ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review. 17th February : Ordinary Dreamin to be Born Again

 I am going to spare a preamble this week because the NFL's Superbowl half time show caused chaos on the charts this week in the best way possible, the person responsible for that chaos is Kendrick Lamar, he has several songs in the top ten this week and it all begins at number one with "Not Like Us" up twenty six slots to take the top spot and its dominant on sales and streaming but not Youtube.  It also feels like a history correction for last year when it did only peaked at number five.

"APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars remains at number two by virtue of being top of Youtube and having somewbat stronger streaming than that of "Messy" by Lola Young which just had a bad week on sales and streaming thus couldn't compete with the behemoth that was Kendrick Lamar.

The same is true of "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams which slipped one to number four  while "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish climbed one to number five but that may have been on the weaknesses of "Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars which dropped two places to number six, I suspect this will get a boost with Gaga's album next month but we'll see.

Rising fifteen places to number seven is "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan which is riding a streaming and sales wave thanks to Chappell's performance at the Grammys...it's amazing to see this song finally take off in the way it deserves to given it was recorded by Roan six years ago.

Back to Kendrick Lamar because "Luther" feat. SZA climbed eight places to number eight on the back of streaming and being performed at the NFL half time show.

Sadly, nothing budged "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone from number nine while "Good Luck, Babe!" by Chappell Roan fell three places to number ten.

Losers

So let's begin at the bottom of the chart where "Kisses" by BL3SS x CamrimWatson frat.  bbyclose slipped eight spots to fifty while the tour boosts for Luke Combs songs is wearing off as "Beautiful Crazy" slipped fourteen to forty six, "Fast Car" down eight to thirty one and "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma" down seven to twenty six

Noah Kahan's "Stick Season" slid eleven places to forty five while "Stargazing" by Myles Smith lost more ground this week down eight to forty three.

The chart appears to be showing the door to Teddy Swims "The Door" as it tumbled thirteen slots to forty two. 

It was a rougb week for The Weeknd as well with "Cry For Me" doen twenty to forty and "Timeless" feat. Playboi Carti down nine to twenty.

Morgan Wallen's noxious "I'm The Problem" mercifully skidded down seventeen to thirty eight while "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves fell nine to thirty four.. Finally 'Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez slipped seven spots to twenty one.

Gains

The gains this week can be split into two groups so let's deal with the -nr Kendrick Lamar gain outside the top ten first because "TV Off" with Lefty Gunplay moved up thirty one spots to sixteen, 

However the biggest gainer of the week was for Lady Gaga's "Abracadabra" which climbed a massive thirty eight slots to twelve. 

"Guess" by Charli XCX and Billie Eilish is up fifteen places to twenty off ithe back of residual Grammys streaming. 

One song that I think deserves some attention this week though is "Denial is a River" by Doechii which climbed five to thirteen. This song is going to be a hit, folks, get ready.

Re Entries

Kendrick Lamar is the story of our returns this week where two of the three are Kendrick songs but we start at number forty seven with the return of "Hot To Go!" by Chappell Roan. 

From there, it's Kendrick with "Squabble Up" back at thirty five and "All The Stars" featuring SZA back at twenty two. 

Drop Outs

Six drop outs this week and honestly most of them do not upset me especially as we lost long running hits "Riptide" by Vance Joy and "Something In the Orange" by Zach Bryan. We also lost utter crap like "GBP" by Central Cee and 21 Savage along with "Sao Paulo" by The Weeknd feat. Anitta IWow. A really rough week for The Weeknd here)

But we did also lose "Somedays" by Sonny Fodera, D.O.D and Jazzy and "Bad Dreams" by Teddy Swims which is a shame because I really liked both those songs. 

New Entries

Three new entries this week beginning with...

48. "Born Again" by LISA feat. Doja Cat and Raye

So Lisa of Blackpink is making another attempt at being a solo act with her new album and she actually got both Doja Cat and Raye on this song which actually turns out to be a Raye demo that her old label Polydor rejected and well, how is the song?

Uh...no jokes here but this song is emerging quite quickly to be one of my favourite songs of 2025 over all, it is this slick, glossy yet elegant nu disco song that just screams for a Dua Lipa remix  at some point. The hook is infectious and Doja Cat delivers one of her best performances where she both sings and raps her verse on this song and she sounds incredible. I adore the harmonies  between the three and it feels like there is some genuine chemistry there. 

