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Released 11 April 2005
- Veteran crooner tops first British Top 10 to reflect downloads
(Yahoo! News / AFP, April 18, 2005)
Veteran British crooner Tony Christie lays claim to bragging rights this week for being number one in the first-ever British singles pop chart to reflect Internet downloads as well as record-shop sales. Christie's charity remake with Pete Kay of "Is This The Way To Amarillo" now has been top of the pops for five weeks running, according to the weekly ranking compiled by the Official UK Charts Company. Razorlight was second with "Somewhere Else," followed by Ciara featuring Missy Elliott with "1 2 Step". Elvis Presley, dead since August 1977, entered the charts at number four with "The Wonder Of You".
Traditional singles sales have been falling in Britain for five years or so, but downloading has thrived with 300,000 songs being purchased from legitimate MP3 file transfer sites every week -- a 15-fold increase from a year ago. Industry insiders believe that, for the time being, most download purchases are likely to be spread over a broad range of songs, with their impact generally being felt outside the Top 40.
- The all-new useless charts: Pointless positions inside
(Drowned in Sound, April 17, 2005)
Hello chart chaps, how are we all, in this brave new world where downloads are just as valid as things physically bought by getting off your arse and walking to the shops? Yeah, I'm totally unmoved too. However, this is the run down of notable entries in the ALL NEW REALLY EXCITING, HONEST, TOP 75...
Tony Christie is still no.1. Elvis is still in the top four, though he's behind R'n'Krunk queen Ciara who does '1,2 Step' to three. It's a high-end chart entry for Interpol with 'C'Mere' placing at no.19, and just outside that at no.22 is the new Gorillaz single, which we didn't even know was out, however, 'Feel Good Inc' is pretty good...
Daft Punk enter the charts at no.32 with the infectious (or downright annoying, depending on where you stand) 'Robot Rock', and Hal scrape[d] into the top 40 with the Beach Boys when they were on crazy pills-esque 'Play The Hits'. Kings Of Leon just miss the '40 by one placing with 'King Of The Rodeo'. That'll teach you for line dancing...
Secret Machines enter at no.56, the 'Road Leads To Where It's Led' obviously leading to a quiet chart entry, whilst Your Codename Is: Milo is 48 places off its predicted '17'.
Pure Reason Revolution's 'The Bright Ambassadors Of The Morning' progs into no.68, but because of re-entries for Eminem, Athlete, Snoop Dogg and U2, there's no room for indie-released singles in this week's charts. Which is great. DiS [Drowned in Sound] might actually make this the last of this series of news stories, because frankly, it's all bollocks now, isn't it? Perhaps next week we'll do the indie charts instead.
- Did the downloads really matter?
By Stephen Dowling
(BBC News, April 17, 2005)
This week's UK singles chart is the first to include songs downloaded from the internet. But how different would the chart have been without them? With four weeks at number one already under his belt, veteran crooner Tony Christie has proved to be a big enough hit with download and CD single fans alike to make it five.
One of the revelations of this first combined chart is the effect it has had on the Top 10 - jockeying for positions rather than surprise new entries is the order of the day. Christie's Amarillo is at number one with Razorlight's Somewhere Else at number two - exactly as they would have been in a no-download chart.
Elvis Presley's latest reissue The Wonder of You would have been at number three if downloads had not been counted. But online sales helped Ciara featuring Missy Elliott's 1 2 Step leapfrog Elvis, pushing The King down to four. ... Top 40 places - The differences become more interesting further down the chart. ... The first week of the combined chart has seen evolution rather than revolution. But there may be bigger winners - and losers - in the months to come.
- CHART COMMENTARY from JAMES MASTERTON
(Launch Music on Yahoo, April 17, 2005)
Welcome then to the brand new world as the UK charts embrace the digital age and include sales of downloaded singles for the very first time. Whilst the mass media has been full of speculation over the last week about exactly how the singles chart will change it will of course be impossible to tell what kind of impact the new methodology will have on overall chart trends for a good few weeks yet. What we can do however is spot the singles that have benefited greatly from the new rules, and trust me there are some spectacular ones.
