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

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

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

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

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

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

Losers

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gains

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

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

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

New Entries

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

24. "Vasoline" by Stone Temple Pilots

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

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

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

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: 4th August

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

It flew past "Daisies" by Justin Bieber which slipped back to number two this week as it didn't quite have the strength on streaming to match "Golden". Alex Warren remained at number three with "Ordinary" as it now just doesn't have the strength to match the songs above, look for it to start falling away naturally.

That's good news for K-Pop Demon Hunters as "Your Idol" remained at number four but could go higher if "Ordinary" does falter while also from K-Pop Demon Hunters "Soda Pop" got a two place gain to number five.

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

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

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

Gains

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

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

Re-Entries

So this is mostly where the impact of the Triple J's Hottest 100 Australian songs was centred because we had a whopping SEVEN returns this week. 

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

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

Losers

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

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

Drop Outs.

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

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

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

New Entries

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

31. "The Nosebleed Section" by Hilltop Hoods

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

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

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

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

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: July 28th.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Losers

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

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

Re-Entries

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

Gains

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

Drop Outs

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

New Entries

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

10. "Eternity" by Alex Warren

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Losers

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

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

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

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

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

Gains

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

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

New Entries

Just the four new entries this week, starting with

48. "Snake Skin Shoes" by The Black Sorrows

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

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

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

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

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

44. "Longview" by Green Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Losers

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

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

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

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

Re-Entries

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

Gains

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

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

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

New Entries

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gains

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

Losers

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

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

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

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

Drop Outs

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

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

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

New Entries

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

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

19. "Yukon" by Justin Bieber

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

12. "Jump" by BLACKPINK

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

3. "Daisies" by Justin Bieber

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Losers

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

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

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

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

Gains

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

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

Re-Entries 

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

New Entries

Six new entries this week, beginning with...

47. "Love Is Strong" by The Rolling Stones

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

24. "Don't Be Shy" by Kulcha

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

14. "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden

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

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

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

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. July 14th. Did I Miss The Illegal Chain Takedown?

 So this week feels oddly normal in that we have a bunch of new entries and with a Justin Bieber album bomb on the way next week, things could finally be starting to get interesting, sadly it's not about getting interesting for the number one spot any time soon with "Ordinary" by Alex Warren remains at the top for yet another week and again, I don't see it changing with this song still incredibly dominant on both streaming and sales. 

Its safe for a bit at least given that "Golden"  by the Cast of Kpop Demon Hunters which climbed six places to number two thanks to massive gains on streaming and on sales, it pushed "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae back one to number three as this song has now peaked and is probably going to be one of the songs to take a direct hit from the Bieber album bomb.

Remaining at number four is "Victory Lap" by Fred Again,,,,feat. Skepta and Plaqueboy Max, it's streaming is solid if unremarkable at this point. 

Rebounding up one to number five is Sombr's "Back to Friends" which actually surpassed his other top ten hit "Undressed' which slipped back to number six.

One of the bigger losers this week is "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter which fell four spots to number seven while rising into the top ten is "Your Idol" by the Cast of Kpop Demon Hunters up four to number eight.

"No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe fell back two places to number while "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae fell back one spot to number ten.

Gains

Most of the big gains are from the Kpop Demon Hunters soundtrack so lets go through these quickly with "How It's Done" up ten to eleven, "Soda Pop" up fifteen to number twelve, "What It Sounds Like" up niue to sixteen and "Free" up thirteen to twenty.

Outside of that "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac rises eleven to nineteen and "Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan up eight to thirty

Losers

A good chunk of the chart lost this week but the biggest loser this week was "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez which slipped eleven to forty eight while the losses continued for "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran which tumbled ten places to forty nine. 

Former chart topper "Messy" by Lola Young fell seven places to twemty six while "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish also fell seven to twenty. 

Drop Outs

Delighted to see some pretty terrible songs drop out this week with "Gabriela" by Katseye and "Blue Strips" by Jessie Murph gone taking with them "Nokia" by Drake and "Sports Car" by Tate McRae. 

New Entries

Four new entries this week, starting with...

46. "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac

Oh god, we're starting off with a god damn classic, this song is from Fleetwood Mac's classic 1977 album "Rumours" and yeah, this song is a masterclass in song writing with the harmonies of the group and just how perfect and well put together this is to the point it sounds fresh when listening to it in 2025! 

Lyrically the song deals with the tension within a telationship thats falling apart with both sides realizing that if they can't love each other now than at this point the relationship is done and there is no coming back from it. I love how Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks build the tension too. Great song! If you haven't heard this song and it's parent album yet, I highly recommend you do so. 

43. "What Did I Miss" by Drake

So after dealing with a high like "The Chain", we're on the letdown in that we're getting ready for another Drake album in 2025 at some point with this song being the lead single and I have to say at furst glance, I actually don't mind that beat with that piano and trap skitter, it's got some menace however the problem with this song is Drake himself where he whines about unnamed friends in the music industry betraying him during the rap beef last year.

This song is just Drake chucking a pity party for himself on record and honestly out of sheer embarrassment for the guy, I am going to move on because yeah,..this is not a good sign fpr that album. 

42. "Illegal" by Pink Pantheress

Oh finally, Pink Pantheress is back on the charts, I've been worried that she has never really been able to follow up the success she had with "Boy's A Liar Part 2" but regardless she is here with a song from her most recent mix tape "Fancy That" and it's decent at best...I've never really been that much of a fan of Pink Pantheress's vocal delivery or the production she uses for her 2000s throw back breakbeat pop but this works for what it is even if I do think the production is a bit too busy and does at points feel like it;s swallowing her whole in the mix but I'll take this...I guess.

27. "Takedown" by Cast of Kpop Demon Hunters feat. members of TWICE

So another song from the Kpop Demon Hunters soundtrack that reportedly has members of the Kpop act Twice on it and yeah, their voices are better miced in order to try and sell what is an oddly slapdash trap/kpop song that also winds up being pretty grating to sit through all things considered so yeah I'm going to keep this short and skip it,

So I'm going to disqualify "The Chain" from best of the week mostly because it's an older song and will be gone in September when the chart rules change so I am going to give it "Classic of the week" which makes best of the week an even more frustrating task because there are no stand outs, I'll give it to "Illegal" by Pink Pantheress as it was the most tolerable song here.

Worst of the week goes to "What Did I Miss?" by Drake for being a slice of miserable whining that nobody asked for. 

All 4 1994: 10th July. Wild Night For My Sweet Shine

 So we have a reasonably interesting week at hand here, sure our top three didn't change but we do have some changes to our top ten and up and down the chart this week but speaking of our top ten, let's dive into that where for a second week "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet remains at number one, its just got nobody able to compete with it at the moment so therefore it holds the top spot comfortably.

