Official Singles Chart on 27/12/2019

Me too. Imagine there was Easter songs just for Easter.

Yeah that would be awesome

I can think of some Easter songs right now
1. Last Easter
2. Step Into Easter
3. Happy Easter Everyone
4. I Wish It Could Be Easter Everyday

5. Lonely This Easter
6. All I Want For Easter

7. Happy Easter Everybody

8. Do They Know It's Easter

Take a look at the data delibrately omitted from Mariah's total RIME - ACR didn't even stop her this year. The only thing that is official about the UK charts now is that they are officially a total sham.

Happy New Year to you to Dami...Kylie's Santa Baby is indeed a great Xmas song and should have charted higher this year and...the past years!! Have a wonderful day...

I know I’ve been complaining about ACR for a while, but I feel like this case is much more serious! :O

There is no way that ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ dominates YouTube all week (even on Boxing Day, with over 2 million views on Christmas Day alone), yet falls 5-19 on the overall YouTube chart!

I’m not sure if this is an error on YouTube’s or OCC’s end, but either way, it apparently has cost Mariah around 6,000 chart sales from these free streams alone according to Jay & Jonathan on the other article.

Now, given that ‘River’ had just over 78.1k chart sales for the week, while ‘All I Want For Christmas’ had around 74.2k (& ‘Last Christmas’ got about 73.1k), then this mistake essentially cost Mariah the #1 spot!

Like you, I won’t call this “chart rigging”, but I sincerely hope OCC will have a clear look into this issue, otherwise the validity of the top end of this chart would become very questionable...

Honestly, I've been following the video streaming chart for a while, and it seems a bit weird at times - there's a lot of songs that pop up only a week or two after their videos come out and obviously gain a ton of views (I recall 'Ransom' popping up on there only a while after it blew up); plus it's strikingly different from the official chart YouTube provides, and there's things missing, things higher up/lower than they should be - all this, but it's never really bothered me much, until this.

I'm willing to bet it's not only one mistake either - there's still a huge difference between her and Wham!, even when you add the Jukebox Heaven streams, so I'm thinking there could be other miscredited versions we can't see below the top 100? Mariah did release multiple new videos last week, and if the mistake was made once, it could have happened multiple other times...

Unfortunately, I don't think the OCC will look into this, although I sincerely hope they do! This feels like a very important overlook/mistake on their part - and, as you say, it genuinely could have cost Mariah a #1 spot - and if there's a mistake with the top position, even when following all of their arbitrary rules, then that takes away a lot of the chart's credibility.

This really does need addressing and I hope that OCC do some kind of investigation to ensure that the chart is correct or was correct in this instance. The chart's credibility is already questioned by many, even on here so it should be spot on all the time and any mistakes corrected at soonest possibility. Let's hope OCC put up an article about this real soon with what has happened and if anything has been effected.

Yeah, I've defended OCC on many occasions with their chart methodology, but I can't support their reasoning here! :/

Really, despite all the stats that we've all mentioned that could suggest a chart error, it's really just common sense that 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' wouldn't lose YouTube views in the tracking week that counted Christmas Day.

Sadly, I think OCC would lose a lot of respect from many chart followers if they didn't at least investigate this concern. They've already made a flaw with introducing ACR, as we've seen the 'Despacito'/'Wild Thoughts' issue from 2017 (the former being a clear #1 on both sales & streaming, but the latter being #1 on the overall chart).

Really Piran, this is the tip of the iceberg. It's a total and utter fix.

I also understand why you feel reluctant to call this chart rigging, but when requests are ignored, I see no other conclusion.

I've mostly been mostly supportive of ACR, apart from three major flaws with it: the first one being song resets, which are currently extremely messy and, for some reason, resets happen the week after a 25% increase (when it should be the week of the increase); the second one is the 3-year permanent ACR rule, it's always felt a bit random and, even if it is only made to prevent Christmas songs from completely overtaking the charts, as we can see here it does very little to help - plus, it blocks songs that should actually be on top of the charts from getting there.

But the third, and most important one, is that currently, songs are able to be knocked off the top spot, even when all stats show that they're supposed to be there. Messing with the rest of the chart is mostly fine, it's not ideal but it's a much better solution than letting old songs hover around forever - but messing with the #1 song is just wrong. As you pointed out, and it's not just one example, unfortunately, it's caused multiple songs to wrongfully get knocked off the top, replaced by others, who, maybe deserved to get there, but were clearly outclassed at the time by their competition.

