Charting 1996: 18th August: Savage Garden disrupts the top ten

So it was another busy week if you look beyond the top four which remain the same this week although it does feel like the chart is on the verge of a major shake up but anyway "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion remains at number one for a second week and at the moment, it seems a lock for number one.
"Killing Me Softly" by Fugees is steady at number two as is "Return of the Mack by Mark Morrison at number three" and "Just A Girl" by No Doubt at number four. Nothing much to say about those songs.

However Tracy Bonham's "Mother Mother" which jumped up three places to number 5, this song seems to have plenty of critical acclaim and traction right now so it will be interesting to see if it can make further inroads.

Savage Garden's "I Want You" rises 5 places to number 6 this week and is one of two songs into the top ten this week.

Pearl Jam's "Who You Are" slipped two places to number seven. I don't expect this song to stay in the top ten much longer.

La Bouche gain two places with "I Love to Love" at number eight while Maxi Priest's "That Girl" with Shaggy is the second song to arrive in the top ten rising four places to number 9.

Finally "Forever Love" by Gary Barlow dropped three places to round out the top ten at number ten.

Gains

The biggest gain of the week comes from Los Del Rios and their Spanish song "Macarena" which jumped from 36 to 12. Expect to see this in the top ten next week.

Also having a huge rise is the version of the "Macarena" by Los Del Mat feat Pedro Castano which rose from 35 to 20 this week!

Huge gains also from Gloria Estefan's "Reach which went from 37 to 23 and "Not An Addict" by K's Choice from 34 to 26.

"Dune Buggy" by The Presidents of the United States of America broke into the top 20 jumping 5 places to 16

Re-Entries

Just one re-entry with You Am I's "Soldiers" back at number 42.

Losses

We have a healthy batch of losers this week mostly songs that were in the top ten in the past like "Sexual Healing" by Max-A-Million down to 45 from 30, "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)" by Coolio which slipped from 28 to 43, "Children" by Robert Miles slumped from 22 to 40 and "X-Files Theme (Version Dance)" by Triple X which dropped from 34 to 18.


New Entries

Neneh Cherry has the biggest new entry of the week with "Woman" arriving at nnumber 22.

American rock band BoDeans 'Party of Five' Theme "Closer to Free" is the second of the new entries at number 35.

Puff Johnson makes her debut on the AIA singles chart at number 36 with "Forever More".

UK house duo Umboza have arrived at number 41 with "Sunshine".

2pac has teamed up with KC and Jojo for "How Do U Want It' arriving at number 39 while finally Eric Clapton is back on the chart with "Change the World" at number 50

ARIA top ten singles/ Chart Review: August 12th. Ariana's new song enters at number four

So on the surface of things, the chart looks pretty good but when I looked beyond the top ten this week and saw the slew of absolute dirge rising or new this week, I was left with a bad feeling, it got ugly this week but as I said let's start with the top ten which isn't so bad.

"Dance Monkey" by Tones and I spends a second week at number one and really with the moster streaming sales, I don't expect this song to lose number one any time soon, it fended off former number one "Senorita" by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello which regained one place to number 2 with solid streaming and sales.

This pushed the likely biggest song of the year "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X back to number three as streaming continues to die for this song so once the digital sales follow suit, this will be gone sooner rather than later.

Then we have the biggest new entry of the week that being "Boyfriend" by Ariana Grande and Social House at number four. Now I can't help but feel as thugh there's a little bit of Ariana exhaustion creeping in here...yeah it still had good sales and streaming but I think Ariana and her management might be a little disappointed.

"Beautiful People' by Ed Sheeran and Khalid continued to remain steady at number 5 as "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish dropped to number 6 (there's a new Billie Eilish single from "When We All Fall Asleep, where do we go" on the way)

"Goodbyes" by Post Malone and Young Thug dropped one place to number seven. Post Malone confirmed last week that his third album would be dropping in September and the second single called "Circles from that album would drop this week (Check out the teaser for that song too).

The second of the Ed Sheeran songs "I Don't Care" feat. Justin Bieber dropped one place to number eight while "The Git Up" by Blanco Brown rose 1 place to number nine.

