Official Singles Chart on 3/3/2017

It already is James

I think we are really seeing the end of the singles chart. If Ed Sheeran's album tracks dominate the top 20 I think it's the end of the chart in terms of it being a respected measure of popular music taste. People will remember this moment and *never ever* take the chart seriously again. I won't.

And what kind of singles chart - which has been running for decades, much loved by UK music fans - has now become the Ed Sheeran album chart? A singles chart, that's what. The OCC has done nothing to prevent this happening and that is a great pity.

Totally agree James. Years ago our chart was well respected because other countries took airplay into the equation. Whereas the UK only went by sales so was a lot more accurate. There is no variation on musical styles in the chart now (we were just talking in the pub about this a couple of hours ago) How many proper rock bands and musicians are in the charts nowadays. Take The Stereophonics for example. There concerts sell out in minutes as do other bands, but when was the last time they had a top 40 hit. So the charts don't reflect the popular music anymore

Hey Synthesiza! I agree with your thoughts a lot today. There were definitely more downs than ups this week unfortunately. :(
Anyway, I'll do my usual rating of each song in the Top 40...
Great (5 points): #2, #3, #5
Good (4 points): #7, #11, #20, #23, #32, #37. #40
Decent (3 points): #1, #4, #9, #12, #13, #14, #15, #17, #19, #22, #26, #27, #28, #31, #36
Meh (2 points): #8, #16, #18, #21, #24, #25, #30, #33, #34, #35, #38, #39
Bad (1 point): #6, #29
Awful (0 points): #10
TOTAL SCORE: 114/200 or 57%. That'll go up a lot next week when tracks from '÷' debut in the Top 40!

I didn't bother doing ratings, as 1) it's normally once a month and 2) with all the Stormzy songs in (most of which I've yet to hear and probz never will hear) it's not worth it anyway

Fair enough. Have you heard all of '÷' yet & if so, what do you think of it? :)

I've heard like half of it so far, I probably need to hear it numerous times to form a proper opinion

Ah okay. I've heard it twice in full already, but will probably be repeating it every day for most of next week. LOL
Did you get the deluxe version of '÷' then?
From the 12 songs in the original version, my favourites songs are: 'Castle On The Hill', 'Galway Girl', 'Happier', 'What Do I Know?', 'How Would You Feel [Paean]' & 'Supermarket Flowers'. Least favourite is probably 'New Man' for now. So far, I would give the album a strong 8/10! :)

Does the deluxe version have Barcelona, Bibia Be Ye Ye, Nancy Mulligan and Save Myself? If so, yeah, I have that. Felt weird that a happy song like Barcelona follows what is probably the most depressing on there, Supermarket Flowers

That's right! Yeah, I found following up 'Supermarket Flowers' with 'Barcelona' strange too. The former of those is definitely one of the saddest songs I've heard in months, maybe years. :/

Wow... according to the Official Chart Update, Ed Sheeran is going to have NINE songs in the Top 10 this Friday! :O

That is dumb dumb dumb. Maybe we can discuss when the full midweek chart gets posted (it hasn't yet)

Oh.... oh no it has been posted ;p

Also, every track from the deluxe version of '÷' except 'Save Myself' is in the Top 20!
Considering there is only one song in the Top 10 that isn't from Ed Sheeran, I'm pleased that it's 'Something Just Like This'. :D

Yeah. What is your favourite Coldplay song?

He has less entries in the download only chart but yeah... 15 in the combined chart... lol! You could argue the chart needs tweaking.

IKR I hate him

There doesn't appear to be any rule regarding what makes a song eligible for the chart. If your music is on Spotify and it gets enough streams it's considered a single! Thats the impression I get. Same is true for downloads.

I think the one track per artist/group rule should be introduced. Under a new rule you're not allowed to have more than one single in the chart. I suggested a 16 weeks gap but it could be much shorter. For example 8 weeks. That would mean Ed Sheeran and Stormsky would have to wait 8 weeks before releasing a new single or 8 weeks before a new track is eligible for the chart. People can still stream it but it won't be eligible for the chart.

That's unfair though

The loyal Take That fanbase bought/streamed the track for a week but there was no interest from younger chart fans. Take That are a 1990s decade group. Kinda ancient to anyone born from 2000 onwards!

I hear what you're saying but if a song is decent it dosen't matter when the group originates from. it still didn't deserve a 79 position drop. Other artists from different era's have had hits but not dropped by that many. It is obviously down to streaming though as the song only dropped 34 places in the sales chart

Older acts rarely do well in the streaming era. Just the way it is , Painmix.

