June 26th 15: Best No.1 Since Happy

What a chart run! Ain't Nobody (Loves Me Better) spends an eighth week at the very top in Germany. It is this the first no.1 hit since Pharrell Williams' Happy with such an amount of weeks at #1. Back in February and March 2014 the song was ruling completely–only last week in February Happy had to stand back for a week giving way for Mr Probz and his Waves.
The last song spending eight consecutive weeks at #1 was Wake Me Up! by Swedish AVICII. The track occupied the top for full 10 weeks from mid July to end of September 2013.

With this current week Felix Jaehn eclipses the success of Robin Schulz who so far also collected nine weeks at the top. Partner Jasmine Thompson now is the most successful British female singer of this decade according to her weeks at #1.


At #2 Anna Naklab feat. Alle Farben & YouNotUs reaches a new peak with supergirl. The cover version of the Reamonn hit back from 2000 now performs better than the original. That one stopped at #4.

With Sarah Conner and her Wie schön du bist clinging on at #3 the complete top3 is in German hands a situation last seen exactly one year ago. Back then we even had the first four songs coming from Germany and even sung in German.


New inside the top 10 French FEDER Ft Lyse enters at #8 with Goodbye. After Turkey, Bulgaria, Russia, the Ukraine, France, Belgium and Switzerland the track finally also in Germany catches fire and probably is one of the summer tracks of 2015.With Goodbye there are seven deep house inspired productions inside the top 10. We all know this sound will join us for another season.


Song of the week on Sing meinen Song comes again from wirtz whose songs were performed on May 23rd. His own version of Keine Angst is the highest new entry this week. In contrast to last weeks song Wenn sie diesen Tango hört that entered at #14 Keine Angst only can gain #51. It is this the second lowest new entry of the week–or call it highest new entry–only on January 9th the highest new entry started worse.
Keine Angst itself is a song released in 2008 as an album track and later as single but never had chart success. It is the third solo song for Wirtz getting chart honours.

After first three episodes of Empire were aired on June 24th a track taken out off the score enters the list. Good Enough is credited to Jussie Smollett and charts differently to the US market where Keep Your Money charted as first track.
Having an Empire song inside the survey marks a return of a giant producer into the list. It is no one else than Timbaland who gets his first new material into the charts since 2013 when he produced The 20/20 Experience for fellow friend JT.

30th of Jan 15: A Historical Moment in January

There is really something going on. The fifth issue of 2015 and we have the fourth song invading nr.1 position. Never before a year started that busy. The song in question right now is The Hanging Tree coming from the movie soundtrack The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I by James Newton Howard.

Three times in chart history we came close to such a fast turnover of nr.1s in January. In 2001 it were EMINEM & Dido who dethroned Big Brother star Christian for a week but being pushed from the top a week later by Outkast and Ms. Jackson. That rush took place in late January.
1993 saw the first two weeks More And More by The Captain Hollywood Project at number 1 followed by Charles & Eddie and their Would I Lie To You for a week just before Whitney Houston climbed to the top with her I Will Always Love You that held firm for six weeks.
The most similar turnover of number 1 hits in January took place in 1985. Given that the last week of December 1984 (that actually had no official list) saw Duran Duran and their Wild Boys as best sold single the succeeder at the Top was Band Aid with the first recording of Do They Know It's Christmas? for two weeks followed by Murray Head's One Night In Bangkok for another two weeks just before Tears for Fears started their four weeks run at the top with Shout on the first issue of February. That's a bunch of four different number 1 hits within 6 weeks.

Worth noting the three new number 1s of 2015 each took more than two months to reach its hiatus. So we see the complete second row of the Christmas sale now standing in the first line. It might result due to the lack of infecting new releases on the market. The Hanging Tree definitely cashes in cause of the release of the Rebel Remix which boosted the demand the past days.


Highest new entry comes in at number 7. Charli XCX launches her second top10 hit with Break The Rules. Her first appearance (alongside Swedish Icona Pop) two years ago stopped at number 4.

New comer OMI now arrives inside the Top 20. His Cheerleader lands at number 16 in its fourth chart week.


Almost a full year after its first appearance in the survey Let It Go by Demi Lovato returns for a week and sets a new peak. Number 65 is 18 ranks higher than her so far peak. All this happens in the sixth chart week of the song.

13th of June:

It is the fourth week at the Top for CRO and his hit Traum. The single already achieved gold status–all that without having a proper video in rotation which is now released.

Traum already is the fourth single in 2014 that spends at least four weeks at the Top. And it is the first straight number 1 hit doing so since autumn 2011 when Rihanna & Calvin Harris had their We Found Love new released. Actually this single had not a continuous number 1 ride. Twice another nr.1 interrupted the success. So one might count Marlon Roudette as the real predecessor of a straight number 1 with at least four weeks at the Top. New Age started its chart career on September 2nd 2011 and held firm for eight consecutive weeks.

Still on the rise Canadian Keisza enters the Top5. Now Hideaway is the best performing Canadian production since two years when Carly Rae Jepsen infected the world with her intriguing Call Me Maybe.

Ed Sheeran returns with Sing into the Top10. The young star was present in Germany due to his performance as a juror within the show Keep Your Light Shining. Although the new casting format fails completely there was enough audience to propel the singer once again.


Rising 21–13 Jason Derulo enters the Top20 the first time after his no.1 single Talk Dirty. Accompanying Snoop Dogg was last seen inside the top20 in February 2012.

And another long absent star is back inside the Top20. The talk is about Michael Jackson whose posthumously released Love Never Felt So Good lands at number 18 this week giving him the highest position since three and a half year. The single version of the song features Justin Timberlake who missed the Top 20 for about a year.


Highest new entry comes in at number 22. It is West Coast the first single by Lana del Rey from her upcoming album Ultraviolence and it is the highest place the singer can achieve since her no.4 single Summertime Sadness back in summer 2012.

TV effects
Well–Sing meinen Song again helps songs into the list. Most liked Hört, Hört by Xavier Naidoo.
More surprising is the fact that a song from the Eurovision Contest can make it into the list a full month after the spectacle took place. Ruth Lorenzo from Spain got the 10th place in Copenhagen with her song Dancing In The Rain. In the week reflecting the sales effect the song wasn't seen in the German list. Now it is. Why?–Tanja Szewczenko and Willi Gabalier chose the track as one of their final dances within the show Let's Dance which propels the recording to number 54. It is the 14th song of the annual contest–the biggest impact for the event ever seen in its whole history.

23rd of May 2014: Third Nr.1 new entry / first Eurovision effects / King Kollegah

Chart history is written these days. A third consecutive week a completely new song storms the top of the singles charts in Germany. That is really something that never happened before. By the way these three number 1s are all produced by Germans. Alone that feat–three consecutive number 1 songs coming from Germany–was last seen seven years ago. It is a historic moment this week.
The song in question is Traum the new singly by German rapper CRO. The track announces his upcoming album Melodie that will follow in June. The single so far was scheduled for a release on 30th of May. The huge success on airplay made the record company prepone the release date. Immediately the song goes number 1 having the best digital sales start since three years. It is CRO’s second number 1 and indeed the second song that starts straight at the top position.

The Eurovision Song Contest shows its impact. Calm After The Storm by Dutch The Common Linnets enters the German charts at number 3. It is already now the best performing Eurovision runner’s up since 1969 when Cliff Richard’s Congratulations missed the trophy but performed very well on sale.
Winner Conchita Wurst from Austria and her song Rise Like A Phoenix enter the list at number 5. It matches last year’s winner Like A Teardrop by Emmeli de Forest and indeed is the best performing song coming from Austria since Klangkarussell’s Sonnentanz hit number 4 in November 2012.
All in all there are 12 songs from the contest entering the charts. It matches the result of last year's issue which was far and away the most influencing contest of all times.

