Sunday, 10 August 2025

All 4 1994: 7th August Summertime American Vasoline in 7 Seconds, Stay!

For the first time in what seeems like weeks, we may have a fight for the number one spot and we also have quite the week to deal with here outside the top ten so let's dig into what happpened. Wet Wet Wet held onto the number one spot with "Love Is All Around" but I question for how much longer as sales are slowing.

This opens an opportunity for All-4-One as "I Swear" climbed one spot to number two on the back of major sales gains, this song has some major momentum behind it as it pushed past "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters which slipped back one spot to number three.

The next three songs stayed exactly where they are this week so "Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous at number four, "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain at number five and "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real feat. The Mad Stuntman at number six.

Moving up one to number seven is "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden as it is was strong enough to move past "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies which slipped back to number eight.

"Shine" by Collective Soul continues to shine brighter up one to number nine while joining the top ten is "Son of a Gun" by JX up six to number ten.


Losers

Some older songs on their way out like "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by The Symbol down ten spots to forty. 

Much to my disappointment, "Hey Jealousy" by Gin Blossoms hit the skids down twelve to forty nine while Blur's "Girls and Boys" is down from thirty three tio forty seven.

The losses continued for "Pray" by Take That down seven to forty one, the same goes for "Around the World' by East 17 down nine to thirty eight.

Sadly 3 The Hard Way's "Hip Hop Holiday: dived from twenty one down to thirty six this week. Ouch. Former top ten hit "Right in the Night" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka slumped eleven places to thirty four. 

The big boost for "Wild Night" by John Mellencamp feat. Me'shell N'degeocello didn't last as it crumbled nine slots to twenty eight and "Shaka Jam" by Kulcha got jammed down from eighteen to twenty six. 

In good news, "The Winner is..." by Southend feat. Nik Fish got slapped down eight spots to twenty three.


Gains

So continuing it's gains drom last week is Roachford's "Only to Be With You" which rocketed from thirty to nineteen!.

Surprisingly The Black Sorrows got a rather healthy gain with "Snake Skinned Shoes" up from forty eight to twenty two.  Also up decently off the debut last week is "Longview" by Green Day up ten to thirty three. 

However the big eleven place gain that I am absolutely over the moon about is "Can you Feel the Love Tonight" which jumped from twenty five to fourteen...uhh...fuck yes!.


New Entries


48. "American Life in the Summertime" by Francis Dunnery

We kick off our reviews of this week's new entries with the former lead singer of British prog rock band It Bites and well I definitely was not expecting a catchy summery pop rock song that is as fun as it is entertaining to listen to! Not much else to say here other than this is a surprising jam...check this out!

43. "Find Me (Odyssey to Anyoona)" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka

The follow up to "Right in the Night" has landed and honestly...I am bit colder on this one than I was with "Right in the Night" and its hard to pin down why, maybe because it sounds less like something interesting that could work outside of the club like "Right in the Night", sure there's then keyboard that comes in but yeah...no, this does very little for me other than missing the ring tone era. 

39. "Stay (I Missed You" by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories

A song from the Reality Bites soundtrack has hit the chart via American singer/songwriter Lisa Loeb and this is definitely one of the better songs from the singer'songwriter cannon, its a guitar ballad about the end of a relationship and now the narrator is regretting the decision and is now wanting the former romantic partner to stay instead of leaving and yes, the warning on the first line that song is quite self involved was welcome. Great song, worth checking out!


30. "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry

Excited to talk about this one because it's fascinating considering how brash Neneh Cherry was on 1989's "Buffalo Stance" (a song that I still think is awesome today) and a Sengalese singer Youssou N'Dour and well, this quite the song given it takes the first seven seconds of a child's life and contrasts them with racial and social prejudice emphasising how a child is free from those complex issues and unaware of difference in class or status. It's quite a beautiful song and both do an incredible job on getting the message across. I also like how paired back the production is. Another great song this week!

24. "Vasoline" by Stone Temple Pilots

And we finish off this week's reviews with American tock band Stone Temple Pilots with song being from their second album "Purple" and I really don't care for this at all, I don't like how the vocals feel buried under that monotonous guitar riff which might explaimable given the content of the song which is described as being about feeling like an insect under a microscope and just generally being stuck in the same situation however that doesn't excuse how the production just feels...off.

