Some people wait a lifetime for.... Chartsengrafs

See what I did there?
Anyway, time to review the burning wreckage of the UK's singles charts. Well, really, the switch to allowing all downloads to chart at any time was a sensible and inevitable one, and within a couple of years will give us a perfectly good download based chart. Only problem is that while physical singles overall sell much worse than downloads, newly released big singles are still mostly sold on old fashioned CDs (or vinyl, or DVD, or... cassette? Perhaps not). This means that unless you follow the release dates very closely, lots of singles are going to start having big jumps for no apparent reason. At least last year's one week in advance rule made things easier to follow.



Sunday gone: Leona Lewis just about manages to hold off Eric Prydz (less than 100 copies in it, apparently) for a fourth week at number 1 with "A Moment Like This". At this point the only explanation I can come up with for such dreck still being foisted on X Factor winners is that Cowell and co. actually make more money by them having a massive first single and then a career that's over by June in order to better clear the way for next year's chump.
3 and 4 are new entries on downloads only, so pretty much readying themselves to fight for next week's number one are Mika and Just Jack, both highly placed in the BBC's early year survey of music biz types to find the next big thing. The former's song, you'll notice, all but announces him as Freddie Mercury redux, such is the conviction that this is all that we should want. "Too Little Too Late" surprisingly isn't for Jojo at 6.
The View's "Same Jeans" (previously a number one for Cornershop nine years ago) enters at 11 just ahead of full release, Freemasons get a 12 with the help of some actual CDs and Klaxons get a very early 16 for "Golden Skans", which is probably going to be rather big. It's worth mentioning at this point that my previous unimpressed stance on them has been overturned, not so much by this song as by belatedly seeing the fantastic video to "Magick". The response was something along the lines of 'oh, now I get what they're doing'. Amy Winehouse just about manages to get her new single ahead of "Rehab", at 18 to its 20. It's working out well, anyway, because her album hits the top of the (otherwise uninteresting) album chart for the first time.
"Chasing Cars" is back out of the top twenty again but still ahead of The Ordinary Boys' "I Luv U". I would like to say something about that one and it's video, but really, where the hell to start? The Automatic's rerelease of "Raoul" (hey, it's better than Lostprophets) gets to a measly 30, with the small consolation that it does at least place ahead of the six month old "Monster". Just. Evanescence are at 32, Jarvis is at 36, Jamie T at 40 (but sure to climb next time) and The Cooper Temple Clause are 41 and unlikely to ever see any higher again.
That's your lot for this week. Finished. Done.

Oh, alright then, the much reported big news of this week's chart is that of Koopa, who at 31 are the first unsinged act ever in the top 40. As long as we're ignoring, you know, Marillion, SimplyRed.com, Sway having managed the same thing a year ago, that type of thing. Which we are, since they didn't make it through revolutionary chart changes that reflect the changing ways in bla bla bla. This is their single, and they've, uh oh, decided to use it to make a statement about the music scene. Its chorus goes 'this is what real music sounds like'. Click at your own risk, because if I have to cover a more disheartening single this year I'll be kind of surprised.

Sunday coming: Mika is going to be number one, though his single isn't out til 29/01 so under previous rules he wouldn't even be allowed in yet. There'll be some more news stories about that, no doubt.
Just Jack just behind, followed by The View lining up to be this year's Kooks.
Other new or rising songs by:
JoJo
Ordinary Boys
Klaxons
Jamie T
The Good, The Bad And The Queen
Guillemots
Akon with Snoop Dogg
The Gossip