Showing posts with label Adele. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adele. Show all posts

Jan 8th 16: Hello is best performing #1 since 2009

It is the 11th consecutive week for Hello at #1. So it is the best performing single since Israel Iz Kamakawiwo'ole's recording of Somewhere Over The Rainbow that spent 12 weeks at the top at th end of 2010. As this run was interrupted by We Are The People (Empire of the Sun) it only had a consecutive 10 weeks run plus an two weeks return.
So actually it is the 11 weeks run of Lady Gaga's Poker Face from Mid-March to end of May 2009 that is the latest #1 performed like Hello right now does.

Sticking at the top makes Adele the second best performing female of this recent decade with 14 weeks at #1. Only Rihanna so far spent more weeks at #1–in numbers: 16.


At #4 Canadian Shawn Mendes now dethrones Justin Bieber as best performing Canadian. Stitches gets its peak so far in its 14th chart week. Still there are three songs by Canadian acts inside the Top 10 and six inside the top 20. Watching the whole top 100 we find 11 songs featuring Canadians–two months ago there were 15.

Will 2016 become the year of Austrian music? Again the highest new entry is Austrian. It is duo Seiler & Speer that starts its chart career with Ham kummst at #52. Last weeks highest new entry Hulapalu by Andreas Gabalier tumbles down to #88. In 2014 there were weeks when six Austrian songs simultaneously invaded the German list.

With two new songs and three re-entries this week is one with the least exchange of songs. Twice in the past year there were only four songs new inside the list.

Jan 1st 16:

The first day of the year offers the first list of the year. On the top nothing has changed. Still Adele rules everything with her Hello. It is the tenth consecutive week on top.

New inside the top 10 next Canadian teenie idol is. Shawn Mendes has his Stitches rising to #9 which makes him the first new top 10 star of 2016.


As the current list covers the sales of the week 25th to 31st of December 2015 it reflects the Christmas TV programm as well. Most popular the Helene Fischer Show on Christmas day was. 6,5 Mio watched the show which boosts some songs heard in the show in the list as well:
The highest one is the best new entry too and lands at #27. It is kind of the first hit of upcoming Aprés-Ski-Season. Hulapalu is Andreas Gabalier's fifth chart entry and his second best performing so far. His Amoi seg' ma uns wieder from 2014 also is the latest Austrian song that performed better than the recent one.
34 ranks Wild & Free by Lena can jump again after the singer performed the song on air. #35 is the highest position since end of November for the top 10 hit.
Of course also Helene Fischer herself is back in the list with her long running Atemlos durch die Nacht. This week it lands at #67 adding a 111th week to its account. It is the track charted third most of all times.
Probably the most spectacular performance was the combination of Helene Fischer with The BossHoss. They performed the Dolly Parton classic Jolene which enters the list at #82 in the album version with The BossHoss featuring The Common Linnets. It is the very first time for the song in the German charts.


Also the first week of the year has its stories:
Policeman by Eva Simons dips into the top 50 for the very first time. It already collected 15 chart weeks and finally gives both artists involved (Eva Simons and a non featured Konshens) their career peak so far.
And even rock legend Motörhead can achieve a hiatus. After the death of frontman Lemmy Kilmister for the very first time the band has a chart entry. It is 1980's Ace of Spades–probably Motörheads biggest hit–which sneaks in at #97. On the album list the band has had a longer success. Since the early 80s every album charted and from 2006 on the band was a sure aspirant for top 10 status. In September past year the band even had a #1 seller with Bad Magic.

Dec. 25th 15: Adele - Best Performing British Female since 50 years

In the last week of the year Adele's Hello becomes the best performing no.1 single of 2015. It is the ninth week at the top for the song which was seen last late summer 2013 when AVICII had his Wake Me Up! occupying the top for ten consecutive weeks.
It is kind of surprising, that British acts in the past decades didn't manage such a success. The last one having nine weeks at the top was Sarah Brightman who alongside Italian singer Andrea Bocelli had a fulminant 13 weeks run at the top with Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Partiro) from December 1996 to March 1997. As a British female solo artist Adele now sets an even longer mark. As mentioned the week before she is now the best performing solo female since more than 50 years following the feat set by Petula Clark in 1965.

Might be a bitter dip in all the records cracked right now: Serving with the best performing no.1 song doesn't mean Adele is the best performing artist too. That title she has to share with German DJ Felix Jaehn.


Another British act got steam the days before Christmas. As British chart commentator James Masterton again and again tells singles by Coldplay doesn't follow known chart rules. And so it appears with Adventure Of A Lifetime too. The song rises five places in its seventh chart place eclipsing the all time peak set by Viva La Vida in 2008.
Of course Coldplay had some support by staging at the final of The Voice of Germany on 17th of December 15.

And there we are: The highest new song inside the top 20 comes in at #11. Jamie-Lee Kriewitz won the final of The Voice of Germany with Ghost. Immediately the song entered the charts and had a short visit at the top of the iTunes list. But the demand decreased dramatically over the week–so the song only can make it short of the top 10. Also second of the show Ayke Witt only can gain #28 with his Bis gleich. It is the weakest season so far–a sixth already is announced.

Second show act Elle King can make it into the list too. Her Ex's & Oh's lands at #33 as the highest new entry of the week. Well–this week belongs to the ten weeks of 2015 that had the highest new entry deeper than #30.


As the current list covers sales of the week directly before Christmas including the Holy Night Christmas songs play a significant role. And indeed the longing for peace is strong this year as far as sales figures tell.
The most successful song this season comes from Mariah Carey. All I Want For Christmas Is You already overtook the all time classic Last Christmas past season but in 2014 the most wanted tune was Do They Know It's Christmas? due to two new recordings from Britain and Germany.
To tell the complete story All I Want For Christmas Is You ain't only the best selling Christmas tune–it also reaches a new peak by flying to #13. In January this year it had its peak so far with #17 after 20 years of chart appearance.
One might bet wether the song will go further in next years time–remember Last Christmas needed full 23 years to get to its peak. However it falls short of becoming the slowest chart riser of 2015 cause Die Ärzte had their peak at #1 with Schrei nach Liebe this September 22 years after the song first appeared inside the charts. And exactly this week another song also peaks after decades. But first the other Christmas themed songs:

Last Christmas lands at #15 as second best selling classic–the highest rank since 2009.
Number 3 of the Christmas carols is Driving Home For Christmas by Chris Rea. The song goes 81–23 and reaches a new peak 13 years after it appeared for the first time. So far #31 reached in season 07/08 was serving as the highest rank so far.
One place behind Melanie Thornton sees her Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming) stop. This constellation is an unusual one too.
At #37 the biggest gainer of the week stops in the face of Do They Know It's Christmas by Band Aid. It is quite unclear which version here counts–probably all four recorded together. Assumed it is only the original version as stated on the list this position is the highest since its original and first chart run in 19984/85.
Re-entry at #40 is Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by John & Yoko, The PLastic Ono Band with The Harlem Communitiy Choir. The song had its first appearance on February 2nd 1973 at #45 holding there for a single week. After almost 43 years the song reaches a new peak–which is indeed the longest time a song needed inside the German charts.

