...and party!
It would not have been unreasonable to assume that was that for Take That. Their last studio album Wonderland was released as far back as April 2017 and although their hits reimagined collection Odyssey and subsequent career-retrospective live tour was a huge success, it was not unreasonable to assume that this was the final exclamation point on their long and storied career. Reduced to a trio with the departure of Jason Orange, was there really much point in their carrying on?
But no, the demand is still there. While they may be long past the need or ability to land chart singles, as an albums act Take That are as viable as ever. Aided not a little by some well-placed promotional work, selling their latest collection as a Very Big Deal, the veteran boy band turned adult stars find themselves at the top of the charts just in time for the Christmas season as This Life charges its way to the top. It does so with a sale that is amongst the biggest of the year, 116,000 to be (in)exact - admittedly some way short of the 185,000 that Taylor Swift notched up four weeks ago but more than enough to surpass Lewis Capaldi's total from the spring to make it the fastest selling album by a British act this year. Yes, I know that's a statistic dreamed up in search of an accolade to give them, but Official Charts are trumpeting this so why not.
Perhaps illustrating just what the market they play to is, fully 97% of the sales of This Life are on physical formats. Compare that to the aforementioned Ms Swift who also had a large physical sale but still enjoyed over 45,000 sales coming via digital means. Take That sell, and sell in impressive numbers consistently. But as an act of the old school they are apparently just never streamed. Tell your mum (or perhaps your nan) to ask Alexa to stream them. Just to help a little.
The album is Take That's ninth No.1 album, the same tally as Bob Dylan, Kylie and Coldplay. Their collection of No.1 albums spans 30 years, consisting of Everything Changes (1993), Nobody Else (1995), Greatest Hits (1996), Beautiful World (2006), The Circus (2008), Progress (2010), III (2014) and Odyssey (2018).
J.A.C.K.A.G.A.I.N.
Over on the singles market the grip of the modern-day hits is slowly loosening, so thank goodness for Jack Harlow who for the moment remains top of the pile. Lovin On Me enjoys a third week at No.1 and has now turned up to get his Official Charts award which is nice of him.
Jack Harlow celebrates his Official Singles Chart Number 1 with a Number 1 Award from the Official Charts Company for Lovin On Me (credit: Official Charts)
No.2 this week is… not Prada just for a change. Noah Kahan instead advances to a new peak with the now decidedly untopical Stick Season. There is every chance he will re-emerge from the morass as one of the contenders to top the first meaningful singles chart of the new year, but for now his tale of autumnal wistfulness is destined to be swamped somewhat by vintage tales of winter celebration.
Humbug
Because yes, the festive fiesta is now well and truly in full effect, even though we still have over three weeks to go until the main event itself. Christmas songs are all that you hear in the shops, and on the radio if you listen to the wrong type of station, and in the ever-growing numbers that the vast majority are playing on the DSPs. An eternal but important reminder that the state of the singles chart at this time does not fully reflect the true picture of what is being played, due to the festive classics (with one notable exception) being on permanent ACR. Unadjusted for this we would this week be witnessing Last Christmas at No.1, All I Want For Christmas Is You at No.2 and ever more bizarrely Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree at No.4 (Jack Harlow still more than holding his own in third place). On the official chart the songs all park themselves slightly lower, but that still means the Wham classic is No.5, Mariah sodding Carey is No.6 with Brenda Lee lagging behind at No.14. That apparent disparity is, I suspect, due to the fact she has a greater proportion of freemium rather than paid streams which are further disadvantaged. Paid streams of Christmas songs from app subscriptions convert to sales at a ratio of 1:200. 'Free' ones (via Spotify's ad-funded tier or standard Amazon Music free playlists) require 1200 streams to equal one sale.
The one exception is the song which lands as the highest "new" entry of the week - Merry Christmas from Ed Sheeran and Elton John. It is a mere No.42 on the streaming chart but now belatedly re-debuts for its third annual outing at No.17. As a 2021 release it is still within the 36 month window in which it is considered a contemporary release and so not subject to the perma-ACR rules of most of its streaming bedmates. You will note that is why it only charts from apparently out of nowhere this week, having to enjoy enough of a streaming bump to un-relegate itself from the ACR status to which it slumped back in January. Merry Christmas seems inevitably set for another trip to the Top 3 and will inevitably do so once more for a final time in 2024. Next Christmas the track will finally celebrate its third birthday and find that its January 2025 ACR slump will be a permanent one.
