ARIA Singles top 50 top ten/ Chart Review: 18th October. A Ghost and his Money

So we got a quiet week again with two new entries that hit below the top twenty five and some scattered movement through the rest of the chart before the big disruptions over the rest of the year as artists race to get new music out in time for Christmas. Anyway let's get to the top ten because for a fourteenth week, it's "Stay" by The Kid Laroi feat. Justin Bieber remains at number one and it looks like this week might be the song's final week at number one with Adele turning up next week to likely take top spot because there's no way now that "Stay" could possibly match the outrageous streaming numbers Adele is already posting.

Adele's arrival next week also likely means the chances of "Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)" by Elton John and Dua Lipa , this week stuck at number two, getting to number one are also remote because it has less streaming than "Stay", sales can only do so much. 

"Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran is steady and at number three while his other single "Shivers" actually moved up one to number four. I am not ruling these two songs out from getting number one  just yet given Ed Sheeran's latest album is still to come.

"Shivers' pushed "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals back to number five as it finally starts to lose traction on streaming...dear god...can we be done with this song once and for all?

"Inidustry Baby" by Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow remains at number six then there's the two place gain for "Happier Than Ever" by Billie Eilish to number seven which I am absolutely thrilled about...love seeing this doing well.

It pushed "That's What I Want" by Lil Nas X back one to number eight and "love nwantiti" by Ckay back to number nine. 

Rounding out the top ten is 'Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo at number ten and will likely be the song that exits top ten next week 

Gains

So "Love Tonight" by Shouse picked up eleven places to number 22 while "Peaches" by Justin Bieber feat. Daniel Caesar and Giveon rebounded seven places to 32 and "Alone With You" by Arz up six spots to 43.

Unfortunately bad songs also rose with "Out Out Out" by Joel Corry, Jax Jones, Charli XCX and Saweetie climbed eight to 42  and traction for "Life Goes On" by Oliver Tree climbed seven to 34

Losers

Not much to say here on the losers front either with 'Hurricane" by Kanye West feat. Lil Baby and The Weeknd slipped seven places to 47 while "Obsessed with You" by Central Cee slumped seven places to 37

Drop Outs

"Friday" by Riton and Nightcrawlers feat. Mufasa and Hyperman dropped out having safely secured it's place on the year end list for 2021 taking with it "Dry" by Rancid Eddie because the streaming momentum died in days.

New Entries

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

49. "Money" by Lisa

So Lisa is the latest rapper/singer from Blackpink to go solo with this being her latest single and it getting traction from the current Netflix hit of the moment 'Squid Game" and wow, this might be lowkey awful, a pretty standard generic song about spending money where the problems with production, the pile up of noises to approximate money in cash registers and that awful long trumpet note at the beginning that made me think that this was 2015 Jason DeRulo or Fifth Harmony and that somebody had pressed all the buttons on the trumpet at once and it's not even mixed properly to sound good here.

This will be a hit because of the show it's associated with...nothing else...

28. "Ghost" by Justin Bieber

Should have expected another single from "Justice" but this time around, it's probably the best choice of single from the album that the record label have made even if you do have to point out that Bieber is still being beyond clingy and if the song was given to a more interesting artist than Justin Bieber then we might have got something excellent but yeah the song as it is still well executed and Bieber is delivering the lyrics with some passion and intensity that I've not heard in recent material...he is normally very easy to ignore which isn't the case here and considering it's competition this week...yeah, this is still good.

It gets the best of the week this week, no question about it. There's also no contest for worst of the week with "Money" by Lisa taking that.

Next week...Adele likely debuts at number one, we'll find out when the chart updates at 5pm AEDT on Friday.

Good 1992 Vibrations. 11th October. Keep It Comin' at the end of the Road

 We have got ourselves a cooldown week here, sure the top ten is pretty busy and there's still the usual flurry of movement up and down the chart but there were only two new entries this week so I'll take this week like this when I can so let's dive straight into the top ten where for a second week "Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus, look, this unfortunately seems to be locked in for a long stint at number one, it's romping it in sales.

Although taking advantage of having strength in sales over the songs around is "The Best Things in Life Are Free" by Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson which climbed five places to number two which ensured it pushed it's way past "Life is a Highway" by Tom Cochrane down one spot to number three and "Amigos para Siempre (Friends For Life)" by Jose Carreras and Sarah Brightman which slipped one place to number four.

