The seven songs released this year that pissed me off.

 So outside the mainstream, it's been a pretty good year for music, there's been a lot of great stuff across all kinds of genres but like most years there has been some absolute steaming junk and there was enough  rotting fleshy garbage to justify making this list although unlike my best or worst hits list, this won't be ranked...it's just a list...

Let's begin with something of an easy target now shall we?

"Cowgirl" by Parmalee.

Look, the reason I am starting with this song is that I think by hoing into these guys feels a bit like punching down especially when they are just lifers on Music Row in Nashville but I'm sorry I cannot forgive this song in any concievable way. This is just terrible song writing where it's just the usual cliches about meeting this girl at a bar who sipping a beer and singing along to "Last Night" by Morgan Wallen (Why that song and not something that's actually COUNTRY...I don't know) and then what tipped this song into outright garbage was "I follow her curves like a back road"...who do Parmalee think they are? Sam Hunt, her curves like a back road line was horrific when Hunt did it in 2017, it's uncalled for in 2025!

Throw in the stiff drum machines, Parmalee sounding like they would rather be doing anything else than singing this sledgehammer of a song and you have possibly one of the more awful cuts to come out of Music Row in the last year...well not quite because...

"Miami" by Morgan Wallen

Geezus fucking christ "Miami, My Amy" is a country classic from Keith Whitley and to hear Morgan Wallen turn this song into shlock about how he misses Tennessee while he is in Miami all because it was warmer in Florida than in Tennessee chasing this woman...bitch please. 

He asks on the hook "what the hell is a redneck gon' do in Miami"...maybe go back to fucking Tennessee if you are so completely miserable. Then to add to the actual offense to Keith Whitley, Wallen brings in Lil Wayne (we'll get to him...he had an AWFUL year) and Rick Ross for a remix where like Lil Wayne complains that he hate so much shrimp he got iodine poisoning and brags he is like Will Smith in Miami (that is NOT a good flex) and while Rick Ross's verse is actually pretty good, one verse doesn't make a good song. I'll leave it there because there is going to be more Morgan Wallen on my worst hit songs list to come in January.

Speaking of Lil Wayne...

"Island Holiday" by Lil Wayne

Let's get this out of the way, "Tha Carter VI" was a terrible album from front to back and this song was one of the leading reasons why with the lazy sampling of Weezer's "Island in the Sun" and Lil Wayne declares that every day is a holiday and he wants Weezer on this song...this song? You mean the song where you sound like you are just phoning it in, Wayne? I'd almost rather Rivers Cuomo discuss doing "Sober Up Part 2" with god damn . rather than this embarrassment of a song where you claim you are standing on business like Bigfoot while on holiday?

Yeah no...this is rubbish and Weezer's "Island in the Sun" deserves so much better.

So I mentioned Morgan Wallen would be on my worst hit songs list for 2025 if anything from "I'm The Problem" makes the year end, here's another artist who will absolutely make that same list....

"Touch Me Like A Gangster" by Jessie Murph.

I had a hard time picking what song from "Sex Hysteria' to choose for this list, "Sex Hysteria" is one of the worst lbums of the year and Jessie Murph is one of the worst vocallists working n mainstream music in 2025 with this song being representative of everything that is wrong with "Sex Hysteria" so let's run through the problems with this song:

1. She wants rough, dirty sex yet the production cannot lend any atomosphere or imply any kind of sexual tension. 

2. Murph herself flicks between mimicking other pop acts before belting like she is bloody Daffy Duck on steroids. "Duck season" anyone?

3. Murph cannot sell the intensity that rough sex brings with it, there's no anticipation or real edge to the song that would make me believe that she enjoys some bloke pulling her hair while fucking her. 

4. The writing makes E.L James "50 Shades of Grey" written superbly. Geezus christ.

Taylor, you might be the biggest popstar in the world right now but not even that excuses you for this...

"Cancelled" by Taylor Swift

There is nothing more deflating when a big popstar like Taylor Swift releases what at best is some of the worst music of her career and this song should have been scrapped at the writing desk not recorded and put on "The Life of a Showgirl" because my god, Taylor's writing is so far from her best here that it's not even remotely funny and made even worse by Taylor sounding childish as hell matching lyrics like "Did you girlboss too close to the sun" and on the hook "Good thing I like my friends cancelled". This song doesn't even have the sense to be a propulsive rock song which makes this song a complete waste of time.

Bring back Jack Antonoff and do it fast, Taylor because this shit doesn't work for you and take a long break before releasing another album because this comes across as you needing a break. 

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" by Calum Scott and Whitney Houston

Here we have it, folks, "Dancing on My Own" part 2! Yes, Calum Scott did the exact same thing to Whitney Houston's 80s classic "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" as he did to Robyn's "Dancing on My Own" and turned it into a bland piano ballad and even more disrespectfully included Whitney Houston who is dead on the song and I just know she'd be fucking appalled by this if she were alive. "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" is a staple of 80s pop and for Scott to turn it into mealy mouthed mush makes me fucking sick. 

"Meet Your Padre" by PartyNextDoor and Drake feat. Chino Pacas

No, we do not need Drake to be meeting anyone's madre or paying respects to their padre if he is going to use Spanish has really bad garnish and this one just feels fucking gross. As one Twitch streamer said "Kendrick made this guy (Drake) switch languages" and he ended up embarrassing himself all over again. 

That wraps this list up. Best hit songs of 2024 coming soon along with the best and worst hit songs of 1994 plus the regular 2025 ARIA single chart.

All 4 1994: 11th December. Put Yourself On Bended Knee Hotstepper

So this week shocked me, we had some wild things happen in the top ten and we have a rather "eclectic" mix of new entries at hand however let's dive into the top ten because we have a brand new number one coming somewhat out of nowhere because I thought this song had peaked instead rising two places to the top spot is "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow, it got there thanks to sales doing really well. 

It got there just ahead of "Zombie" by The Cranberries which is positioning itself to be the next song to potentially take the number one up three spots to number two. 

All of this pushed previous chart topper "Tomorrow" by Silverchair back two spots to number three while "Always" by Bon Jovi also fell back two to number four. 

A new entry enters at number five courtesy of Tom Jones with 'If I Only Knew", we'll talk more about this song later. 

Speaking of talking about something later, Boyz II Men also make an appearance in the new entries however their former number one "I'll Make Love To You" remains at number six.

The biggest victim of all the drama at the top was "Chains" by Tina Arena which slid three spots back to number seven, this song definitely peaked last week.

The second of our two new entries in the top ten is "Short Dick Man" by 20 Fingers feat. Gillette at number eight, again we'll talk about the (questionable) quality of this song later.

Rising two spots to reach the top ten at number nine is "Turn the Beat Around" by Gloria Estefan while The Offspring round out the top ten down two to number te ton and that song's time in the top ten seems to be coming to a close. 

Losers

It might be good night for "Goodnight Girl '94" by Wet Wet Wet on the charts as it tumbled nine to fifty this week.

A bunch of former top ten hits are also making their way out like "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" by Elton John slipping eight to forty six, "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Doour and Neneh Cherry sliding twelve to forty five, "Rockin For Myself" by Motiv 8 feat. Angie Brown down twelve to forty two, "Swamp Thing" by The Grid collapsed eight to thirty six,"Endless Love"  by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey slumped ten spots to twenty five and "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails tumbling out of the top ten to twenty one (I am shocked it stuck around in the top ten that long if I am going to be bluntly honest)

"Yesterday, When I Was Mad" by Pet Shop Boys slumped from twenty nine to forty four. "Sure"  by Take That lost it's sure footing on the chart down eight to thirty nine. 

"All Come Together" by Diesel slumped from twenty six to thirty four while "Confide In Me" by Kylie Minogue is slipping away gracefully down ten to number thirty and Jaki Grahm's pretty damn  good cover of "Ain't Nobody" slipped seven to thirty two.

"I Love the Nightlife" by Alicia Bridges is clearly done enjoying the chartlife as it tumbled nine places to twenty four. 

Gains

As for the gains...well we are in that time of year so of course "All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey is up eleven spots to number twelve but Christmas doesn't excuse "Baby, Come Back" by Pato Banton feat. Ali and Robin Campbell climbing eleven spots to twenry nine. 

I guess I'll tolerate "Dead Eyes Opened" bv Severed Heads up twelve spots to thirty seven but it's pretty bleak if thats the only gain I vaguely like.

New Entries

Six new entries this week beginning with...

48. “Here Come the Hotstepper” by Ini Kamooze

We're starting a pretty weird line up here with a Jamaican reggae singer who  began performing in the early 90s with this being his debut on the ARIA singles chart. Now this song has all kinds of samples in it with "The Champ" by The Mohaws, "Hot Pants"  by Bobby Byrd ad "La Di Da Di" by Doug E Fresh and Slick Rick. As for what I think of the song? I like it! It's got this summery vibe that fits very well for this time of year and Ini Kamooze sells the whole insanity given 'hotstepper' is a man ion the run from the law in Jamaican patois. Yeah, good song. I dig it!

31. “Better Get a Lawyer” by The Cruel Sea

We move onto the first of two Australian acts up for review this week and somehow oddly appropriate given what I mentioned about man running away from the law on "Here Comes the Hotstepper"! Anyway rhis song comes from The Cruel Sea's fourth studio album Three Legged Dog. 

The content is probably more interesting than the instrumention here which does feel a bit by the numbers with a decent guitar chord progression and Tex Perkins tells the story of getting in trouble with the law even though he hadn't done anything wrong with the ook being from the police officer telling him to get a lawyer and the lawyer he gets had better be a good one. I don't know...the hook is pretty damn memorable but I think The Cruel Sea have done better than this...just saying.

22. “On Bended Knee” by Boyz II Men

Another pianao drenched love ballad from Boyz II Men where he is throwing himself at this woman's feet begging her to give him one more chance even though he has let her down and I have to say this is the most over dramatic tantrum sounding chorus I've ever heard, he vows he will never walk again until she comes back to him and I suppose forgives him for everything she did wrong.

