Are we running out of chart stats?

The British Hit Singles books used to have 3 sections, A-Z by artist, A-Z by song and facts & feats. In the latter section you would find who'd had the most hits, most number ones and various other stats.

Over time though, some of the stats would become less relevant. For example you would have a list of every record that went straight in at number one, but by the 90s it became more unusual for a record to climb to number one than go straight in.

The last book I bought, the 1000 No.1 singles edition, didn't even have the facts and feats section, instead it had a short piece on all the number ones.

The number of people who follow the charts has dwindled over the years. Personally speaking, I had stopped following the charts for years and only started again when I was doing my yearly chart reviews. What keeps me following it is more to do with the stats than the music.

The problem is if anything out of the ordinary happens, it's probably happened before. The change in the rules following Ed Sheeran's 16 songs in the Top 20 doesn't help.

Don't get me wrong, it did seem ridiculous that Drake came close to breaking Bryan Adams record of most weeks at number one with a record I don't think I ever heard during it's reign at the top. But at the same time, the chart rules that have come in since means we're highly unlikely to see anyone break Bryan Adams record.

What prompted me to write this post was seeing Aitch clock up his 9th Top 40 hit a year after his debut. I thought I'd see whether anyone else has managed 9 Top 40 hits within a year of their debut.

The answer is yes they have. Elvis Presley managed to score 10 in his first year which perhaps isn't a surprise. However, there is one other act who managed more, 17 in fact.

You're probably thinking it's someone like Cliff Richard or Madonna or someone else who's had a significant number of hits. But it isn't, it is in fact the Glee Cast who scored all 17 in the first half of 2010.

I'd forgot that the Glee Cast even had a chart career, though I wasn't following the charts at all during that time.

In 10 years time I'll probably forget Aitch ever had a chart career, either that or I'll see him clock up his 100th single and there would still be lots of people who have never heard of him.