That was our week, I am going to give worst of the week to "Find Me (Odyssey to Anyoona" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka because that just...nooo.

Best of the week is a bun fight and a half. I think it JUST goes to "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb but "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry were close.




Friday, 8 August 2025

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: 4th August

We got a healthy dose of the Triple J Hottest 100 Australian songs this week on the chart and it was kind of interesting to see how that all played out at least outside of the top ten where we do have another new number one, this time it's from K-Pop Demon Hunters "Golden"...now this is doing well on streaming and on sales, it should get a second week at number one.

It flew past "Daisies" by Justin Bieber which slipped back to number two this week as it didn't quite have the strength on streaming to match "Golden". Alex Warren remained at number three with "Ordinary" as it now just doesn't have the strength to match the songs above, look for it to start falling away naturally.
That's good news for K-Pop Demon Hunters as "Your Idol" remained at number four but could go higher if "Ordinary" does falter while also from K-Pop Demon Hunters "Soda Pop" got a two place gain to number five.

Disco Lines and Tinashe have hit a new peak of number six with "No Broke Boys" which climbed two places thanks to considerable boosts on streaming. 

"How It's Done" from K-Pop Demon Hunters also climbed two places just to number seven while Sombr's "Back to Friends" rebounded four places to return to the top ten at number eight.

Next we have the two biggest losers inside the top ten with "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae down three to number nine and "Victory Lap" by Fred again..., Skepta and Plaqueboy Max down five to number ten. 

Gains

So let's go outside the top ten now and I am not sure why but "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran jumped an enormous twenty five places to twenty three...maybe that song is starting to catch on? Would have to hope so considering nothing else from that upcoming Ed Sheeran album has caught on. 

Apart from that, that's it for the major gains this week.

Re-Entries

So this is mostly where the impact of the Triple J's Hottest 100 Australian songs was centred because we had a whopping SEVEN returns this week. 
Let's work our way through the returns courtesy of the Hottest 100 first with "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye and Kimbra back at forty six, "My Happiness" by Powderfinger sliding back at forty five, "Sweet Disposition" by The Temper Trap at thirty nine, "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC thundering in at thirty seven, the Hottest 100 number one "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS hitting twenty eight and "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House dreaming at twenty...the only one of these I can see sticking around next week is "Don't Dream It's Over" given streaming for that song has been insane this year.

The only return not connected to the Hottest 100 is that of "Azizam" by Ed Sheeran which came back to number forty one. 


Losers

So the losses continued for Blackpink this week with "Jump" down thirteen places to number thirty three while "Carry Me Home" by Alex Warren slumped fourteen to forty nine. 

"Messy" by Lola Young fell eight to number forty four while "Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan slipped nine to forty two. 

Drop Outs.

We got a lot of them this week so let's run through these with two more Justin Bieber album tracks in "Go Baby" and "Walking Away" gone alongside older songs like "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves,  "Mr Brightside" by The Killers and "Rock That Body" by Black Eyed Peas.

Then there's "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez which will have safely made the year end again, "Stargazing" by Myles Smith, "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone and "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll that also departed. 

Some of this will also likely return next week which is frustrating as hell. 

New Entries

Two new entries this week and we're beginning with.,,

31. "The Nosebleed Section" by Hilltop Hoods

It's honestly wild to me that it took a Triple J countdown for this song to hit the ARIA singles chart in 2025 given it didn't hit the charts in it's original run and yeah there's a reason this song is thought of so fondly...unlike a lot of modern rap, it's bright and the flute that forms the main melody is just awesome snd the sampling of Melanie Safka's "The People In the Front Row" is just inspired. The MCs are on point with their flow and this song is just oozing in personality and charisma. It's just one of those songs that will go off anywhere it's played. Damn great song!


16. "Which One?" by Drake feat. Central Cee.

I thank the music gods who ensured we got the excellence of Hilltop Hoods this week who don't need banal boring content in their lyrics or shitty fake accents unlike Drake and Central Cee who with this song add absolutely nothing to the conversation about music, Dorake tries on another half assed phony accent over a completely forgettable beat. Yeah, this is rubbish, time to move on.

