Selling 59,026 copies last week, it trailed on initial sales flashes to BBC Sound Of 2012 winner Michael Kiwanuka, whose soulful introductory album, Home Again, eventually settled for a number four debut, with sales of 30,163 copies. Featuring five choirs, with a total of 247 members, I am assuming that the Military Wives album was spared compilation chart exile by the fact that all five choirs participate in the title track, effectively making the combination of all five the primary artist, though my attempt to have this confirmed by OCC failed.
Mothering Sunday considerations also helped to spike sales of current chart albums by Emile Sande, Adele and Ed Sheeran, and aided debuts from Marcus Collins, Michael Bolton and Jason Donovan.
Sande's Our Version Of Events climbs 3-2. Its fifth straight week in a medal position since its release, it is the first time it has not seen its sales slip week-on-week. On the contrary, they climb by 43.90% to 51,076, although current hit Next To Me tumbles 2-4 (41,410 sales) on the singles chart. Sande's album returns to number one in her native Scotland (its fourth week at the summit there out of five), outselling Military Wives comprehensively, by 51.42%. Adele's 21 is similarly aided, and spends its 60th straight week in the Top 10 by climbing 4-3 with sales up 46.61% at 447,668. Ed Sheeran's + falls 5-6 but adds 21.33% to 24,503 sales.
The first X Factor 2011 contestant to deliver an album, Marcus Collins - who, lest we forget, was runner-up to Little Mix - enters at number seven (24,343 sales) with his self-titled debut album a week after first single, a cover of White Stripes' Seven Nation Army, also reached number seven. Also containing covers of Higher & Higher (a hit for Jackie Wilson) and Janelle Monae's Tightrope, and eight originals, the album has had mixed reaction from professional critics but possibly a worse reception for a Top 10 album from iTunes customers than any other, with the number awarding it a full five star rating (197) being less than the 206 who have plumped to give it the minimum one star rating, as of Sunday afternoon.
Collins' arrival in the Top 75 brings to eight the number of concurrent Top 75 albums by X Factor contestants - a record. Pushed on TV as Mother's Day gifts, Ollys Murs' In Case You Didn't Know and Rebecca Ferguson's Heaven climb 20-14 and 31-18 with sales up 79.50% and 87.30% respectively, at 13,507 and 10,399. Mary Byrne's ..With Love climbs 40-28 (6,766 sales), One Direction's Up All Night falls 30-34 (5,561 sales), Olly Murs' slef-titled debut album rallies 67-46 (3,842 sales), JLS's Jukebox dips 53-55 (3,066 sales) and, bringing up the rear, X Factor 2010 winner Matt Cardle's debut album Letters, recovers 75-57. It sold 2,961 copies last week to bring its 22 week sales tally to 264,042. Cardle's chart-topping coronation single, When We Collide, remains on the verge of its millionth sale, with a to date tally of 998,025 - but it sold only 296 copies last week so may have to wait a while yet. Although follow-up Run For Your Life did okay, reaching number six, Cardle's singles chart career seems to have hit the skids since, with third single Starlight reaching only number 185 and fourth single Amazing peaking at number 84 earlier this month, even though both were fairly well supported on the airwaves, with peak radio airplay chart positions of 23 and 37 respectively.
Michael Bolton racks up his fourth Top 20 hits compilation, with Gems: The Very Best Of debuting at number 11 (17,130 sales). The 59 year old AOR singer previously reached number two with The Greatest Hits 1985-1995 in 1995, number 18 with The Very Best Of in 2005, and number 20 with The Ultimate in 2009. This time, however, the hits are supplemented by a second album of collaborations. Released overseas last year as Gems: The Duets Collection this second disc includes pairings with artists from many countries including India (A.R. Rahman), Australia (Delta Goodrum), Belgium (Lara Fabian), Greece (Orianthi), Brazil (Paula Fernandes) and Russia - the last of which finds him crooning To Make You Feel My Love with Helene Fischer. It brings to three the number of concurrent Top 20 albums featuring the Bob Dylan song, the others being Military Wives In My Dreams and Adele's 19 (14-17, 11,321 sales).
Back on Polydor 19 years after his only previous set for the label - All Around The World - peaked at number 27, Jason Donovan debuts at number 36 (5,352 sales) with Sign Of Your Love. It is his third straight thematic album for a Universal label since he resumed his recording career in 2008 after a 15 year hiatus. 2008's Let It Be Me, on Decca, concentrated on 1950s and 1960s covers and reached number 28, while the self-explanatory Soundtrack Of The 80s, on UMTV, reached number 20 in 2010. Sign Of Your Love - which was available in a 'personalised Mothers Day Gift Edition' - largely comprises even older standards, like Every Time We Say Goodbye, They Can't Take That Away From Me and I Only Have Eyes For You.
After debuting last week at number one, Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball dips to number five (26,994 sales).
On the compilation chart, the top two trade places. Last week's number one, Now That's What I Call Running dips to number two (24,832 sales), and hands the baton to Be My Baby (29,212 sales), the mostly sixties compilation of female artists, that racks up its fifth week at number one in all.
Overall album sales are up 12.75% week-on-week - but even the increase triggered by Mother's Day can't push them over the 2m mark. At 1,968,853 they are 10.12% above same week 2011 sales of 1,787,989 but a massive 19.89% below sales of 2,457,831 in the week (ending 2 April) immediately prior to Mother's Day last year - and even further behind the immediate pre-Mother's Day week of every single year of the 21st century.