Oh god, there's even a spoken word passage begging her to return and no...in most cases if this sort of theatrics is what this guy is carrying on with, it's time for her to move on and speaking of moving on...lets do it ourselves before I actually vomit in disgust.

17. “Put Yourself in My Place” by Kylie Minogue

Oh thank goodness for Kylie...maybe she can get everything back on track with this song being released as the second single from her self titled album and yeah, no shock that Kylie herself vocally is the highlight of this song, she sounds incredible and that's helped by the mix allowing her and the instrumentation to breathe and better support Kylie.

As for the content, it's a song where she's dealing with the sudden end of a relationship and is begging her ex to put himself in her shoes for a change so he can empathise with what she is feeling over the end of the relationship...the song certainly deals with relationship drama than that Boyz II Men song that we mentioned a moment ago. Great song!

8. “Short Dick Man” by 20 Fingers feat. Gillette

Oh wow. We have found the most insipid and incredibly juvenile song of 1994...congratu-fucking-lations 20 Fingers and Gillette for releasing this god awful piece of song that pretty much is an ode to mocking a man who is unfortunate enough to have a small manhood. The song even uses a part of "Tweeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini" to mock this poor man over the laziest beat available. Absolute garbage, Get this garbage off the charts, it doesn't belong here and everyone involved with this needs to grow the fuck up!

5. “If I Only Knew” by Tom Jones

Thank goodness we're not ending it off on "Short Dick Man" but rather veteran and legend Welsh singer Tom Jones and I got to be honest I was not really expecting much with this song other than it to be carried on the charisma of Jones himself like a lot of his material has over the years so colour me shocked that this song has one HELL of a killer groove and Jones as per usual sounds absolutely phenomenal...also helps when Jones screams "YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" at the beginning of the song...real attention grabber.

The content of the song is pretty much Tom wondering what he has to do to know to get this woman to love him and break down the wall that's between them which to a degree feels somewhat icky but that hook is outrageously sticky so yeah...I dig this.

However it's not best of the week, that's goign to "Put Yourself in My Place" by Kylie Minogue. As for the worst of the week...it's not a competition, I've never been more disgusted listening to a song than "Short Dick Man" by 20 Fingers feat. Gillette so that's running away with the honour of being the absolute worst song of the week. 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: 8th December

 So this week feels odd, sure the top ten is reasonably stable especially at the top with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean still holding the number one spot mostly thanks to streaming because it's not dominant on sales or Youtube. 

"Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift spends yet another week at number two as it still has some consistent streaming, the same applies for "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number three.

"Ordinary" by Alex Warren bounced back up one spot to number four thanks to some resurgence on streaming. The same can be said for "Where is My Husband" by RAYE which also gained one spot to number five.

Both songs pushed past "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean which fell back two slots to number six 

Disco Lines and Tinashe hold steady at number seven with "No Broke Boys", a song I am really starting to get sick of...this might make my worst hit songs list. 

The hold steady was also in place for "Nice to Each Other" by Olvia Dean at number eight. 

Then we have what ARIA have said is a new entry but I am going to call a re entry because it's "I Run" by HVN (Haven) just replacing the AI vocals with real vocals from Kaitlin Aragon. I am going to be blunt here and say that Kaitlin's vocals do not work on this song at all...anyway it's in at number nine.

Finally holding onto the top ten by rising one spot is Sombr's "12 to 12" but I do not see that lasting. 

Gains

Only major gain this week is "Phantom" by EsDeeKid and Rico Ace up ten to thirty and "Messy" by Lola Young up seven to forty three.  

Re Entries

So like I said "I Run" returned in the top ten at number nine for HVN and Kaitlin Aragon but we do have three other returns this week. starting with  Hozier's "Too Sweet" at number fifty, "Good Luck, Babe!" by Chappell Roan at forty eight and "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter at forty six

Losers

:I am sad that "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean isn't getting the traction it so richly deserves as it slipped eight to forty nine. 

Tate McRae saw "Nobody's Girl" slip nineteen spots to thirty eight while "Do It" by Stray Kids slumped fourteen to twenty four (good, that song sucks)

Drop Outs

We saw five drop outs this week with "Anything but Love" and "Trying On Shoes" leaving for Tate McRae while "The Life of A Showgirl" feat. Sabrina Carpenter and "Father Figure" got rissoled for Taylor Swift.

The only exit that I am disappointed about is "Lady Lady" by Olivia Dean, it's a good song that deserved better.

New Entries

One new entry this week, let's dive into

40. "Chanel" by Tyla

 Brand new song from Tyla on the chart and I have to say I am always happy to see her here especially if the song is actually good like this one, now sure the percussion can drive people nuts and I am not sure Tyla's lazy ennounciation helps the song but you know what? There's a smooth coolness to the song that's all about her wanting her lover to treat her like she's a luxury, something he isn't always going to get. Good song. 

Ditching best and worst of the week this week because only one song...next week is who knows? Maybe ARIA will give dispensation for the Christmas songs to flood the top 50, we'll have to see. 

All 4 1994: 4th December: Dead Love Eyes Come Back by Gyroscope

So we're into the final month of 1994 and honestly...this year has been a whole load of fun and helps that the music barring a few weeks here and there has been pretty darn great...just a shame this week is rough in the new enrries but before we get to all that...let's talk about our top ten where for yet another week, it's "Tomorrow" by Silverchair at number one, its starting to slow down on sales margins. 

Which night be good news for "Always" by Bon Jovi which held firm for another week at number two and looks the most likely to go to number one. Yeah, "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow remained at number three but its a shaky number three at best and "Chains" by Tina Arena looks to have peaked at number four. 

Up five to nnumber five is "Zombie" by The Cranberries which looks set to make a play for number one in the weeks ahead itself. 

"I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men rebounded one spot to number six although that might be because "Spin the Black Circle" by Pearl Jam fell two spots to number seven,

The Offspring moved up one spot to number eight with "Come Out and Play" while "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails fell back three places to number nine, 

Finally down two places to number ten is Madonna's "Secret".

Losers

Down twelve to number forty eight is "When Can I See You" by Babyface while "Nothing But You" by Cold Chisel slumped eight spots to forty seven.

East 17's "Stream" is almost out of chart steam down seven to forty two while "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John stumbled seven slots to thirty eight. "Lay Your Love on Me" by Roachford got abandoned so its down seven to thirty five.

" 7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry fell from twenty six to thirty three, "Rockin' For Myself" by Motiv 8 feat. Angie Brown fell six to thirty while :"Yesterday, When I Was Mad" by Pet Shop Boys fell ten spots to twenty nine.  "Swamp Thing" by The Grid fell seven to twenty eight. 

Gains

There are quite a few gains across the board this week beginning with "Trouble" by Shampoo which climbed it's way from thirty three into the top twenty at nineteen however the biggest gain of the week belongs to "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey which surged from fotty six to twenty three. 

Headless Chickens remain in "Cruise Control" up six to twenty seven while "Sure" by Take That found a sure footing on the chart up from forty two to thirty one. "Wantaway Lover" by Toni Pearen surged from forty one to thirty six while Wendy Matthews is "Standing Strong" up eight to thirty seven.

Re-Entries

Two returns this week with "Think Twice" by Celine Dion back at frty five and "Last One Standing With You" by The Black Sorrows and Jon Stevens returning at forty six. 

New Entries

Four new entries this week, beginning with...

50. “Gyroscope” by Tumbleweed

We're starting with a rock band formed in Wollongong with this song coming from the album "Galactophonic" and it's yet another song that thinks it's cool to absolutely bury the vocals so deep in the mix that the words being sung can barely be heard...seriously? The music sounds great, the guitars have some crunch to them and the drums go hard but it's all ruined by the mixing and mastering on the vocals. Skip it. 

49. “Dead Eyes Opened” by Severed Heads

So last week it was a NZ band called Headless Chickens, now we're dealing with an Australian electronic/dance act Severed Heads...it's getting bit weird out here! Anyway this song features lyrics taken from a radio program that was narrated by Edgar Lustgarden. Honestly while this is not for me in anyway shape or form...it's a bit too abstract for me, I do see the appeal here...check it out if you are curious. 

44. “Love Spreads” by The Stone Roses

New single from The Stone Roses and this song might be the best I've heard so far of this week's new entries, there's a consistent grunt and energy to the instrumentation I really like, the guitars are the star of the show here. As for the content, the song was apparently inspred by a book called "Women's history of the world" by Rosalind Miles, a 1988 book that discussed womens role in the world, representation and history so yeah...good song, check it out.

40. “Baby, Come Back” by Pato Banton feat. Ali and Robin Campbell

Oh god, I am not going to lie seeing this song featuring members of UB40 had me bracing for this to be bad. Pato Banton is a British reggae singer and this is the first time he has hit the ARIT charts but this song is lyrically a disaster especially when it turns out he messed around behind this girl's back and demanding she comes back and not leave town like he has earned that right to tell her to come back when he hasn't and the victim playing he does in the latter of this song is just disgusting. Get out of here, this song sucks.

Easy worst of the week goes to "Baby, Come Back" by Pato Banton and UB40. Best of the week goes to "Love Spreads" by THe Stone Roses. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 1st December.

 Uhh...we got a pretty busy week at hand here, multiple new entries and plenty of movement up and down tbe chart in a week that just completely flies in the face of just how incredibly slow the charts have been this year (something that will be discussed during list time in January) but let's not waste anymore time and get to the top ten where for a second week, it's Olivia Dean at number one with "Man I Need", it's got a sizrable streaming margin even if sales and Youtube aren't quite on board yet.

"The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift remains at number two, this song is number one on sales right now thanks to another ridiculously desperate release of a remix this time from The Chainsmokers. Seriously, Taylor...enough. 

"Golden" by K-Pop Demon Hunters clings on to number three but it's facing competition from "So Easy (To Fall In Love)" by Olivia Dean which gained hard on streaming to move up one to number four.

