I just looked at the top 40 albums update and saw that the latest Paul Simon ‘best of’ compilation has gone straight in at number 1!
I will sort of repeat that – there have, over the years, been several Paul Simon Best of Compilations and ANOTHER was issued last week. It is now number one. I am not querying the quality of the album but who on earth is buying it?
It’s number 5 in the chart I saw:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/updatealbums
still pretty good. The Wombats in at 2 – they’re still going? I doubt it was a big selling week.
Yeah, wow – Uncle Bulgaria must be about 93 by now.
…oh. Hang on….
I think you’ll find Uncle Bulgaria is considerably older than that. As the historian Michael Batt tells us, “Back in 1780 when Bulgaria was a lad, they were minueting in the morning, and in the evening they were minueting mad.”
Fascinating! It is number one in your actual charts:
http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/
Why?
-PS has just finished a retrospective tour with Sting, so tens of thousands of people have seen a PS gig in the last fortnight.
– The compilation has no surprises, it’s all killer, no new-track filler.
– It also features some Simon & Garfunkel tunes.
– I saw a load of vinyl copies of the compilation for sale yesterday on Record Store Day, so I’d imagine PS fans would be RSD people.
– Finally, did Amazon have it on special offer? 99p download? That can skew things.
RSD’s had an effect on the vinyl singles chart:
http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/vinyl-singles-chart/
And the vinyl albums chart – young whippersnappers the Small Faces are in at 22!
http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/vinyl-albums-chart/
With Paul Simon’s album at 40.
That singles chart looks groovy.
is the correct answer – i’m no PS buff, but there are only 2 tracks I couldn’t hum on that album.
Here’s something though – am I the only person who doesn’t get what the hoo-ha is about
a) Still Crazy After All These Years
b) 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
Saw him and Sting in Dublin a fortnight ago and these are really really really well-loved tunes which sound rather, well, ordinary to me and not fit to tie the shoelaces of ‘Only Living Boy’, say…
Also – must say – raised a wry smile at the local audience taking their time recognising and applauding 50 Ways…I mean, I heard the drumbeat and muttered the song title to Herself, only to get a puck in the ribs…but it genuinely seemed to take a good 40 seconds before the recognition applause came from the rest of the audience – redolent of those Elvis in Vegas recordings from way back…
Bet Art is pissed off that it is being described here as a “Paul Simon” compilation.
No new track filler Dr J .
Reckon , So Beautiful So What is one of his best. I was disappointed he played. Nothing off it in the concerts with Sting…at least not that I recall.
But don’t you get to number one these days just by selling a couple of hundred discs? I thought ver kids consumed their music by downloading it into their internet connected topknot, or by streaming it straight to their tattoos. Or something.
You’re stunned? ………….. I’m not! I only heard about this album in it’s radio ad, if not R2 then a similar old fart’s type show. What struck me was the quality of the vocals and superb melodic composition. Of course I know all of the songs, but hearing it in the context of current and other R2 type playlists really qualified it’s appeal.
It would be great to think the yoof are taking notice, but I suspect it’s appeal will lie in a compact, all in one greatest hits convenience for an already established consumer base – i.e. us types and of less nerdy but similar vintage!
People are strange. After all, they bought “Everything I Do, I Do It For You” in significant quantities to keep it at number one for 16 weeks. Who would get to hearing it on the radio for the 15th week and think “You know what? I like that!”
I don’t much care for the Boy In The Bubble hitmaker. Until a recent BBC4 documentary on band break-ups, I’d never noticed how Art didn’t get a writing credit on any of the duo’s songs.
Are you David Hepworth recently featured on BBC4 doc about no. 1 hits?
Art never got a credit because he didn’t write songs (he may have one or two co-writer credits).
No I’m not, but I do wonder if he steals my ideas for his scripts.
“Everything I Do, I Do It For You” was an early incarnation of the FaceBook Frenzy we see today – folks like to join in.