Recovering one spot after it's surprise collapse last week is "Humpin' Around" by Bobby Brown to number five. However the movement in the top five was bad for Snap's "Rhythm is a Dancer" which just got pushed down two to number six.

"November Rain" by Guns 'n' Roses dried up down two places to number seven, it's coming under pressure from our latest arrival to the top ten that being 'Love is in the Air" by John Paul Young up three places to number eight thanks to the hype from the "Strictly Ballroom" movie...sigh...

The other song to remain steady at number nine is "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix A Lot...I am not certain about this song's future in the top ten. Finally "Sesame's Treet" by Smart Es slipped two places to number ten...good/

Gains

Well there's good news in the gains this week as "The Day You Went Away" by Wendy Matthews rose six places to number eleven! This definitely has the momentum to be a top ten hit which is awesome.

Not so great is "Love How You Love Me" by Teen Queen rising from 35 to 14! We really don't need to be doing this, Australia.

Also not impressed that Riff's "White Men can't Jump" climbed fourteen to 16 however I am fine with "Ain't no Doubt" by Jimmy Nail climbing from 33 to 18 this week (it's a dorky song that just works for me...I don't know why)

Girlfriend's "Without You" broke into the top twenty up four to number 20 however I am also thrilled that "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" by Patty Smyth and Don Henley climbing from 44 off it's debut to 29...I'll take that!

Same goes for "Digging in the Dirt" by Peter Gabriel which climbed six spots to 33 but can we not also let "Neighbor" by Ugly Kid Joe be a thing? It climbed ten spots to 35...why?

Re Entries

Just the one return with "Heaven Knows" by Rick Price back at number 47. 

Losers. 

Most of our big losers seem to be in the bottom half of the chart with "Who Is It" by Michael Jackson down eleven to 45 (this song has never really caught on which is kind of disappointing because it's probably one of Michael's better songs)

Unsurprisingly "Hey Hey We're the Broncos" by Ipswich Connection slumped from 28 to 44 this week. Novelty songs haven't young around too well this year so far.

"Too Funky" by George Michael slipped from 41 to 36 while "This Used to be My Playground" by Madonna plunged from 31 to 37 this week.

"Boy in the Moon" by Margaret Urlich slipped from 22 to 27 (surprised ARIA even remembered to put this song on the chart...that's how forgettable it is). Richard Marx suffered an eight place slip with "Take This Heart" to 26. 

"It's Not Over" bv The Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines fell from 16 to 22. 

New Entries

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

50. "Keep it Comin' (Dance til You Can't Dance No More)" by C & C Music Factory feat. Q Unique and Deborah Cooper.

Okay so it's time for another run in with C & C Music Factory, this time they've brought Puerto Rican Ameican rapper Q Unique and American singer and back up singer Deborah Cooper along for the vocals. Q Unique provides the hype and pretty strong verse so maybe this song won't be a completely annoying headache even if the production does sound like previous C & C Music Factory songs. I think the only element that doesn't quite work here is Deborah Cooper on the hook, she doesn't quite bring the same energy to it as Q Unique does which kind of makes her hook easy to ignore to a degree. Not too bad...I kind of expected worse.

40. "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men

And here we have a song that was written by Babyface for the soundtrack of the movie Boomerang and performed a quartet calling themselves Boyz II Men, it's a pretty standard pop r'n'b ballad with plenty of piano and guitar forming the instrumentation of the song, it's fine on that front but the issue I have here is the lyrics, they are pretty darn clingy especially as it's noted this relationship between the writer and this girl has come to an end and she has quite clearly moved on and most likely met somebody else yet the writer wants her to come back and is refusing to except the relationship has reached the end which is kind of infuriatingly clingy and really almost kind of ugly. I don't hate this but this still isn't good.

So yeah, much to my surprise, Boyz II Men take the worst of the week here for "End of the Road while "Keep It Comin' (Dance Til You Can't Dance No More)" by C & C Music Factory feat. Q Unique and Deborah Cooper takes the best of the week...it's not perfect but this week, it's better than it's competition.

ARIA Singles Top 50 Top Ten/Chart Review: 11th October. Alone with You Dry is Out Out

 So this week with the announcement that there's a new single from Adele on the way, it kind of feels lie everyone and everything just kind of went on hold or especially in the top half of the top ten, you would think so so let's start there where "Stay" by The Kid Laroi  featuring Justin Bieber snared a 13th week at number one but like I said last week, sales are nowhere near as good as they were anv the margins it was enjoying on streaming are narrowing thanks to "Cold Heart (Pnau remix)" by Elton John and Dua Lipa which remained at number two, the question is whether it can take number one next week knowing that Adele is likely going to sweep all before it away the week after...

"Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran maintained it's hold at number three while the incredibly annoying "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals kept hold of number four.

"Shivers" by Ed Sheeran rebounded one spot to number five as streaming got a boost this week, it pushed past "Industry Baby" by Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow back one spot to number six.

Following behind is "That's What I Want" by Lil Nas X rebounding one spot to number seven as it got a boost on streaming this week..I'm pretty happy about that.

Then we have the viral hit "love nwantiti" by Ckay up five to number eight this thanks to traction on streaming. 

Speaking of boosts on streaming. "Happier than Ever" by Billie Eilish is back in the top ten up two spots to number nine thanks to the streaming success of the edited version of this song which sees the slow beginning stripped out and keeping the rock end of the song which for me does see the song lose a bit of it's pathos but hey regardless, I'm happy to see the song back in the top ten.

All this pushed "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo down one spot to complete the top ten at number ten.

Gains

Interestingly "Knife Talk" by Drake feat. 21 Savage and Project Pat climbed six places to 21...a song that looks like being a hit for Drake surprisingly.

"Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd up three to 35 and "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac also up three to 36. 

Unfortunately the biggest gain of the week belongs to "Life Goes On" by Oliver Tree which jumped eight places to 41, also unfortunate is the three place gain for "Fancy Like" by Walker Hayes to 47.

Losers

Slipping seven places to 48 is "Friday" by Riton and Nightcrawlers feat. Mufasa and Hyperman while "Hurricane" by Kanye West feat. Lil Baby and The Weeknd was the biggest loser of the week down eleven to 40. 

Clinton Kane's "I Guess I'm in Love" slipped five places to 37 while "Without You" by The Kid Laroi feat. Miley Cyrus slumped five places to 29.

Then there's Drake album bomb tacks like "Way 2 Sexy" feat. Future and Young Thug falling four places to 27, "Girls want Girls" feat. Lil Baby down eight to 26 and "Fair Trade" feat Travis Scott sliding seven places to 23.

Finally "My Universe" by Coldplay feat. BTS skidded seven places to 14, yeah it's disappointing but not unsurprising.

Drop Outs

The three drop outs this week aren't surprising with "Like  I Can" by Sam Smith, "Visiting Hours" by Ed Sheeran and "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" all taking their expected exits.

New Entries

We've got three new entries this week, let's begin with...

50. "Out Out" by Joel Corry, Jax Jones, Charli XCX and Saweetie

Well it was only a matter of time before this turned up on the Australian charts, it is in the top ten in the United Kingdom even if I think the name recognition alone would have got the song charting eventually... just a shame the song is not very good...not even Charli XCX putting her standard excellent vocal performance can save this with the shrill instrumentation, it's not even got a groove that would get a person up on the dancefloor and I kind of blame both Joel Corry and Jax Jones for that...all of the artists involved in this song can do so much better. 

49. "Alone With You" by Aez

So this is a song I have seen hanging around the lower end of the Australian Spotify top 50, it comes from a 17 year old independent rapper calling himself Arz with "Alone with You" becoming a thing on the charts when the song went viral on Tik Tok as per most charting hits these days and well, it turns out this is a pretty sweet love song with Arz expressing his feelings about a girl but being an awkward 17 year old the easiest way for him  to do so is through music, what is sweet is how he wants to protect her because she's special and one of a kind. Yeah...I wouldn't mind this blowing up. Not bad!

17. "Dry" by Rancid Eddie

So now for the biggest new entry of the week...Rancid Eddie are a Melbourne backyard rock band that have been in the news lately for pissing off the neighbours with amount of noise they make even while Melbourne is supposed to be in lockdown, the band apparently have a rather cheeky and irreverent approach to song writing with this song about the sex not being very nice when the spark and love has gone out of the relationship so the sex doesn't feel as good. Overall the song reminds me of early Arctic Monkeys except its a rowdy singalong at a pub in Melbourne. I just wish the guitars roared a little more and I don't see it sticking around on the chart either way so ehh.

That wraps up the week with best and worst falling out easily here. Worst is going to "Out Out" by Joel Corry, Jax Jones, Charli XCX and Saweetie which really is just a massive waste of talent however the best of the week is going to "Alone with You" by Arz..

