Pretty Fly (For 1999) 25th July. The Hardest Saddest Silence is A Look on Blue Monday

 So things feel on the precipice of change on the chart and I am not sure why because sure...glancing at our top ten, "If You Had My Love" by Jennifer Lopez remains at number one despite somewhat dipping sales numbers, it did manage to hold off a charge from "Sometimes" by Britney Spears which climbed one spot to number two.

This pushed "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None The Richer fall back to number three while "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam remains stalled at number four.

"Say It Once" by Ultra continues it's climb up the chart by rising on to number five whie "Beautiful Stranger" by Madonna recovered two slots to number six. 

"Man! I Feel Like A Woman" by Shania Twain felt like staying at number seven this week, 

One of the biggest gains of the belongs to Taxiride as "Get Set" jumped a massive TWENTY places to number eight this week. Awesome to see as that song is absolutely great, 

Not so great is the ode to orgasms that is "Boom Boom Boom Boom" by The Vengaboys which jumped from fifteen to number nine.

Also rising into the top ten is "Westside" by TQ which rose three places to numbe ten this week.

Losers

We start the losers with Eminem's "Hi! My Name Is" which stumbled ten spots to forty nine, we need that follow up single soon, Em. 

Savage Garden's "The Animal Song" slumped from thirty four to forty eight while Cher's "Strong Enough" was hit with a ten place plunge to forty seven.

"We Like to Party (The Vengabus)" by The Vengaboys utterly collapsed from twenty five to forty one. Sugar Ray's "Every Morning" hit the snooze button so it went down eight to forty.

If you are wondering what happened to "Don't Cry" by Human Nature given it debuted at number five last week...well it fell from five to twenty nine this week...ouch.

"Thank ABBA For the Music" by Steps, Tina Cousins, Cleopatra, B*Witched and Billie Piper fell nine to twenty eight. 

Gains

So I already mentioned the big rise to number eight for "Get Set" by Taxiride but we also saw a ten place gain off its debut to fourteen for "When You Say Nothing at All" by Ronan Keating.

"Scar Tissue" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers climbed from twenty two to fifteen....sigh...wish I actually liked that song more than I do. 

Westlife's "Swear It Again" breaks into the top twenty up twelve to eighteen this week while "All Star" by Smash Mouth got a ten spot bounce to thirty one

New Entries

Five new entries beginning with...

46. "Saddest Song" by Cherry

We're beginning with the third single from Australian five piece girl group Cherry with this song having been written by acclaimed American song writer Diane Warren that was originally meant for a US r'n'b group called Not Real but I think Cherry's version kind of works especially with the elegant production that does have that element of sadness about it as the group sings about the heartache and pain of hearing a song that meant so much to them when they were in a relationship and now that relationship is over, hearing that song on the radio hurts. Decent pop song but in a year where girl group pop songs are everywhere....yeah I am not sure how much this is going to be remembered.

36. "Blue Monday" by Orgy

So Orgy are an American rock band with their first song to hit the ARIA singles chart being this cover of New Order's 1983 hit "Blue Monday" and well...it sure does exist now, doesn't it?  I have never been one for the original song from New Order but I'll take the somewhat slower and gentler delivery of the lyrics in the vocals over having the lyrics shouted at me like Orgy do in the cover. I really do not have much to say about this so I will move on.

35. "The Hardest Thing" by 98 Degrees

Another debutant act on the chart from out of the USA this week courtesy of four piece boy group 98 Degrees and well, this is where I might need to apologise to Boyzone because dear god, this song might be one of the most boring yet infuriating song about cheating where on the verses he says its killing him to be with his mistress but then says on the hook that it's "the hardest thing" to tell his partner that he doesn't love her any more and show no emotion when she breaks down and starts crying...dude, you are an asshole in song form. Get this dirge shithole of a song off the charts.

