Chart Review 14th Feb 2005 with DJ Chris Plant (2/2)	(1/2), (2/2).
www.djchrisplant.co.uk

That has led to the song having been resident in the Top 20 downloads for the past six weeks - but this too appears to have had little effect on its chances in the sales chart, the single effortlessly sliding into the Top 10, extending their run of consecutive Top 10 hits to a nice round 10. OK, so we have done the download/sales comparison to death for this week but I'm increasingly becoming fascinated in the effect it will have on the official chart when the downloads are combined in a few weeks time (we hope). I wouldn't mind betting that the OCC's dummy charts have made for some surprising viewing.

Next up at Number 6 is Black And White Town by The Doves. This is the group's first Top 40 single for over two years and as you would expect anticipation for it has been high. The single crashes onto the chart to become only their second Top 10 hit ever, a chart placing second only to 2002 single There Goes The Fear which hit Number 3 thanks to some cynical marketing that saw it deleted on the day of release.

Black And White Town arrived in the shops some weeks after its appearance online (January 3rd listed as its official release date in many online stores) but as a download it performed rather poorly, never once making it into the Top 10. Nonetheless, just like Vergito, it is still fascinating to see how singles by more mature acts can still perform well as CD releases, even after a lengthy lead-in of online availability.

Next up is Raghav's Angel Eye, a single that hit the online stores at the same time as it did the shops so we cannot draw any conclusions. The ragga star went a long way to becoming the Sean Paul of 2004, appearing on no less than four Top 20 singles during the course of the year, only two of which were his own.

The other two were thanks to his vocal appearances on the two 2Play singles, and indeed it was one of these that gave him his biggest hit of the year, So Confused hitting Number 6 in January. His return to the Top 10 comes thanks to this ditty which bowls along in a none too unpleasant manner. He is still by no means mainstream but a strike rate of four Top 10 singles in five chart appearances is not to be sniffed at.

Just missing out on the Top 10 this week are Noise Next Door who chalk up their second hit single with Calendar Girl. With Busted having gone the way of all flesh there is a convenient void in the teen rock market which they helped to create. McFly are of course challengers for their crown but their sound is just a little too sophisticated for them to be considered absolutely successors. Noise Next Door on the other hand are just the ticket.

For a start they have a gimmick (triplets) and their music has the kind of wild energy to it that makes them a perfect pop act. First single Lock Up Your Daughters was clearly just the start as Calendar Girl will go a long way towards further cementing their appeal. Their failure to makes the Top 10 second time running will cause one or two furrowed brows though...

This week of course saw the annual Brit awards ceremony, an event which celebrated the 25th anniversary of the whole concept (and don't get me started on the ridiculous Angels debate).

It is over in the albums chart where the effect of the awards is most noticeable with Keane charging back to the top whilst albums from the Scissor Sisters, Franz Ferdinand, urban Joss Stone and Snow Patrol also experience surges in sales and make spectacular charges up the listings. The only potential beneficiary in the singles chart is Daniel Bedingfield who of course duetted with his sister at the ceremony and who happens to have a new single out.

Chances are though that Wrap My Words Around You would have done the same business even without the Brits as this Number 12 entry is decidedly mid-table and a far cry from his usual consistent chart form. Indeed as the follow-up to the Number 3 hit Nothing Hurts Like Love, it can be considered a huge disappointment. His only other single to date to miss the Top 10 was November 2003 single Friday which only made Number 28 and which was after all the sixth single release from his debut album. Wrap My Words Around You has no such excuse.

Meanwhile in the Top 20, a collection of pre-Christmas releases just refuse to die. Uniting Nations' Out Of Touch dips out of the Top 10 at Number 13, Jay-Z and Linkin Park, although supposedly deleted, make another surge back to Number 14, matching the chart peak that the single has already scaled twice before, most recently three weeks ago (Numb/Encore incidentally still a Top 10 download) whilst surprisingly Green Day's Boulevard Of Broken Dreams climbs three places back to Number 18 this week.

That single has also had a varied chart run in the 11 weeks it has been available, moving 5-7-8-7-6-9-13-11-14-21-18. The only other pre-Christmas single still on the Top 40 is Lemar's If There's Any Justice which is now 13 weeks old and which seems to finally be on its way out, dropping 31-35 this week.

At the very bottom of the Top 40 there is just time to lament the continuing failure of the Beautiful South to experience anything close to their usual chart form. The ironically titled This Will Be Our Year makes an apologetic entrance at Number 36, the follow-up to Livin' Thing which made Number 24 back in October.

Although it is impressively their 22nd Top 40 hit since 1989 it is now six long years since How Long's A Tear Take To Dry gave them their last Top 20 hit and longer still since October 1998's Perfect 10 became their last Top 10 hit. For so long one of Britain's greatest acts, you kind of get the feeling they are simply running on empty. A big shame because they are a GREAT local band.

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