As for next week, possibly that debut solo single from former Little Mix member Jesy Nelson who brought Nicki Minaj along with her, possibly Spacey Jane but we'll have to see when the chart updates on Friday at 5pm

Good 1992 Vibrations. 4th October. Hey Hey Sometimes Love Just Ain't Good

 Ugh. This is one of those weeks that was better and worse in a lot of ways. Worse when you look at the top ten but on the better side some of the gains are at least better? But anyway let's not waste anymore time and get to the top ten where we have a new number one..."Achy Breaky Heart' by Billy Ray Cyrus surged to take the number one spot as sales kicked into gear hard with this song helping it climb the three places to the top of the summit.

However right behind it is "Life is a Highway" by Tom Cochrane up one spot to number two...it's sales have been really good but just not enough to match those of "Achy Breaky Heart" but it was enough to move part "Amigos Para Siempre (Friends for Life)" by Jose Carreras and Sarah Brightman which slipped down to number three as it gracefully starts to move out of the top ten.

Snap's "Rhythm is a Dancer" rebounded one spot to number four while "November Rain" by Guns 'n' Roses also rebounded one to number five however the reason both these songs rebounded is that "Humpin' Around" by Bobby Brown fell hardcore losing the number one spot and stumbling five places to number six.

Continuing it's rise is "Best Things in Life are Free" by Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson which got a three place boost to number seven. Nice!

It pushed "Sesame's Treet" by Smart E's down one to number eight, "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix A Lot back one to number nine and "Please Don't Go" by K.W.S finishing the top ten down one at number ten. 

Gains.

Alright so let's deal with some of these gains, on the good to excellent side is the massive gains for "The Day You Went Away" by Wendy Matthews leaping from 30 to 17 this week...be nice to see this song hit the top ten eventually. I also welcome the gains for "Tennessee" by Arrested Development which climbed from 22 to 14.  I can even tolerate that "Do You Want Me" by Felix climbed from 36 to 29.

Hell, I'm even okay with "Ain't No Doubt" by Jimmy Nail gettin a five place gain to 38 and "Breaking the Girl" by Red Hot Chili Peppers rising six places to 38. 

I am not so happy that Kylie Minogue's "What Kind of Fool (Heard All That Before)" rose from 37 to 25. Kylie has done better, Australia. Come on.

Re entries

Just one new entry and it comes from Def Leppard who returned at 48 with "Have You Ever Really Needed Someone So Bad" 

Losers

Bryan Adams is thankfully on his way out of the top 50 with "All I Want Is You" down seven to 40, the same can be said for "Even Better Than The Real Thing" by U2 down eight to 49. 

Girlfriend's "Girl's Life" just utterly collapsed from 31 to 43 this week as it seems like they've turned their attention to promoting "Without You"

Former top ten hit "Too Funky" by Geore Michael dived from 24 to 37 this week while the wispy and insubstantial "Love How You Love Me" by Teen Queens fell ten places off their debut to hit 35. 

More top ten hits fell hard alongside "Too Funky" though with "This Used to Be My Playground" by Madonna slipped from 27 to 31 while "Everything's Alright" by John Farnham, Kate Ceberano and Jon Stevens fell ten places to 21 and "As Ugly As They Wanna Be" by Ugly Kid Joe slumped seven spots to 20.

New Entries

Three new entries this week, let's start with...

44. "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" by Patty Smyth with Don Henley

Well this is a sombre way to start a review of the songs debuting on the chart this week but here we have this rock ballad duet between Patty Smyth and Don Henley. The song was co written by Smyth and Glen Burtnik with the lyrics referring to the end of a relationship where both people are looking to move on with their lives and make sense of the aftermath of the break up where love just wasn't enough to keep the couple together despite the residual feelings for each other being there but both people acknowledge that it's probably for the best the relationship ends, it's a dark and kind of harrowing song that yeah, hurts. If this makes the year end expect to see this on my best list somewhere. 

40. "Something Good" by Utah Saints

Now to lighten the mood here with English electronic duo Utah Saints (strange name for an English duo...I know) with "Something Good" being the first song from the EP. Now this song contains a sample of Kate Bush's song "Cloudbusting" (a UK top 20 hit in 1985 for Kate Bush) and when I say the Kate Bush sample is the best thing about this song if you can hear her over the noisy patter of drums and other electronic elements in the mix along with the voice screaming "Utah Saints" into shrill incoherence, yeah I have no tolerance for songs that sound like they'd be good for audio torturing somebody so yeah...PASS!

