So the burning question is whether this summer’s John Lewis ad will make a star out of newcomer Nina Nesbitt the same way that its predecessor rocketed Gabrielle Aplin to the top of the hit parade last Christmas.
At time of writing we don’t have access to the Official Charts Co’s mid-week sales figures. But the appearance of Nesbitt’s cover of Christine McVie’s Don’t Stop at Number 61 in Week 35 augurs well.
Nevertheless we wonder whether – unlike Aplin’s delicate and clearly contemporary re-appraisal of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Power of Love – this is just too close to Fleetwood Mac’s original soft rocker for comfort. And so may ultimately prove a turn-off for middle-aged fans of the band and their teenage off-spring alike. Which would be a great pity because it is a great song and deserves to be on its way to becoming, as they used say in Tin Pan Alley, an evergreen.
Sadly the same week that Nesbitt makes her chart debut another Universal artist, the admirable Jessie Ware, drops out of the Top 200 like a stone. Ware’s is the voice responsible for Wildest Moments, the haunting sophistipop soundtrack to Durex’s high profile Safe Sex spot which broke on August 5.
Originally released exactly 12 months ago as a download single from her Top 5 album Devotion, Wildest Moments entered at 152 in Week 33 and then rose encouragingly to 83 before vanishing completely. We certainly hope this won’t be the last we hear of the girl who has been described as ‘the missing link between Adele and Sade.’
Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros have also failed to navigate their way into the Top 40 with the off-beat Californian altfolkcountry track Home from the equally off-beat Peugeot 2008 spot. Unfortunately it didn’t register on adbreakanthems’ radar until the very week we gained access to the Official Charts Co’s Top 200. So we can’t immediately tell you what it did previous to its appearance at Number 62 in Week 28.
Things were definitely looking good for the 12 piece Rough Trade act when they climbed up to Number 50 three weeks later. But then the inevitable happened and, as you can see from our chart, Home began to slide back slowly but steadily to Number 93 in Week 35.
However there is a chance, albeit a slim one perhaps, that Edward Sharpe & Co might get a second chance to excite UK record buyers. Another of their tracks 40 Day Dream graces Citroen’s latest and decidedly spacey C4 Picasso spot which was playing regularly throughout August. So far there are no chart positions to report. But when there is, we’ll tell you about it.