All of this saw "Ordinary" by Alex Warren slip one spot to number five but I am not sure it's going to stay there because right behind it is "Where is My Husband" by Raye up one to number six, it brushed past "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe at number seven. 

There's more Olivia Dean in the top ten this time with "Nice to Each Other" up one to number eight and that's not a surprise considering "Opalite" by Taylor Swift fell back one spot to number nine. 

Finally something I never saw coming, a new entry at number ten that i thought was a misprint by ARIA...it's "Do It" by Stray Kids, here on streaming from earlier in the week and I am not expecting this to stic around. 

Gains

Our gains are mostly continued ones for Olivia Dean with "Baby Steps" up six to twenty and "Let Alone the one You Love" up eleven to twenty five while there's deluxe album edition gains for Tate McRae who saw "Sports Car" speed up nine to thirty six and "Tit For Tat" also up nine to thirteen. 

Finally "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean is up nine to forty one this week in some positive news for the chart.  Going in the right direction, 

Re-Entries

Just the one return this week and as you can probably guess, it's Olivia Dean with "Lady Lady" back at number forty seven.

Losers.

It was a rough week to be a remaining album track from Taylor Swift's "The Life of  A Showgirl" as "Father Figure" plummeted seventeen to forty nine, the title track with Sabrina Carpenter slipped fifteen spots to forty eight and "Elizabeth Taylor" got slapped with a nineteen spot hit down to thirty seven. 

It was also a rough week for some songs from K-Pop Demon Hunters with "How It's Done" down eight to thirty five and "Your Idol" down  seven to twenty six. 

The one song that wasn't on Tate McRse's deluxe slid seven spots to thirty two that being "Just Keep Watching"

Drop Outs

So we saw two songs from K-Pop Demon Hunters depart with "Free" and "Takedown" both leaving...they both should probably make the year end list, they took album cuts "Wi$h List" by Taylor Swift and "When Did You Get Hot?" by Sabrina Carpenter with them.

Long running hit "Good Luck, Babe" by Chappell Roan also took its exit alongside last week's new entry "Talk of the Town" by Fred Again...feat, Sammy Virji and Reggie.

New Entries

We got five new entries with Tate McRae charting three new songs from the deluxe version of the album so the songs I have decided not to cover are "Trying on Shoes" at forty six and "Anything But Love" at thirty one,

So with that in mind, let's start with...

40. "Phantom" by EsDeeKid and Rico Ace

So EsDeeKid is a British rapper hailing from Liverpool having his break out year even releasing an album in June of this year with this being his first charting song to date and look, I like how menacing the production sounds here, it all fits into the UK drill and grime vibe of the song but the problem here is EsDeeKid himself does not sound remotely convincing or can sell the menace he is going for on this song, the same applies for his cohort here, Rico Ace who is only marginally better and when the lyrics just boil down to EsDeeKid claiming he is focusing on music and his come up...yeah...this ain't as interesting as what these two want you to believe...next!

19.  "Nobody's Girl" by Tate McRae

So I don't think I've made a seceet out of the fact that Tate McRae's music doesn't work for me so I was kind of dreading songs from the deluxe edition of "So Close to What?" (especially as the original album has aged badly) however I actually kind of like this song! Yeah, it's a bit watery, I don't think Tate's vocals sound as good as she thinks they do over this more orchestral beat but I like the lyrics that see Tate embrace being single after a bad breakup and choosing herself for a bit instead of trying to chase another man for what would be another disastrous relationship so yeah while this isn't that good or great...I'll take it this wee beak. 

10. "Do It" by Stray Kids. 

So I am fairly certain this is the first time that Stray Kids have charted in Australia and certainly charted this high, I was shocked this song debuted in the top ten beating out Sombr and Tate McRae. Stray Kids are a K-Pop group featuring eight members all from South Korea so I was curious about this song and why so many people liked it enough for it to chart at number ten...and...I should have curbed some of that curiosity because oh wow...this is messy, its incorporating a lot of sounds from western hip hop and pop before one of the most annoying beat switch ups I have ever heard that features the dying goat from "Mi Gente" (if anyone remembers that song). This song is all beat and no melody and it's not better for it. 

Its easy worst of the week, as for the best of the week...yeah...it's not a great song but "Nobody's Girl" by Tate McRae gets that. Next week? Who knows? I think it could go back to being pretty quiet in the lead up to Christmas, I guess that Haven song "I Run" will be allowed to return given they found a human singer for the song.

All 4 1994. 27th November: All I Want Is Your Wave Pants for Christmas

 So this week brough about some movement in the top ten just not at the very top where "Tomorrow" by Silverchair remains tied to the top spot thanks to terrific sales however as per program for the past frew weaks 'Always" by Bon Jovi is right behind it at number two,

Rising one to number three is "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow while Tina Arena's "Chains' is finally moving in the right direction up three places to number four.

It pushed "Spin the Black Circle" by Pearl Jam back two spots to number five, "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails down one to number six and "I'll Make Love To You" by Boyz II Men slipped one space to number seven. 

Stsying steady at number eight is "Secret" by Madonna while "Come Out and Play" by The Offspring continues to play at number nine.

However we do have a new arrival to our top ten at number ten with "Zombie" by The Cranberries rising five spots to number ten. 

Losers

So we did see "All Come Together" by Diesel down eleven spots to twenty nine while "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour slipped six spots to twenty six. 

Kylie Minogue's "Confide In Me" fell back eight spots to twenty two while "Yesterday, when I was Mad" by Pet Shop Boys floundered six spots to nineteen. 

Gains

So let's start with Gloria Estefan's "Turn the Beat Around" up nine slots to thirteen.,.ugh. CDB also got a decent nine place gain to fifteen with "Hook Me Up".

In unfortunate news, Lucas's "Lucas with the Lid Off" jumped from twenty three to eighteen because Australia hates me.

At least Harry Connick Jr got a six spot rise with "(I Could Only) Whisper Your Name)" to twenty three while "Lay Your Love on Me"  by Roachford is getting some love laid on it up from thirty five to twenty eight. 

The Headless Chickens have found some direction despite being headless with "Cruise Control" up nine to thirty four. 

New Entries

Four new entries this week beginning with...

50. “My Wave” by Soundgarden

So this is the fourth single from "Superunknown" and was only released here in Australia. This song is unusual because of it's 5/4 time signature and you know what? I think it's better for being just that little different because I really do like this even if its more the instrumentation just being awesome, Chris Cornell is buried behind the instrumentation to the point I can hardly hear him. Nice song though

48. “Tighten Up Your Pants” by Audio Murphy feat. Melinda

I do not have the words for this, it's basically Eurodance song using country tropes including squaredancing etc and there's even bizarrely yodelling leading into the first verse of the song but no pedalsteel or rich organic country guitar to make it feel country but rather taking the tropes of country just make another vaguely stupid dance song, we've had plenty like it in 1994 and this one might be the worst yet. Awful. 

47. “Sure” by Take That

So ignoring the fact that I had to dig through nearly half the video to find the song, I am really hoping Take That can save this week because yowsers, this week is looking rough otherwise and...well...I am not sure I like this..it feels messy in some ways especially with the odd brrt noises that don't mesh well with the rest of the production and the female backing vocals singing "Sure" that kind of got on my nerves. The boys sound good at least but still...this could have been better. 

46. “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey

So I have to make something clear here, I generally do not care a lot for Christmas music...most of the Christmas standard songs do not connect for me as an Australian (it'd have to be a completely abnormal summer for Australia to see snow in December) but maybe Mariah Carey's approach to Christmas music can change that...and nope...I cannot stand this doo wopped over sung goofy assed nonsense. Mariah doesn't care about the presence she just wants her man to be sitting under the Christmas tree and in doing so insults Santa for putting a toy under the tree (Excuse me, but Santa and his elves went to a lot of trouble to get you that toy, Mariah)...All I want for Christmas is for this to go away,, 

That wraps our week and wow,,,this was rough, Audio Murphys and Melinda take worst of the week for "Tighten Up Your Pants", As for the best, it's not great but it's going to "My Wave" by Soundgarden.

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: November 24th.

Not going to lie this week's ARIA singles chart feels like coming up for air because we do finally have some change at the top, yep, we have a new number one and it comes in the form of "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean, it's got the streaming margin which was no doubt helped by her performance at the ARIA awards on Wednesday night and that helped push it to the top and send "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift back to number two.

The song that continues to sour on me in all the ways possible "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remained at number three while "Ordunary" by Alex Warren refuses to fuck off by being stuck to number four. 

Olivia Dean climbed two places to number five with "So Easy (To Fall in Love)"...I can see this song being a potential number one possibly next month, it did push "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe back to number six,\

Raye continues to climb with "Where is My Husband" up two to number seven, I am absolutely obsessed with this song right now. Taylor Swifr had a rough week overall as "Opalite' slipped two to number eight. 

Up three to number nine is another Olivia Dean song that being "Nice to Each Other" while "12 to 12" by Sombr hangs onto the top ten at number ten and given it's losing traction on streaming, it' might be a safe bet that it's not here next week. 

Gains

Most of the big gains belong with Olivia Dean with "A Couple Minutes" up twelve to thirteen while "Baby Steps" jumped five to twenty six.

"Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish rebounded six to twenty three. Tame Impala also saw a six place boost to twenty eight with "Dracula"

The biggest gain of the week belonged to "The Days (Notion Remix)" by Chrystal up thirteen to thirty seven,

Re-Entries

Three returns this week with "Bad Dreams" by Teddy Swims woken up at forty nine. "Good Luck, Babe" by Chappell Roan at forty six and "Let Alone the One You Love" by Olivia Dean returning at thirty six.

Losers

Not many big time losers this week with maybe the biggest being "Wi$h Li$t" by Taylor Swift down six to thirty eight.

Drop Outs

Not much in the way of drop outs with "I Run" by Haven dropping out after streaming services pulled the song off their services because of illegalities around the vocals on the song. 