25. "Have  A Look"  by Vanessa Amorosi

Beginning to feel like the week of the debutant because we have an Australian singer songwriter Vanessa Amorosi making her first mark on the ARIA singles chart and yeah...I'm kind of not surprised that this debuted as high as high as this because my goodness, Amorosi is an absolute powerhouse vocallist, she can absolutely belt with the best of them especially on the hook where she wants an ex back with her after seeing him with somebody else over this really tight pop/rock groove that Amorosi sounds at home over this production...great song!

19. "Silence" by Delerium feat. Sarah McLachlan

Ending the week with a bit of Canadian trance courtesy of producer Delerium who has brought Canadian music royalty Sarah McLachlan on board for this cut and yeah, this is really good too. I just wish Sarah's vocals were slightly louder in the mix over the instrumentation but she sounds ethereal here. Really this does remind me of big beat era early nineties where this song would not be out of place. Damn good song. 

That wraps our week and the worst of the week is pretty easy, that's going to "The Hardest Thing" by 98 Degrees...just spare me from that horrible turd of a song...please.

However the best of the week is a lot harder with that going to "Have A Look" by Vanessa Amorosi...just beating Delerium and Sarah McLachlan...it was close.

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 20th July. The One with a Kingdom Fear of Great Expectations

 This week could be worse...I guess...we didn't get hit by the Future album bomb which is something incredibly merciful but what we got instead is..odd to say the least. Let's get to our top ten where of course for a sixth week, it's "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley at number one, it continues to rule sales and streaming with a rod of iron.

The top six actually held position this week with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean at number two, "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olvia Dean at number three, "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo at number four, "Hate That I Made You Love Me" by Ariana Grande at number five and "Ordinary" by Alex Warren at number six.

"The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo rebounded one spot to number seven after getting a small streaming bump, it pushed past "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd which slipped one spot to number eight.

Finally "Dracula" by Tame Impala and "Drop Dead" by Olivia Rodrigo held firm at nine and ten respectively.

Losers

Most of the big losers are still Olivia Rodrigo album tracks with "Maggots for Brains" down nine to forty fpir, "Expectations" slipped seven to forty three and "Honeybee" down ten to twenty seven.

The only non Olivia Rodrigo major loser this week was "I Knew It. I Knew You" by Taylor Swift slipped seven to eighteen.

Drop Outs

Four songs took their exits this week with :"Girls" by Kid Laroi finally making it's exit permanent to the On Replay singles chart.
Also gone are "What Is Wrong With Me?" by Olivia Rodrigo and Robert Smith, "Dai Dai" by Shakira and Burna Boy and "Go" by Chemical Brothers (I suspect this will make the year end)

Gains

Noah Kahan's "Orbiter" climbed seven slots this week to number thirty five. Zara Larsson's "Midnight Sun" jumped six spots to thirty eight.

Losers

Two returns this week with "Material Lover" by Sienna Spiro back at forty two while "Bloodstream" by Alyssa Grace returned at number thirty six. 

New Entries

Two new entries, beginning with...

47. "Kingdom of Fear" by Cameron Whitcomb

So this is an interesting one with this being Cameron Whitcomb;s first song to cross over onto the ARIA singles chart, Whitcomb is a Canadian singer/songwritetr who has notched some decent success in Canada but is only just starting to find his footing worldwide courtesy of this song and yeah, it's a solid enough singer/songwriter cut similar to something that Noah Kahan would write and sing, helps that the instrumental and production is pretty solid with those somewhat twangy sounding guitars and that fast paced drumming that works for me.

As for the content of the song? The dissonance between saying "Yeah, I'm good" while internally struggling with self doubt and anxiety so the content here does cut a lot deeper for me given my personal issues...this is a pretty good song...check it out.

