Madonna scores a double victory for Warner Bros. on Billboard’s pan-European sales charts, starting a third week at No. 1 on Eurochart Hot 100 Singles with “4 Minutes” featuring Justin Timberlake, and climbing 14-1 on European Top 100 Albums with “Hard Candy.”
The album, Madonna’s 11th studio set, racks up no fewer than ten No. 1 debuts around Europe, in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Italy and Holland, and spends a second week at the top in France.
The tally of ten chart-topping entries is one down on the total of 11 achieved in November 2005 by her last studio release, “Confessions On A Dance Floor.” That had five aggregate weeks at the helm of Top 100 Albums. Warner Bros. says the new album has debuted at No. 1 in 27 countries worldwide, and Madonna has announced that her “Sticky & Sweet” world tour will kick off in Cardiff, Wales, Aug. 23.
Duffy’s “Rockferry” (A&M/Universal) thus falls to No. 2 overall, after three weeks at the top, despite holding at No. 1 in Greece and rising 4-3 in the United Kingdom. Its single “Mercy,” a former Eurochart-topper, spends a third week at No. 2.
The highest new entry on Top 100 Albums is “Third” (Universal Island), the first studio release in nearly 11 years by cutting-edge U.K. act Portishead. It’s new at No. 2 there on sales of 46,000, and at No. 2 in Denmark and Switzerland, No. 3 in France, No. 4 in Austria and No. 8 in Italy.
Portishead’s Island labelmate Amy Winehouse is down 2-4 with “Back To Black,” even though that long-runner climbs 4-2 in Austria and 4-3 in Holland. R.E.M.’s “Accelerate” (Warner Bros.) holds at No. 5 on the Europe-wide index, as it rests at No. 4 in Italy.
The Last Shadow Puppets, the U.K. duo of Alex Turner and Miles Kane, drop two places from last week’s overall No. 4 debut with “The Age of the Understatement” (Domino). It’s off 1-4 in the United Kingdom and 2-5 in Ireland. “Spirit” (Syco Music/Sony BMG) is down 6-7 on Top 100 Albums for Leona Lewis, but makes a 12-5 hike in Italy, while the Kooks’ “Konk” (Virgin) dips 3-8 in its third week on the collective chart. The Brighton, England band is down 2-6 in its own market.
Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald makes another visit to the pan-European top ten with “This Is The Life” (Vertigo/Universal). The debut set reverses last week’s move by climbing 11-9 in its 20th chart week. It’s had double that run in the United Kingdom, where it’s down 27-30, but holds at No. 2 in Holland. In Switzerland, where “Life” falls 1-3, Macdonald has two top five singles, with the title track at No. 3 and “Mr.Rock & Roll” at No. 5.
New at No. 10 on Top 100 Albums is “Schneller, Hoeher, Weidner” (3R) by Der W. That’s the current recording identity of Stephan Weidner, former bassist, songwriter and frontman of erstwhile German hard rock band Böhse Onkelz, who split in 2005. The new album debuts in his native Germany at No. 2, behind Madonna.
“4 Minutes” leads the Eurochart again after topping the U.K. chart for a third week, and is No. 1 again in Germany, Switzerland and Denmark. The one new title to the Eurochart top ten is “Wearing My Rolex” (Asylum/Warner Bros.) by U.K. “grime”/R&B star Wiley, up 13-9 after a 4-3 climb locally.
