ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 25th August.

 Look, let's just get stuck into this week because again...it was another pretty slow week apart from the two new entries and the fact that K-Pop Demon Hunters have almost taken over the entire top ten. 

Speaking of K-Pop Demon Hunters and the top ten, let's get to that because "Golden" by K-Pop Demon Hunters cast remains at number one and...unless Sabrina Carpenter can bring an absolute belter of an album bomb, I don't see what's knocking off this song from number one until Taylor Swift eithet releases a lead single or drops her album in October, it's dominant on sales, streaming and even on Youtube. 

Alex Warren held steady at number two with "Ordinary" albeit on now faltering margins ahead of "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe which rose one spot to number three,. 

"Soda Pop" by cast of K-Pop Demon Hunters rose one spot to number four, in fact the Netflix show helped push "Daisies" by Justin Bieber back two spots to number five. 

"Your Idol" held steady at number six as did "How It's Done" at number seven both for K-Pop Demon Hunters. 

"What It Sounds Like" by K-Pop Demon Hunters bounced up one to number eight, it pushed back Sombr's "Back to Friends" to number nine (I expect this to get a sizeable boost back up the chart with Sombr having dropped an album yesterday)

Finally K-Pop Demon Hunters bookend the top ten with "Free" up four spots to number ten.

Gains

Sombr's "12 to 12" got a seven place gain to number seventeen...I expect this to go top ten and become a massive hit. 

We've got more Olivia Dean to discuss in the new but her previous single "Nice to Each Other" climbed a massive twenty one spots to twenty four! I am not sure why, it could be off the back of people liking the new single and wanting to hear what she has done previously. 

Losers

Blackpink's "Jump" is jumping the wrong way down eight to number fifty while "Messy" by Lola Young down nine to forty nine.

"Azizam" by Ed Sheeran slipped six to number forty six while it was the same sized slip for "The Door" by Teddy Swims as it slammed into door forty four on the chart.

However I am pissed that "The Subway" by Chappell Roan continues to go in the wrong direction down six to sixteen. Ugh, the fact that such a great song continues to slide says a lot about the stale and sragnant nature of the charts in 2025. 

Drop Outs

Not complaining about losing "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone...that song can stay out of the top fifty if you ask me. Also gone is "Mr Brightside" by The Killers.

New Entries

Two new entries, starting with...

43. "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean

So given "Nice to Each Other" continues to give me the ick every week it's on the chart but I guess second time lucky right? Well yeah, this is actually pretty good! It's got this nice gospel sound even if it doesn't quite get there., she just wants this guy to be the man she needs in her life and to be on the same page as her. Its definitely a cute song and worth checking out. Olviia Dean, you've redeemed yourself here.

37. "Sugar On My Tongue" by Tyler, the Creator.

Oh come on, this is the song we're choosing to make a hit from "Don't Tap the Glass" when "Ring Ring Ring" was rught there and sctreaming hit? Yeah, "Sugar on My Tongue" is one of the weaker songs from that new Tyler album and it's mostly because of the weird ass production that has breathing sounds forming part of the melody and this weird ass analogy comparing this girl's body to "sugar on my tongue" which just feels creepy even if Tyler didn't intend it to be.

It's not terrible but we could have done better. "Sugar on My Tongue" gets worst of the week howeverr "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean gets best of the week, really dug that song.

Next week...probably that new Doja Cat single. 

All 4 1994: 21st August If You Leitgo, Rhythm of the Tunnel follows

So it's a bit of a standard week here, the top ten is settling down at least in the top half and we have our usual group of new entries to talk about later so let's not waste any more time and get through this top ten where of course "I Swear" by All-4-One retained the niumber one slot, its got a comfortable margin over former number one "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet which remained at number two.

Also holding steady are the trio of "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters at number three, "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain at number four and " Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous" at number five. 

From there "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden reached a new peak up one to number six,  "Son of a Gun" by JX shot up two spots to number seven.

After six weeks of stalling at number six, "I Like To Move It" by Reel 2 Real feat. The Mad Stuntman fell two spots to number eight.

The big surprise this week was the massive gain by "Swamp Thing" by The Grid as it climbed off it's debut of forty three to number nine.

Finally down two places to number ten is "Shine" by Collective Soul, that song has lost it's shine with the public rather quickly.

