U.K. MIDWEEK CHARTS: SIMON BOUND FOR #1; DRAKE'S STILL THE 'ONE'

Paul Simon's Stranger to Stranger (Virgin EMI) is headed for #1 on the Official Albums Chart, his first chart-topper since The Ultimate Collection hit #1 last year. Drake’s “One Dance” (Island), meanwhile, looks set to notch up yet another week at the Official Singles summit. So who are their closest competitors at midweek stage?

Drake’s Views retains its #2 position while Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams (Parlophone) improves again to #3 as the band gets started on their stadium tour. Grime MC Bugzy Malone is new at #4 with his independently released second album, Facing Time (Ill Gotten), and last week’s chart-toppers, Catfish & The Bottlemen, are down to #5 with The Ride (Island).

Simon last hit #1 with new music in 1990 with Rhythm of the Saints, the follow-up to 1986's Graceland, which also peaked at #1 in the U.K.

It’s yet another week of a motionless Top 3 on the Official Singles Chart as “One Dance” sits 1.7k combined sales ahead of Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop The Feeling” (RCA) at #2. The JT track is dominating radio airplay in Blighty right now, sitting at the Radiomonitor charts peak with over 7.2k plays this week. That’s 2.5k more than that of entry #2, Calvin Harris and Rihanna’s “This Is What You Came For” (Columbia), which sits at #3 on the Singles Chart.

“This Girl” by French DJ Kungs and Australian trio Cookin’ on 3 Burners, released on indie dance label 3 Beat, is up six places to #4. Rounding out the Top 5 at midweek stage is Clean Bandit and Louisa Johnson’s track “Tears” (Atlantic), which is also climbing the Radiomonitor charts at #18 from #31 this rolling week.