The rest are just Taylor Swift album tracks with "Wood", "Ruin The Friendship" and the two worst songs from the album gone those being "Actually Romantic" and "CANCELLED!".

New Entries

Two new entries

50. "Rein Me In' by Sam Fender and Olvia Dean

For as much as I would have loved Sam Fender's "Seventeen Going Under" to be a hit a couple of years ago, I think it's safe to acknowledge that this song is here because of the lady of the moment in the mainstream music scene...Olivia Dean and yeah...this is one of the best pop/rock songs of the year...not that we get much pop/rock on the charts these days but Sam and Olivia actually have some decent chemistry, the hook is sticky as hell and I love how that melody plays as almost a second hook to the song...definitely check this one out. 

47. "Talk of the Town" by Fred Again..., Sammy Virji and Reggie

It always surprises me when Fred again charts a new song and it shouldn't, the guy is a frequent chart presence so we got this new song that features English DJ Sammy Virji and Irish rapper Reggie, I also have to say that this is kind of lousy when Reggie's delivery isn't anywhere near what it needs to be and can get actively distracting also not helped by that beat being nothing to write home about so yeah I'll skip this.

It's the worst of the week. "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean easily takes best of the week. Next week...probably a whole load of Tate McRae.  

All 4 1994: 20th November Spin Cruise Control Twice For You

No preamble, let's dive straight into this week's top ten where for yet another week, our top two remains the same with "Tomorrow" by Silverchair at number one and "Always" by Bon Jovi at number two...now Silverchair has a decent margin on sales but Bon Jovi looks to be steady and not going anywhere 

We have a new entry from Pearl Jam at number three with "Spin the Black Circle", more that song's quality later. "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow jumps one spot to number four which pushed "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails back to number five.

Boy II Men suffered a two place drop with 'I'll Make Love to You" to number six while "Chains" by Tina Arena remained chained to number seven. 

"Secret" by Madonna is going hush hush down two to number eight while "Come Out and Play" by The Offspring climbed one spot to number nine,

Turns out the love isn't endless for "Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey down two to number ten. 

Losers

So let's blow through some of these with "Jessie" by Joshua Kadison down nine spots to forty eight. The Cult's "Coming Down" living up to it's name down six to fotty six while "Gimme" by Boom Crash Opera slipped from twenty four to forty this week.

Former chart topper "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet slipped further this week down twelve slots to thirty nine hile "Nothing But You" by Cold Chisel plummeted from twenty one to thirty eight.

"Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories fell from twenty nine to thirty six while Elton John's not feeling the love anymore with "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" sliding from thirty two to twenty five.

"Steam" by East 17 is losing most of theirs down eleven to thirty

Gains

So we had a bunch of gains again this week starting with "Zombie" by The Cranberries up fifteen to fifteen!

Sadly we also got "Turn the Beat Around" by Gloria Estefan up from forty five to twenty two because...ugh...just ugh,

Even worse "Lucas With the lid off" rose ten to twenty three but I'm okay with CDB "Hook Me Up" rising big from thirty eight to twenty four. 

However why the fuck is "Compliments on Your Kiss" by Red Dragon with Brian & Tony Gold up twelve to twenty five? Seriously?

Re-Entries

Just the one return this week and I am happy that it's "Standing Strong" by Wendy Matthews at forty five

 New Entries 

Just the four new entries this week. let's begin with...

50. “Last One Standing for You” by The Black Sorrows with Jon Stevens

First cab off the rank this week is a collab between The Black Sorrows and Jon Stevens which is wild considering I really never thought their sounds belonged in the same stratosphere of music but anyway, in the end we got a pretty good pop rock song even though I think Jon Stevens somewhat over the top vocals and really Stevens vocals are the main problem with this song, the rest is pretty damn solid. That's a shame.

49. “Think Twice” by Celine Dion

Canadian singer Celine Dion is back with her third single from her 1003 album "The Colour of My Love" and as is the case with most Celine Dion songs, her vocals are just the star of the song, I mean sure the subtle strings and guitar do their parts but it's Celine that shines here, she sounds absolutely gorgeous. The content is Celine begging her lover to think twice before leaving her because he might be making the biggest mistake of his life. Good song, check it out if curious. 

42. “Cruise Control” by Headless Chickens

So from Canada back to New Zealand where this group are based with thos song being the second single from "Body Blow" but remixed by a band called Eskimos in Egypt and we got the remix on the charts that isn't as good as the original version that charted so well in New Zealand,, the song just loses a lot of it's grit and texture and just feels a little too polished compared to the original from 1991 however it's not terrible, I just prefer the original that's all. 

3. “Spin the Black Circle” by Pearl Jam

We end off the week with a short sharp and loud rock song from Pearl Jam, it's the lead single from the album "Vitalogy" and is apparently about the band's love of vinyl records  The guitars are sharp and the drums are definitely doing a lot of heavy lifting here but again I do wonder if Eddie Vedder is getting buried in the mix here a bit. It's not terrible but it's definitely not a Pearl Jam song I am going to seek out.

That completes our week with "Think Twice" by Celine Dion taking the best of week while for worst, that's going to The Black Sorrows and Jon Stevens for "Last One Standing for You".

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 17th November.

 Really not much to say about this week because as per the norm lately, "The Fate Of Ophelia" rules at the top of the singles chart making it a sixth week at number one, it ruled on sales and did decently on streaming enough to keep it ahead of "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean which continues to hold strong at number two, its still lagging behind on sales but is leading on Spotify. 

At this point I am ready for anything to knock "The Fate of Ophelia" off number one. Hopefully Olivia Dean can get to that top spot. 

Anyway "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remains at number three while "Ordinary" by Alex Warren rebounded two spots to number four while "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe remains at number five.

"Opalite" by Taylor Swift slipped two spots to number six while "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean remained at number seven, I expect this to crack the top five soon. 

A new entry in the top ten is "I Run" by Haven, now I do not expect this song to last in the top ten and we'll talk about why in the new entries, this week. 

Raye's "Where is My Husband" jumped one spot to number nine surpassing "12 to 12" by Sombr which looks to be done in the top ten. 

Gains

Biggest gain of the week belongs to Olivia Dean with "Baby Steps" up ten to thirty one.

More annoyingly "That's So Ttue" by Gracie Abrams seems to be on the rebound rising from forty five to thirty nine. 

Re-Entries

Two re-entries with "The Days (Notion Remix)" by Chrystal back at fifty and "Messy" by Lola Young returning at number forty eight. 

Losers

The biggest losers continue to be album tracks from "The Life of a Showgirl" by Taylor Swift with "Cancelled!" down ten to forty nine, "Actually Romantic" slipping eight to forty sjx, "Wood" down ten to forty two and "Father Figure" down seven to twenty seven. 

Drop Outs

We did see one decently big drop out with "Sugar on My Tongue" by Tyler the Creator gone, it took with it "Eldest Daughter" by Taylor Swift and "Pussy Palace" by Lily Allen

New Entries

Just the one new entry this week so let's talk about...

8. "I Run" by Haven

So this song randomly blew up through the week thanks to somehow going viral on Tik  Rok is from a relatively unknown UK electronic act and this might be the lone week it's on the charts as it's been pulled off streaming owing to some rather serious allegations that the song uses some form of AI because of the vocals used. 

Now the song itself is decent enough, it's catchy and it's definitely got a bit of a groove that i can see connects well with audiences so I guess this one is a bit of a damp squib as it is very likely not going to leave the charts and not return.

That was our week, I am not sure whether we are going to get anything new next week so we'll just have to wait and see. 

All 4 1994: 13th November Trouble Coming Down Interstate...Hook Me Up, Love?

 Let's just dive straight into the week with our top ten instead of mucking around because it actually looks interesting apart from our top two where "Tomorrow" by Silverchair remains at number one for a third week ahead of "Always" by Bon Jovi which cannot claw back the margin so remained stuck at number two.

Much to my surprise, "Closer"  by Nine Inch Nails climbed three spots to number three, happy to see this so high...it's just surprising, that's all, it did push "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men back one spot to number four. 

Rising six spots for Sheryl Crow is "All I Wanna Do" hitting number five, this song could make a play for the number one in coming weeks, as a result "Secret" by Madonna got shoved back to number six while both "Chains" by Tina Arena and "Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey remained at six and secen respectively.

"Come Out and Play" by The Offspring jumped one spot to number nine surpassing former chart topper "Confide In Me" by Kylie Minogue which slipped to number ten and looks to be on it's way out. 

Losers

Not many major losers this week although we did see "Fly Girl" by Kulcha down six to forty six and "Hands Out of My Pocket" by Cold Chisel slip six to forty nine.

"Red Light Avenue" by James Reyne is hitting it's chart red light as it stumbled down seven to foty two while "Do You Wanna Get Funky" by C&C Music Factory skidded down nine spots to forty one.

Former number one and likely year end chart topper "Love is All Around" continues to leave gracefully down eight spots to twenty seven. 

Gains

We got a slew of big gains and unfortunately I am not that thrilled about some of these like "Sooner or Later" by GF4 up big from twenty five to twelve or "Yesterday, When I Was Mad" by Pet Shop Boys gaining an eight place boost to fifteen. 

I will say I am pleased that Diesel's "Come Together" got a nice nine place gain to seventeen and I'm fine with "Eighteen Strings" by Tinman up nine to twenty. 

What is showing signs of momentum lies with "Zombie" by The Cranberries up a massive fifteen places to number thirty...this song might be set to rule the charts well into 1995. 

"Lucas With the Lid off" by Lucas climbed six to thirty three...sigh. Less said the better about that one.

Re Entries

Just one return this week with "Miss You" by Haddaway back at forty eight. 

New Entries

Four new entries this week, beginning with...

