The Wiggles vs. Ed Sheeran – who will wiggle to number one this week?
Just over a year ago, Ed Sheeran released his Divide album which crashed into pole position on the ARIA Albums chart, completely ruining the Singles Chart in the process, and encouraging a generation of mopey blokes with acoustic guitars and amplified feelings to give this troubadour thing a ginger hot go.
One year on (53-and-a-half weeks, actually, for all you Gregorian calendar fiends) the damn album is still on top of the Albums Chart, which I’d equate to him currently being in the country if only it hadn’t been hovering around the top for an entire calendar year.
Who has an album with both the rabid fanbase to push first-week sales, and the staying power to sit on the charts for months on end, ending Sheeran’s run? Who has a collection of classic tunes, and the necessary skivvy power now The Sharp have long-retired?
Enter: The Wiggles.
They are the most successful Australian band of all time, they have weathered numerous major lineup changes, and they have just released Nursery Rhymes 2, the follow up to their Feb 2017 smash Nursery Rhymes — and the rare case of a sequel that looks likely to sell better than the original.
Nursery Rhymes peaked at #15 last March, but the sequel is set to storm the Top 3 this week, with a good chance of hitting the top spot.
Interestingly, The Wiggles also released an album with Jimmy Barnes last year, the Scottish oddity Och Aye The G’nu, which peaked at #34. I only bring this up because, well, it’s awesome, but also looking for a Top 10 debut this week is Barnesy’s other musical partner — Ian Moss — whose first studio effort in nine years (although he did pump out two Chisel albums in the interim), looks likely to debut in the high reaches. Mossy!
Also, Judas Priest’s Firepower will also likely debut in the Top 10, because who isn’t buying an album with this cover?
The ARIA Charts come out on Saturday evening at exactly 6:04pm, based off the clock on the microwave in your kitchen.
This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.