Cheaper And Lousier
Prior speculation around just what will end up Christmas No.1 in the glorious absence of the Ladbaby menace had revolved around it being one of Mariah Carey or Wham or perhaps a release related to some other random charitable cause. But now there is a wild card. The sad death yesterday (Thursday 30th) of Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan means his own festive perennial has been thrown into renewed focus. 1987 release Fairytale Of New York is always among the biggest Christmas favourites anyway (and of course subject to the annual debate over the off-colour nature of its lyrics) but it has never truly been in contention to belatedly make it to the top of the charts before.
Peaking at No.2 upon first release (and creeping back into the Top 30 when re-issued in 1991) its chart runs in the streaming era have seen it reach No.5 in 2017, No.4 in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 before slumping to a rather lesser starred No.9 last year. But it now arguably becomes a more sentimental choice, a poignant tribute to the fact that both its performers are now deceased - Kirsty MacColl killed in a boating accident in December 2000. Fairytale Of New York was going to charge up the charts regardless this week, and indeed it rockets to No.18, but just as the modern-day love for Last Christmas is buoyed by memories of the late George Michael so too the sentimental attachment of Fairytale Of New York is only enhanced by the knowledge that Shane and Kirsty are shouting "slut" and "scumbag" at each other from beyond the grave.
TL:DR The Pogues could be up there as Xmas No.1 contenders as a tribute. Which is bad news for those who had pinned their hopes on Merry Xmas Everybody also being up there for its 50th anniversary.
The New(er) Girls
Meanwhile from the pile of Christmas songs actually recorded this century, Santa Tell Me From Ariana Grande is No.22, Underneath The Tree from Kelly Clarkson is No.27, Snowman from Sia is No.40. Lower down, One More Sleep by Leona Lewis is No.53. Our focus should however also be on the Amazon Originals which remain exclusive to that platform (I don't even have videos I can embed here) but that still doesn't stop You're Christmas To Me by Sam Ryder charging to No.23 and Stay Another Day from Jorja Smith accelerating to No.38. Ever since the shock charge of Ellie Goulding's River to No.1 on the last chart of 2019 Amazon have been slightly more circumspect as to where they place their seasonal exclusives in their own playlists. Still, the advance of Ryder and Smith only demonstrates the sheer force of numbers Alexa-powered speakers can command.
I can't sugar-coat this, we know how it goes down. This is just about it for the charts of 2023 reflecting the tastes of contemporary pop music fans. We now have another four weeks of the festive torrent swamping all with only the annual barminess of the Christmas chart itself (announced on December 22nd) to break the monotony. Already the questions on social media have started to come in:
Here’s an idea for a new chart rule. Do you think any uniquely Christmas song should be no more than 10 years old to chart in the official singles chart? It might incentivize more new christmas hits and reduce the Mariah/Wham duopoly. What you reckon @ChartUpdate?
— Martyn Young (@martynmyoung) December 1, 2023
For the record, here is my stance. As tedious as it is to see Wham and Mariah make their now annual pilgrimages to No.1 and as frustrating as it is to be a pop music fan who wants to see songs released four weeks rather than four decades ago in the Top 10, I'm unconvinced adding further levels of opacity to the already slightly too arcane chart rules is a direction anyone wants to go in. It may simply be best to accept the reality of the situation rather than attempt to engineer that away. Mind you, I said the same thing when Ed Sheeran did his Top 10 clean sweep in 2017 and within months steps had been taken to stop it ever happening again. The rules governing the Official Charts aren't made by the likes of you and I or even the people who publish them. Instead it is those who fund their compilation who hold the power. Only the music industry (as manifest in the Chart Supervisory Committee) can insist on change. Given Christmas is now an excuse to take December off the promotional trail and give artists and pluggers the rest of the month off once the Jingle Bell Ball is out of the way. Efforts can then be directed towards the previously dead period of January and the benefits that can be reaped. For that reason I'm unconvinced anyone has the motivation to even suggest a change. At least for now.