"Piece of Your Heart" by Meduza and Goodboys round out this week's top ten having dropped two places to number ten.


Gains

So the gains this week start off pretty good with the biggest being "Never Seen the Rain" by Tones and I rising from 32 to 24 this week, "Higher Love" by Kygo and Whitney Houston up seven places to 21 and "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper rebounding back up to 39.

Jessica Mauboy's "Little Things" jumped up seven places to 33.

But the good news is interupted because up six places to 14 is "No Guidance" by Chris Brow and Drake..who the hell wants that song while the atrocious "One Thing Right" by Marshmello feat. Kane Brown is up three places to 15.

Losers

Despite it being her best song of the "Lover" era so far "The Archer by Taylor Swift fell hard off it's debut last week dropping from 19 to 45. Not surprising though as it's not an official single from the album and isn't going to be getting a video.

Also dropping hard was "Don't Check on Me" by Chris Brown and Justin Bieber which dropped from 36 to 49 which is good news.

Not good news was the sudden fall of "Woke up Late" by Drax Project and Hailee Steinfeld which fell from 38 to 47 this week but even more surprisingly was that "Antisocial" by Ed Sheeran feat. Travis Scott dropped ten places to 31.

Drop Outs

The drop outs aren't worth worrying about with "Mother's Daughter" by Miley Cyrus, "Don't Give Up On Me" by Andy Grammer and "The London" by Young Thug feat. J Cole and Travis Scott all gone with only "The London" possibly making the year end list and most likely my worst hits of the year list.

New Entries

There were two other new entries alongside Ariana Grande and Social House this week with the first being the pretty unfortunately bad "F*** I'm Lonely" by Lauv and Anne-Marie at number 37 and the other new entry being Bazzi's pretty solid "I.F.L,Y" which enters at number 48 to wrap up the week.

I don't see anything challenging "Dance Monkey" for the number one spot but as usual the chart updates at 5pm AEST on Saturday.

Charting 1996. 11th August. Becaused Australia Loved Celine, she's number one

So this week took a turn for the dramatic because we have a top ten shake up that I didn't see coming including at the very top so let's get straight to it, we have a new number one that being Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me" finally hitting the top spot after a pretty damn good sales week so much so that after seven weeks at number one "Killing Me Softly" by The Fugees dropped back to number two.

"Return of the Mack" by Mark Morrison went up to number 3 switching places with No Doubt's "Just A Girl" which dropped to number four.

Then we have a trio of new entries in the top ten with the first of those being American band Pearl Jam at number five with new song "Who You are"

Take That's resident bad boy Robbie Williams has hit the charts for the first time with his cover of George Michael's "Freedom" at number six, I don't expect this song to stick around but we'll see especially given its a song coming almost straight out of Take That's split.

Speaking of Take That, Williams bandmate Gary Barlow has released his debut single "Forever Love" and lodged it at number seven this week.

All of this meant Tracy Bonham's "Mother Mother" dropped back one place to number eight but the upheaval was most felt by "Theme from Mission Impossible" by Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen which dropped four places to nine and "I Love to Love' by La Bouche slipping four to ten.


Gains

"That Girl" by Maxi Priest feat. Shaggy got an eight place jump off the debut last week to 13 while "I Want You" by Savage Garden rose nine places to 11, both these songs could concievably be in the ten next week.

Toni Braxton has broken into the top twenty with "You're Making Me High" rising six places to number 26.

However big gains were for Chynna Phillips song "I Live for You" which jumped from 44 to 29 and "Dune Bugg" by Presidents of the United States of America which jumped ten places to 21 while "Macarena" by Los Del Mar feat. Pedro Castano jumped from 46 to 35 for some unexplainable reason.

JX's "There's Nothing I won't do" rose nine places to 38.


Re-Entries

Just one re-entry which comes from Kadoc with "The Nighttrain" back at number 50.