41. "Great Expectations" by Sienna Spiro

so this is the only new Sienna Spiro song from that album to hit the ARIA singles chart and given the previous single "Die On This Hill" is dead set one of the worst songs of 2026 so I have rock bottom expectations for this song and well...those rock bottom expectations were met and then satisfied because my goodness, this song is a dreary bore and slog of a song where she sings about falling in love with the idea of someone rather than who that person actually is which on paper is an interesting idea, just a shame the song does nothing interesting and Spiro sounds like she's whining for most of the song.

I'll pass. 

That was the week and best and worst fall out easy with the worst going to "Great Expectation" by Sienna Spiro and the  best going to "Kingdom of Fear" by Cameron Whitcomb.

Next week...ugh...Gracie Abrams album dropped so we'll probably wind up with something from that charting, we'll have to see. 

Pretty Fly (For 1999). 18th July. Don't Cry Say Nothing At All, Sweet Chocolate.

We have a busy week at hand here, up and down the chart and the six new entries hitting the chart including one in the top ten...in fact, the only place where there wasn't any movement was in the top three because for a second week "If You Had My Love" by Jennifer Lopez sits at number one, "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer at number two and "Sometimes" by Britney Spears at number three.

"Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam rebounded one spot to number four while there's a new entry at number five from Human Nature called "Don't Cry", we'll get to it in the new entries but it did some impressive numbers on sales to land this high of a debut.

All this caused "Say It Once" by Ultra to fall two spots to number six while "Man! I Feel Like A Woman!" by Shania Twain stumbled one spot to number seven. Madonna's "Beautiful Stranger" met the same fate sliding one spot to number eight.

"I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys held steady at number nine and Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca" stalled at number ten.

Losers

In a week where we have six new entries, a lot of songs took big tumbles this week starting with "Time of Our Lives" by Marcia Hines which fell from thirty two to forty nine this week...seems the party may well be over for this song. 

Similar case for Shawn Mullins song "Shimmer" as it plummeted from thirty nine to forty eight this week while "Get What You Give" by The New Radicals unfortunately tumbled hard from twenty five to forty seven. Ouch!,

Eminem's "Hi! My Name is" slipped nine to thirty nine while Cher's "Strong Enough" became weak enough to fall eight to thirty seven this week. 

"The Animal Song" by Savage Garden dived from twenty seven to thirty four. 

"Every Morning" by Sugar Ray woke up to a ten place fall to thirty two while Lenny Kravitz experienced turbulence with "Fly Away" dropping seven slots to thirty one.

A new Vengaboys song has arrived in the new entries as their previous hit "We Like to Party (The Vengabus)" dives ten to twenty five. 

ATB's "9pm (Til I Come)" is heading in the wrong direction (for me) down seven to twenty one.

Gains

So tragically our biggest gain this week is the underwhelming "These Are The Times" by Dru Hill which somehow got an eight place gain to twenty three...rrally, Australia?

Also getting a boost this week is Taxiride's "Get Set" up from thirty four to twenty eight while "Swear It Again" by Westlife climbed six to thirty.

Re-Entries

Why is our lone return "Stay The Same" by Joey McIntyre? I thought we all agreed at the last chart board meeting that this song was forgettable dross...I served the tea and biscuits, remember?

New Entries

Six new entries this week beginning with...

41. "All Star" by Smash Mouth

The lead single from Smash Mouth's album "Astro Lonnge" and apparently this song draws infltouence from Sugar Ray and Third Eye Blind as the band looked to write a song dedicated to those in the world who are deemed to be outcasts or this really incredibly stupid but otherwise upbeat narrator who rolls with the punches and takes the low blows and comes out the other side, realizing that he or she has so many reasons to live even though they aren't all that smart or in with the popular crowd. This song will definitely hit people in the feels especially given how sticky the hook is and the vocal delivery on the verses is actually pretty fun too so yeah...check this out! 

