First, the playlist from last night's England Swings Show :
White Lies - Strangers (Ritual)
Manic Street Preachers - Postcards From a Young Man (Postcards From a Young Man)
Yardbirds - Over Under Sideways Down
JLS ft. Tinie Tempah - Eyes Wide Shut
Elbow - Neat Little Rows (Build a Rocket, Boys!)
Yuck - Georgia (Yuck)
Sweet - Ballroom Blitz
Paul Mauriat - Love Is Blue
The Fab Four Freakout :
Beatles - Child Of Nature (demo)
Beatles - Hey Bulldog (Yellow Submarine)
Beatles - Nowhere Man (Rubber Soul)
Beatles - Love Me Do
Wombats - Addicted To the Cure
Elvis Costello - Senior Service (Armed Forces)
Taio Cruz ft. Kylie Minogue - Higher
Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
Streets ft. Clare Maguire - Lock the Locks (Computers and Blues)
Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet
Electric Prunes - Get Me To the World On Time
...and this week's top 5 songs in the UK :
5). Adele - Rolling In the Deep (-1)
4). Lady Gaga - Born This Way (re-entry)
3). Rihanna - S&M (Come On) (non-mover)
2). Jessie J - Price Tag (non-mover)
1). Adele - Someone Like You (non-mover)
TOP 5 ANALYSIS and REVIEW
We'll have to admit it's been a noneventful week in the British Top 5. Besides the re-entry of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way", things have mostly remained as they were last week. This is unusual for the British charts, so let's consider it a lull that comes, perhaps, before a storm of new entries in the near future.
The problem is, I've discussed the five songs at the top ad infinitum already. So this week, I'll pretend this is a tweet instead of a blog, and succinctly give some key words about each song. I'll also note the American success - if any - of the songs.
Adele - Rolling In the Deep. Hasn't gone away. Seven weeks in top 5. Strong, retro, chunky. England Swings scale of 1-10 : 7.5.
Adele's track has made remarkable progress in America, climbing to number 13 this week. All this, mind you, almost exclusively on sales, because the song doesn't fit established radio genres in the USA. The top 40 stations aren't playing it. The adult contemporary stations, if they're playing it at all, are keeping it in low rotation. I mean, what do you do with a retro-soul, bluesy track, no matter how catchy or excellent? America does not know. Except they're buying it.
Lady Gaga - Born This Way. Ms. Germanotta's weakest single. No innovation, just noise. Busy and nearly boring. ES scale : 6.
"Born This Way" debuted at the top of the American charts three weeks ago, and it's still there. You'd think America would have figured out that it's not that great of a tune, but I'm guessing it's "inspirational" message is appealing to someone out there. I don't want to think about who that might be. The British gave the Lady her lowest ranking in ages with this song, as it didn't rise above number 3, and only stuck around two weeks. This re-entry is due to the fact that the video was released this week.
Rihanna - S&M (Come On). Catchy. Cynical. Marketing ploy. Deliberately "edgy" to promote Ri-Ri herself. ES scale : 5.5.
This tale of kink has managed to gain a couple of spaces in the USA charts this week, rising from 7 to 5. Here's hoping it goes no further. That woman needs no more encouragement.
Jessie J ft. B.o.B - Price Tag. Spice Girls. Nice arrangement, dumb words. Jessie's looking for love in all the wrong places (come to think of it, so's Rihanna). ES scale : 6.
Not yet anywhere near permeating America's consciousness, Jessie's song went from 99 to 93 this week. She performs this Saturday on SNL (sadly, one of the few venues on American television to showcase newer artists). Perhaps this will lead to success.
Adele - Someone Like You. Top track from "21". Poignant, beautifully done. ES scale : 8.5.
And our Miss Adkins entered the USA chart with this song this week at 65. Not bad, but again, I'm guessing America won't know what to do with it. If the terrestrial radio stations aren't playing "Rolling", I can't imagine them picking up on this. Shame, really.
