GLOBAL NO.1 - 30 YEARS AGO... "Justify My Love" was released on November 6, 1990 as the lead single from Madonna's first greatest hits compilation album The Immaculate Collection (1990). Musically it's a trip hop song with mid-tempo settings and instrumentation. Producer Kravitz used striking drums, found on Public Enemy's instrumental "Security Of The First World" (1988). The lyrics of the song are primarily about sex and romance. Madonna's vocals are primarily spoken and whispered, but almost never sung, a style that she later employed on her following studio album Erotica (1992). The famous music video for "Justify My Love" was directed in Paris on November 9, 1990, by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, features Madonna's then-boyfriend, model and actor Tony Ward. It caused controversy worldwide, due to its explicit sexual images of sadomasochism, voyerism, and bisexuality, and was subsequently banned from MTV and other TV networks. "Justify My Love" went to the top position in the United States, Canada, Finland and to the runner-up slot in United Kingdom and Italy.

USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
Morgan Wallen debuts at no.1 on Billboard 200
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in record-setting fashion, as it garners the largest streaming week ever for a country

album. The 30-song album — Wallen’s first leader — further logs the largest overall week, by units earned, for a country set in over two years. Dangerous, released on Jan. 8 via Big Loud / Republic Records, starts with 265,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 14, according to MRC Data. Of Dangerous’ 265,000 equivalent album units earned in the tracking week ending Jan. 14, SEA units comprise 184,000 (equaling 240.18 million on-demand streams of the album’s songs), album sales comprise 74,000 and TEA units comprise 7,000. (Of Dangerous’ 74,000 in album sales, digital download album sales comprise 50,000.) Dangerous is Wallen’s second full-length album, following 2018’s If I Know Me, which peaked at No. 13 on the Aug. 29, 2020-dated chart. It has spent over 110 weeks on the tally and earned 1.7 million equivalent album units, while its songs have accrued 2.4 billion on-demand streams. Prior to Dangerous’ release,