It's easy worst of the week however the best of the week is going to "The Nosebleed Section" by Hilltop Hoods.







Tuesday, 5 August 2025

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: July 28th.

 A slower week this week but there's finally some major movement right at the top and that movement might be going to continue for the next two weeks so let's get stuck into the top ten where at number one we have what I predicted was heading to the top..."Daisies" by Justin Bieber but this is not a strong number one by any means, it's already been overtaken on streaming and on sales.

That over taker...yeah, it's "Golden" by the Cast of K-Pop Demon Hunters which claimed the lead on both streaming and sales hence it looks like a chance of at least a week at number one when the updated charts are announced on Friday. 

All this pushed former number one "Ordinary" by Alex Warren back two spots to number three as it finally lost streaming and sales momentum. 

The second K-Pop Demon Hunters entry in the top ten is "Your Idol" up two to number four this week.

It pushed past "Victory Lap" by Fred Again..., Skepta and Plaqueboy Max down one to number five while "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae slipped one spot to number six

K-Pop Demon Hunters third entry in the top ten sees "Soda Pop" which went yp two to number seven while 'No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe also climbed two number eight.

At nimber nine, a fourth top ten entry for K-Pop Demon Hunters with "How It's Done" up two spots while wrapping up the top ten is a new entry "Eternity" by Alex Warren, it's here on decent streaming but we'll talk about the song's quality later.


Losers

The losers can be explained away as mostly being Justin Bieber album bomb cuts with "Go Baby" down thirteen to thirty one. 

We also saw the other debut from last week "Jump" by Blackpink slide eight places to twenty and that was it really.

Re-Entries

Four re entries this week with "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez at fifty, "Mr Brightside" by The Killers at forty nine, "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran at forty seven and "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac at number forty six.


Gains

The album release saw the biggest gains of the week landed by Alex Warren with "Bloodline" feat. Jelly Roll up eighteen to thirty and "Carry You Home" up fifteen to thirty four. 


Drop Outs

Four of the five drop outs this week are Justin Bieber album cuts with the only other song to dtop out is "What Did I Miss"" by Drake.


New Entries

Well, we only have the one song to talk about here so let's get to it...

10. "Eternity" by Alex Warren

So I don't hate Alex Warren, the way some talk about him, you would think he was killing babies or kittens with his music, I do think it's a bit absurd "Ordinatry" was a sixteen week number one, that song was never really built to be number one for that long but anyway we do have a new song from off his new album debuting and...I don't care for this at all especially with the way the song is just really weirdly clingy to this person who has clearly moved on and the dramatic "It's been an eternity since you were with me" feels overwrought and overdone. This is the song that deserves some criticism...not "Ordinary"\

Unfortunately have to give it worst of the week. Next week, the fall out from the Triple Hottest 100 Australian songs and...Drake...ughhh.

All 4 1994 31st July: No Good Longview but You Floating in Snake Skin Shoes.

 Lets just dive straight in as I am bit late getting this week done, top ten time where for yet another week Wet Wet Wet keeps me dry dry dry at number one with "Love Is All Artound" much to my absolute frustration. 

It is comfortably ahead of "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters which climbed one to number two however I don't see this getting to number one now as this looks to have peaked at this point.

The challenger for the top spot is...ugh..."I Swear" by All-4-One because of course the sappy songs are winning in 1994, "I Swear" jumped four spots to number threee this week.'

All that saw "Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous slip two spots to number four as it's sales fell off their peak this week.

Down one to number five went Big Mountain's cover of "Baby, I Love Your Way" while "I Like to Move It" by Reel to Real feat, The Mad Stuntman continues to stall at number six.

"Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies crashed two spots to number seven as it's time in the top ten looks to be done while Soundgarden conrinue their march up the chart up one to number eight with "Black Hole Sun"

Up two spots to number nine is "You Gotta Be" by Des'ree as sales surged while finally rising seven places to number ten sees Collective Soul's "Shine".

Losers

So let's get to the losers here starting with "Things Can Only Get Better" by D:ream which slipped seven places to forty three while "Greedy People" by Electric Hippes slumped ten places to forty nine. 