35. "Insane in the Brain" by Jason Nevins v Cypress Hill

Moving onto what I guess can be classified as a Jason Nevins remix of Cypress Hill's 1993 song "Insane In the Brain" with the original song (that only peaked at number 40) being built around multiple samples including Jamrs Brown grunting of all things but hey, it's a got a nice West Coast hip hop groove that goes down well, as for the content...it's a diss track aimed at Chubb Rock where Cypress Hill accuse him of acting recklessly or irrational. 

Jason Nevins remix is fine enough but I am not going to be thrilled if this becomes a bigger hit than the original...that's all. 

24. When You Say Nothing At All" by Ronan Keating

We have a member of Boyzone going solo with this being a cover of a 1989 Keith Whitley song for the soundtrack of the film Notting Hill. Whitley's version feels like it's coming from this sweet, sincere spot where he is saying that her body language is enough for him to know what she's trying to say without saying a word, it does hit the mark for me especially with the paired back instrumentation.

Keating's version is fine enough until that god awfful pipe breakdown at the end which sounds so shrill and piercing that it takes me out of the song. This cover could have been so much better without that god damn noise playing up some kind of imaginary drama or crescendo which was completely unnecessary. next!

15. "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!" by Vengaboys

So we were bound to get a follow up to "We Like to Party (The Vengabus)" from The Vengaboys and well..this really isn't all that good. Lyrically the song is about her wanting to help this friend to forget his problems so they go about this by "spending forever in her room" using boom boom boom boom as a double entendre for sex which frankly is not original considering Paul Lekakis told the world in 1987 he wants a woman back in his room for a little boom boom. Frankly, it's all a bit cringe.

As for the actual music, it doesn't really have any sexual or kinetic energy to it rather a partyish sound bit with some frankly creepy sounding voice effects in there too. 

14. "Sweet Like Chocolate" by Shanks & Bigfoot

Heading across to the UK and this act called Shanks & Bigfoot, a garage producer duo who have been active since 1997 with this song being their first to hit the ARIA singles chart and well...this song is actually pretty good especially with that jaunty opening that then opens into faster percussion and while I am not a huge fan of the vocals on this song, I get why they kind of work, it's a love song that digs into this loved one's presence being rich, comforting and addictive which as a chocolate lover I do get. 

Yeah, you know what? This is really cute, check it out!

5. "Don't Cry" by Human Nature.

Finishing a rather long week with Aussie quartet Human Nature and the latest single from "Counting Down". A quite funky and upbeat song that kind of betrays how the content is about the breakdown of a relationship and realizing that the relationship was fun while it lasted but now it's time to go separate ways and see what else is out there because its not like the relationship is going to be revived like some kind of miracle.

Chorus is catchy and as usual, Human Nature's harmonies are on point, great song!

Great to end the week on a high with two good to great songs, I am going to give best of the week to Human Nature for "Don't Cry"

As for the worst...yeah, it wasn't going to be anything other than "Boom Boom Boom Boom" by The Vengaboys.

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 13th July. The one where it's pretty quiet.

 So this week was pretty quiet all things considered which I can be grareful for considering the US Billboard Hot 100 is probably going to get a Ken Carson album bomb so I am relieved that's not happening here in Australia, let's start with the top ten where for a fifth week, it's "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley at number one, it's a monster on both sales and streaming right now, it would take something huge to knock this song off the number one spot

"Man I Need" by Olivia Dean held it's place at number two mostly because streaming is still holding this song up, the same can be said for "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olviia Dean which moved up one to number three pushing past "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo which slipped to number four.

Ariana Grande holds on at number five with "Hate That I Made You Love Me", I expect this song to make a major push for number one post the album release while back in the top ten up five places to number is "Ordinary" by Alex Warren because we can't all be that fortunate to be rid of this song.

Spraking of songs that will not fuck off "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd rose two spots to number seven because streaming has gotten hold of this song...lovely...not..although that could also be because of the weaknesses of "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo which fell two spots to number eight and "Dracula" by Tame Impala down two to number nine.

Finally holding on to number ten is "Drop Dead" by Olivia Rodrigo. 