There are further Christmas songs invading the list summing up to 14. Worth mentioning the re-entry at #53 is: Thank God It's Christmas by QUEEN had it's peak at #57 while his initial chart run in January 1995. 31 years later this mark is taken. A very similar story can be told about Christmas Time recorded by Bryan Adams. The song was released at the end of 85 landing at #67 in January 86. 30 years later the song re-enters the list at #64.
After five years of pause Frankie Goes To Hollywood with The Power Of Love is back on the list. It sneaks in at #82. At #90 there enters a song for the very first time that was recorded 15 years ago. My Only Wish (This Year) by Britney Spears has its first chart appearance this year without being promoted as a standalone song at all.
And finally #94 sees an act returning to the list who was absent for almost exactly 30 years. Shakin' Stevens' Merry Christmas Everyone was the last charting single of the singer in January 1986. It had a single appearance at #75. Now it is back at the very low end of the list for probably another single week.

December 18th 15: Kollegah Invades The List Again

Indeed Hello by Adele spends an eighth week at the top and now eclipses the result of best performing no.1 in 2015 (Ain't Nobody (Loves Me Better) by Felix Jaehn Feat. Jasmine Thompson). So it is a race exciting till the last week of the year: What sound does German music lovers attract more, soft deep house or classic ballads about lost love? Do you have a guess?#

In once Hello also matches the result of Puppet On A String by Sandie Shaw from 1967. That song was the last from a British female solo artist spending eight weeks at #1 in Germany. The next mark to catch for Adele is the run of Petula Clark's Downtown which technically spent 11 weeks at #1.

Strongest competitor for Adele lands at #2 in the face of Show Me Love the new single offered by Robin Schulz. It is the fifth single of the German DJ that reaches at least #2–that all happened within two years.

Talking bout best performing songs of 2015 one have to point out the 19 weeks run inside the top 10 of Astronaut by Sido Feat. Andreas Bourani. The song sits pretty at #7 this weeks. Ain't Nobody and Cheerleader had spent only 18 weeks under the top 10 selling singles in 2015.


Two songs enter the top 10 for the very first time. It is this the new European hit by Major Lazer Light It Up that goes 12–8 in its fifth chart week. Voices on this track are from Jamaican Nyla and Birtish Fuse ODG.
Second one rises a bit faster. In its third chart week Stimme by EFF goes 15–9. Behind the project there are Felix Jaehn and Mark Forster, both belonging to the stars of 2015. For Felix Jaehn it is the fourth top 10 hit (all in 2015), Mark Forster gets here for the third time, in 2015 so far he did not appear that high.

Canadian teenie star #2 Shawn Mendes reaches the top 20 for the very first time. Stitches lands at #15 in its 15th chart week and increases the total of tracks inside the top 20 offered by Canadians to 7. Such a strong presence never was seen before in Germany.


The best selling album comes from Kollegah. Zuhältertape Vol.4 dethrones Helene Fischers Weihnachten and Adeles 25 which indeed is a strong thing. As a result of the album start 17 album tracks can achieve the song charts too. Highest one and best new entry of the week is John Gotti that lands at #31. It is that a better performance than one and a half year ago while predecessor album Boss had its launch.


A new commercial spot for supermarket chain EDEKA became a viral hit and porpells its soundtrack into the list. It is Neele Ternes' Dad that can start chart life at #43. So it performs better than the first campaign Supergeil recorded by Friedrich Liechtenstein in early 2014. That one stopped at #50.


The Voice of Germany used to be the better casting show–not as popular as mother of all castings DSDS although still big enough to make hits. This year the audience increased dramatically. We had some short impacts for Wolke 4 (originally by Philipp Duttberner, Oft gefragt by AnnenMayKantereit and probably also The Hanging Tree (originally recorded by James Newton Howard. On Thursday 17th the final was aired featuring winner Jamie-Lee Kriewitz. Her self written song Ghost immediately gains attention and lands at #59 after a few hours online. It will certainly jump much higher in next weeks time.
Runners up Ayke Witt can land his Bis gleich at #86.

December 11th 15: Christmas Mood in the German Charts

It is still Adele who leads the list with Hello. And she writes chart history. At least Hello now is the best performing female solo song in 2015–overttaking the result of Ellie Goulding's Love Me Like You Do by a week. To become the best performing single in 2015 at all Hello should at least hold firm for a single week. In this case Adele would also eclipse the 48 years old result of Sandie Shaw's Puppet On A String which actually is the closest song by a British female solo singer that had similar success.

Already now Hello sets historical marks. It is this the 32nd consecutive week of having the #1 coming from Europe. A feat not seen since 1990.

At #2 the Deepend-remix of Matt Simons Catch & Release goes selling out the long running #2 Geiles Leben by German Glas-Perlen-Spiel. It is the first week since May 1st that there is no appaerance of a German act at #1 or #2.

Astronaut by Andreas Bourani & Sido spends an 18th week inside the top 10 at #7 and is now the third song in 2015 doing so. In next weeks time it could become the longest running top 10 hit of the year.

The one and only new song inside the top 10 makes its entry due to the release of an album. Coldplay misses the top spot on the album's list with A Head Full Of Dreams clearly as there hold firm Helene Fischer and Adele. So it is the first time in 13 years that a Coldplay album misses the top–so far one has to add. At least the teasing single Adventure Of A Lifetime gets a sales boost rising 14–9 in the single's survey and giving the band its fourth top 10 appearance.


Three places down Major Lazer stops with follow up hit to Lean On. The new single calls Light It Up and features Jamaican Nyla plus British Fuse ODG. In between the Major Lazer/Ellie Goulding collaboration Powerful sneaked into the survey for a single week in September. Past hit Lean On spends a 40th chart week right now at a pretty #45.
Project member Diplo also sees his own production Be Right There (feat. Sleepy Tom) rising to #69.

Past week the Felix Jaehn/Mark Forster project EFF started chart life with Stimme at #24. This week the track rises to #15 giving the DJ his fourth and the singer his fifth top 20 hit.

Danish band Lukas Graham can set its first top 20 hit with 7 Years rising to #19.


The main story starts at #31. There one can find the best selling Christmas pop song so far. It is Last Christmas recorded 31 years ago by Wham!. The song already spends a 116th week inside the list which is the second most of all time.
Christmas hit number two comes from Mariah Carey. Her All I Want For Christmas Is You recorded in 1994 slowly gets same popularity as Last Christmas. This week it goes 45–32.
The third classic tune is Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming) by Melanie Thornton. This song goes 89–61 in its 96th chart week. Its first chart appearance was only 14 years ago.
Further down there are other Christmas tunes returning to the list:
at #79 Driving Home For Christmas by Chris Rea
and at #97 the most popular tune of last season Do They Know It's Christmas by Band Aid


The highest new entry lands at #66 only. It is an old tune released independently in summer 2013. Now Frankfurt based DJ Katch added some vocals by New Yorkian Greg Nice and DJ Kool from Washington. Two weeks after its release Horns enter the charts for the first time.

Three months after its first appearance Policeman by Eva Simons can gain a new peak. The song lands at #67 in its 11th chart week.

December 4th 15: Alligatoah & Last Christmas are Back

It is the sixth week at the top for Adele's Hello and the song now matches the result of Ellie Goulding's Love Me Like You Do in February/March this year. That song made chart history as it was the most longest number 1 by a British female artist since 1967. Adele now is on the way of eclipsing that feat in next weeks time.

At #2 Glas-Perlen-Spiel spends an eighth week with Geiles Leben. It is now the longest holding #2 song since 2009 when Cassandra Steen feat. Adel Tawil managed same run with Stadt.


There are two songs new inside the top 10. First one lands at #9 in the face of Show Me Love which is the new single of Robin Schulz. Accompanied singer here is British J.U.D.G.E.. It is the fourth top 10 hit for Robin Schulz in 2015 alone which makes him the most successful act of the year.

