Barely two weeks into 2013 and we already have an unexpected chart return in the shape of David Bowie. His new single Where Are We Now? smashed in at number six on the Official UK Singles Chart yesterday, giving Bowie his highest charting single since Absolute Beginners reached number two in 1986.
Meanwhile reliable Scotsman Calvin Harris is keeping the hits coming. His album 18 Months has produced a seventh top ten single with Tinie Tempah collaboration Drinking From The Bottle. Harris has now equalled Michael Jackson’s record for the most top ten singles from one album. And which Jacko album shares that feat? That would be 1991’s Dangerous which included the juggernaut Black or White.
Meanwhile, The X Factor winner James Arthur was knocked off the top spot. His massive single Impossible took just over four weeks to reach the million sales mark but has now been overthrown by the power pairing of Will.i.am and Britney Spears.
Their track Scream & Shout has given Britney her 22nd UK top ten hit and sixth British number one. Her last spell at the summit was with Everytime back in 2004 while Will.i.am registered his last chart-topping appearance more recently on The Script’s Hall of Fame last year.
Over on the US Billboard Hot 100, Bruno Mars secures a fifth week at number one with Locked Out of Heaven, while Ed Sheeran is enjoying a sleeper hit with The A Team. The single, a UK number three hit in 2011, is now inside the US top 20 having reached the million sales mark.
Interestingly the UK and US charts mirrored each other last year in terms of their three biggest selling singles. Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know was the transatlantic champion with Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe runner-up and Fun’s We Are Young placing third.
Finally, the Official Charts Company has confirmed three more singles as UK million sellers. Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe, The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York and Cheryl Cole’s 2009 smash Fight for This Love all recently reached the magic milestone.
Words: Russell Iliffe, PRS for Music
Meanwhile reliable Scotsman Calvin Harris is keeping the hits coming. His album 18 Months has produced a seventh top ten single with Tinie Tempah collaboration Drinking From The Bottle. Harris has now equalled Michael Jackson’s record for the most top ten singles from one album. And which Jacko album shares that feat? That would be 1991’s Dangerous which included the juggernaut Black or White.
Meanwhile, The X Factor winner James Arthur was knocked off the top spot. His massive single Impossible took just over four weeks to reach the million sales mark but has now been overthrown by the power pairing of Will.i.am and Britney Spears.
Their track Scream & Shout has given Britney her 22nd UK top ten hit and sixth British number one. Her last spell at the summit was with Everytime back in 2004 while Will.i.am registered his last chart-topping appearance more recently on The Script’s Hall of Fame last year.
Over on the US Billboard Hot 100, Bruno Mars secures a fifth week at number one with Locked Out of Heaven, while Ed Sheeran is enjoying a sleeper hit with The A Team. The single, a UK number three hit in 2011, is now inside the US top 20 having reached the million sales mark.
Interestingly the UK and US charts mirrored each other last year in terms of their three biggest selling singles. Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know was the transatlantic champion with Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe runner-up and Fun’s We Are Young placing third.
Finally, the Official Charts Company has confirmed three more singles as UK million sellers. Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe, The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York and Cheryl Cole’s 2009 smash Fight for This Love all recently reached the magic milestone.
Words: Russell Iliffe, PRS for Music