50. “Interstate Love Song” by Stone Temple Pilots

So the third single from the Stone Temple Pilots album "Purple" and my god...this is great, I love how sharp and prominent the instrumentation is ehre, it all sounds so crisp. As for the content of the song, well, it's moe about the lies told to loves especially around feelings like saying "I'm fine" when he really is not. Hope this does well, terrific song. 

40. “Coming Down” by The Cult

Okay, more rock only this time coming from UK rock band The Cult and while I like some of the instrumentation, I do not at all like the vocal mixing and recording at all, they sound like they were recorded three studios over and the producer added them out of sheer ambivalence, the backing vocals sound louder in the mix than the lead singer which is beyond weird. Yeah, this is a come down...next song.

38. “Hook Me Up” by CDB

Time for some pop r'n'b courtesy of Australian male four piece Hook Me Up and wow...does this sound like a Bobby Brown song that he would have left out but I am not going to lie the instrumentation sounds smooth as hell even if I have the same issues with some of the vocal mixing here as I did with "Coming Down" by The Cult. This isn't terrible but I am going to forget this in record time. 

34. “Trouble’ by Shampoo

Finally we're finishing this week off with this song from Shampoo, a British female pop duo and well...this is a pop song made for teenagers who can relate to being caught staying out late when their parents have expressly advised not to. Shampoo remind me of a more juvenile Mel and Kim ("Respectable" and "Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Weekend)', anyone?) because while that chorus is catchy as hell, the verses are delivered in a way that completely takes me out of the song...it sounds bratty in a way that isn't cute but rather annoying and distracting from the rest of the song, 

That was our week and yeah, "Interstate Love Song" by Stone Temple Pilots just runs away with it. As for worst of the week I'm going to give it "Coming Down" by The Cult because man, that vocal mixing should be better.

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 10th November.

 So I am going to say it, I am getting frustrated with our current number one on the ARIA singles chart, "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift spending it's fifth week at the top, while it's still one of the better songs from "The Life of a Showgirl" but come on, five weeks at number one is ridiculous, it's still got decent sales and streaming.

That was enough to keep it ahead of "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean stuck at number two (I suspect this song being stuck at number two is why I am annoyed at "The Fate of Ophelia"...the better song is stuck at number two), "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remains at number three and "Opalite" by Taylor Swift at number four.

Regaining one spot is "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe at number five, it moved past "Ordinary"  by Alex Warren, "Ordinary" is dying on streaming so expect this song to fall away HARD over the next few weeks.

"So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean continues to hold sway at number eight, the same goes for Sombr's "12 to 12" at number eight,

"Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters is back in the top ten this week up two to number nine.

Finally, we have a new arrival to our top ten and one that I absolutely am thrilled about because it's "Where is My Husband" by RAYE, it jumped three spots to number ten. So happy to see it here.

Gains

Most of our gains continue to just be songs recovering ground post the Taylor Swift album bomb apart from "Dracula" by Tame Impala which used Halloween to scoot up thirteen spots to thirty seven. 

"Gabriela" by Katseye climbed seven places to thirty three despite the song being complete ass while "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter jumped six spots to twenty nine. 

Olivia Dean continues to make her make with "A Couple Minutes" up thirteen to twenty eight. "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish up six to twenty seven and "Victory Lap" by Fred Again..., Skepta and Plaqueboy Mas up seven to twenty four. 

"Beautiful Things" bounced back up ten spots to seventeen for Benson Boone because we still haven't got rid of that god damn atrocity to the human ear yet. 

Re Entries

Back at forty two is "Folded" by Kehlani

Losers

All of our losers are Taylor Swift album cuts that haven't gone away yet like "Eldest Daughter" which slipped fifteen to forty seven, "Ruin The Friendship" was ruined fourteen places to forty four. 

"CANCELLED!" keeps on getting cancelled down eleven to thirty nine, "Actually Romantic" continues to let the romance die down thirteen to thirty eight, "Wood" is drying up down nine to thirty two while "Wi$h Li$t" slipped ten to thirty one and the album's title track feat Sabrina Carpenter "The Life of a Showgirl" fell nine to twenty five. 

Drop Outs

"Honey" by Taylor Swift and the bigger of the two that did leave "Bad Dreams" by Teddy Swims.

New Entries

Just the one new entry this week, let's dive into...

50. "Pussy Palace" by Lily Allen

If 2025 waa going to throw up a surprise, this was one of the major ones, Lily Allen hadn't released music in seven years pre the release of her new album "West End Girl" with this song being the single from it and yeah, this song is all keys and trap with some percussion as Lily sings about going to her now ex husband's apartment to drop his stuff off and she finds out that he has been sleeping with a myriad of women behind her back, she's shocked and confused, ponders whether or not he is a sex addict which is terrifying as its something she's not thought about before. 

Not the best song on the album but it is definitely one of the more shocking. I am happy to see it here though. 

All 4 1994: 6th November. Turn Lucas's Girl Around

 No mucking around this week, let's just jump straight into the top ten where for a second week, Silverchair's "Tomorrow" holds sway at number one and it's looking good for the long haul, it thankfully kept "Always" by Bon Jovi at bay at number two and "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men at number three.

New into the chart this week is "About A Girl (MTV Unplugged)" by Nirvana at number four, here on solid sales and I am sure a lot of fans wanting to heart Kurt Cobain's voice again after he died in April 1994. 

"Secret" by Madonna moved into the top five with a one place gain to number five, not sure about the strength of this song going forward. but it was enough to see "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails shift down two places to number six and "Chains" by Tina Arena unlock it's chain at five to move down two to number seven. 

 "Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey remains endlessly in love at number eight. while down two is former chart topper "Confide in Me" by Kylie Minogue to number nine.

Surprisingly...rising two to join the top ten is "Come Out and Play" by The Offspring at number ten! Wasn't expecting this song to do so well but I am fine with it being here,

Losers

So E.Y.C's "Black Book" is heading toward being given the red card off the top 50 as it plummeted from thirty six to forty nine...good riddance quite honestly. "Gimme" by Boom Crash Opera slipped seven to twenty one. 

Former number one "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet stumbled six places to nineteen. It's on it's eway out gracefully. 

Gains

Surprisingly not that many big moves this week but for some reason we did see "Sooner or Later" by GF4 get a solid eight place boost to twenty five because apparently we need a bland nothing of a song from a girl group gaining traction and Cold Chisel got one hell of a big jump from thirty one to sixteen. 

"All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow looks headed for a stint in the top ten as it rises five to eleven. 

New Entries

50. “Turn the Beat Around” by Gloria Estefan

So I am going to be honest here, I am not a fan of Gloria Estefan, I think she's talented but the material she is given to work with isn't great and this sounds like a cut that belongs to the work she did with Miami Sound Machine in the 80s and this is Gloria Estefan trying to play in a more 90s sound and it just doesn't work for me at all. Also this just feels like its riding the Eurodance trend with the big doofy beats so yeah...I don't care this. 

45. “Zombie” by The Cranberries

Oh god, there's no possible way I can talk about this song and do it justice because The Cranberries have crafted one of the most incredible political songs. The song is about an IRA bombing in Warrington in 1993 that injured fifty six people and horrifically took the lives of two children and condemns the violence and bloodshed that occured during rhe "Troubles" between the UK and the IRA (a group that wanted to separate Northern Ireland from the UK and reunite it with the Republic of Ireland. You can hear the seething rage in the vocals of Dolores O'Riordan's voice as she is singing. God damn, incredible song.

39, “Lucas With the Lid off” by Lucas

And now we get to something that's a bit weird and I am not entirely sure of the idea that it's any good. This is from Danish rapper Lucas Seccon and is the second single from Lucas's second album "Lucacentric" and somehow features a sample from Benny Goodman's "When Buddha Smiles" and I am going to have say no to this because geezus christ, this sounds like mumble rap. I wish it reminded me less of Jive Bunmy and the Mastermixers. Next.

4. “About A Girl (MTV Unplugged Sessions)” by Nirvana

I tend to be a bit reticent to cover live versions of songs mostly because music live tends to sound great and covering this specifically feels painful if you remember that Kurt Cobain died in April of 1994 so yeah out of pure respect to Kiurt Cobain, I am just going to say, this is excellent, go and give this a listen. 

However the best of the week is going to "Zombie" by The Cranberries, as for the worst of the week...that's going to Lucas for "Lucas With the Lid Off"

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: 3rd November

 Sigh, more than half the top ten are stagnant this week so let's not waste time and get on with this because for a fourth week "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift remains at number one and there seems like there is no stoppping this song even though it's lost the streaming lead however Taylor did release a new version of the song on streaming yesterday much to my annoyance but we shan't talk about gaming the charts now, shall we?

It held up over Olivia Dean's "Man I Need" stuck at number two (this deserves a week at number one at least...come on), "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters holding steady at number three, "Opalite" by Taylor Swift hanging around at number four, "Ordinary" by Alex Warren glued at number five and "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe keeps dancing at number six,

Moving up three to number seven is Olivia Deans "So Easy (To Fall in Love)", this song is getting a run together on streaming, it could climb higher in the weeks ahead. The same could apply for "12 to 12" by Sombr which jumped one spot to number eight, both songs pushed past "Elizabeth Taylor" by Taylor Swift which fell two spots to number nine. 

Finally returning to the top ten this week is "Back to Friends" by Sombr which climbed four spots to number ten. 

Los

Gains

The gains are mostly older song gaining back ground as the Taylor Swift album bomb continues its slow recedation, for example "Daisies" by Justin Bieber rebounded eight spots to seventeen and "Undressed" by Sombr jumped back up nine spots to eighteen. 

"Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars got an eight place rebound to thirty seven. 

Losers

Alright, lets get started on the mass losses that songs from Taylor Swift's "The Life of a Showgirl" suffered this week, we begin with "Honey" which sunk another eleven places to thirty nine, "Eldest Daughter" suffered shrinkage down nine to thirty two, "Ruin the Friendship" dropped eight to thirty, "CANCELLED" got stamped down seven more times to twenty eight, nobody's knocking on "Wood" so it's down eight to twenty three, "Wi$h Li$t" dipped eight to twenty one and "Father Figure" is losing its shapely figure down six to fourteen.