I'm glad that they're falling. They're over 30 years old so it's good that they're moving out of the way to let new artists in.

Sadly, the new artists are all people like The Chainsmokers, who were so lazy that they copied one of their earlier songs, made a new song which sounded exactly the same as one of their earlier songs, and it got to number 2.

I agree with your 2nd paragraph, but (and i am far from being a Take That fan) it doesn't matter how long you've been making music as long as people enjoy it they've got as much right as anyone to have a place in the charts

They've fallen 5-39 in sales and never had any streaming

And....

Not uncommon for a song from the first two months to do it though, guess that weren't the case last year (One Dance, summer '16 release)

Well, it might be the case this year.

At least Something Just Like this has substance. Not great, but better than 75% of the top 40

Dancehall is decent tbh, I' starting to like Cold a bit more

hey buddy! glad you're here, i chose def leppard's hysteria album for my set of throwbacks this week. and i discovered a unique and possibly history-making feat that i don't think def leppard knows about :D. i mean, i've never heard bb mention it, i'll hav e that part up in just a sec ;)

A Giant fall... I'm going now

'hysteria' singles hot 100:

1. 'women' enters on 8/22/1987 @ #94-86-80 *final peak*. spends 5 wks on the chart.

2. 'animal' enters on 10/10/1987 @ #84-73-63-55-48-42-36-31-28-24-21-19 *final peak*. and during this time, george michael's 'faith' album is off to a great momentum! 'animal' will spend 19 wks on the hot 100 chart.

3. 'hysteria' enters on 1/23/1988 @ #66-55-41-35-28-24-20-14-11-10 *final peak*. spends 1 wk in the top 10 and will spend 4 mos. on the chart.

well, from what i recall during this time, def leppard became more successful in 1988 as opposed to 1987. and judging from the first single...not too much radio interest *they prob. did better on the bb rock singles chart* in the first single and quickly falls off the chart.

the 2nd single has a more broader appeal and can crack the top 20, i still didn't know who they were @ this time. i vaguely recall 'hysteria' on the radio in 1988, but looks like u.s. radio overall seemed to like 'hysteria' out of the 1st 3 official single releases. (to be fair, def leppard achieved better success on the rock singles and rock albums chart with their previous album 'pyromania'.)

so, looks like this uk band is off to a pretty good start...but wait :D they're not done yet ;)

So it looks like Def Leppard not only peaked higher with each single they released, but they also debuted higher with each one too! ;)
I look forward to seeing their (possible) history-making feat that they had on the Hot 100.

'hysteria' singles hot 100 pt. 2:

4. 'pour some $ugar on me' enters on 4/23/1988 @ #93-75-59-48-39-32-27-21-18-10-7-3-3-2 *final peak and their momentum is picking up big time!*. will spend a month and a half in the top 10 and remain on the chart for a whopping 6 mos.! will also be #19 on the hot 100 year end list.

5. 'love bites' enters on 8/13/1988 @ #52-39-30-24-16-9-5-2-1 *1 wk @ #1*. will spend 5 wks in the top 10 and 6 mos. on the chart.

well, well, well...;) 'pour some $ugar on me' sure is picking up some steam when you look @ the beginning stages. to debut @ the very bottom of the bracket and quickly moving up on the chart also shows the radio spins (plays) are increasing dramatically! i recall this song being a huge hit during this time! i heard it on the radio and saw the vid *the u.s. vid is the concert vid* on mtv all the time, in fact this is when i bought the album ;).

even today 'love bites' is still def leppard's only u.s #1 of their career...but looks like u.s. radio couldn't wait to play it in the 1st week. debuts @ #59 *as opposed to the very bottom* shows there was a lot u.s. radio interest in that first week. and wastes no time zooming thru the top 40, top 20 and going to #1.

but wait, you really think that's it for them? ;D more success on the hot 100 is yet to come and wait 'til you see what i dug up on the 200 albums chart ;)

yeah mate, and i checked their previous album 'pyromania', with 'hysteria' it's the first time they crossed over to the pop charts and moving up to score top 10 hits. during that time (the first 3 singles) i don't recall knowing too much about def leppard in 1987.

What did you say was your favourite Def Leppard song again? :)

'love and affection', 'hysteria', 'i wanna be your hero', 'armageddon it', 'pour...', basically the whole album. i did like it back then, but now that i'm older, i def. have a better appreciation for it.

So what other music have you been checking out this week that isn't Def Leppard? :P LOL

'hysteria' singles hot 100 pt. 3:

6. 'armageddon it' enters on 11/19/1988 @ #65-46-37-28-21-12-12-9-5-3 *final peak*. will spend 1 month in the top 10 and 5 mos. on the chart.