Losers

Some former hits took some huge plunges this week, let's start with Triple X's "X-Files Theme (Version Dance)" which dropped out of the top ten to number 18 as did Bush's "Glycerine" which fell from 8 to 19 this week. Ouch. Robert Miles suffered a ten place fall with "Children" to number 22.

Former number one "Fastlove" by George Michael slid from 13 to 27 while Max-A-Million's "Sexual Healing" went from 17 to 30.


Eternal's top twenty hit "I am Blessed" dropped ten places to 24.

Crowded House's "Everythiing is Good for You" dropped ten places to 39 while Mariah Carey's "Open Arms" closed suddenly and plunged from 27 to 41.

Nine place drops were in order for Bryan Adams "Only Thing that looks good on me is you" to number 43 and for Chynna Phillips "Naked and Sacred" to 46.

New Entries

So outside the three new entries in the top ten from Pearl Jam, Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow, there were two other new entries the first of those being Los Del Rios version of "Macarena" at number 36...I have no idea if this is going to be a hit...it's catchy even if that laugh is as obnoxious as all hell.

Finally, Robert Miles returns with his new single "Fable" entering at number 45.

Top Ten Worst Hit Songs of 2011

2011 was an odd year, it felt transitional in many ways as the club boom was dying in slow motion with many acts trying to keep the party going even as there were signs that R ‘n’ B and soul were making inroads mostly for the better however while the club boom was dying, it also saw many indie acts get success they would ultimately never see again, this year also spawned plenty of classic hits both good and bad however today, we’re discussing the worst 2011 had to offer.

We begin with an established star trying to get in on the fading club boom with bad results…

10. “Til the World Ends” by Britney Spears.

If there was one established female pop artist that the early 2010s club boom was not good for, I could make the argument it is Britney Spears because “Til the World Ends” is just a mess even at a production level, her limited vocal range  just doesn’t sound good against warping synths, handclaps and heavy percussion, she actually sounds off key on in places on the chorus and while it isn’t the worst song to come out of the dying club boom, it’s certainly not good.

Speaking of bad songs from the fading club boom…

9. “We Run the Night” by Havana Brown feat. Pitbull

Casting aside Pitbull who gives the opening intro, this song is a pile up of noise, the intro is grating so its actually a relief when Havana Brown starts singing but her voice is wafer thin and lacks the presence or punch before launching into this bridge and chorus where she just wails, it sounds awful and oh more headache inducing noises. Ugh. I don’t mind my fair share of bad dance pop this ain’t it, probably says a lot that Havana Brown hasn’t really had a presence on the charts since.

I am a fan of this next artist but in 2011, the name of the song really represented something I had begun to wonder in 2011 regarding her music.

8. “What the Hell” by Avril Lavigne

So by 2011, Avril was releasing some pretty darn obnoxious music, I hated her previous album at the time “The Best Damn Thing” and when she released this song, it was more of what I found frustrating about Avril, immature obnoxious lyrics combined with bad production. “What the Hell” is the perfect example of bad writing because she’s in a relationship where this guy is in love with her and catches her out making out with his best friend however Avril is passing it off as having fun, what the? That is just completely messed up and completely unfair, this song sucks…ugh.

Another year end worst list, another Rihana song finds its way here…

7. “S&M” by Rihanna

I would swear this is the most unsexy song to reference bondage in pop music this decade with the gurgling bass that sounds like absolute turd and Rihanna sounding anything other than excited about the ‘chains and whips’ even the obnoxious backing vocals with the “na na come on come on” are more excited about the possibility of bondage than Rihanna!. Ugh.

Now for a song that I’ve always hated by an artist I have begun to like although with this song you may question why.

6. “The Lazy Song” by Bruno Mars

This song is the worst thing that Bruno Mars could have possibly written, it starts off with “Today I don’t feel like doing anything”…well you are doing something you are singing about not doing anything when you are actually doing something and references to actually doing things are all over the song so he isn’t actually doing nothing. Also messing around and getting your college degree at the same time is kind of stupid given how hard most people have to work to get those.

I think this was year that finally showed me Maroon 5 were going the wrong way and becoming more sterile…

5. “Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera.