Down nine to forty is "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by Prince as it's on it's way out naturally, speaking of fading naturally is "I Wanna Dance" by Melodie MC as it slipped eight to thirty six, the same goes for D:Ream with "U R The Best Thing" as it slumped eight to thirty five.

Take That had to take that as "Pray" collapsed from twenty one to thirty fourt while East 17's trip "Around The World" crash landed down from twenty two to twenty nine. 

The Pretenders "I'll Stand By You" got the wobbles down from eighteen to thirty one.

Tag Team tagged down eight spots to twenty seven with "Whoomp! (There It is)", also down eight is "Right in the Night" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka to twemty three and finally "Shaka Jam" by Kulcha down eight to eighteen

Gains

We had a couple of gains with "Wild Night" by John Mellencamp with Me'shell N'degeocello up nineteen places to number nineteen while The Smashing Punmpkins smashed up fifteen slots to twenty with "Disarm"

The Sharp jumped twelve to twenty two thanks to "Alone With You" while Roachford's "Only To Be With You" jumped from forty nine to thirty...nice to see!


New Entries

Just the four new entries this week, starting with

48. "Snake Skin Shoes" by The Black Sorrows

So we start off the new entries with the new single from The Black Sorrows and it's fine...I guess? It's a song that kind of reminds me a bit of Bruce Springsteen but is not far removed from the sound that the Black Sorrows were producing at the end of the 80s. I am just not sure if I am going to remember this or if this can be a sustainable hit as the Black Sorrows have done better. 

46. "You Got Me Floatin'" by P.M. Dawn

So P.M Dawn is back after the smash that was "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss" and unlike that song, this one has a lot more of that Bobby Brown early 90s rock swagger that reminds of what Kulcha used for a song earlier this year and I kind of dig it which is why it pains me to say that P.M Dawn's vocals are not much chop here, he got absolutely buried in the mix which is a shame because the song is otherwise pretty dang good. 

45. "No Good (Start the Dance)" by The Prodigy

Off to the UK for this song and...I just flat out dislike this, the chipmunked vocals that get progressively more annoying over the repetitive beat that does very little change or do something different over the course of the song, Won't be coming back to this...pass.

44. "Longview" by Green Day

Finishing off what is looming as a rather rough week with some punk from America's Green Day, this song coming from their album "Dookie" and thank god, we got a pretty damn good song here, its a song about intense boredom and masturbating until that's no longer fun. I love how the song just builds into that hook courtesy of the drums and goes off! Great song.

It's easily best of the week. Worst of the week goes to The Prodigy for whatever "No Good (Start The Dance" was. 


Thursday, 24 July 2025

All 4 1994, 24th July Any Time is Absolutely Fablous with Any Place

So in some ways this week wound up busy but in other ways not...and there was no more perfect example of this than our top ten where for yet another week "Love is All Around" remains at number one for Wet Wet Wet and I have to say I am so done with this sloppy nothing of a love song being at the top, come on Australia, we all aren't complete fucking mush. 

Though I do not see what challenges it in the immediate future even though we do have a new entry at number two being "Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous, we'll get more into the quality of the song later but it's here on massive sales thanks to the popularity of the TV show of the same name.

Remainingat number three is "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters which remained steady at number three this week and with number two looking somewhat an open proposition, this coiuld get there. 

Big Mountain saw a one place boost to number four with "Baby,  I Love Your Way" while "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real feat. The Mad Stuntman remained steady at number six.

Now we have to deal with one of the biggest gainers of the week and sadly it's one of the sappier songs to hit the chart with All-4-One's cover of "I Swear" climbing a massive twenty one places to number severn thanks to absolutely enourmous sales, it might take a couple of weeks but this might be the most immediate challenger for the top spot?

All of this saw Eternal's "Stay" slip four spots to number eight while Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" climbed five spots to number nine. 

Finally down three to wrap our top ten at number ten is "Shaka Jam" by Kulcha, this song looks to have peaked and is on the way out naturally.


Losers

So we got a busy week on this front, let's start at the bottom because down twelve to number fifty is "I'll Remember" by Madonna...kind of surprised that this song has stuck around for so long given the production issues.