The second is the highest new entry at all. Comedia Jan Böhmermann launched a song called Ich hab Polizei which became a viral success leading to the artist's very first chart entry at all. POL1Z1STENS0HN sits pretty at #10.


At #13 German band Silbermond gots his first top 20 hits since three years. Leichtes Gepäck truly got steam by the release of the band's same titled new album which lands at #4 on the album's list this current week. So far both album and single perform under what predecessors achieved.

Another German band project lands at #18 in the face of Annen May Kantereit. The three have their first hit with Oft gefragt. So there are eight German productions inside the top 20.


Finally Drake made it to top 20 status with Hotline Bling. It is only his first solo single performing that high. More than four years ago he peaked at #12 as featured artist on Rihanna's single What's My Name.
His entry to the top 20 gives Canadian acts a new hiatus: Right now there are six songs involving Canadians inside. An all time high. The highest one still is Justin Bieber at #4 with Sorry.


A further song rising up the list: The new song of Major Lazer Light It Up gains 29 places landing at #31 in its fourth chart week.


And yes, it is pre Christmas time. So there is the most popular Christmas carol back in the list Last Christmas by Wham!. It starts its 20th chart run at position #32 which is quite high. Only once, in December 2004 the song started its annual chart run higher. Back than it re-entered at #24 and peaking at #18 four weeks later.

The second modern Christmas classic comes from Mariah Carey. All I Want For Christmas Is You also re-enters unusually high at #45. The song never started its annual chart run that strong. Given that it made its all time peak this year in January at #17 perspectives are quite good that it will rise this season even further.

And down at #89 also Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming) by Melanie Thornton is back. This song shows a typical performance so far.


The story of the week comes from German rapper alligatoah. His second album Musik ist keine Lösung missed the number 1 spot clearly due to Helene Fischer and Adele both strong selling their albums. Though the rapper can launch a bunch of single tracks inside the track charts. Leader of the pack is Denk an die Kinder that lands at #38 and now is the second highest performance of the rapper at all. Of course one might mention his appearance as a member of Trailerpark with whom he had some similar chart success too.
All in all there are seven album tracks charting the list. That feat is short behind Justin Bieber and Adele of the two past weeks.

alligatoah increases the number of German productions to 39 which is the highest number in years.

November 27th 15: All About Adele

Well–Adele's new album 25 clearly rocketed to #1 on album's sales. With her single Hello leading the single's survey too she has simoultaneous #1 and is the first since Daft Punk did so in early June 2013.
It is the 5th week for Hello which brings Adele close to the feat of Ellie Goulding earlier this year who was the first English female having six weeks at #1 with one song since 50 years. Will that record eclipsed once again soon?

Further down also some single tracks of her album enter the list. The highest one is When We Were Young landing at #29. All in all there are nine different songs by Adele inside the list including her #1 Skyfall. Nine songs in one week–that is more than Justin Bieber managed last week and only beaten by Kollegah in May 2014 (18 entries) and Bushido this year in February (12 entries).

With Adele at #1 there is another bench set. It is the 30th consecutive week that a European held the #1 spot. Since May 8th 15 Europe rules the market and it is this the first time since late 1990. Back than in early November a 74 weeks run of European No.1s was broken by US-American Londonbeat and it I've Been Thinking About You.
Between April 29th 89 and Nov 5th 90 there were only nine European acts/productions hitting the top including three from Germany and three from Britain as well as acts from Sweden, France and Ireland. These days the runs at number 1 are quite shorter as we have with Hello already the eighth number 1 hit since May.

The first song new inside the top 10 is Catch & Release (Deepend Remix) by Matt Simons which lands at #7 in its sixth chart week. The original song did not manage an entry before. So this US American clearly sees his success due to the work of the Dutch Deepend project.

At #10 the first Top 10 hit for The Weeknd arrives. It is his latest offering The Hills that climbs 20–10 after his spectacular performance at the MTV Music Awards. This new peak for the song comes in its 24th chart week.

Worth mentioning also is the first entry of Alex Diehl. His Nur ein Lied somehow was chosen for being the right song to express the shock and mourning about the terror attacks in Paris.

The last story today. Maybe some of you have recognized last week the absence of Helene Fischer's Atemlos durch die Nacht. Right after a two years consecutive presence the song left the list for the very first time. This week it returns at #100 adding a 110th chart week to its account. It is this the third most amount of chart weeks of all time so far.

Nov 20th 15: Biebermania

First of all there is no story atop. Adele's Hello still outsells all other competitors and spends a fourth week at #1. It is her 50th top 10 week at all which introduces her to the top 3 female artists of this decade as she accompanies Lady Gaga (50 top 10 weeks since the beginning of 2010 as well) and Rihanna (112 top 10 weeks in this current decade alone).

The story of #2 is much more impressive. Geiles Leben by Glasperlenspiel spends a sixth consecutive week there. It is now the longest running #2 hit since 2011. Back than it was Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 & Christina Aguilera that had a seven weeks run at the runners up position.

The top story comes at #3 of the album's list. There the new album of Justin Bieber lands. It misses again the top like all other releases before. Still it is the strongest seller of the teenie idol missing the #1 due to new releases of giants like Helene Fischer and One Direction. The true impact can be seen by a look at the single's list. Sorry climbs one place to #4 again, at #7 Love Yourself enters as the most cherry picked song of the new collection, and even his first release this year What Do You Mean? returns to top 10 status at #8. So we have three Bieber releases inside the top 10 accompanied by five further tracks invading the lower end of the charts.
Three songs of one artist simultaneously inside the top 10–that's a feat hardly seen. I just remember the impressive breakthrough of Lena in 2010. Can anybody remember a further case?

Thanks to a performance on The Voice of Germany on Friday 13th Ed Sheeran's Photograph swaps back to #10 adding a 14th top 10 week to its account. Although the longest running top 10 hit right now is Lieblingsmensch by Namika sitting pretty at #9.
Talking 'bout European acts it is this week a special one as we see "only" seven tracks coming from Europe. It is the worst figure since the first week of 2015. So this year is a pretty good for European music–even better than 2014. On the other hand a former big player in pop business really suffers from success. US American productions heavily miss the very big attention they got for decades. Last week there were only 23 tracks featuring US American acts. This week the top 10 is completely free from acts of the USA. The highest US American rises to #11 in the face of Matt Simons. His Catch & Release attracts people in Germany due to a remix–by Dutch project Deepend. The highest song truely produced in the USA stucks at #15 featuring the two superstars Charlie Puth & Meghan Trainor on the song Marvin Gaye.

The other country on the sub-continent Canada is in opposite as successfull as hardly before. As mentioned above Justin Bieber serves with eight entries but he is not the only Canadian inside the list. With the arrival of The Weeknd's The Hills at #20 there are five tracks inside the top 20 involving Canadians. In total there are 15 tracks under appearance of Canadians inside the Top 100 include newcomer Alessia Cara who enters at #96.


At #48 a reaction on the Parisian suicide attacks on Novembre 13th arrives. As an act of solidarity with the 89 killed at Le Bataclan theatre a campaign was created to buy the song Save A Prayer in the cover version of EoDM (Eagles of Death Metal). Originally the song was recorded by British Duran Duran in 1982. The band announced that it will donate their proceeds from the campaign to charity.

Nov 13th 15: If the Top 6 stands still

It is the third week at the top for Adele's Hello and by this her longest nr.1 runner at all. In 2015 she is half on the way for getting the honor of being the best performing female solo artist. So far it is Ellie Goulding who had an impressive six weeks run an the top in February and March with Love Me Like You Do. - That's so far of the number 1 story.