I ranted about this a bit more earlier, but really, whether 'River' got to #1 by the force of excessive playlisting and Alexa spamming or not, it's a bit irrelevant right now, considering there's at least three songs ahead of it that should be higher up on the list, but aren't, because of an arbitrary rule preventing them. And even when those rules are followed, and Mariah clearly has a shot of going to the top, random mistakes cause debates like this. She may not even be close, even with the missing sales, or she may be blowing Ellie out of the water, who knows. This whole things just feels extremely mismanaged.

I'll certainly be very disappointed and reconsider following these charts if this is not properly addressed - the more I've thought about it, the more it's stuck out how big this actually is. It's not a big deal for me whether Mariah or Ellie claims the top spot, it's a huge deal however that the most popular song of the week is at that top spot.

I literally don't see anything positive to note about ACR! Sure, it does allow more interesting chart moves instead of stagnant Top 40's, but that's kind of killed by the fact by the charts haven't become about what are the most popular songs of the week anymore, but more bias against older songs!

Besides, if you're going to put a 25% increase rule on songs coming off ACR, it's only fair to do the same with songs that are over three years too, i.e. almost every Christmas song in the chart this week! :/

I won't give up following these charts since it means I get to chat to some awesome people & review a variety of new music, but yeah, I'm certainly going to be taking them with a pinch of salt from now on.

There are far more streaming services than just spotify and far more ways of consuming music to make the charts. Here is the official chart which takes into account all the ways that music is consumed. It's not like the days where iTunes rules the chart pretty much when downloads were ruling. Spotify is only 1 streaming platform, there are plenty of others: Amazon, Apple music, Deezer, Tidal... then there is YouTube which video streams count, then physical copies are making a comeback adding on and there are still people who purchase individual downloads they all add up to the chart.
As for Ellie, it was only available through Amazon music and later on youtube so until next xmas at least the river track will not be on spotify

The most obviously Christmas thing about is is surely the bells. It was originally put out as a Christmas singl for that reason - it is undeniably a Christmas single.

Hi James! :)

From what I remember, Radio 1 or OCC announce the highlights on NYE or the day before.

I’d expect the full Top 40 to be published within the next few days!

Thanks Piran 🙏

You’re welcome! :)

Have a Happy New Year!

Same for you :)

Have you asked Alexa yourself to play some xmas music? I have asked multiple times and not once has 'river' been the first song played it's pretty much been Mariah first everytime or wham or even band aid. If a song on a particular streaming service is doing well then there most certainly will be people choosing to listen to that track.

I don't personally have Alexa (Amazon doesn't operate in Bulgaria, unfortunately), but I've seen reports of people getting all the Amazon exclusives at far more frequent intervals than any other songs - whether they're to be believed, I don't know, but seeing the results here, it's very plausible.

The other thing is, I don't deny there's people who actively enjoy 'River' and are choosing to stream it - but that's certainly not the majority. Another Amazon exclusive which was heavily pushed by Amazon is John Legend's song, which is #9 this week. It actually comes from an entire Christmas album he did last year, which was available everywhere, bar this exclusive. So following that logic, if people are actively choosing this song and enjoying it so much that it went top 10, they're bound to have enjoyed the rest of that album, right?

The album didn't even go top 100. No even remotely big singles from it. It did nothing. Obviously, Ellie Goulding is a bit more relevant in the UK than John Legend, but it's still hard to believe that a lot of people are liking the song as much - a fact also confimed by its relatively low YouTube view count, as it's not even top 100 on the official YouTube chart (not the OCC one, as that one seems to have some issues right now).

I've actively listened to alexas xmas playlists numerous times over the festive period just to monitor this. Although both of these tracks have been played (albeit John Legend hasn't played until like after the 10th song) neither song gets played twice anytime you play them. Ellie pretty much on average would be about the 5th track played so I think the other xmas songs are getting a far greater boost or just the same if people make it to the 5th song on list.
I'm certainly no fan of cover versions by established artists but I am a great fan of music and believe the chart should be fair and just. I dont think it's quite right, right now but it is pretty hard to please everybody and can only get better in time. I just dont think your argument stands true here. John legends track is a cover version anyway so people will always listen and others will always recognise a cover version even if they dont realise it's a cover version. It will undoubtedly get listened to and become popular. It's nothing to do with his previous album, it's a seperate entity and as you say an Amazon exclusive

It's hard to define whether Amazon are spamming Ellie's song or not on my own, as I don't own an Amazon device - but monitoring what people have been reporting as their own experience, lots of them mention getting 'River' a lot. You say you don't however - everyone's mileage may vary, and any evidence of whether Amazon are prioritizing the song or not is entirely anecdotal anyways.