Down nine spots to forty nine is Roachford's "Only to Be With You" whille "Hey Jealousy" by Gin Blossoms" fell nine spots to forty one. 

The live version of "One" by Metallica fell nine to forty,  former chart topper "The Sign" by Ace of Base slipped eight to thirty seven while another former chart topper "The Most Beautiful Girl In the World" collapsed from fifteen to thirty one this week, 

Down ten to twenty seven is "U R The Best Thing" by D:Ream as "Around the World' by East 17 slid out of the top ten down to twenty two this week. 


Re-Entries

We do have two songs back in the top fifty this week with one being great that being "Laid" by James at forty eught and the pretty mediocre "Sweets for My Sweet" by CJ Lewis at forty seven.


Gains

So I mentioned the big gain for All-4-One with "I Swear" shifting into the top ten, we had several big gains on the chart this week outside the top ten with "Alone Like Me" by The Sharp up eight to thirty four while Ace of Base are on the climb up twelve to thirty three with "Don't Turn Around"

Meanwhile the decent "Son of a Gun" by JX is up twenty to twenty six and the excellent "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" by Elton JOhnson moved up from it's debut at forty one to number twenty five. 

Finally up nine to seventeen this week is "Shine" by Collective Soul which is not a bit surprising considering how big that sort of rock sound is, 


New Entries

Only two new entries this week, beginning with...

44. "Any Time, Any Place" by Janet Jackson

Another single from Janet Jackson's 1993 album "Janet" with this song (tegrettably) having a remix with R. Kelly. This song's content is definitely sexual in nature with Janet singing about going the PDA with her lover and how sshe doesn't want to her lover to stop just because people are walking past and staring, she's gone past the point of caring what other people think because her lover is so good at what he does to her and he can do it with her any time anywhere regardless of if there are other people there or not. 

I will say the music does match the sexy vibe that Janet is going for here with the elegant production and arrangement. I really like this. Definitely check this out if you are in a sexy mood. 

2. "Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous aka Pet Shop Boys

Took a bit of time to get here but this song  was recorded by the Pet Shop Boys under the name Absolutely Fabulous and as you can imagine from the song itself, it is based the hilarious sitcom of the same name and does feature sound bites from the show. 

Look, I do get the appeal and I love the female vocals singing the hook but this does get pretty dang repetititve and does lose some of that charm for me. I think I will give this one a skip going forward.

Yeah it's the worst of this week although I really wouldn't call it that bad. Best is going to Janet Jacksn for "Any Time, Any Place"


Wednesday, 23 July 2025

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 21st July. The Bs return...

 Yeah, it happened...we got a Justin Bieber album bomb and you know what? Even if the quality of the album is not great...at least it got the charts moving to some degree however Bieber didn't force a change at the top of the charts with "Ordinary" by Alex Warren at number one for a seventeenth week and unlike the last couple of weeks, it's got a challenger to it's hold on number one. 

However that challenger isn't "Golden" by the cast of K-Pop Demon Hunters which doesn't quite have the streaming to match "Ordinary" as yet.

What might overpower "Ordinary" though is the new entry at number three "Daisies" by Justin Bieber, this song is looking incredibly strong on streaming and looks set to pose a challenge for number one next week. 

Holding steady is "Victory Lap" by Fred again..., Skepta and PlaqueBoy Max at number four and really I am not sure this song is going to climb any higher at this point. 

Ravyn Lenae's "Love Me Not" slumped two places to number five while the cast of K-Pop Demon Hunters saw "Your Idol" climb two places to number six. 

Sombr's "Back to Friends" slipped two places to number seven while Sombr's other hit "Undressed" also fell two spots to number eight.

Cast of K-Pop Demon Hunters land a third song in the top ten this week with "Soda Pop" up three to number nine. Finally, "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe slumped one place back to number ten.

Gains

Not too much in the way of gains with the biggest being a six place gain for Drake's "What Did I Miss?" which climbed six places to thirty seven


Losers

So with nearly all of the chart losing ground this week, I am only going to focus on the double digit losers here so songs like "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone which slumped ten places to number forty one. 

Thankfully "Rock That Body" by The Black Eyed Peas collapsed eleven places to forty four while "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves slipped ten places to forty six. 