At #2 for the fifth consecutive week there is Glas-Perlen-Spiel with Geiles Leben. Also this song marks the most successful chart entry for its recording act.
Down to #6 there is no change at all–it is the fourth time in 2015 that we see the very top calm like this.

At #7 we have the first entry to the top 10. It is Swedish newcomer Zara Larsson with Lush Life that extends her success to the German speaking countries. In Britain it is the collaboration with MNEK Never Forget You that caused her first top 5 appearance at all. Latter song slowly also climbs up the German list stopping at #59 this current week.
Zara Larsson is already the fourth Swedish act in 2015 that can invade the German Top 10.

At #9 Ellie Goulding enters the list with her recent single On My Mind. It is her third top 10 appearance in 2015 and her third consecutive top 10 hit as main artist. In between of course she had other entries not entering the first ten places. As mentioned above she is the best performing female solo artist of now. The new single clearly benefits from the release of her album Delirium.

With the start of the new James Bond movie Spectre also the title track Writing's On The Wall by Sam Smith gets some more attention. The song jumps 52–17 in its sixth chart week. It is the peak position for the song so far and Sa Smith's highest appearance since May 2014.

The highest new entry sits at #19. It is Coldplay with a new offering called Adventure Of A Lifetime. This 18th chart entry of the British band was produced by Norwegian Stargate who already had their hands on chart hits like Break The Rules (Charli XCX) and Worth It (Fifth Harmony) in 2015.

Next season of The Voice of Germany is aired since mid Octobre. Now there are first visible effects on the survey. Georg Stengel was the favourite for a lot of watchers. His version on Wolke 4 propelled the original by Philipp Dittberner & Marv 22 places up the list stopping at #42 in its 43rd chart week. It is the highest position since mid September. Georg Stengel himself did not have that much luck. His performance was his last for this season.

Another strange gainer is at #71. The Hanging Tree by James Newton Howard can attract some more listeners as the world premiere of Mocking Bird Part II was celebrated in Berlin a week ago. The hit from the predecessor can gain the highest appearance since end of August.


Album of the week ist CLA$$IC by Bushido & Shindy. The title track lands as highest track of the collection at #62. Besides this only two further tracks made a position in the single's list. Compared to earlier album starts that result is quite weak. Although he is the German act with most chart entries of all times–now they count 58 credited to his name.
Compagnon Shindy this weeks enters the fifth rank of least successful acts of all times. All his 16 entries missed the Top 10–the highest Stress ohne Grund peaking at #19 in July 2013.
Also the new release of Kollegah can't impress. Genozid lands as low as #73. Well–it is his peak position in 2015 and far and away of the heights he reached a year ago.

Oct 30th 15: Adele is back

After weeks of almost no movement at all between the top places it is this week a complete change. Due to Adele's latest offering–the album announcing Hello–there is the fourth straight #1 in 2015 and an almost forgotten sound back at the very top. Almost exactly three years after Skyfall hit the top in Germany the singer is back with a third #1 song and is now the fifth act doing so in this current decade.

The straight rise to #1 also ends a 12 weeks presence of German productions at the top. A feat last seen in 2007 when Mark Medlock & Dieter Bohlen, Monrose, Azad Feat. Adel Tawil and Culcha Candela passed the #1 crown to each other for exactly 12 consecutive weeks.

Not only #1 turns out completely new. Also #3 features a straight new entry in the like of Justin Bieber who features his upcoming album with a second single called Sorry. The song was produced by Skrillex as predecessor What Do You Mean was. But the new song sets a new peak for the Canadian teenie star as it lands as high as no other song of Bieber before. It is only the fourth top10 song for him.
Meanwhile predecessor What Do You Mean? returns to the top10 spending a sixth week inside it. Which also means that three tracks recorded by Canadians invades the top10 this current week.

The biggest gainers this week are:
Bedingungslos by Sarah Connor that goes 62–30
Hotline Bling by Drake 53–28
Melodie by CRO 69–44
and
Catch & Release by Matt Simons 80-61
Same Old Love by Selena Gomez 79–62
Never Forget You by Zara Larsson & MNEK 88–69

16-12: German Spring Tiredness

Another quiet week. Seven days ago there were only six new singles and two known chart hits entering the list–the fewest turn around in 2012 so far. This week there is only one new song more entering the charts. Shall we call it spring lazyness? In 2011 and 2010 we had similar pictures. Issues seeing only eight, nine or ten songs entering the charts newly or as a re-entry are common in April.

As lazy as the full survey is the Top although there is a change. Heart Skips A beat by Olly Murs feat. Rizzle Kicks returns there for a second week. It stalled one week at runners up position–now it is back in its whole glory. We already know that situation of two number one hits kicking each other off the top spot. Last time Aura Dione and Keri Hilson battled for having the most sold track at the back end of 2009. I Will Love You Monday (365) and I Like twisted around for four complete weeks.

Most obvious hart action once again is caused by ongoing casting show DSDS. Most supported song this week is Breathing. The song was performed by Jesse Ritch on the show 5th April. Jason Derulo profits from that performance seeing the song climbing to a new height at number 7. It now matches the peak of his first single Watcha Say back in January 2010. By the way: also DJ Frank E celebrates the highest peak of a song produced by him with the new climb of Breathing.

Also the second song performed by Jesse Ritch can find a way into the list. It is eight years old Breathe Easy by British boy group BLUE that now finds some new buyers and lands at number 84. Fabienne Rothe pushes Someone Like You originally recorded by Adele and Daniele Negroni gives Cello a boost which makes Udo Lindenberg feat. Clueso climbing 17 places back in the upper half of the list.

European acts
Music coming from Iceland is always kind of special. Most popular singer of the small island in the north is of course Björk. But there are several acts invading the continent over the past years with much more commercial success. Now Of Monsters And Men starts becoming popular. Their song Little Talks was heavily featured in the US and now approaches Europe too. The easy pop song is the first Icelandic hit since Emílíana Torrini stormed to Number 1 with her Jungle Drum in July 2009.

Focus German songs
Most successfull single start offered by a German act comes in at number 56. It is a strange feeling seeing LUXUSLÄRM Featuring Culcha Candela. The band from Iserlohn so far released powerful rock songs. Mehr Gewicht (More Weight) is a complete different sound: very pop oriented with sing-a-long refrain. Indeed it is the highest charting song for the band so far although no single ever managed to climb to the upper half of the survey. The song is against the crazy desire of being thin like a super model. Added rap part provided by Berlin culcha candela is strange as they always praise the perfect body of a girl. Here they explicitly call more shaped bodies sexy. Too me it stands kind of in contrast to other lyrics. Well, maybe the guys changed their mind–the sound didn’t change at all and I find the rap part more than needless. Hopefully LUXUSLÄRM will continue its career on their own. Or at least with collaborations much more matching their sound and attitude.




A book caused a sales boost for Adele’s songs. Or is it just a strange coincidence? – March 1st the first German biography of the British singer and million selling artist was published. The same week Rolling In The Deep can rise eight places, Set Fire To The Rain climbs a full 25 places and–much more impressive–Rumour Has It enters the survey. The song was the official last single but never released in Germany. Nevertheless now it is a hit on ist own landing at number 68 in Germany.



2011 – That Was The Chart Year

No surprise at the top of the singles list of the year 2011: On The Floor recorded by JLO feat. Pitbull is the most sold single of the past twelve months. The single was five weeks at number one in April and May strongly promoted due to the fact that it was the opening song for one of the live shows of Deutschland sucht den Superstar (Germany’s Idols). After Jennifer Lopez’ performance at Wetten dass…? (Bet that…) in June the song rebounded for a single week to the top spot after a six weeks break. The song so far spent 41 weeks inside the German charts, 25 of them in the Top 10 – it sneaks at number 72 still in the last issue of the year. It is far and away JLO’s most successful song in Germany and her very first number 1 hit after an almost 12 years long chart career.

