25/May/2012

Six months ago One Direction released their debut album ‘Up All Night’ and they’ve resided in the Irish Top 20 ever since. Until now they’ve never climbed higher than No2, despite reaching No1 in the USA, Canada & beyond, but this week they finally hit the Irish No1 spot.

Adele’s run of success continues this week, holding at No2 for a third consecutive week with ‘21’, which has now spent all seventy weeks since release in the Top 10, including a record-breaking thirty-four weeks at No1.  Former Blue Nile front man Paul Buchanan has this week’s highest new entry at No4 with his first solo release ‘Mid Air, well ahead of the No63 peak for his band’s last album ‘High’ back in 2004.  There are two re-entries in this week’s Top 10: The Bee Gees at No7 with their ‘Number Ones’ collection, in response to the death of Robin Gibb, and Scala & Kolacny Brothers at No10, following their Olympia gigs at the weekend.  John Mayer has the next new entry with his fifth studio album ‘Born And Raised’. Of the previous four, ‘Battle Studies’ was the most successful, reaching No48 on release in 2009.  With a No1 single ‘We Are Young’ under their belts, New York trio Fun have the next new entry at No15 with their third album ‘Some Nights’, their first to make the Irish Chart.   The fourth and final new entry in this week’s Top 20 is at No19 for Dublin’s This Club with their debut album ‘Highlife’.

The Irish Euro 2012 Squad & Friends hold at No1 on the Singles Chart for a third week with ‘The Rocky Road To Poland’, heading a Top 3 unchanged since last week: Fun at No2 and Marina & The Diamonds at No3.  The Wanted claim this week’s highest new entry at No4 with ‘Chasing The Sun’, their eighth Irish hit single in less than two years, but only the third to make the Top 10.  Unsurprisingly Jedward have this week’s highest climber with ‘Waterline’ soaring from No28 to No10 following their Eurovision semi-final success – giving them two concurrent Top 10 hits, with their unofficial Euro 2012 single ‘Put The Green Cape On’ at No9.