This song began Maroon 5’s spiral into becoming the Adam Levine Experience and making into some of the most sterile pop music of the decade although yes there is an argument that this song has some flavour that’s completely over ridden by the annoying whistling, Adam Levine sounding like he was desperate for a toilet break during the recording of the song and Christina Aguilera’s way too enthusiastic delivery in a song all about putting moves like Mick Jagger on someone like they are vaguely going to be impressed you can dance like Mick Jagger. This song is gross at best and atrocious at worst, yet it only sits at number 5, what could possibly be worse?

You know, I get the feeling this next act were created to be obnoxious and annoying otherwise there’s absolutely no reason this song should exist.

4. “Champagne Showers” by LMFAO and Natalia Kills

At some point in 2011, I think I got sick of LMFAO as it’s 15 minutes of fame were running out and Redfoo tried his level best to extend his longer by making Australian TV appearances but “Champagne Showers” while not being the worst thing LMFAO released, it still manages to sound like something Will.i.am managed to cock up with Natalia Kills vocals reduced to chipmunk fragments with what sounds like screaming on the chorus.

By the way let’s remind ourselves of what a ‘champagne shower’ is courtesy of Urban Dictionary…on second thought, let’s not…ewww…

Although while LMFAO were an obnoxious presence on the 2011 charts, there was one band who were doing their best to be incredibly obnoxious in their own way…

3. “Tonight Tonight” by Hot Chelle Rae.

Look, it comes as no surprise this song is here after all it has appeared on most other critics year end worst lists for 2011 because it is truly one of the biggest pieces of shitty pop rock this decade. This guy whinges in the very first verse about having a ‘messed up’ week where his girlfriend cheated on him and he is going to quit her after he described the week as being TORTURE, yeah sure girlfriend cheating on you sucks but it really doesn’t fit into the realm of being torture then they are going to shrug it off with some party on a rooftop somewhere…seriously. This song gets worse to with the vocals being an absolute joke. I would take SIMPLE PLAN over this. Hot Chelle Rae maybe the early 2010s incantation of bloody AJR except without the annoying chipmunk fragments that AJR smother their songs in.

This next pick is controversial more because I know plenty of people like or love this song however I…well…

2. “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People

So I finally have an opportunity to give this song the thoroughly due thrashing it deserves for being a limp piece of indie rock that the end of the club boom meant more indie rock and pop was appearing more on the charts but none the less while “Pumped Up Kicks” might well be an ‘anti-gun’ song I just can’t stand the wimpy sounding chorus and the grating whistling that comes with it and lacks the darkness it needs to get across its message, it just seems creepily cheerful in a way that it’s really rather unpleasant to listen to.

Well, this was predictable…I said LMFAO would appear again and here they are…

1.   1. "Sexy and I Know It” by LMFAO

This song typifies EVERYTHING that was wrong with popular music in 2011 or at least the club boom party which thank god was coming to an end in terms of the fact that it’s a fucking pointless and stupidly generic song. This song is repetitive garbage from the beat to the lyrics, its lazy and reminds me in a awful way of how painfully obnoxious 3OH!3 were in 2010. The third verse repeats ‘wiggle’ into incoherence three years before bloody Jason DeRulo got hold of that infuriating word in 2014. Fortunately LMFAO’s 15 minutes of fame ran out and they haven’t been heard from in years, good fucking riddance.

ARIA Singles chart top ten/ Chart Review: 5th August. Dance Monkey dances to number one

So this is the sort of thing that happens when a long term number one finally falls off the top spot, the bunfight is on in earnest to see who will take the number one and yes, this week saw a second new number one in two weeks this time from Australian singer/songwriter Tones and I with "Dance Monkey" becoming the first Australian song to hit the top of the ARIA singles chart since "Be Alright" by Dean Lewis last year and just the ninth number one single in Australia for 2019 (just shows how dominant "Old Town Road" has been). Now, "Dance Monkey" looks like it might have some staying power too as its dominant on streaming and on digital sales.

I would say "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X, which held onto number two this week, is a chance going back to number one but it spent the week losing ground on streaming and on digital sales.

