Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! Here's the playlist from last night's show :

Pulled Apart By Horses - I Punched a Lion In the Throat
Naked & Famous - Young Blood (Passive Me, Aggressive You)

M - Pop Muzik
Beth Ditto ft. Simian Mobile Disco - I Wrote the Book

Glasvegas - Euphoria Take My Hand
PJ Harvey - The Words That Maketh Murder (Let England Shake)

King Crimson - Matte Kudesai (Discipline)
Pink Floyd - Stay (Obscured By Clouds)

The Fab Four Freakout : 

Wings - Beware My Love (Wings At the Speed Of Sound)
Beatles - Boys (Please Please Me)
Beatles - Good Day Sunshine (Revolver)

Streets - Puzzled By People (Computers and Blues)

Gary Moore - Parisienne Walkways (live)

James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream (James Blake)
Robyn - Dancing On My Own (live acoustic)

Correcaminos - Incienso Y Menta

...and this week's top 5 songs in the UK : 

5). Adele - Rollling In the Deep (-1)
4). Bruno Mars - Grenade (-2)
3). Lady Gaga - Born This Way (new)
2). Chipmunk ft. Chris Brown - Champion (new)
1). Jessie J ft. B.o.B - Price Tag

TOP 5 ANALYSIS and REVIEW

It was a top 5 full of surprises this week, as the midweek predictors had no idea what would happen. With the Lady releasing her new track on Friday, and Chipmunk predicted to make the number one spot, the actual falling-out of the tunes was a mystery until it happened. 

There's something to be said for that. It made the chart a lot more interesting this week. Of course, since I play the top 5 on my radio show, I wouldn't want this to become a habit. My show is at 6:00 p.m. USA East Coast time, and the chart in the UK is revealed by 2:00 p.m. That gives me four hours to finish putting the show together (well, less, really, if you include things like travel time). I have to make sure I have the tracks, set them up, burn the discs, complete the playlist, etc. If I didn't have any inkling of songs that would be in the top 5 well before it happens, I'd really have to scramble at the last minute. 

All that said, it did make for a bit of fun this week, and this is how it all ended up :

Adele seems destined to only peak at number 2, and this week "Rolling In the Deep" falls another place to number 5. Just like her other number 2 that stuck around for a while ("Chasing Pavements"), the song doesn't seem to wear itself out - it's one of those tracks that will turn up on shuffle in a year or so, and still make me smile. 

It's having some minor success so far in the USA as well, climbing a few places in the 60s on the Billboard chart this week. Just like Cee-Lo's "Forget You", though, I'm not sure if Americans can manage it. The song could be classified as neo-soul, and has a decidedly old-school-soul sound to it, and Americans don't quite know what to do with that. 

So I'm still liking it, and I give it an 8 on the England Swings scale of 1-10.

Speaking of neo-soul, Bruno Mars drops two places this week in the UK, landing a "Grenade" at number 4. For those of you who saw the Grammy Awards last night, Bruno did an old-school version of the song on the show, turning it into pure doo-wop. Pretty cool. 

Despite the graphic imagery, the song has grown on me over time, and I'll now concede that Bruno's done it again. The song was at number 1 in America until this week, and has now been replaced by Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow". It's going to stick around on the USA charts for quite a while longer, I'm sure, but with all the competition on the UK charts, I think it may be gone next week from the top 5.

I'm giving Bruno a 7.5 on this one. 

Lady Gaga managed a remarkable feat on the UK charts this week, releasing "Born This Way" on Friday (and it was afternoon before it was available in the UK). That gave her slightly over a day's worth of time to sell the record, and she did pretty well - witness the number 3 position of the song this week, and I think it's safe to say it will rise next week. 

I wonder about the song itself, though, and how much lasting power it will have. It has a fair hook to it, but it's really, really busy. It's also very Madonna-like, and I'm not sure all of this bodes well in the long run. 

It's an okay song, but I wouldn't call it great. There's so much stuff going on that it's a bit distracting. On the Grammy show last night, the Lady said she wrote the song imagining Whitney Houston singing it. 

Um. I can't really hear that. I think even Madonna might simplify it a little. 

Maybe it'll feel better over time, but right now I have to give the Lady a 6 on this song. 

Chipmunk, along with the no-longer-pariah Chris Brown, was tipped all week to take the number one spot, but that didn't happen. Instead, "Champion" comes in at number 2. 

Unfortunately, the best thing about the song is Chris Brown's vocal. Chipmunk is among the Grime supernumeraries who sound overly sincere, like (shudder) Tinchy Stryder. As time has gone on, and a few dozen songs like this have hit the upper echelons of the British charts, the sound has begun to wear on me. 

I'm sorry, but Chippy just sounds whiny here. The lyrics don't help much, either, being all about how great Chipmunk is. I'm betting Chris Brown, with the rising hit "Yeah 3X", won't be hanging around British grime stars much longer. Unless he gets a gig with Tinie Tempah. 

The whole song is just blah. I give it a 5.

Jessie J stays at number 1 for a second week with "Price Tag", and - wonder of wonders! - the song has entered the American charts this week at number 88! Will it continue to rise, or is it all too British and Spice-Girly for the USA?

I'm always looking for a new British invasion here; after all, it's been a long time since the Spice Girls were the last British super-group to do a major crossover. Could this be the beginning? 

Okay, maybe not, but the song is fun. The addition of B.o.B adds some cache to it all. If Jessie doesn't make it in the USA with this one, I have the feeling she's got a lot more coming. Sooner or later, she'll become a household name in America. 

I give "Price Tag" a 7.5.

Album review later this week, so come back!



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