Chart Review 14th March 2005 with DJ Chris Plant (3/3)

(1/3), (2/3), (3/3).

At Number 13 is a genuine jaw-dropping oddity. About five years ago the advertising agency behind the building society disgracefully turned bank The Halifax hit upon the idea of using genuine members of staff to sing in their commercials.

A series of in-house auditions turned up Howard Brown who was bald, bespectacled but who could actually sing - and pretty soon he was all over TV screens singing Extra Extra to the tune of Tom Jones' 2000 hit Sex Bomb. Other members of staff followed him onto the screen but Howard remained an icon, appearing in several more commercials and becoming something of a minor celebrity on the back of it - his image even becoming a cartoon for later commercials. Now Howard is a genuine chart star on the back of it, crooning his way through a rather lifeless cover of the classic Barry White track You're The First The Last My Everything.

What makes this all the more odd however is that the single still exists as a marketing exercise for the bank. Any publicity for the release has been done through their marketing department, the single even appearing on HBOS: records - HBOS: of course being the Halifax Bank Of Scotland group, which owns the brand - and even Howard himself it seems. Yes, whilst Howard Brown has indeed achieved his dream of becoming a real life pop star he is still little more than a marketing tool for his bosses which has to make this one of the strangest chart hits ever. Next time you see him at a public appearance, ask him why he can have a Top 20 hit single yet it still takes his colleagues nearly a week to clear a cheque.

Onto better things and a real life singing star next at Number 16 in the shape of Tyler James. The 22 year old was one of the last real signings made by Simon Cowell before reality TV distracted his attention, James having been signed in 2002 and then given two years to come up with material. The wait paid off with his first single Why Do I Do hitting Number 25 in November last year and now the very catchy Foolish giving him a foothold in the Top 20. A tour with Natasha Bedingfield and a debut album are set to follow in short order.

Stateside rock makes another chart incursion at Number 19 with I'm Not Okay (I Promise) from My Chemical Romance. The single is taken from their second album, the follow-up to their 2002 debut which saw them gain a following on the US independent scene. Is this the same background I've just written for Phantom Planet? Well quite possibly, but those who have been waiting ages for an exciting new US rock band will hardly complain that two have turned up at once. I prefer the MCR track in truth.

Down in the lower reaches of the chart there is a frustrating new entry for Ocean Colour Scene who make their first chart appearance in over a year with Free My Name. The Number 23 entry of their new single is a darn sight better than the Number 40 peak of their last hit Golden Gate Bridge but their mid-90s days of instant Top 10 hits seem a long way off. Another familiar name returning after an absence is Tweet:, a Top 5 hit maker with Oops (Oh My) back in May 2002 but who failed to set the charts alight with her follow-up Call Me.

Collaborator on Turn Da Lights Off is none other than Missy Elliott who thus has her first chart hit of 2005, making this effectively the follow-up to Car Wash on which she appeared with Christina Aguilera back in November and making Tweet: just the latest in a long, long line of artists with whom she has collaborated. I'd count them all but I only have a week until I'm back here...

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