28. "Hey Hey We're The Broncos" by Ipswich Connection

So rugby league is on the ARIA singles chart courtesy of the Brisbane Broncos with a group known as Ipswich Connection that comprises of  Btoncos players Allan Langer and the Walters twins Kerrod and Kevin. Now this is a parody of the 1966 hit by The Monkees called "Hey Hey We're the Monkees". Look, I don't really have much to say about this song mostly because it is a parody and basically a hype song for the Brisbane Broncos rugby league team but I will say some of these lyrics are hilarious.."Hey hey, we're the Broncos and we're not horsin' around" just makes me giggle. Look, it's harmless, check it out.

That completes our surprisingly short week and both best and worst fall out easily here, with the worst going to "Something Good" by Utah Saints because yeah...that was intolerable however "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" by Patty Smyth with Don Henley runs away with the best of the week and that wasn't a contest

ARIA Singles top 50 top ten/Chart Review. 4th October. My Universe Goes On for Life

So after the chaos of the last couple of weeks, we might have a couple of quiet weeks here because yeah, this week felt slower even if we have some moves in the top ten and our long running number one starting to show some signs of weakness so let's get to that top ten shall we? 

"Stay" by The Kid Laroi featuring Justin Bieber spends a 12th week at number one but it's starting to show signs of weakness on streaming, those margins aren't as strong as they once were a few weeks ago, this upcoming week could be telling about whether it gets any longer at number one.

"Cold Heart (PNAU remix" by Elton John and Dua Lipa rose one place to number two as it took the sales lead this week, just needs to start getting some strength together on streaming and it may well be a contender for number one if a certain female artist doesn't show up in the next few weeks or it could see it's run for number one neutered.

However it was enough to move past "Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran, it's starting to suffer from having competition from his own songs for that presence on streaming especially from "Shivers"

"Heat Waves" renaissance continues for Glass Animals as it rose one spot to number four this week. I am really ready for this song to be gone but it did force "Industry Baby" by Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow back one spot to number five while "Shivers" by Ed Sheeran held it's place at number six.

A new arrival on the chart this week debuts in the top ten at number seven that being "My Universe" by Coldplay and BTS thanks to sales of multiple different versions of the song but the original version did sell well all week and has had some growing traction on streaming however it's usually almost always the second week where songs involving BTS fall back so we'll see if it has any longevity going forward.

It forced "That's What I Want" by Lil Nas X back to number eight and "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo back to number nine.

Finally "Beggin'" by Maneskin remained steady at number ten.

Gains

So a song that looks like it is going to be absolutely huge is "Love nwantiti (Ah ah ah)" by Ckay up ten places to number 13 while "Obsessed With You" by Central Cee also climbed ten places to number 31. 

"Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd climbed six places to 38. 

Losers

Sam Smith's "Like I Can" slipped seven spots to 47 while as I predicted last week "Visiting Hours"  by Ed Sheeran continues to make it's way out down 14 places to 46.

Unsurprisingly the biggest loser of the week was  "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" down 15 spots to 43. 

"Get Into It (Yuh)" by Doja Cat has lost all of it's momentum as it slipped nine to 42 and "Hurricane" by Kanye West feat. Lil Baby and the Weeknd slumped seven spots to 29. 

Drop Outs

Just the two drop outs this week with "Moon" by Kanye West and "I Wanna Be Your Slave" by Maneskin both leaving.

New Entries

Just the two new entries this week, let's start with

49. "Life Goes On" by Oliver Tree

So this is one of a couple of songs to go viral this week (there's another one likely debuting on the chart next week) with this one courtesy of TikTok although can I ask if we're going to have songs go viral and chart, can the song at least be good because this is really god damn annoying with Oliver Tree repeating "on and on and on" ad nauseum with the gang vocals chanting "yeah yeah" in the background. This is beyond asinine repetitive and the production sounds like elephants farting. Not good.

7. 'My Universe" by Coldplay and BTS

So here we have the latest single for Coldplay for their upcoming new album called "Music of the Spheres" which is due out later this month, this time bringing BTS on board for added traction and well it's about as synth pop as "Higher Power" with the lyrics playing the basic sentiment of the partner being the centre of the universe hence wanting to put them first. It's certainly better than "Higher Power" or even recent BTS singles. This is fine, check it out

:"My Universe" does take best of the week easily though. "Life Goes On" taking the worst of the week...that song is just intolerable to me. 