Losers

Now we get to the losers where "Whoomp! (There It Is)" by Tag Team sliding seventeen spots to fifty while "I Believe" by Marcella Detroit slipped from thirty two to forty six. 

The Pretenders "I'll Stand by You" sitting position on the charts keeps getting lower and lower as it plunged another nine spots to forty four. 

"The Winner Is..." by Southend with Nik Fish slumped from twenty eight to forty one wbile "Lonely" by Frente! collapsed eleven spots to forty. 

"Stay" by Eternal is continuing to fall, this time tumbling from twenty one to thirty four while "Vasoline" by Stone Temple Pilots slipped seven to thirty one

Crash Test Dummies former number one hit "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" slumped ten spots to twenty two. 

Gains

Solid amount of big gains outside the top ten this week with "Do You Wanna Get Funky?" by C&C Music Factory up from thirty one to nineteen while "Find Me (Odyssey to Anyoona)" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka is up fourteen spots to twenty six. 

Up ten to twenty nine is the underwhelming "Heaven 'n' Hell" by Salt 'N' Pepa  Finally "Speed" by Billy Idol sped up eight to thirty eight. 

Re-Entries

We do have one re-entry with "Hey Jealousy" by Gin Blossoms back at forty nine

New Entries

Four new entries this week, starting with

48. "If You Go" by Jon Secada

To kick things off, the "Just Another Day" dude is back and the problems kick in yet again because the instrumental is somehow louder in the mix than Jon Secada is at points. A very early nineties piano track where Jon Secada croons about how all he really wants is this girl and if she goes there'll be something missing in his life which is actually really fucking guilt trippy. So bad writing and bad production combine for a pop song not worth the sum of it's parts....NEXT!

42. "Tunnel" by The Screaming Jets

Moving onto The Screaming Jets and I will be honest that I haven't really cared that much about a Screaming Jets single since 1991's "Better" so I don't hold a lot of hope for this and you know what? I think I dig this one, I like what the instrumentation is doing and Dave Gleeson is actually trying to do what sounds like either an odd nasal impersonation of Michael Stipe but hey the song works, the hook kicks ass so hey, I'll take it. 

32. "Letitgo" by Prince

Alright so I like "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" which was under another alias The Symbol so I was curious to see what this song would offer up snd yeah, it's a dark but ultimately very funky R'n'B with hints of hip hop jam where Prince admits he has a lot of feelings pent up inside him and now he wants to let everything go so he can move on with life. Yeah, you know what? I'll take this. Good song.

27. "The Rhythm of the Night" by Corona

Eurodance this time from Corona, a group out of Italy and yeah, this a pretty incredible dance track especially in terms of production where big doofy beats are somewhat held bacl to allow lead vocalist Giovanna Bersola (aka Jenny B) to shine, she sounds absolutely phenomenal here. Good song, hope it catches on. 

However I am going to give "Letitgo" by Prince the best of the week...that song resonated a bit more for me. Worst falls out easily..."If You Go" by Jon Secada...seriously. enough of the guilt tripping ex partner songs please. 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: August 18th. No New Entries So How about 5 Songs I am Loving in 2025?

Yeah, we got a very quiet week with no new entries (don't worry I do have something in store for that) and that for two weeks in a row, we have the same fifty songs here which I really do believe is something we need to be worried about however let's get to the top where for a third week "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remained at number one and so far its looking a comfortable number one, it may well be a dominant number one at least uintil Taylor Swift drops either a lead single or when then album drops in October as it's dominant on sales, streaming and youtube.

It's well ahead of "Ordinary" by Alex Warren which rebounded to number two but I don't see this going back to number one, it did however push past "Daisies" by Justin Bieber which fell back to number three. 

Rising three spots to number four is "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe, this has gotten some nice boosts on streaming in the past few weeks,. 

"Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters bounced back one spot to number five pushing past "Your Idol" which stumbled back to number six while on that note "How It's Done" also from K-Pop Demon Hunters rebounded to number seven

"Back to Friends" by Sombr climbed one spot to number eight and with the album dropping on Friday, this song could return to the top five in the weeks ahead.

There's more K-Pop Demon Hunters in the top ten with "What It Sounds Like" up one spot to number nine and finally perhaps the biggest indictment on the charts in 2025, "The Subway" by Chappell Roan down six to number ten. 