Best sold album comes from German rapper Kollegah. As since January also streamings are eligible the new king of rap can set 18 different tracks into the current list. This is a feat only once beaten. In 2009 after the dead of Michael Jackson the star had more than 20 songs inside the list for three weeks. The peak was an unbelievable 24 songs.


Counting Eurovision and Kollegah's album tracks together this current weeks sees 35 completely new tracks entering the list. It is another new record for the German charts set up in this historical week.

25th of April 2014:

Rather Be by Clean Bandit Featuring Jess Glynne is Nr.1 in Germany for a third week. That gives us the fourth number 1 hit in a row that holds firm for at least three weeks. I was counting the statistics the past week already resuming that the charts somehow slow down at the moment. This week it is much more obvious due to the fact that four consecutive number 1 hits spend at least three weeks is a feat last seen in early summer 2010 when five number one hits did so. 2010 (and 2012) was the year when Germany had only 13 different songs storming the top. A result not seen since 2002 when there were only 11 number 1 hits. Seems that we whitness a longer period of slowing down after a very busy time between 2003 and 2009.
To underline this situation the Top 5 is again completely unchanged. And even the whole Top100 contains 5 new songs and 4 re-entries only. That's the lowest turnover since July 2012 when an almost three years phase of very static charts slowly ended. This might a renaissance of that time.


David Guetta still is the artist of the current decade who had the most chart entries at all. This week his summary is 611 weeks since January 1st 2010. Runner’s up Pitbull is 140 weeks behind.
The success of the French DJ Guetta is grounded on two very successful albums: One Love in 2009 and Nothing But The Beat in 2011. Both propelled a bunch of single hits into the song charts too. 11 of them going Top 10 including 6 Top 5 hits.
The upcoming album is scheduled for 2014 and for promotion the DJ offers new tracks since summer last year. Track number 3 Bad (a collaboration with Dutch Showtek) was released on April 7th midweek which propelled it to number 49 only in its first week. This issue full week’s sales count into the list giving the track a proper number 19. Well – the master still knows how to launch hits. But the real huge success still ain’t around in 2014.

Almost the same story could be told 'bout Pitbull. The past four years he was extremely successful. The duet with KE$HA Timber gave him his second number 1 in Germany. That was back in December 2013. Now he was chosen to record the official FIFA anthem for WM14 in Brazil. The track We Are One (a well working duet with Jennifer Lopez) was released on April 8th making it chart at number 72 past issue. Now with full sales the track shoots to number 20. I guess this ain't all we will see from this track. Anyway it is the best performance for JLO since summer 2012 when she hit the German Top 20 past alongside ... ehm - of course Pitbull.

Highest new entry is once again a German battle rap. The story started on a show by Sido on April 14th when entertainer and comedian Joko had an appearance as a rapper and dissing some B-level stars. A day later the answer by Eko Fresh Frauenarzt Manny Marc Bass Sultan Hengzt was digitally available. The fun is on the audience–Joko Diss enters the list at number 24.


Tracks on the rise
Still Aloe Blacc climbs up the list with I'm A Man. Number 1 in the UK, number 8 in the USA–in Germany the track stops now at number 43 which is close to the peak of his last release the solo take on Wake Me Up. An official release date as a stand alone single stilkl does not exist in Germany. Strange marketing strategy.
Another self evolving hit is All Night by Parov Stelar. The track climbs up the list as an album cut from his latest CD chosen by the audience. The latest kick for getting Electro Swing a mainstream phenomenon came by some shows the DJ had around here including one in Berlin. So far he is a star in Austria and some eastern European countries. The late success in Germany also tells a lot about dance music here in the past years.
Indila finally enters the Top 50 stopping at number 47 with Dernière Danse. Some internet sellers list the album Mini World at the very Top–the official media control charts saw it at number 35. It seems there is a gap in the way the official charts are compiled.
It was an easy bet predicting Best Day Of My Life by American Authors becoming a hit. This week the track rises 81–61, a few remixes will be released next days, the full CD single is scheduled for beginning of May.
The next deep house inspired mainstream hit comes in at number 70 in the shape of She Moves (Far Away) produced by DJ Alle Farben. The proper release is scheduled for beginning of May. His popularity already is big enough letting the track chart before. So far the DJ is best known for his Synesthesia sets played on several events and additionally released on soundcloud. The upcoming album is titled also Synesthesia.


DSDS effects
April 12th 2014 the third live show was aired. Again two tracks were propelled back in the list after they were performed on the show. The low impact they really have on the charts shows which way the format probably goes. Season 12 in spring 2015 is already scheduled anyway.
On number 58 Say Something by A Great Big World And Christina Aguilera lands. It is a new peak for the song that stalled at number 79 in January. Eisberg by Andreas Bourani also has a further appearance landing at number 66. It is exactly the same place the song had last time in November 2012.


Hallelujah very often is referred to be one of the best songs of all time. The song was written by Leonhard Cohen but the recording of Jeff Buckley became much more popular. The quality of the song and the recording did never grab the mainstream. Number 38 a year ago is all the track so far managed to reach. Mostly it can chart after a hopeful contestant staged on a casting show with the tune. So it will happen probably in next weeks time. On The Voice Kids a young duo has performed the song. But that's not all. A week before the casting show a video on youtube became a viral hit featuring a priest in a wedding ceremony singing Hallelujah. The video already collected 2 million clicks and brings the recording by Jeff Buckley back to chart honour. This week it re-enters number 76. Will it grow further this time?

28th of March 2014:

It is MR PROBZ again who takes the No.1 crown with his hit Waves. It is the third week for the track on the sunny place which makes it the most succesfull Dutch production since 15 years. At the very end of 1998 it was Loona who had her second number 1 single Hijo De La Luna spending three weeks at the top too.

Waves at the top also gives us a third number 1 in a row that at least spent three weeks on the top. Exactly one year ago we had that situation for last time. Back than it was Rihanna’s Diamonds that had a 10 weeks run in Dezember followed by will.i.am & Britney Spears and their Scream & Shout (9 weeks) and Passenger’s Let Her Go (5 weeks).



After their fulminant victory on the German national final to the Eurovision Song Contest and a full week on sale Is It Right by Elaiza storms the Top 10. The song lands at number 4 which is the fifth consecutive year that the national entry can reach the top 10. Such a success (or call it euphoria) wasn’t never seen before.
Also song number two performed on the show (and recorded on the EP) Fight Against Myself can gain some chart success. Number 50 is the place it sits pretty this week. At the very end of the list even the upcoming single Without appears. That's what I call success.

Other national finalists climb up the list too after a full week of sales. The runners up UNHEILIG sees his second song staged live on the show Wir sind alle wie eins jumping 71–29 (the leading entry Als wär’s das erste Mal vicecersa collapses 10–25)
Third on the show Cotton Candy Hurricane by MarieMarie goes 75–39, second song Candy Jar comes in at 82. Second act on place 3 Santiano only enters number 69 with Fiddler On The Deck. Well, it is the highest rank the band can achieve in the singles charts ever. On the album list it already has two number 1 hits under its belt.




In its 15th week on sale Liebe by Sido enters the top 20. It started chart life with the release of the album 30-11-80 back in December. Than it sneaked around the list raising slowly to a medium hit and two weeks ago finally had its release as a proper CD single. Number 16 is the result so far for that song.

At number 38 an act celebrates its 25th anniversary with its 25th chart entry titled 25. It’s Die Fantastischen Vier that worked so hard for this sensational constellation. Their first chart entry was in September 1992 when Die da?! started to become one of their biggest success till today.

