In the UK, the Top 40 singles and albums charts always act as a great barometer, often highlighting some of the big global trends about to take hold.
2013 started with the first of a number of shock comebacks when David Bowie reached number six with his unannounced single Where Are We Now? In doing so, it gave him his highest charting tune since Absolute Beginners reached number two in 1986.
January also saw Ed Sheeran enjoying an American sleeper hit with his 2011 UK smash The A Team. Reaching the top 20 of the US Billboard Hot 100, it went on to achieve double platinum status, selling a whopping two million copies stateside.
The legendary Fleetwood Mac enjoyed a top 10 comeback on the UK albums chart in February when their classic 1977 set Rumours was re-issued.
However, the following month they also rocketed back into the top 20 of the singles chart for the first time in 25 years. You might remember the unlikely catalyst was the use of their 1988 hit Everywhere in a mobile phone network advert featuring a dancing Shetland pony!
Elsewhere, American duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis were dominating global charts with their super-catchy Thrift Shop which went on to sell over seven million copies in the US alone.
Hotly tipped British band Bastille lived up to high expectations by storming both the UK albums and singles charts. Their debut set Bad Blood shot straight to pole position in March, just one week after their single Pompeii charted at number two.
Rather more unexpectedly, Ant and Dec resurrected their 1994 hit Let’s Get Ready to Rhumble on their Saturday Night Takeaway TV show sparking an iTunes frenzy. Peaking at number nine on its original release, the track went all the way to the summit this time around.
The summer months were dominated by a couple of globally massive dance tunes both featuring Pharrell Williams - Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines. While Thicke scored the UK’s biggest selling single of 2013, Avicii’s Wake Me Up was the fastest seller, shifting 267,000 copies in its opening week.
Another dance superstar, Calvin Harris, set a new chart record when his album 18 Months became the first to deliver nine UK top ten hit singles.
Meanwhile, the chart feats for British artists kept on coming. September saw Arctic Monkeys become the first independently-released group to score five consecutive UK chart-topping albums when AM zoomed to the top spot.
In October, Paul McCartney became the first musician over 70 to register a top ten album in Japan with his 16th solo studio set appropriately titled New. And uber-popsters One Direction scored the fastest-selling album in Amazon UK’s 15 year history with Midnight Memories, which also became the UK’s biggest selling long player of 2013.
Finally, Robbie Williams made history in November when the Official Charts Company announced his latest offering, Swings Both Ways, as the UK’s 1000th number one album.
2013 started with the first of a number of shock comebacks when David Bowie reached number six with his unannounced single Where Are We Now? In doing so, it gave him his highest charting tune since Absolute Beginners reached number two in 1986.
January also saw Ed Sheeran enjoying an American sleeper hit with his 2011 UK smash The A Team. Reaching the top 20 of the US Billboard Hot 100, it went on to achieve double platinum status, selling a whopping two million copies stateside.
The legendary Fleetwood Mac enjoyed a top 10 comeback on the UK albums chart in February when their classic 1977 set Rumours was re-issued.
However, the following month they also rocketed back into the top 20 of the singles chart for the first time in 25 years. You might remember the unlikely catalyst was the use of their 1988 hit Everywhere in a mobile phone network advert featuring a dancing Shetland pony!
Elsewhere, American duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis were dominating global charts with their super-catchy Thrift Shop which went on to sell over seven million copies in the US alone.
Hotly tipped British band Bastille lived up to high expectations by storming both the UK albums and singles charts. Their debut set Bad Blood shot straight to pole position in March, just one week after their single Pompeii charted at number two.
Rather more unexpectedly, Ant and Dec resurrected their 1994 hit Let’s Get Ready to Rhumble on their Saturday Night Takeaway TV show sparking an iTunes frenzy. Peaking at number nine on its original release, the track went all the way to the summit this time around.
The summer months were dominated by a couple of globally massive dance tunes both featuring Pharrell Williams - Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines. While Thicke scored the UK’s biggest selling single of 2013, Avicii’s Wake Me Up was the fastest seller, shifting 267,000 copies in its opening week.
Another dance superstar, Calvin Harris, set a new chart record when his album 18 Months became the first to deliver nine UK top ten hit singles.
Meanwhile, the chart feats for British artists kept on coming. September saw Arctic Monkeys become the first independently-released group to score five consecutive UK chart-topping albums when AM zoomed to the top spot.
In October, Paul McCartney became the first musician over 70 to register a top ten album in Japan with his 16th solo studio set appropriately titled New. And uber-popsters One Direction scored the fastest-selling album in Amazon UK’s 15 year history with Midnight Memories, which also became the UK’s biggest selling long player of 2013.
Finally, Robbie Williams made history in November when the Official Charts Company announced his latest offering, Swings Both Ways, as the UK’s 1000th number one album.
