THE OFFICIAL UK ALBUMS CHART TO 75.

CHART COMMENTARY

There was a certain inevitability about it but the number one debut by Hear'Say's Popstars album is still notable, not least because it sold a massive 306,631 units on its first week in the shops, the highest weekly sale of any album since The Beatles' 1 sold 422,000 units the week before Christmas. In so doing, Popstars instantly sold platinum and jumped from nowhere to number five on the year-to-date bestsellers list.

Meanwhile, the album which steps down from pole position to make way for it -- Eva Cassidy's Songbird -- sold a further 66,000 units. It will pass the 500,000 mark today (April 2), and has already sold 392,000 units this year, a total beaten only by Dido's No Angel, which shifted a further 39,000 units last week to bring its overall sales to 802,000 and its 2001 sales to 696,000.

Gorillaz' self-titled debut album sold nearly 48,000 units last week and debuts at number three. The cartoon character group, who have Damon Albarn of Blur as their vocalist, have sold more than 200,000 units of their single Clint Eastwood -- which manages to be the only climber in the Top 40, moving 6-4 despite the album's release -- in the past four weeks.

Human debuts at number nine to deliver Rod Stewart his 22nd Top 10 album in a solo career spanning 30 years. Although Human has thus done a great deal better here than in the US, where it peaked at number 50 a few weeks ago, it sold a modest 19,000 units last week, less than half the number Stewart's last album When We Were The New Boys sold when it entered at number two in 1998.

While Shaggy's It Wasn't Me has sold more copies than Hear'Say's Pure And Simple, his album Hot Shot plays a minor supporting role to their Popstars -- not least because it is not officially out here until today. As an import shipped by Universal in the UK, Hot Shot has already ridden the chart for nine weeks, and improves 29-20 this week, just one notch below its highest placing to date. It sold more than 10,000 units last week, taking its overall tally to more than 77,000. Although It Wasn't Me is Shaggy's third number one single, he has sold few albums hitherto, and Hot Shot is both his biggest seller and his highest-charting album to date.

MARKET REPORT