Chart Watch
As predicted, David Bowie dominates the first album chart since his passing. His swansong release Blackstar was expected to top the chart even before the news of his death broke, but it does so today with sales of almost 150,000. The sheer number of compilations available means several of them have charted, with the most recent and comprehensive Nothing Has Changed re-entering at number 5 ahead of The Best of 1969/1974 (11), Best of Bowie (18), The Best of 1980/1987 (59) and the box set Five Years at 97. The most popular of Bowie’s back catalogue albums is Hunky Dory at 14, with The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars at 17, Aladdin Sane at 23 and The Next Day at 25. Further down we also find Low (31), Diamond Dogs (37), Let’s Dance (42), “Heroes” (45), Station to Station (55), Young Americans (60), Scary Monsters (61), The Man Who Sold The World (89) and Space Oddity (95).
Bowie dominates the singles chart too, although surprisingly none of his tracks has made the top ten individually. Leading the pack is “Heroes” at number 12, surpassing the disappointing peak position of 24 the single achieved on release in 1977. Also in the top twenty are Life on Mars? (16) and Starman (18), with Let’s Dance and Space Oddity taking positions 23 and 24 respectively. Outside the top forty we find Under Pressure (43), Changes (49), Ashes to Ashes (62), Rebel Rebel (65), Ziggy Stardust (76) and China Girl (97). Amongst all the back catalogue tracks, Bowie’s latest single Lazarus enters at 45, above previous single Blackstar at 61.
New Releases
A relatively quiet week for new releases, although there are sets of live radio broadcasts from Fleetwood Mac (Life Becoming A Landslide