I am not thrilled "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll fell ten to forty eight but that should get a boost thanks to Warren's album dropping, the same goes for "Carry You Home" also by Alex Warren which fell fourteen to forty nine.

Finally down ten to fifty is long term charter "Stargazing" by Myles Smith down ten to fifty.


Drop Outs

So with the Justin Bieber album bomb, we lost a chunk of songs with songs like "Blue Strips" by Jessie Murph, "Good Luck, Babe" by Chappell Roan, "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez "Too Sweet" by Hozier and "Bad Dreams" by Teddy Swims all seemingly bound to make the year end list for 2025.

Then there's the songs that likely won't make the 2025 year end like "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran and "Illegal" by Pink Pantheress.

Finally the glut of older songs like "Mr Brightside" by The Killers and "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac. 


New Entries

So we did get a pretty sizeable Justin Bieber album bomb so outside of best and worst, we got "Way It Is" feat Gunna at forty (can see that song being a bit if it gets released as a single at some point), "Butterflies" at forty, "Walking Away" arrives at thirty eight, "Things You Do" at forty two, "All I Can Take" at twenty two and "Go Baby" at eighteen

So that leaves us with three new entries to discuss and we begin with Bieber because...

19. "Yukon" by Justin Bieber

So from the outset I am going to say that this Justin Bieber album is pretty bare bones with some sparse guitar, drums and some backing voacals this time from 2 Chainz who is uncredited on this track and honestly this does nothing for me mostly because it's just too bare bones to be anything close to memorable and the lyrics really remind me in more ways than one of "Swayze" by Zac Brown which is NOT a compliment...I'll pass...thanks. 

12. "Jump" by BLACKPINK

The return of Blackpink is something that I had been expecting for awhile and I was keen to hear what the group would return with after the members explored some solo work to varying degrees of success and what we got here..is something. The song starts off sounding straight out of the 80s with it's driving groove and the girls giving less that idea vocal performances beforce the beat switches up and goes into a sound that goes close to Hampton the Hampster, "Zorba's Dance" by LCD nd elements of the Chicken Dance that I guess would fit in with the title of the song but come on...Blackpink, you can do bnetter than this especially with that mock aggressive preening that I ain't buying. 

3. "Daisies" by Justin Bieber

So this was the song that I really dug from the album and I am glad it's the song from "Swag" that seems like it's set to be a major hit, It's a song where Bieber has a defined melody to work within thanks to the drum patter and the electric guitar that slides in and and out of the song. Sure, Bieber barely lifts his vocals out of crooning but that kind of makes sense when the song is about the juxtaposition of being in somebody's head and a desire to be romantically close to somebody.  It's a good song. 

Yeah, Bieber's getting best of the week for "Daisies". J am going to give worst of the week to Blackpink for "Jump" because that song was just "what the hell"

Friday, 18 July 2025

All 4 1994. 17th July: Can You Feel Black Hole Love? Don't Be Shy and Turn Around, I Swear.

 We have quite the busy week at hand here, numerous new entries along with some movement in our top ten as per usual howver the only thing that didn't change was our number one which is "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet and honestly I don't see what's beating it right now as it has a comfortable lead on sales. 

It certainly won't be former number one "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by the Crash Test Dummies which remains at number two this week having not been able to bridge the margin to "Love Is All Around" and is probably a chance of sliding in the weeks ahead. 

This leaves things open for "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters which jumped a massive twelve spots to number three, it's not quite telling if it could threaten Wet Wet Wet's stranglehold on number one but it could very well climb to number two at least.

It did push "Stay" by Eternal down to number four this week as it's sales dipped and it's not quite as competitive as it once was. 

Big Mountain had a nine place gain to number five with their cover of "Baby, I Love Your Way"..I guess I am fine with this.

"I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Reel feat. The Mad Stuntman remained locked in at number six thanks moderately steady sales.fourte

More Kulcha in our new entries but tbey saw "Shaka Jam" rise two number seven while Jam & Spoon's "Right in the Night" featuring Plavka slipped three to number eight, 

Our last and rather unfortunate arrival to our top ten up fourteen places to number nine is "The Winner Is..." by Southend feat. Nik Fish...why are we dignifying this shit?

