Before the chart... the chart

To be precise, last week's official downloads only top 20:

1 Paul McCartney & U2 - Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
Obviously a lot of this will be skewed by the live downloads put out to benefit the Band Aid Trust. Actually I'm not sure if I've heard this since Live 8, and on reflection I'm not sure I want to.

2 James Blunt - You're Beautiful
Look upon his works, Rice, and despair.

3 2Pac ft Elton John - Ghetto Gospel
See, I stuck up the physical sales chart not long ago and it did seem downloads didn't actually have that much overall effect, but looking at this it suggests a web audience is more receptive to guitar toting types.

4 Charlotte Church - Crazy Chick
And this'll be the pop bloggers.

5 Paul McCartney - The Long And Winding Road
"Meep meep! Meep meep!"

6 Mariah Carey - We Belong Together
7 Audio Bullys Ft Nancy Sinatra - Shot You Down
They really are going to be perceived as one hit wonders, aren't they?

8 Razorlight - Somewhere Else
Johnny Borrell said he would give away royalties derived from Live 8 sales spikes, but he didn't think they'd get any. Righto. Of course, their bolt from that has been shot now as it'll be months until their next single.

9 Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc
Amazing how well this is doing after the famous download sales charting scam in March. The single to next single Dare is now out, featuring Shaun Ryder looking like he's been embalmed.

10 Kanye West - Diamonds From Sierra Leone
Reports are that he made something of an arse of himself with onstage statements at the Philly Live 8, which I wouldn't mind corroboration of.

11 Bodyrockers - I Like The Way
Of course the follow up sounds exactly the same.

12 MVP - Roc Ya Body (Mic Check 1 2)
13 Kaiser Chiefs - Everyday I Love You Less And Less
Also notable how many people caught their set on the BBC coverage. The new I Predict A Riot video is awful.

14 Coldplay - Speed Of Sound
Fix You is at 23, which suggests everyone else releasing singles on September 5th (Charlotte Church and Rachel Stevens, it says here) might as well get the fuck out of the way.

15 Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Two of theirs in the top 20, as you'll see, with Who Are You and I Don't Like Mondays not far short. Children Of The Revolution does not feature.

16 Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends
17 Razorlight - Golden Touch
18 Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
19 Killers - Somebody Told Me
20 Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone


So what have we learned? Well, it's more about the numbers than the positions, and the main result of incorporating downloads into the official chart might well be to prolong the shelf life of older singles. So it makes for a less suddenly active chart, just not in the way people were hoping for.