Dave v Aitch Part III
Well, that was quite tense in the end, and perhaps a far closer battle than anyone could have anticipated. The Sunday evening First Look chart suggested that a changing of the guard was on the cards at the top of the charts, with Aitch's Baby holding a narrow (a few hundred copies) lead over Dave with Starlight. But on Monday the places were reversed, again with just a few hundred sales separating the two men. As the week mowed on however Dave's lead crept up, and the end result is that he remains No.1 by a relatively thin margin for the fourth week in a row.
Official Charts have decided to anoint this as the longest-running solo British rap No.1 hit in chart history, which is indeed the case. As we've noted from the start however, this is for now only enough to draw level with Dizzee Rascal, Calvin Harris and Chrome's Dance Wiv Me as the biggest British rap hit of all time. At least until next week's chart battle.
The status quo at the top is reflected in the whole of the Top 5 for the second week running. Aitch and Ashanti are trapped at No.2 for the third week while the quite epic chart run of Fireboy DML's Peru continues apace. Now 14 weeks into its current chart run, the track is Top 3 for the tenth week in succession which has to be close to a record for a single that hasn't at any time topped the chart.
The jockeying for position at the lower end of the Top 10 continues. Mimi Webb's House On Fire dives out for the second time leaving room for Camila Cabello and Ed Sheeran to climb six places to No.10 with Bam Bam. It is thus Cabello's first Top 10 hit single since South Of The Border on which she, not entirely coincidentally, duetted with Ed Sheeran, that single hitting No.4 in late 2019. Meanwhile Ed Sheeran increases his career tally of Top 10 hits to 37, lifting him above Kylie Minogue to take undisputed ninth place on the all-time list. Next in his sights is Eminem with 38 to his name to date.
Only one available place in the Top 10 means disappointment once more for Tiesto and Ava Max with The Motto which can only rise to No.12. And last week's No.12 single Anyone For You by George Ezra goes into reverse for a second time and dips to No.14. He needs a miracle now to reach the Top 10 surely (although an appearance on this week's Saturday Night Takeaway probably won't hurt).
Gold Forever
Tributes flooded in this week for Tom Parker of The Wanted who finally succumbed to the brain tumour he had been battling for the past two years. It all but passed under the radar that there's a current hit remake of one of his most famous performances, but that still makes the presence of Liilz and Ziezie's Glad You Came in the Top 20 all the more poignant. Their single rises to a new peak of No.15 this week.
It is a good week to be Tate McRae. She's All I Wanna Be makes good on its weeks of promise and finally breaks into the Top 20 with a rise to No.16. It is joined by another teaser single as Chaotic gives her the highest brand new entry of the week down at No.36. Both tracks are taken from the Canadian star's debut full-length album I Used To Think I Could Fly, presently scheduled for release at the end of May.
Still Around In The Middle Of June (Possibly)
Glass Animals continue to make headlines overseas, most notably in America where Heat Waves is now the longest-running Hot 100 No.1 single by a British group since Wannabe by The Spice Girls fully 25 years ago. As if in sympathy for the new-found attention the veteran single has been steadily creeping back up the rankings here and is now back in the Top 20 once more as it rises three places to No.20. The single of course remains on ACR meaning that position is artificially depressed. The track is No.6 on the unfiltered streaming chart, to give you a true picture of its overall popularity, and with an official chart sale of somewhere north of 14,000 (Music Week hasn't divulged the exact figure) this would translate to a place around 7 or 8 were the ACR situation to be reversed.
Would there be grounds to reset it once more? The track has already had two extended chart runs at SCR level, one more than most singles get the privilege of having. Once on its initial chart run in spring last year when it peaked at No.19 and then on its comeback in October when it was indeed reset and peaked at No.5. Heat Waves is behaving like no single has done since the introduction of the ACR rules in 2017, opening up a new face on the eternal debate. ACR is meant to help more tired hits move out of the way for newer material. But what happens when a track mounts not one but two slow-burning comebacks?
This Week's New Guys
Tate may have the highest brand new hit but the highest new entry on the Top 40 technically goes to Gangsteritus from Potter Payper and Tiggs Da Author which arrived at No.56 last week and now sparks dramatically into life at No.23. That makes it Mr Payper's first Top 40 single after five previous efforts fell short, eclipsing 2020's No.41 hit 2020 Vision Freestyle as his biggest chart hit to date.
Also new to the Top 40 after a rather longer stint in the lower reaches is the euphoric Melody by Sigala which after fully nine weeks out of sight finally rises to No.34. The producer's 17th Top 40 single it is unusually only his second to be credited to the star alone with nary a guest singer in sight. His debut Easy Love was a solo credit as its only vocals were a Jackson 5 sample, but this time around Melody simply omits to credit the female vocalist on the track. That's perhaps a surprise, she is in fact Norwegian singer and songwriter Ida Martinsen Botten who is on the "name to watch pile" following several years as a pop songwriter, her most notable previous composition being previous Sigala hit Heaven On My Mind..
The final new arrival of the week is Bailing, performed by Drum N Bass outfit Vibe Chemistry and which actually debuted on their TikTok channel as far back as last July. Granted a proper release it debuts at No.37.
Michael Buble tops the Official UK Albums chart with Higher, bringing to an end an impressive run of No.1 albums by British acts, although this chart race too was decided by the narrowest of margins, just 210 sales separating him from Machine Gun Kelly in second place. Perhaps the most notable and poignant move on the chart though is the 76-5 leap made by The Foo Fighters' Greatest Hits, propelled by the outpouring of love for drummer Taylor Hawkins. The group make the singles chart too, 1997 Top 20 hit Everlong sneaks in at No.68.
