'Glee' Tops U.K. Album Chart
By Paul Sexton
"Glee The Music Season One Vol. 1" (Epic/Sony Music Entertainment) raced from No. 68 to top the new U.K. album chart.
Sony's all-star Helping Haiti charity cover of " Everybody Hurts," on Syco Music, started a second week as bestselling single, as Lady Gaga and Florence and the Machine's BRIT Awards success last week generated new sales on both charts.
The "Glee" album had been in the Official Charts Company's top 75 for three weeks on import sales, but raced to the summit last night (Feb. 21) on sales of 62,000 according to the Official Charts Company, following its official U.K. release last Monday (Feb. 15).
"Volume 2," which is set for a March 15 release, is just outside the top 75 on import sales. Tracks from the series continue to populate the singles chart, with "Don't Stop Believin'" down 5-7, "Halo"/"Walking on Sunshine" holding at No. 9, "It's My Life"/"Confessions Pt II" down 14-20, "Keep Holding On" new at No. 47, "No Air" new at No. 52 and "Somebody To Love" down 33-56.
Lady Gaga's "The Fame" (Interscope/Universal) climbed 5-2 on the new survey and Florence and the Machine's "Lungs" (Universal Island) 9-3. Florence's live BRITs performance with Dizzee Rascal, a "mash-up" of her "You Got The Love" hit and Dizzee's "Dirtee Cash," raced straight to No. 2 behind the Helping Haiti single, after being made available immediately after the show exclusively via iTunes. Florence's solo version also benefited, climbing back 29-12.
Alicia Keys' live performance at the BRIT Awards with Jay-Z did not prevent her "The Element of Freedom" (J/Sony Music Entertainment) falling 1-4 on the album chart, although their single "Empire State of Mind" (Roc Nation/Warner Music) jumped back 25-16. Her solo version dipped 4-5. Jay-Z's "The Blueprint III" album climbed 22-10.
The album chart also had new entries for Owl City's "Ocean Eyes" (Universal Island) at No. 7 and Peter Gabriel's "Scratch My Back" (Virgin/EMI) at No. 12. Other BRITs winners to see improved album sales were Robbie Williams, up 21-8 with "Reality Killed The Video Star" (Virgin/EMI); JLS, up 23-17 with their self-titled Epic/Sony debut; and Kasabian, improving 63-20 with "West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum" (Columbia/Sony).
Other singles chart highlights included a 10-6 climb for Rihanna's "Rude Boy" (Def Jam/Universal) and a new entry at No. 8 for Lemar's "The Way Love Goes" (Epic/Sony), the U.K. R&B star's seventh U.K. top 10 single but first since "It's Not That Easy" in September 2006.
