Olly Murs Finds 'Right Time' to Lead U.K. Album Again

The Associated Press, Sunday, December 9, 2012, 4:00pm (PST)

Billboard -- Olly Murs has the U.K.'s No. 1 artist album for a second week, after "Right Place Right Time" was confirmed at the summit again by the Official Charts Company on Sunday (Dec. 9). On the singles chart, 20-year-old, Wiltshire-born singer-songwriter Gabrielle Aplin climbed 6-1 with her cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's 1984 No. 1 "The Power of Love," as featured in retailer John Lewis' Christmas TV commercial.

Murs' album sold another 103,000 copies to withstand the challenge of Michael Bublé's deluxe edition of "Christmas," which climbed 4-2 on 85,000 sales, as One Direction's former No. 1 "Take Me Home" held at No. 3. Rod Stewart's "Merry Christmas Baby" improved 5-4 and "The Very Best Of Neil Diamond" 8-5. Tenor Alfie Boe also moved into the top ten, rising 14-9 with "Storyteller."

The highest new entry on the artist chart was "The Golden Age of Song" by TV presenter and bandleader Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, at No. 21. The album features guest appearances by Paul Weller, Florence Welch, Paloma Faith and many others. "Now! That's What I Call Music 83" is in a third week at the top of the compilation chart, pursued by "Now! That's What I Call Christmas," steady at No. 2. "Now! 83" has three-week sales of 730,000.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood's original of "The Power of Love" is one of the 63 tracks on the latter festive compilation, and had already underlined its durability by re-charting at No. 10 in 1993 and No. 8 in 2000. It's now hovering outside the top 40 itself, climbing 59-42, while Aplin's cover sold 57,000 units last week and has taken its total sales since its November release to more than 220,000 copies, according to the OCC.

It's the latest example of the continuing music sales benefits of a Christmas TV campaign, and in particular one for John Lewis. In 2010, Ellie Goulding's cover of Elton John's "Your Song" reached No. 2 after exposure in their ads, and has now sold 729,000 units. Bruno Mars held at No. 2 on the new survey with "Locked Out Of Heaven" as Murs' "Troublemaker," No. 1 for the last two weeks, fell to No. 3.

One Direction's "Little Things" moved back 9-6 as Ke$ha's "Die Young" improved 10-7, Pink's "Try" 26-8 and Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble" 24-13.

A host of perennial Yuletide hits are on the march again, led by "Fairytale of New York" by the Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl, which climbed 27-15, and Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You," 30-20. Returning to the top 40 were Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" (EMI, 58-31), Wham!'s "Last Christmas," Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody," back into the top 75 at No. 35, and Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas," re-entering the top 75 at No. 37.

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