The same goes for "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies except at number two and for "Stay" by Eternal at number three. 

East 17 climb one spot to number four with "Around the World", it pushed "Right in the Night" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka back to number five, both these songs are facing some stiff competition from "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Reel feat. The Mad Stuntman up eight to number six and looks to have all the momentum to rise higher in the weeks ahead.

"Lonely"  by Frente remains a lonely figure at number seven while "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by The Symbol slipped two to number eight. 

The next two songs in the top ten are joining it for the first time with "Shaka Jam" by Kulcha up three to number nine and "Ptay" by Take That also up three to number ten.

Losers

Not too mamy major losers this week although we did see "Satisfy the Groove" by Culture Shock take a seven place dip to forty one, I hardly know what to make of this song's chart run to be quite honest, it's a bit all over the shop.

"The Beauitful Experience (EP)" by The Symbol slipped six to thirty nine while Madonna's "I'll Remember" stumbled ten places to thirty. 

"Doop" by Doop slipped seven spots to twenty two while "I Berlieve" by Marcella Detroit slumped six to sixteen this week. 

Gains

Only two big gains outside the top ten this week with "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain getting a massive boost off it's debut of twenty seven up to fourteen this week, This looks headed for the top ten. 

Also likely bound for the top ten is "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters rising nine to fifteen.

New Entries

Three new entries this week. starting with...

49. "Sweets For My Sweet" by CJ Lewis

Your regularly scheduled cover version of the week comes from British reggae singer CJ Lewis who decided to a reggae version of The Drifters 1961 hit "Sweets for My Sweet" and it pretty much sounds as you would expect...like if Glee was a thing in 1994...like come on, what the hell is this cloying disaster of a cover? Apart from the fact Lewis sounds like he is mumbling his way through his verses and the chorus sounds like the cast of Young Talent Time pitched up. Yeah no, let's move on fast. 

47. "Wild Night" by John Mellencamp feat. Me'Shell N'degeocello

Well we can only go up from here...you may not know that I do actually like a lot of John Mellencamp's music, "Jack & Diane" is a staple song for me so I was kind of curious to check out a cover of a Van Morrison 1971 song in which he brought on board American singer/songwriter Me'Shell N'degeocello for a collab and it turns out what we got is pretty good! It's funky, Mellencamp and N'degeocello have a tonne of vocal chemistry and the song really does benefit from the guitars playing off each other...I enjoyed this quite a bit...check it out!

38. "Shine" by Collective Soul

Ending this week with a song from an American alternative band called Collective Soul and in a year where grunge has pretty well dominated the rock and alternative scenes, this is actually a really bright, kind of sweet song where Collective Soul are asking for heaven to shine a light down just to find love or something tangible. The song is a bit of a prayer, regardless with the repetitive riffs that definitely work to this song's advantage, I can see this becoming a hit. 

However it's not the best of the week that's going to "Wild Night" by John Mellencamp and Me'Shell N'degeocello. 

Worst is easy with that going to "Sweets for My Sweet" by CJ Lewis. Seriously we can do better than this. 

ARIA Singles top 50 Chart Review: 7th July

 So much like in 2022 when the movie Encanto ruled on slow and stagnant charts, similar is happening in 2025, the charts are slow and stagnant hence we've got a Netflix K-Pop series music breaking onto the charts and it does affect the top ten so let's dive in where for a fifteenth week "Ordinary" by Alex Warren remains at number one and again, it's dominant on sales and streaming, it doesn't look like it's going to be knocked off any time soon.

The big surprise was the two place move up for "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae to number two, mostly becvause it's streaming has lagged a bit so to see this move up was something of a surprise.

Then again "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter doesn't look to be strong overall as it slipped back one to number three, yeah, I don't see this song sticking around. Also down one to number four is "Victory Lap" by Fred Again..., Skepta and Plaqueboy Max as streaming is consistent but not challenging those above it just yet, 

"Undressed" by Sombr remained steady at number five while his other hit "Back to Friends" also remained where it is at number six. 

"No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe climbed two places to number seven thanks to streaming. 

Now we get to the new entry at number eight from the cast of kpop Demon Hunters called "Golden", I'll talk about this song's quality in more detail later but this song is steady on streaming right now and could make a play for the top five in the weeks ahead.

Rebounding into the top ten up seven is "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae at niumber nine but I think it's because the F1 movie soundtrack was finally released. 

Still clinging to the top ten down two is "Beautiful Tungs" by Benson Boone...the sooner this song goes away the better. 

Gains

So because of all the new entries this week there were no gains apart from the already aforementioned seven place gain for "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae in the top ten, 

Losers

So we have a bunch of double digit losers and I am not complaining about most of these, I mean "Good Luck Babe!" by Chappell Roan has had a great run but it is about time for it to go as it tumbled twelve to forty eight. 

I am delighted that  "Blue Strips" by Jessie Murph stumbled sixteen places to forty seven and "Nokia" by Drake down fourteen to forty six (new Drake song will probably chart next week unfortunately).

Maybe the one I am a little sad about is "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran which slipped thirteen to thirty nine. 

"Sports Car" by Tate McRae fell eight to forty nine, "Espresso"  by Sabrina Carpenter tumbled eight to thirty five and "Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars also slumped eight to twenty.

New Entries

We do have six new entries but we do have somewhat of an album bomb so here's the Kpop Demon Hunters songs that qualify for neither best nor worst of the week..."Free" at 33, "Soda Pop" at twenty seven, "What It Sounds Like" at twernty five and "How It's Done" at twenry one.

So let's get this show on the road with...

44. "Gabriela" by Katseye

So all three of our new entries are some form of K-Pop with Katseye being a much talked about all female group from South Korea. Tbankfully we avoided the pretty atrocious "Gnarly" with the group reverting to bland latin infused pop/r'n'b with trap touches that sounds about as flavourful and energetic as dry stale cornflakes and the consistency of mush which is weird cobnsidering the cobtent basically runs the same throughline as that of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" except the lack of intensity or anger Dolly was able to impart on "Jolene when she was warning this other woman to stay away where as Katseye tell "Gabriela" to stay away with all the intensity and anger of a baby farting. Not a good song. 

12. " Your Idol" by Cast of Kpop Demon Hunters.

I don't have Netflix so I am going in blind with these songs from "K-Pop Demon Hunters and I kind of dig this? There's something of a boy band vibe that reminds me a lot of BTS with the harmonies and rap verse plus I like how it's got a bit of dramatic swell to pay off the whole Idol thing. I think it works for what's trying to do, I'll take it. Good song. 

8. "Golden" by Cast of Kpop Demon Hunters

Biggest debut of the week and it's one that I am only luke warm on at best, sure, it's got some nice bass behind it however the vocals on this song leave a lot to be desired, it feels like they being smothered in the mix which is either too loud or the vocals have put closer to the back which is an asinine thing to do. Either way, I am hoping that this song doesn't stick around. 

