The Wanted’s “Heart Vacancy” Confirms Boy Band Popularity

Call it out for Jay, Siva, Nathan, Max and Tom – The Wanted – the hottest boy band this side of summer. “All Time Low” topped the UK singles chart earlier in August and the follow-up, “Heart Vacancy,” bows at No.2 this week. The Danes Cutfather, Jonas Jeberg and Lucas Secon have co-written the track with boy band veteran Wayne Hector (Il Divo, Westlife and Boyzone). The self titled  debut set The Wanted was issued today. The album includes tracks written by Rami (Britney Spears), Cathy Dennis (Kylie Minogue, Sugababes) as well as Taio Cruz.

WelcheMusic highlighted that the boy bands have returned to the charts in an earlier blog post. Despite being Irish-British, The Wanted’s chart career in Ireland has been rather disappointing. “All Time Low” only made it to No.13 and “Heart Vacancy” only manages to reach No.18 in its first week. It’s also interesting to note that the singles haven’t been released elsewhere.

For those who can’t get enough of this group, please read The Wanted: The Unauthorized Biography, which was written by Chas Newkey-Burden. Quite a feat to rack up an biography (be it unauthorized) in October upon issuing a debut single in July the same year.

But The Wanted should be aware, Westlife is expected to issue its latest album Gravity on Nov.12.

They Give “Creep” the Choral Treatment in The Social Network Trailer

The WelcheMusic team looks forward to The Social Network which premiers in Sweden on Oct.22. Already, the trailer has made a lot of buzz and lots of readers ask about the choir singing “Creep” in the background. Resembling Quindon Tarver’s take on Rozalla’s “Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good)” in Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, a Belgian women’s choir chants the classic Radiohead track.

Already reported by Simon Vozick-Levinson at Entertainment Weekly, Columbia Pictures confirms that Scala and Kolacny Brothers is the choir performing the song. This Belgian choir recorded the track on the 2002 album On the Rocks, which features similar covers of Nirvana, Muse, Kylie Minogue and Wheatus songs.

WelcheMusic will definitely report if this will lead to a new trend of given rock songs the choral treatment. Unfortunately, Scala and Kolacny Brothers’ tracks aren’t available on Spotify yet. But we’ll keep our fingers crossed.

Take That Hits Radio with “The Flood”

Take That is set to issue the brand new album Progress on Nov.22.  This will mark the return of Robbie Williams and the lead single, “The Flood,” has been added to the BBC Radio 2 B List. The track was written by the group members and produced by Stuart Price, who previously produced artists such as Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Missy Elliot and Keane. Robbie Williams is currently racing the charts with his Gary Barlow duet “Shame,” taken from the second greatest hits album compilation In and Out of Consciousness: The Greatest Hits 1990-2010.  Rumors say that the two singers wrote the track in less than an hour and marked a truce after a 10 year old feud.

“Glee” Cast’s Britney Tribute Adds Six Debuts on Hot 100

The “Glee” cast adds another sex debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 to be released on Thursday. “Toxic” is the highest new entry at No.16, still short of Britney Spears’ peak at No.9. The song reached the peak position in the UK in March 2004 as well as a topping the European Hot 100. Co-written by Swedes Bloodshy & Avant, Henrik Jonback with Cathy Dennis, the track was initially offered to Kylie Minogue. The Sept.28 episode of “Glee” was a celebration to Britney Spears, and the actress even paid the cast a visit on the show. The episode attracted 13.5m viewers. Interesting to note, the show’s ratings took a 24% tumble the following episode.

Tarkan Faces Drug Charges

The Turkish pop singer Tarkan faces drug charges and is detained after a raid by narcotics officers. Née Tarkan Tevetoglu  in 1972, the singer was born in Germany but raised in Turkey. His biggest hit to date is “Simarik,” which was released in 1999. The title means spoiled in Turkish and was initially released in France in 1998. It was a pan-European hit, selling 2m copies across France, Spain, Italy and Portugal. “Simarik” peaked at No.2 in Norway and No.3 in Sweden.

An English version called “Kiss Kiss” was issued by Stella Soleil back in 2001. The track peaked at No.27 on the Billboard Top 40 in the US. The song was included on her album Dirty Little Secret. Australian soap opera actress Holly Valance recorded the track in 2002 and managed to reach the top of the UK singles chart. Valance made her breakthrough in Neighbours, just like Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Natalie Imbruglia. It was also her first chart-topper in Australia.  Stargate made an r’n’b remix of the track.

Rod Stewart, Susan Boyle and Mariah Carey Join Forces on New No.1

As expected, charity constellation Helping Haiti easily grabs the UK No.1 position this week with the rendition of R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts.” The track entered the Swedish singles chart at No.36. As previously reported, Simon Cowell has assembled Leona Lewis, Rod Stewart, Kylie Minogue, Susan Boyle and Miley Cyrus among others to re-record the track to benefit the Haitian victims. Expect “We Are the World” to appear on European charts in due course.

This means that Owl City falls 1-2 with “Fireflies,” while Timbaland and Katy Perry remains at No.3 with “If We Ever Meet Again.” This is better than the No.6 peak of the previous hit “Morning After Dark.” The Drake collaboration “Say Something” hasn’t been released in the UK, while the Justin Timberlake duet “Carry Out” has reached No.33 on the UK r’n’b singles chart.

Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind (Part II)” moves 5-4 in its ninth week, switching places with the Glee Cast’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” The stars of the highly succesful TV-series enters the chart at No.9 with the double-sided single  “Halo” and “Walking on Sunshine” and at No.14 with “It’s My Life” coupled with “Confessions Part II.” Add that “Somebody to Love” falls seven places to No.33.

Rihanna rises 20-10 with “Rude Boy,” while Jedward’s novelty hit “Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)” falls 2-12. Sade is the highest new entry on the album chart at No.4. Soldier of Love was, however, unable to challenge Alicia Keys, André Rieu and Paolo Nutini who remains in the top three. Massive Attack’s new album Heligoland is new at No.6 and it’s interesting to note that pop act Peter Andre manages to climb 9-7 with Unconditional Love Songs, a romantic cover collection.

Carey, Minogue, Boyle and Bon Jovi Cover R.E.M. for Haiti

R.E.M. issued “Everybody Hurts” in April 1993 as the fourth single from the Automatic for the People album. Little did they know that come February 2010, Mariah Carey, Jon Bon Jovi, Kylie Minogue and Rod Stewart would cover the track in attempt to raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake. Less surprisingly, music entrepreneur Simon Cowell is responsible for the initaitive which could be described as the Idol generation’s Band Aid. Cowell’s “own” artists such as Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke, Susan Boyle and JLS collaborate on this charity single. The song has already sold 205,000 copies in the UK and is set to reach the singles chart this Sunday.