Gains

Justin Bieber's "Yukon" up seven to number thirteen because somehow it's the song from "SWAG" that Beliebers really want to make a hit...unfortunately.

While "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" by Shaboozey climbed eight spots to twenty two because this song needs a second wind. Just make "Blink Twice" with Myles Smith or "Good News" a thing in the top fifty. 

At least I like "A Bar Song (Tipsy)", I can't say that about "Takedown" by Twice rising eight to thirty three.

"Carry You Home" by Alex Warren up seven to forty three. 

Losers

Two Kendrick Lamar and SZA collabs suffered losses this week with "Luther" down eight to forty seven and "All The Stars" down seven to forty four.

Meanwhile the losses continued for Drake with "Which Ones?" featuring Central Cee down eight to thirty...the sooner this song is gone the better for everyone while "Eternity" by Alex Warren down nine to twenty five.

As there are no drop outs or any new entries and I really don't want to have a blog entry this short, I want to do a small segment where I talk about some of my favourite songs released this year, this is something I wish I did on this blog more, I also want to stress that most of these songs will not have charted so let's dive in...

Great 2025 Songs That Deserve More Love

"One Way Ticket" by Tyne-James Organ

This song is my favourite Australian song of the year so far, I love how this song is just Organ showing that him and this girl want the same thing and he is down for it but promises he will never let her down and she is more than welcome to take what she wants from him, the feeling is likely mutual. I also love how the song juxtaposes Organ's rougher vocals against the cleaner and sleeker pop/rock production and how propulsive that hook is. Damn great song!

"Fair Game" by HolyBrune

So I don't know that much about HolyBrune, there's not that much information about her online but what I do know is that this song is a god damn jam. Yeah the distortion of the verses give away to this sleek yet sexy as hell chorus where she's telling this guy she knows he wants to touch her but she won't let him because she doesn't trust him as he is a bit of a faker. Definitely an R'n'B jam to check out.

"Night Diving" by Max McNown

So in the last few years I have become a bit of a fan of American singer songwriter Max McNown, his music strips back a lot of the rough edges that can be found on Zach Bryan's music to their bare components but still making songs that hit just has hard and his writing seems to have a maturity that just resonates for me which was the case for this song where McNown is struggling with addiction and realizing that the addiction is still strong and the frustration that he is falling back into old habits is taking hold, it's a dark song that hits hard. 

"The Actor" by Willow Avalon

The only country song of the five songs I am highlighting but my god, I do think "Southern Belle Raisin' Hell" is an album that has gone unnoticed by way too many and when you can get Charles Wesley Godwin on a remix than you know you have a fucking great song. Willow Avalon has the conversational cadence down pat as she describes this guy who stole her heart yet he turned out to be a sham and he was an actor that she had fallen for. Now the CWG remix tells the story from the point of view of the actor in the second verse. This song is worth your time as is the whole of "Southern Belle Raisin' Hell". 

"Settle Down" by Vella

Vella might be the artist on this list that hasn't as yet had the same bucket load of attention yet she's dropping consistently great singles that make me want an album from her, I nearly didn't go with this particular song because her newest single "River Styx" is incredible but because "Settle Down" has been on my mid year list, I ultimately went with it and this is still an incredible song about yearning for love and yet trying to quell the instincts in her to reach out to this person she clearly still harbours feelings for complete with production that really does sell the danger the potential liasion could spell.

Other songs worth your time:

• "We Own the Night" by Black Atlass (Warning around some swearing on the hook if thats something that bothers you)
• "Gravelweed" by Jason Isbell 
• "Night After Night" by The Amazons
• "Maybe I'm Lonely Too" by Addison Johnson
• "Broken Glass" by Harper Finn (If you like Sombr's "Back to Friends" and "Undressed", this song might be up your alley)

All 4 1994: 14th August. Give it Up and Get Funky, Jessie.

 It's a pretty standard week for 1994 this week with five new entries and some changes that could reasonably be seen to be coming including right at the very top so let's dive straight into the top ten because we do have a new number one and unfortunately it's..."I Swear" by All-4-One. it finally pushed past "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet which slipped back to number two on weaker sales. 