That ends our week and the best and worst fall out easily. K-Pop Demon Hunters Cast get best of thr week for "Your Idol", the worst is going to "Gabriela" by Katseye because that song is just full of nothing worth anything. 

All 4 1994: 3rd July Baby, I Love Your Son of A Real Thing..What A Feeling

 Sigh...yeah...let's get on with this, starting with the top ten where we do have a new number one that being "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet and yeah, its at the top thanks to sales to whom I'd have to assume are people planning weddings and want this song to be the music for their wedding...yikes.

It did push "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies back to number two as it just couldn't compete with "Love Is All Around" and is facing some real competition from "Stay" by Eternal up two spots to number three, it's got some decent momentum right now which probably helped it move past "Right in the Night" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka which slipped ne to number four.

"All Around the World" by East 17 climbed one spot to number five which was mostly on the weakness of "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World' by The Symbol down two to number six.

"Lonely" by Frente! climbed two spots to number seven while "I'll Stand by You" by The Pretenders reamains standing stuck at number eight.

"U R The Best Thing" by D:Ream climbed from thirteen to number nine to give D:Ream another hit for 1994. 

Finally joining the top ten this week is "I Believe" by Marcella Detroit which climbed two places to number ten.

Losers

Pearl Jam's "Animals" tumbled eleven to fifty this week while former chsrt topper "The Power of Love" by Celine Dion fell ten to fotty seven. ile 

Also down ten is "Light My Fure" by Club House feat. Carl to thirty nine while "Is It Love?" by Twenty 4 Seven feat. Stay-C and Nance slid nine spots to thirty six. 

"The Beautiful Experience (EP)" by The Symbol crashed twelve to thirty three and "Breathe Again" by Toni Braxton slipped eleven to twenty nine.

Finally down nine this week is former number one "The Sign" by Ace of Base to sixteen.

Gains

So up sixteen spots to twenty four off it's debut is "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters. This has all the makings of becoming a hit so we'll have to see. 

Also up solidly is "You Gotta Be" by Des'ree which bounced up from thirty two to twenty five.

Sadly not all the gains were good this week with "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Reel feat. The Mad Stuntman up ten to fourteen

New Entries

Six new entries this week beginning with...

49. "Flashdance...What a Feeling" by Bjorn Again

ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again have turned to covering Irene Cara's massively successful 1983 hit "Flashdance..What A Feeling" and I have to be honest, there's just something magic about the original that Bjorn Again even with the somewhat trying to imagine ABBA covering the song just don't quite get, the ladies atre more nasal than needed. Yeah, I'lll stick to the Irene Cara original.

48. "Alone Like Me" by The Sharp

Our weekly Australian rock entry comes from Melbourne band The Sharp and honestly I kind of like this? Sure that scream of "OOOOHHH" on the hook could have been left out and the lead vocals a bit louder in the mix but song reminds me a lot of if Midnight Oil and R.E.M collaborated. This isn't too bad...I'll take this. 

46. "Son Of A Gun" by JX

The debut single of British DJ Jake Williams otherwise known as JX with this song featuring a sample of 1976 song "Touch and Go" by Ecstasy, Passion & Pain feat Barbara Roy and you know what? This song isn't as bad as some of the other dance cuts that have charted. For once the sample is used effectively and the vocals are clear and crisp. I like this a lot, check it out. 

44. "The Real Thing" by 2 Unlimited

Okay, another song with 2 Unlimited and I'll be fair here, this one is better than their previous efforts. The rap verses are pretty generic dancefloor hype up but after all that's really what this song is aiming to do and the harmonies on the hook are nice. I'll take this as I've heard much worse from this group previously. 

43. "Ease My Mind" by Arrested Development

So this is the new single from Arrested Development's new album called "Zingalamaduni" and I don't  know...I think the song is fine but given what this group have released previously, I kind of expected a little better, its still distinctly Arrested Development but that hook is more repetitive than I would like it to be. This song just doesn't do it for me. Sorry. 

27. "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain

Sigh, another cover of Peter Frampton's 1975 classic song as if we didn't already have enough of that god awful cover of the song in 1989 from Will to Power and now American reggae/pop act Big Mountain are giving it a go for the soundtrack of the movie "Reality Bites" and look, this is merely decent as at least this version looks to have a bit of a groove thanks to the drums and percussion, the harmonies on the hook, not terrible for a change I guess.

Which leaves me in quandry as there are no real contenders for worst of the week here, I guess I'll go with Bjorn Again's cover of "Flashdance...What A Feeling" because that just felt off. 

Best of the week though...I'm giving that to JX for "Son of a Gun. 

 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review. 30th June.

 Really, what's even the point anymore? The chaerts have become so boring and stagnant, its hardly worth caring but oh well, let's dive straight in where "Ordinary" by Alex Warren spends a fourteenth week at number one and again I don't see wherre the challenge is coming from as this song is still incredibly strong on both streaming and sales. 

I am not sure it's coming from "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter which holds steady at number two but it's actually losing streaming and sales aren't as strong as it should be, this might open the way for a new entry at number three "Victory Lap" by Fred Again..., Skepta and PlaqueBoy Max, more on this song later but it got some incredible streaming but doesn't have much else to go with it. 

Remaining stalled at number four is "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae, mostly because it's not much in the way of sales but is holding up nicely on streaming. 

Dropping two places is "Undressed" by Sombr at number five, streaming just falling away for this song. Same goes for "Back to Friends" by Sombr down one to number six. 

Also down one just to number seven is "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan while "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone continues to be that stinky bum in the top ten but down one to number eight, 

Rising eleven places to number nine is "No Broke Boys" by Disco-Lines and Tinashe because this song got streaming on board...yay...not.,

Finally down two to number ten is "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish. 

Gains

So outside the big boost for "No Broke Boys" into th withe top ten, there were some other scattered gains up and down the chart and honestly we need an intervention if "Rock That Body" by The Black Eyed Peas got a twenty three place boost to twenty four (it'll be gone in September when those new chart rules come into play).

"Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone unfortunately up eight to twenty two but I'll pin that to the album release.

Losers

It was a rough week for Tate McRae songs with "Sports Car" down seven to forty one and her song with Morgan Wallen "What I Want" down nine to twenty five. 

While "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll unfortunately down ten to thirty four while in some good news "Blue Strips" by Jessie Murph slipped eight to thirty one...thank god.

Drop Outs.

Two songs dropped out this week with "WildFlower" by Billie Eilish and "Shake It To the Max" by MOLIY, Skillbeng and Shenseea both taking their exits this week.bo

New Entries

Two new entries this week, beginning with...

