GLOBAL NO.1 - 30 YEARS AGO... "Unchained Melody" was originally written in 1955 as the theme for the little-known prison film 'Unchained'. It has since become a standard and one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, most notably by the Righteous Brothers. Their version was released 1965 and peaked at no.5 globally in September of that year. It was re-released in 1990 after the Righteous Brothers' recording was used in the box office blockbuster film "Ghost", starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg. Consequently the epic hymn reached the no.1 spot in United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands, Austria, New Zealand, and Ireland.

USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
BTS earns fifth no.1 album on Billboard 200 chart
Tuesday, December 1, 2020
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

The new BTS smash 'Life Goes On' bows at no.1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It drew 14.9 million U.S. streams and sold 150,000 in the week ending Nov. 26, according to Nielsen

Music / MRC Data. It also earned 410,000 radio airplay audience impressions in the week ending Nov. 29 (with KJYO Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the lone reporter to play it double-digit times: 13), The track debuts at No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart and No. 14 on Streaming Songs. (Breaking down the song's first-week sales, it sold over 129,000 digital downloads and 20,000 physical singles. The digital download was sale-priced to 69 cents, while a cassette single sold for $6.98 and a vinyl single went for $7.98.) "Life Goes On" is BTS' third Hot 100 No. 1, all in a span of three months. Its launch atop the Dec. 5-dated chart follows "Dynamite," which began atop the Sept. 5 survey and led for three total weeks, and Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo's "Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)," which, helped by BTS remixes, topped the Oct. 17 chart. Covering a span of exactly three months (Sept. 5-Dec. 5-dated charts), BTS scores the fastest accumulation of three

