ALBUMS
Keeping it in the family: A week after Kings Of Leon - the Followill brothers (and cousin) - scored their fourth number one album, Justin Timberlake's quest to secure his second number one album of the year are stymied by the unexpectedly potent debut of another trio of siblings, namely Alana, Este and Danielle Haim, who collectively make-up the band Haim. Timberlake was ahead on sales flashes every day but Haim - who scored their first Top 20 single last week - eventually pulled ahead, with Days Are Gone selling 37,005 copies, with Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience 2 Of 2 finishing second 6.39% in arrears.
Named as the winners of the BBC's influential Sound Of 2013 poll in January, Haim reached number 32 with debut hit Don't Save Me shortly thereafter, and have subsequently charted with Forever (number 75 in January), Falling (number 30 in April) and The Wire, which debuted at number 16 last week and now dips to number 24 (11,132 sales). Since the BBC instituted the Sound Of... poll in 2003, they are the 11th winners in a row to secure a top five album and the sixth to go all the way to number one with their debut release, emulating Keane, Corinne Bailey Rae, Mika, Adele and Ellie Goulding.
Haim is also the first female group comprising entirely of sisters to have a number one album - among those who didn't make it, but reached the Top 10 are The Nolans, The Pointer Sisters and Sister Sledge - and is arguably the first all female group to have a number one album since Military Wives' In My Dreams topped the chart in March 2012. The Military Wives album included the credit 'presented by Gareth Malone'. Haim are the complete package, also writing almost all their songs and playing on them.
They are the first all female group to sing and play a number one album - forget about even writing it - in chart history. Honourable mentions should, however, go to The Corrs - the Irish quartet comprising sisters Andrea, Sharon and Caroline and brother Jim - who topped the chart with 1997 release Talk On Corners and 2000's In Blue - and Elastica (a trio of unrelated females and drummer Justin Welch) who reached number one with their eponymous 1995 debut - both of whom also played on and wrote their chart-topping albums.
Incidentally, Haim have been widely and historically referred to as 'three (Jewish) sisters (and) one mister" - and their Wikipedia entry still shows drummer Dash Hutton as their phantom male member but the picture cover of Days Are Gone shows only the sisters, and Hutton is not credited with playing on any of the 11 tracks on the album, so we can safely assume he is not a full member of the band. His liner note credits are limited to being third on the list of 'thank you's'.
Justin Timberlake would have scored his fourth straight number one album if The 20/20 Experience 2 Of 2 had hung onto its midweek advantage. Arriving just 28 weeks after his last album, The 20/20 Experience, its first week sales are 34,871 - less than a third of the 105,888 copies its predecessor sold when it debuted at number one in March. Former 'N Sync star Timberlake, 32, opened his solo career with Justified, which debuted at number six on sales of 38,842 copies in 2002 and reached number one 12 weeks later.
Follow-up FutureSex/LoveSounds was an immediate number one in 2006, with first week sales of 90,985 copies. Both are million sellers - Justified has sold 1,951,653 copies thus far, and FutureSex/LoveSounds has sold 1,144,149 copies. The 20/20 Experience, which spawned only two singles - the smashes Suit & Tie (feat. Jay-Z, 307,125 sales) and Mirrors (691,965 sales) has sold 323,443 copies thus far. Take Back The Night - the first single from The 20/20 Experience 2 Of 2 - reaches a new peak this week, jumping 30-22 (11,546 sales), while TKO - a preview track not really pushed as a single - slides 58-120 (1,973 sales).
Both The 20/20 Experience and The 20/20 Experience 2 Of 2 have been combined for The 20/20 Experience: The Complete, which also debuts this week at number 27 (4,158 sales). As The 20/20 Experience 2 Of 2 was only 2,134 sales behind Haim's album, it is entirely possible that the release of the combined edition cost Timberlake the number one slot.
Floridian hard rock band Alter Bridge achieve the highest chart position of their career, debuting at number six (18,600 sales) with fourth studio album, Fortress. The band seem to work at a very even pace, with new albums coming at the rate of one every three years, almost to the week. Their 2004 debut, One Day Remains, only reached number 102 and has thus far sold 34,225 copies, while 2007's Blackbird reached number 37 and is marginally their best seller with a to-date tally of 62,666. 2010 album AB III got to number nine, and has sold 60,616 copies.