Sigh. Let's move on from our incredibly sappy top two with "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters remaining at number three, it's not a challenger for the top spot at this point, the same goes for "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain despite it climbing one spot to number four ahead of "Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous at number five,

"I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real featuring The Mad Stuntman continues to just stall at number six, this is this song's sixth week at number six. 

"Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden remains at number seven while "Shine" by Collective Soul jumps one spot to number eight, also on the rise is "Son of a Gun" by JX up one spot to number nine. 

Finally the top ten is rounded out by Des'ree's "You Gotta Be" which jumped one spot to number ten. 

Losers

Let's start at the bottom of the chart as we usually do as D:Ream's "U R The Best Thing" slumped thirteen to fifty while "Around the World" by East 17 crashed eleven to forty nine. and Jam & Spoon feat, Plavka slumped from thirty four to forty eight with "Right in the Night"

The "Hip Hop Holiday" might be over for 3 The Hard Way as their hit slipped eight to fotty four while "Shaka Jam" shook down from twenty six to fourty two. 

"I'll Stand By You" by The Pretenders needed to sit down as it slumped eight spots to thirty five.

Frente! experienced a sharp decline of twelve places to twenty nine with "Lonely" while "Stay" by Eternal did the exact opposite running down nine spots to twenty one.

Gains

The gains are a wild bunch this week, Lisa Loeb's "Stay (I Missed You)" rocketed up from thirty nine to fifteen while much to my surprise "Snake Skin Shoes" by The Blake Sorrows slithered it's way up ftom twenty two to sixteen.

"Wild Night" by John Mellencamp and Me'Shell N'degeocello rebounded ten spots to eighteen. 

Up ten spots to twenty off it's debut is "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry which is great to see. Up eight to twenty seven for some ungodly reason is Bjorn Again's cover of "Flashdance...What a Feeling". 

Finally "American Life in the Summertime" by Francis Dunnery climbed up from forty eight to forty one whch I don't mind.

New Entries

Six new entries this week beginning with...

46. "Speed" by Billy Idol

Well this sure is a way to begin the week's reviews, the new song from Billy Idol, the song for the movie of the same name and this is pretty good. At first I wasn't sure about Idol's lower vocals but I think they work well alongside the instrumentation which just gives the song the whole riocking fast car energy with the wailing guitars, there's definitely the thrill and the adrenaline of driving a fast car pumped into this song. I dig it!

43. "Swamp Thing" by The Grid

Needs to be said first things first that the baby in the music video is adorable so if you need a couple of moments of cute, check out that out but anyway, The Grid are a British electronic group which is wild because this song features a fucking banjo amongst all that electronic production yet the song does absolutely nothing for me because fucking hell, that banjo gives me a god damn headache. Next!

39. "Heaven 'N' Hell" by Salt 'N' Pepa

Salt 'n' Pepa's final single from their alnum "Very Necessary" and this one is probably the least good of the singles mostly because the rapping sounds rough as hell and not as well delivered as I would expect from this group but then again given the song is about street crime and drugs that really makes sense. Still not an overall fan of the song given the hook isn't much to grab on to, this song could have been better.

37. "Give It Up" by Public Enemy

Lead single from Public Enemy's fifth album "Muse Sick-n-hour Mess Age" and here we have a much better depiction of the destruction on the streets and battling for respect and unity against all the gun vioence and drug crime, it hits hard as hell with that incredible groove and yeah, there's a weight to this song that makes it impossible to ignore, check this out!

34. "Jessie" by Joshua Kadison

Relax, this is not a cover of the Carly Simon song, this is an original song from Joshua Kadison about a relationship thats falling apart before the narrator's eyes even though he is clearly still in love with this woman however fraught the relationship is and he wants "Jessie" to know that he will be there no matter what if she wants to talk. It is a bit corny and lovelorn but there's a sincerity that stops me from wanting to say it's a bad song, it feels lived in and genuine which is more than I can say about a few songs at the top of our chart right now.

31. "Do You Wanna Get Funky" by C&C Music Factory

Oh joy, a new C&C Music Factory single although to be fair, this one does live up to the title because that little melody that this song has going on is quite good! In fact overall, I actually like this more than the noise of their previous songs to have hit the charts. There's some nice harmonies here along side the really good rap versions being delivered that only add to the vibe. Good song.

