Hey you! Don’t buy that, buy this…

NEVER
KNEW
YOUR NAME!!!

Der ner ner… sorry I got carried away…

This is a special edition of the MIS email, brought to you by Paul Rodgers and his nerdy desire to have more chart statistics to write about, asking Madness fans (that’s you!) to buy the single track download of Never Knew Your Name and/or publicise the links to the single on your Facebook or Twitter account.

I say this because the single has a genuine chance of making the top
75 in Sunday’s chart (the latest issue of Music Week lists in their likely to hit the top 75 this week list). But that’s not all. It currently stands at the number 165 position, poised to climb. The single might also make the top 40…

To get in the top 40 the single needs to sell around 7,800 copies (based on David Bowie’s number 41 single this week selling 7,733).
Sales are going very well so far backed by solid radio support and the Jonathan Ross TV Show appearance. Since Sunday the single track download has been a regular in the top 50 at Amazon.co.uk and the top
100 at iTunes.

It is likely to be further boosted by the repeat of the Jonathan Ross show at 22.35 on Thursday night (which will affect sales on Friday and Saturday). This is on ITV 1 again.

Radio has provided sterling support as well, with the single officially at number 27 on this week’s airplay chart. It is also the number 37 song on the year to date charts and is rising daily. It has effectively been heard nearly 57 million times this year (although obviously that figure is not unique listeners). It remains on the A list at Radio 2 and the B list on Absolute. It has been played around
1,800 times this year so far.

Like so many others I would still like to see Madness singles get a physical release. Ideally there would be two CDs, a 7″ and a download.
I’d also like to see the singles in the chart. A lot of people claim no interest in charts, but when the charts are recording details of the 188.6 million singles sold last year, surely a band that prides itself as one of Britain’s most successful singles artists would want to get a look in?

Single sales are much higher now that they have ever been. The increases year on year (for the fifth year in a row) partially explain the drop in chart positions for Madness singles. For example a couple of weeks ago the number 200 record sold 2,634 copies. In the first week of 2005 those sales would have placed the record at number 23! Two weeks ago Clown by Emeli Sande sold 11,883 copies in the number 23 slot. 2012 single sales were 6% higher than those in 2011.

So how about it? How about we all download this virtual bit of air?
It can be found at these (and no doubt other) online retailers:

iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/never-knew-your-name/
id563245346?i=563245532

Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009ED7VKQ/ref=dm_dp_trk2

It’s slightly cheaper at Amazon, but we all have our preferences and it’s not for me to imply any one retailer is better than another (let’s face it none of them pay any tax worth writing home about!).

So why should you care?

Madness have not yet had a top 40 hit this decade, having had at least one new one every decade since the 70s:

1970s: The Prince;
1980s: My Girl;
1990s: Lovestruck;
2000s: Shame And Scandal;
2010s: ….

Never Knew Your Name should join that illustrious list don’t you think?

Perhaps now is the time for MIS readers to try to push the single over the finish line? Surely a new Madness single deserves a higher chart position than one by One Pound Fish Man? Not that I don’t like his record, it’s a decent enough novelty hit.

It’s not all about the single. The album has also made a spectacular recovery since the appearance on Jonathan Ross on Saturday night.
Over the last two weeks it has travelled from outside the top 200 (it fell out for one week) to number 76. In the midweek chart issued on Wednesday it had risen again to number 22. It will be top 30 again, in its second highest chart position. It may even be in the top 20…

One last thing, if you are thinking of going to the races, I’d get your skates on if I were you and I liked to mix a metaphor! Tickets are selling really well, with Madness a new entry at number two on the latest concert ticket chart. Only Suggs’ mates One Direction are above Madness and trumpet player Joe’s bird Pamela Faith is tucked in behind at number three.

Don’t forget to set your videos to record Top Of The Pops next Thursday… but first, BUY IT.

Paul Rodgers/MIS Team