Without a proper release as a single Sean Paul’s Hey Baby climbs up the list. This week the track lands at number 47 and it’s right on the way to become the artist’s next hit.

On sale but overseen for some weeks Enrique Iglesias Ft. Pitbull finally raise some awareness. I'm A Freak goes 89–56 this week. Still far away from the levels both acts perform usually. Even the production team of The Cataracs is used to rank in higher regions.

Released as a proper CD single Weinen by Adel Tawil manages to reach number 57. Well, also this artist usually collects Top 10 positions. Maybe the fact that an unofficial remix by Roy Jones can attract much more people than the original mixes causes the weak chart position. Why spending money for a boring track if there is another around with much more appeal (and for no money)?

It is the third chart run for A Little Party Never Killed Nobody by Fergie + Q-Tip + Goonrock. The track now climbs to number 67 again in its 36th chart week. In early summer 2013 it peaked at number 10. Is this new demand for the song caused by the fresh mothership of Fergie or its misfortune on the Oscars?

Scheduled for a release as single track on 28th of March Down By The River by German new super darlings Milky Chance climbs already up the charts weeks before. This issue it stands at number 68 as an album cut.

Beginning of April Rebecca Ferguson tours througout Germany. In anticipation of this event the demand in her last single Light On raises again. The track re-enters at number 86.

Deep House probably will accompany us for 2014. The next act coming from Germany is Parra for Cuva ft. Anna Naklab. The DJ (+ singer) took the classic tune from Chris Isaak to rework it in a dance/lounge style. The result can enter the charts after a month on sale. The original recording took a long way to its hiatus too. Recorded in the late 80s it became a hit with its use in David Lynch's movie Wild at Heart in 1990. Number 9 in Germany was the result more than 20 years ago.



After 84 weeks inside the charts Sonnentanz by Austrian duo Klangkarussell is now the track with the third longest consecutive chart appearance. This current week it eclipses the result of Adele's Rolling In The Deep from 2010. Only Geboren um zu leben (94 weeks) by UNHEILIG and Heavy Cross by Gossip (96 weeks) spent more consecutive weeks on the list.
The list of all weeks spent on the charts no matter how many chart runs the recording had looks litlle different. Here Sonnentanz ranks at number 11 to date.

33-12: New Nr. 1 – coming from Israel

It was a question of time. After two weeks at runners up position Asaf Avidan can achieve the Number 1 spot with the help of DJ Wankelmut who had remixed his Reckoning Song new named to One Day. Everywhere one goes the song is playing around. It is the real summer tune of 2012. Also in Austria the song starts catching fire. This recent week it enters number 3 there.

One Day is the ninth Number 1 in 2012. It is the sevent consecutive Number 1 for an European production. Since late April we only had such songs reaching number 1. Asaf Avidan is only the second Israeli artist who can reach Number 1 in Germany. So far only Ofra Haza topped the charts in 1988 with Im’nin’alu. As an Israel-German collaboration it is also the second German production topping the list in 2012. In 2011 we only had one of this kind.


Highest new entry comes from a German duo. Max Herre feat. Philipp Poisel offer Wolke 7 (Cloud 7) which enters the list at number 6.

Also the second highest new entry comes from a German project. Y-Titty is a comic duo that releases songs on youtube. Der letzte Sommer (The last summer) is their second single. It starts chart life at number 15. Having six German songs inside the current Top 20 productions coming from here are popular as last seen in late April this year.

31-12: Mallorca Sound And TV Made Hits

Here is another very calm week as we see an almost static Top 20. Nothing new at the Top. It is the fourth week for LYKKE LI that she spends at the Top with I Follow Rivers. It is the fourth single in 2012 that can do so at least a full month. Last female artist having four weeks at number 1 was Rihanna back in autumn 2011 when her We Found Love heavily supported by Calvin Harris was the most sold single in Germany. The last female solo artist spending more then 4 weeks at the Top was summer queen 2011 Alexandra Stan who had her Mr. Saxobeat seven consecutive weeks leading the survey. So one can truly call I Follow Rivers a real summer hit.

Strong competition arrives at number 2 where Asaf Avidan stops with the Wankelmut Remix of his Reckoning Song which is much better known under the name One Day. The Israeli singer songwriter now is in Germany the most successful act from his country since Ofra Haza topped the charts in summer 1988 with Im Nin’Alu. In between only Yael Naim made it into the Top 5 in Germany. You all for sure remember her 2008 hit New Song which was heavily supported by an advertisement of Apple. A last word ‘bout Asaf Avidan: He is only the third Israeli act that can reach Top 3 status in Germany. Before Ofra Haza only Esther & Abi Ofarim had a number 2 hit in 1968 with Morning Of My Life.

Worth noting the rise of Triggerfinger that can bring its cover of I Follow Rivers to Top 10 status. It is more than a year ago that Milow as the last Belgian artist hit the German Top 10.

Another Belgian artist is entering the list for the first time further down. DJ Netsky is a hot thing adored in the underground for about a year. Now TV channel Pro7 used his track Come Alive for its summer self ads and brings the track into the charts. Number 75 might be a start that will lead to more stardom soon.




Highly anticipated in the yellow press Bobby Brown can turn gossip into real attention making his single Don’t Wake Me Up rising into the Top 20 which now is the highest rank for him since last year’s Yeah 3x climbed to number 7.

The more impressive mover is Taio Cruz. His World In Our Hands–still one week before the official CD single release–takes a 40 places leap to number 30. Seems that in next weeks time that song becomes his fifth Top 10 hit in a row. Right now it is heavily supported as one of the signature songs for the official broadcasting of the Olympics.


There are some new German productions entering the list. Most of them fit perfectly to holiday feeling–in words: Mallorca sound. The so called Schlager or Discofox is very popular on the island as well as in Bulgaria and similar sea holiday paradises.

Highest new German production is Nur noch Schuhe an! (Only Wearing Shoes) by Mickie Krause. Once again it is a covered hit coming from the Netherlands and originally performed by Gebroeders Ko. Alleen maar schoenen aan was last year number 6 in the Dutch singles Top 100. Mickie Krause–always looking for new material to record in same sounding style–took the party song and transfered it into German. The result ... is senseless as always. Probably the original had some power and som straightness–the cover is only for drunken idiots. Germans love that–the single is entering at number 32. It is the 17th chart hit for Mickie Krause. By never reaching the Top 10 he is one of the most active medium hit producers.


Mickie Krause Snippet and the original by Gebroeders Ko

Also Michael Wendler brings a new single into shelves. Was wäre wenn (What If) is his eighth chart single. It starts at number 40 which is more or less a weak entry.



Anna-Maria Zimmermann duets with Olaf Henning who hardly tries having a new hit after his Cowboy & Indianer hit in 2008. Both together recorded Freundschaftsring which can enter the list after its release on CD at number 73. Whether this will be the big success… ? The last singles of Anna-Maria Zimmermann only spent one week each inside the charts.



Most awkward Mallorca singer Ina Colada is back too with another cover version. This time she took Seven Tears originally an international hit for the Goombay dance Band and released in a German version in 1981 by Severine. The English recording made it in Germany only to number 13, in Britain it got a three weeks number 1 and was the biggest hit for the Goombay Dance Band outside Germany. The new version takes the tune and the lyrics, speeds up the whole thing and turns the romantic story into a senseless singalong cover. That is bold enough for entering at number 81.




