Collaborated on E=MC² in 2008

It’s not the first time Stargate collaborates with Mariah Carey. Back in 2008, the duo contributed with two tracks on Carey’s album E=MC². The album followed The Emancipation of Mimi and achieved worldwide sales of 2.5 million copies worldwide. Only one of the tracks were released as a single – ‘Bye Bye’ (April 2008). In addition, Carey also recorded the Stargate track ‘I’m That Chick.’ The track peaked at No.82 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart due to strong digital downloads, yet it was never released commercially.

Mariah Carey – Bye Bye

 Sole No.1 in Sweden

With more than 60 singles under her belt, Mariah Carey is yet to achieve a second No.1 hit in Sweden. To date, ‘Without You’ (1994) is her only No.1 in Sweden, spending eight weeks atop the chart. Included on the 1993 album Music Box, the track was  a global success, yet it only managed to peak at No.3 in her home country. Instead, both ‘Dreamlover and ‘Hero’ became Billboard Hot 100 hits.

Stargate Responsible for Rihanna Success

Stargate first rose to international fame with Ne-Yo’s ‘So Sick’ (2006). The duo had written and produced tracks for UK pop acts such as S Club 7, Samantha Mumba and Billie Piper. Moving to the US, recent hits includes e.g. ‘Take a Bow’ and ‘Rude Boy’ with Rihanna as well as ‘Irreplaceable’ with Beyoncé and ‘Black and Yellow’ with Wiz Khalifa.

The post Norwegian Stargate Produces Mariah Carey’s Oz Theme Almost Home appeared first on The Swedish Music Blog | WelcheMusic.com.

Written by Sweden’s Karin Parks

‘I Feed You My Love’ will be available on the upcoming set Chastisement. Written by the Swede Karin Parks in collaboration with Niklas Olovson and Robin Lynch, the track was awarded twice as many votes as Adelén. Last year’s Norwegian entry Tooji came last in the finals as previously reported. Margaret Berger rose to fame back in 2004 as the runner-up of Norway’s Idol talent contest the same year as Maria Haukaas Storeng. The latter sang the Mira Craig-penned track ‘Hold On Be Strong,’ which made No.5 in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest as Norway’s entry. Kjartan Salvesen won that year with his only charting hit to date – ‘Standing Tall.’

Margaret Berger – I Feed You My Love

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According to a recent Billboard article, Lee Seung Gi represents a new kind of K-pop (Korean pop). Dubbed as ‘healing’ music, his hit track ‘Return’ spends its fifth week atop the K-Pop Hot 100. The hit is included on the mini-album ‘Forest.’ Only two other tracks has previously topped that chart for five weeks – PSY’s ‘Gagnam Style’ and IU’s ‘You and I’ (a year ago).

WelcheMusic.com will closely monitor the chart career of ‘Return,’ as it might just add a sixth week at No.1 and break the record.

Girls Generation’s ‘Dancing Queen’ Samples Duffy

I’ve previously covered Girls Generation as they were planning a US and Japanese breakthrough. Check out their almost five year old track ‘Dancing Queen’ which interpolates Duffy’s ‘Mercy.’ The track debuts at No.4 on the K-Pop Hot 100 this week. Welch singer Duffy originally released ‘Mercy’ back in 2008.

The post Will Lee Seung Gi Follow PSY’s footsteps? appeared first on The Swedish Music Blog | WelcheMusic.com.

In September, I covered that The XX streamed their new album “Coexist” via NPR Music. Listening to Radio 1’s latest playlist, I can’t help but notice that ‘Chained’ is included. The track was issued as a single back in August, only to climb the Belgian (Ultratip Flanders) chart.

Written by Romny Madley Croft and Oliver Sim, the track is produced by Jamie XX. No word about what the next single will be.

The post The XX Still Gets Radio 1 Spins with August Single appeared first on The Swedish Music Blog | WelcheMusic.com.

The British-Irish boy band The Wanted managed to score the highest new entry of the UK singles chart tonight as ‘I Found You’ raced to No.3. Taken off the upcoming third studio album “Third Strike.” The track peaks at No.4 on the download chart while is still shy of entering the streaming tally.

‘I Found You’ follows ‘Chasing the Sun’ which was released this April.

The Wanted – I Found You

The post The Wanted Found You appeared first on The Swedish Music Blog | WelcheMusic.com.

Will talk show host Fredrik Skavlan repeat his effect on the charts following Taylor Swift’s performance of ‘We’re Never Ever Getting Back Together?.’ As WelcheMusic.com previously reported, memorable performances of Cheryl Cole, Melody Gardot and Donkeyboy have previously achieved surges thanks to the TV show.