Losers

"What's Wrong With Me?" by Olivia Rodrigo feat. Robert Smith fell ten slots to number forty five while "Expectations" fell six to number six. Overall the falls for tbe remaining Olivia Rodrigo songs still on the charts weren't that bad.

"Be Her" by Ella Langley slipped nine to forty one. 

Drop Outs

The drop outs this week casting aside the four Olivia Rodrigo album tracks that dropped out, those being "Less", "My Way", "Begged" and "U + Me = <3".

The other two were "Hit the Wall" by Gracie Abrams (Although that song will probably return after her new album is released) and "Material Lover" by Sienna Spiro.

Gains

So we did have a couple of major gains this week starting with songs that debuted last week like "Dai Dai" by Shakira and Burna Boy which jumped fifteen places to thirty two  while "My Body Isn't Ready" by Sombr rose nineteen to twenty nine. 

Bizarrely Stella Lefty's "Boston" climbed thirteen to fufteen this week because that's all we need.  Ugh.

Re-Entries

In lieu of any new entries we got a bunch of songs returning to the chart beginning with "Fever Dream" by Alex Warren at fifty, "Opalite" by Taylor Swift at forty seven, "Midnight Sun" by Zara Larsson at forty four, "I Just Might" by Bruno Mars at forty three, "Undressed" by Sombr at forty and "Weren't For the Wind" by Ella Langley at thirty seven.

That wraps up the week, might be in for another quiet week next week but we'll have to see. 

Pretty Fly (For 1999): 11th July. Dear God Wait Til I Get Home, Mama.

So let's just dive straight into this week because the biggest story this week is the new number one, shame it's kind of mediocre because it's "If You Had My Love" by Jennifer Lopez, it got there thanks to sales just giving it the edge over last week's number one "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer which fell back to number two.

Rising one spot to number three is "Sometimes" by Britney Spears while "Say It Once" by Ultra rose five slots to number four, I wasn't expecting the latter to rise this far but it's one of the better boyband songs on the chart right now.

"Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam slumped three to number five which does feel a bit unexpected than again...not unsurprising. "Man! I Feel Like A Woman!" by Shania Twain rebounded one slot to number six.

Madonna's "Beautiful Stranger" is in need of a beautiful chart rescue as it slipped two spots to number seven. Former number one "No Sctubs" by TLC dipped back from six to number eight.

The best of the boyband songs on the chart "I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys slipped one to number nine. 

Returning to the top ten this week is "Livin' La Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin to complete the top ten at number ten. 

Losers

Dru Hill's "How Deep Is Your Love" is on the way out finally after slipping eight slots to fifty, also on the way out is "Touch It" by Monifah down twelve to forry nine...glad to see two awful songs on the cusp of leaving the chart. Thank goodness!

Kind of sad to see "Protect Your Mind (Braveheart)" by DJ Sakin and Friends down seven to thirty eight, the song was pretty good. 

Gains

Biggest gain of the week was sadly rhe pretty poor "Heartbreak Hotel" by Whitney Houstin feat. Faith Evans and Kelly Price, it jumped from thirty eight to twenty this week...ugh.

Also unfortunate is the six place gain to twenty three for "Get Ready" by Ma$e feat. Blackstreet...really, Australia?

"Westside" by TQ's rise continued much to my surprise as it climbed six to number twelve and probably the best of our gains this week..."Canned Heat" by Jamiroquai rebounded six slots to forty three.

Re-Entries

Look, I'll tolerate the return of "Shimmer" by Shawn Mullins at thirty nine but what the hell is "Tarzan & Jane" by Toy-Box doing back at forty one? Come on, we don't need limp Aqua rip offs on the charts.

New Entries

Three new entries this week begining with...

