I'm guessing, but I'm pretty sure that Virgin and Innocent would have been hoping that Atomic Kitten would have entered the chart a bit higher that number 4 with latest release 'Love Doesn’t Have To Hurt' – especially given that the Top 3 are all existing chart entrants (Room 5's Sure deodorant tune staying at one, Gareth Gates' Comic Relief number staying at two and Junior Senior still infectious 'Move Your Feet' climbing back up to three). That said, they are presumably glad to see the flagship boyband of pop rivals S Records - Westlife - have slipped down to nine after peaking at three with the long awaited 'Tonight'.
Is manufactured pop going out of fashion? Probably not – but those guaranteed number ones for teen bands seem to be gone. New releases wise and unless you're an Avril Lavinge fan ('I’m With You' goes in at seven) you have to go quite a way down the chart for the good stuff. Roots' 'The Seed' arrives at 33, The Donnas' 'Take It Off' at 38 and that’s about it.
Albums wise and The White Stripes storm to the number one spot with 'Elephant', though Norah Jones slips back up to 2 spot, with last week's two chart toppers – Linkin Park and Simply Red – following behind. New entries wise the album chart is a bit bare too. Hot Hot Heat a welcome arrival with 'Make Up The Breakdown' at 35. EMI would probably have been hoping for a higher entry than 17 for the remastered 'Dark Side Of The Moon' – though it will probably sell well over a longer period of time. Other than that we're talking Mis-Teeq and Hall & Oates.