7. 'rocket' enters on 3-4-1989 @ #61-46-36-31-27-20-15-13-12 *final peak*

ok, so 1988 was def. a big year for the band! i def. remember 'armageddon it' on both the radio and on mtv during this time...basically def leppard would be on the hot 100 chart for the majority part of 1988.

and with 'rocket' i don't recall this too much on the radio...debuts @ a decent spot and can move up in the top 30 @ a modest pace. so, nothing tech. unique for def leppard on the hot 100 chart...but an unforgettable and still impressive run! to finally score 3 top 10's incl. a #1 single is a great chart run. but if you think that's impressive, let's take a look @ how the album did on the 200 albums chart back then :))))))

well, i got an endless supply of throwbacks, i'm listening to the dixie chicks 'wide open spaces' album right now :) hey why didn't tom and techfan say hi to me? ;D

So seven different singles from 'Hysteria' did that well on the Hot 100? Wow... I didn't realise Def Leppard were that big in your country! :O
I'm guessing that for the US charts in the late 1980s, 5 months in the Top 10 was a huge feat, right?

Haha! Well I know Techfan is busy at work on Fridays, but I'm sure Tom will respond to you soon. ;) LOL

well, i was listening to non-stop dixie chicks while i was putting up the hot 100 throwbacks *prob. because i had just posted on the dc article on bb* so, i was listening to the 'fly' and 'home' albums prior to 'wide open spaces' right now.

Didn't you say that Dixie Chicks toured in Europe recently? :)

well remember, not all 7 singles landed in the top 10, the first single 'women' peaked @ #80 and lost steam very fast. and yes, the 80s hot 100 had a steadier rotation in the top 10. i was too young for the bb charts back then...but looks like 'pour some $ugar on me' was their breakthrough hit *which is also from what i remember*...ok, i'll have their 200 albums chart run up in just a sec ;)

It's cool that Def Leppard were able to build momentum with every release until 'Love Bites' though! ;)
When I'm next on here, I'll look at their UK chart performance & let you know anything interesting I find.

'hysteria' 200 albums chart: enters on 8/22/1987 @ #36. will jump to #9 the following week (8/29/1987) and will NOT leave the top 10 until 3/18/1989 *final top 10 wk*! album will spend 6 chopped wks @ #1, spends 133 wks on the 200 albums chart *over 2 yrs!* and will go 12x plat. that's right 12 million albums sold! ;)

ok, so when i do albums' chart runs, i usually skim a couple of mos. to see how well the album is doing. with 'hysteria' i kept going ahead in the year and just saw the album stay put in the top 10. so, i decided to count each week it remained in the top 10 and i counted: 76 wks! they did fall out of the top 10 5x during this run.

so, what's the history making feat? until adele's 21 album is on the chart, according to bb, no uk act has spent 1 full yr on the 200 albums chart top 10 :). with 76 wks in the top 10, def leppard certainly spent 1 full calendar year in the top 10...but all this time, i had never heard of any uk act mentioned for this feat.

in america, 6 albums have spent 1 full yr in the top 10: 1. mj/thriller; 2. bruce springsteen/born in the usa; 3. alanis morrisette/jagged little pill; 4. celine dion/falling into you; 5. adele/21 and 6. tay-tay/1989.

also, def leppard joins a very short list of uk groups that achieved back-to-back diamond albums. *a very hard and rare feat*. 1. the beatles 2 greatest hits packages (1962-1966-15x plat. & 1967-70-17x plat.); 2. led zeppelin (led zeppelin IV-23x plat.; houses of the holy-11x plat. & physical graffitti-16x plat.) 1971-1975. 3. def leppard/pyromania-10x plat. and hysteria-12x plat.

so, congrats to def leppard! and i strongly recommend they have the guinness world records double check the 'hysteria' top 10 run on the bb 200 chart and i hope they memorialize it. & what a fantastic momentum it was! i highly recommend everyone check out the 'hysteria' album...their best piece of work in my honest opinion.

ok mate, i can't wait for us to discuss their 200 chart run! :) talk to you later :P

So Def Leppard could be the only British group to have an album that has spent at least a year inside the BB200's Top 10 then? Well in 'Hysteria's case, that's over 18 months which is incredible! :D
Anyway, thanks for sharing these throwbacks with us again. I've got to go now, but have a good night & I'll see you later or tomorrow.