48. "Dear Mama" by 2Pac

Well, it's about time we got a follow up to "Changes" and this latest single is from "Me Against the World", its actually a really sweet tribute to his mother over a really nice piano and guitar groove as 2pac raps about the struggles of single mothers and how he was raised in poverty, his mother's battle with an addiction to cocaine and how the bond he has with his mother endures even though the relationship was not always perfect (no relationship is ever perfect) and how he is learning how to appreiciare his mother for raising him. 

Damn sweet song, check this out!

46. "(God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time on You" by N*SYNC

Third single from N*SYNC's self titled album and this one is the stereotypical boyband ballad only these clowns think its okay to tell this beautiful girl that he has fallen in love with that God must have spent a lottle more time on her than he did anyone else over rather miserable sounding instrumentation that doesn't give the faintest feel of happiness or that "God" or whoever this higher deity is serving up women into the arms of N*Sync.There's no joy or warmth in the band members voices when they are singing that hook either because this girl was not created through immaculate conception, guys!

A deeply stupid song that hopefully will not stick around. Next!

44. "Wait Til I Get Home" by C Note.

Ending the wee with another American r'n'b/pop vocal group that was originally on "Different Kind of Love" and well, this four piece act have decided to be this week's sexy time group because they are urging their girls to wait til they get home for some 'sweet sweet lovin'" over a beat that sounds like it was directly pulled from the 1980s or at least a Hall and Oates song but at least these guys aren't pulling out any cringe lines but rather just pulling straight from the book of song lyric cliches. It's not terrible but I absolutely do not see this sticking around. That's all.

That's our week and oof...worst of the week belongs to N*SYNC for whatever that "(God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time on You". 2Pac easily runs away with the best of the week for "Dear Mama"

ARIA Singles Top 50. July 6th. The One Where Sombr's body isn't ready for Sienna's Material Lover

 Alright so let's get right into this as this one is late enough as it is (my fault, totally procrastinated), straight into the top ten where for yet another week "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley, it's got sales and streaming on it's side and it doesn't look like relinquishing it's hold on number one any time soon.

"Man I Need" by Olivia Dean rebounded up one spot to number two thanks mostly to streaming continuing to keep this song around and "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo slipping back one to number three because it's lost ground on streaming and is doing nothiing on sales. 

Also rebounding one to number four is 'Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean while "Hate That I Made You Love Me" by Ariana Grande climbed two slots to number five. 

"The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo held steady at number six,  "Dracula" by Tame Impala leaped three to number seven however there is a culprit for all of this movement with "I Knew It. I Knew You" by Taylor Swift sliding seven spots to number eight.

What kind of mars our top ten this week is the unforrunaate two place return of "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd at number nine. 

Finally, "Drop Dead" by Olivia Rodrigo slipped two spots to number ten. 

Losers

Let's start with the Olivia Rodrigo album cuts that are free falling so "You + Me = <3" down eleven to forty one, "Begged" sliding eighteen to thirty nine, "Less" is doing less down twelve to thirty seven, "My Way" shifts down fourteen to thirty six, "What's Wrong With Me" featuring Robert Smith slumped twelve to thirty five, "Maggots for Brains" down fifteen to thirty one and "Expectations" slid fifteen to thirty 

Drop Outs

One of the big stories this week lies in our drop outs with "Beauty and a Beat" by Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj finally sent to the on replay charts. Good fucking riddance.

Also gone are "Iconic by Mistake" by Le Sserafim, Katseye and Illit, "Freakin' Out" by Dexter and the Moonrocks alongside two Olivia Rodrigo album tracks those being "Purple" and "Cigarette Smoke"

Gains

So something of a reset is continuing to occur as the Olivia Rodrigo songs fall away so the biggest gains this week were nine place gains for "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift to twenty, "Where is My Husband" by Raye at twenty three and "Back to Friends" by Sombr which moved up to twenty five. 

There were also eight place gains for "Nice to Each Other" by Olivia Dean to twenty nine, "Boston" by Stella Lefty to twenty eight and "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe to twenty seven.

