March 2015 - Barry Philips Discos

UK TOP 40 29TH MARCH 2015 – WEEK 13.

Posted by: Barry Philips Discos In: Album, Dance, Facebook, News, Other, Pop, Rock, Top 40, Twitter 30 Mar 2015 Comments: 0

For the 5^th time this year the UK top 40 has a new best seller.

25 year old Jessica Hannah Glynne from Muswell Hill London achieves a 3^rd Number 1 single from only 5 attempts. She first came to the public’s attention in February 2014 when as featured artist on ‘Rather Be’ with Clean Bandit she spent 4 weeks at Number 1, this was quickly followed only 1 month later when she once again topped the chart as featured artist on the Route 94 track ‘My Love’. In June last year she released her debut solo single ‘Right Here’ which went on to peak at Number 6. Then in November she reached Number 2 with ‘Real Love’ this time Clean Bandit were the featured artist. The new Number 1 ‘Hold My Hand’ is her 1^st solo chart topper, her debut Album is due later this year.

Sigma first came to prominence last year when both of their singles reached Number 1. The first one was ‘Nobody to Love’ which sampled the Kanye West song ‘Bound 2’ and the 2^nd was ‘Changing’ featuring the vocals of Paloma Faith. Sigma are Drum and Bass duo Cameron Edwards and Joe Lenzie who first met at Leeds University, their new single ‘Higher’ has entered the top 40 this week at Number 12 and features the vocals of Labrinth, who charts for a 9^th time. As featured artist he appeared on Tinie Tempahs 2010 Number 1 ‘Pass Out’ and also on the same artist’s song ‘Frisky’ which reached Number 2 in the same year.

The new single from Rihanna was released as late as only last Thursday which goes to some way explaining its low chart entry at Number 29, you would expect it to climb significantly next week. The song is called ‘Bitch Better Have My Money’ and is taken from her forth coming 8^th studio Album of which is still unnamed. This new song is the Albums 2^nd release as the debut song ‘Four Five Seconds’ continues to sell well at this week’s Number 4 having peaked last week at Number 3.Rihanna has now achieved a very impressive 31 hit singles since ‘Pon De Replay’ gave her a 1^st hit 10 years ago when it reached Number 2. She has also charted a further 11 times as featured artist.

In total there are 4 new entries on this week’s top 40 and the new song at Number 30 is from KSI featuring P Money with ‘Lambourghini’. KSI is the stage name of 21 year old Olajide Olatunji who was born in Watford but is of Nigerian descent, P money is the stage name of English Grime MC Paris Moore-Williams who comes from Lewisham South London, both artists chart for the 1^st time.

As always enjoy the music.

UK TOP 40 22ND MARCH 2015 – WEEK 12 .

Posted by: Barry Philips Discos In: Album, Charity, Comic Relief, Dance, germany, News, Norway, Other, Pop, Red Nose Day, T V, Top 40, Twitter 23 Mar 2015 Comments: 0

On the top 40 this week there are 4 new entries.

The highest to chart is at Number 11 for chart new comers Tough Love with ‘So Freakin Tight’. Pitbull is back with a new entry at Number 24 with his 14^th hit as lead artist with ‘Time of Our Lives’, the song features vocals from Ne-Yo. Norwegian music producer Kygo gets the 3^rd new entry with ‘Firestone’ at Number 37, it has already been to Number 1 in his native Norway and the final new song to chart is at Number 38 for MNEK with ‘The Rhythm’, more on him later this week.

Last week’s Number 1 single ‘Lay Me Down’, the Comic Relief charity single for this year holds the Number 1 spot for a 2^nd week, it is a collaboration between Sam Smith and John Legend, the solo version from Sam Smith drops 1 place to Number 19. Years And Years with ‘King’ stay at Number 2 for a 2^nd week with their ex chart topper and Kanye West with Rihanna and Paul McCartney climb 2 places to Number 3 with ‘Four Five Seconds’. The song making slow but significant headway up the chart is ‘Hold Back The River’ from James Bay, this week it climbs another 6 places to Number 4 in its 17^th week, completing the new top 5 is Ellie Goulding with ‘Love Me Like You Do’ dropping 1 place.

The highest new entry on this week top 40 is at Number 11 for dance music producers Tough Love with ‘So Freakin Tight’, there are also a remix of the song from Birmingham based Hannah Wants.