The biggest loser in the top ten this week is East 17's "Around the World" down six to number ten this week. 


Losers

"Is It Love?" by Twenty 4 Seven feat. Stay-C and Nance slipped fourteen places to fifty this week as its time on the charts looks to be sputtering out. Also on the way out is "Satisfy the Groove" by Culture Shock down nine spots to forty nine. 

Down ten to forty four is "Helping Hand" by The Scresming Jets who look like they could use a helping hand to stay in the top fifty

"I'll Remember"  by Madonna slipped eight to thirty eight while D:Ream's "Things Can Only Get Better"  slumped ten as it fell back to thirty six. 

Metallica's live version of "One" skidattled down from nineteen to thirty one. "Doop" by Doop slipped eight to thirty, Former chart topper "The Sign" by Ace of Base saw a sign and tripped eleven places to twenty nine. 


Gains

So outside of the major gains in our top ten, we saw "You Gotta Be" by Des'ree up from twenty seven to number twelve this week while "Anytime You Need A Friend" by Mariah Carey climbed six to number eighteen. 

Collective Soul jumped up hard off their debut at thirty eight last week to hit twenty six while Lighter Shade of Brown bounced up nine to twenty seven with "Hey DJ"


Re-Entries 

Two returns this week with "Only to Be With You" by Roachford at number forty and 'Flashdance...What a Feeling" by Bjorn Again at forty eight.


New Entries

Six new entries this week, beginning with...

47. "Love Is Strong" by The Rolling Stones

So we have got the lead single from the Stones album "Voodoo Lounge" and well, this is about what you would expect the Stones to sound like in the 90s and while I like the driving guitar melodies, there's something really kind of creepy about the vocal delivery here that makes my skin ctawl, it might work coming from Michael Hutchence or another frontman with more charisma but coming from the Rolling Stones, it's just weird on a love or lust at first sight song...yeah not a fan of this,,,next!

45. "Don't Turn Around" by Ace of Base

The follow up to "The Sign" which is a minor key cover of an 80s Tina Turner song and I have to be honest here, thos really does feel like a lesser cut than "The Sign", sure its got the same pop flourishes as "The Sign" but it's not gripping me in the way I think it wants me to given the hook feels really kind of weak. I don't know, I don't think it's a bad song but it's not one that I'll remember compared to "The Sign"

41. "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" by Elton John

So now we finally get this song on the charts, it's from the Lion King movie soundtrack and composed by Elton John with the lyrics written by Tim Rice and yeah, the result is a wonderful, magical masterclass in pop music, there's something about this song that makes you feel warm and fuzzy as Elton's voice just carries this song with just enough orchestral swell that it's a warmth that just lingers. I absolutely adore this song.

28. "I Swear" by All-4-One

This song was originally a country song penned for John Michael Montgomery in 1993 with American R'n'B group All-4-One covering it this year and here is the cover on the chart and I have to say almost immediately I prefer the John Michael Montgomery version especially as it seems more sincere in its vocal delivery and the instrumentation sounds less gummy and overproduced than on the All-4-One version,

Even so the song is still a cloying, clingy thing no matter the version so most days, it would be a skip for me. 

24. "Don't Be Shy" by Kulcha

Ahh, time for the follow up to "Shaka Jam" and I think it's an improvement? It's got a nice swagger to it which would make the whole "girl, don't be shy" aesthetic work however I am going to complain about how the vocals on the hook are lower than on the verses which feels like a mistake in the production and mixing of this song, otherwise this is a solid song, check it out if curious. 

14. "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden

Guess I shouldn't be surprised that this is the highest debuting song of the week, this song is the third single from Soundgarden's album "Superunknown" and was inspired by Chris Cornell mishearing something a news anchor said on his drive home from the recotding studio and wow, does this song hit a a really strong chord especially the line "times are gone for honest men" and wow, that resonates hard in 2025. I love that everything on the song including the guitars and drums are given their moment to shine but Cornell is the star here, the guy just commands your attention the minute he starts singing. Great song.!

However best of the week is going to "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John, it was really close there though.

As for thr worst, nothing outright terrible but "Love Is Strong" by the Rolling Stones gets it mostly for being weird and creepy.