One interesting point that came out when the new chart rules were announced that was, unlike the dummy charts that have been bandied around over the past few months, the only online singles that will be allowed to chart will be ones that have corresponding product in the shops - "pre-release" downloads will still be confined to the download-only chart. In response to the anguished mails I've received during the week, all I can say is that this is really not much of a surprise. Despite the new digital age, the charts are still reliant on the co-operation of the major high street retailers for much of their data - the same high street retailers who are scared stiff that online stores are killing off their trade for good. The OCC were therefore unlikely to embrace totally the concept of singles that cannot be bought in the shops, at least not just yet. One single in particular though has exploited this rule in a very clever fashion... even if this maybe was to its overall chart detriment.
If all this change is proving too much for you to take, then comfort can be found at the top of the chart where Tony Christie and 'Is This The Way To Amarillo' spends a comfortable fifth week at the top, its performance perhaps inevitably bolstered by its popularity online as well as in the shops. This is enough to make it the longest running Number One single since the six week run of Black Eyed Peas' 'Where Is The Love' in 2003. 'Amarillo' also has the honour of becoming the longest running charity single since Elton John's 'Candle In The Wind' in 1997 which also had a five week run at the summit.
Just below at Number 2 is the second biggest new hit of the week, 'Somewhere Else' by Razorlight. Much of the speculation midweek was that the new chart methodology would benefit alternative acts whose sales do appear to have switched from CD singles to online sales and the success of this single could possibly be held up as evidence that this is the case. In truth it will be hard to tell for a while if this is indeed part of a new trend (and all indications are that the single would have charted strongly even if shop sales only were being counted). Whilst the single is far and away (and deservedly so) the biggest hit to date for the British rock act, it is by no means their first foray into the Top 10. That honour fell to 'Golden Touch' which saw them hit Number 9 in June last year. With other singles such as the memorable 'Vice' and 'Rip It Up' still in heavy rotation on alternative stations and music channels there is an argument that really it was about time Razorlight made their chart muscle felt. With this brand new single not on the the album 'Up All Night' they have certainly done that.
The second biggest new hit of the week belongs to Ciara, '1 2 Step' the followup to 'Goodies' which nicked a week at the top of the chart back in January and gave us all brief respite from the string of Elvis singles which were dominating top slot at the start of the year. ... This week's Elvis single slips in at Number 4 on the new chart and brings us nicely into another purple patch in the history of the King. The turnaround in Elvis' career had come in 1968 with a live concert special broadcast on American TV. With one move he rediscovered his old magic, stopped making awful films and more importantly stopped releasing songs taken from the awful films. Instead he started to produce a-list material and this period saw him record many singles which rank as all-time classics such as 'Suspicious Minds' and 'In The Ghetto'. Neither topped the charts in this country however and his only single of the era which did was 'The Wonder Of You', an old song originally written for Perry Como in 1959 but which Elvis made his own in a version recorded live at the International Hotel in Las Vegas in February 1970. Released as a single later that summer it spent six weeks at the top from August onwards as one of just a handful of live tracks to have topped the UK charts. It took his total of UK chart-toppers to an unprecedented 16 but would sadly turn out to be the last of his lifetime. ...
- Christie stays top in new chart
(BBC News, April 17, 2005)
Veteran singer Tony Christie has scored his fifth week at number one and become the first artist to top the revamped UK singles chart with downloads included.
Christie's hit (Is This The Way To) Amarillo, featuring comedian Peter Kay, is also the first song to spend five weeks at number one since 2003. Legal downloads have been counted in the chart for the first time this week. Gorillaz, Stereophonics and Basement Jaxx all saw their singles shoot into the Top 40 thanks to download sales. But Kings of Leon, Cabin Crew and Shapeshifters, who would have been in the Top 40 if download data was not counted, all missed out.
