Hot 100 Chart Moves:

I had picked up on Lewis Capaldi doing bits of little promo around, but I hadn't realised he was back with new material. Forget Me, which comes with a video parodying Club Tropicana, went straight in at #1 in the UK this week.

Adric wrote:Taylor Swift has claimed the entire Top 10 on the US charts this week. Billboard likes to claim this as victory over The Beatles .... apples and oranges. I believe this happened with Ed Sheeran in the UK a few years back. I suspect most or all of Taylor's new songs will be short lived as we mentally prepare for another month of Christmas tunes. The joys of streaming.

Ed made it 9 out of 10, after which the rule came in for a maximum of 3 entries per artist (though I suspect this doesn't stretch to when they're credited on someone else's record). 5 would be better in the heat of a new release, but an unlimited number shows what a farce it is. She had 3 of the top 4 here last week.

The Beatles' record wasn't entirely spotless, but more than this is.

Taylor Swift's astonishing 6 week run atop the UK chart has ended because it's bloody Christmas again. Mariah Carey returns to the top after her similar 2020 triumph. Will she cling on another fortnight? Probably not.

misery guts wrote: Mariah Carey returns to the top after her similar 2020 triumph. Will she cling on another fortnight? Probably not.

Surprisingly, I was right - Wham! knocked her off this week.

LadBaby's annual effort, this time a redo of the 1984 classic "Do They Know It's Christmas?", dubbed Food Aid, is likely to take the all-important Christmas top spot next week. It says something that in 38 years we've gone from making charity records to feed the starving in Ethiopia, to trying to feed the starving in the U.K. instead. Bob Geldof and Midge Ure have both given it their blessing.

misery guts wrote:
LadBaby's annual effort, this time a redo of the 1984 classic "Do They Know It's Christmas?", dubbed Food Aid, is likely to take the all-important Christmas top spot next week. It says something that in 38 years we've gone from making charity records to feed the starving in Ethiopia, to trying to feed the starving in the U.K. instead. Bob Geldof and Midge Ure have both given it their blessing.

They did indeed manage it, for a 5th Christmas #1, now the most of any artist (Cliff Richard has 4, IIRC).

Besides that, some other new entries in the top 10 had the knock-on effect that most Christmas songs actually went down, with one or two exceptions like Lizzo, which was at least new this year.

misery guts wrote:
Besides that, some other new entries in the top 10 had the knock-on effect that most Christmas songs actually went down, with one or two exceptions like Lizzo, which was at least new this year.

Well, I spoke far too soon, as most Christmas songs went back up again this week, even though it's almost the start of a new year. How many more years before people cotton on to what lunacy this all is? Brenda bloody Lee, Bobby Helms and Andy Williams all in the top 10... beam me up, Scotty, there's no intelligent life down here 

Business returned to normal with 35 tracks dropping out of last week's top 40, and at least a handful of newies dredged in instead.

Raye leapt from 13 to 1 for her first chart-topper (also for 070 Shake, her under-heralded collaborators), with the news angle being about how her record company dropped her and wouldn't release her album. Tracks like this don't seem to alter the basic premise that she only succeeds on dance collaborations, though.

The lengthy Harris/Goulding run atop the UK chart ended (or was just interrupted) by the return of rapper Dave, whose current project involves him working with another rapper, Central Cee. Their top track "Sprinter" apparently achieved the best 1st-week streams/sales since Adele's Easy on Me back in 2021.

A revealing fuss in the UK this week, as Kylie Minogue gets a first top 10 hit since 2010, meaning she's had top 10 singles in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s (only just in the latter two instances).

J Hus achieving a career best of #2 (albeit with Drake's help) gets less notice.

misery guts wrote:The lengthy Harris/Goulding run atop the UK chart ended (or was just interrupted) by the return of rapper Dave, whose current project involves him working with another rapper, Central Cee. Their top track "Sprinter" apparently achieved the best 1st-week streams/sales since Adele's Easy on Me back in 2021.

Sprinter went on to last over 2 months to become the longest UK rap #1 of all time, but abruptly dropped to #10 last week, allowing most of the rest of the top 10 to nudge upwards, meaning Billie Eilish's Barbie soundtrack effort became her 2nd UK #1 single.

Dua Lipa swapped with Billie after that, but she too saw a surprise big drop, from #1 to #15 this week, allowing Olivia Rodrigo's comeback hit to squeak up to the top. I suspect the surprising impetus of Doja Cat's current Walk On By-sampling monster might see it cross that final threshold next week.

After a run of single-week UK #1's, Doja Cat held on this week, despite the push from Olivia Rodrigo, whose album Guts did go to #1. Doja's album is out next week, I think.

Doja's run ran out of juice, dropping from the top 10, so Kenya Grace moved up to the top for her debut chart-topper with her debut single.

After a gimmicky couple of weeks, Jack Harlow edged out Dua Lipa to score his first UK #1 single, which is apparently a big hit on "young person's social media", Tiktok.

Harlow held on for 3 weeks, which is more impressive than I expected.

Sadly, Christmas-mania is in full effect now, and for the next few weeks. Wham! returned to the top of the UK charts, and Shane McGowan's death only got his song up to #4.

But I see the US has Brenda Lee at #1, so as with many things, maybe we should be grateful here as things could be much worse

Wham! held on to get the Christmas #1 for the first time, holding off new material from Sam Ryder (Cher and Jorja Smith both made the top 20). No LadBaby this year.

37 tracks dropped out of the UK top 40 in the post-Christmas rush, leading to Noah Kahan finally getting to be #1 at last.

Ariana Grande back in the UK this week, straight in at #2 with "Yes, And?" She seems to have aged a bit for once.

Kanye West's new album project, with Ty Dolla $ign, entered the UK album chart at #2, with three singles also cracking the top 20. However, one of the two new Beyonce tracks crashed in at #9 (the other scraped into the top 50).

misery guts wrote:However, one of the two new Beyonce tracks crashed in at #9 (the other scraped into the top 50).

THE rose to become her 5th UK #1 single, but first since If I Were A Boy back in 2008.

Ariana Grande's comeback album, Eternal Sunshine, went straight to #1, causing another single to enter at #3, but Beyonce remains #1 for a 4th week.

After Beyonce rebounded to #1 in the UK singles chart last week, as her album also went to #1 after release, this week Hozier scores a 1st ever UK #1 single, somehow, with Too Sweet.