43. "Nice to Each Other" by Olivia Dean

So the ARIA Chart breakthrough of English neo soul singer Olivia Dean and boy, do I wish there was more to this half baked song that really goes skin deep relationship melodrama. There is something incredibly toxic about this song in a way that makes me want to throw something out a window screaming irrationally. Gross. 

3. "Victory Lap" by Fred again..., Skepta and Plaqueboy Max

Well this might be Fred Agsin's catchiest beat in awhile because this goes hard and both Skepta and Plaqueboy Max ride this beat incredibly well. It reminds me of a lot of those club dance big beat bangers in the 90s except this one is tighter and goes off harder. Good song. Check this one out.

Yeah best of the week to "Victory Lap". Worst of the week is obviously "Nice to Each other"

All 4 1994 26th June 100% Pure DJ Only With You, Love.

A slow week with a small amount of new entries, let's dive straight into this, shall we? "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies spent yet another week at number one but it's a weak number one and it'll face a challenge to hold on in the face of opposition from "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet which rose five places to number two and looks set to hit number one soon which means more sloppy mush at number one..yay.

It did have the affect of pushing "Right in the Night" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka back to number three, "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by The Symbol to number four, "Stay" by Eternal to number five, "Ariound the World" by East 17 to number six and "The Sign" by Ace of Base back to number seven.

The Pretenders with "Stand by You" buck that trend as they climb one to number eight likewise Frente! with "Lonely" up one to number nine, 

Finally a bit of a surprise at number ten with "More Wine Waiter Please" into the top ten having gained two spots to hit number ten. 

Losers

After an incredibly impressive run, "Dum Da Dum" by Melodie MC is on the way out down ten to fifty. likewise for "Mr Jones" by Counting Crows down six to forty nine.

"Return to Innocence" by Enigma got smacked down seventeen spots to fotty seven while "Without You" by Mariah Carey slumped ten spots to forty three.

Former number one "The Power of Love" by Celine Dion continues to fall, this week its down nine to thirty seven. A fall of nine occured for "Feel Like Making Love" by Pauline Henry, it's now at thirty six.

Gains

The gains are a mixed bunch this week especially as I am not thrilled that the biggest gain of the week belonged to "The Winner Is..." by Southend with Nik Fish up off it's debut at forty two to twenty eight somehow...folks there are better ways to relive the announcement Sydney is hosting the 2000 Olympics, come on!. 

Also "Light My Fire" by Clubhouse feat. Carl up from thirty six to twenty nine is somewhat questionable...sigh. However I am not going to complain that "Anytime You Need A Friend" by Mariah Carey is up eight spots to thirty this week...nice to see. 

Also pretty happy with "You Gotta Be" by Des'ree up from thirty two to thirty nine and "Laid" by James up nine to forty one.

New Entries

Three new entries this week starting with...

48. "Only to Be With You" by Roachford

We start off this week with an English band fronted by a guy named Andrew Roachford and yeah, this is a pretty sharp pop/rock song purpose fit for the radio with the content about how this guy lived his single life fast and free but is now craving something more with another person in his life because they make him want to stay unlike no else has made him want to do. Cool song, definitely check it out. 

44. "Hey! D.J" by Lighter Shade of Brown

Time to talk about an American hip hop duo that had a big hit in the US in 1990 with "On A Sunday Afternoon" a cover of a 1984 song by The World's Most Famous Supreme Team and well, I am definitely not a huge fan of those oddly chipmunked samples that gets pretty dang annoying which is a shame because I do like the beat and groove underneath it especially that drum groove tbat gives the song a great start, it sounds so good if those god damned chipmunked vocals disappeared!

40. "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters

Ending off with this interesting song from American singer/songwriter Crystal Waters and I say it's interesting in that it seems to combine elements of a lot of the trends we've seen in terms of big electronic beats, r'n'b and some pop touches which makes this song something of an infectious powerhouse because yeah even though I am not wild about the more nasal vocal delivery from Waters herself, she does sell this song about going all the way for a partner in a show of being committed to this relationship she is in and it's certainly catchy enough...yeah I dig it. Check it out.

You know what, it's getting best of thr week. 

The worst goes to "Hey! DJ" by Lighter Shade of Brown, just one element threw me out of that song

ARIA Singles Top 50 Review 23rd June

 No preamble this week mostly because there's just not a lot to say. "Ordinary" by Alex Warren spends a fourteenth week at number one thanks to it's ridiculous lead on sales and streaming, nothing is stopping this song right now.

That includes "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter which just isn't doing enough to cut into the margins that "Ordinary" has but enough to keep it ahead of it's opposition so it remained at number two.

"Undressed" by Sombr holds steady at number three while "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae rebounded one to number four, it pushed "Back to Friends" by Sombr back to number five. 

"Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan rebounded one spot to number six, it at least stayed ahead of the interminal "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone which climbed one spot to number seven.

Also on the rebound is "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish up one to number eight while frustratingkly "Lose Control" by Teddy Swims got a streaming boost to move back into the top ten up three to number nine. 

Finally "Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars clings to number ten. 

Gains.

So the major gain this week came for "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran (feat. Arjit Singh) up twenty to twenty one. 

"Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone unfortunately up four to thirty and will probably get another big gain given the album drop last week.

Re-Entries

So I am not particularly thrilled about the two returns this week...points to "Mutt" by Leon Thomas back at forty five. However, what the fuck is the absolutely godawful "Rock That Body" by The Black Eyed Peas doing back at forty seven? Do better, Australia?

Losers

The only big loser of any consequence is Addison Rae's "Fame is a Gun" down thirteen to forty nine. 

I guess I should also mention "Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan is down twelve spots to thirty nine and "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac down thirteen places to thirty three

Drop Outs

:Three drop outs and the only one of the three I am sad to see gone is "One Thing" by Lola Young...that song is great and deserved better, The other two are "Revolving Door" by Tate McRae and "Anxiety" by Doechii

New Entries

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

20. "No Broke Boys:" by Disco Lines feat Tinashe.

Oh it's nice to have Tinashe on the charts. I just wish it wasn't like this though as this really isn't showing off Tinashe at her best, this song is pulled from her 2024 album "Quantum Baby" and given this oddly weird disco beat that doesn't at all match the energy that the song is shooting for especially when Tinashe declares that this guy is just another groupie of hers which is just ew and that she's got standards now and she doesn't give a fuck about how these guys feel.

Yeah not a good song that's just toxic from start to finish. 

All 4 1994. June 19th You Gotta Be Four Letter Word Friend and Winner

 Alright so no preamble this week, I have things I need to be doing, let's just dive right in and begin with our top ten where for second week we have Crash Test Dummies at number one for a second week with "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" and it's got a solid margin right now.