Good 1992 Vibrations: 27th September. Ain't No Doubt, Neighbour, Share How You Love A Fool?

Well then, this is an interesting week, feels like we've been on the verge of a week like this for awhile so let's get right to it with the top ten where we do have a new number one..,"Humpin' Around'" by Bobby Brown which finally garnered enough sales to take top spot as "Amigos Para Siempre (Friends for Life)" by Jose Carreras and Sarah Brightman slipped back to number two as the sales finally started to fall away months after the Barcelona Olympics, it's run though has been really impressive.

"Life is a Highway" by Tom Cochrane continues its rise up one place to number three...because of course it is but it gets worse..."Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus which climbed six places to number four and unfortunately looks like it might have enough momentum to challenge for the top spot...eww

Anyway all this pushed "Rhythm is a Dancer" by Snap down two places to number five while "November Rain" climbed one place to number six for Guns 'n' Roses which at least it pushed "Sesame's Treet" by Smart E's back one place to number seven. "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix A Lot rose one spot to number eight.

On its way out of the top ten to my delight is "Please Don't Go" by K.W.S as it tumbled four places to number nine. Good, the sooner it's gone the better even if it's probably safe on the year end...unfortunately.

Finally there's a song spending it's first week in the top ten that being "Best Things in Life are Free" by Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson which rose seven places to number seven.

Gains

So I already have written about the major gains for "Achy Breaky Heart' and "Best Things in Life Are Free", let's find out what else gained this week,, John Paul Young 's "Love is in the Air" jumped eleven places to 14 thanks to momentum from featured in the movie "Strictly Ballroom"

Girlfriend's big ballad "Without You" jumped a massive twenty spots to 28 while "White Men Can't Jump" rose four to 32.

"Who is It" by Michael Jackson climbed six places to 34...I'm cool with that! I still like the song while "Don't You Want Me" by Felix climbed from 49 to 36 this week/

Re Entries

So there was one re entry and it came from the Black Sorrows with "Ain't Love the Strangest Thing" at number 46.

Losers

So let's begin with "Baby Don't Cry" by INXS down nine places to 50 while former number one hit 'Hazard" by Richard Marx slumped eleven spots to 45. while absolute garbage like "All I Want is You" by Bryan Adams takes  a well deserved eleven place hit down to 43.

Unfortunately Peter Gabriel's 'Digging in the Dirt" fell from 35 to 42 while "Even Better Than the Real Thing" by U2 fell ten to 41. 

"Heaven Knows' by Rick Price slumed from 28 to 35 while "Girl's Life" by Girlfriend slipped from 26 to 31.

"This Used to Be My Playground" by Madonna fell eight places to 27.

New Entries

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

48. "Neighbor" by Ugly Kid Joe

Okay so here's Ugly KId Joe's newest single from the album "America's Least Wanted" and here's the issue I have with Ugly Kid Joe...rather than forging their own sound or having a sound that's unique to them and yet again with this song, Ugly Kid Joe sound more like a Guns 'n' Roses cover act rather than having any unique identifying qualities that make them as a band stand out. The content is about this trashy person who moves in next door and starts destroying the community which could be interesting if I could get invested in the lead singer but his anger sounds more like a kid angry that is being forced to eat his vegetables...so yeah this is try hard, cry baby rock. NEXT!

47. "Share This Wine" by Things of Stone and Wood

Oh another breanch of rock here...this time folk rock from Australian band Things of Stone and Wood, this song coming from the band's debut album called "The Yearning" and you know? I like the production here with the jangly guitars providing a solid melody with percussion woven through it. Here's the thing though the vocals feel a bit anonymous even with foreboding lyrics about sharing wine while they sit on the precipice of World War III. The song isn't bad but it's sure not memorable either.

38. "Ain't No Doubt" by Jimmy Nail

So I guess this is the novelty son of the week because this song is by English actor and singer songwriter Jimmy Nail and lordy does "Ain't No Doubt" has all the trimmings of most early nineties pop songs, it's pretty slick in that regard with the horns. The subject matter though is actually a bit darker than the bright colourful production implies as its about a failing relationship where he interpreting what she says as meaning something else entirely or that she's lying to him to spare herself from hurting him. Look, it's pretty memorable but I get the feeling that this could become a nice guys or incel anthem in the years ahead.