Armando Christian Perez better known as Pitbull is 34 years old and was born in Miami Florida on the 15^th of January 1981, he enters this week’s top 40 at Number 28 with ‘Time of Our Lives’. The song features Ne-Yo whom he last teamed up with back in 2010 on the Number 1 single ‘Give Me Everything’, this track is the 14^th top 40 single for Pitbull as lead artist he has also had a further 10 as featured artist. ‘Time of Our Lives’ is the 5^th track to be released from his 2014 album ‘’Globalization’.

Kygo is the stage name of Norwegian born music producer Kyrre Gorvell Dahil, he scores his 1^st UK top 40 single this week at Number 37 with ‘Firestone’. The song has already achieved major success around Europe including peaking at Number 5 in Germany and Number 1 in his native Norway, he is currently one of the most sort after producers when a top artist wants a remix, notable recent remixes include ‘I See Fire’ for Ed Sheeran and ‘Midnight’ for Coldplay.

One of the UKs most talented musicians currently is Uzo Emenike, he is 20 years old and was born in London. Lovers of dance music or UK top 40 chart followers will know him better by his stage name MNEK, this week he has his 1^st top 40 single as main artist as ‘The Rhythm’ charts at Number 38. As featured artist last year he reached Number 4 with Gorgon City on the track ‘Ready for Love’, but that is only a very small part of his success. Back in 2011 he had his 1^st hit when he wrote and produced the Number 3 song for The Saturdays ‘All Fired Up’. He achieved his 1^st Number 1 in 2012 as the producer of’ Wings’ for Little Mix, his 2^nd Number 1 came last year when he wrote the song ‘Gecko’ for Oliver Heldens. Apart from his current hit ‘The Rhythm’ he is also the writer of the current chart hit (currently Number 23)’Say Something’ by Karen Harding. His most prestigious moment though is being the writer of Madonna’s current single ‘Living for Love’ on which he also sings backing vocals.

Always enjoy the music.

UK TOP 40 15TH MARCH 2015 WEEK 11.

Posted by: Barry Philips Discos In: 80's, Album, Charity, Comic Relief, Dance, Facebook, Folk, News, Other, Pop, Red Nose Day, Rock, T V, Top 40, USA 16 Mar 2015 Comments: 0

The power of Comic Relief has helped Sam Smith ft John Legend with ‘Lay Me Down’ to become the 4^th different Number 1 single of 2015. This is the 14^th chart topper for a Red Nose Day song, dating back to 1986 when the very 1^st Comic Relief single from Cliff Richard ft The Young Ones with a version of ‘Living Doll’ hit the top. ‘Lay Me Down’ was the 1^st single released from Sam Smiths debut Album (‘In The Lonely Hour’) back in 2013 when it only reached Number 46, after Smith found success the song was re- released as the 5^th single release from the Album this time peaking at Number 15. This new version gives John Legend a 1^st UK Number 1, ‘All of Me’ peaked at Number 2 last year.

The 2^nd highest new entry on this week’s top 40 is at Number 3 for Flo Rida ft Sage The Gemini with ‘GDFR’ (abbreviation for Going Down For Real).It is the 1^st single release from his forth coming 5^th studio Album due in April to be called ‘My House’. Flo Rida,s real name is Tramar Lacel Dillard and he comes from Carol City, Florida, he is 35 years old. His debut single ‘Low’ peaked at Number 2 back in 2007, as main artist he has had 3 Number ‘1s with ‘Right Round’, ‘Club Can’t Handle Me’ and ‘Good Feeling’. He has also been to Number 1 twice as a featured artist on the Alexandra Burke song ‘Bad Boys’ and the Olly Murs hit ‘Troublemaker’. Sage The Gemini whose real name is Dominic Wynn Woods is from California, he is also one of the co writers of the song, this is his 1^st UK chart entry.

Usher Raymond is back, his new single entered the UK top 40 this week at Number 8 it is called’ I Don’t Mind ‘and features the services of Juicy J. Usher is one of R and B’s superstars and this single adds even further distinction to his ever growing discography. His 1^st UK hit was the 1997 Number 1 ‘You Make Me Wanna’, he has gone on to have a further 3 chart toppers, ‘Yeah’ in 2004,’Burn’ in 2004 and ‘OMG’ in 2010. In total he has now had 23 top 40 singles as lead artist and a further 5 as a featured artist, Juicy j is an American rapper he is best known to date in the UK for providing the rap on Katy Perry’s 2013 Number 4 single ‘Dark Horse’.