So what of last week's number one "Senorita" by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello? It dropped rwo places to number three and while it's still strong on sales on and streaming, I don't see it going back to number one unless there's an unexpected boost for it still in the pipeline.

All of this places "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish in an awkward place in spite of remaining at number four because its leaking on streaming and on sales, it may not too much longer in the top ten.

Same could be said for "Beautiful People" by Ed Sheran feat. Khalid at number five and "Goodbyes" Post Malone feat. Young Thug stuck at number six and for former number one "I Don't Care" by Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber at number seven although in the latter's case, it's hopefully heading for the top ten exit.

Meduza and Goodboys hit "Piece of Your Heart" remains steady at number eight given a good streaming week, same could be said for "Someone You Loved" by Lewis Capaldi remaining at number nine.

Finally we have a new song hitting the top ten and it's the first time for Blanco Brown with "The Git Up" up one place to number 10. Which is fine by me because I still like the song.

Gains

The gains this week mostly suck, it's not a good sign that the biggest gain was for "One Thing Right" by Marshmello and Kane Brown which jumped from 28 to 18 his week or that "Lalala" by Y2K and BBNOs rose nine to 16.

Even worse "No Guidance" by Chris Brown feat. Drake is up nine to be back in the top 20 at number 20.

The only gains that might be good news is the four place rise for "Little Things by Jessica Mauboy to number 40 and "Never Seen the Rain" by Tones and I rising six places to 32.

Losers

The losers this week are a bit of a strange old bag with Miley Cyrus's "Mothers Daughter" dropping like a stone this week, it fell eleven places to 48.

Strangely there was an eight place drop to 28 for Kygo's "Higher Love" (feat. Whitney Houston) and an eight place drop to 24 for "South of the Border" by Ed Sheeran feat. Camila Cabello and Cardi B while Sheeran's "Antisocial" feat. Travis Scott dropped from 13 to 21. Ouch.

Also falling hard was "Panini" by Lil Nas X which dropped seven places to 30.

Drop Outs

All threee drop outs are inconsequential to the year end lists with none of them going to make it. Ed Sheeran's "Remember the Name" feat. Eminem and 50 Cent and "Best Part Of Me" feat. Yebba are gone.
As is "Mood 4 Eva" by Beyonce feat. Jay-Z and Childish Gambino

New Entries

There weere three new entries to the ARIA top 50 singles this week, the biggest debut went to Taylor Swift witb "The Archer" shooting in at 19.

The Chainsmokers feat. Ilenium and Lennon Stella grabbed number 34 with "Takeaway" while NF is in at number 39 with "Time"

So that wraps up the week. I can see "Dance Monkey taking a strangle hold on number one for awhile but with Ariana's new single set to hit the chart, things could get interesting, the chart will update on Saturday at 5pm AEST

Charting 1996 4th August: Tracy Bonham breaks into top ten and everything's FINE

So I have pretty much given up on trying to predict how the chart is going to play from week to week because right now it is just puire guess work but none the less let's start with the top ten where for yet another week, it's "Killing Me Softly" by Fugees at number one and it still looks pretty rock solid at number one, it's closest challenger is Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me" which moved up one place to number two, there could be a chance this goes to number one if there is a dramatic fall away for "Killing Me Softly"

No Doubt's "Just A Girl" got a one place rise to sit at number three as did Mark Morrison's "Return of the Mack" to number, actually these two songs and "Because You Loved Me" benefitted from the sudden three place drop to number five for "Theme from Mission Impossible" by Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen to number five.

La Bouche continue their steady rise up the chart with their single "I Love to Love" rises three places to number six.

One of the biggest movers of the week is Tracey Bonham's "Mother Mother" which climbed a massive eleven places to sit at number seven this week, hell, it meant that Bush's "Glycerine" suffered a two place drop to number eight.

Triple X's "X-Files Theme (Version Dance)" regains some ground by jumping one spot to number nine while Gina G's "Ooh Aah....Just a Little Bit" dropped two places tio number 10.