As it stands currently, however, the chart is hardly fair and just. Especially when the entire top 5 currently have gathered more sales over the course of the week than Ellie has, but are restricted from going any higher due to an arbitrary rule, causing their streams to be halved. I will agree that all Christmas songs get immense playlist support - which is where most of their streams come from - and Mariah and Wham are usually the top 2 songs on any Xmas playlist. Again, this is all part of the problem with playlists that I talked about in my original post, but in this case, 'River' just has the luxury of not being on ACR, so she goes to #1 by default - whether that's due to playlists and spamming or not, that's not fair and just, considering Mariah, Wham, and presumably The Pogues have far greater sale counts than her.

Also, regarding John Legend's Christmas album, most, if not all songs on that album are covers. He wouldn't have gotten a top 10 single had it not been an Amazon exclusive receiving a big playlist push - and 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)' is included onto his Christmas album on Amazon Music. (as also evident by the album cover being used for the single on the chart page)

It's a pretty big accusation to state that Amazon would be spamming any song. If that were the case then surely Katy Perry would have been hitting the top 10 at least last year? I think I would perhaps listen to people that you know personally and trust and have them check out the playlists on Amazon themselves and then if you find this to be true you can use this for your argument.
Would bode well for any artist to actually release a brand new song next year and then also have the luxury of not being on acr but alas am pretty sure there will be plenty of cover versions to not look forward to.
I dont think acr is fair but it is fairer in the way for new songs to enter the chart, hopefully it will evolve quickily so that the charts can be fair and just but not everyone will have the same opinion so whatever rules the OCC come up with there will always be some people who are not happy with them. Perhaps if acr was not in place next week you would be quite happy to have dance monkey back at no.1? It is undoubtedly getting played far more than stormzy right now but it cant be both ways.
As for John Legend if it is on his album on Amazon which I certainly wont bother to check as an album of covers is not for me it will not make any difference as it's only the single which has become popular purely because it is an Amazon exclusive but not just due to playlists created by Amazon.

Read my post on the new updates and look at danbarker 's Twitter account for the answer. It is not possible for the chart compiler to miss millions of video streams for a song that was number one all week on youtube (and the data is public and can be viewed). I wonder what going rate is to collude with Amazon for a number one - maybe someone on the staff of the Official Charts could enlighten us.

I have read your posts Andrew. I must say I will be expecting OCC to be doing an article on this as whatever has happened it is chart news whichever you look at it. Hopefully when they do they will clarify what has happened and any effects on the actual chart.
As for Amazon, not saying I'm right but I think I can safely say that all this conspiracy theory is just nonsense. I can understand people being frustrated or even annoyed with an Amazon track being no.1 but to call out that they are rigging the charts is a pretty big accusation against a huge company. Perhaps this is something else the OCC should look into as they are the watchdog at the end of the day in all of this and they shouldnt be biased in anyway to any streaming service, artist, record company etc.

Hi Rob

Yes you would expect an article but there is nothing. Not even an acknowledgement. I'll come back to that in a minute.

As for Amazon - the charts have been manipulated for years - by record companies, retail outlets - it's the nature of the business (I believe someone posted about God Save The Queen in here which was also controversial as it was claimed at the time that it was in fact number one but the data was altered for political reasons). Pre-EPOS days used to see record shops call in their figures - the Gallup Polls - and songs were ranked based on this (you may be aware of them). Regardless of whether Amazon have manipulated Ellie Goulding's "sales" figures for this week (it seems that there is general consensus here that these figures are not a true indication of its true popularity this week and several other songs should have been above it and bear in mind it seemed that even Amazon couldn't get anyone to actually buy it - 153 copies sold last week speaks for itself) and whether this is fair, corrupt etc, whether ACR is correct (it seems there is not one person on this board that thinks it is) is by the by here. The issue is the figures that have been unearthed.

