Welcome to James Masterton's Chart Watch UK – your essential weekly deep dive into the Official UK Charts!
As the longest-running British music column online, we bring you the ultimate guide to this week's Top 40, unraveling the stories behind the biggest new singles and chart-topping hits. Plus, explore our extensive archives, a treasure trove of nearly 1800 articles documenting three and a half decades of popular music history and expert analysis.
The moment, long planned-for, has arrived. No longer can we blissfully mention a 1953 single as the longest-running No.1 hit in chart history. A new recording has taken over that crown. Will things ever be the same again?
This is one of those "you may have to remember where you were" moments surely. The longest-standing of all long standing chart records has now been equalled. Is there anywhere else left to go?
The whole nation goes football mad - finally. Just in time for England's demise. But even the power of Oasis cannot shift the No.1 single as it heads inexorably towards another all-time record.
It is a week where records tumble every way you turn. Rein Me In is No.1 for the 16th week, something no single has done for 35 years. But that's just one of a string of longevity yardsticks it has hurdled. And Madonnna has a No.1 album for the first time since 2012. Who knew Gran still had it in her?