Gains

Big gains into the top 20 for The Corrs with "Forgiven, Not Forgotten" moving up six places to 15 and Savage Garden up 7 places to 20 with "I Want You"

But biggest gain of the week belongs to Toni Braxton's "You're Makin' Me High" up to 26 from 44  while Everclear climbed from 31 to 25 with "Santa Monica (Watch the World Die)"

Human Nature jumped from 46 to 30 with "Tellin' Everybody" and Tevin Campbell hit 32 from 45 with "Back to the World"

Re-Entries

Two returns this week with the best of them being at number 43 which comes from The Cranberries single "Free to Decide", the other is A.K Soul feat Jocelyn Brown at number 50 with "Show You Love"


Losers

Some big losers this week namely The Tony Rich Project losing all steam and dropping from 12 to 23 with "Nobody Knows".

Bryan Adams rather creepy "The Only thing that looks good on me is You" deservedly fell ten places to 34. Similar for Chynna Phillips with "Naked and Sacred" down ten to 35, there's going to be more about Chynna in a second when we get to the new entries.

Amanda Marshall suffered an eight place drop to 38 with "Let it Rain" while Crowded House slipped six places with "Everything is Good for you" going to 29.

The biggest fall of the week was for Eclipse with "Look of Love" stumbling from 32 to 49.

Finally, Robert Miles hit "Children" fell out of the top ten this week as it tripped over and cried its way down four places to number 11


New Entries

The biggest new entry of the week comes from Maxi Priest who has teamed up with Shaggy for a song called "That Girl" wbich has entered at number 21 thus becoming the biggest new entry of the week,

I mentioned in the losers that Chynna Philliips would pop up in the new entries which she does as her new single "I Live For You" arrives at number 44.

The most interestng of the new entries is a Spanish language song from Los Del Mar feat. Pedro Castano called "Macarena"...I'll be fascinated to see if this dance song catches on in anyway on the Australian charts.

Finally wrapping up the week, JX is in for the first week at number 47 with "There's Nothing I won't do"

Top ten best hit songs of 2010

So like I said in the worst hits of 2010, it was not a good year for the ARIA chart mostly because of the club boom and the songs within that but then those outside of the club boom ignoring it and pretending it wasn’t happening however I have managed to find ten songs that I think are worthy of this list so let’s get stuck into the top ten best songs of 2010.

We begin with an Aussie band that had a little song that did surprisingly well on the charts in 2010…

10. “Plans” by Birds of Tokyo

Originally when I made this list as a draft, I placed it at number two mainly because I was in the middle of an infatuation with this particular song but as time went on, it kind of faded on me a little but this song still does an incredible amount right, the slow build through the verses and into that chorus with that guitar and drums that are missing a fair bit in the modern pop scene and front man Ian Kenny’s vocals are just superb on this song. Birds of Tokyo continue to rack up minor to moderate hits on the ARIA chart to this day with “Good Lord” being their most recent hit.

So still on the pop rock vein of things…Scouting for Girls!

9. “This ain’t a Love Song” by Scouting for Girls

This only barely scraped onto the 2010 year end list and I for one am glad it did as Scouting for Girls sing about a relationship that soured to point of them throwing the whole thing away and how he’ll recover from the end of the relationship and that she won’t be keeping him down and the instrumentation hints at there being more drama to come between the pair with the guitars and orchestral swell. Good job!.

This song was one of the biggest hits of 2010 and for good reason…

8. “Fireflies” by Owl City

Look, this song might have made it higher on the list if it didn’t start coming across as completely twee and its unfortunate that Owl City has in recent times released less than impressive music but “Fireflies” has also been that one Owl City song to come back to where he describes being kept awake by bugs and dealing with insomnia over an oddball synthline, yeah, I don’t think time has been kind to this song but it still deserves to be here regardless.

She might have made my worst list but that doesn’t prevent her from landing a song on my best list…

7. “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry

This is the Katy Perry I love, the one way she’s just going the silly pop songs, having fun and we all should be too because “Teenage Dream” is that song about being in head over heels in love and going all the way with no regrets and being the girl that this guy fantasised about as a teenager, its just the perfect beach pop song. Nice job, Katy.

