The Year of Pala

With last week's 15th consecutive run at the No. 1 position with Hawaiian Air, Friendly Fires tied the record for most weeks at the top of the Songs chart with one same title. Sadly, they're not able to break that record because it all ends this week as Hawaiian Air finally gives up the throne and falls to No. 4. But it's all not lost, because Friendly Fires replace themselves at the top with Blue Cassette, off their album Pala, after debuting at No. 100 eight weeks ago. So after all, Friendly Fires is the act with the most consecutive weeks - sixteen - at the top of the Songs chart, with one or more songs.

Blue Cassette (Live at the Lightbox Session)


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More crazy stats? And I say crazy because they all involve the number 7 somehow...

With such a long run at the top for Hawaiian Air, many titles had to settle with a not less respectable No. 2 position. A total of seven songs are included in this list starting most recently with Snow Patrol's This Isn't Everything You Are, which stays as runner-up for a second week. But there's also Benny Benassi's Close To Me featuring Gary Go (#3), Blink-182's Fighting The Gravity (#6), Young The Giant's My Body (#7), Coldplay's Paradise (#10), Foster The People's Pumped Up Kicks (#12) and Florence + The Machine's Shake It Out (#18).

Also, Blue Cassette becomes the seventh song that made its debut at the No. 100 position and eventually went on to the top of the Songs chart. This list includes Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (Wind Blow - 2007), Fergie (Clumsy - 2007), Mariah Carey (O.O.C. - 2008), Kanye West (Love Lockdown - 2009), Jay-Z (Real As It Gets - 2010) and Outasight (Everything - 2011).

But that's not all. Friendly Fires is also the seventh act to replace itself at the top of the Songs chart after Interpol (Wrecking Ball, Rest My Chemistry - 2007), Mariah Carey (twice)(Migrate, Side Effects, I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time, O.O.C. - 2008; Betcha Gon' Know (The Prologue), H.A.T.E.U. - 2009), The-Dream (My Love, Right Side Of My Brain - 2009), Akon (Sexy Bitch, Available (Benny Benassi Remix) - 2009), Jay-Z (Empire State Of Mind, Real As It Gets - 2010) and Lykke Li (I Follow Rivers (The Magician Remix), Love Out Of Lust - 2011).

Friendly Fires Still Rules The Charts

Nine weeks have passed since the band Friendly Fires claimed the #1 spot of the Top Songs chart with Hawaiian Air, and with no signs of slowing down and a respectable lead, they still have the chance to go for ten or even more. And with only nine more weeks left to end the year, it's almost certain that the song will get crowned as the year's longest running number one song. That is, at least a tie if by chance there's a new #1 next week that matches Hawaiian Air's stay at the top.

Hawaiian Air (Live at BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge)

Chart Fact: Hawaiian Air joins a short but elite list of 9'ers, starting with Ne-Yo's So Sick from 2006, Gym Class Heroes' Viva La White Girl from 2007 and Mariah Carey's Obsessed from 2009. Only three more songs have had stays at the top in the double digits. This one could be next.

Lucky 7 For Friendly Fires

They did it! The fellas from Friendly Fires score their seventh consecutive week at #1 on the Top Songs Chart with that Hawaiian Air number, a song that upon it's debut, 14 weeks ago, didn't seem to have the staying power it's achieved until now. So this means they've taken one step ahead and grabbed the longest-running #1 song of 2011 on the chart so far. And the song keeps growing every week, so there's still time for them to extend their stay at the top, although that's still not guaranteed with Florence + The Machine getting closer and closer to a chart-topper first with the haunting Shake It Out, repeating at #2 in its third week. It won't be till next week's charts that we found out who wins the battle.

Hawaiian Air (Live at 'Later With Jools Holland)


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Blink-182 › Heart's All Gone

'Up All Night' by Blink-182

Exactly how many years have passed since Blink-182's last record? With the self-titled Blink-182 in 2003 and the Greatest Hits album in 2005, the answer is: way too many! That's about to change now that the band has finally decided to come forward with a new release and have Up All Night as the first new song. Check it out!



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