Official Singles Chart Top 40 on 12/11/2006

Chart Reviews No. 1 - 12/11/2006

Hello, and welcome to the start of what will (hopefully) be a series of reviews of old charts from back in the day. I'm Alfie, and this is my first post, so I don't really know what to expect from this specific comment section, but I'm sure it will go down swimmingly. Honest.

To start with, I've chosen this week to review because this was my birth week, and given that I've just graduated from high school (and also because I couldn't get a Disqus account during the old days of the Chart website), I thought it would be a good idea to pick this chart apart, and guffaw at what people were buying back in the day.

This chart week was during, in my opinion, the best era of music. From around to 2001 to the back end of 2008, the charts always seem to be filled with at least 10 absolute BANGERS clogging up the bottom half (the chart toppers back then weren't as good as I thought they'd be). Now, I will only be reviewing the new entries on the chart, because that's a cool thing to do. If I kept talking about the current chart every week, I'm pretty sure Heat Waves would still be in the chart once I'd popped my clogs. Anyways, on with the chart.

There were 13 new entries in the Top 40, and numerous more below it (Paris Hilton and Gnarls Barkley must've had sleepless nights during THAT one), but nothing could really stop The Rose by Westlife from appearing at the top. Obviously, this is a Westlife song (from their Love album of covers no less), so slushy, unimaginative balladry it is. It's not THAT bad, but there's a reason why they haven't had any chart-toppers since. 3/10

The only other Top 10 entrant that week was Jump by Madonna, the fourth song taken from her year-old Confessions of a Dancefloor album, and easily the most forgettable. Not that it sucked or anything, but it would be a miracle if it appeared on Radio 2 ever again. 5/10

Two big download-only hits entered at 12 and 14, with Akon and Justin Timberlake both making big shouts for the top with Smack That and My Love respectively. Given they ended up peaking at 1 and 2 the next week, I think they were alright R'N'B tracks, even though this was during Eminem's "fake retirement" phase. Akon gets a 6/10, and so does Justin Trousersnake or whatever they called him back then.

Also invading the top 20 was a whole heap of second singles, This Is Not Real Love by George Michael and Mutya Buena (her out of the Sugabaes), taken from George's Twenty Five collection (forgettable 4/10), Shoot the Runner, the second song from Kasabian's album Empire (decent 7/10), and Infernal's attempts to follow up From Paris to Berlin, which didn't really work out the way they hoped. (In case you're wondering, Self Control gets a 5/10).

This chart was taken during the "chart as a download, climb way higher when physically realeased" era of the chart, which meant that 3 more download-only releases clattered their way in. Lovelight by Robbie Williams is a decent-enough pop number (given it was taken from his Rudebox album, is a bloomin' miracle. 7/10, by the way), Hurt by Christina Aguilera would later be ruined by numerous X Factor contestants (5/10), and Set The Fire To The Third Bar is one of the few Snow Patrol songs that doesn't make me want to lament (8/10).

As for the other three, well, Paul Weller marked the release of his Hit Parade collection (which charted at No. 7, Jamiroquai's greatest hits were at the top) with a song that wasn't even on that album, called Wild Blue Yonder (6/10), The Pigeon Detectives embraced the Top 40 for the first time with I Found Out (8/10), a song that followed the Cd-2 vinyl trick that all the other indie bands at this point were doing, and Taio Cruz got his first chart hit with I Just Wanna Know (6/10), which, although not doing enough to separate itself from the other Pop-R'N'B wannabes, set himself on a nice little road in the music industry, leading him to a No.1 in 2009 with Break Your Heart. Shame he hasn't had a hit in over a decade though. Wonder what happened.

Speaking of the album chart that week, it was an absolute mess (just like nowadays, eh?) with 7 new entries in the Top 10. Leading them all was Jamiroquai's Greatest Hits, giving them a 4th chart-topping album, whilst at No.2 was a six-piece opera group called Angelis, with their self-titled debut album. No, I've never heard of them either. Joining them in the "grandma's collection" stakes were Katherine Jenkins, Paul Weller (kind of), and Cliff Richard with his duets album he was doing at the time. Meanwhile, backing it up for the KIDZ were McFly, whose third album put an end to their 100% record, and Damien Rice, whose second album 9 fired it's way to No.4. No, I have nothing to add here. The singles chart this week also had new entries from Paris Hilton, Gnarls Barkley, AFI, Lucie Silvas, Fatboy Slim, Stone Sour, and Michelle Marsh (from Big Brother, in case you were wondering), whilst the album chart also contained The Magic Numbers, ABBA, Moby, The Charlatans, Joanna Newsom, 10CC, The Long Blondes, Julio Iglesias, Foster and Allen, JJ Cale & Eric Clapton, and We Are Scientists.

Anyways, that is the end of my first chart review. I hope you liked this chart analysis (if there is anyone is reading this), and expect there to be more over the coming weeks. Meanwhile, I'll sit here and whistle to myself, waiting for the CURRENT chart to show it's face. Besides, the modern music scene isn't that great, so I'm not looking forward to it. Anyways, goodbye!

(P.S. Usually when I start things, I completely forget about them after a month. This won't be like those other times, ok? Promise. :/)