A conspiracy theory is only that if there is no evidence. Once there is evidence, then it is no longer merely a theory - there is evidence of some sort of fix. Now, a mistake is a mistake (again we go back to Gallup in 1994). When a mistake is highlighted and then ignored and that mistake is not rectified and no explanation given, then it's time to say why? And quite rightly. The OCC say their chart compilation is "transparent". How many of us have seen the breakdowns (other than those who looked at this Mariah fan Twitter page) this week? Very few (but I imagine no one). They haven't been made available. Billboard on the other hand, writes its articles two days before the charts are posted and makes this information available for the songs/ablums in the Top 10. Indeed, a few years back it wasn't transparent (look at Lana Del Rey Billboard controversy) and they were chastised for it and duly updated the charts, correcting them.

When MariahUKUpdates saw the figures, they were suspicious due to:

1) a non-existent video standing at 13 on the video streams chart that was a tribute version of All I Want For Christmas Is You

and
2) the fact that All I Want For Christmas Is You fell from 5 to 19 in the video streams chart in Christmas week when a new video was released and it is number one on youtube with almost 5 million views for that one video alone. This also doesn't count the original video and the other two versions readily available which we all know are constantly streamed (and genuinely) in Christmas week.
and
3) the OCC published only 714,000 video streams for All I Want For Christmas Is You last week

Here you then have an abvious omission from the chart data. A mistake. Let's call it a mistake. That's fine. When this mistake is not addressed (and this would be a matter of priority for a company with integrity as it challenges their whole ethos and could damage the trust the public have in them) then the words "fix" and "rigged" are then banded about. It also suggests that the charts are "for sale" if we add the Amazon influence into the mix - but back to the video streams debacle.

Three days on and not a word. This isn't about "I like this song or I don't like that song" - there is no one on this board who has even approached this discussion in that way - it is about the integrity of the chart. It has been severely compromised and undermined, almost to a point of no return.

ACR has crippled Mariah's, Wham's, The Pogues' - all Christmas songs - chances of reaching the genuine chart peaks their popularity deserves and no doubt Amazon have manipualted Ellie Goulding's streaming numbers (sadly probably within "the rules" - in these "rules" Ed Sheeran can literally release a new duet version of Perfect every day and they all count as one song - which is absurd) but this is all one thing - fair or not - that's how it is. These video streaming omissions are a separate issue and if not addressed or discussed, ARE indicative of a massive fix in the charts. WIth these numbers counted, despite the influence of ACR, All I Want For Christmas Is You was the number one song in the UK last week and yet it has not been credited as being so. What does that do to the integrity of the charts? They have been irrelevant to most people for over a decade now. Most see them as a laughing stock. This is why.

The Spice Girls' "least successful" Christmas number one "Too Much" sold about 220,000 copies (it may have been 240,000 copies so forgive me if my memory serves me wrong) to reach the summit in 1997. This week actually was Christmas week. It's just the announcement of number one occurs after Christmas Day. Compared that to the paltry 153 downloads that were purchased for this week's "number one". The numbers, Mariah, Wham, the Pogues etc post yearly are deserving of high positions in the chart and all of them outsold "number one" several times over this week. The numbers from youtube that were posted by MariahUKupdates are consistent with the numbers from Spotify - they add up - this is a basic mathematical principle that proves the reliability of statistics. The increases in streams between 20th and 25th December are similar to the Spotify numbers, as is the decrease on Boxing Day. Consistency. Therefore, measurable and believable patterns.

OCC haven't taken the time to even respond to these genuine queries yet have posted this week's chart update. This shows the arrogance and contempt towards the numerous messages they have had which identify a genuine discrepancy. Might I add, it is not a small discrepancy - it is a colossal one. This then, at the very least, becomes corrupt and it certainly equates to rigging charts. It really is worth looking at the breakdowns for some time and going through them. Calculating the figures yourselves. Then it is abundantly clear what is going on.

Apologies for the long post - I hope you are still with me. I really can't add anything else, other than at this current moment in time, the OCC are a disgrace and this week's chart is a total fallacy.

All the best,

Andrew

P.S. We should all demand answers - and convincing ones - not just some made up statistic or "you don't understand as you don't understand the rules". We do - remember - they speak of "transparency" and no complicated mathematical equations are deemed necessary - this is written on their own website.

Hi Andrew, I feel your anger here. I have agreed with you that OCC should do something or at least provide an article to clear things up on what has happened in regards to the video views.
I'm not going to change my mind on Amazon, I think this conspiracy is a bit way too over the top. Perhaps the OCC should make the actual figures available from all music providers.
As for the actual sales of the 'river' track, why would anybody who can listen to the track as many times as they wish also purchase a copy of the track? It's not like it was lad baby's track where money goes to charity. It's not available to purchase outside of Amazon. I think the few people who actually purchased the track most likely made a mistake or didnt realise what they had actually done.
I hope for all our sakes that OCC do something soon so that all this debating can end and we can know what has actually happened here.