The version of the Goombay Dance Band & Severine

Der Checker is sort of a B-class star. In 2010 he was one of the candidates of the Superstar casting show. He released a rap single three months after which became popular achieving number 18. Now he is turning his style into party Atzen sound and releases Unf***ingfassbar!. Don’t know what is more awkward: he himself or seeing Harald Glööckler appearing in the video. This is pop for really poor people.



Groove Coverage lifts Riot On The Dancefloor as the fourth single from the same titled album. And lands with number 91 the worst chart position ever reached with a single release (except the two very first singles).


The one and only serious German new entry comes from Tim Bendzko who releases a fourth single from his album Wenn Worte meine Sprache wären (If Words Would Be My Language). Sag einfach JA (Just Say YES) was chosen as the background sound for the Sat.1 trailer announcing the movie programme on Tuesday evening in July. So the newcomer of 2011 had strong support and sees his new single landing at number 42 in its first week on sale. Sound and lyrics are directly connected to his three hits before. It will get much more interesting seeing him continuing in releasing new material.




Party music is the thing searched the most these days. So Swiss project Remady & MANU-L Feat. J-Son benefits from that mood. Single Ladies already released three months ago really catches fire and jumps right in the upper half of the German list. It sits now pretty at number 41in its eighth chart week and marks the highest position Remady so far achieved in Germany. The number 1 success it had in Switzerland is yet a long way to go.

A week before the official releasing British boy group The Wanted still rising. Chasing The Sun enters position 50 and is on the way of becoming the biggest success for the band. Supported by RTL Nitro also project b. Feat. Kelly Rowland can get raising attention. Summer Dreaming 2012 slowly rises after it is used for self ads of the TV channel.

And finally just another TV campaign : Pro7 features its comedy programme on Tuesday with a spot backgrounded by Rayos de sol from Jose de Rico & Henry Mendez. The track should have been a summer hit by itself. It is available since end of May and can enter the list now after its use on TV.

27-12: Linkin Park Superstars

Now it is the most successful song by Die Toten Hosen. Tage wie diese holds a fifth week firm at the Top of the German singles charts. Counting 14 weeks inside the Top 10 the song needs eight more weeks to eclipse the result of the second best performing song so far Zehn kleine Jägermeister.

Holding a fifth week at the top position Die Toten Hosen are the first German act doing so since Lena’s Satellite had a continous five weeks run at the top in spring 2010. After winning the Eurovision song contest in May that year she stormed back to number 1 adding a sixth week to her account.

The story of the week is connected with number 2 act Linkin Park. Their album Living Things storms to number 1 in the very first week on sale. It probably supports the figures for current single Burn It Down and also lifts the opener song Lost In The Echo into the list as an album cut. The song is scheduled for being the next single in Britain end of June. In Germany the label did not report a release as a single. By entering the list at number 68 it is far and away the most loved song of the album.

Also song number 2 on the album In My Remains can made it in the singles list as an standalone track. It is listed at number 83 and Germany is the one and only country where that tracks gains that much attention. It is mentioned only in the UK rock charts also–ranking at number 10.

Having a very successfull new album in shelves always raises some interest in older single hits. In the case of Linkin Park it is Numb which seems the most signature song of the band. Released in 2003 it reached number 19 in Germany–as the third single taken from the Meteora album a quite impressive result. A year later the track became much wider popular by being mashuped with JAY-Z’s Encor. The mix reached in Germany number 4 giving the band a first Top 10 single hit in Germany.

The last Top 10 hit of the band–2009 New Divide–shapes as the second best loved classic directly followed by What I’ve Done, the third so far Top 10 hit of the band. Finally also one of the very first hits of Linkin Park–In The End–appears newly in the list. With this the band does have seven different songs inside the sales list. It is now the act with the best result for 2012 matching the feat last made by David Guetta in autumn last year when his album Nothing But The Beat lunched nine different tracks inside the charts.


Upcoming summer hits
Number 1 in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland Gusttavo Lima is more and more becoming a star in Germany too. Balada (Tchê tcherere tchê tchê) rises 23–14 and now sits for the first time pretty inside the Top 20. Will we watch the song soon going Top 10 status becoming a real succeeder of Nooossaa! Ai Se Eu Te Pego?

Already Top 10 in Switzerland Timati & La La Land Feat. Timbaland & Grooya now also storm the German charts. Not All About The Money takes a 90–29 leap making the song the second biggest hit for the Russian rap star. Predecessor Welcome To St. Tropez had a 21 weeks long rise to his peak at number 3 in summer last year. May the new song follow that feat?



Rising also and probably one of the minor hits this summer is ¡Bienvenido! by Hannover based band Marquess. By rising 61–42 the song is the first appearance of the band in the upper half of the charts since three years.



German dance project cascada comes with a new offering for the summer. Rhythm Of the Night is heavily serving the 90ies revival. The track was a hit in 1994 for Italian project Corona reaching number 8 in Germany. Cascada transfers the song into the new century–rave signals a la DJ Antoine spin around the well known tune. As one of the few people who did not like the original I find the new version much straighter. Nathalie Horler does have a soulfree voice which completely fits to that synthetic dance sound. Number 35 in the release week makes the track one of the very medium cascada hits.



the original:


Scheduled for a mid-August release on CD the next single for gossip can reach the list after a video is released. Move In The Right Direction sneaks in at number 79 while some first remixes are available for free.


Last story: a very strange track appears at number 89. Officially there is Endless Summer EM Fussball-Hits 2012 listed–credited to Endless Summer. But there is no such act existing. A compilation of 11 soccer related tracks is available under the name which should not be eligible for listed inside the singles charts. So–there is a little mystery left about this rank. I just asked the compiling institute media control and let you know soon if they give me an answer.

14-12: Echo Award supports German Music

After nine weeks sneaking through the Top 10 and three weeks at runners up position finally Heart Skips A Beat by Olly Murs feat. Rizzle Kicks enters the Number 1. It is the first British number 1 in Germany since we saw Calvin Harris (alongside Rihanna) topping the list in November/December last year. Taking such a long climb before getting the chart crown is quite unusual. The last track doing so was technically We Are The People by Australian Empire Of The Sun in late 2010. They reached the number 1 in their 14th week if one count all chart weeks together. In fact it was the second chart run of the song and in that one the track only needed 5 weeks. So, if we watch out for a “real” sleeping Number 1 hit we have to go back to January 2006 when Marlon Roudette’s first project Mattafix reached Number 1 with Big City Life in its 15th chart week. That track had a three weeks run at the top spot afterwards.

With number one predecessor reaching the top in its eighth chart week we have a very slow and relaxed first quartal of the year concerning the top hits.

Highest new entry and newcomer of the week is German rapper CRO. He became known last your through the net releasing tracks, mixtapes and videos fo free. In January he signed to a major publisher–probably he now is sick of producing for nothing. The first single released still is on his label Chimperator. Easy was a net hit in last autumn already. It is indeed an easy track quoting softly the refrain of Boney M.’s Sunny which was a number 1 hit in 1976. Never the tune was used that relaxed.

CRO could become the very first German internet star with a longer career. In the US or UK it is quite usual seeing young musicians start as independent net stars signing a big deal and releasing proper CDs. In Germany that practise is new to most labels. CRO could be the one who changes everything. Number 2 for his debut.



Right behind new comer CRO a veteran band lands with a new single. Die Toten Hosen already celebrate their 30th anniversary. Tage wie dieser (Days Like This) is the 39th single that can reach the charts. Number 3 is even the second highest rank a track offered by the band can reach. The band had huge support by performing on the show of the ECHO award ceremony. The announced album will give the single probably a further boost a few weeks later. For now it is quite interesting seeing how the song performs on sale. Most of the single of Die Toten Hosen started more or less strong and had lose commercial power very fast.