mate, they could be the 1st uk act to achieve that ;) i'm really surprised bb never double checked! i mean, back when alanis and celine were in the top 10, i kept hearing how alanis made history being the 1st female act to do so. and same with adele, and tay-tay...but until then, bb never mentioned any prior uk acts. in fact, for the longest time it'd just be 4 albums that spent 1 yr in the top 10: thriller, born in the usa, jagged little pill and falling into you.

well, it'd be up to def leppard and their label to see if this really is a history making feat. but yes, bb has never mentioned them and bb would have to double check any prior uk bands' chart runs (beatles, led zeppelin). i do think def. leppard is the 1st, cuz bb never mentioned any uk act able to do that until adele's 21 album did. ok mate, we'll chat more later :)

i believe they toured in canada recently...simon cowell should sign them :) but i haven't heard anything new going on for them recently. they did perform with beyonce on the country music awards :) i know there was a lot of backlash to that ;D

I'll take a look later to confirm your finding. ;) Anyway, that just reminded me that Appetite for Destruction was also in the BB200 around that time.

From Hysteria, they had at #1 Love Bites, #2 Pour Some Sugar on Me and #3 Armaggedon It. Also, #10 Hysteria, #12 Rocket, #19 Animal and #80 Women.

ok, well, i counted 79 wks for thriller in the top 10...i don't know if that's completely accurate (i might've lost count). i'll take a look @ adele and check out appetite. but i'm very confident about hysteria notching 76 wks in the top 10, but def. lemme know if you have a different tally ;)

i just took a look @ the 21 album top 10 run: it spent 78 wks in the top 10. i counted 79 wks for thriller...did thriller spend 79 wks in the top 10? if so, why did bb keep saying she topped him? unless i lost count :D

i also took a look @ appetite: it goes in the top 10 for 4/23/1988 @ #9 and the last week in the top 10 would be 4/15/1989. i counted 50 wks. :)))) i never knew that! so, maybe they have the longest top 10 run for a u.s. group ;)

Well it's still awesome that they had six Top 20 singles from 'Hysteria'. Did you like a lot of Def Leppard's music then? :)

Do they still get a lot of hate across the US then? :/

Yes. My brother was a fan since Pyromania and got me hooked. ;)

Haha! Sunshine Gal is loving their music right now. :P
Anyway, I wish I could talk for a bit longer, but I've got a busy day tomorrow & it's getting late here now. Have a good night though Techfan!

Good night! It must pretty late for you ... ;)

I found in UK Mix:

Most weeks in the top 10 (Most weeks in the top 10 (Aug. 17, 1963 - Jun 01, 2016)

The Sound Of Music - Soundtrack 109
Born In The U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen 84
21 - Adele 84
Thriller - Michael Jackson 78
Hysteria - Def Leppard 78
Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette 72
Doctor Zhivago - Soundtrack 71
Forever Your Girl - Paula Abdul 64
Whipped Cream & Other Delights - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass 61
Falling Into You - Celine Dion 61
Can't Slow Down - Lionel Richie 59
1989 - Taylor Swift 59
Fearless - Taylor Swift 58
Cracked Rear View - Hootie & The Blowfish 55
Come On Over - Shania Twain 53

Several notable albums between 50 and 52 weeks:

Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction 52
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours 52
MC Hammer - Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em 52
Wilson Phillips - Wilson Phillips 52
George Michael - Faith 51
Britney Spears - ... Baby One More Time 50

Another thing is that BB focused more on consecutive weeks in the Top 10 than overall weeks in that tier, as they did when 1989 got to 59. So, Hootie & the Blowfish actually topped GN'R.

hey good morning mate!! i'll be on fb later today... well, dc still gets some hate, but they're still not being played on country radio *maybe on a throwback hour*, but nowhere near as bad as in 2003 :/. it's like they disappeared off the face of the earth :D but they still give interviews and do appearances here and there *they performed with beyonce @ the cma's.*

what do you mean by uk mix? are these stats from the 200 album chart or uk albums chart? and adele notched 84 top 10 wks on the 200 chart? did she bounce back in the top 10 after falling out on 9/1/2012? *i think that's the last top 10 wk i counted*.

sorry buddy i didn't understand this post of yours, my stats were on the 200 albums chart, not the uk albums chart.

Argh, as soon as I saw you say 'Hysteria' I thought you were talking about Muse so I got all excited XP

oh sorry mate ;D do you know the def leppard album?

