Friday, November 17, 2006
Irish Bands Race For Top Chart SlotBy Maureen Coleman
The race for this week's UK number one looks set to be a battle of the Irish bands as three acts scrap it out for the coveted top spot.
Boyband Westlife is hoping to hang onto its position in the top slot with the single The Rose, which saw the boys enter the Guinness Book of Records last week after their 14th single debuted at number one.
Snapping at their heels are fellow Dubliners U2, who are currently number two with their Green Day collaboration The Saints Are Coming.
But Northern Irish indie band Snow Patrol are catching up with both groups with their new single Set The Fire To The Third Bar.
The track, a duet with Martha Wainwright, was released earlier this week and was today the 14th biggest selling single in HMV stores across Northern Ireland. The single is the third to be taken from their chart-topping album Eyes Open.
Iain Joannides, manager of HMV Donegall Arcade, said: "There is bitter battle this week for number one with chart toppers U2, Westlife and Snow Patrol vying for the coveted position.
Snow Patrol's single 'Set The Fire To The Third Bar' has received excellent reviews and, while it is defending its corner, both Westlife and U2 are tough acts to beat."
U2 and Westlife have both notched up number one singles during their careers but Snow Patrol are yet to reach the top of the charts.
Their second single from Eyes Open, the anthemic Chasing Cars, gave the band its biggest hit to date, at number six. The song entered the charts in the lower end of the top 40 but steadily climbed to number six over a number of weeks.
The band are set to play a triumphant homecoming gig at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast on December 21, capping off a successful year which saw them crack the American market and go straight to number one with their fourth album.
Credit/Source:
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
blogged@4:02 AM