Having two new German songs at the very top of the list gives the recent issue three Top 10 hits in German. It is a situation last seen in October last year.Back then we had four German productions inside the Top 10.

Further German songs benefitting from the Echo award ceremony can be found inside the Top 20. Chemnitz based KRAFTKLUB jumps 30 places reaching number 14 with Songs für Liam. Silbermond comes back to number 19 with Himmel auf.

At number 37 a German legend comes back in the list. Cologne band BAP exists already 35 years. They have had chart hits over the past 30 years, only once they reached the Top 10. At the award ceremony they performed All die Augenblicke (All this Moments) accompanied by Clueso. The track enters at number 37 giving the band its highest chart place since 2001.



Winner of the Newcomer trophy Tim Bendzko can watch his hit Nur noch kurz die Welt retten rising again. It lands at number 47 in its 44th chart week. Wenn Worte meine Sprache wären re-enters at number 77. It is "only" the 25th week in the list.

All in all there are 34 German productions inside the Top 100. Actually nobody can say German music needs to be more supported and featured.



On April the 1st a new TV channel started in Germany.RTL NITRO broadcasts serials, movies and sitcoms. For advertising the start of its broadcasting British-Irish The Overtones were casted as testimonials. Their song Gambling Man reaches the list at number 30 a week before the channel was on air.

03-12: Hits Made By TVOG

A casting show blows several hits in the single’s charts. We do have 13 new entries – 12 of them are related to the show in question. The 13th hit also has support by a TV series. If there were no TV the music industry would still sleep.

And this recent week shows impressively how stars are made. It’s not about clever songwriting or performing in an unbelievably cool way. Not at all. It is all about BEING performed in a casting show. That’s the way how German singer songwriter Philipp Poisel became popular. He had his first success with single and album Wo fängt dein Himmel an? (Where does your heaven start?) in 2008. In 2010 he had even more success mainly albumwise. In October his single Eiserner Steg (Iron [Landing] Stage) made the first significant impact to the charts after prominently provided by the German movie What a Man. But still – number 21 was the end of the line. Now – after that same track was performed by Benny Fiedler at casting show The Voice of Germany – the tracks jumps 100–4 giving the original artist his first appearance at the very top of the single’s list. Simultanously the version of Benny Fiedler is entering the list at number 25 too. It is the first time in German TV and music history that the versions recorded at the show are available officially as a single track. I guess it will change the drive of the show dramaticly as everybody knows right now who is the big favourite of the casting. In the case of TVOG it is Benny Fiedler. How do the fans of other contestants react right now? And is it really about the good voice that one is crowned? Or just a simple act of mobilizing a lot of people via web2.0 applications? – Certain is the fact that the original artist profits much more of an performance than the contestant itself. Comparing both it is hard to decide which one is the more heartful.

The original by Philipp Poisel and the version by Benny Fiedler


Meeting Philipp Poisel at number 4 marks the end of an seven weeks abstinence of German songs in the Top 5. The last seen that high was Rammstein’s Mein Land at the end of November.

Same story for a song that is famous already but never made it into the German charts. I’m talking ’bout radiohead’s debut Creep which was a Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom in 1992. In the Friday issue of the show Michael Schulte sang the song. His version enters the charts at number 62 – 12 ranks above him the original comes in and gives British Radiohead their highest place ever reached in Germany. It is only their fourth track that can hit the German charts – the last one appeared eight years ago. So this is the very first come back of the year – caused by a casting show.

I guess you all know the original – this is the version from the show


The show enabled a lot of other tracks to enter the charts (again). Sorted by popularity Ich kenne nichts (das so schön ist wie du) (I Don’t Know Anything (As Beautiful As You)) is the big gainer. The track was performed by Xavier Naidoo and his candidates during the voting. The original recording from 2003 was number one for a single week in June that year. According to different sources the track collected already 29 to 36 chart weeks – actually it had several chart runs since it’s original appearance and probably is one of Xavier Naidoo’s signature tracks. Last time it was seen in the lists was back in 2010 when it had a four weeks run reaching number 47. Now it re-enters at an impressing number 20 – the highest rank since its first chart run in 2003.

Rea Garvey opened the show one day later with his candidates by performing his recent hit Can’t Stand The Silence. As an effect the single jumps back up the charts 69–46 in its 18th chart week.

The performance at TvoG: Ich kenne nichts Team Xavier / Can’t Stand The Silence Team Rea


10 of the 24 contestants can reach a rank in the charts. Leading the pack is – as I told before – Benny Fiedler at 25. Percival and Behnam Moghaddam follow with their takes on Hedonism originally recorded by Skunk Anansie in 1997 and The Sound Of Silence. The first one was the only proper hit for Skunk Anansie. Now it comes in at 40 in the new version. The Sound Of Silence was a hit for Simon & Garfunkel in 1966 when it reached number 9. The song is back at number 41.



Further contestants arriving: at 70 Max Giesinger with the Coldplay song Fix You – originally released in 2005 reaching number 65 back then. Mic Donet performed Ain’t No Sunshine and gives the famous song its second chart appearance of all time. Only once in 1998 the US American band 4 the Cause brought its version into the list at number 52. The original by Bill Whiters never charted in Germany. Rüdiger Skoczowsky had to leave the show after his first live performance – the audience loved his version of Without You anyway. It can enter at number 80 – the original by David Guetta feat. USHER still holds at number 16.

The most loved girl/woman of the two shows was Jasmin Graf. Her version on Wovon sollen wir träumen climbs to number 81 – the more pop oriented original by Frida Gold already is 41 weeks in the charts rising softly 55–51 this week. Seeing the ladies entering only at the end of the survey underlines the old rule: Gents are the big deal in casting shows – they do have tons of female fans who spend money on downloads and whatsoever and they love to call several times for their adored idol. The male audience is much more reserved. They probably would go crazy airing a soccer casting.

Katja Friedenberg also is in the charts. Her interpretation of Adele’s Turning Tables stops at 86 – probably she was disadvantaged by choosing an almost unknown song. We will watch her in one weeks time.

The last candidate who turns into a chart act is Dominic Sanz. He performed With Or Without You known in the version by Irish U2. Like Rüdiger Skoczowsky also Dominic Sanz had to leave the show – probably his chart career ends before it really started with a number 98 rank.
Please find the videos of all the performances at the official TvoG-Site

Of course not only the songs of the candidates made a remarkable impact to the survey. Also the songs presented in between got a small push. The new Snow Patrol single This Isn’t Everything You Are enters after the band performed in the show. Coming in at number 52 it isn’t the really big start. So a performance in the show isn’t an immediately given hit. That had to accept Söhne Mannheims too. They performed – including juror Xavier Naidoo their latest single hit Für dich (For You) – only clinging on at number 65.


The only new entry not related with The Voice of Germany this week is culcha candela’s new single Wildes Ding (Wild Thing). It lands at number 12. If there were only one person left finding the Berlin multicultural band innovative – this recent release should immmediately stop that kind of ideas. The track is a proper hit produced single lending all the key catchers of past hits – in the end you listen to a softened version of Atzen Pop successful a year ago. The lyrics are about the male dreams of a perfect woman. And – surprise surprise – it is a princess that turns into a vamp at night. No wonder the track was chosen for being the title track of just started TV show Dschungelcamp which has unbelievably high rates.

At the very top there is nothing new. Gotye stands a fourth week there. Somebody That I Used To Know is the first single since Rihanna’s We Found Love that does so. Of course Rihanna took three runs at Number 1 for collecting four weeks. The last song holding at least four consecutive weeks as the best sold single was New Age by Marlon Roudette in autumn past year.
Michel Teló is still on the rise with his Nooosssaa! Ai Se Eu Te Pego! gaining 3 places and stopping at number 2. Will the football anthem reach number 1 in teh next days? According to most recent iTunes lists it will. That might be the first Brazilian number 1 in Germany.