Would they have any chance of making it onto the Hot Country Songs chart again?
Anyway, good morning to you as well! I'm only going to be here for 30-45 minutes tonight unfortunately.
Oh Ed posted official audios to all of the '÷' tracks on YouTube, so you can check them out there if you want! ;)

hey mate! so sorry i missed this post of yours....it's all good, i'm watching bill maher on youtube *his hbo show is on every friday*. well, the sub-charts also factor in radio airplay ;). so with the country singles chart, the act would have to do well on country radio :/ .

the dixie chicks did amazing back in the day, notching numerous country top 10s and #1s. if country fans streamed their music, then maybe they can come back on the hot country singles chart. but i haven't seen them on the country singles chart in a long time...i think the last time was 'travelin soldier'. around the time of the london concert.

Well I've got Liverpool vs Arsenal in a few minutes & then The Voice tonight, so I'll be on for another 15 minutes at most, then I'll be back tomorrow morning your time.
What about sales? Do The Dixie Chicks do well in that metric?
I'm still amazed with '÷' & it's not even been released for 48 hours yet. I had high expectations for this album & Ed just exceeded them! ;)

ok mate, oh my blackhawks won in a thrilling shootout! meaning, we were tied @ the end of the game, went to overtime and still no winning score. then you do a shootout ;) each team gets 3 tries, hawks got 2 out of 3 :). they're on 2nite against the nashville predators *carrie underwood's husband plays for them* and a tough team to beat!

well, dc hasn't had any new material since their 'taking the long way' album and that was about 2007. but they're still the only country group and only female group to have 2 diamond albums :) and back-to-back ;). even today, they're the top selling country and female group here in the u.s.

Nope, don't know a thing about that band

really? they were really big in the late 80s over here. i think they're still together as a band, you never hear anything about def leppard in the uk?

The list is for the BB 200 from a forum called UK Mix which is probably misleading but they discuss music charts from all over the world including the U..s. I mean, you'd figure that Shania Twain couldn't possible have had that many weeks in the Top 10 in the UK albums chart given that Brits generally don't care for Country music. Not to mention some of the other albums I listed were definitely not as big in the UK as in the US. Basically, I'm confirming your finding. ;)

I'm not exactly sure how 21 accomplished it, but the Wikipedia entry confirms that it's tied with Born in the USA for top 10 weeks in the BB 200, so that's a good enough of a confirmation for me. ;)

Not really

oh ok LOL! i had no idea why the uk stats would be factored in for a 200 chart run :D

so, the 76 wks for hysteria doesn't count as a full yr in the top 10? that's still 1 calendar year and then some :)

****! i posted on the wrong article again :D

Haha! Well you're on the right one now. :P
So what are your thoughts on the Official Charts for this week then?

still don't know too many of the acts...well, do you want 1 last guess on who this week's set of throwbacks will be? ;)

I'm guessing Sam Smith considering how many times I've been asking! :P LOL
Well if you want to check out Ed's new album, then he uploaded some audios of each track on YouTube earlier today.

well, your ar$e will still have to wait :D ok mate, i promise i'll put them up right now so you're not waiting anymore ;)

Awesome! :D
Well tell me what you think of '÷' when you get a chance to hear it. I'm probably going to be having it on repeat all throughout next week. LOL

ok, and def. send me links of any real good songs i should check out...ok mate, i'll have the throwbacks up in a sec ;)

Well my favourites are: 'Castle On The Hill', 'Galway Girl' & 'Supermarket Flowers' at the moment, but those might chance when I hear the album more times. Those are the songs that I recommend you listen to the most! ;)

Oh Def Leppard... why did I not guess them? :P LOL

hahah!! don't worry, i'll get to sam eventually :) and wait 'til you find out what i discovered with def leppard's chart runs back then ;)

ok thanks mate, you'll have to remind me again later though :P

Yeah, I'll keep you reminded! :D
This does of course mean that my next Crown Note Top 40 chart will be an Ed Sheeran filled one...

Awesome! I'm reading through your first throwback post right now. ;)

Hey Piran! So lots of movement at first glance. Another thing is that even with the effect of streaming reducing is still possible for album tracks as those for Stormzy to debut in the Top 40. We'll see how many songs Ed has next week! ;)

Why do you celebrate mediocrity, Piran?

Hey Techfan! :)
Yeah, I can't complain about the amount of movement across the Top 40 this week (I have yet to see the full Top 100). Well Stormzy managed to get seven songs inside the Top 40 today, or eight if you count the 'Shape Of You' remix.
Incredibly, Stormzy was 2,000 copies behind Rag'n'Bone Man on total album figures yesterday, but Stormzy pulled back to get the #1 in the last few hours of the tracking week.

