By Alan Jones
Revenge is sweet: it’s a year ago this week that Bruno Mars’ Doo-Wops & Hooligans debuted at number one – but was knocked off the summit a week later by Adele’s 21. this week, the roles are reversed with Doo-Wops & Hooligans returning to number one for the first time since, while relegating 21 – which topped the chart for the 19th time last week – to second place.
In a market that continues to decline from Christmas highs, Doo-Wops & Hooligans sold just 24,509 copies last week – the fourth lowest tally for a number one in the 628 weeks that have thus far elapsed in the 21st century – despite being widely available digitally and physically for less than £5. The only albums to rank number one on lower sales since the new millennium dawned are: The Last Broadcast by The Doves (22,437 sales, week 19, 2001), Blue’s all Rise (23,917 sales week 17, 2001) and Christina Aguilera’s Bionic (24,301 sales, week 23, 2010). Falling 1-2, 21 sold 23,831 copies last week – the lowest for a number two since its own tally of 23,357 sales allowed it to be runner-up 36 weeks ago, in may 2011. The paltry hauls that allowed the two albums to top this week’s best-sellers list are in stark contrast to their superb career tallies – 21 has now sold 3,834,558 copies, while Doo-Wops & Hooligans has sold 1,275,936. another of 2011′s top albums, Ed Sheeran’s +, holds at number three on sales of 22,781, raising its 14 week cumulative tally to 839,188.
The only new entry to decorate the Top 75 in a drab January week, The Maccabees third album, given to The Wild, actually topped initial sales flashes but faded as the week went on, eventually debuting at number four (22,453 sales). even so, it is by far the best showing yet for the London indie band. Their 2007 debut, Colour It In, debuted and peaked at number 24, while 2009 follow-up Wall of Arms made its first and best impression at number 13. Colour It In has career sales of 73,855, while Wall of Arms has sold 60,013 copies.
What did You Expect from The Vaccines continues its rally. a combination of TV advertising and discounting – it is widely available for less than £5 physically and digitally – have turned one of 2011′s most critically lauded albums into a hot property again. Number four last March, it has jumped 104-33-16-6 in the last three weeks. One of the chart’s most concise albums – with 12 songs and a playing time of just 36 minutes – it sold 16,454 copies last week, lifting its 44 week tally to 243,013. Two other albums on the same label (Columbia) with similar temporary pricing make big jumps this week: Kasabian’s former number one album Velociraptor! is back in the Top 10 for the first time in 14 weeks, rampaging 17-9 (14,650 sales), while Foster The People’s Torches improves 27-13 (12,985 sales) easily beating the number 24 debut and peak it scaled last July. The latter disc is benefitting from renewed interest in introductory single Pumped up Kicks, which dashes 41-22 on its 27th Top 75 chart appearance. The song, which debuted last July at number 27, sold more copies last year than Cher Lloyd’s much-ballyhooed debut single Swagger Jagger, even though Lloyd’s single got to number one and Pumped up Kicks peaked at number 18. The 12,976 copies it sold last week lift Pumped up Kicks’ career sales to 246,511. Pumped up Kicks has dark lyrics about gun crime, which may have contributed to its modest airplay profile – it never climbed higher than number 39 on the radio airplay chart – and it is receiving comparatively little support at this point, ranking 162nd on radio airplay last week with many stations preferring to air follow-up Call It what You Want, which leaps 320-59 on the chart, with Radio One alone airing it 20 times.
Overall album sales are down 11.93% week-on-week at 1,735,969 – 8.77% below same week 2011 sales of 1,902,746.
Albums Chart analysis: Mars takes No.1 with just 24k sales
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