Granted, I don't think the threat is going to come from "Right in the Night" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka which climbed to number two purely on weaknesses for "The Most Beautiful Girl In the World' by The Symbol which fell back to number three.

Moving up one is Eternal's "Stay" to number four, it looks locked and loaded for a good run in the top five while "Around the World" by East 17 climbed two places to number five. 

"The Sign" by Ace of Base is showing signs of moving gracefully down as it dropped two spots to number six. 

What blew my mind though is the big gain for the incredibly saccharine "Love is all Around" by Wet Wet Wet up from it's debut of twenty three to number seven. What the hell?

At least it did help to push "Doop" by Doop down two number eight while The Pretenders got a nice two place boost into the top ten at number nine with "I'll Stand by You"

Also into the top ten this week is "Lonely" by Frente! which climbed five places to number ten. 

Losers

Unfortunately "Laid" by James slumped seven to fifty while "Streets of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen suffered an eight place fall to forty seven.

Chocolate Starfish are coming down the other side down nine to forty four while "Mr Jones" by Counting Crows slid from twenty nine to forty three. 

The downward progression for Melodie MC continues with "Dum Da Dum" down seven to number forty

"Without You" by Mariah Carey slumped hard from sixteen last week to thirty three this week. Don't stress though, there's more Mariah in our new entries. 

"Helping Hand" by The Screaming Jets needs a steadying hand down seven to thirty one. "Return to Innocence" by Enigma fell nine to thirty

Looks like the decent run for "Is It Love" by Twenty-4-Seven feat. Stay-C and Nance is over as it stumbled from twenty two to twenty nine while former number one "The Power of Love" by Celine Dion fell eleven to twenty eight. 

"Feel Like Making Love" by Pauline Henry slipped seven to twenty seven. 

Gains

A number of big gains this week with "Pray" by Take That riding a nineteen place boost to fifteen. 3 the Hard Way continue to climb with "Hip Hop Holiday" climbing from twenty six to nineteen this week.

"Shaka Jam" by Kulcha continues gaining as it jumped from thirty seven to twenty one for some inexplicable reason, the same goes for "Whoomp (There It  Is)" by Tag Team up five to twenty two. 

Annoyingly "I LIke to Move It" by Reel 2 Real feat. The Mad Stuntmen got a huge boost off of it's debut as it jumped from thirty eight to twenty three. Also climbing hard off of it's debut is "Girls and Boys" by Blur up from forty to twenty five. 

"I Wanna Dance" by Melodie MC rocketed up eight places to twenty four while "Light My Fire" by Club House feat. Carl climbed from fotty four to thirty six and "Satisfy the Groove" by Culture Shock continues to yo yo as it rebounded from forty six to thirty seven. 

Re-Entries

Just one return with Pearl Jam's "Daughter" back at 41

New Entries

Four new entries this week, beginning with...

48. "Anytime You Need A Friend" by Mariah Carey

Well, it could only be better than that overwrought cover of "Without You"...right? Well yeah this is better because this feels a bit less and this comes across as a more genuine song with gospel backing and Mariah offering her hand of friendship any time someone needs it. It's a nice ballad and likely will connect with a lot of people. 

45. "4-Letter Word" by Chocolate Starfish

Given "Mountain" was a surprising medium sized hit, Chocolate Starfish are back with their new single and this one just doesn't quite hit with the some intensity as "Mountain" does, the chorus doesn't quite explode after the more whispered verses that sound pretty good. I don't know...bit disappointed by this one. 

42. "The Winner Is..." by Southend with Nik Fish

Oh god so Southend are a band that have remixed TV coverage of the 1993 2000 Olympics and bits and pieces of IOC speech announcing "Sydenee" as the winner over annoying dance music with the feral sound of somebody laughing..it's actually one of the worst pieces of music I have heard in some time. Straight audio torture.

39. "You Gotta Be" by Des'ree

So we're rounding off this week with an empowerment song from British pop and soul singer Des'ree and look, I don't mind this, Des'ree's voice is calm, warm and definitely inviting and reminding the person that love will save the day but in the mean time stay cool, calm, together and strong. the music does hold up with gentle piano and drums. Nice song!

You know what? "You Gotta Be" by Des'ree just nudges out Mariah for best of the week. 

Worst of the week falls out easily with that going to "The Winner Is..." by Southend feat. Nick Fish because that shit was just audio torture

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review. 16th June

 At this point I am not even surprised but considering we did get four new entries that look decently interesting to talk about let's dive into the top ten where for a twelfth week "Ordinary" by Alex Warren reigns supreme at number one, its still got streaming and sales, it's still incredibly comfortable. 

It well and truly survived the debut of "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter at number two, now it's doing fine on streaming but remains behind on sales, it'll need to pick up if it's going to challenge for number one.

"Manchild" did have the impact of pushing back most of the rest of the top ten with "Undressed" back to number thtee and "Back to Friends" back at number four both for Sombr.

"Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae fell back one to number five with the same happening for the continually underwhelming "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae at number six. "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan slipped back to number seven.

Unfortunately bucking the trend of songs losing ground this week is "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone at number eight, 

"Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish slipped two spots to number nine as streaming looks to be finally done with this song. 

Down one to number is "Die With a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars.

Gains

"Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan climbed seven spaces to rebound to twenty seven while his song with Kacey Musgraves "I Remember Everything" got a six spot rebound to thirty eight. "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone got a six place boost to thirty four...now that's neither mystical or magical...that's just fucking shit, this song is complete ass. 

Losersther

So let's run through a few of these losers because rhere are a few of them with "Wildflower" by Billie Eilish down nine to forty eight. "Revolving Door" by Tate McRae devolved nine spots to forty six. 

"Stargazing" by Myles Smith turned to navel gazing down eight to thirty seven.

"Sports Car" by Tate McRae is in reverse down seven to thirty two. Finally, "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll went cold down ten to twenty two. 

Drop Outs

Absolutely fine with what dropped out this week with "Pink Skies" by Zach Bryan, "Timeless" by The Weeknd feat. Playboi Carti, "cliche" by MGK and finally "Mutt" by Leon Thomas all gone..am betting some of these will return though. 

New Entries

Four new entries this week, beginning with...

43. "One Thing" by Lola Young

About damn time this song hit the charts! Been surprised how long its taken considering how big "Messy" was so I am quite excited to be able to write about this one especially as I think the song is pretty good! It's a song where Lola is horny and she wants to do all this stuff with her partner and she'll give him that one thing he or she wants from her and the production plays into that whole sexual vibe. I like it, it may not be as instant as "Messy' was but this is still worth your time.