... what like?
Other than 'Something Just Like This' jumping up to #2, there's not all that much to celebrate this week.

oh cool, much like my def leppard top 10 the other day :D but isn't hysteria an amazing album? and this was 30 yrs ago ;) ok mate i'll list up the 200 chart run and the *possible* history making feat i discovered :) i sure hope i'm right and they get credited for it somehow.

When you say "possible", was it because Billboard never confirmed it?

i'm done and i'll wait for you to read it and we can discuss it more later ;)

I already responded to your BB200 post, but I need to go for now. We can discuss Def Leppard's achievements on the Billboard charts later or over the weekend though. Have a good afternoon! :)

ok mate, get your ar$e off here then! LOL! this was a fun throwback to do and can't wait for us to discuss it further :)

Quite, Shocker to see Take That drop from 13 to 92....streaming/downloading has killed the pop song stone dead as far as the charts are concerned. Such a shame. If not for Coldplay this chart would be a write-off.

Thanks for the headsup about the Albums! A couple of other things I noticed now in the Singles chart are that B&B fell out the Top 40.Human is probably this year's Cheap Thrills and finally, Sia almost had her 3 songs back to back to back i n the same orderagain this week had Let Me Love You not gotten caught in between.

So, a couple of days ago in the Liga, Barcelona won and Real Madrid tied near the end of regulation. Barcelona is first but Real Madrid still has a game pending. The manager of Barcelona said after the game that he's quitting as coach by the end of the season. He's won 8 out 10 titles in the last two seasons and should add 1 or 2 this one.

So when's England next rugby game? ;)

hey buddy! did you see my throwbacks yet? and tell me what you think of the *possible* history making feat i discovered since you and i were both there when it happened ;P

No, I haven't gone far down the comments since I was busy at work, but now's my lunch break!

ok well hurry up then :D i just want a 2nd opinion on what i found out on their 200 chart run :P

Hi there, did you realize Stormzy was selling for only £5 in HMV? Very tactical on his record company's part and possibly the only reason he beat Rag'n'Bone Man?
Check out Jennifer Paige's New Single Devil's In The Details, you might like it.

Hi, your reviews are always interesting, did you see Take That's Giants nosedived 79 places from 13 to 92? Biggest drop of the week?

Finally someone talking sense. Charts are an absolute joke. Maybe I do come from an era when singles were singles and albums were albums, and buying a "sole track" off an album wasn't possible, but this chart proves that charts are worthless, and that Apple/MP3's killed that part of the music business. I use Spotify but if I really like an album I buy it, no way should a listen (which may be not even the whole track) be counted as a "sale" under any circumstances. It's like judging the best car based on how many people have test driven it...

Hey Wayne! Thanks for the comment. :)
I actually only noticed that a little while after I posted my review, but yeah, 79 places is an unusually large fall. It probably happened because 'Giants' debuted last week on pure sales & virtually no streaming. Excluding Christmas songs & the Prince songs in the weeks after his death last year, I actually can't remember the last time there was a fall as big as this on the Official Charts.

Interesting about 'Gang Signs & Prayer' being discounted to just £5. I agree that it was a good call from his record company, What do you think of Stormzy as an artist then? :)
Thanks for the recommendation. I just checked it out for the first time & while I don't love it, I would still listen to it if it cam on the radio. I'd give it a 6/10 for now.

I couldn't find any history-making feats that Def Leppard have made on the BB200, but would their two RIAA Diamond albums give them any unique achievements in the US then?

Regarding Take That, 'Giants' apparently fell 5-39 in the Sales Chart anyway. Unfortunately, the song has no streaming to begin with, hence why it barely stayed in the Top 100 in its second week. :/

You're welcome! Are either going to chart anywhere neat the Top 50 on the BB200 anytime soon then? :)
Yeah, 'Human' has never hit #1, yet has spent 11 weeks inside the Top 5.
England don't have any games this weekend, but they'll be playing against Scotland next Saturday & Ireland for the following week, then that'll be the end of the Six Nations Tournament for 2017!

and no video :(

You mean Rag'n'Bone Man's and Stormzy's albums? The former one will probably be within the Top 100 while the latter is not even in the Top 200 of iTunes.

Regarding the Rugby Tournament, who gets to be the Champion? Is it the nation winning the most matches? :)

actually its hard to say that chainsmokers are close to no1, when the difference in sales is over 80 000 copies...shape of you - over 144 000 and chainsmokers over 62000

How big is that drop by Take That!

