For you stats people here are some sales figures for Sunday – Monday sales.

In the albums chart, Gold has sold around 19,526 copies, an increase of 18% over last week’s sales at this time. This only keeps Steps at number six though. They are 3,000 copies ahead of Madonna at number seven, but only 3,000 behind that Westlife album at number five. Blue are set to drop to number four, S Club remain at three with Robbie still sitting at number one close to 50,000 sales.

Words Are Not Enough / I Know Him So Well is at number five in the singles chart with sales of about 10,225 (album has sold nearly 10,000 more!). That is only 500 copies behind Sophie Ellis Bextor at number four – so go get those copies! Steps are only 1,100 copies behind the Stereophonics at number two… so really go and get your copies and make sure everyone else does before Sunday as Steps can overturn 1,100 copies with little problem! Last week’s number one has sold nearly 20,000 copies meaning Steps are over 9,000 copies behind… although remember that this includes Sunday’s sales and Steps’ was only released yesterday!

All in all seems another top five entry is on the cards again, to be honest I was expected really just as much, as the promotion for this song hasn’t had the same sort of impact as previous singles. Some people I’ve seen did not expect it even to enter the top 10 – that shows them! Seems Hear’say may be coming to an end… people don’t want or can’t afford two albums in 10 months… seems Pete Waterman wasn’t far wrong when he said he couldn’t see them lasting more than this year… only time will tell. Hear’say’s album has sold around 9,500 compared to Steps’ nearly 20,000 and the Steps album has already been out 7 weeks!

The is from Worldpop:

Hear’Say may be regretting rush-releasing a second album six months after their debut, Popstars. The band’s new album, Everybody, has a disappointing midweek position of No 20. ‘We expect the album to climb the chart by Sunday but we don’t know by how much,’ says an HMV spokesman. The midweek position is a big blow to the band who told worldpop they were releasing a new album so quickly as a thank you to their fans. ‘We wanted to give fans something new,’ said Myleene. ‘A lot of fans saw us on tour and a lot of people own that first album now, it’s sold over 500,000 copies so we decided to give them something fresh so they don’t have to wait until next year.’

‘Basically the demand has been so high for the first album that we want to be able to offer the fans something new now,’ Noel Sullivan explained. ‘They’ve had the old album for a while now.’ ‘We don’t see it as ripping fans off,’ said Noel. ‘We’re keeping fans interested and giving the fans what they want. Well, hopefully it’s what they want. If not, sorry!’ Fans may also have tired of the huge spin-off merchandise industry that has grown up around the band with Hear’Say dolls and clothes on the market. ‘We’re not telling people to go and buy all the clothes, the dolls and the singles. It’s there if you want it,’ says Kym. ‘If you like it, buy it, if not our mums will be buying it. They buy everything to do with the band anyway!

Meanwhile Hear’Say’s former Popstars rivals Liberty are faring a little better in the new singles chart. Their new single Doin’ It is scheduled for a Top 20 entry. Elsewhere on the singles chart UK garage newcomer Daniel Bedingfield looks set to hold on to the No 1 spot while the Stereophonics have the highest new entry at No 2 with Handbags and Gladrags. Sophie Ellis Bextor’s Murder On The Dancefloor is a new Top 5 entry together with Steps’ double A-sided single Words Are Not Enough/I Know Him So Well. The bands widely touted as Christmas No 1 records have so far failed in the midweek charts. The Hermes House Band’s cover of Country Roads is a new Top 10 entry while The Tweenie’s I Believe In Christmas and Cliff Richard’s Somewhere Over The Rainbow are both Top 20 entries. Robbie Williams looks set to hold on to the No 1 album spot for a third week in a row with Swing When You’re Winning.