the singer-songwriter had snared 13 charting hits on the Hot Country Songs chart, including eight top 10s (two of which reached No. 1). On the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart, he’s placed 10 tunes, including the new album’s “7 Summers.” The latter debuted at No. 6, marking at the time only the second top 10 Hot 100 debut for a song by a solo male and no accompanying acts that has also appeared on Hot Country Songs. At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Taylor Swift’s Evermore slips one spot after three nonconsecutive weeks in the lead, with 55,000 equivalent album units earned (down 1%). Pop Smoke’s former No. 1 Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon is steady at No. 3 with 47,000 units (up 5%). Both titles were released by Republic Records, like Dangerous. In turn, Republic holds the top three for the third time in less than three months, and remains the only label to monopolize the top three since 2003, when Interscope pulled off the feat. Jazmine Sullivan hits a career-high on the Billboard 200 as Heaux Tales bows at No. 4 with 43,000 equivalent album units earned. It beats her previous chart high of No. 6, achieved in the opening week of her debut set, and only other top 10, Fearless (Oct. 11, 2008 chart). Heaux Tales is the singer’s fourth charting effort, and first since 2015’s Reality Show debuted and peaked at No. 12 (Jan. 31, 2015). Lil Durk’s The Voice falls from its No. 2 high to No. 5 with 42,000 equivalent album units earned (down 12%). The Weeknd’s former No. 1 After Hours charges 14-6 with 35,000 units (up 34%). The latter benefits from the popularity of its latest single, and its new official video (released Jan. 5), for “Save Your Tears,” as well as The Weeknd’s widely-seen commercial touting his halftime performance at the upcoming Super Bowl (Feb. 7). Ariana Grande’s former No. 1 Positions falls 4-7 with 34,000 units (down 4%). Both After Hours and Positions were released via Republic Records, giving the label a stunning five of the top 10 albums – the first time a label group has claimed half of the top 10 in nearly a year (since the Feb. 1, 2020-dated chart when Interscope Geffen A&M achieved the distinction). Republic last had half of the top 10 on the Nov. 9, 2013-dated chart. Closing out the top 10 on the new Billboard 200 are: Luke Combs’ What You See Is What You Get (7-8 with a little over 31,000 units; down 3%), Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die (holding at No. 9 with 31,000 units; up 4%) and Megan Thee Stallion’s Good News (6-10 with just under 31,000 units; down 5%). Olivia Rodrigo's "Drivers License" debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peeling in as the most-streamed and top-selling song of the week. The single, released Jan. 8, marks the 17-year-old's first Hot 100 No. 1, following its first week of availability. The singer-songwriter and actress initially broke through with roles on Disney Channel's Bizaardvark in 2016 and Disney+'s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series in 2019. Her background helped spark the high profile of "Drivers License," which has also been buoyed by scrutiny about its lyrics, the song's TikTok presence and a co-sign from Taylor Swift, among others. "Drivers License," released on Geffen / Interscope Records, is the 1,116th No. 1 in the Hot 100's 62-year history. It's the 48th single to debut on top, and the first of 2021. "Drivers License" drew 76.1 million U.S. streams and sold 38,000 downloads in the week ending Jan. 14, according to MRC Data. It also earned 8.1 million radio airplay audience impressions in the week ending Jan. 17. The track debuts at No. 1 on both the all-genre Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales charts, marking Rodrigo's first leader on each list, while entering the Pop Airplay (No. 31) and Adult Pop Airplay (No. 37) radio rankings. 76.1 million opening-week U.S. streams for "Drivers License" mark a new weekly best for a female artist's first single properly promoted to radio, streaming services and other platforms. At 17 years and 11 months old, Rodrigo is the youngest artist at the time of topping the Hot 100 since Billie Eilish, who was 17 years, eight months and one week old when she led with "Bad Guy" in August 2019. Morgan Wallen's "Wasted on You" opens at No. 9 with 17.9 million U.S. streams and 10,000 downloads sold in the week ending Jan. 14, according to MRC Data. The song, which debuts at No. 3 on the Streaming Songs chart and No. 7 on Digital Song Sales, is from the singer-songwriter's 30-song LP Dangerous: The Double Album, which bounds in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 265,000 equivalent album units, as it logs the best streaming week ever for a country album. SZA's "Good Days" jumps 23-10 on the Hot 100 with 20.1 million streams (up 31%), 2.1 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 217%) and 3,000 sold (up 47%). It pushes 3-2 on Streaming Songs and re-enters Digital Song Sales at a new No. 38 high. The song, released Christmas Day, marks SZA's third Hot 100 top 10 and first on her own. She initially reached the region as featured on Maroon 5's "What Lovers Do," which hit No. 9 in November 2017. "All the Stars," with Kendrick Lamar, rose to No. 7 in March 2018. Below Rodrigo's "Drivers License" in the Hot 100's top five, 24kGoldn's "Mood," featuring Iann Dior, dips to No. 2, after eight weeks at No. 1. It tops the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Alternative Songs charts for a 20th week each and Hot Rap Songs for a 14th frame, with all three charts using the same methodology as the Hot 100. Ariana Grande's "Positions" backtracks 2-3 on the Hot 100. It led the Nov. 7-dated chart upon its debut. The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" descends 3-4 on the Hot 100. The song spent four weeks at No. 1 (eventually ranking as the Hot 100's top hit of all of 2020) and logs its 58th total week on the chart. It adds a record-extending 45th week in the top 10 and record-furthering 36th week in the top five. Chris Brown and Young Thug's "Go Crazy" keeps at its No. 5 high on Hot 100 as it hits No. 1 on Radio Songs (2-1; 80.2 million in audience, up 1%). Dua Lipa's "Levitating," featuring DaBaby, ascends 7-6 for a new high; Justin Bieber's "Holy," featuring Chance the Rapper, falls 4-7, after it debuted at its No. 3 peak in October; and AJR's "Bang!" rises 9-8, a week after becoming the brother trio's first top 10.