41. "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran

So "Azizam" was alright, "Old Phone" is a decent song that didn't chart for whatever reason and now we have "Sapphire" and it's catchy helped by the prominence of Indian music and the uncredited appearance by Indian star Arjit Singh. All up, it does remind me a lot of "Azizam" especially in terms of both songs really lacking in content or substance to really cling on to, that's all

36. "Fame is a Gun" by Addison Rae.

Look, Addison Rae is an act that leaves me with not a lot to say about her music, she's one of those acts who leans a lot on her influences without doing anything to make herself a distinct presence within pop music and this song is no different...it reminds me a lot of Charli XCX rather than Sheila E's "The Glamourous Life" of which this was supposed to be an interpolation of except with Addison Rae's breathy cooing which honestly does nothing for me especially when the lyrics are mixed barrel of confusing messages, she's getting love from a guy who isn't her type? What? Ugh...at least it's not as bad as...

2. "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter.

Brand new single from Sabrina Carpenter for her upcoming new album rather cringely titled "Man's Best Friend" and unfortunately I really do not like this song at all, it's too breezy, cutesy and cheery to be anything other than a sickeningly sugar pop song with some forced country touches thanks to the weird half assed twang Jack Antonoff slides in. Manchildren are some of the most annoying and exhausting people to deal with, they are just utterly tiresome yet there's no tired frustration or sad exhaustion that the relationship fell apart, it's just Sabrina playing it off with all the sadness of a Full House episode where Michelle Tanner gets her sisters DJ and Stephanie in trouble because Danny thinks Michelle is too little to make trouble...ugh.

Yeah..."Manchild" is the worst of the week. Best of the week also falls out easy...that's going to "One Thing" by Lola Young.

All 4 1994: June 12th Love Laid Around the World, Girls and Boys so Light the Fire

 Ugh. This is one of those sorts of weeks where things feel wrong in the kind of way that leaves a sick feeling in the pit of my stomache and some of that is in our top ten because we do have a brand new number one, that being "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies and look, it's number one because it's got strength in sales, it was easily able to move past "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by The Synbol down to number two and "Right In the Night" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka down to number three.

Former number one "The Sign" by Ace of Base remained at number four while "Stay" by Eternal continues its rise up the charts up four to number five which is some good news I guess, it did push past "Doop" by Doop which slipped down to number six.

East 17 have our new entry in the top ten this week with "Around the World" at number seven. I'll talk more about the quality of this song later.

Metallica's live version of "One" slipped two spots to number eight while "I'll Remember" by Madonna slumped one to number nine and former number two hit "Breathe Again" by Toni Braxton fell three to  number ten. 

Losers

 After a run in the top ten "Whatta Man" by Salt 'N' Pepa feat. En Vogue is on it's way out of the top 50 altogether down seven to fifty.

"I Can See Clearly Now" by Jimmy Cliff is also on the precipice of a chart exit down nine to forty nine. 

Sliding eight to forty six is Cullture Shock's "Satisfy the Groove" while Roxette is doing some sleeping on the chart because "Sleeping In  My Car" is down twelve to foty two.

As I said we'll talk about East 17 again later in the new entries but their former number one "It's Alright" is down from thirty four to forty one this week. 

Chocolate Starfish are on the decline with "Mountain' on the tumble from twenty two thirty five. Prayer doesn't seem to be working for Take That as "Pray" stumbled from it's debut of twenty eight to thirty four.

"Dum Da Dum" by Melodie DC is on the down da down as it collapsed from seventeen to thirty three while Zhane's "Groove Thang" fell seven spots to twenty eight.

Wrapping up our losers is former number one hit "The Power of Love" by Celine Dion down six to seventeen and former top ten hit "Without You" by Mariah Carey down six to sixteen.

Gains

We've got a few gains this week with the biggest coming for The Poor with "More Wine Waiter Please" up ten to thirteen. Am surprised this song is catching on!.

D:Ream broke into the top twenty again with "U R The Best Thing" climbing from twenty six to nineteen. 

I'm pleased that "Hip Hop Holiday" by 3 The Hard Way is up nicely from thirty one to twenty six but not thrilled it took "Whoomp (There It is)" by Tag Team up from thirty three to twenty seven...bitch please.

Also what's the go with Electric Hippies getting a six place gain to thirty with "Greedy People"? Come on now. Kulcha's "Shaka Jam" climbed to thirty seven from forty one.

Re Entries

One re entry before the new songs with "It's My Life" by Dr Alban back at forty eight...why?

New Entries

44. "Light My Fire" by Club House feat. Carl

So when I saw the name of this song, I got terrified, I thought it was going to be a cover of The Doors classic song (a song I don't care for) but as it turns out we got an electronic house song from Italian group Club House who brought Italian American singer Carl on board for this song and...I don't really think it's per se bad but there's just not a lot to it with the lyrics adding up to two sentences "Baby, come light my fire" and "burn baby burn" over this decently mixed groove. It's definitely not terrible but more for the clubs than anything else. 

43. "Laid" by James

So James, a British rock band hailing from Manchester, debut in the top half of the charts and I got to be honest I was a bit leery of this song but as it turns out..."Laid" just might be one of the best rock songs of 1994 so far and yes that does include "Mountain" by Chocolate Starfish...that's how good I think it is!. I love the vocals that tell the story of a loud couple having sex but she can only cum when she is on top and from there it's violence and him realizing she's so dominant that he can't live without her and wnats her to comeback home. The instrumentation just gives this song an added power with the gentle swell that always supports the vocals but never overpowering them. Great song!

40. "Girls and Boys" by Blur

Looks like this week is the week of British rock music becaiuse we have another rock band out of Britain here, this time Blur and I have to be honest I am not as bigger fan of all the electronic touches around this song and that chorus is just fucking annoying at the end of the day, it's just disconnected chanting. Yeesh...skip it.

23. "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet

Okay so the pop act responsible from some pretty intensely gooey music in the late eighties is back (Don't deny, you remember the cringe fest that was "Sweet Surrender" back in 1989) and given the title I had my expectations really low (keeping in mind it's cover of a The Troggs 1967 song) and yeah, those low expectations were thoroughly met!. Folks, if you like music that is more mushy than that cereal covered in milk in the morning and possibly even more mushy and unflattering than Bryan Adam's number one hit "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" than you have found your ideal song and probably a song that will get overused as brides nervously walk down the aisle silently hoping they don't trip over the hem over their overlong wedding dresses (the song was recorded for the "4 Friends and a Wedding movie)

The most i can be nice about this song is at least it has some nice instrumention and swell that makes the song feel bigger than the slog it really is. The lyrics make the song incredibly unrealistic, it's written on the wind? Really? Didn't know we could now send messages of sexual harassment via a gentle breeze! 

Anyway. I cannot stand this song, it's too gooey and cutesy for it's own damn good. 