The song tells of overcoming heartbreak or adversity, finding themselves and becoming a better person or being person again. I wish there was more vocal interplay between the three but that's nit picking because this song is absolutely fantastic. Check it out!

33. "Dreamin" by Dom Dolla feat. Daya

Always nice to see new Dom Dolla on the ARIA singles chart, he always makes a decent electronic banget with interesting artists except this time, he co opted 2016 flashback Daya for this song, if you don't remember who Daya is, she was one of the weakest of the 2010's pop girl set who snagged hits with "Hideaway" and "Sit Still, Look Pretty' so yeah I was wary.

Turns out I had every right to be wary because as it turns out it's not Daya's whispery, somewhat hushed vocals that have improved a lot since 2016, it'sand  the production from Dom Dolla that's the problem here, the song sound very nineties however there are some really srange and honestly the synths might be the most annoying thing I have ever heard in awhile. Mercifully the song is reasonably short but I don't see myself coming back to this one.

27. "Ordinary" by Alex Warren

Alright so "Carry Yoiu Home" barely lasted a couple of weeks on the chart so time for a new single from Alex Warren and I was curious because Warren does seem to have decent song writing chops and this is a pretty simple anthemic love song that reminds me a lot of Hozier but just going for gospel swell rather than the gothic swell and swagger that Hozier has which kind of makes sense as this is a pretty basic love song where Warren is grateful for this girl's love taking him out of the ordinary. 

It's a solid if abbrieviated song (could have afforded a bridge) that's worth checking out if you are curious. 

That wraps up our week, Worst of the week goes to "Dreamin" by Dom Dolla and Daya, I just can't handle the pile up of effects on that song.

Best of the week is going to "Born Again" by Lisa, Doja Cat and Raye because that song is AWESOME.

Next week...unfortunately, Drake and PartyNextDoor album bomb, hopefully something from that Sabrina Carpenter deluxe charts to counteract the Drake and PattyNextDoor

All 4 1994. 13th February. Stay, I'm Looking For Spoonman In Your Room

This week feels bit busier than I expected so no major preamble here especially as I have a lot else going on and straight into the top ten where Cut 'N' Move maintained numnber one for a second week with "Give It Up", it had enough sales to hold up over our new number two this week "Asshole" by Denis Leary which climbed four places to hit the runner up slot. 

It thankfully moved past "All For Love" by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting which slipped back to number three and looks to be on the downswing.

The same cannot be said for "Slave to the Music" by Twenty 4 Seven feat. Stay-C and Nance which climbed onne spot to number four. Thinking this could make a play for number one if it gets it's cards right.

A new entry at number five with "Stay (Faraway. So Close)" by U2, it's here becaqse it had a solid sales week. I'll talk about this song when I review all the new entries. 

All of this caused "Shoop" by Salt 'N' Pepa to tumble three places to number six. "Moving On Up" by M People down three to number seven and "Boom! Shake the Room" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince down one to number eight,

The last two are on the way out of the top ten naturally with "Hero" by Mariah Carey down one to number nine and "Please Forgive Me" by Bryan Adams also down one to number ten.

Losers

Unsurprisingly "Time" by INXS fell hard off it's debut last week down from thirty six to forty nine this week. Also hitting the skids is "Estranged" by Guns 'N' Roses down six places to forty six.

Jordy's "Dur dur d'etre bebe!" slipped eight to forty five as it's non starter status continues. "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum ran the wrong way down nine to forty four,

The clown in "Tears of a Clown" by Caligula is crying even harder as the song just utterly collapsed from twenty five to thirty nine this week. 2 Unlimited's underpowered "Maximum Overdrive" slipped six places to thirty eight.

"The Weight" by Jimmy Barnes and The Badloves unfortunately got hit with a ten place drop to thirty seven.

It's bad dreams for Gabrielle as "Dreams" fell eight to thirty six and "The Key. The Secret" by Urban Cookie Collective is on the downswing down from twenty one to thirty two. 

Gains

The gains are a bit of a mixed bag this week with "What's My Name" by Snoop Doggy Dogg getting a welcome ten place boost to nineteen but why is utter junk like "Feelin' Alright" by EYC breaking into the top twenty at sixteen...that's not good.

Or that "Now and Forever" by Richard Marx jumped nine to twenty four or "Can We talk" by Tevin Campbell climbed to twenty seven from thirty one and I'm confused as to how Heart managed to get one of the biggest gains of the week with "Will You Be There (In the Morning)" up from forty three to twenty eight.