The only non Taylor Swift song to lose big chunk of ground was "Dracula" by Tame Impala down ten to fifty but I do expect that to get a Halloween boost next week

New Entrie

Just the one new entry this week, let's talk about...

41. "A Couple Minutes" by Olivia Dean

Considering I absolutely adore "The Art of Loving" and in particular this song, I am pretty happy that Olivia Dean is having a continued impact on the charts and it's for the better because yeah this is such a great song. that oorchestral backing is just majestic as Olivia Dean slides in, the content works well here as she sings about the intimacy of a very brief reunion and discovering that that old connection still has a spark to it. Check this out.

Next week is a bit who knows, could be another quiet one afoot (having far too many quiet weeks on the charts this year). 

All 4 1994: 30th October. Sooner or Later, All Come Together for You

 Well, wasn't expecting a new number one this week but that's what we have because we have a trio of teenagers at the top of the chart, that's right, Silverchair's "Tomorrow" has climbed two spots to take the number one. 

It mercifully moved past "Always" by Bon Jovi which remains at number two. Former chart topper "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men fell two places to number three.

The big surprise other than our new number one was the nine place gain for "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails to number four. I wasn't expecting this song to get here.

Tina Arena keeps chaining herself to new chart positions each week as "Chains" climbs two to number five, it pushed past "Secret" by Madonna which slipped one to number six,  "Confide in Me" by Kylie Minogue which fell three spots to number seven and "Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey which slipped two spots to number eight.

Finally two songs remain where they are those being "Swamp Thing" by The Grid and "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry at number ten. 

Losers

Def FX slipped seven places to fifty with "Post Moronic" while JX's "Son of a Gun" slipped fourteen spots to forty four. 

Also suffering a massive collapse is former top five hit "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters as it tumbled from twenty eight to forty one. "Red Light Avenue" by James Reyne is going the wrong way but can't seem to find a way to go back down eight to forty. 

Not going to complain that "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" by R.E.M slipped nine to thirty eight while "Do You Wanna Get Funky?" by C&C Music Factory stumbled seven spots to thirty. 

Unfortunately "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" by Elton John crashed from sixteen to twenty two.

Re-Entries

Just the one return with "Love Ain't Here Anymore" by Take That back at forty seven. 

Gains

I am reasonably happy that "(I Could Only) Whisper Your Name" by Harry Connick Jr jumped twelve spots to thirty seven and 'Eighteen Strings" by Tinnan got a sizeable boost from forty six to twenty seven.

However why is "Yesterday, When I Was Mad" by Pet Shop Boys up from forty seven to twenty six and "Gimme" by Boom Crash Opera up eight to fourteen? Ugh. 

 New Entries

Five new entries this week, beginning with...

34. “The Strangest Part (These are the Times)” by INXS

New INXS single from the band's greatest hits album and this one is actually better than a lot of their recent output, it has a groove thanks to the drums plus Michael Hutchence has enough charisma that I'm fairly certain he could convince somebody to buy a bridge. As for the content of the song, it appears to be a commentary on the band's lifestyle. It's a little safe for INXS but considering I haven't likeed any of their singles in 1994, I'll take this one. 

33. “Sooner or Later” by GF4

The brand new single from Girlfriend or as they are now known GF4 following the departure of Robyn Loau and yeah, this is not great, sure the harmonies here are really good but it's the weird ass dance electronic instrumentation that doesn't blend well with the girls voices and leaves them sounding insubstantial and wispy in the mix and as for the rap verse...it's find but wow it shows just how much the departure of Robyn has hurt this group. Not good but not terrible either. 

31. “Nothing But You” by Cold Chisel

So this is another song of those songs that really does feel like a Cold Chisel demo. Ian Moss taking the lead on the song and it doesn't quite have the same stick or hit the landing as good as some of Cold Chisel's other songs with Moss as lead such as "My Baby" (a song I think is one of Chisel's best), I don't think it's a bad song but when the instrumentation doesn't feel like it's on all cylinders than yeah I am going to pass on it more often tthan not. 

24. “All Come Together” by Diesel

I think by now most people know that I am a sucker for Diesel's music and yeah this one is no different because this is pretty damn good almost great even if I think the chorus don't quite come together the way it should. The song hits on everyone working together to reach a common cause or purpose and the connection of people in overcoming diversity to find love. Definitely a damn good song that I think might get a little underrated, check this out. 

16. “All I Wanna Do” by Sheryl Crow

We end of this week's new entry reviews with a song from American singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow and well, this song is certainly an interesting pop/rock song because the opening line of the song "All I wanna do is have a little fun before I die" comes from the opening line of a poem by Wyn Cooper and the song has this really interesting downbeat vibe where this man is sitting at a bar just watching the world go by and everyone else hustling to clean cars in work clothes all while he feels like he is wasting his life. It's a dark song but a good one check it out

That wraps up our week, I am going to give worst of the week to "Sooner or Later" by GF4...a return that fell flat for me. Best of the week is going to Diesel for "All Come Together" 

Top Ten Worst Hit Songs of 2024

There have been a lot of very different opinions on how 2024 was for the popular music landscape, many are saying that 2024 was one of the best years for pop music in the 2020s so far which I do get if you enjoyed the break throughs of Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Gracie Abrams or the "rap beef of the decade" between Kendrick Lamar and Drake while others pointed out that many of the hits from the breakthrough artists were at best mediocre and many of the songs that became big were absolutely awful.

For me though in terms of the hits, 2024 was decent...not great...I did manage find more songs for my best list than I did for my worst list so that was a win but the best stuff doesn't quite hit the same note as the best of 2021 or even 2022 however we are not dealing with the best today, we are dealing with the rotten garbage that has been allowed to fester in some cases on the charts for way too long.

But before we get to all of that, lets go through the rules. 

1. A song can appear on this list if it debuted on the 2024 ARIA top 100 singles year end or it's peak was higher on the 2024 year end than in 2023

2. A song will not appear on this list if I didn't review it during the year eg: if you are wondering why "Carnival" by Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign is not on the list proper. I feel like even giving this amount of attention to a clown like Kanye is not not worth it so why bother putting him on the list proper when it's just more worthwhile doing what I have done since the song was released in February in ignoring it's unwelcome existence. 

3. This is my list so my opinion. Music is subjective so try not to get too mad over these picks.

4. This is going to be just a top ten list. No dishonourable/honourable mentions this year given I've only got a small list of songs to choose from for these lists. Thanks for tbat ARIA.

Alright, now that's out of the way...let's jump into this dumpster of rotting brain worms and start with...

Number Ten

You know...I came to not mind a lot of Sabrina Carpenter's hits this year, she has something of a personality which is more than can be said for a few other wannabe main stream pop girls right now that I tried to get this song of hers to grow on me but I'm sorry...this one just does not satisfy me in any shape or form.

"Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter

Alright, I get it, this one is an out of nowhere pick for a worst list considering that it does seem like most people like it however "Espresso" is one of those songs that no matter how hard I try to like, it just gives me a whole load of slightly less than frothy nothing with none of the energy boost that caffeine is supposed to provide you with and that is frustrating because you can tell Sabrina wants it to be this frothy song about this guy she has wrapped around her finger snd the hook just sounds like somebody grinding their treeth to me which is not a pleasant sound to my ear. 

This song is just cringe overall and while I get while people like it, I think I'll be staying away from it for good.

Number Nine

Sigh...you know when I said "wannabe main pop girls"?. Let's get an easy target out of the way.

"That's So True" by Gracie Abrams

So I am going to say right off the bat that the least impressive of the break out female pop acts in 2024 was Gracie Abrams who got her big break through like Sabrina touring with Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour, her weirdly cloying song writing that felt very early Taylor Swift did nothing for me generally and this song soured me on her hard, there's just something infuriating where she sings in the most juvenile way possible "You're an idiot, now I'm sure of it", she sounds like a five year old chanting "I'm rubber, your glue, whatever bounces off me sticks to you" in the nost agonising and painful way imaginable and it makes listening to this song quite the aggravating experience. 

Throw in that weurd ass hook and yeah...I am done with absolute nightmare of a song. 

Number Eight

I'd really love for soul music to make a return to the charts in some way...turns out in 2024...it kind of it did...too bad it sucked.

"Lose Control" by Teddy Swims

I am going to keep this short, Teddy Swims has a couple of songs like "The Door" and "Bad Dreams" that I actually really damn like and think are close to great, especially "The Door", but the fact that "Lose Control" which for a song about a man losing control when the woman he loves is not with him is stiffer than cardboard or a freshly ironed shirt should be considered criminal especially for this brand of pop soul that Teddy Swims is going for here and when the second verse sounds like Swims is trying to impersonate Post Malone...yeah, that's when I stopped caring...next!

Number Seven

So we're going hip hop for the next couple of songs and this one is probably one that people could make justified arguments for this being higher on the list but regardless, it wouldn't be here if it didn't belong on a list like this and thus...

"Lovin' On Me" by Jack Harlow

I fear Jack Harlow hit his peak on his feature on Lil Nas X's "Industry Baby" because his output since that song has been embarrassingly mediocre to awful and this song might be one of Harlow's worst efforts to date with his efforts to compare himself to Rico Suave and that how he is kinky in bed but doesn't like whips and chains, he choke her but of course he ain't no killer, lyrically this song is just a walking bucket of cringe with some sloppy and lethargic production to boot. In short this song is gross. now let's move the fuck on before I fucking throw up. 

                                      

Number Six

If you want a song that sounds like complete diarrhea than it's a fine time to introduce you all to...

"Fein" by Travis Scott and Playboi Caeti. 