With the invasion of German artists the density of German productions at the upper end increases. We do have four German productions inside the Top 20 – that sounds much, although back in October there were four porductions alone inside the Top 10. Right now there is a strong demand in songs in German. The four German songs inside the Top are sung in German – end of october we’ve seen a similar presence but none of the tracks were inside the Top 10.

German language always has a heighth when Après Ski season is coming up – meaning we face the usual stupid hits sneaking through the charts. This week Markus Becker enters the list with a rework of his last single Heli-Heli Helikopter. For the Après Ski version Markus Becker invited Austrian Marco Mzee of The Mountain Brothers to join him. The new version can be found at number 67 – the video might show you what the party is about.

New Year's Eve Parties

Usually the start of the year is a quiet week. Nobody is really surprised that we don’t have any new entry that week. But we have a lot of re-entering tracks. 15 hits of the past months appear again in the survey – that’s a lot. It is in fact the biggest amount since two years. January the 8th 2010 we saw 23 tracks coming back. But now let’s leave the long tail of the list and go straight to the top.

Gotye (feat. Kimbra) is a third week there in Germany and now equals the feat of Lana del Rey who did so right before he took over the Number 1. The former number 1 star still holds firm at the runner’s up position meaning we do have another very static Top in Germany.

Having two number 1 singles each topping the charts at least three continous weeks is a feat last seen from April to June last year when On The Floor by JLO feat. Pitbull spent five weeks at the top directly followed by Call My Name in the version of last year’s superstar Pietro Lombardi.

The big climber this week comes from Brasilia. Michel Teló jumps up 12 places to number 5 with his soccer related latino hit Nooosssaa! Ai Se Eu Te Pego!. Although right now the Bundesliga has its winter break till January 20th a lot of people love the song and related videos about goal celebrations of soccer players all over Europe. The track does have good prospects of climbing higher next week.

The second big gainer comes in the figure of Taio Cruz whos Troublemaker takes a 19 places leap to number 13. As I can find no other obvious reason I assume the strong interest is caused by people who searched for the right party tracks to celebrate new years eve. Lower down the list there are a lot of other gainers for probably the same reason as they are Animal by r.i.o. Feat. U-JEAN rising 62–48 and reaching a new peak, Mr Saxobeat the summer hit by Alexandra Stan bouncing back 63–49 in its 35th chart week and even I sing a Liad für di by Austrian Andreas Gabalier rises 78–50. Taio Cruz at this moment leads the party kings as he sees his Higher (in companion with Kylie Minogue) re-entering also – at number 78.


German duo Glasperlenspiel profits directly of an performance at a New Year’s Eve party. They staged at the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin which was broadcasted live in public TV. Their hit ECHT returns afterwards to number 20 – it is now the second most sold German track behind Cello recorded unplugged by Udo Lindenberg feat. Clueso. Number three in the survey of best sold German tracks is still Tim Bendzko with his song Nur noch kurz die Welt retten.



Also Frida Gold gets a boost after performing at the Berlin party. Wovon sollen wir träumen rises again 76–55 in its 40th chart week.



Third artist finding a lot of new fans in Berlin was – unbelievably – DJ Ötzi. The singer re-enters with both his performed songs. I sing a Liad für Dich comes in at 72 – it is by the way the highest entering track – and his huge hit Ein Stern (der deinen Namen trägt) appears for a 107th week at 85.



DJ Ötzi also had a TV appearance at the New Year’s Eve party of channel RTL2 presenting après ski hits. Probably this event was the second best watched that night. Even Mickie Krause is back with his Mallorca hit Schatzi, schenk mir ein Foto (Darlin’, Give Me A Photo). It is already the 30rd chart week of the track. Mickie Krause never had a hit longer appearing inside the German charts. Probably we will have the track all the next weeks in the list as the après ski and carnival season just starts. Also Jürgen Drews can re-enter the list with Wenn die Wunderkerzen brennen ... I really hope you’re not afraid of the closer future.


Every year at the first chart issue one track appears for a single week. It is ABBA’s seasonal hit Happy New Year. First released as a single in Germany in 1999 it collected three chart weeks. Since 2009 the song re-appears continously reaching very instable success. In 2009 it overtook the peak from its original chart run by one position and stopped at number 77. This year the track re-enters at 75 giving ABBA the highest place since 1992 when Dancing Queen had a revival. In the Netherlands the song stopped last year at number 8 – this year it can reach again number 11. The recent success might be explained by the fact that the start of the year 2012 was in the middle of the chart week – so really all purchases count in this single week. Other years the sales started a few days before New Year’s Eve and peaked right at January 1st which probably dated in two different weeks. – Die hard fans had the chance of purchasing a precious collector’s item at ABBA’s official homepage at the end of November. UNIVERSAL released a silver sparkling vinyl edition of Happy New Year limited to 500 copies – unfortunatly a lot of commercial sellers grabbed several copies for selling these at platforms like eBay for about 200 Euros. Once again a music label did not really care about the real music fans – it’s a pity and probably the reason why a lot of people doesn’t mind about the problems the music industry always attests.

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.

Christmas Carols And TV Castings

The last chart week of the year and we do have a new number 1. As some digital sales analysts reported a week ago Australian Gotye climbs to number 1 in Germany. Somebody That I Used To Know is the 15th and last number 1 single this year. So we had two number one hits more than in 2010 and the same amount as in the two years before. It is also the sixth debut single of an artist that can climb to number 1 in 2011. And it is a number one coming from an Australian act after a one year break. In December 2010 it was Empire Of The Sun who reached the top spot with We Are The People after its use as a commercial soundtrack. Taking in consideration that Gotye is a native Belgian he is the first Belgian artist at number 1 since March 2010 when Stromae occupied the top position for two weeks with Alors On Danse. By the way: it was the debut single for Stromae also – since his number 1 hit nothing more from him poped in the list. Accompanying Kimbra is the first artist from New Zealand reaching the German top.

The success of Gotye comes due to the release of the physical CD single on Decmeber 16th as well as due to the use of the track for advertising the Christmas programme of TV channel Pro7.

A significant move is made by Lady Gaga Superstar. She is more a performance and video star than a musical genius. The video for Marry The Night was released beginning of December simultaneaously with the CD and finally the track sales increases slowly. This week it reaches number 17 giving her a 10th Top 20 hit – it’s only the third to miss the Top 10.


The recent list is reflecting sales in the week just before Christmas, so let’s have a look at the annual Christmas carols. There we can witness a change: the most popular Christmas song this year is in fact All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey. It beats out the long time favourite Last Christmas by Wham! narrowly as it sits one place ahead of Wham! at number 24. It is the highest rank the song can reach since 2008 when it rose to number 18. The past two years it stalled at number 28 respectively number 38. The new interest is caused by a newly recorded version featuring Justin Bieber as duetting partner. Unfortunately the charts do not list the versions separately due to te fact that the duet is only a B-side. Anyway according to iTunes the original version recorded in 1994 is the still the most popular. Number 3 of the Christmas anthems is – like the years before – Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming) offered by Melanie Thornton.


Looking at the list we can see that well known hits of the past months rise again up the list. Rosenstolz Wir sind am Leben reverts 55–45, Still by Jupiter Jones rises 59–46 . It is given that next week this trend will be even stronger.