Marcus Mumford, Winston Marshall, Ben Lovett and Ted Dwane are better known as British folk rock band Mumford and Sons. To date they have released 2 Albums, ‘Sigh No More (UK Number 1) and’ Babel’ (UK Number 20), the 3^rd Album ‘Wilder Mind’ is due out on May 4^th. The 1^st single from the new Album is called’ Believe’ and it is a new entry at Number 20 this week, music critics say it is a departure from their trademark acoustic sound as this new song features electric guitars. This is the 4^th top 40 hit for the band ‘I Will Wait’ back in 2012 achieved their highest placing to date reaching Number 12.

This week Scottish dance music producer Calvin Harris achieved a 6^th top 40 hit single from his current Album ‘Motion’ when ‘Pray To God’ charted at Number 36. This is Harris’s 2oth top 40 single as lead artist, he has also had a further 3 as a featured artist. This current track features American Pop/Rock all girl group HAIM who also receive credits as co authors of the song.They have released 1 Album to date called ‘Days Are Gone’ which produced 4 top 40 singles, the most successful being ‘The Wire’ reaching Number 16.

As always enjoy the music.

UK TOP 40 8TH MARCH 2014 – WEEK 10.

Posted by: Barry Philips Discos In: Album, Brits, Dance, germany, Indie, News, Other, Pop, Rock, T V, Top 40 09 Mar 2015 Comments: 0

It’s week 10 of the UK top 40 of 2015 and for only the 3^rd time this year there is a change at the top.

Ellie Goulding gives way to the electronic trio Years and Years, who with their song ‘King’ get the 1287^th different chart topper since the very 1^st chart back in November 1952.

Years and Years are Olly Alexander, Mikey Goldsworthy and Emre Turkmen. They formed in London back in 2010, ‘King’ is their 6^th single, their previous release ‘Desire’ peaked at Number 22 last year. They have also charted once as featured artist with The Magician last year on the Number 7 single ‘Sunlight’.

You could say that Marlon Roudette was born to do the job as he is the son of top British songwriter/producer Cameron Mcvey and his step mother is Nenah Cherry .He has the 2^nd highest new entry on this week’s top 40 at Number 7 with ‘When the Beat Drops. He is already a very successful artist abroad scoring a Number 1 single back in 2011 with ‘New Age’ in Germany ,Austria and Switzerland and this his 1^st UK solo hit has also topped the chart in Gemany. Before going solo Roudette was part of the duo Mattafix with Preetesh Hirji, they had a hit back in 2005 when’ Big City Life’ reached Number 15.

Dance music is the one constant on the UK top 40 and there seems to be new songs of that genre entering the chart every week and this week is no exception. The new entry at Number 13 is from 22 year old Sussex born dance music producer Alex Adair with ‘Make Me Feel Better ‘and this is his first taste of chart success .If you go to You Tube you will be able to find many famous artists songs he has remixed including 2 current chart hits, the Imagine Dragons song ‘I Bet My Life’ and Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’.

Kanye West becomes the 1^st artist this year to have 3 hit singles and Paul McCartney the 1^st to have 3 hits as featured artist as ‘All Day’ enters the UK top 40 at Number 18, the song also credits Allen Kingdom and Theopilus London as featured artists. The song is the 3^rd single release from West’s upcoming 7^th studio Album to be called ‘So Help Me God’, all 3 songs (the other 2 were ‘Only One’ and’ Four Five Seconds’) were co written and played on by Paul McCartney. This was the song West performed recently at the Brit Awards where he was joined on stage by UK artists including Skepta and Wiley.

Imagine Dragons are an American Indie Rock band from Las Vegas, the 4 members are Dan Reynolds, Daniel Wayne Sermon, Daniel Platzman and Ben Mckee .To date they have released 2 studio Albums, ‘Night Visions’ in 2012 and ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ in 2015. The current Album which is already a former Number 1 was released on February 17^th, so far it has produced 1 hit single, ‘I Bet My Life’ peaking at Number 27. Their debut album Night Visions (UK Number 2) produced 5 top 40 singles including ‘Demons’ which reached Number 13 back in 2013, now in its 71^st week in the top 100 it has re-entered the top 40 at Number 33.

As always enjoy the music.

UK TOP 40 1ST MARCH 2015 – WEEK 9.