I agree wiht you with Amazon but I still think that whole practice is dodgy and not in good faith (at the very least). Well, in their own words - they are transparent. Hmmm as transparent as a brick wall...

haha agreed re the sales. Your sentence about the mistake made me laugh! Well, maybe they all had a month's free trial of Amazon Prime!!!! We had one over Christmas (I didn't listen to Ellie Goulding though, nor purchase i though, just watched my useless football team on it twice and got a few presents delivered very quickly!).

Yes - have been looking at the video stream numbers...I think the discrepancy is more than enough for the top spot to switch hands...

There are many, many questions, which I'm trying to apply logic to...

The Pistols thing has shown since to have been almost certainly untrue - Rod Stewart was outselling it by a long way - even Malcolm McLaren always admitted that.

Yeah. You would think that the Christmas songs would start calming down!

Incredibly not! 'Three Lions' fell from 1-97 last summer.

That's okay mate! I just replied to you in another comment about it. :)

Let's Hope So.
She was #1 in the Netherlands:
https://dutchcharts.nl/weekchart.asp?cat=s&date=20191228&year=2019

And Chris Rea went to number 1 in the Dutch Airplay chart, I am so happy!
https://dutchcharts.nl/weekchart.asp?cat=sa&date=20191228&year=2019

Probably not as retro songs are being dropped from the charts at some point next year

Really enjoyed it, thank you for another great recommendation Piran!

You're welcome Sergej! :)

Hope your Christmas Day was good.

Christmas Day was really great and also got great presents!
Hope your Christmas Day was good as well!

That's awesome! Yeah, I had an amazing Christmas Day thanks. :)

What kind of presents did you get?

As for your reply to me regarding 'Nu Shoes' by Wes Period...

I definitely see the comparison to Kendrick Lamar, except pitched up a little bit!

The production is so awesome though, especially the groovy guitars! :)

I do feel like the hook could get old fast though, but other than that, it's mostly a lot of fun.

New earspeakers, a soundcard and of course money.

Thank you for your comments, the production really makes this song amazing and the hook is catchy, the song is mostly a lot of fun.
I think I should do more tunes of the week!

You're welcome! I'm not sure if it'll debut for me just yet though.

The best song you've recommended in 2019 is easily 'Mambo Salentino', which was very nearly a Top 10 hit for me! ;)

Ah nice, I got mostly money too, but I also got some useful equipment for work & a mug with my graduation photo on it! :)

So actually not a lot has changed since last month besides 'Adore You' probably being a Top 10 hit if it weren't for Christmas! It's amazing to think 'Vossi Bop' could've returned to the Top 10 given that it first debuted back in the summer!

Also, 'Someone You Loved' could be in the Top 20 again next week despite charting for about a year now... that's incredible! :O

Didnt help??? R u kidding .. İt is #1 in US for 2 weeks

RectorRocks is writing on the website of the UK's Official Charts Company, about the UK chart, so it's blatently obvious that they mean it didn't help her in the UK in terms of her UK chart performance this year.

Yes exactly, thank you

What didn't help was the charts being rigged - she was number one and MariahUKupdates have uncovered the scandal on Twitter - look it up.

What happened to her uk performance? Even #2 is great result

I do have a list of number ones that currently aren't available on Spotify, doesn't mean they NEVER were on Spotify though. https://pastebin.com/FSYKMyPk
when it comes to iTunes, I don't think Sam & Mark's single was ever on there. Spotify though, yeah I think this is a first!

Thank you for this Spinny! :)

Ah okay, so it's been over seven years that a song not available on Spotify went to #1!

I know streaming wasn't even counted as a chart factor until 2014 anyway though.

If this week has taught us anything, it's that we should never underestimate the power of Amazon Music!

I have been trying to get this point across for a while. With Wham being no.1 on Amazon for most of the week yet spotify and apple music having stormzy but wham have the biggest streams in a week ever really does show how big Amazon is.

Yeah, I'm sure YouTube is literally the only other place where 'River' is available, so almost 100% of its chart sales came from Amazon alone! :O

Just looked on Spotify and Dremweavers are on there. Anything from the 50s is out of copyright so there'd have to be a very good reason for any 50s hit to be left off streaming services.

