Brolly-olly-olly-olly
Having for years been able to recite huge chunks of the Guinness Book of Hit Singles from memory (Gerry Rafferty’s second biggest hit after Baker Street was called Night Owl: I think I might have been mildly autistic as a teenager), I rarely look at the singles charts these days but for some reason I’ve run the rule over this week’s official Top 100 Singles.
It’s clear that the inclusion of purchased downloads has dramatically changed the nature of the chart – nothing else can explain the appearances of radio mainstays Sweet Child O’Mine by Guns n’ Roses, The Killer’s Mr. Briteside and Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls, or four tracks from the 25th anniversary edition re-release of Michael Jackson’s 1983 album Thriller.
A couple of things caught my eye in the lower reaches of the chart.
First, Supernatural Superserious, R.E.M.’s new single is a new entry this week – at an embarrassingly lowly #54.
R.E.M. have always been an album band but it’s a damning indictment of the paucity of their last album and how far their stock has fallen that the fairly good lead single from their new album has failed to make either the Radio 1 or Radio 2 playlists and, consequently, couldn’t even debut ahead of Rhianna’s nine-month-old Umbrella-ella-ella-ella.
You wouldn’t want to swap places with R.E.M.’s record company CEO at the moment if this is remotely indicative of the reception the band’s forthcoming album and tour will get…
Second, this week represents the 76th week in the singles chart for Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars.
After an initial, 15-week chart run (during which time it never got higher than #6), Chasing Cars re-entered the top 10 when downloads were included (as of 13 January 2007) and hasn’t left the Top 100 since.
Snow Patrol may not be everybody’s cup of tea (though the Minister adores Chasing Cars and thinks Eyes Open was the best album of 2006), but that’s a remarkable achievement.