Re-Entries

Two returns this week with "American Girls" by Harry Styles at forty eight and "Hit the Wall" by Gracie Abrams at forty two.

New Entries

Three new entries this week, beginning with...

50. "Material Lover" by Sienna Spiro

Well, it's about time this charted, it comes from the soundtrack of the Devil Wears Prada 2 but given it comes from Sienna Spiro and I've been sour on "Die On this Hill" all year, I had no confidence this would be any good and yet...I kind of like this? It's got this old school jazz and soul vibe that Olivia Dean and Raye also do and I don't think this is better than the best songs from either Olivia or Raye but this is still decent enough. 

The content of the song is all about how Spiro prefers actual physical things or as she calls it "material" things in her hands and that she is a lover of those things. It's better than "Die On this Hill" so I'll take it.

47. "Dai Dai" by Shakira feat, Burna Boy

So this song is for the ongoing football World Cup and well...I wish this didn't sound so thin and generic, it sounds like a song straight out of 2017 to 2019 and it comes off so flat sounding that not even the lyrics which is all about fighting through pain and perseverence etc don't really have much of an impact from either Shakira or Burna Boy,

It's a nothing of a pop song that people will forget in a short period of time. "Waka Waka" was better than this. 

46. "My Body Isn't Ready" by Sombr

So I am not going to lie, I have been frustrated by the chart run for "Homewrecker", that song deserved to be a massive number hit and is probably one of my favourite hits of the year so far and this song is not helped by that awkward and even corny song title however the song overall winds up being good even close to great despite the song title where Sombr is dealing with body image issues (possibly body dysmorphia) and self-doubt which prevented him getting too close to people or pursuing closer relationships with people he liked.

I also like the production here because Sombr's voice doesn't sound as death by filters as it has in the past and the instrumention sounds rich, lush and incredibly organic. I'll take this easily! Good song.

Easy best of the week too. Worst of the week goes to "Dai Dai" by Shakira and Burna Boy

Pretty Fly (For 1999) 4th July These Are The Times for a Last Kiss so Get Ready

A pretty stock standard week here, the usual array of new entries including one that's debuted in the top five so lets not delay things any further and dive into the top ten where sitting at number one for another week is "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer, it held up on sales this week but I am not certain for how much longer because the challengers are coming.

One of those could be our new entry at nunmber two, "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam. Terrific sales numbers put this in a good position to challenge...I'll have more to say about this one in the new entries.

Then we get to this week's bulldozer song because "If You Had My Love" by Jennifer Lopez rising eight slots to number three, it pushed "Sometimes" by Britney Spears back to number four.

Madonna's "Beautiful Stranger" remained glued to number five, just unable to bridge the margins to the songs aboveit. 

The chart scramble above left former chart topper "No Scrubs" by TLC down four to number six while "Man! I Feel Like A Woman" by Shania Twain fell three places to seven and "I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys slipped one to number eight.

Into the top ten this week is the breezy pop jam "Say It Once" by Ultra which has been climbing quietly in recent weeks, this week its up from sixteen to nine.

Finally "Look at Me" by Geri Halliwell fell two places to number ten. 

Losers

Beginning with "Right Here, Right Now" by Fatboy Slim which slipped nine spots to fifty. 

Unfortunately "Canned Heat" by Jamiroquai fell twelve to forty nine while 4 The Cause's god awful cover of "Stand By Me" slipped nine to forty eight. 

Britney Spears "Baby, One More Time" slumped ten spots to forty six. "Have You Ever"  by Brandy fell nine to forty four and "How Deep Is Your Love" by Dru Hill skidded from twenty six to forty three (Dru Hill have a song in the new entries this week so we aren't done with them). 

Cher's "Strong Enough" is weak enough to fall eight to twenty seven. 

Gains

What caught me by surprise other than Ultra's rise into the top ten was the twenty place gain to eighteen for "Westside" by TQ...good song but boy does that gain feel random.