Record Of The Month

United Kingdom
Music Week (excerpt)
Barry Gibb lands his first no.1 with a solo album
Monday, January 18, 2021
by Alan Jones, London

As a member of The Bee Gees, Barry Gibb appeared on 26-chart albums between 1967 and 2017, but he topped the charts just once in that period. Spirits Having Flown was the group’s only credited No.1 album in 1979, although we should not ignore the brothers’ core contributions to the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, which

spent an extended period at the summit in 1978. Now in 2021, he finally breaks his solo duck too. Four years after In The Now topped out in second place, Greenfields - The Gibb Brothers Songbook - Volume 1 flies with some style to the very top of the albums chart, posting 16,166 sales, 13,447 of them physical copies. As the title suggests the album features reworked versions of older Bee Gees material, the songs remade surprisingly successfully in Country & Western style. Although Barry Gibb has the sole artist credit, every track on the album is a duet of some kind and artists of the calibre of Keith Urban, Belinda Carlisle, Alison Krauss, Sheryl Crow and Dolly Parton all feature amongst its 12 tracks. At the age of 74, Gibb is the latest in a growing line of comparatively elderly men to enjoy No.1 albums in the recent years, and with the Bee Gees' first No.1 single having arrived in October 1967 it means he now can claim a 53-year span of chart

topping records. Commiserations therefore go to Passenger, whose best chance for a first No.1 album in over four years went begging. Michael Rosenberg's 14th studio album (although only his 13th as a solo performer) Songs For The Drunk And Broken Hearted saw its production disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and appears almost a year after it was originally scheduled. Today it becomes his seventh chart record, its No.2 entry (7,189 sales) is enough to make it his second-highest charting album to date, with only 2016's Young As The Morning Old As The Sea peaking higher. Perhaps inevitably Passenger's biggest album is his solo debut All The Little Lights, home to his most famous single Let Her Go, and which has accumulated 560,583 chart sales to date. His only other album to break the 100,000 barrier is 2014's Whispers which peaked at No.5 and has clocked up 119,862 sales as of this week. The rest of the Top 5 sees Taylor Swift's Evermore down 1-3 (6,590 sales), Pop Smoke's continually impressive Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon a Top 10 album for the 22nd time in its 28-week chart career at No.4 (5,195 sales), while more than a year on from its release Harry Styles' Fine Line spends a 44th week in the Top 10, 5,037 sales making it No.5 for the week. After last week's dramatic market slump, the only way was up and happily so it proves, albums sales up 8.73% week on week to 1,651,158. New releases always give the physical market a lift and that too is the case here, a 15.62% rise meaning 285,466 physical albums were moved last week representing 17.29% of the market. + series, Drivers License by Olivia Rodrigo is our first global smash hit of the new year. Via an online plug from Taylor Swift the intense ballad swiftly became a sensation, setting streaming records worldwide. The Californian singer becomes one of only a tiny handful of acts to spend her first week on the British charts at No.1, the 94,770 chart sale of Drivers License already setting a high water mark for the year. All but 3,914 of the track’s sales are attributable to its 10.9m audio and video streams – a single week total bettered by just three non-festive tracks to date. Topping the charts a month shy of her 18th birthday, Olivia Rodrigo is the youngest solo female to land a No.1 hit since Lorde pulled off the trick with Royals just a few days short of her 17th back in 2013. Last week's Top 4 singles all move down a place to accommodate the surprise new arrival. Sweet Melody by Little Mix becomes No.2 by default, although it still clocks up 30,360 chart sales of its own to remain largely clear of the chasing pack. Ed Sheeran is No.3 with Afterglow (28,349 sales), CJ at No.4 with Whoopty (25,180 sales) and Justin Bieber No.5 with Anyone (25,077 sales) – the latter three all posting sales increases despite their decline in chart positions. Elsewhere in the Top 10 there are new peaks for Kid Laroi with Without You (No.6 with 23,882 sales) and Paradise by Meduza/Dermot Kennedy (No.7, 23,615 sales). Assuming it can maintain the momentum, Good Days by SZA should be joining them in short order, the single accelerating 28-14 with a 70.2% increase in sales to 17,353. As noted, singles consumption enjoyed a lift this week with an 8.5% rise taking the market to 20,294,239 overall. Paid sales stand at 409,878, a 1.9% rise on last week's total.