Hot 100 No. 1s in over 42 years, since the Bee Gees tripled up over two months and three weeks, with a trio of singles from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack: "How Deep Is Your Love" (three weeks at No. 1, beginning Dec. 24, 1977); "Stayin' Alive" (four, Feb. 4, 1978); and "Night Fever" (eight, March 18, 1978). "Life Goes On" is the 46th single overall to start at No. 1 on the Hot 100. It's the 11th to do so in 2020 (all since April), nearly triple the previous record for the most in a single year, as four songs entered at No. 1 in both 1995 and 2018. First predominantly non-English-language No. 1 debut: "Life Goes On" is the first song sung in a non-English language to open atop the Hot 100. "Dynamite," on BTS' album Be, rebounds from No. 14 to No. 3 on the Hot 100. 24kGoldn's "Mood," featuring Iann Dior, drops to No. 2 on the Hot 100 after five nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1, with 87.3 million in airplay reach (up 2%), as it leads the Radio Songs chart for a fifth week, 21.9 million streams (down 2%) and 7,000 sold (down 13%). It tops the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Alternative Songs charts for a 14th week each and Hot Rap Songs for a seventh frame (with all three charts using the same methodology as the Hot 100). Ariana Grande's "Positions" slips 3-4 on the Hot 100, after it led the Nov. 7-dated chart upon its debut. It charges 14-9 on Radio Songs (47.9 million, up 27%), where it becomes her 14th top 10; dating to her first week in the tier (June 7, 2014), with "Problem," featuring Iggy Azalea, she ties Bieber for the most top 10s in that span. Gabby Barrett's "I Hope," featuring Charlie Puth, dips 4-5 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 3, as it dominates the multi-metric Hot Country Songs chart for an 18th week, and Bieber's "Holy," featuring Chance the Rapper, keeps at No. 6 on the Hot 100, after debuting at its No. 3 high. Drake's "Laugh Now Cry Later," featuring Lil Durk, descends 5-7 on the Hot 100, after debuting at its No. 2 peak, and notches a fifth week atop the multi-metric Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (where it marks Drake's record-setting 21st No. 1. Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber's "Monster" enters the Hot 100 at No. 8, with 19.1 million streams, 14.4 million in airplay audience and 17,000 sold. It starts at No. 5 on Streaming Songs and No. 7 on Digital Song Sales. (The song sold 15,000 downloads and 2,000 CD singles, with three CD versions available for $3 each: one with a cover showing both Mendes and Bieber and one each showing only Mendes and Bieber, respectively.) The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" retreats 7-9 on the Hot 100, after spending four weeks at No. 1. It banks a record-extending 41st week in the top 10, while ruling the multi-metric Hot R&B Songs chart for a record-furthering 37th week. Rounding out the Hot 100's top 10, Internet Money and Gunna's "Lemonade," featuring Don Toliver and NAV, slips 8-10, after rising to No. 6. BTS lands its fifth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as Be bows atop the tally. The set, which was released via Big Hit Entertainment on Nov. 20, arrives with 242,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 26, according to Nielsen Music / MRC Data. Be is the second chart-topper of 2020 for the pop group, following Map of the Soul: 7, which debuted at No. 1 on the chart dated March 7. Of Be’s 242,000 units earned in the tracking week ending Nov. 26, album sales comprise 177,000, TEA units comprise 35,000 and SEA units comprise 30,000 (equating to 48.56 million on-demand streams of the album’s songs). The Be album is a mostly-Korean-language release, but does feature the group’s first all-English song, “Dynamite.” The track marked the act’s first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated Sept. 5. It also recently garnered the group its first Grammy Award nomination, for best pop duo/group performance. Be is the 11th mostly non-English album to hit No. 1. Of the 11 leaders that were recorded mostly in a language other than English, five have been by BTS. At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Megan Thee Stallion’s debut full-length album Good News starts with 100,500 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, 82,500 comprise SEA units (equaling 115.85 million on-demand streams of the set’s songs), 16,000 comprise album sales and a little over 2,000 comprise TEA units. Good News is also the most streamed album of the week. The 17-track Good News set follows a pair of top 10s from Megan Thee Stallion with the nine-track EP Suga (No. 7; May 16, 2020) and the mixtape Fever (No. 10; June 1, 2019). The new album includes the remix version of the No. 1 Hot 100 hit “Savage,” featuring Beyoncé. The original version of “Savage” was included on Suga. Ariana Grande’s former No. 1 Positions rises 4-3 on the new Billboard 200 with 61,000 equivalent album units earned (down 18%), Pop Smoke’s former leader Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon bumps up a notch to No. 4 with 52,000 units (down 3%) and Future and Lil Uzi Vert’s Pluto x Baby Pluto falls 2-5 in its second week with 46,000 units (down 56%). Taylor Swift’s former No. 1 Folklore charges back into the top 10, rising 29-6, after the set’s vinyl edition was released to Target stores during the tracking week, her Disney+ special Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions premiered on Nov. 25 and a new digital deluxe edition of the album was released. Folklore earned 44,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Nov. 26 (up 120%), with 23,000 of that sum in album sales (up 452%). Vinyl LP sales comprise 15,000 of that sales figure (up 16,476%). Folklore’s digital album sales also increased, rising to 4,000 for the week (up 425%). A new deluxe edition of the album was issued to digital retailers on Nov. 25 that includes live versions of each of the album’s tracks (as heard in the Disney+ special Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions). Luke Combs’ former No. 1 What You See Is What You Get falls 6-7 with 41,000 equivalent album units (down 2%), Chris Stapleton’s Starting Over descends 3-8 with 37,000 units (down 64%) and Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die dips 7-9 with 36,000 units (down 2%). Carrie Underwood’s holiday album My Gift jumps back into the top 10, rising 25-10 with 35,000 equivalent album units earned (up 63%). The album debuted at No. 8 on the Oct. 10-dated chart, and then spent the next four weeks outside the top 50. However, it vaulted 150-39 on the Nov. 14 chart, and then rose 29-25-10 in the next three weeks, as Thanksgiving (and the heart of the Christmas season) approached.