37. "What Kind of Fool (Heard That Before)" by Kylie Minogue

Now we have the first single from Kylie Minogue's greatest hits album and was co written by Minogue and two of the team from Stock, Aitken and Waterman, it's a high energy pop number but the problem is here that the song lacks coherent melody and quite often it feels like Kylie has to battle to be heard over all the instrumental elements clashing together, it feels like two songs meshed into one combine that with the lyrics about Kylie calling out a douchebag and I'm feeling not feeling this. It could have been better.

25. "Love How You Love Me" by Teen Queens

Another Teen Queens cover song this time, this is a cover of a 1961 Paris Sisters song and really want is there to say about this? It's not quite as bad as their cover of "Be My Baby" but the flat cooing vocals that show no passion, if you truly love how this dude is loving you then show some fucking passion in your vocal delivery instead of sounding like a giggling teenage girl who has just seen her first penis in the sealed section of some by gone magazine and then there's that production that isn't even vaguely close to being sexy...Yeah it might not be as bad as past efforts but it still sucks.

And that was our week and wow there's not a lot to choose from for the best...maybe "Ain't No Doubt" by Jimmy Nail.

As for the worst...that's going to "Neighbor" by Ugly Kid Joe but any one of about three songs could have gotten it...Kylie was pretty dang close. 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Top Ten/ Chart Review: 27th September. Obsessed With avoiding Fancy Like in my Wildest Dreams

 So this week felt less than I expected, I expected a Little Nas X album which we didn't get but a weird mish mash of new entries including from Lil Nas X but a re recording and one of the worst songs of the year in any genre but we'll get to that because we do need to discuss our top ten where for an 11th week, "Stay" by The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber holds firm at number one, it's still incredibly strong on streaming and it doesn't appear that anything is getting near it right now...depending on numbers for that new Coldplay/BTS collab.

It held on ahead of "Bad Habits' by Ed Sheeran which remains at number two while "Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)" by Elton John and Dua Lipa stuck at number three, both have sales but their streaming is just not competitive with "Stay" right now.

Then we get to one of the stories of the week, the impact of Lil Nas X's album with "Industry Baby" feat. Jack Harlow up two places to number four thanks to an upsurge in streaming brought about by the release of the album, it's a matter of whether that streaming surge will last but it did push 'Heat Waves" by Glass Animals back to number five and "Shivers" by Ed Sheeran back to number six. 

There's a new entry at number seven, it comes from Lil Nas X with his latest single "That's What I Want" thanks to consistently solid streaming during the week but that streaming is nothing over the top right now.

Olivia Rodrigo's "Good 4 U" holds steady at number eight. 

Biggest gainer of the week does belong to Lil Nas X as "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" surged back up ten places to number nine.

Finally "Beggin'" by Maneskin also held steady at number ten.

Gains

So I already mentioned "Montero (Call me By Your Name)" by Lil Nas X up ten to number nine this week thanks to the album release however the other big gain this week was for "Meet Me at Our Spot" by The Anxiety" up ten spots to 17 but that was it for the big gainers this week.

Losers

Unfortunately with the focus being on "Shivers" now, "Visiting Hours" by Ed Sheeran slipped eight places to number 32 this week, I expect this song to exit in the weeks ahead sadly.

Then there were the Drake cuts that continued to lose ground with "Knife Talk" feat. 21 Savage and Project Pat down eight to 26 and "Girls Want Girls" feat. Lil Baby down six to 13

Then  there's "Hurricane" by Kanye West feat. Lil Baby and The Weekend down ten to 22. 

Drop Outs

Five drop outs this week with there being one big one in "One Too Many" by Keith Urban and Pink making what will hopefully be its final exit...just a shame the song is probably locked on the year end list.

Unfortunately we did lose "Family Ties" by Baby Keem feat. Kendrick Lamar and "Higher" by Bella Taylor Smith...when you see the new entries you'll understand why these exits are unfortunate.

The others are from album bombs with "Champagne Poetry" leaving for Drake while "Off the Grid" feat. Playboi Carti and Fivio Foreign left for Kanye West

New Entries

Five new entries this week and we're starting in a rather gross and disgusting manner with...

50. "Fancy Like" by Walker Hayes 

I don't even know where to start with this or who to apportion blame to for this atrocity of a song being a thing in the first place or the fact it's in the ARIA singles top 50 this week to begin with but I'm not shocked by it, its hardly a surprise though and I'll explain why in a moment but first I'd better explain who Walker Hayes is, Hayes is basically a Nashville country by product churning out awful bro country slurry for the masses, he first charted on the US Billboard Hot 100 with the awful "You Broke Up With Me" in 2017 and is now having his biggest ever hit with "Fancy Like" hitting number five on the Hot 100 because the song became a viral hit thanks to TikTok and was used by a US restaurant chain that's mentioned in the damn song. 