JLO is the single queen – at the albums list we do have another female star. It is of course Adele and her album 21. The most successful single taken from it was Rolling In The Deep which also was one of the most significant songs of the year listed at number 4 in the 2011 survey. The song spent 51 weeks inside the charts – that’s only one week less than the whole year – and it held two weeks the number one spot in February, dethroned by Bruno Mars and his grenade (number 3 in 2011).

We did have 15 different number 1 songs – that’s two more than the year before but the same amount as in 2009 and 2008. So we could call the year a very usual one.
The longest number 1 runner was New Age by Marlon Roudette. 8 weeks – the complete September and October – the track was the most sold one in Germany. Number 6 in the survey of the year. The artist is back at the top after a 5 years break. In 2006 he had a number 1 hit with his project Mattafix.
Three acts reached the Top for the fourth time: The Black Eyed Peas with The Time (Dirty Bit) (number 36) – and they now had number one hits over a seven years span –, Lady Gaga with Born This Way (number 17) and Rihanna with We Found Love (number 13).
The longest way to number 1 had Danza Kuduro by Lucenzo feat. Don Omar which took full two months to reach the top.

Leaving number 1 territory we truly can describe a battle between a DJ and a rapper for being the most active act of the year. Seeing Cuban-USAmerican rapper Pitbull at the top of the singles list reflects the presence of this artist in 2011. He collected 168 chart entries over the whole year making him only the second most present artist in 2011. The real king in terms of chart weeks is – you already know it – French DJ David Guetta. He appeared 216 times with 16 different tracks in the list. The most successfull week was the issue from September 9th, when he had nine different tracks in the survey. It was the week when his album Nothing But The beat was released. His most successful single hit according to sales figures was Sweat – the rework of Snoop Dogg’s recording Wet – that is listed at number 7 in the list of the year.The track occupied number 2 for four weeks in April /May and missed the top cause JLO & Pitbull sticked there. In 2011 David Guetta had 5 more tracks reaching the Top 10 – 4 of them in a row – giving him 39 Top 10 weeks, what is NOT the best result in 2011. Again Pitbull is the one beating him out with 45 weeks inside the Top 10.

Overshadowed by that battle and the two very strong ladies the most active female star of the year misses the really big headline. Rihanna had 8 hits in 2011, 5 of them top ten, she appeared full 151 weeks inside the list. In every other chart year she would be celebrated as the queen.

Another act that growed in the shadow is Flo Rida. In 2011 he launched four Top 10 hits finally reaching number 1 with Good Feeeling at the end of the year. I guess he will be one of the big names in 2012 too.

The most successful newcomer is a casted star: Pietro Lombardi had three single hits this year, his debut Call My Name shot straight to number 1 and spent four weeks there (number 5 in the year’s survey) before tumbling down to number 7. The appearance of his latest release Goin’ To L.A. gives the impression that his star is already sinking. But first the look back: Pietro Lombardi has the honour of being the best sold German act. In the survey follows Tim Bendzko with Nur noch kurz die Welt retten (number 10) and Jupiter Jones with Still (number 20).

Finally some trivias: There are two songs in 2011 that spent more than 40 weeks inside the charts in different versions. It is Waka Waka – the anthem of the 2010 world championship – which was available as a single by Shakira and in a German version by Spongebob. The song ranked still at number 33 in 2011. Probably more present was Hello by Martin Solveig and Dragonette which ranked at number 5 at the beginning of the year and had a cover version inside the charts recorded by Berlin band The Baseballs.

A chart record was set by Paul & Fritz Kalkbrenner when their Sky And Sand reached its peak at number 29 on November 11th – in its 83rd chart week. Another long time benchmark was set in the very last week of the year when Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by John Lennon & Yoko Ono with the Plastic Ono Band and the Harlem Community Choir reappeared in the list. The song was noted for the first time in February 1973 and now has an almost 39 years chart run reaching position 46 as the highest.

The act having the longest chart career of all present in 2011 is Mama Africa Miriam Makeba. She came to new chart life due to a remix of her hit Pata Pata from 1968 by Milk&Sugar. The single spent eight weeks in the list rising to number 33. Miriam Makeba now was present in the German charts for 43 and a half year. Talking ’bout come backs in 2011 I have to mention Eva Jacob who had her last chart entry in 1965 with the Andrew Sisters. 45 and a half years later she was part of the Dschungel Allstars 2011 that had a short stop alongside Zipfelbuben in February 2011. So technically she holds the record of being absent from the charts for the longest time.

Although 2011 was the least successful year for German SCOOTER the band is right now the act with the longest continuity of hits. 2011 was their18th year in a row releasing at least one chart hit. All time leader Peter Alexander still is far and away with 29 consecutive years.

Least successful acts: Peter Maffay – who really played a sad (and naive) role around the Bushido/BAMBI discussion – added this year two singles to his impressive collection of 47 chart hits, although the past 23 did not cross posiiton 25 – the last time he was seen higher was in 1983 with Nessaja.
To mention also the duo Eichensohn/Davenstedt that spent a single week at number 100 with the track FFF.



Pitbull rules German charts

Let’s start with a story about creativity in Germany. As elsewhere in the world music industry here is completely alienated. The difference is that the big companies so far did not try new ways in selling and marketing music. Most time they spend with catching digital pirates, fighting with youtube and writing accusals to internet users … The end so far is a very boring official music business and a vivant independent scene besides. That developement now found a musical counterpart: AlexTV. It’s a guy living somewhere in northern Germany and translating international hits into German plus recording and distributing them via facebook, youtube and co. One of his recent „hits“ is Price Tag well known in the version of Jessie.J feat. B.o.B. So far the German version had appr. 275.000 clicks. Of course that use of pop is very common in other regions of this world – in Germany so far it was not that usual cause of discrimination. Probably also AlexTV will get mails from major companies … Right now he brings a lot of fun and understanding to German pop lovers. I guess most of them did not get the lyrics before listening to AlexTV. – By the way: the original of Jessie.J rises up this week to number 5 – it’s highest placing since it started three weeks before.



Let’s go back to the commercial mainstream. Most successfull act of the days is Cuban-American Pitbull. Having five tracks in the recent list he ranks in 2011 so far as the male act with most appearances in the charts. Only Rihanna collected more in the past five months. Two of Pitbull’s recordings actually rising: Give Me Everything alongside NE-YO, Afrojack & Nayer is reaching position 6. Bon Bon – the well known We No Speak Americano added with some Spanish raps by Pitbull – is jumping 92 – 39.

The rise of Give Me Everything marks a historical point additionally. With credited Afrojack a second Dutch artist besides Caro Emerald is joining the Top 10. The Netherlands as a neighbour of Germany should have been much more present in the charts – but they do not. Having two dutch inside the Top 10 is a rare feat at all.

New in the Top 10 also is Adele and her Set Fire To The Rain. It is still a digital cut that can sell enough copies to rank at number 8 now. It is the second top hit for the British singer dethroning Rihanna as the female artist with most Top 10 weeks in 2011 so far. Still there is no official CD release scheduled by her company XL recordings.


The internal German list still sees Pietro Lombardi as the most sold German artist followed by Jupiter Jones their Still steadily gains increased sales ranking at position 13 this week. The third best German track is Nur in meinem Kopf (Only In My Head) by newcomer Andreas Bourani.

