Chart Effects

[Jeff Dalton <jeff%aiva.edinburgh.ac.uk@Cs.Ucl.AC.UK>]

This tuesday's Gallup Music Week/BBC/BPI LP chart has:

   1  (-)  Now That's What I Call Music 8 	-- Various
   2  (1)  Hits 5				-- Various
   3  (2)  The Whole Story			-- Kate Bush
   4  (3)  Every Breath You Take - the Singles	-- The Police
   5  (4)  Original Soundtrack "Top Gun"	-- Various
   6  (5)  True Blue				-- Madonna
   ...
! 15 (56)  Different Light			-- Bangles
  16  (-)  Notorious				-- Duran Duran
  17 (16)  Brothers in Arms			-- Dire Straits
  18 (12)  Revenge				-- Eurithmics
  19 (11)  Live/1975-1985			-- Bruce Springsteen et al
  20 (15)  Disco				-- Pet Shop Boys

As you can see, the Christmas Variation has begun, filling the chart
with Hits collections (there are three more in the "...") even though
the Christmas Single race doesn't seem to have started.  Kate is still
the highest non-various in the chart, but Madonna still has the highest
LP that isn't a singles package (and the the two people in front of me
at Edinburgh Virgin both bought it).  Bruce is still falling, but Dire
Straits refuses to go away.  And, for some reason, the Bangles have come
back.  Good news, say I.