7. "Around the World" by East 17

And we end the week on a British note because we have the new song from East 17 and to their credit, this song is gentler and not as migraine inducing as "It's Alright". I still don't think the rapping is anything to write home about and I do wish that the vocals were a bit louder in the mix but overall there's something nice about this ballad that relies more on harmonies, piano and percussion to get the song across. Could be better but could be a lot worse.

That was our week and honestly, "Laid" by James just runs away with the best of the week. Close go for the worst of the week but I think considering how annoying the hook is on "Boys and Girls" by Blur...it gets it ahead of "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet which really is just mush with the consistency of diarrhoea.

ARIA Singles top 50 Chart Review: 9th June

 Look, I know change is finally on the horizon but my god even if I have mixed opinions on the new Sabrina Carpenter song, the arrival of "Manchild" will be very welcome next week even though we do have a new entry to our top ten this week so let's get to the top ten where for an eleventh week "Ordinary" by Alex Warren remains at number one and honestly, it just looks a comfortable number one right now, the numbers indicate it will keep number one when "Manchild" debuts on the chart on Friday. 

The open question is of how "Manchild" will affect Sombr's "Undressed" at number two and "Back to Friends" at number three for another week. All indications are there could be some swings and roundabouts there.

"Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae remains stranded at number four and I am getting the feeling that this song has peaked but it did hold up over the new entry from Tate McRae at number five called "Just Keep Watching", more thoughts on this song later but I wouldn't be surprised if this is settling in for a decent run in the top ten. 

It pushed "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan down one to number six as it's streaming looks to have peaked at least on Spotify.  "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish also got pushed down one to number seven. 

Sadly "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone did rebound one to number eight because we still cannot get rid of this song. geezus, I am sick of Benson Boone and especially this song.

"Die with a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars slumped two places to number nine while Bruno's song with Rose "APT" remained at number ten. 

Gains

Biggest gain of the week belongs to "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac which climbed thirteen places to twenty two while "Revolving Door" by Tate McRae jumped six to thirty seven and "Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan got a seven place gain to thirty four. 

Re Entries

Look, I was hoping to be done with "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone and its stanky ass but of course, it's back at number forty.

At least in better news, we got "Azizam" by Ed Sheeran back at forty seven.

Losers

Not too many big losers this week with the biggest being "Party 4 U" by Charli XCX down six places to thirty one. 

Drop Outs.

Four songs dropped out this week with the biggest of those being "Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar. 

The other three songs gone are "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma" by Luke Combs,  "I Love You, I'm Sorry" by Gracie Abrams and "I'm the Problem" by Morgan Wallen. 

New Entries

Two new entries this week beginning with...

50. "Shake It to the Max (Fly) (Remix)" by Moliy, Silent Addy, Skillbeng and Shenseea

Yeah, this one is messy and it's probably about as messy as the song  if I am quite honest. Sure. there is a nice afrobeat sound to this but I just find this song way too busy in the production that it makes it hard to come back too but I guess it's at least memorable to some degree, 

5. "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae.

So the first of the songs released from the F1 movie soundtrack and like all the songs I've heard from this soundtrack, this fails to match the energy, thrill and excitement that comes with Formula One and motor racing and it's the case with this song, it's bland and Tate McRae does her best with her limited vocal range but dear god, it's mediocre altogether and that might be a problem

I'm not giving out best nor worst this week as I'd struggle to call either song good or bad...just mediocre

All 4 1994. 5th June Pray and Disarm Beautiful Lonely Dance Experience

 Look, I am definitely not thrilled about some shifts in the top ten this week. Geezus christ, Australia, what the fuck? Anyway, enough preamble, let's dive into the top ten before we get to the rest of the chart so you can see what I am grumbling about. I am not unhappy that "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by The Symbol aka Prince remains at number one but one wonders for how much longer.

Especially as we do have "Right in the Night" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka jumped one spot to number two and here's where my complaints begin because up four places to number three is "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies...like come on...there's so much better in the top 50 this week that deserve this slot

Worst part is it pushed former chart topper "The Sign" by Ace of Base down two spots to number four. 

Even more depressingly "Doop" by Doop continues it's run up one to number five. it did move ahead of the live version of Metallica's "One" which slipped to number six. 

Toni Braxton's "Breathe Again" looks to be on the way out of the top ten down three to number seven while "I'll Remember" by Madonna remains rooted to the number eight space.

In better news, Eternal's "Stay" has arrived in the top ten up two to number nine, it actually pushed "Without You" by Mariah Carey down one to number ten.

Losers

Speaking of losers, "Loser" by Beck sits on the cusp of leaving the top fifty down fourteen to fifty. "Animal" by Pearl Jam skidded twelve spots to forty five while "I'm Ready" by Tevivn Campbell also got hit with a twelve place fall to forty four.

Salt 'n' Pepa's "Whatta Man" feat. En Vogue slumped twelve spots to forty three whiile Jimmy Cliff's "I Can See Clearly  Now" slid eleven to forty 

Former number one "It's Alright" by East 17 slumped from twenty seven to thirty four while "Twist and Shout" by Chaka Demus & Pliers featuring Jack Radics and Taxi Gang got kicked down eight to thirty two (I like to this its because the song blows)

"Streets of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen slumped from sixteen to twenty seven.

Gains

"Satisfy The Groove" by Culture Shock rebounded up eight to thirty eight while the only other major gain came for The Poor with "More Wine Waiter Please" up twelve to twenty three. 

New Entries

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

48. "Disarm" by Smashing Pumpkins

Ahh time to talk about Billy Corgan and co with the third single from Smash Pumpkins second album "Siamese Dream", the dramatic instrumentation here gives way to some rather confronting and gritty lyrics about Corgan's toxic relationship with his parents with the production lending weight to that toxic dynamic that was going on in Corgan's childhood. In short, I do wish Corgan was a bit louder in the mix but this song get's point across well. Check it out. 

37. "I Wanna Dance" by Melodie MC

As somebody who was very surprised at how much I liked "Dum Da Dum", I had some hope for this and well...I am not a fan of this as much as I would like to be, the beat is just not even that good here and feels like it curdles a bit while the female vocals are turned down in the mix which feels like an odd choice...yeah not a song I am keen to revisit...that's all. 

28. "Pray" by Take That.

Ahh, I was wondering when we'd get new music from Take That and yeah, this is actually pretty good! I like the harmonies that are through out the song even if the song is a bit cliched all about wanting to be apart of this girl's life at some point again but the instrumentation matches that hope, it's bright and doesn't overpower any of the group's voices. It might be cliched to hell and back but I dig this song. Definitely worth checking out.