Another one, I'll keep short and sweet because what is there to say about a song that just sounds like a complete nightmare especially when you have Travis Scott repeating "Fein" across the song like its going out of fashion or something while simultaneously sounding like a dog's squeaky toy. Playboi Carti proves himself to be as useless as usual which could also be said about the limp beat that sounds cheap as cordial cans at a return and earn! Throw in the usual pathetic bars about women and you have one of the most bog standard, boring and crappy mainstream rap songs in modern memory.

Number Five

So this was the biggest hit by Australian artist in 2024...shame it sucks!

"Stumblin' In" by Cyril

This song being as big as it was is the biggest screaming indictment on the Australilan music scene in the 2020s after all this is just taking a classic 70s love song by Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman, stripping out the old instrumnental and replacing it with a crappy new instrumental that added this weird sterile texture rather than anything that feels lived in or like there is anything resembling live while the production makes Chris Norman sound rough, like he is singing his verse half asleep. This isn't Cyril's worst effort in 2024, his version of Crowded House's "Fall At Your Feet" feat Dean Lewis would have been a contender for number one on this list had it been a hit.

Number Four

2024 was this next guy's year, after all he had the biggest song of the year (we'll get to that song) which enabled him to release this crooning atrocity and thus...

"Slow It Down"  by Benson Boone.

There are worse songs on Benson Boone's atrocity of an album namely "Cry" and a certain other song but dear god does this one deserve to be here with Boone switching his vocals between this odd crooning to somewhere near scteeching throughout the song, it just sounds painful to the point where I'm checking my hearing is still in tack during the song. It's just a thoroughly painful song to have to listen to to the point it's not good as a laid back chill song or does really get anyone moving to the dancefloor so its fucking useless...NEXT! 

Number Three

This one feels like I am punching down on a legend of hip hop. Em, you are so much better than this. 

"Houdini" by Eminem

This is the song that convinced me that Eminem needs to consider the idea that he might be done because this song is just not it, grabbing up chunks of 1982 hit "Abracadabra" by the Steve Miller Bamd (a song that I cannot stand and apparently plenty of Steve Miller Band fans hate it as well) while Eminem makes some painfully lame jokes about drugs and collaborating with Megan Thee Stallion (I think Megan has better things to do with her time to be fair here, Em) and complain about cancel culture, you'd honestly think he was a Donald Trump fan if you didn't know any better. This song is embarrassing. Let's stick to "Without Me" the song referenced at the beginning of this shitpile of a song because it's the length of the M1 motorway better than this. 

Number Two

I spent a chunk of my 2023 list talking about this guy, his big hit song "Last Night" topped that list but this year he is just falling short but oh dear god, it was close...

"Thinkin' About Me" by Morgan Wallen

I've really run out of things to say about the music of Morgan Wallen's music, the production is often drippy and more often than not the writing comes across as projecting and doing little more than upholding something of a victim complex which is a perfect place to start when describing this disastrous dipshit of a song. 

Seriously, the lyrics in this song would make milk curdle and go sour all on it's own without anyone leaving it out in the sun or hitting the fucking expiry date. Wallen is obsessed with this girl who has presumably moved on from him to be with another guy but Wallen is still chasing her even though he claims the relationship turned bad and now he is projecting asking if she's obsessed with him like he is her and I make that assumption because the lyrics make it increidbly easy to see that Wallen is the obsessed one...like dude, she's done with your ass, move the fuck on and get over her. 

All that over this drippy, miserable sounding mix and Wallen's nasal drone sounding possibly worse than it did on "Last Night", the only reason it's not number one is because none of it feels like a complete violation of my ear drums.

Number One

On the other hand, THIS is what complete and utter violation of the ear drums sounds like. 

"Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone.

It's an indictment on the charts that this song was allowed to go to number one for as long as it did and hung around like somebody hasn't washed a pair of particularly egregious smelling underpants. Every time I hear that opening guitar line and Bennson Boone start crooning, I roll my eyes so hard that I have to make sure my eyes don't fall out of my head because dear god, the lyrics on this song are just....really? He has met a young woman that his parents like, his mental health is doing better and life is looking up for him but than he dips into religious pandering by claiming he believes that God will take this girl and everything that is good in his life away...like seriously? The only one who can throw anything good in your lfie away is YOU making bad choices. The lyrics read like a really clingy Jason Mraz song. 

It's then we must get into the other part of the equation as to why this song is at the top spot on the worst list because religious pandering wasn't quite enough to push this song to the top on it's own, it's the ear drum violations that are Benson Boone's vocals on the hook where it splits the line between shrieking and insanity and underscore just how utterly asinine this song is where he throws himself at this higher power begging them not take his "beautiful things" away (Okay, I absolutely abject to calling a woman a thing by the way) in the most dramatic and cartoonish way possible like his Sylvester throwing a tantrum because Tweety won't make it easy for him to catch him after five hundred failed attempts and it's just obnoxious.

Throw in the "WAAAAHHHH AHHH OOOHH OH OH" and you have a song that really rams home feeling like your ears have been utterly violated and some higher power is going to reek vengenance on all of us because of this song, although maybe the release of this song is the karma we got...ugh.

Anyway "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone is the worst hit song of 2024.

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 27th October.

 So bit of a quiet week here and honestly sometimes that's not the worst thing and with the chart still readjusting arfter the Taylor Swift album bomb that's going to take it's sweet damn time leaving than we're probably going to see more weeks like it so lets get to the top ten where Taylor Swift holds on to the top spot with "The Fate of Ophelia" thanks to streaming, sales and even some Youtube.

However "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean has climbed one spot to number two and looks to be the obvious challenger should "The Fate of Ophelia" wobble in any way. 

Former chart topper "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters is still a threat as it hangs around at number three for another week however while it's still good on sales, it's starting to lose some streaming margin with the top two. 

"Opalite" by Taylor Swift slipped two places to four because it's not getting a single push right now and that's going to be a problem because right behind it surging back into the top ten up six to number five is "Ordinary"  by Alex Warren and "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe which also climbed six places to number six, 

 Both "Elizabeth Taylo" and "Father Figure" fell two places to seven and eight respectively for Taylor Swift as again the focus of streaming is turning to "Fate of Ophelia".

I couldn't be happier to see Sombr's "12 to 12" rebound seven spots to number nine...thank god. It's a damn great song. 

Finally completing the top ten this week and becoming Olivia Dean's second song in the top ten "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" rising twelve places to number ten and being our biggest gainer of the week!

Gains

The gains continued for Olivia Dean otuside the top ten with "Nice to Each Other" up seven to sixteen.

A lot of previous top ten hits are also rebounding with "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters hitting up six places to twelve, Sombr's "Back to Friends" recharging six spots to fourteen. 

"Where is My Husband" by Raye climbed six to eighteen this week proving this song is a hit in the making and we need to hurry up to make it happen. 

Re-Entries

 Mixed news on the returns front with the re-entry of "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams at number forty nine being the bad news however in good news "Folded" by Kehlani is back at fifty is excellent news as that song is great. 

Losers

The losers are all Taylor Swift "The Life of a Showigrl" album tracks so let's go through these beginning with "Honey" dripping slowly down eleven to twenty eight, "Eldest Daughter" slumped eight to twenty three "Ruin the Friendship" had it's chart position ruined eight to twenty two, "CANCELLED!" is in the process of being cancelled for being one of Taylor's worst songs of her career as it plummeted eight to twenty one, "Actually Romantic" isn't breaking up with the chart fast enough for my liking but it is down seven to seven while the ode to Travis Kelce's dick "Wood" slipped seven to fifteen. 

Drop Outs

Sad that we did lose "Let Alone the One You Love" by Olivia Dean from the chart this week, it took "Eyes Closed" by Jisoo and Zayn and "Takedown" bv Twice with it so I guess it's not all bad?

New Entries

Just the one new entry this week, time to dive into...

40. "Dracula" by Tame Impala

In the wake of the utterly disappointing new album "Deadbeat", this single crossed over to the charts and I honestly don't have much to say about it other than noting it seems to be all to keenly aware of what the zeirgeist is currently enjoying whch is the lead up to Halloween next week and this is given enough spooky oomph to give those who like spooks and things a reason to add this song to their Halloween playlists but other than that there's not much to this, it feels a lot like Kevin Parker maybe out of ideas, 

Yeah, worst of the week. No best of the week because there's no other new entries....duh. Next week...we'll have to see. 

All 4 1994: 23rd October. Closer Secrets and Compliments Whisper Your Name on Eighteen Strings

 Holy shit, this week is probably one of the last nuts weeks of 1994 that we'll get, a complete avalanche of new entries that we'll get to later but that didn't touch our number one so let's dive into the top ten where for a second week "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men kept hold of the number one spot, it kept a safe margin ahead of "Always" by Bon Jovi which jumped two spots to number two and seems to be the song that looks most likely to take the top spot next.

Then rising three places to number three for Silverchair is "Tomorrow", this song has momentum, I hope it can surpass "Always" but we'll have to see. 

All of this pushed "Confide in Me" by Kylie Minogue down to number four and it could be vulnerable to the new entry at number five from Madonna called "Secret", this song has good sales and could possibly move above Kylie next week.

The big loser out of all this was ?Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey as it slipped three spots to number six however on the rise is "Chains" by Tina Arena which climbed two places to number seven. 

From there, the last three are songs on their way out with former chart topper "I Swear" by All-4-One slipped three to number eight, 'Swamp Thing" by The Grid also tumbled three to nine and "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry collapsed three spots to round out the top ten at number ten. 

Losers

"No Matter What You Do" by Olivia Newton-John slipped eight to number forty eight while it was similar for Cold Chisel's "Hands Out of My PocKet" which fell to forty two but that eally is it for the big losers.

Gains

No major gains either given all the new entries on the chart this week.  The biggest gain his week is "Voodoo People" by The Prodigy up four to twenty five.

Re-Entries

Culture Shock's "My Enemy" is unfortunately back at number forty one. 

New Entries

A ridiculous EIGHT new entries so I am going to endeavour to keep these reviiews short, let's begin with...