As I mentioned earlier 2010 was the year of the club boom and right at the centre of the boom was Ke$ha with her brand loud, brash and kind of bratty music but if you want a song from her where the party curdled for a turn to the dark.

6. “Take It Off” by Ke$ha

Okay so this sound might sound very similar to the GWS Giants song and given one of those behind the writing of “Take It Off” would be the cause of so much heartache for Kesha but regardless of all that, “Take It off” is awesome as Kesha proceeds to describe a visit to a bar where everyone filthy, drunk, or wasted (possibly all three) with its electro infused beat plus the auto tune but Kesha just owns the relentless hedonism this track and indeed the club boom as a whole seemed to gravitate towards. Great song!

I won’t have many chances to talk about Florence and the Machine on year end lists so I am taking the opportunity here and now.

5. “You’ve Got the Love” by Florence and the Machine

When I did this list originally I had this song at number one, a decision I wrestled with because it didn’t quite feel like the right one and one that I couldn’t possibly justify because while it’s a cover of Candi Station’s 1986 hit, Florence and the Machine turned this song into a epic despite it being shorter than Station’s original. This cover brings forth a sense of euphoria with its instrumentation and Florence Welch’s belting. While I couldn’t justify it being number one, it deserves a place on this list.

Never dreamed of seeing this guy on an ARIA chart end of year hit list either but hey it was 2010…

4. “Just Haven’t Met You Yet” by Michael Buble

Michael Buble is just about the last person I’d expect to see in amongst the sea of Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, B.O.B (We’ll get to him). Kesha and a whole slew of club boom songs but none the less this jaunty and somewhat fun song from Canadian crooner ended up being a hit for him possibly because radio was looking in weird places to find songs that didn’t tilt straight into the club boom so much so it peaked at number nine on the ARIA singles chart, I can see why though with Buble oozing easy charisma as he sings about just not having met the right woman for him. Lovely song.

So I mentioned B.O.B before, a rapper who showed in the early 2010s that he had plenty of talent and it was never more evident when he teamed up with a future popular music superstar for this…

3. “Nothin’ On You” by B.O.B feat. Bruno Mars

Man, if you wanted to talk about wasted potential…B.O.B was that…he has three songs on the ARIA year end list with “Airplanes” feat. Hayley Williams and “Magic” feat. Rivers Cuomo but its “Nothin’ On You” that makes the list because its just a charming song where B.O.B doesn’t want any other girl In his life other than his girlfriend and yes there are a few cheesy lines like “You’re my wonder woman call me Mr Fantastic” that triggered some raised eyebrows but its that hook sold by Bruno Mars that really threw the song this high on the list, it’s just perfect with that piano and Mars crooning his way over the hook.

So I’ve never really cared for this band all that much, sure they have songs I like…like this one…

2. “The Only Exception” by Paramore.

In a year where it felt like music wasn’t going to let the party slow down and take a breath, this guitar lead ballad from US pop punk band Paramore was the perfect breather where Paramore’s lead vocalist Hayley Williams is the star of the show with her delivery just perfect for a song about the protagonist believing that love doesn’t exist and is trying to live without it but then realizing that love does exist with this one person in her life, it’s just such a sweet song and am glad this reached the year end list.

As I said earlier, Florence and the Machine’s “You Got the Love” would have been my number one pick when I drafted this list and while that song is great, I couldn’t ignore this song from an artist who really was grabbing the headlines in 2010…

1.   Alejandro” by Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga was going to make this list in one way or the other with one of either “Bad Romance” or this song making the list and while “Bad Romance” is decent, “Alejandro” is just even better, it’s a song that sees Lady Gaga saying goodbye to her former lovers realizing that the relationship just isn’t working out. In fact by the end of the song, she’s bidded farewell to three former lovers, it shows Lady Gaga at her least weird and most vulnerable but I think the reason why I like this song comes more in the production where “Alejandro” sounds like an Abba combined with Ace of Base song especially in terms of the vocals and melody, it’s a fantastic song and more than deserves to top this list.