Further down the list the most successfull German act of the past 20 years has its 46th chart track entering. It is SCOOTER that only a month after its Friends Turbo again invades the chart. The Only One refers heavily to 1990’s The Only One I Know by The Charlatans. It was one of the first hits of the British act connected directly with so called Rave movement. Having four Top 10 hits in their home country in the ninetees The Charlatans never made it to fame outside the United Kingdom. Facing that SCOOTER’s decision reworking a track of them is quite odd. As a result The Only One only can climb to number 45 – the lowest placing ever even underselling predecessor Friends Turbo which could reach number 43.


The new Scooter track and the „basic source“ from The Charlatans 1990

Jay Khan – famous through his appearance in the boy band US5 and this year’s Dschungel-Camp – starts his own career as a solo performer. Nackt (Naked) is the very first single under his own name looking for awareness for equality and humanity. Number 59 is far away from being a real star – seems the German mainstream does not care about a strong message.




Back to European acts:
A real future hit is for sure Mr. Saxobeat brought to us by Alexandra Stan. It rises 33–20 and delivers the first Romanian hit since Edward Maya went Top 10 with Stereo Love last summer. In the UK and in Switzerland the track is already number 5.

Talking about the past as Ell/Nikki arrive in the charts. The Eurovision winning Running Scared can manage a new entry at 33 in the week of its release as a CD. Very probably the song will tumble down very fast cause no radio station really plays it. Ell/Nikki are the third Azerbaidjanian act that can gain an appearance in the German charts. Best act so far is last years Eurovision participant Safura who reached a surprising number 26 a year ago.



Number 3 of the Contest Eric Saade arrives at number 48 this week by downloads only. Popular gains the highest position of a bronze song in the contest since Tozzi & Raff rose to number 39 with Gente Di Mare in 1987. For Sweden the number 3 at the contest is the best place since Charlotte Nilsson won in 1999.


Propelled by the use as background for an TV advert Australian Bag Raiders can gain a hit . Way Back Home enters the list at 38 after its release on CD.


The advert and the full song


Very last entry at 90: Danish electro pop project Electric Lady Lab. Their You & Me heavily uses the hook line of Rhythm Is A Dancer by German euro dance act Snap!. It is the first time that Snap! gave permission to use the track ... probably we will see Electric Lady Lab rising next weeks. In their home country Denmark they reached number 2 so far.









Having two new entries inside the Top 10 overshadows all other movements a little. There are two climbers worth to notice. Dutch singer Caro Emerald rises two places to number 4 after her song A Night Like This was presented within the TV show Let’s Dance. The plot of the show is watching VIPs trying to do standard dances like rumba, cha cha cha, waltz et al. A Night Like This was used as the music for the Cha-cha-cha. For Caro Emerald number 4 is the highest place she ever managed to climb on. It took the song 11 weeks to get here.

The second climber is the all star crew around Pitbull. Give Me Everything in its second chart week can „break“ into the Top 10 giving leading Pitbull a follow up to his recent Number one On The Floor (alongsides main star JLO) and a fourth Top 10 hit as a credited artist. NE-YO after an almost three years break can return to the Top 10. Give Me Everything is no more than his second chart hit climbing that high. For the really first time Afrojack & Nayer can reach the upper 10 ranks.

A big jump up the list is done by Aloe Blacc. After Loving You Is Killing Me appeared as a background track at Germany’s Next Top Model the song climbed to number 16 two weeks ago. The interest in the song died soon – last week Loving You Is Killing Me tumbled down to number 30 again. Until it was performed in the semi final of DSDS by Ardian Bujupi – the looser of that almost last episode. Suddenly a huge fan base of the TV show recognised the song as worth of be buyed. Loving You Is Killing Me ranks now at number 12 – making it the best performing song of the show within the chart. And I really wonder why Ardian had to leave the show ...



Final winner Pietro Lombardi only can propell Wenn das Liebe ist (If it is love) by Glashaus (Glass House) to position 61.




A future hit is arriving within the Top 20 this recent week with Set Fire To The Rain by Adele is climbing four further places to number 20. Set Fire To The Rain is set to be the third single from her album 21. In Belgium, the Netherlands and in Italy the song already went to top hit status climbing into the Top 5. In Germany the interest for the song is grewing steadily finding ist way to the Top 20 as an digital album cut without any officially announced release date. That’s in fact a very unusual chart career. Most of the tracks listed are proper set and supported by commercials, TV adverts or similar presence in the media. Not so Set Fire To The Rain – probably another sign of possible democratization of the charts.


The German acts
Finally they did it! Jupiter Jones grab with their ballad Still the crown of being the most sold German production. It took the band 9 weeks and of course the four guys benefit from the lack of very strong German releases. In the official list by media control they slide 18 – 19 being the only German track within the Top 20.

Number 2 of the interne German tracks sales chart is Groove Coverage and their take on Angeline. I dropped a few words about it already last wednesday.

Leading the survey for six weeks the heydays of Strobo Pop are history right now. Die Atzen mit Nena drop 17 – 23 officially standing here as the third best sold German track.

The most successfull album by a German artist is still Schiffsverkehr (Ship Traffic) offered by Herbert Grönemeyer. New in the list is Cassandra Steen with her third album Mir so nah (So Close To Me) which lands at position 5 in the album chart. Supported by this success the leading single Gebt alles (Give All) is jumping back the singles list up to position 36.


These days Europe is looking at Dusseldorf. The Eurovision Song Contest takes place and the attention of the medias is huge. Since it was announced that Dusseldorf will host the contest some articles have been wrote why that boring city? Is it really the capital of pop music? – Probably it is not the German capital, but it aint at all a no go area for popular music. Probably most known the synth electro band Kraftwerk that had a few hits in the 70s and early 80s. These days a further band is bringing Dusseldorf back to the musical map of Germany. Broilers (meaning broiler / roast chicken but is used in Germany only regional; funny: the English plural S) are a fun punk band playing music for more than 15 years. 2011 they moved to a new label: JKP – and now finally entering their first chart hit. Harter Weg (Hard Way) starts its life at position 41. Probably real punk fans might say the new sound of Broilers is too fun, too commercial … well, real punk never made its way into German charts. It was always a funny or ironic version … or even worse, a mainstream adapted cleansed kind of punk. I am not here to judge about that – find your own opinion:



After start of the movie Kids Turbo the soundtrack of it also rises up the list. Though Scooter’s Friends Turbo can’t impress that much jumping only 59 – 43. It is so far the lowest charting track in their whole career.


Assuming that there is something like a continental connection and productions from Europe should have a stronger link to Germany than others I always have a special look at European releases. In the case of Romanian INNA the link to Switzerland, France or the UK seems much stronger than the one to Germany. At least what the official charts can tell. Sun Is Up is listed in the dance charts and in the iTunes charts for weeks . It never made the way into the official charts. After being used on TV in the Germany’s Next Top Model show the track can enter the list. Sun Is Up jumps to number 26 on downloads only. It is this the highest place INNA made in her two and a half year long chart career.



Norwegian duo MADCON released a third single from their album Contraband. For Outrun The Sun they took also Maad*Moiselle into the studio. The single starts right now at position 27 just in the moment when Freaky Like Me slides down 34 – 46 in its 24th chart week. Even last year’s Glow is still appearing in the charts tumbling down this week 49 – 65. Certainly the new track will not match the success of its two predecessors.