"Shimmer" by Fuel is a different story as it has had consistent momentum rising eleven to twenty one

Soulsearcher's "Can't Get Enough" rose twelve spots to thirty six.

New Entries

Six new entries this week beginning with...

47. "Give It To You" by Jordan Knight

Oh god, starting off the week with New Kids On the Block alumni Jordan Knight isn't exactly what I'd consider great and looks like my concerns were well justified because this is some incredibly overproduced shlock that even Usher would say no to because this is just some incredibly unsexy pop shlock where Knight claims that she knows he can give his dick to her and how anything goes when the stuffing of the sausage the marshmallow (my interpretation) is done right and the production doesn't even give anything close to romantic or even remotely convince me that Knight knows how to seduce this girl with the overcooked drum machines and bored backing vocals

There are better sex songs out there than this. Get your freak on to something better.

42. "What's My Age Again?" by Blink 182

So we step away from bad pop/r'n'b and into pop punk with this Blink 182 lead single from their album "Enema of the State" and yeah, this one actually is pretty fun helped by that raucous groove and the song being hilarious as it's all about the dumb things the narrator did when he was in his early twenties because hey. we're all naive and silly in our twenties (also helps the video is completely silly). The only nitpick I have is that the vocals are mixed a bit low but otherwise...yeah, damn good, dumb fun. Check this out,

38. "Heartbreak Hotel" by Whitney Houston feat. Faith Evans and Kelly Price

Look, I am not as hung up on Whitney Houston as others, sure wonderful voice but you all know how I feel about her cover of "I Will Always Love You" (I hate it...it's one of the worst songs of 1992/93) however her pop music in the 80s does appeal for me, songs like "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and "How Will I Know" are absolutely classic pop songs so I was hoping she'd bring the pop class of the 80s just touched up for the late 90s so how does this work?

Well, I am not sure this works mostly because Whitney isn't quite alble to belt on the hook and it sounds like she is straining her voice at points and when Faith Evans only gets the two lines of the bridge and like Kelly Price backing vocals...yeah, this song is really not adding up to the sum of it's part especially when the synth sounds whiny. This is pretty generic R'n'B and I hate saying that about a legend like Whitney Houstion

34. "These Are The Times" by Dru Hill

Anything has to be better than the last time I talked about this group, right? Well at least the production is a little better this time and Dru Hill aren't sounding like they are singing through a tin can however when your song's opening line is "God knows you're a sexy thang"...yeah...straight out of the Song of Solomon that, Dru Hill? The writing really does bring this song down though, I mean "Tear you up in little pieces" and "swallow you up like Reese's Pieces"...seriously?

Again, production not terrible but wow, there's a long way to go in the writing department.

29. "Get Ready" by Ma$e feat. Blackstreet

The lead and apparently only single from Ma$e's album "Double Up" and apparently it was in part produced by Puff Daddy or P Diddy or abuser but anyway, he brought Blackstreet on board for this song and really...come on...there's nothing all that hard about the production here although that farting synth is doing a lot of trying to lift a song as Ma$e brags about his wealth, luxury and the lifestyle of famous people because that's relatable. Also that sample of Shalamar's 1982 hit "A Night to Remember" really is the most interesting part of this song...next.

2. "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam

I actually kind of like Pearl Jam to a degree, they have some absolute classic songs in their discography and I'd argue "Ten" is a 90s classic rock album however I was leery woth song and turns out I had every right to be because this really does feel like a song stripped of what made Pearl Jam a force in the nineties not helped by Eddie Vedder howling his lungs out on the hook while nothing else surrounding him has any real punch. Yeah, bit disappointed by this. 

That ends our week, the best of the week falls out easily "What's My Age Again" by Blink 182 is riding the Japanese bullet train away with that.

As for the worst? Well there's two incredibly awful sex songs here, I am going to give it to "Give It To You" by Jordan Knight, at least Dru Hill got the mood in the production somewhat right.