However best of the week is going to Public Enemy for "Give It Up". I guess worst of the week is going to "Swamp Thing" by The Grid

ARIA Singles top 50 Chart Review: 11th August

 This week wound up decent but only decent in terms of the new entries and there's a new entry in the top ten that I am incredibly excited to talk about so let's dive right into this top ten where of course K-Pop Demon Hunters kept hold of number one courtesy of "Golden", it's got strength on streaming, sales and even on Youtube, it looks a comfortable chart leader right now.

All of that makes impossible for "Daisies' by Justin Bieber to retake the top spot as it remains stuck at number two, the same goes for former chart topper "Ordinary" by Alex Warren although I can see this having a slow exit from the chart.

Then we get to our new entry at number four "The Subway" by Chappell Roan, now this is not going to stay high especially as it already slipping off it's streaming highs.

However it's arrival did push "Your Idol" from K-Pop Demon Hunters back to number five and "Soda Pop" back one to number six. 

Diving down one is "No Broke Boys' by Disco Lines and Tinashe at number seven. I really hope we see the end of this song in the top ten soon, Tinashe is too talented to let this nonsense be her biggest hit.

We're back to K-Pop Demon Hunters with "How It's Done" down one to number eight while Sombr's "Back to Friends" slipped one to number nine (more Sombr later)

Returning to K-Pop Demon Hunters as "What It Sounds Like" climbed two places to number ten.

Gains

Not much in the way of gains this week but we did see "Something in the Orange" rebound seven spots to number thirty five while the increasingly annoying "Nice to Each Other" by Olivia Dean climbed six to forty four. 

Re-Entries

So we did see four re-entries with the best in quality of those being "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves at forty five , "Mr Brightside" by The Killers at forty nine, "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez at forty eight and most unfortunately "Mystical Magical" at forty seven.

Losers

Crowded Hpuse were the biggest fallers this week with "Don't Dream It's Over" down ten to thirty two but it is the only song from the Triple J's Hottest 100 Australian songs to see a second week in the top fifty. 

"Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae saw people turning off so its down nine to twenty seven while "Which One?" by Drake and Central Cee proved it's a nothingburger of a song down six to twenty two. 

Drop Outs

So the drop outs this week were mostly songs that returned last week as a result of the Triple J Hottest 100 Australian songs with "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS, "The Nosebleed Section" by Hilltop Hoods, "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC, "Sweet Disposition" by The Temper Trap, "My Happiness" by Powderfinger and "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye and Kimbra.

The other exit outside of songs from the countdown was "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac.

New Entries

Three new entries this week,  beginning with...

41. "Takedown" by Twice

This is yet another version of the same song from K-Pop Demon Hunters and honestly I still do not care for the song at all, it's still this curdled trap infused nightmare that I really don't want to keep on talking about so yeah, keeping it short, sweet and moving on...

23. "12 to 12" by Sombr

We finally got a date for Sombr's debut album which has felt long in coming considering the success of both "Back to Friends" and "Undressed", you'd think his label would want to capitalise on the public appetite for Sombr by giving the public an album by the only big new pop act in 2025 even though "We Never Dated" didn't chart but "12 to 12" did and this is a sharpened disco banger where you can tell tbe edges are starting to become more curdled like in the 70s, now sure the content is pretty much subject material that Sombr has been over before... a relationship break up and all of that but my god, this song is just so damn good that I can look past how repetitive it is. Check this out. 

4. "The Subway" by Chappell Roan

Chappell Roan is back with a song that she has been performing live for the last two years but wanted to make sure the song sounded as close to the live version in the studio as possible before she released it and wel...it might be one of the best songs in any genre of music to hit the charts this year. Chappell gives a compelling vocal perforamance, one of her best to date wuth the song being about this mystery girl with green hair and beauty mark on the subway who Chappell very briefly makes a connection with but this young woman who stole Chappell's heart very quickly moves on leaving any lasting connection behind and Chappell heartbroken. It's a damn great song and one of the best of the year. Make it a hit.

It's also the best of the week but damn it was a close fight because "12 to 12" by Sombr is also excellent.

Worst of the week falls out easily as that's going to "Takedown" by Twice. Twice are capable of better than this shit. 

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.