ECHO stories

Yes – I told you in the short flash on Tuesday that there is no story about the recent list of most sold single tracks in Germany. But you know – never trust a single blogger. There is always something to tell. At least some tales about older tracks still crowding up the charts. One of these songs is Rolling In The Deep by English singer Adele which climbs back four places to No.4 after her performances in Germany. In her home country the UK she just broke the record of holding most weeks at No.1 in the album charts as a female soloist by standng there for 10 weeks. She not only dethroned queen of pop Madonna – she also occupies the No.2 of the album list with her predecessor album 19 and is No.1 in the track list with Someone Like You. Chart commentator James Masterton actually only find these words: Stop Buying Adele Records.

Of course also in Germany Adele is one of the most talked about artists of the moment. There are countless features about her on TV most popular probably her performance at the more or less boring ECHO award ceremony broadcasted on 24th March. Needless to say that everybody’s darling found her way to the underground mashup scenery as well. For having a little taste of what’s going on I present one of my favourites right here:


Divide & Create – Crazy In The Deep .... Adele vs. Gnarls Barkley

In companion with Rolling In The Deep a second track from Adele’s album 21 is entering the list as an album cut. We’re talking ’bout Set Fire To The Rain a heart touching ballad which is announced as the next official single release. It has by now no scheduled release date but sits actually at 89 on downloads only.


Another act benefiting from the ECHO is British HURTS. They got the award as best international newcomer and performed live as well. Stay jumps back 13 – 8 and their hit Wonderful Life does so 66 – 49 in its 34th chart week.

Most successful German track still is Strobo Pop. Die Atzen mit Nena climb one place to 14. Second place in the German only survey is still Lena with her Taken by a Stranger sliding 23 – 27 in the official tracks list. And even culcha candela is still the third of the German tracks with Berlin City Girl sliding 28 –32. One who should be a candidate of bringing tracks to a larger audience is Clueso. He lands this week the highest CD album start at No.2 in that list.The single Zu schnell vorbei (Over too fast) taken from that album jumps up the list 53 – 42. That’s unfortunately not enough to share the crown of the most popular German tracks. But there is hope: his last hit Gewinner (Winner) took 16 week in 2009 to peak at 21.

Are you interested what else is going in German music business? Well – a new mixture of Atzen sound and brainless party discofox has entered the club scene. „Inventors“ of the sound is the DJ duo Finger & Kadel. They already had a medium hit with Die mit dem roten halsband (The one with the red collar) in late 2007 under the name Frank Styles presented by F&K. After getting that attention for the first time they produced much more for the clubs and dancefloor the following years. Always sampling short German lyrics. Finally they chose one of the most popular German party hits called Wahnsinn first released in 1983 by Wolfgang Petry. The song had some short chart appearances in the version of Die Lollies (1998) and DJ Nordkurve (2002) – the most successful take was the one of Wolfgang Petry’s son Achim Petry who recorded it for the 2008 season of the so called Dschungel Camp. The latter went to Nr. 17 in the German charts. Now a next try is starting its chart life. Finger & Kadel mixed the chorus with some Benny Benassi sounds and lyrics. As I said before – to me it sounds like the next step of the very popular Atzen sound but it’s very unlikely that the track will rise higher (new entry at 58).




The original version of 1983

German rapper Fler offers a second track from his recent album Airmax Muzik II. Predecessor Nie an mich geglaubt (Never believed in me) was a digital only release spending one single week at No.64 in February. Minutentakt (Minute Circle) comes as a full CD release but performs only slightly better. No.60 in the week of its release is far away from the success he had a few years ago.




At 79 one of the very few Russian chart acts appears with a new track. I personally remember only three acts have been charted in Germany. The fourth and most recent is rapper Timati. Two years ago he appeared for the first time with a minor hit accompanied by US star Snoop Dogg. The following years he collaborated with big names like Busta Rhymes, Xzibit or P. Diddy.The latest international offer reatured upcoming Kalenna Harper of Diddy’s side project DirtyMoney. The track Welcome To St. Tropez first released 2009 in a Russian version with Blue Marine is available in English for a few months. A remixed version by Swiss DJ Antoine found its way on a few club compilations and finally catches fire. The Official Dance Charts see the track actually rising 14 – 12 and this week the track enters the singles chart on download sales at No.79 making Timati the second Rusian artist with more than a single chart hit.


Russian version

Finally at the very end of the list we see Norwegian a-ha returning into the chart. A track from their Good by live album Ending On A High Note made it on downloads to the charts. It is their hit from the year 2000 Summer Moved On which charted exactly 11 years ago No.8 giving the band a Top 10 hit after a 10 years break. Afterwards it took the band another 9 years to launch what should be their second biggest hit ever Foot Of The Mountain. The live version of Summer Moved On enters at 90.

11-06: short flash – European connections

A second week at the top of the German singles list for Adele. Rolling In The Deep still is the most sold track in Germany like in several other mid-european countries. Lucky Adele – her album 21 slides down to no.2 in the album list but holds a proper top place within the new monthly independent charts.

It seems to be given, that Adele will leave the top spot as Bruno Mars is rising continously sitting at no.2 on download only sales. The physical release is in shops right now so we will see grenade at the top of the German singles list for sure.

Best new entry (but not the best single start ... I will talk bout this later this week) comes from American Flo Rida. Turn Around (54321) is the second single taken from his album Only One Flo (Part 1). Both single and album completely failed in the U.S. and in the UK. No.15 in the first week of its release is not that bad at all. Seems that Flo Rida got a broad fan base in Germany.
Turn Around (54321) is build around a sample by Swiss electronic duo Yello. The original Oh Yeah charted in Germany end of 1987 reaching no.47. Funny trivia – the track never charted in their home country Switzerland nor in Austria but it is the one and only track ever listed in the Hot 100 Billboard charts reaching no.51. The track was used in several movies and games especially as theme for Duffman of The Simpsons. No wonder Flo Rida chose this track for his new offering.

Also the second highest new entry has a European connection. The come back single of Swedish Roxette She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio) is the first offering since One Wish was crowding the list in late 2006. As one of the super acts of the early 90s Roxette boast their 33rd track into the charts now. In addition no.18 for their new single is the highest rank since Sleeping In My Car rised to no.11 in 1994. Welcome back to the upper regions! And again: Germany likes well known acts, remember last year’s come backs of A-ha, Alphaville or even Kim Wilde. Plus … the 90s are back .... mpf!

Germany loves Adele

That is more or less literally translated the headline of the weekly press information given by media control every Tuesday. Her album 21 enters the German album list directly at the hot spot. Simoultaneously her single Rolling In The Deep climbs up two places sitting now properly at no.1 in the singles’ chart too. Adele had a huge TV support by the so called Dschungelcamp – Germany’s version of I Am A Star – Get Me Out Of Here!. Her song was aired very prominently within the show right after the release of the album. The fifth season of the reality TV show had the most viewers of all seasons (an average of 8,93 Million) . No wonder the airing had some impact on the music market as well. As the independent chart site oljo.de reports a lot of older hits shot up the download list after they were aired within the show. Only the main title by Die Zipfelbuben seems to fail completely.

Some weeks ago I called Adele the final winner of the female northern soul invasion from 2007/08. Finally she grabs the crown with these simoultaneous no.1. And she is the first British act to top the German singles charts for 3 years. Last no.1 from the UK came in April 2008 from – what an incident – Duffy and her Mercy which spent a single week there. Will Adele have the power of staying much longer?