This song has guitars with no tone, limp percussion and Walker Hayes faux rapping his way through a song and managing to sound even worse than his fucking predecessor Sam Hunt on "Drinking Too Much" and not managing to justify why he sounds so unbearably smug as he raps completely cringeworthy lyrics about his apparently low maintenance girlfriend wanting to dip him like the fries her frosty at Wendys (I'm fairly certain you can be arrested for having sex in public) but every now and then he has to treat her to an upgrade by taking her to Applebees...not a decent restauarant...just another fast food chain that's considered marginally more fucking snooty than Wendys and also features some of the most embarrassing product name dropping in years that makes me think that Walker Hayes is getting paid fucking endorsements for trash like this. 

So where does the blame lie for shit like this? With Sam Hunt's "Body Like a back Road" in 2017 becoming a hit? With people on iTunes buying "Fancy Like" which is how and why the song ended up in the top 50 this week? With the culture in Nashville that enables country music to continue to suffer embarrassments like this? We could have had KACEY MUSGRAVES or even Casey Barnes on the chart instead. Ugh.

It's the worst song to hit the ARIA singles chart since I started this blog. Fuck this song and fuck everything and everyone who enabled shit lie this song to chart.

41. "Obsessed With You" by Central Cee

Now to calm down and talk about British rapper Central Cee who has been chalking up an impressive number of hits in the UK with this being the first song of his to hit the Australian singles chart and well I like his delivery, he can keep a good flow and spit his bars out but those programmed female vocals really annoy the hell out of me, why are they so tinny and programmed on the hook. Central Cee also kind of paints himself as a bit of a stalker here, the lyrics point toward him being more than just obsessed with whatever it is his ex is doing and it kind of gives the song a weird vibe. It's better than "Fancy Like" but yeah I ain't coming back to this.

28. "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" by Taylor Swift

So this was a surprise release from Taylor Swift especially as she's preparing for the release of the "Red" re recording later this year so nobody was expecting her to release the re recording of a single from "1989" and honestly I was never a fan of the original song however I actually think the re record is much better, Taylor sounds less weirdly weedy on the chorus and overall the song feels lot more organic in the production with that orchestra picking up in the background. Yeah...I'll absolutely take this...nice job, Taylor...wonder if she can make "Shake It Off" somehow tolerable.

23. "love nwantiti (ah ah ah) by CKay feat. Joeboy and Kuami

Another newcomer to the chart with a remixed version of a 2019 song and quite frankly I wasn't expecting this to chart this week but none the less, CKay (real name Chukwuka Ekweani) is a Nigerian singer who has a flair for combining afrobeats, pop and psychedelia in his songs with this being the first to hit the ARIA singles chart and I will say it's a pretty sweet love song where CKay has found somebody he connects with and has fallen in love with and how she makes him feel when she is around him. It's a pretty intense love song if I am to be honest and yeah the Afrobeat elements shine here alongside that guitar. Yeah, I don't mind this...check it out if you are curious especially as its quite unusual to have a song from an African artist on the chart but it's great to see.

7. "That's What I Want" by Lil Nas X

So I've heard the new album from Lil Nas X and this song is actually one of my immediate favourites from the album with that bright guitar line, it's ridiculously catchy chorus and Lil Nas X's infectious personality bursting through every pore of this song as he goes through what he wants which is to find love with another man something that is often a struggle for a gay black man as being accepted by the black community for being homosexual is still a struggle and finding that acceptance and love is something Lil Nas X is still confronting to this day, he just wants somebody to love him. It's a song that shows how vulnerable Lil Nas X is despite the bright and rather bombastic production. Yeah, I love it...great song!

So that wraps up the week and yeah as it turns out the worst of the week is easy this week, it goes to "Fancy Like" by Walker Hayes because the song is just an absolute turd.

As for the best of the week is a little tougher because there are a two or three options here, I am going to give it to "That's What I Want" by Lil Nas X only because I've been going back to that song this week.

Next week is probably going to be a slow down week but I am expecting that Coldplay/BTS collab to debut high so we'll have to find out when the chart updates on Friday at 5pm.