That's all for now - album review later this week!
White Lies - Strangers (Ritual)
Manic Street Preachers - Postcards From a Young Man (Postcards From a Young Man)
Yardbirds - Over Under Sideways Down
JLS ft. Tinie Tempah - Eyes Wide Shut
Elbow - Neat Little Rows (Build a Rocket, Boys!)
Yuck - Georgia (Yuck)
Sweet - Ballroom Blitz
Paul Mauriat - Love Is Blue
The Fab Four Freakout :
Beatles - Child Of Nature (demo)
Beatles - Hey Bulldog (Yellow Submarine)
Beatles - Nowhere Man (Rubber Soul)
Beatles - Love Me Do
Wombats - Addicted To the Cure
Elvis Costello - Senior Service (Armed Forces)
Taio Cruz ft. Kylie Minogue - Higher
Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
Streets ft. Clare Maguire - Lock the Locks (Computers and Blues)
Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet
Electric Prunes - Get Me To the World On Time
...and this week's top 5 songs in the UK :
5). Adele - Rolling In the Deep (-1)
4). Lady Gaga - Born This Way (re-entry)
3). Rihanna - S&M (Come On) (non-mover)
2). Jessie J - Price Tag (non-mover)
1). Adele - Someone Like You (non-mover)
TOP 5 ANALYSIS and REVIEW
We'll have to admit it's been a noneventful week in the British Top 5. Besides the re-entry of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way", things have mostly remained as they were last week. This is unusual for the British charts, so let's consider it a lull that comes, perhaps, before a storm of new entries in the near future.
The problem is, I've discussed the five songs at the top ad infinitum already. So this week, I'll pretend this is a tweet instead of a blog, and succinctly give some key words about each song. I'll also note the American success - if any - of the songs.
Adele - Rolling In the Deep. Hasn't gone away. Seven weeks in top 5. Strong, retro, chunky. England Swings scale of 1-10 : 7.5.
Adele's track has made remarkable progress in America, climbing to number 13 this week. All this, mind you, almost exclusively on sales, because the song doesn't fit established radio genres in the USA. The top 40 stations aren't playing it. The adult contemporary stations, if they're playing it at all, are keeping it in low rotation. I mean, what do you do with a retro-soul, bluesy track, no matter how catchy or excellent? America does not know. Except they're buying it.
Lady Gaga - Born This Way. Ms. Germanotta's weakest single. No innovation, just noise. Busy and nearly boring. ES scale : 6.
"Born This Way" debuted at the top of the American charts three weeks ago, and it's still there. You'd think America would have figured out that it's not that great of a tune, but I'm guessing it's "inspirational" message is appealing to someone out there. I don't want to think about who that might be. The British gave the Lady her lowest ranking in ages with this song, as it didn't rise above number 3, and only stuck around two weeks. This re-entry is due to the fact that the video was released this week.
Rihanna - S&M (Come On). Catchy. Cynical. Marketing ploy. Deliberately "edgy" to promote Ri-Ri herself. ES scale : 5.5.
This tale of kink has managed to gain a couple of spaces in the USA charts this week, rising from 7 to 5. Here's hoping it goes no further. That woman needs no more encouragement.
Jessie J ft. B.o.B - Price Tag. Spice Girls. Nice arrangement, dumb words. Jessie's looking for love in all the wrong places (come to think of it, so's Rihanna). ES scale : 6.
Not yet anywhere near permeating America's consciousness, Jessie's song went from 99 to 93 this week. She performs this Saturday on SNL (sadly, one of the few venues on American television to showcase newer artists). Perhaps this will lead to success.
Adele - Someone Like You. Top track from "21". Poignant, beautifully done. ES scale : 8.5.
And our Miss Adkins entered the USA chart with this song this week at 65. Not bad, but again, I'm guessing America won't know what to do with it. If the terrestrial radio stations aren't playing "Rolling", I can't imagine them picking up on this. Shame, really.
That's all for now - album review later this week!
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