18. "Lonely" by Frente

The band behind "Accidentally Kelly Street" are back and with a change of sound, this one is a bit darker and more eclectic sounding (although Frente have always been a bit eclectic with their sound) and I don't know why I don't like this as much as I probably should, it just doesn't click for me especially if the song is trying sound alone or as lonely as Angie Hart makes it come across. I don't think it's bad...just not for me

16. 'The Beautiful Experience (EP)" by The Symbol

Yeah, ya all know I like our current number one, nothing more to reiterate here, if you like "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" than this is definitely worth checking out. 

That's our week and worst of the week is going to "I Wanna Dance" by Melodie MC. Best...yeah, you know what? "Pray" by Take That is getting it but it was close...Smashing Pumpkins have a good song in "Disarm" 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 2nd June

 Sigh...it's just getting harder to write about the ARIA singles  chart right now mostly because it's not that interesting. Frankly, All 4 1994 is more interesting than whatever is going on with the top 50 right now and the top ten is the proof of that because the top four held their positions with "Ordinary" by Alex Warren at number one for a tenth week and not looking like losing the top spot any time soon.

Then it's Sombr at number two with "Undressed" and "Back at Friends" at number three while "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae holds steady at number four.

"Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan rebounds one two number five, "Birds of A Feather" by Billie Eilish continues hang around up one to number six, it pushed past "Die With a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars down one to number seven. 

Then again the rises could be blamed on "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams falling three to number eight, I cannot wait for this song to be out of the top ten...that's how much I hate it, and am utterly sick of it, the same goes for "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone up one to number nine because nobody with actual taste in music has decided to declare this song's run in the top ten done yet and I wish they would!

Finally "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars slipped one to number ten. 

Gains

So unfortunately "What I Want" by Morgan Wallen feat. Tate McRae looks like being a thing in our top ten soon as it rose four places to thirteen while Benson Boone's Walk the Moon knock off "Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else" is up eight to thirty four. 

"Mr Brightside" by The Killers climbed seven spots to forty

Re Entries.

Just the one return this week with "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma" by Luke Combs back at 50. 

Losers

A rough week continues for Gracie Abrams because "I Love You, I'm Sorry" slipped twelve places to forty eight. 

"Mutt" by Leon Thomas continues to not catch on as it slipped seven to forty five (given how slow the year has been, I'd wager this will make the year end anyway)

Morgan Wallen's "I'm The Problem" is thankfully fading away as it slips eight to forty two. 

"Stargazing" by Myles Smith stumbled seven to twrnty nine

Drop outs

Three songs dropped out this week and again I have no issue with any of them being gone. "Just In Case" by Morgan Wallen and "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone are both gone because they both SUCK.

"Austin" by Dasha exited again and will likely be back anyway. 

New Entries

Two new entries this week, lets begin with...

46. "cliche" by MGK

So as Machine Gun Kelly traverses the music genre universe, his latest single lands on some of the most generic pop music imaginable that he just doesn't sound good on and the lyrics are literally just lazily endless cliches to the point I realized it's obvious why this song is called cliche because of the putrid writing that doesn't put any effort in whatsoever and shows just how out of ideas MGK really is...next.

16. "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll

At this point, you can probably almost make a Billy Joel "We Didn't Start the Fire" style song listing off every single artist that Jelly Roll has collabed with in the past two years and so of course, it's not a surprise that here he is on a song with the artist of the current biggest song in the world right now and much to my surprise, the song is actually pretty decent, it reminds me a lot of Shaboozey's effort in stomp clap combined with touches of Avici but the best part of this song is that Warren and Jelly Roll are just bystanders as they encourage young people to get out of what is likely a toxic dynamic be it a relationship with family, I think it does the sentiment well. Good song. 

Also easy best of the week for "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll. MGK takes worst of the week for the embarrassment that is "Cliche"

All 4 1994. 29th May

 New week and we have some changes at the top and while the new entries seem a bit lean, I'll take quieter week on that front but let's get straight to the top ten where the big story is that we have a brand new number one with The Symbol aka Prince riding to the top with "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" and it might not even last long at the top given what appears to be rising. 

It did however push "The Sign" by Ace of Base back to number two as sales finally slowed down and it couldn't match the momentum of "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World".

Proving a memorable hook will get you high on the charts is "Right in the Night" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka which jumped one spot to number four as it moved past "Breathe Again" by Toni Braxton at number four.

Much to my surprise the live version of "One" by Metallica remained at number five while "Doop" by Doop also stayed at number six.

Climbing three places to number seven is the utterly annoying now "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies. We do not need to make this a hit, people. 

Down one to number eight is "I'll Remember" by Madonna as it seems to be losing stream early while "Without You" by Mariah Carey remains at number nine.

Finally, down two to number ten is former chart topper "The Power of Love" by Celine Dion.

Losers

So let's rip through our big losers this week with "Cornflake Girl" by Tori Amos on the way out likely having secured her place on the year end list down fourteen to forty eight. 

"Down nine to forty five is "Let Me Show You" by K-Klass while former chart topper "It's Alright" by East 17 slipped nine to twenty seven.

Gains

Lets dive into the big gains and my god we had some climbers up stream this week, let's start with "I Believe" by Marcella Detroit which still sounds way too much like an ad for nappies but it's up eleven places to fifteen. 

Breaking into the top twenty is  "Groove Thang" by Zhane which climbed from twenty three to seventeen. 

I am thrilled to see "Hip Hop Holiday" by 3 the Hard Way up ten to number thirty, unfortunately Electric Hippies got an eleven place boost for "Greedy People" to thirty seven but at least "Hey Jealousy" by Gin Blossoms got a boost from forty six to thirty nine.

Re-Entries

One re entry with "To The Top" by Peter Andre back at forty nine

New Entries

47. "When The Shit Goes Down" by Cypress Hill

Another song from Cypress Hill and honestly while I like the production, there's a groove and melody there that does work but dear god does that stuffy nosed and nasal vocal delivery do nothing for me especially when it's a song about being tough and ready for things to go down. Think I'll skip this. 

40. "I LIke To Move It" Reel 2 Reel feat. The Mad Stuntman

Ughh. This is the one I was dreading this one so this comes from an American solo project from Edrick Morillo who is known as Reel 2 Reel, he has teamed up with Trindad and Tobago rapper The Mad Stuntman for this song and yeah again, it's a more North American take on Eurodance especially as this song does feel somewhat more obnoxious especially as it's hook is literally just "I like to move it move it". Empty party hype song is what this is but I guess if it gets the job done for you than you'll like it better than I do. 

35. "More Wine Waiter Please" by The Poor

Ending off this week on some Australian hard rock from out of the Northern Territory and yeah this song goes rather hard, the guitars shred and honestly reminds me a lot of Rose Tatttoo. I am definitely on board with the sound here and while I am not overly wild about the vocals, I think this more than not so yeah check this out.

It's the best of the week easily. Worst of the week goes to "When Shit Goes Down" by Cypress Hill