SINGLES: Topping the chart for the fourth time in a row, and the fifth time in six weeks overall, Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye feat. Kimbra easily sees off the charge of Alexandra Burke's Elephant, feat Erick Morillo.
Dipping 12.18% week-on-week to 71,521 sales - the lowest for a number one single for eight weeks - Somebody That I Used To Know has sold upwards of 50,000 copies for seven straight weeks and has thus far amassed sales of 629,869 in 2012. It increases its lead at the top of the year to date rankings, although second placed Titanium by David Guetta feat. Sia races past the half million mark, rebounding 8-6 with sales of 34,179 in the week raising its 2012 sales tally to 524,531 (and its career tally to 576,774). It is the fifth single by Guetta to sell upwards of 500,000 copies.
It is a sign of the giddy heights to which singles sales have risen in recent years that the 636,485 copies that Somebody That I Used To Know has sold overall (it was available from July 2011) is enough only for it to rank 37th in the list of biggest selling singles of the 2010s.
Somebody That I Used To Know is the first debut hit to spend five weeks at number one since Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl in 2008 but despite its enormous popularity, Gotye's album Making Mirrors continues its decline. It has fallen every week since it debuted four weeks ago, falling 4-5-6-10-13. However, the 14,466 copies it sold last week raise its career tally to 94,334 - more than eight times as many copies as Gotye's last album, Like Drawing Blood, which was released in some countries on 2006 but made its UK debut in 2008, since when it has sold 11,661 copies, most of them since Somebody That I Used To Know was released.
Alexandra Burke lifted six Top 20 hits from her debut album, Overcome, three of which reached number one. Elephant, the introductory single from her upcoming second album, isn't such a jumbo-sized hit but easily surpasses the number 16 peak of her last single The Silence by charging to a number three debut this week, on sales of 42,387 copies. In other animal news, Greyhound dashes out of the traps to achieve a number 13 debut (20,345 sales), in its attempt to become the fifth straight Top 10 hit for The Swedish House Mafia.
Elephant's arrival isn't enough to prevent Nicki Minaj's Starships from rising to number two, thus achieving the highest chart position of her career. Starships sales were actually down 3.60% week-on-week at 51,730, despite its climb. Minaj's second current Top 10 hit, Turn Me On (feat David Guetta), rises again, moving 10-8 (27,122 sales). HIS second current Top 10 hit, Titanium, feat Sia, is also resurgent, as mentioned earlier in this story And HER second current Top 10 hit, Wild Ones (feat Flo Rida) dips 4-5 (39,855 sales). Putting an end to this incestuous chain, Flo Rida's Hangover collaboration with Taio Cruz ISN'T in the Top 10, climbing only 34-27 (10,335 sales). Hangover is getting amusingly close to Ed Sheeran's Drunk, which makes a less intoxicating 14-20 fall (14,816 sales).
Jay-Z racks up his 10th Top 10 hit and Kanye West his 16th,, as the pair's N****s In Paris jumps 18-10 (21,929 sales).
Logging more weeks on the Yop 75 than any song that hasn't made the Top 10, Jason Mraz's introductory 2008 hit I'm Yours has racked up 56 weeks in the longer list (and 133 in the Top 200) without ever climbing higher than number 11. Although subsequent singles by Mraz have fallen short of the mark, he finally gains his second hit this week, with the aptly-titled I Won't Give Up - from his upcoming album Love Is A Four Letter Word - new at number 16 (16,055 sales). I'm Yours has racked up a massive 571,405 sales to date. It is the biggest selling single of the 21st century not to make the Top 10. However Adele's Set Fire To The Rain - which also peaked at number 11 - has sold 529,729 copies in little more than a year, and might eventually surpass Mraz's hit.
LMFAO land the fourth Top 40 single from their album Sorry For Party Rocking, with the title track jumping 51-30 (9,950 sales). The familial duo - comprising Motown founder Berry Gordy's son Redfoo and grandson SkyBlu (Redfoo's nephew) - topped the chart for four weeks with the album's introductory single, Party Rock Anthem, which subsequently sold upwards of a million copies. Second single, Champagne Showers, was something of a disappointment, climbing no higher than number 32, but the duo were on song, and at their tongue-in-cheek best for third single Sexy And I Know It, which got to number five but has shown even greater tenacity than Party Rock Anthem, with 21 weeks in the Top 20 so far, compared to the latter's 17. Falling 15-17 this week, it has so far sold 638,994 copies, enough to rank as the 36th biggest seller of the 2010s, and the biggest not to make the top four. Runner-up in this admittedly rather specific category is Ed Sheeran's Lego House, which also reached number five, and has so far sold 554,455 copies.
Dream On becomes the third hit from the eponymous debut album of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. Debuting at number 52 (5,188 sales), it sold only 1,344 copies on download, but 2,002 on 12-inch vinyl and 1,852 on CD. It falls short of the Top 200 download chart, but ranks first on the 12-inch vinyl chart and first on the CD chart. Its arrival is not enough to prevent the album from dipping out of the Top 20 for the first time. It falls 18-25 (7,843 sales) after 21 straight weeks in the top tier.
An appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show was enough to secure Paul Weller's latest single a number 66 debut (4088 sales). Entitled That Dangerous Age, it is the 53 year old modfather's 72nd Top 75 entry - 65 of them made the Top 40 - since his 1977 debut as a member of The Jam.
Overall singles sales are down 3.61% week-on-week at 3,081,319, their lowest level for 14 weeks, and 1.71% below same week 2011 sales of 3,134,804.
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