Also The Stonk was technically a double A-Side with Victoria Wood's The Smile Song, which also isn't available on Spotify, so should also be on the list.

It is also the first number one to sell as little as 153 copies in one week and the first 100% fixed number one.

I would say far more people use Amazon than spotify so not sure how that surprises you? I would also say the majority of Amazon listeners wont listen to the most popular tracks like the spotify subscribers do but as soon as xmas comes around then pretty much all Amazon music subscribers will be listening to xmas songs

It's surprising because it isn't. The charts were rigged and this website still refuses to acknowledge the evidence that has been presented.

Hi Piran!
Never thought that Ms. Goulding would get a third #1 with "River", yet here we are.
"All I Want For Christmas Is You" didn't reach #1 again, what a shame. But hey at least it reached #1 in the US and now also in Germany (In fact in Germany, there are 51 Christmas songs in the chart, insane!).
As for the debuts, I have nothing to say, all 3 are christmas classics.
Can't wait for the next week!

Hey Sergej! :)

Yeah, she was dominating the midweek update, but I honestly thought 'Own It' would pull ahead on streaming. I'd be very surprised if Stormzy didn't get there next week though, although I already said that coming into this week, haha.

It's amazing to see 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' go to #1 internationally for the first time ever in so many countries though. Like I said, only the UK chart rules are preventing it from doing the same over here at the moment!

Next week will be absolutely insane, since at least 29 songs will either be entering or returning to the Top 40 for the first time ever.

58 in Top 100 actually

Germany would have probably had more if free streams aren't completely excluded from the charts

Yeah, there's a debate about one or two as to whether or not they're linked to Christmas.

Anyway, that's still one more than last year! :D

Makes me wonder whether replacing the ACR rule with not including FREE streams AT ALL would be a fairer system as free listening never used to count. When I played a 7" single on my record player - that was never counted... obviously.

Definitely broken another record this year, if you include Taylor Swift's Christmas Tree Farm from a few weeks ago then a total of 50 festive songs entered the Top 75 this year compared to 39 last year.
Shame Mariah or Wham didn't hit No.1. Nice to see Shaky at No.6 his highest since 1985 and Elton at No.8, perhaps Gavin & Stacey gave that a push when Smithy called at Gav's … excellent!

'Christmas Tree Farm' is an interesting case, since it peaked two weeks ago when it first came out rather than the week that counted Christmas itself!

Being a Swiftie from the start, I hope it can at least re-enter at some point next December. :)

Yeah that'll be very very nice. Although, free streams do bring in a small amount of revenue so maybe that's why they don't want to exclude them.

Have a happy New Year Piran !!! pS. According to my counting we have 30 Xmas songs within the UK Top 40 Singles Chart unless you don't count "Stay Another Day" by East 17...

Thanks Ireneusz! You too. :)

Yeah, 'Stay Another Day' is an awkward one, since the lyrics aren't associated with Christmas, but many people would only listen to it at this time of year!

It's because she didn't Sergej, so you were right to think that. Have a look at my comment on this week's new midweeks. The Official Charts are a disgrace and they need the authorisation to compile the charts taken away from them. What has been uncovered last week is nothing short of scandalous.

If you were playing a 7" single on your record player then you had already purchased the single (assuming you didn't used to rob Woolies or something?) and been counted as a whole sale in the week of your purchase. That is to say you had (if you translate it to the modern chart methodology) already pre-paid for 100 premium plays. I doubt when you bought a single in the old days you played it 100 times during it's chart currency (with perhaps rare exceptions that you were fanatical about), also I doubt that even if you did play it 100 times they were all in the sales week of purchase, so when compared to the current metric a sales only chart was heavily front-loading singles and probably over-inflating many singles that sold but then didn't really get played much. Singles now get their 'sales' plays stretched over many more weeks for small and medium hits now, instead of someone purchasing it and registering all their future plays as one sale in the week they bought it.

I've gotta say in all the days of buying singles I probably only ever played one single 100s of times and actually wore it out to a point of crackling so badly you could hardly hear the words, it was Queen's I want to break free. Nowadays I use iTunes and even then the most played track since 2009 has only been played 153 times.

Piran - to reach number one Mariah and/or Wham! would have to rig the charts, which is what was done this week. Look at my post on this week's charts and see what went on last week. It's appalling and still this lot have not replied to any of the messages that have been sent. The facts speka for themselves.