German hits: Most sold German song is still Cello performed unplugged by Udo Lindenberg feat. Clueso (number 9). All other German productions are far and away behind that leader. Tim Bendzko ranks with Nur noch kurz die Welt retten (Just To Save The World) at 27 in its 30th chart week, Glasperlenspiel (Glass Bead Game) with Echt (Pure) rises again to number 28.

The highest new entry is a German one although it comes in only at number 48. It is the winner of talent casting show Das Supertalent. In fact Leo Rojas is a street musician from Ecuador. On the TV final the reunion with his mother was well set – the TV nation spent all emotions and voted the nai (pan flute) player for the win. As an effect his winning track Einsamer Hirte / The lonely shephard can enter the sales charts too.



It is kind of cynical that Leo Rojas is the celebrated one – hundreds of similar musicians ain’t recognized in German daily life. Probably that’s part of the business. Back to the music itself: Einsamer Hirte is a well known tune. In 1977 it became popular by James Last & Gheorghe Zamfir and reached number 22 in Germany. In 2003 the recording was used as the closing track in Quentin Tarantino’s movie Kill Bill Vol.I.

With Leo Rojas entering the list Germany sees two South Americans within the list. Brazilian Michel Telé jumps 49–26 with his soccer anthem Nooosssaa! Ai Se Eu Te Pego!.


Casting fever still burns for The Voice Of Germany. The live show from Friday, December 16th saw Lena Sicks battling against Heiko Schmidt. Both had to perform Eisberg (Iceberg) originally recorded by newcomer Andreas Bourani. The track re-enters at number 59. – Battle number two with huge emotional potential: Lisa Martine Weller versus Marijana Vuckovic. The song to perform was Another Way To Die made famous by Jack White & Alicia Keys for the soundtrack of the James Bond movie Quantum Of Solace from 2008. Winner of the showdown was Lisa Martine Weller – the track surprisingly re-enters the list at number 65. It is the 19th chart week for the song that climbed to number 8 in late 2008. I call that re-appearance surprisingly cause the track is mentioned as very inconvenient and hard to love since it was presented for the first time. Plus it is a three years old track – usually older songs only have a chance in the sales charts if they are performed by an very adored participant or the winner itself. Well, that might be a sign for meeting Lisa Martine again at the final shows…

Another movie track was the most touching a day before at live battle show number 1: Falling Slowly from the 2006 Irish movie Once that was awarded with an Oscar for the Best Song in 2008. Michael Schulte was the one who one the battle in the TV show with the song – the original was recorded by Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová who both are now newcomer to the German charts – well, Glen Hansard had came already once in touch with the list as cast member of 1992 movie The Commitments.

Battle number 2 on that Thursday: Alicia Emmi Berg versus Kim Sanders. Both had to perform Only Girl (In The World). Kim Sanders (known from collaborations with Culture Beat, Schiller or Heppner) was chosen as the winner – original interpretation by Rihanna is back at 100.

Last TV influenced re-entry. Friday 16th again – different channel – completely different audience. The NDR Talkshow is watched by more older and intellectual people. Within the last show French ZAZ perforemde her hit je veux and unbelieveably as it seems – there are still enough people who didn’t had the song in their collection. So a new demand arose throwing ZAZ back in the list at number 60 which is her 41st chart week at all.


And now ... for all you – especially the many Russian speaking readers – I wish you a Happy New Year – С новым годом

Nr.1 Battle + First X-mas Releases

Once again R(ihanna) is the one who grabs the honour of being number 1 in Germany. Plus – once again Rihanna does so by rising from a place not being number 1. It is the second time that We Found Love reclaims the top position after left that one before. The last track and artist doing so was Keri Hilson with her I Like almost exactly two years ago. Back than Aura Dione and Lady Gaga where the combatants disturbing a consecutive run at the top. In 2011 it was again Aura Dione and a new star named Flo Rida who doing similar to Rihanna.

The rise back to number 1 is all but surprising. Talk That Talk – the new album of Rihanna appeared in shops and enters at number 3 within the album list. Big album releases very often cause a new interest in single hits. So We Found Love really benefits from the album release. It is the fourth week of the track as the most sold one in Germany.

The second big album release comes from Canadian NICKELBACK. They even outsell Rihanna with their new offer Here And Now – in the single’s survey When We Stand Together jumps back 18–9.

Their are more album effects inside the recent list. Finnish Sunrise Ave see their hollywood hills jumping back 97–73 and jessie.J re-enters the list with Price Tag at 74. Both acts released a deluxe re-edition of their latest albums.


The next big (sales) event is knocking at the door: Christmas. Last week Justin Bieber with Mistletoe clocked up the charts. This week menowin enters with Waiting For Christmas at 27. It’s the second single of the runner’s up superstar from 2010. As the list from iTunes shows the track could rise much higher during next weeks which could enable menowin as the recently most successful contestant from last year’s season.
For the video and song please check out the clipfish tube for yourself – embedding the video is not allowed

Of course also well known Christmas anthems start appearing inside the list: Last Christmas by WHAM! stops at 52 and Mariah Carey re-enters with All I Want For Christmas Is You at 75. Further down the charts one can find also Melanie Thornton with Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming) and the (unbelievably terrible) German contribution Küss mich, halt mich, lieb mich (Kiss me, hold me, love me) by Ella Endlich.


No Christmas story at all but a TV inspired spontaneous "hit" comes in at 63. The Supertalent show of November 19th presented Viennese Caroline Kreutzberger singing Pour que tu m’aimes encore. The song was a hit for Céline Dion in a lot of countries however not in Germany. Right after the performance the original enters the German list for the very first time.
Also RTL is keeping its videos available only on the channel’s own site – or go to Caroline’s facebook site for wathcing her version.


Two new German productions show up for new in the charts.
German dance project r.i.o. launched a succeeder to the hit Turn This Club Around. On Animal again U.S. born singer U-Jean delivers the voice. The track enters the list on downloads only at number 68 and stalls far behind the predecessor which ranges still at position 32. The full CD release of Animal appeared December 2nd – so wait a fortnight for comparing the power of both releases.



The next viral hit from Germany enters at number 100. It is a dance production – of course. FFF stands for „Fucking, feeding off, watching TV“ and the track is full with (minimal) slogans of our daily life. Originally released in early summer the track found its way to the clubs, into playlists and of course into the net. The video so far were watched over a million times on youtube. It is really on time for bringing the track to proper commercial hit status as well. The heads behind the track are Eichensohn/Davenstedt – two DJs who want to be unkown. They always appear as two clowns spreading the story that they met in Berlin buying a collection of Boney M.-hits. Well, doesn’t matter anyway who they are and where they come from – the track is probably one of the most consistent (mainstream) dance tracks of the last months. Enjoy the video!



For all non-German speaking people: there is an English version available also:



And please look for the Turkish, Russian, Japanese, Spanish ... version for your own!

Slow Charts – Long Running Hits

Seeing Marlon Roudette spending an eighth week at the top of German charts means New Age is the song spending most weeks at number 1this recent year. It is very certain that no other song will beat the resultas there are only nine chart weeks being left until the year ends.
Right behind the British singer American MAROON 5 ranks still at number 2 with Moves Like Jagger. It is already the sixth week in a row the boys accompanied by Christina Aguilera land at the runners up position.

Two British acts are new in the German Top 10: example with Changed The Way You Kissed Me (8) and Adele with her third Top 10 Single Someone Like You (10)

The highest new entry is Helluva Nite by Norwegian duo Madcon. It is the fourth single lifted from the album Contraband. At the album the track features rapper Ludacris – for the release in Germany the band added a rap part made by Itchy of Culcha Candela. To me Madcon now sounds like a light version of The Black Eyed Peas five years ago … can’t help myself.



