is running ahead of even that. It is only part of the reason, but while high 'sales' generated by streaming tends to keep hits hanging around longer on the singles chart and hurt fanbase records, the very low level of sales on the album chart means records with smaller potential markets are able to show up as never before.
There are new peaks for Never Forget You (15-11, 33,582 sales) by MNEK & Zara Larsson, 679 (22-21, 22,854 sales) by Fetty Wap & Monty and Stitches (69-55, 7973 sales) by Shawn Mendes,
Overall singles sales are up 5.91% week-on-week at a record 7,787,732. Streams accounted for 5,505,931 sales - 70.70% of the total. Paid-for sales are up 16.35% week-on-week at 2,281,801 - 8.65% below same week 2014 sales of 2,497,594 and the 116th week in a row that they have fallen versus a year earlier.
ALBUMS
The 15th number one in as many weeks, and the 1,063rd in chart history, Sounds Good, Feels Good sold 42,459 copies last week (including 2,548 from streams) and earns 5 Seconds Of Summer the honour of becoming the first wholly Australian act to have a number one since Kylie Minogue topped with Aphrodite in 2010.
It is the second studio album by the pop/punk quartet from Sydney, whose eponymous first release sold a more stellar 66,973 copies when debuting and peaking at number two behind Ed Sheeran's X in July 2014 and has since secured 240,664 sales. It housed three Top 10 singles, whereas Sounds Good, Feel Good has spawned none yet, although She's Kinda Hot (number 14), Fly Away (number 44), Jet Black Heart (number 60) and Hey Everybody (number 49) have made the Top 75. Although it was the second most-streamed album last week (X was the only album to beat it) Sounds Good Feel Good didn't perform well enough for either any of the previous charted tracks or any new ones to breach the Top 75.
On a more positive note, Sounds Good, Feels Good sold more copies last week than any of the number ones in the four previous weeks, and spearheads the chart's first all-new Top 5 since week 45 of 2013 (two years ago this week) when the top five was: 1 The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem (143,034 sales), 2 James Arthur - James Arthur (63,995 sales), 3 Demonstration - Tinie Tempah (29,980 sales), 4 Music Of The Night - Andre Rieu (29,261 sales), 5 Saturday Night At The Movies - The Overtones (19,198 sales).
With 55 year old Canadian singer/songwriter Bryan Adams' Get Up! debuting at number two, and 57 year old Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli's Cinema new at number three, there are no UK or US acts in the top three for the first time since April 2002, when Canadians Celine Dion and Nickelback and Australia's Darren Hayes conspired to create an Anglo-American shutout.
Adams' 13th studio album, Get Up! was produced by ELO mastermind Jeff Lynne, and sold 17,846 copies to debut at number two. It thus surpasses its five immediate predecessors to become his highest charting set since 1996's 18 Til I Die reached number one.
Helped by his performance of Don't Cry For Me Argentina on Strictly Come Dancing's results show on Sunday, Andrea Bocelli racks up his 19th chart album since 1997, debuting at number three with Movies (15,108 sales). Also including non-classical film tunes like Moon River, Cheek To Cheek and Maria, it is the top tenor's tenth top tenner and ties with 2001's Cieli Di Toscana as his highest charting release. It is a long way short of providing his biggest weekly sale, however - that title belongs to the compilation Vivere: The Best Of, which sold 132,376 copies on its sixth week on the chart immediately before Christmas 2007.
Last week, of course, all of the top three was by British acts but this week it is up to Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott to provide the only UK interest in the top five. Colleagues in The Beautiful South for four albums between 1994 and 2000, they started working together again in 2013. Their second album since that time, Wisdom, Laughter And Lines debuts at number four (13,152 sales). It is the follow-up to What Have We Become, which debuted and peaked at number three on sales of 21,103 copies last year.
Voted off Strictly Come Dancing last week, 53 year old Irish country crooner Daniel O'Donnell is more popular as a singer than as a dancer, and his latest album, The Hank Williams Songbook, debuts at number five (12,232 sales). As its title suggests, it comprises songs first recorded by the late Hank Williams, who died in 1953. It is his O'Donnell's Top 10 album since Songs From The Movies & More in 2012, his highest charting album since From Daniel With Love got to number five in 2006, and his 16th Top 10 album. It is his first chart entry of 2015, making this the 28th year in a row that he has charted, a sequence no other act can match. Since he first charted in 1988, he has had 32 Top 40 albums and 36 Top 75 albums, both records for an Irish act.
More than five years after her third album, Have One On Me, became her first Top 40 entry, peaking at number 28, alternative American singer Joanne Newsome's follow-up Divers debuts at number 10 (7,440 sales).
Number one on debut last week, Jamie Lawson's eponymous fourth album dips to number eight (10,909 sales), blasted out of contention by the raft of new entries.
Completing the Top 10: Jess Glynne's I Cry When I Laugh dips 4-6 (12,143 sales), Ed Sheeran's X falls 2-7 (11,991 sales) and Sam Smith's In The Lonely Hour holds at number nine (9,335 sales).
Six albums depart from the Top 10: The Weeknd's Beauty Behind The Madness (10-12, 6,872 sales), Peter Andre's Come Fly With Me (5-22, 4,199 sales), John Newman's Revolve (3-24, 3,569 sales), Nothing But Thieves (7-36, 2,437 sales), Demi Lovato's Confident (6-41, 2,239 sales) and Jean Michel Jarre's Electronica 1: The Time Machine (8-48, 1,980 sales).
American Idol season four (2005) winner Carrie Underwood fell short of the Top 75 with her first three albums but reached number 11 with last album Blown Away in 2012. Follow-up Storyteller debuts this week at number 13 (6,852 sales)
Post-punk survivors Killing Joke's 15th studio album Pylon debuts at number 16 (5,125 sales), becoming their highest charting album since Night Time reached number 11 in 1985. Their fourth Top 20 album - they have never reached the Top 10 - it makes a much better showing than 14th album, MMXII, which sold 3,843 copies when debuting and peaking at number 44 in 2012.
Three years to the week after his first James Bond soundtrack, Skyfall, debuted and peaked at number 36 (5,257 sales), American film composer Thomas Newman's second James Bond soundtrack, Spectre, debuts at number 25 (3,384 sales). Although Newman has scored nearly 90 movies, the only chart entries he has had are these.
Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan was uncredited vocalist on Soulsavers' album The Light The Dead See, which reached number 69 in 2012. He takes top billing on follow-up Angels & Ghosts, which is listed as being by Dave Gahan & Soulsavers, and debuts at number 27 (3,064 sales). Gahan has also charted two solo albums, and 21 as a member of Depeche Mode.
Also new to the chart: Central Belters (number 40, 2,341 sales) by Mogwai, Sun Leads Me On (number 46, 2,078 sales) by Half Moon Run, Solo: Songs & Collaborations 1982-2015 (number 53, 1,785 sales) by Tracey Thorn, Battle Scars (number 54, 1,785 sales) by Walter Trout and Completely Under The Covers (number 72, 1,463 sales) by Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs
Rapper's Delight's two week run atop the compilation chart is over. The album slips to number three (12,143 sales). Now That's What I Call A Singer debuts at number one on sales of 13,438 copies - just 13 more than Perfectly Chilled, which debuts at number two.
Overall album sales data is not available at this point.