Taylor Swift’s album “Red” dropped 8-24 in its second week on the Swedish album chart, while ‘We’re Never Ever Getting Back Together’ fell 17-20 on the singles chart. Back in 2009, Cheryl Cole’s “Fight for This Love” bested a No.23 peak to finally land inside the top 3.

Taylor Swift’s biggest hit to date [in Sweden] is ‘Love Story’, which peaked at No.10 in 2008. ‘Getting Back’ peaked at No.16  at the end of September.

Check out images from Skavlan via Taylor Swift Sweden’s home page.

The post Skavlan Effect for Taylor Swift? appeared first on The Swedish Music Blog | WelcheMusic.com.

Time to love bomb a track that has not quite received the appreciation it deserves. Released in early October, Solange’s ‘Losing You’ is like the little sister of Madonna’s ‘Borderline.’ Written by Dev Hynes and Solange Knowles and produced by Blood Orange and Kevin Barnes, the track is lifted off the EP ‘True.’ Although it was released in the US as a digital download, it is yet to appear on any charts there. It has so far only peaked on the UK Independent Chart (at No.22).

WelcheMusic.com has kept better track of big sister Beyoncé Knowles. A music video was shot by Melina Matsoukas in the township of Langa in Cape Town, South Africa this September.

Solange is yet to chart in Sweden.

Solange – Losing You

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So, I was asked about the favorite music this autumn and the easiest way to respond is to check out the facts. I.e., what have I listened to via WelcheMusic last.FM. One piece has especially received a lot of spins. Blaine Andersson (played by Darren Criss) performed Imagine Dragon’s ‘It’s Time’ on The New Rachel episode earlier this season.

Another top hit is September’s Swedish song ‘Händerna mot himlen.’ Recorded as Petra Marklund, the track has become a chart topper for weeks on the download and streaming charts. Written and produced by Kent’s Jocke Berg, a whole album was recently issued.

The third most played song this month is the new version of ‘One Day/Reckoning Song’ recorded by the duo Asaf Avidan & the Mojos. Primarily a hit in Germany, the track is getting traction in other countries as well. Asaf Avidan hails from Israel.

The post Glee Cast, Petra Marklund and Asaf Avidan are Autumn favorites appeared first on The Swedish Music Blog | WelcheMusic.com.

Robbie Williams

38-year old Robbie Williams adds his seventh UK No.1 in his solo career with ‘Candy.’ The new number one completes an accumulative run of ten chart-topping weeks. The hit is taken from the new album “Take the Crown,” which was released on Nov.2 through Island Records.

In Sweden, the track entered the download chart Digilistan at No.41 this week and should be able to improve that position in the upcoming weeks. It is yet to make an appearance on the official singles chart.

Robbie Williams – Candy

Robbie Williams biggest [Swedish] hit to date is ‘Tripping,’ a No.2 hit from 2005. It reached the same position in the UK upon its release. His last hit was ‘Shame’ from 2010 (No.2 in the UK and No.24 in Sweden.

‘Candy’ is co-written by Take That member Gary Barlow and Terje Olsen. The track is also available  with remixes from Max Sanna & Steve Pitron as well as Major Look.

According to the Official Charts Company, Robbie has recorded six of the 100 best-selling albums in UK chart history having topped the 15 million mark with his solo album sales. His debut hit was the George Michael cover of ‘Freedom 90’ back in 1996. His first UK No.1 came two years later with ‘Millennium.’

The post Robbie Williams Takes Candy to the Top appeared first on The Swedish Music Blog | WelcheMusic.com.

Ne-Yo

CHART SPOTLIGHT. Ne-Yo’s ‘Let Me Love You’ is the biggest selling hit on iTunes UK today, as reported by Music Week. The single follows ‘Lazy Love,’ which was issued earlier this June. Included on the upcoming album “R.E.D.,” Ne-Yo has once again worked with the Norwegian production team StarGate.

Despite getting its official UK release earlier this week, ‘Let Me Love You’ has already charted throughout the world. So far, its best peak position is No.22 in Australia (it peaked at No.4 in the country’s urban singles chart). Unfortunately, it didn’t manage to climb higher than No.74 on the all-important Billboard Hot 100.

Ne-Yo: ‘Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)’

Read previous Ne-Yo coverage via WelcheMusic.com.

The post Ne-Yo’s Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself) Today’s Hit appeared first on The Swedish Music Blog | WelcheMusic.com.