Take That are 30 years old. I'm glad they're dropping and letting new artists get into the chart

Hi, thanks for your replies, I liked Stormzy with Ed Sheeran at the Brits but even at a fiver I wasn't tempted to buy his album, I did buy the deluxe version of Rag'n'Bone Man for full price, quality sells no matter what price.
Thanks for giving Jennifer Paige a listen, 6/10's a good start, she'll grow on you, she had a massive hit with Crush a few years ago and I Pledged towards the making of her new album which is outstanding, (biased much eh), the full video to Devil's in the details is on youtube now.

oh no, remember the beatles had 5 diamond albums when 'hysteria' was on the charts...but, only 3 uk groups have back to back diamond albums: the beatles, led zeppelin and def leppard. so, tech. not a unique feat, but it's still considered a rare and extraordinary feat.

Yeah, but I don't think a video could've saved it from dropping hard. Hopefully 'Wonderland' will chart well on the albums chart though.

That's good to hear about Rag'n'Bone Man! Sadly, 'Human' (the single) dropped out of the Bubbling Under Hot 100 already this week. I guess the rock elements in the song meant that it has very little airplay in the US.
I'm thinking of getting Rag'n'Bone Man's album, but probably not Stormzy's. It would make sense that the latter is not charting in the US though; to the exception of Tinie Tempah, no London rap act has come anywhere close to success on the Billboard charts.
Regarding the rugby, it's usually whoever wins the most games wins the tournament, but if there is a tie there, then the number of tries scored & the points difference in each game will be considered. :)

Oh yeah, I forgot that both versions are separately charting on iTunes, yet are combined on the Official Charts. Well hopefully The Chainsmokers will get 'closer' to their second #1 soon! ;)

79 places! Other than: album tracks, Christmas songs or in the weeks after artists have died, I can't remember the last time we had a fall this big.

I'm considering getting Rag'n'Bone Man's album soon, as I've heard it's very good! For now though, I've had Ed's latest album on repeat all day! LOL
You're welcome, I always appreciate recommendations. I saw that 'Crush' was released in 1998, which was the year I was born, so I don't remember too much of late 90s music. :P
What is your favourite song of Jennifer's then?

Speaking of the RIAA, 'Bad Blood' by Taylor Swift ft Kendrick Lamar just got 5x platinum, 'This Is How We Roll' by Florida Georgia Line is 4x platinum & 'Hamilton' is 3x platinum! :D

were there new certifications? when will they update the 1D single!?? ok mate, i'll check them out, talk to you later ;P

Yeah, but those were the three biggest ones. See you later or tomorrow then! :D

ok mate, i'll talk to you later :P

Yeah, sorry it had to be a short chat today, but I'm with family at the moment & I've got to travel back to University tonight. I'll definitely be on a few hours tomorrow though!
Alright, this is definitely my last comment for now. LOL
Have a good night! ;)

On Starflower, Jennifer's latest album, my favourite changes all the time but at the moment it's the title track, written for her Daughter, then Let me Love you and Forget me not.. No wait, Devil's in the Details...On the other hand if you mean from her career, there is a track on a previous album, Best Kept Secret, entitled The Calling which was released as a duet with French artist Laam and you should check that one out on youtube. Jen also released a xmas album which is stunning, (non biased as always).
There are some amazing singer/songwriters out there who are not given the opportunity to be heard by a mass market but would surely cross over given a chance...Terra Naomi, Nicole Atkins, Brandi Carlile, Duke Special, Clare Maguire, Horse McDonald, Tina Arena, Jewel, Simon Scardanelli to name but a few...

that's ok, sorry we missed each other, talk to you later :P

Yeah, Human fell in Rock Songs and is under Way Down We Go which already fell out of the Hot 100. Interestingly, it actually has more airplay that CotH, which BTW actually managed to climb into the Top 600 (I feel like crying for this travesty!).

Rag'n'Bone Man's does have quite a unique sound. Skin, from the bits I've heard from the songs seem to also be a good song. I'm not surprised you're not considering Stormzy. I'm not sure how I feel about his other songs from his album, but I can already tell I don't care for Mr. Skang. That said, I wonder if their any other bonafide U.K. rap acts other than Tinie Tempah and Stormzy.

Regarding rugby, I guess they do follow the round robin format. It seems fair. Otherwise, it would take a lot longer to end.

BTW, early HDD predictions mentioned that ÷ could get more than 400k equivalent units next week in the BB 200. ;)

So I'm guessing that Jennifer Paige is your favourite artist, right? ;)
I'll also try to check out all of those other artists that you mentioned. My favourite artist at the moment is probably Taylor Swift. What are your thoughts on her?