With four previous studio albums in an album chart career that dates back slightly more than a decade, Dizzee Rascal has reached a new high with each successive release - until now. Dizzee's 2003 debut album Boy In Da Corner climbed to number 23, 2004's Showtime reached number eight, 2007's Maths + English peaked at number seven, and 2009's Tongue n' Cheek went all the way to number three, and also became his biggest seller, with a to-date sales tally of 407,493.
The Fifth - his chronologically correctly-titled new set - breaks that string by debuting this week at number 10 (8,692 sales). Goin' Crazy - a collaboration with Robbie Williams that served as the first single from the album - reached number five in June, while the preview track I Don't Need A Reason reached number 69 in August. The new single from the set, Something Really Bad (feat. Will.I.Am) debuts this week at number 10 (25,690 sales).
After debuting at number one last week, Kings Of Leon's Mechanical Bull falls to number three (28,518 sales). Elsewhere in this week's Top 10, Arctic Monkeys' AM holds at number four (25,334 sales), Drake's Nothing Was The Same falls 2-5 (22,463 sales), Jessie J's Alive fades 3-7 (14,574 sales), London Grammar's If You Wait slips 7-8 (10,366 sales) and Avicii's True dips 6-9 (9,143 sales).
Preceded by four Top 25 hits, Sub Focus' second album, Torus, jumps onto the chart at number 11 (8,529 sales), while the latest of the hits, Turn It Around (feat. Kele) dips 14-41 (6,724 sales). Sub Focus' eponymous first album dropped four years ago next week, and also spawned four singles - but none of them made the Top 25, and the album itself debuted and peaked at number 51 on sales of 4,624 copies.
He used to be one of the biggest artists in dance music, scoring back-to-back million selling number one albums with Play and 18 but Moby has been a reduced power for some time now, and his new album Innocents will be his fourth in a row to fall short of the Top 20 unless it can improve on the number 35 debut (3,516 sales) it makes this week. His last album, Destroyed, also debuted and peaked at number 35 in 2011 on higher sales of 4,359.
Proving they aren't spent yet as a chart force, Status Quo land their second chart album of the year. 16 weeks after their soundtrack album Bula Quo! reached number 10, the veteran rockers return to the chart with The Frantic Four Reunion 2013. Debuting at number 37 (3,280 sales), the album is the group's 36th to chart since they broke through with Piledriver in 1971. Recorded in concert at The Hammersmith Apollo, the new album's 'Frantic Four' reference is recognition of the fact that the tour - and thus the album - saw the return of the classic Quo line-up of Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan for the first time since 1981. Drummer Coghlan is 67, while lead guitarist/vocalist Rossi, rhythm guitarist Parfitt and bassist Lancaster are all 64.
Of course, with very few exceptions, live albums don't perform as well in the chart as studio efforts, and there's further proof of this from the number 36 debut (3,474 sales) of Through The Never, the new live album from Metallica, which doubles as the soundtrack to the film of the same name. The band's last five regular studio albums reached number one here, most recently Death Magnetic, which topped the chart in 2008 on sales of 75,164 copies, achieved in a shortened (Wednesday-Saturday) first sales week.
Also new to the Top 40 this week: Peace by Kids In Glass Houses (number 39, 3,088 sales).
Despite spawning three Top 10 hits, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's debut album The Heist has never made the Top 20 - until now. Latest hit Same Love reverses 6-9 this week but the album - which was released exactly a year ago - jumps 32-20 (4,706 sales), passing its previous peak of number 25 and its 100,000th sale along the way. The album, which has sold 100,118 copies, entered the Top 200 at number 156 on the week of its release, climbed to number 66 to make its Top 75 debut in February, and has thus far spent 32 weeks in the Top 75.
Now That's What I Call Music! 85 is the number one compilation for the 11th week in a row. It sold a further 15,217 copies last week, raising its career tally to 830,909.
Overall album sales are up 1.72% week-on-week at 1,449,084 - 11.66% below same week 2012 sales of 1,640,378, and 58.42% below same week 2003 sales of 3,402,716.
