One Direction completed a U.K. chart takeover yesterday, debuting at No. 1 with both their “Take Me Home” album and “Little Things” single. There were also top three debuts for Rod Stewart and the Rolling Stones on the album chart and Bruno Mars and Little Mix on the singles survey.
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“Take Me Home” sold 155,000 units last week, according to the Official Charts Company, to become the second-fastest-selling artist album of 2012, 3,000 copies behind Mumford & Sons’ “Babel.” That opening tally for the pop idols not only improves on the 138,000 for last year’s “Up All Night,” but makes amends for that debut set being beaten to No. 1 by a chart-topping entry last year for Rihanna’s “Talk That Talk.”
TRACK-BY-TRACK REVIEW: One Direction’s ‘Take Me Home’
Rod Stewart’s “Merry Christmas Baby” arrived at No. 2, his highest-ranked album since “When We Were The New Boys” reached the same peak in 1998. The Rolling Stones’ “GRRR!” compilation debuted at No. 3, extending their album chart span beyond 48 and a half years, since their self-titled debut hit the bestsellers in April 1964. The retrospective’s release also triggered a belated, if modest, first appearance on the singles top 75 for its new track “Doom & Gloom” at No. 64.
Andre Rieu and the Johann Strauss Orchestra fell 2-4 with “Magic of the Movies” and last week’s No. 1 debutant, Robbie Williams, to No. 5 with “Take The Crown.” English tenor Alfie Boe scored a third top ten album in less than two years with “Storyteller”; a deluxe repackaging of Lana Del Rey’s “Born To Die,” the “Paradise Edition,” sent it back up 38-8 and Green Day’s “Dos” arrived at No. 10. There’s a new bestseller on the compilation chart, with “Pop Party 10” up 2-1.
“Little Things” is One Direction’s fifth U.K. top ten hit but only their second No. 1, after “What Makes You Beautiful” in September of last year. The new single took the crown by overtaking Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out Of Heaven,” which had led in the early part of the sales week but landed at No. 2. Little Mix’s “DNA” came in at No. 3, following their September No. 1 “Wings.”
Wiltshire-born singer-songwriter Gabrielle Aplin, 20, jumped 36-5 with her Parlophone/EMI-released cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “The Power Of Love,” after its exposure in retailer John Lewis’ new TV campaign. Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s original, which hit No. 1 in 1984, reappeared on the new chart at No. 59.
Robbie Williams slumped to No. 6 after two weeks atop the survey with “Candy.” The Lumineers’ “Ho Hey” continued its steady climb to become their first U.K. top ten hit, rising 15-8, and pop band McFly returned to the top ten with “Love Is Easy,” starting at No. 10 for their 20th top 40 hit, all but two of them top tenners.