Seven singles in the Top 10 moved places due to the changes - but none moved more than one place up or down. Christie was top in both the new combined chart and the old-style shop chart. Rock group Razorlight's number two with new entry Somewhere Else was also unaffected. But Elvis Presley, at number four in the new chart with The Wonder of You, lost out - he was one place lower than he would have been if downloads were excluded. The number three spot was taken by Ciara featuring Missy Elliott with 1 2 Step.
... The Official UK Charts Company made the changes to the singles chart because of the rapid growth in the popularity of songs bought over the internet. Chart bosses say the changes will make the Top 40 more accurate and relevant to the general public. In the first three months of 2005, 4.5 million songs were downloaded legally in the UK - compared with 5.8 million singles bought over the counter. ...
- Tony tops first combined chart
(Channel 4 / ITN, April 17, 2005)
Seventies crooner Tony Christie continues his comeback by becoming the first artist to top the new combined download and singles chart. For the first time, tracks bought over the internet have been included in the chart countdown. However, the changes have failed to shift Christie's charity single with Peter Kay from the number one spot. Their remake of the 1971 classic (Is This The Way To) Amarillo has now been at the top of the charts for five weeks. Razorlight had a new entry in second spot with their song, Somewhere Else, while Elvis Presley's The Wonder Of You entered the charts at four. ...
- Tony Christie wins chart battle for fifth week: Razorlight, Ciara, fail to oust Tony Christie
(soundgenerator.com, April 17, 2005)
Five weeks and counting for Tony Christie as his 197 hit '(Is This The Way To) Amarillo', featuring comedian Peter Kay, notches a fifth week as the UK number one.
The charity track holds the top spot, despite a slew of new entries. Razorlight land the biggest hit of their career with 'Somewhere Else' entering at two, Ciara's '1, 2 Step' ft. Missy Elliott follows at three and Elvis Presley's 'The Wonder Of You' lands at four. ...
- Tony Christie tops new chart
(Press Association via Yahoo!, April 17, 2005)
Seventies crooner Tony Christie has became the first artist to top the new combined download and singles chart. Tracks bought over the internet have been included in the countdown for the first time. But the change failed to shift Christie's charity single with Peter Kay from the number one spot. Their remake of the 1971 classic (Is This The Way To) Amarillo remained at the top for a fifth week. Razorlight had a new entry in second spot with their song, Somewhere Else, while Elvis Presley's The Wonder Of You entered the charts at four. ...
- 'Amarillo' Tops Combined Download-Singles Chart
(Yahoo! News / Reuters, April 17, 2005)
The charity single "(Is This The Way To) Amarillo" by 1970s crooner Tony Christie and comic Peter Kay clung to the top spot in the first combined download/singles British pop chart, the Official UK Charts Company said on Sunday. The 1971 classic has spent the past four weeks at number one in the singles-only chart. It was released to raise funds for Comic Relief and features Christie, Kay and other celebrities lip-synching its lyrics in a promotional video. Razorlight's "Somewhere Else" jumped in at number two in the new-look chart, which from this week includes tracks downloaded via the Internet provided they are also available in the shops as CDs. Britain's independent music labels have tried unsuccessfully to block the inclusion of downloaded music, saying it will hurt those labels unable to sell their recordings in a downloadable format. "1, 2 Step" by Ciara and queen of rap Missy Elliott made its debut at number three, one of four newcomers in the top 10. Elvis Presley's latest reissue, "The Wonder of You," a hit first time around in 1970, was another new entry at number four. ...
- Mid-week sales, April 12th (source - Elvis News)
- Elvis - "The Wonder Of You" (14,750)
- Tony Christie - "Is This The Way to Amarillo?" (14,573)
- Razorlight - "Somewhere Else" (6,018)
- Ciara - "One, Two Step" (3,498)
- Mario - "Let Me Love You" (2,338)
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