Sky And Sand – the long time seller by Paul & Fritz Kalkbrenner stands for an 80th chart week in the list. It is now the tenth longest running hit of all times. It just left Dieser Weg by Xavier Naidoo a week behind. Right now the DJ is on tour promoting his album Icke wieder. Probably that’s the reason why this issue of the charts sees the track jumping up again 62–43 – reaching its third highest position in its one and a half year s long chart career.



X Factor Stories
Monique Simon sings Price Tag at the 1st live show – Jessie.J storms up the list 90–44. Probably next week we will see that effect even growing.

What a Man, Supertalent & Oktoberfest

A German movie still has the biggest impact on the German music chart. It is very successful What A Man – the comedy by and with new German darling Matthias Schweighöfer. So far one and a half million people watched the movie – it is still Number 4 at the movie charts after one months in theatres. Inside the singles chart three songs of the soundtrack appear. At Number 1 Marlon Roudette still stands. It is the sixth week at the top for New Age. Last male artist holding six weeks at the top was Bruno Mars who went Number 1 with grenade back in March and April. Due to the fact he had a two weeks break in his Number 1 run when Lady Gaga stormed to the top with her Born This Way the last male act spending six consecutive weeks at the top spot was Israel IZ Kamakawiwo’ole almost exactly one year ago. Over The Rainbow just disappeared out of the German list last week. It spent a whole 54 weeks in the charts.

The highest new entry at the German single’s chart is also related to the movie. It is the fresh released CD single Eiserner Steg by German singer Philipp Poisel. Like the number 1 track this one is a ballad too talking about how life could go on after a split. The previously unreleased track ends up with the demand of a last moment together.

Entering the German list at Number 21 it is the most successful single of Philip Poisel. So far he had two minor hits never reaching the upper half of the list. This song could be the breakthrough reigning him in a line with young and successful German singer songwriters like Tim Bendzko or Andreas Bourani.



Lena’s version on What A Man tumbles down the list 48 – 65 in its fourth chart week.

Hitmaker number 2 is newly aired Das Supertalent (German version of Britain’s Got Talent). Last week it was You Raise Me Up which found its way back into the list after being performed inside the TV show. This week it is Mama Do originally recorded by British Pixie Lott. The track had a 9 weeks chart run in 2009 climbing to Number 37 – not really a big success compared to the Number.1 run it had in Great Britain. Anyway – 13 years old Marlene Wenzig chose the song for performing at the show. Her applicating version available at youtube is of course only half that convincing like her singing on stage. Right after her performance the original shot back in the iTunes charts and finally can gain position 30 at the whole week survey. It is the highest ranking the song ever reached in Germany.


Hitmaking event number 3: the seasonal Oktoberfest. It is the chance for promoting Mallorca hits from last summer again. One of the surprising Schlager/Discofox hits of the year so far was I sing a Liad für dich (I Sing A Song For You -– in a very regional kind of spelling) by Austrian Andreas Gabalier. The single was a hit in his home country already summer 2010. The German audience first noticed it in March, when Carmen Nebel presented the young singer in her TV show. I sing a Liad für dich immediately hit the charts. It was a short visit cause the single was not available officially. It took the company till late July to launch the CD version. Last week the version by Andreas Gaballier rose to number 63 – the peak so far. This recent week the song climbs up 3 further places. Additionaly there is a new version entering the list offered by big Austrian Schlager star DJ Ötzi. Of course that new version of DJ Ötzi is much more a commercially produced tune. If one can find the song of Andreas Gabalier somehow authentic and candid – the recording of DJ Ötzi is completely calculated. It is just a song meaning nothing – all he needs is the beat and a melody. Even his outfit worn at the video tells you: that’s not the real live of DJ Ötzi – it is a costume.

The market again rewards the more obliging production. DJ Ötzi’s version enters the list at number 35. Honestly I suspected much more – seems the Schlager genre needs a little break or a re-invention.

Back To Life With Marlon Roudette

Summer laziness is definitely over. Again Germany celebrates a new Number 1. It is Marlon Roudette who enters the list directly at the top. It is only the second Number 1 hit starting his chart run right at the highest possible position. Last one that did so was Call My Name by Superstar winning Pietro Lombardi back in May. Last year we also only had two instant chart topper – the year before there were 7 and in 2008 eight. What we are really witnessing is a slowing down of the charts. The big hit right away from the start is what it should be – a special feat.

The recent track in question calls New Age and is the main track of the new Matthias Schweighöfer movie What A Man that was premiered last weekend and instantly topped the German movie charts. It is a soft and romantic ballad – matching the recent taste of German music buyers. The soundtrack was choosen by the director and actor himself and includes a very surprising collection. German acts like Lena and Philip Poisel appear at the track list like Booka Shade or Ben L’Oncle Soul.

Marlon Roudette by the way is no unknown to the charts and to Number One. As one half of the duo Mattafix he topped the German charts in early 2006 with Big City Lights. The track spend three weeks at number one and 15 weeks inside the Top 10. It got number 7 within the chart of the year 2006.



Also new according to media controls press release from tuesday are Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera with Moves Like Jagger at number 3. In most of the weeks this year that would be the highest new entry. Not so this very moment. Finally the business is back alive.

Strong German acts: Lombardi - Engels - Bendzko

Once again TV is the tool for making hits. In our actual case a TV show does have the power of rebounding a former Number 1 hit back to the top. Germany’s last big show for the whole family Wetten dass...? (Bet That...) was aired on 18th of June from Mallorca presenting Jennifer Lopez as well as Sarah Engels & Pietro Lombardi. The result: JLO shoots 4–1 giving her and companion Pitbull a sixth week at the top spot. On The Floor now matches the six week run of Bruno Mars’ grenade back in spring this year and it is the track spending most weeks inside the Top 10 this year. Much more impressive than this statistics is the fact that On The Floor returns after a six weeks break at the top. We’ve seen such a feat almost a year ago when Lena gained another single week at the top right after winning the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the first time in chart history that a single returned back to the top after more than a month absence. Now history repeats itself. Does this means we have to expect much more rebounders the next years?

At number 2 the DSDS love couple Sarah & Pietro enters the list with new single I Miss You. It is a very pink r’n’b-pop-ballad – sounding very American and I’m really wondering that such 90ies sound can make it that high in 2011. Well, the audience of Wetten dass…? is something between 14 and 79, women older than 65 love the show – their taste IS conservative.

For Pietro Lombardi it is just the right time to launch a second hit – his girlfriend (are they still a couple?) really does a feat. Having two Number 2 hits in a row she is now the second most successful not-winner of DSDS and probably the most succesfull runners up contestant. Mike Leon Grosch – the second place in 2006 – had a singlenumber 1 hit the same year. And Daniel Küblböck – number 3 in the very first season – had three top 10 hits in 2003 /2004. The first one You Drive Me Crazy shooting to number one for two weeks. Both of them are forgotten right now. It is very likely that Sarah Engels goes that way too.



Also the second track entering the Top 10 is a German one. Tim Bendzko is one of the young German artists with huge expectations. This week his debut album starts at number 4 in the album list. The single Nur noch kurz die Welt retten (Just have to save the world) profits of the release and rises 15 – 9. It is the complete opposite of the Engels/Lombardi production. Stripped down, authentic and very lyrical. Probably Tim Bendzko will have a much longer musical career.



Third successful German track is Jupiter Jones that is rising 12 – 11 with Still (Calm). Inside the Top 20 are cascada and Andreas Bourani also meaning we do have six German productions in the upper region of the chart. That’s pretty much … Plus Frida Gold is waiting at position 21 – we talk about that later for sure.