SINGLES
When the first midweek sales flashes came in on Tuesday, it seemed a foregone conclusion that new teen sensations The Vamps would romp to their first number one with debut single Can We Dance. With sales of 36,752 to that point, it was a massive 88.62% - over 17,000 sales - ahead of nearest challenger, Counting Stars by OneRepublic - but the gap between the two closed rapidly as the week progressed and in the end it was no surprise to find Counting Stars taking the title on sales of 67,880, and Can We Dance at number two just 1.72% behind.
Counting Stars is OneRepublic's third Top 10 hit but first number one, and it has proved to be a real grower. Selling 1,213 copies when cherry -picked from their latest album Native on the album's release 27 weeks ago, the track quietly ticked over until it started getting airplay, since when it has recorded increased sales week-on-week 11 times in a row. It tops the chart on its ninth week in the Top 75, having moved 43-40-20-17-13-2-4-3-1 while increasing its career sales to 293,780. The last single to top the chart further into its Top 75 career was Coldplay's Paradise, which vaulted 5-1 on its 10th week on the list in the final chart week of 2011 (publication date: 7 January 2012).
The Vamps have been building momentum for more than a year, initially via YouTube and more recently through touring in support of Selena Gomez and McFly. All their hard work pays off this week, with their debut single Can We Dance debuting at number two on sales of 66,730 copies. Eager to avoid being branded as the new One Direction, The Vamps point out that they actually play on their songs - 17 year old Connor on bass, 19 year old Tristan on drums, 19 year old James on guitar in support of lead singer Bradley, who is 18.
They also write most of their songs apparently - but not Can We Dance, which was written by their Norwegian producers Espionage, alongside Domino Go (a duo comprising Irishman Karl Michael and Londoner Timz Aluo) and Bruno Mars. Had it clung on to debut at number one, it would have been Mars' sixth number one as a writer - his own hits Just The Way You Are, Grenade and The Lazy Song, Nothin' On You (B.o.B. feat. Bruno Mars) and Cee Lo Green's Forget You (F**k You) being the others. The Vamps also debut at number two on the Japanese album chart this week with their third album Sex Blood Rock 'n' Roll, but they are a Japanese hard rock duo, not the British band.
Drum & bass duo Chase & Status secure their fourth Top 10 hit, debuting at number five (42,365 sales) with Count On Me (feat. Moko). It is the second single from their third album, Brand New Machine, which was released today (7th), following Lost And Not Found (feat. Louis M^ttrs), which got to number nine in July. It ties their previous highest charting single, Blind Faith (feat. Liam Bailey), which got to number five in February 2011.
Four months after latest single Heart Attack (the first single from fourth album Demi) became her first Top 10 entry, Demi Lovato scores her second - and, unexpectedly, it is with Skyscraper, the 2012 single from her 2011 album, Unbroken. The track benefitted from exposure two weeks in a row on The X Factor, and re-entered the Top 75 at number 13 last week. It now surpasses its original number 12 chart peak, zapping to number seven (32,740 sales). Lovato is, of course, part of The X Factor family, as she serves as a judge on the US version of the show.
After two weeks at number one, Jason DeRulo's Talk Dirty (feat 2 Chainz) dips to number three (53,270 sales). Elsewhere in the Top 10, Katy Perry's Roar falls 2-4 (50,194 sales), Avicii's You Make Me slips 5-6 (33,047 sales), Drake's Hold On, We're Going Home (feat. Majid Jordan) falls 4-8 (30,656 sales) and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' Same Love (feat. Mary Lambert) slips 6-9, despite increasing sales 1.30% to 29,782.
A number 11 hit for Lucy Spraggan last year, Last Night (Beer Fear) returns in a new version, debuting at number 18 (14,383 sales). The updated recording is the second single from Spraggan's first Columbia album, Join The Clun, following Lighthouse, which reached number 26 in July. The original Last Night and parent album Top Room At The Zoo, were independently released by Spraggan prior to her involvement in The X Factor last year. Last Night had sold just 51 copies in 11 weeks before Spraggan appeared on The X Factor, but it debuted at number 70 on the basis of a few hours sales after she performed it on the show, and jumped to number 11 before being pulled, apparently as a result of pressure from X Factor execs who though a competitor having a song in the chart didn't represent a level playing field for the competition. Top Room At The Zoo sold 162 copies in 40 weeks, then 1,056 in a few hours to debut at number 127 and a further 4,707 copies before the plug was pulled, climbing to number 22. Single and album have remained deleted.
