Official Singles Chart on 7/12/2018

why susan boyle easily forgotten ? her "gift" was a massive seller

Chris Rea - Driving Home For Christmas.... on repeat now!

So the so called official charts can't even get the highest chart position right, do they know it's Christmas Band Aid, Mary's boy child Boney M, both got to No 1, and spent more weeks on the chart then shown, what other Xmas gems are missing there highest chart position, weeks on chart, if your gonna show it then get it right !

Wasn't expecting such a surge of Christmas songs again after the rules were supposedly changed but,you know what? I like seeing them in there,scattering away all the truly awful,forgettable 'songs' that spend waaaay too long in the top 40.

My thoughts & observations on the UK charts as always…

- ‘Thank U, Next’ by Ariana Grande is #1 on the singles chart for a fifth consecutive week. It’s set a new weekly streaming record, with a massive 14.9 million plays since last Friday! The previous record was held by ‘Shape Of You’ by Ed Sheeran with 14.2 million plays.

- ‘A Million Dreams’ by P!NK returns to #1 on the national airplay chart.

- Meanwhile, the official video to ‘Thank U, Next’ debuts straight in at #1 on YouTube, where 7.9 million streams of its total figure this week came from.

- DALTON HARRIS FT JAMES ARTHUR – THE POWER OF LOVE (#4)
So I watched the X Factor again this year, even if I can say that I wasn’t excited about this series as I have been previous ones. Now, I can say that Dalton Harris was a very deserving winner, even if I was really backing Scarlett to do it. I think the blend of Dalton’s soulful vocals & James’ raspier delivery are a cool & unique mix of their voices, even if I’m not connecting as much with their harmonies. Although, I’ll absolutely mention that the high notes they hit towards the end are just jaw-dropping, while I guess the X Factor producers did a fine enough job with that backing choir & the instrumentation. It doesn’t come on the same level as the Frankie Goes To Hollywood nor Gabrielle Aplin versions, but since Dalton didn’t even know this song existed until a week before he performed it, I’m still impressed with this! Solid 7/10 for this one.

- MARK RONSON FT MILEY CYRUS – NOTHING BREAKS LIKE A HEART (#10)
Man… this just adds to the proof that Mark Ronson is a generally awesome producer! I’d definitely expect those retro, soulful elements coming from him in this, but I was surprised how well his sound would mix with Jamie ’s style! As for Miley, I had mixed views on her pop era, but her turn towards a folk-country song (like on most of her last album) might not fit in with the mainstream as well, but that doesn’t matter because she can pull it off incredibly! The whole song just gives me ‘Jolene’ vibes & when you add her emotion to fit in with the literally heart-breaking lyrics alongside the groovy guitar, I think it’s not hard to understand why this a good sign as we wrap up 2018. For me, light 9/10!

- MEEK MILL FT DRAKE – GOING BAD (#17)
I could just copy & paste what I’ve said about almost every Drake song to chart in 2018 here, because while it’s not precisely bad, it’s certainly overrated & forgettable. Given how big the past year has been for Drake, you’d think he would actually think he cares about his feature here, but it sure doesn’t sound like it, even if his singing continues to be admittedly decent. At least Meek Mill is bringing some energy to his flexing here, but you’re put off after a while as none of the production elements stand out here. This might be one of the better Meek Mill songs in his discography (I’m surprised he hasn’t crossed over sooner) but it’s still nothing to get excited about. Light 5/10.

- 6IX9INE FT NICKI MINAJ & KANYE WEST – MAMA (#29)
I already said my piece on 6ix9ine last week, but since he’s somehow charting another song over here, let’s talk about it anyway. His delivery is boring & incredibly flat, which might be less insufferable than his screaming but still nothing close to good. The melodies are fuzzy & basic, while Kanye’s vocal layering does not fit in with the mix at all, leaving Nicki probably the best part of this song, even if her content is laughably ridiculous. I would say look up the lyrics in full, but you’d be wasting your time. Again, 3/10.

- On the albums chart, ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’ becomes The 1975’s third consecutive #1. The album debuts at the top spot with a total of 50,000 combined sales, with 8,266 of that figure coming from vinyl purchases.

- The rest of the Top 5 is: ‘The Greatest Showman: Soundtrack’ (3-2), ‘Love’ by Michael Buble (2-3), ‘Staying At Tamara’s’ by George Ezra (9-4) & ‘Odyssey’ by Take That (1-5).

- Looking ahead to next week, these songs could enter the Top 40 for the first time: ‘I Don’t Think About You’ by HRVY, ‘When You Kissed Him’ by Jake Quickenden, a couple of new Christmas songs, a couple of XXXTENTACION tracks & maybe even more.

- Thanks for reading everyone! I hope you all have a good weekend. :)

- My latest Crown Note chart: http://crownnote.com/charts/piran-delves/pirans-top-40-105