Hey, I'm back! :P
I'll be on for a bit longer today, but next week is going to be another busy one for me, so don't expect me on for very long over the next few days. :/
So did you hear any of the '÷' tracks I recommend then? ;)

I think of the eight songs from him that are inside the UK Top 40 right now, I said that: one is good, one is decent, four are meh & two are bad.
It looks like 'Human' hasn't been too appreciated by most of my favourite critics though, but I'll look into more of the album tracks before I make a decision whether or not to buy the album.
Oh there are many more UK rap acts than Tinie Tempah & Stormzy, but those are the only two that seem to do consistently well on the charts over here.
I'm pleased to hear about the early prediction for '÷'s first week total units in the US. Do you know how much of that is traditional album sales?
In the UK, '÷' sold more than 232k copies in its first day, which is more than 'x' was able to accumulate in its first week! :O

Seems like you have sensible plan for Human.

So I guess, rap on the whole is not a huge genre in the Singles chart. Checking last year's End of Year Singles, I see only One Dance (more R&B, tropical dance than actual rap), Work (same comments as for Once Dance), Too Good (more R&B than actual rap), Girls Like and Panda (arguably the only 100% rap song) in the Top 40.

I would think '÷' should be able to match or surpass what 4 Your Eyez Only did in the US during its first week. There hasn't been an update in HDD, but I'd guess more than 300k in pure sales is a sure bet.

That's a huge number for the UK. ;O What has been the biggest first week in copies sold in the UK? ;)

Yeah, 'Panda' & 'Black Beatles' were the only pure rap songs by US artists that charted well over here. However, like the Hot 100, the latter song was released too late in 2016 to make the UK Chart Of The Year.
Well I've already bought my copy of '÷' & I'm thinking of doing a review of it on next Sunday's BB200 article.
I think the biggest first week copies for an album in the UK is '25' by Adele, which sold just over 800k copies in its first seven days! ;)

Yeah, I figured out those were the biggest ones. Good thing B&B and Juju didn't get any traction.

You already had told me about your purchase. I already knew about 25 but was quite sure if I remember correctly. Which album would be the previous record? Could '÷' possibly get 500-600k in the UK in its first week? I read your other discussion and I see you seem to like it overall. ;)

Yeah, other than: 'Harlem Shake', 'Watch Me [Whip/Nae Nae]' & 'Black Beatles', I can't think of any other US memes that have become big in my country.
'Be Here Now' by Oasis would've had the previous record, selling 663,389 copies in its opening week.
Well Ed has posted official audios of all of the '÷' tracks on YouTube, so I'd recommend checking them out. Also, I do think '÷' is likely to have sold 500-600k copies in the UK by Friday! ;)

Good thing the UK is not affected as much by memes! I had forgotten about Oasis' album.

I'm listening to the '÷' audio tracks. I'm liking it a lot and think there a few potential hits that haven't been officially released yet. ;)

I'm pleased to hear that you like some of the '÷' tracks! :)
I replied to someone else on here saying this, but after two full listens, my favourite songs from the album so far are: 'Castle On The Hill', 'Galway Girl', 'Happier', 'What Do I Know?', 'How Would You Feel [Paean]' & 'Supermarket Flowers'. That last one I mentioned is so sad though. :(
My least favourite song is 'New Man' for now, but I would still give the album overall a strong 8/10. ;)
On another note, I can only seem to get Spotify updates up until last Tuesday. Are you having the same problem too?

I am quite pleasantly surprised! I hadn't heard a full Ed Sheeran album before, but I do like the wide range of styles. Also, I do quite agree with your faves. ;) I also agree that New Man is not that great and to that I would add Shape of You is probably that seems the ugly duckling, stylistically speaking of the album and is easily among the 5 weakest songs of the album. One that I can easily be see why it is in the Top 10 in iTunes is Perfect. I suspect that's probably the next song that officially gets released. I'm giving a 8.5/10 for now.

Regarding Spotify, you're not alone. But in kworb you can get the weekly US chart dated 3/2 to get around that issue. ;D I do hope they fix that issue soon.

Yeah, I especially love some of the folk influenced songs like 'Galway Girl' & 'Nancy Mulligan'. The latter is only available on the deluxe version of '÷'.
Regarding 'Shape Of You', I think it's definitely in the lower half of the album in terms of quality.
'Perfect' is probably the next 'Thinking Out Loud', so I agree that it's looking likely that it'll be the third single.
Thanks for telling me about the Spotify Chart on Kworb! ;)
So how long do you see '÷' staying atop the BB200 for then? Other than The Chainsmokers' debut album, 'Memories... Do Not Open', which is being released on April 7, I don't see anything that can stop Ed in the next couple of months. What other big album releases are there in the coming weeks?