Meanwhile, Nicholas McDonald and Giles Potter both won places in the judge's house round of the current X Factor competition after performing I Won't Give Up, and triggered another big increase in sales of Jason Mraz's original, which heads into the Top 40 for the fourth time since its release.
Re-entering the chart at number 14, the track - which peaked at number 11 in 2012, sold 18,140 copies last week. Kye Sones performed it on The X Factor last November, triggering a 67-20 leap (16,470 sales). A month earlier, both Jade Ellis and Ella Henderson performed it on the show, after which it reached number 11.
Overall sales of I Won't Give Up are 458,878 - a huge sale for a number 11 hit but far fewer than Mraz's only other hit, 2008 single I'm Yours, which also reached number 11. I'm Yours has so far sold 732,111 copies, and remains the biggest selling single in the 21st century not to make the Top 10.
I Won't Give Up is the 12th biggest seller of the 21st century not to make the Top 10. Ahead of it are:
Position
Title
Artist
Sales
Highest Position
1
I'M YOURS
JASON MRAZ
732,111
11
2
SET FIRE TO THE RAIN
ADELE
663,508
11
3
NUMB/ENCORE
JAY-Z & LINKIN PARK
524,944
14
4
EYE OF THE TIGER
SURVIVOR
518,554
47
5
MARRY YOU
BRUNO MARS
510,205
11
6
SKINNY LOVE
BIRDY
506,747
17
7
A THOUSAND YEARS
CHRISTINA PERRI
501,764
11
8
GOLD DUST
DJ FRESH
488,882
22
9
NEED YOU NOW
LADY ANTEBELLUM
485,655
15
10
HEY SOUL SISTER
TRAIN
484,941
18
11
SWEET CHILD O' MINE
GUNS N' ROSES
465,128
56
Note that the positions shown for Eye Of The Tiger and Sweet Child O' Mine, like their sales, are for the 21st century only. The former was a number one hit in 1982, the latter a 1989 number six hit. All other tracks are 21st century releases.
On an even more lofty sales note, Avicii's Wake Me Up! becomes the UK's third million seller of the year, the 39th of the 21st century and the 140th of all-time. Falling 8-11 to end an 11 week run in the Top 10, it sold 24,863 copies last week, raising its career tally to 1,005,179. Avicii is only the second Swedish act to have a million seller, emulating Abba, who did it with their 1976 smash Dancing Queen.
New entries to the Top 40 not mentioned hitherto: Get Like Me (number 19, 13,866) by Nelly feat. Nicki Minaj & Pharrell Williams, Azonto (number 30, 9,270 sales) by Fuse ODG and Changing Of The Seasons (number 33, 8,364 sales) by Two Door Cinema Club. Joining them in making its Top 40 debut, Jasmine Thompson's version of Ain't Nobody vaults 72-32 (8,538 sales).
A melodic, power pop single which flopped when originally released in 1972, Badfinger's Baby Blue makes its chart debut, entering at number 73 on sales of 3,152 copies. It sold only one copy the week before, and previously sold just 450 copies in over eight years of digital availability. Its sudden surge was down to its use in the closing scenes of the final episode of US TV drama Breaking Bad.
It is all the more remarkable since Breaking Bad isn't even shown on TV here - it is streamed on Netflix and sold via iTunes. Baby Blue is a great song by an ill-fated and massively underrated band, and richly deserves its success, though iTunes charts throughout the week suggested that it was the inferior live version on Music Company Europe that sold best (at 79p, 20p below the original), whereas the final chart placing seems to load all sales onto the original Apple label recording, rather than splitting them. Baby Blue also enters the Irish chart at number 35, and is also selling in significant numbers elsewhere in Europe and across North America.
Overall singles sales are up 4.97% week-on-week at 2,995,472 - 12.71% below same week 2012 sales of 3,431,449 and 425.27% above same week 2003 sales of 570,274. It is the first time that singles sales have been below 3m for four consecutive weeks since 2010.