Asking this question comes with good cause. Bruno MarsGrenade is rising up the list very fast – landing at no.3 this week. The full physical release is scheduled for February 4th. Download lists like iTunes or amazon are listing Grenade right now at no.1. If he will enter the top by next week this would be the very first time a digital download only single will do so. Most radio stations in Germany took Grenade into heavy rotation meaning the tune catches fire right now. It is for sure the next huge hit in Germany. Question is: when will he enter the top? – We’re really witnessing a struggle between two very soulful tracks right now. Keep your eyes and ears open for the next days!

Moves at the top of the chart leave the highest new entry somehow overshadowed in the dark. The biggest CD release of the week is not at all the biggest story. Bad luck for a man who is a big name since 14 years and who dissappeared for the last three years. I’m talking bout P. Diddy or Diddy as he prefers to be called right now. Accompanied by two ladies he formed DiddyDirtyMoney (or one would find spellings like Diddy–Dirty Money et al.) which is offering a first album right now. Last Train To Paris will be released in Germany on 4th February. Two weeks ahead the single Coming Home entered the shops. A track starting very soft with a piano melody but landing in the end as an orchestrally produced rap track. I’m not at all that deep into American HipHop but to me this take doesn’t sound very new or surprising. It is a well produced tune built around the voice of featured artist Skylar Grey who is an upcoming name. As wikipedia tells us she co-wrote the EMINEM/Rihanna track Love The Way You Lie for which she was Grammy nominated. In Europe almost nobody had heard of her. With Coming Home the story turns over.

For all you statistic geeks out there: Coming Home is Sean Combs’ 23rd chart single in Germany (counted together all tracks he is somehow named on). It is the 11th track landing inside the German top 10 and his first appearance there after a four years break.
If one is not that much into Rap/HipHop try out this smooth electro rework skipping the master’s voice out completely and featuring only Skylar Grey’s voice.





4-11: Adele vs. Bruno Mars

The music market finds back to life finally. The recent press release of chart compiling institute media control tells some stories about new music arriving in the upcoming list. But one is static at all: the no.1. The Black Eyed Peas are sitting well at the top for the fourth week. The Time (Dirty Bit) now matches the result of their very first no.1 track Where Is The Love. Does the recent track have the power of becoming the Peas’ biggest hit even take over the result of Shut Up which spent six weeks at the top in 2003?

To me it looks quite like a wonder having The Time (Dirty Bit) still as the track cashing in the most. The download lists are seeing it dropping down since weeks. Physical sale must be still very strong. This is the actual surprise. As a dance oriented track The Time (Dirty Bit) should attract much more younger and digitally well equipped people. CD buying costumers are mostly much more conservative. Did The Black Eyed Peas change this rule?

However this week marks the15th at the top for The Black Eyed Peas. Now they match the result of Lady Gaga. All time record is holden by Boney M. having 48 weeks under their belt.

Best new CD release of the week 14th to 20th January is Rolling In The Deep by Adele. The track already charted as a digatl only single two weeks before climbing a fortnight ago to no.9. Now as combined sales count Rolling In The Deep raises up to no.3 making Adele the most promising act for becoming the next no.1. The story of Adele was told perfectly by James Masterton in his UK chart watch blog. The UK sees Rolling In The Deep at no.2.

If Adele could be the next no.1 – her successor is entering the charts right now. Bruno MarsGrenade is leading the download lists in an extraordinary way and sits in the combined media control list proper at no.8. It is the highest new entry within the singles list. The album Doo-Wops & Hooligans enters the album charts right at the top this week. It not only gives the new track a big impact but also Bruno Mars’ first solo track Just The Way You Are which rises two places back to no.5. I promise you that in three weeks time we will see Bruno Mars topping also the singles list. Then Grenade is full released as a physical CD too (CD start in Germany is 4th february).

Boring list refused by MTV

Once again a week chart which is not published at MTV's site. Well the now pay TV channel is having a lot of doubts wether German singles charts are cool and worth be published or not. Troubles at the site are common since years. Once I asked the editors why. They responded somewhat like: we work on it and trying to be reliable. Looks like they did not mean it. I wonder why all these troubles only appaer around the German list. I can’t remember of one week the British or US-charts had some omissions. Speaking clearly: the German sales charts are somehow uncool. Why? – Ask MTV. Or media control.

By the way – I had correspondence with IFPI, the initiator of compiling charts for the music industry. They told me that they are unhappy about this situation. Charts should be more visible and important. But they also told me it's not their business working for it. Seems that the German sales charts will more and more disappear from public life. Instead of them lists compiled by iTunes et al are becoming much more important right now.

The main story here is not about music itself but about the marketing of music. I guess it shows where the music business right now stands in Germany. Let’s go back to the real stuff:
A completely static top 5 lacks of stuff for hot stories. Highest mover are Taio Cruz featuring Kylie who having kind of a slowburner with their Higher. Started shortly before Christmas the track entered at no.10 as the highest new entry. In other weeks that would be the best result they ever would have – not so during the turn of the year. Higher climbed 3 places and stalled there around for three weeks. Now it profits by the weakness of Bruno Mars and rises again one place entering the highest rank for the track: no.6. It is the highest rank Kylie had in Germany since her huge Can’t Get You Out Of My Head hit the top in 2001 and her best selling collaboration ever. For newcomer Taio Cruz it is still only the lowest of its three chart hits here. One could argue who is supporting who more. Concernig recent headlines and news Kylie leads the race as one can find tons of tweets and interviews about her tournee plans and launched parfums.

Higher is successful especially in German speaking countries. I really wonder why. Is it that the lyrics are to simple for English speaking countries? Is it cause German radio stations really love the track and stimulate the online sales by playing it again and again? I don’t know. Fact is Higher climbed up the airplay and download charts almost simultanously even days and weeks after the physical release entered the shops. Maybe the carreer of Higher is once again a story about the digital market and the complete turnover of the whole business.

Still only digital available is Adele’s Rolling In The Deep which rockets up the list entering the top 10 this week. The physical release crashed in the shops after counting was closed for the recent list. Expect her much higher next week cause physical sales count more in Germany as the charts are listing the tracks with the best amount of money not the quantity of sold tracks.

One of the few movers within the list are OneRepublic. The band found some more audience for its Good Life. propelling it into the top 20. I do have no explanation what exactly made the track so popular the last days. A catchy melody well produced … it was it already before. They had a few performances around ... hmm.
Hardly new releases keep the way open for understated tracks. We should take that as the reason.

Finally for today: best sold German track still is Winter by UNHEILIG. I told you before – there are no stories around. Let’s cross fingers for next week.


Adele is the first new big thing in 2011

This is the real first chart week of 2011. Here are the results of sales week 31th December to 6th January and nothing significant happened. At least at the top. The Black Eyed Peas are comfortably placed at no.2 spending a second week there. The Time (Dirty Bit) is now more successful than the no.1 predessecor of the Peas Meet Me Halfway which only spent one week at the top in December 2011. Next goal is to beat the result of 2003 when Where Is The Love occupied for four weeks the hot spot and the successor Shut UP collected even 6 weeks at the top. A look at the daily iTunes list is telling us: it will be a hard fight!

Big things are coming. One of these is for sure the new album of Adele. 21 will be in shops at 21st January – leading single Rolling In The Deep is available on CD from 14th January on. As a download only single it enters the German charts this week as the highest new entry at no.13. It is no more than Adele’s third chart hit in Germany and so far her most successful. Chasing Pavements stalled at no.46 in 2008. Seems she is the final winner of 2008 British female northern soul invasion. Duffy failed to reach the upper regions with her new offering.

If one find the original version of Rolling In The Deep already amazing try the percussion-ruled very minimal Jamie XX Shuffle version – it really rocks the club and is for sure one of the reasons why the download single started that big.