Posted by: Barry Philips Discos In: 80's, Album, Billboard, Brits, Facebook, News, Other, Pop, T V, Top 40, USA 02 Mar 2015 Comments: 0

I can’t remember the last time the top 5 singles all stayed in the same place as they did the previous week but that is what has happened this week.

This of course means Ellie Goulding with, Love Me Like You Do, keeps the top spot for a 4^th week. In the whole of 2015 so far there have only been 2 different Number 1’s. Hozier with ‘Take Me to Church’ keeps the Number 2 spot in what is now its 31^st week on the chart. Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars with ‘Uptown Funk’ stays at Number 3, last week it became only the 158^th UK single since the charts inception in 1952 to surpass 1000000 sales. No doubt the publicity surrounding the Fifty Shades of Grey film is doing no harm to the sales of ‘Earned It’ from The Weeknd which holds onto the Number 4 spot and completing a static top 5 is Kanye West, Rihanna and Paul McCartney with ‘Four Five Seconds’.

On the UK top 40 singles chart there are a total of 5 new entries and 1 re-entry this week. The only new track to enter the top 10 is at Number 7 for Kelly Clarkson with ‘Heartbeat Song’, Clarkson is 32 years old and was born in Fort Worth Texas. She was the 1^st winner of American Idol back in 2002, to date she has released 5 Albums which have all reached the top 3 on the Billboard top 200 Album chart, 4 of them reaching the top 5 on the UK top 100 Album chart. Singles wise ‘Heartbeat Song’ is her 15^th top 40 hit, ‘Miss Independent’ (Number 6-2003) was the 1^st hit and her biggest success came in 2009 when ‘My Life Would Suck Without You’ gave her, her only Number 1 to date.

The new entry at Number 22 this week is from Axwell and Ingrosso with ‘Something New’. They were two thirds of The Swedish House Mafia who split in 2012, the other member who has now gone solo was Steve Angello. This is the 1^st single release from the now new duo. With the Swedish House Mafia they had 6 top 40 singles including the 2012 Number 1 ‘Don’t You Worry Child’. As a solo artist Sebastian Ingrosso has charted twice with ‘Calling’ (Number19-2012) and ‘Reload’ (Number 3-2013).Axwell has also had 2 hits as a solo artist, ‘Feel the Vibe’ (Number 16-2005) and ‘Tell Me Why’ (Number 13-2006).

Dance music makes an appearance at Number 24 with this week’s 3^rd new entry from The Disciples with ‘They Don’t Know’. They are 3 musicians from London and this song has gained in popularity since it was premiered as the essential tune of the week last August on the Pete Tong Radio 1 show. They were part of the entertainment last week at the after show at The Brit awards.

Madonna returns to the UK top 40 at Number 26 this week with ‘Living For Love’, this is the 1^st single release from her forthcoming 13^th studio Album to be called ‘Rebel Heart’. Madonna’s charting record of course is phenomenal, ‘Holiday’ gave her, her debut hit peaking at Number 2 back in 1983, it wasn’t until her 8^th hit that she got her 1^st Number 1 with Into ‘The Groove’ in 1985. In total she has now had 68 UK top 40 singles of which 13 have gone to Number 1. Since the turn of this decade her singles haven’t been so successful with only 2 of them charting, this current one and ‘Give Me All Your Luvin’ ft Nicki Minaj (Number 37-2012). Of her 12 studio Album releases to date 9 have been to Number 1 including the last one ‘MDNA’ in 2012, that Album is Madonna’s lowest selling Album by far, selling 131000 in the UK and 2 million worldwide,’ Like A Virgin’ and ‘True Blue’ each sold 25 million apiece.

Ed Sheeran now has 4 singles in this week’s top 40 as ‘Bloodstream’ charts at Number 35, all 4 current hits feature on his 6 times platinum selling Album ‘multiply(X)’. Thinking ‘Out Loud’ and ‘Sing’ have both been to Number 1 and ‘Don’t’ peaked at Number 8. In total he has now charted as lead or featured artist on 18 top 40 singles, this latest hit ‘Bloodstream’ will be available in a remixed version on March 29^th featuring dance music producers Rudimental.

Due to her appearance performing at The Brits last week Paloma Faith has re-entered the chart at Number 32 with ‘Only Love Can Hurt Like This’, the song originally peaked at Number 6 last year.

As always enjoy the music.