50. “Walkaway Lover” by Toni Pearen

So Toni Pearen is back on the charts after her breakthrough in 1993 with "In Your Room" and I have to be honest here, I do not like this, it sounds like generic eurodamce just with something of an Australian flavour and the production around Toni's vocals are a complete wash, "In Your Room" this ain't. I don't see this sticking around...Next. 

49. “(I Could Only) Whisper Your Name” by Harry Connick Jr

So American entertainer (best way to cover everything this guy does) is back with a brand new song and this one has a decent swagger to it thanks to those horns and this song has some insane change ups especially with that solo that wasn't great...bit ear piercing for my tastes but I do like that the song revolves around protecting this girl from rumour and innuendo while emphasising others will have their own opinions. Good song. 

47. “Yesterday, When I Was Mad” by Pet Shop Boys

So I haven't really liked any of the Pet Shop Boys singles so far in 1994 including the song from "Absolutely Fabulous" and yeah this song is actually decent, it's got the feel of the sort of sound I like coming from the Pet Shop Boys. There's more of a groove and texture to this that makes the song overall work better for me. Not going to be my favourite this week but it's fine. 

46. “Eighteen Strings” by Tinman

I wasn't sure what to expect coming into this song from English House producer Tinman and so I guess what we got did surprise me a little with that every nice electric guitar opening before making way for something that seems a little more standard house. The lyrics are definitely standard club and partying songs but I definitely do not hate this. Check it out if you are curious. 

45. “Compliments on Your Kiss’ by Red Dragon with Brian & Tony Gold

So we have another reggae song on the chart and this one mght be one of the worst I've heard yet with it's weirdly chipper and none too romantic beat as these guys mumble "Compliments girl on our kiss" like who even says that to a person they are in love with?. They then go on about this girl's body and done to death lyrics about how his heart skips a beat every time he sees her with the hook and verses repeated. Yeah this sucks...NEXT

44. “I Miss You” by Haddaway

So Haddaway return and I actually really like this a lot, this song is so much better than "What is Love?", a's a bit more somber and there's genuine warmth as the content focuses on an ended relationship where the narrator is realizing they are on their own now and life feels a lot harder without that other person in his or her life and they miss them enough to the point they want back into a relationship with that other person. Yeah, I'm taking this, it's good. Check it out. 

13. “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails

The second single from Nine Inch Nails album "The Downward Spiral" and this might be one of more unnerving songs I have covered this series, a song all about self loathing and obsession although I kind of get why some think it's a sex song...the lyrics do open the way for that kind of misinterpretation. The production relies on elements of funk and industrial rock but all up this song inbetween the vocal delivery where he sounds like he singing through clenched teeth the loathing and hatred is that bad...it's an unsettling song but still one that is really damn good. 

5. “Secret” by Madonna

Finally the biggest new entry of the week courtesy of Madonna, taken from her album "Bedtime Stories" and I will say I do like this one. Madonna sounds great here, low and deliberately confessional delivery that works great for her and the production playing up the mystery of this secret that's been hidden. Yeah, you know what? I'll take this too. 

That ends an honestly beyond long week and I am buggered but the worst of the week falls out easily "Compliments on Your Kiss" by Red Dragon, Brian and Toni Gold is awful and nets the weeks lowest honour.

As for the best, we have some contenders but I think this belongs to Haddaway for "I Miss You". 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 20th October

 So the recedation of the Taylor Swift album bomb dominates the news on the AEIA singles chart this week, we got two new entries including another new song from that Olivia Dean album however before we get to that, let's dive into the top ten which is dominated by Taylor Swift still but to a lesser extent, of course "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift kept the number one spot, it's safe for now if that streaming doesn't continue to slide and it finally got sales to boost it's margin. 

"Opalite" remains at number two but it's facing an even tougher predicament as it doesn't have sales but streaming is starting to slide and could face threats to it's position from two songs that both rose ten spots this week to retake their positions in the top ten with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean at nnumber three and "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number four, both songs look strong right now and with the surge for Olivia Dean lately...I am certain "Man I Need" will get a good push soon to take number one.

The rest of the top ten are Taylor Swift album cuts with "Elizabeth Taylor" down two to number five likewise for "Father Figure" to number six, "The Life of a Showgirl" featuring Sabrina Carpenter slipped one to number seven, the ode to Travis Kelce's penis "Wood" has started to go flaccid with the public down three to number eight, surprising "Wi$h Li$t" remained steady at nnumber nine amd "Actually Romantic" slipped two to number ten.

Gains'

Honestly the gains outside the top ten are generally just one to six place gains however we did see continued traction for Olivia Dean songs with "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" up seven to twenty two and "Baby Steps" up five to forty one

Losers

So we'll begin with the Taylor Swift album cuts that fell back..."Honey" fell five to seventeen, "Eldest Daughter" stumbled five to fifteen, "Ruin the Friendship" is ruined three spots to fourteen and "CANCELLED!" was the biggest faller of the lot down six to thirteen. 

Other than that K-Pop Demon Hunters also saw a six place loss to twenty eight for "How it's Done"

Drop outs

Two songs fell off this week with 'The Days (Notion Remix)" by Chrystal and Notion and the big drop out this week is "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams...honestly good riddance to both as I really do not like either song. 

New Entries

Two new entries this week, let's begin with...

49. "Let Alone the One You Love" by Olivia Dean

It really is beginning to feel like a slow album bomb with one or two songs from "The Art of Loving" debuting each week and honestly given the album is pretty good I am okay with that and yeah agaun, this one feels like pure warm neo soul that makes "Lose Control" look liike unbreakably stiff cardboard. this is such a warm, cosy neo soul song that Olvia Dean just sounds incredible over, it reminds me a lot of Etta James although Olvia's vocals aren't quite as strong as that. The content here though isn't as cosy and warm, its about an abusive relationship where he is trying to keep her small and under his thumb and she doesn't understand why he is treating somebody he is supposed to love like this and wants to end the relationship understandably. Altogether great song but if you are triggered by talk of an abusive power struggle situation than tread carefully.

47. "Eyes Closed" by Jisoo & Zayn

I was dreading this...Jisoo is the member of Blackpink whose solo work has impressed me the least and Zayn continues to be the guy most known for quitting One Direction and not doing anything all that remarkable musically since leaving said band so these two collaborating was something that didn't raise a lot of interest but we did get this as a result of their collaboration and wow...this song is not only musically underweight but the overprocessing on the vocals over some of the most sterile production I've heard on a song this year. This is just generic and really bland nothingness.

Worst of the week easily Best of the week goes to Olivia Dean (again) for "Let Alone the One You Love"

All 4 1994: October 16th. Love, Steam and Standing Strong Ain't Here Anymore

 Ahh,1994 continues to be a wild and fascinating year especially with the shifts in the top ten because we do have a new number one with "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men taking the top spot, this song has some insane momentum behind it, it crushed it's opposition on sales.

Former number one "Confide In Me" by Kylie Minogue slipped back to number two as it couldn't match Boyz II Men on sheer weight of numbers.

"Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey remained at number three while much to my annoyance "Always" by Bon Jovi climbed four spots to number four. this song has legs unfortunately so look for another ridiculously sappy song to get to number one. 

All-4 -One slipped one spot to number five with "I Swear", I am not sure why this song is sticking around so much...utterly sick of it at this point. Anyway, "Swamp Thing" by The Grid remains stuck at number six. 

Sliding two places to number seven is "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry. this song has peaked and now appears to be on the downswing so it should continue to fall gracefully. 

Silverchair's "Tomorrow" climbed one spot to number eight and "Chains" by Tina Arena climbed one to number nine in good news for Australian music. 

Finally wrapping up the top ten is "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet down three to number ten. 

Losers

The losers this week are songs pretty much on the downswing anyway with "Heaven 'n' Hell" by Salt 'n' Pepa down eleven to forty seven while "Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous.

"Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden sld further toward the back hole on the charts as it tumbled from twenty four to thirty one while "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain slipped seven to thirty and "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters fell from fifteen to twenty one.

Gains

"Come Out and Play" by The Offspring really is coming out to play on the chart as it tagged it's way up from twenty one to sixteen. 

Not happy that the pretty ordinary "Gimme" by Boom Crash Opera which climbed ten places to twenty two while "Voodoo People" by The Prodigy climbed from forty one to twenty nine. 

"Red Light Avenue" by James Reyne was green lighted to climb eight spots to thirty five while Roachford's "Lay Your Love on Me" climbed from forty two to thirty seven. 

Unfortunately "Ain't Nobody (Loves Me Better)" by K.W.S and Gwen Dickey rose six places to forty three. 

Re Entries

Just one return this week with Kulcha's "Don't Be Shy" back at forty nine. 

New Entries

Three new songs this week beginning with...

41. “Standing Strong” by Wendy Matthews

Starting with some new Wendy Matthews music is always a good start to the week's new entry reviews and yeah, this song is the lead single from the album "The Witness Tree" and yeah, this song is excellent, the gentle piano and guitar build up and Wendy's vocals are impressive here. The song's lyrics are somewhat interesting too, a promise made by one lover to another about lifting them up and putting them on more solid footing, tack on one hell of a hook and you have a great song. Check this out!

38. “Love Ain’t Here Anymore” by Take That

So I have become somewhat a defender of Take That, I still think "Pray" is a really damn good pop song and this one is also decent except it's not as upbeat here, it's a song about a couple realizing that there's just no love in the relationship anymore and communication is breaking down. It's got this really nice gentle swell and those vocal harmonies on the hook are a excellent touch. Nice song, definitely well worth a listen.

19. “Steam” by East 17

East 17's latest single winds up the week and honestly...I don't care for this much, sure the production has a bit of fite and spark to it but dear god why do the members of East 17 sound like THAT in the mix? Like come on when you have production that's selling attitude and you are giving it the "Oooh steam!"...it gets a bit deflating to listen to and the rapping isn't anything all that impressive. Yeah, I'll stick to Take That.

It's easily the worst of the week with best of the week going to "Standing Strong" by Wendy Matthews