U.K. MIDWEEKS: JONAS BLUE RACES UP THE CHART

Thanks to support from Bauer’s Kiss radio station in Blighty, a remix of Tracy Chapman’s ’88 hit “Fast Car” by London producer Jonas Blue, featuring new artist Dakota, has shot 58 places to reach #3 on the U.K. midweek Official Singles Chart. Blue's debut track was signed by UMG U.K. players: Virgin EMI boss Ted Cockle and Jason Ellis—A&R Director at Positiva, Virgin EMI’s dance imprint.

The duo has been keeping the U.K. on the backburner since the release of "Fast Car" in the first week of December (cover remixes are notoriously hard to break at national radio in Blighty). It’s a strategy that's worked a treat—the Australians lead the charge over Christmas with “Fast Car” being certified platinum there after reaching #1, followed by Sweden, and other territories worldwide. A solid fanbase is now in place to build a U.K. story with Ellis and Cockle working towards scoring a U.K. #1 in the next few weeks. Getting BBC Radio 1 and Global’s Capital on board is the next challenge.

Streaming is where “Fast Car” is currently getting the most traction, sitting at #3 on Spotify’s Global Viral 50 and #4 on Apple Music’s Top Songs chart (it’s nowhere to be seen on the RadioMonitor charts).

Manager Aaron Ross is A&Ring Blue and Empire Management’s Neale Easterby manages Dakota, who’s signed to Fraser and Sarah T Smith’s production company.

Virgin EMI’s Shawn Mendes looks set to reclaim a second week at #1 with “Stitches” continuing to blow up in Blighty, racing 6k combined sales ahead of nearest challenger on the Official Singles Chart, Virgin EMI label mate Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself.”

Rounding off the midweek Top 5 is the Snakehips, Tinashe & Chance the Rapper track “All My Friends”—released by Mark Terry and Alison Donald’s Columbia—which climbs three spots to #5.

On the midweek Official Albums front, David Bowie’s Blackstar (RCA) is showing no signs of ending its reign at the top, with three more of his releases within the Top 10: Best of Bowie #4, Nothing Has Changed #6 and Hunky Dory #10.

Suede is the highest-charting new entry this week with seventh studio album Night Thoughts (self-released and distributed by Warner imprint Rhino) at #5, while Adele’s 25 stays at #2 and Bieber’s Purpose moves up two places to #3.