Record Of The Month

United Kingdom
Music Week (excerpt)
Ariana Grande's 'Positions' remains at no.1
Monday, November 30, 2020
by Alan Jones, London

Another seven days of solid streams and a few sales too means a fifth week at No.1 for Positions by Ariana Grande. The track continues to gently sag, down 3.8% week-on-week but in a market where nobody else seems to be in a position to rise to fill the void its chart sale of 42,870 (just 969 of them paid downloads) is more than

enough to ensure continuing market domination. It remains – just – the most streamed track of the week. Competition such as it is comes once more from Billie Eilish, off 18.7% in sales with Therefore I Am but still No.2 with 35,478 to her name. Little Mix remain No.3 (33,273 sales) with Sweet Melody and Wes Nelson / Hardy Caprio are No.4 (28,482 sales) with See Nobody, both also in decline. With upwards momentum though is Dua Lipa who just ahead of her much-hyped Studio 2054 livestream gig moves into fifth place with Levitating (28,201 sales) making this the third Top 5 single to be taken from Future Nostalgia. Lipa is also part of the highest new entry of the week, this time in collaboration with Miley Cyrus on Prisoner, the new single from the American star, which smashes its way to No.8 (24,338 sales). Both women have concurrent Top 10 singles to their name, with Cyrus’ Midnight Sky still hanging in there at No.7 (26,619 sales). It is quite the

week for superstar duets, fellow countrymen Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber colliding on Monster which arrives at No.9 with 22,715 sales. It is the seventh Top 10 hit for Mendes, the 22nd for Bieber. BTS have the No.2 album of the week with Be, the record emitting another chart single in the shape of Life Goes On which is No.10 with 22,445 sales to become their second straight Top 10 single. The K-pop band are also No.66 (7,348 sales) with Blue & Grey whilst the already charting Dynamite flies back up to No.37 posting 9,956 ACR-limited sales. Without that handicap (which will be reset next week thanks to this streaming spike) it would be contending for a return to the Top 10 of its own. Singles sales are up 1.32% to 21,254,265, their highest for 15 weeks. Paid sales are down 7.5% and stand at a mere 430,683, below the half a million mark for the 20th week in a row. Consistent as ever, the pairing of Michael Ball and Alfie Boe proves once more to be seasonal sales gold. Together At Christmas is their fourth collaborative album, arriving after Together (2016), Together Again (2017) and Back Together (2019), and duly follows the first two of those to the very top of the charts. This week’s No.1 album sells 32,882 copies. Combined, the Together series has accumulated 1,327,111 sales to date. This is Michael Ball’s fifth No.1 album, but only the third for his companion Boe, who is yet to top the charts solo. At a combined age of 105, Ball and Boe wrestle back the title of oldest duo with a No.1 album, one they surrendered to Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott earlier this year. This does mean BTS narrowly miss out on the rare feat of topping the charts with two albums of original material in the same year. Be is their fifth Korean language album, their seventh to reach the British charts and their third of the year. Featuring just eight tracks and clocking in at a mere 28-and-a-half minutes, it’s a brisk experience but its 19,562 sale is more than enough to make it this week’s No.2 album, their third Top 3 record. Last week’s No.1 from AC/DC powers down to a mere 27.8% of its previous weekly sales total but 17,239 is still enough to ensure Power Up is No.3. Just behind, Taylor Swift’s Folklore rockets back to No.4 in its highest chart placing for 12 weeks following the long-awaited drop of its vinyl editions. 11,426 of this week’s posted sales of 14,199 are for the album’s physical version. Neil Diamond becomes the latest veteran star to leap aboard the orchestral train, Classic Diamonds credited to the singer and the London Symphony Orchestra in a romp through the best bits of his songbook. No.5 with 12,691, sales it is his 44th chart album. Without an orchestra in tow, Iron Maiden land at No.7 with Nights Of The Dead, Legacy Of The Beast (11,094 sales), recorded over three nights in Mexico City last year. It is their landmark 25th Top 10 album, their first since 2015. Maiden can boast a Top 10 record in every one of the last five decades – although Neil Diamond above them just extended his run into a sixth. Sales stand at 2,070,770 up 3.81% week-on-week in a new high for 2020. Physical sales are also heading to their traditional seasonal highs, up 14.2% to 635,594 to command over 30% of the market for the first time in 47 weeks.