At leasr we did get "Relight My Fire" by Take That feat Lulu up to thirty three and "Natils in My Feet" by Crowded House up nine to thirty four.

We also had "She Don't Let Nobody" by Chake Demus and Pliers up eight to forty one because...sigh....

New Entries

Four new entries this week, starting with...

50. "I'm Looking For the One (To Be With Me) by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

We finally get the follow up "Boom! Shake the Room" hitting the chart this week and while this is weaker than the previous single, it doesn't quite have the instant punch that "Boom! Shake the Room" does but Will Smith  brings his usual energy to it. My only concern is that new jack swing that underpins the melody does kind of feel played out by now but still decent song that is worth checking out. 

40. "In Your Room" by Depeche Mode

Ahh the fourth and final single from Depeche Mode's album "Songs of Faith and Devotion" and wow, this is certainly one hell of a dark turn from this UK electronic band, this sounds incredibly sinster with the guitars playing to a darker and more cold vibe and you know what I really dig this a fair bit. worth checking out if you aren't too creeped out  by the lyrics.

30. "Spoonman" by Soundgarden

Lead single from "Superunknown" and I think I dig this as well. Chris Cornell has described this song has been about a paradox of who an artist is and the perceptions people have of him given he is a street musician and automaticaly as a value placed on him and is wrongfully judged by others and yeah this song adds to that street vibe with the production. Definitely an interesting song. 

5. "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)

So we close out this with a far quieter but still incredibly dark song from U2 from their album Zooropa with this song being inspired by both Frank Sinatra and a film called "Faraway So Close!" (about angels who long to be on Earth and be human)  where this ghost basically haunts and follows this woman's every move. Bono sounds incredible here and I actually really love the anthemic instrumentation which gives this song a really spooky vibe. Great song.

No worst of the week this week, none of the songs here deserve that. I am giving best of the week to "In Your Room" by Depeche Mode because that song is bound to stick with me 

ARIA Singles top 50 Chart Review: Abracadabra! I'm The Pink Pony so Cry For Me

 This week felt stranger than it should have because we got a more muted than you might expect with a muted album impact for The Weeknd's "Hurry Up Tomorrow" and Grammys impact for at least one of our other new entries which we'll get to. 

None of that impacts our top ten though where "Messy" by Lola Young maintained the number one spot for a second week mostly thanks to decent enough streaming and sales. Really, the top five was stagnant this week with "That's So True' by Gracie Abrams at number two, "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars at number three, "Die with a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars at number four and "The Days (Notion Remix" by Chrystal and Notion at number five.

Frorm there "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish gained one place to number six moving past "Good Luck Babe!" by Chappell Roan at number seven.

Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" remained stuck at number eight while "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone made it's unfortunate return up four places to nine.

Finally "Sports Car" by Tate McRare remains rooted to the number ten spot. 

Losers

This week was busy in this department!. Let's begin with more recent hits though with "BMF" by SZA which tumbled down fourteen to thirty three, "Bad Dreams" by Teddy Swims fell thirteen spots and hit forty six while "The Door" slammed eight places to twenty nine, "Somedays" by Sonny Fodera, D.O.D and Jazzy slumped twelve spots to thirty eight, "Indigo" by Sam Barber feat. Avery Anna continues to slump down nine to forty one, "Kisses" bv BL3SS x CamrinWatson feat bbbunch yclose slipped eight to forty two, "Stargazing" by Myles Smith slid down eight ton thirty five and "GBP" by Central Cee collapsed down thirteen to forty nine. 

From there, a bunch of older songs lost ground like 'Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac which tumbled fourteen spots to forty four, "Something in the Orange" by Zach Btyan slipped six places to forty eight. , "Stick Season" by Noah Kahan which also suffered a six place drop to thirty four, 'Riptide" by Vance Joy going out with the tide seven places to thirty one. Finally "Too Sweet" by Hozier down ten spots to twenty eight

Gains

So "Timeless" by The Weeknd and Playboi Carti rebounded up six to number eleven thanks to The Weeknd's new album. 

The rest are all big new peaks for songs courtesy of the Grammys with the biggest coming for "Denial Is a River" by Doechii which climbed twenty one slots to number eighteen...I expect this to make a play for the top ten soon.

Kendrick Lamar's " Not Like Us" climbed eighteen to twenty seven thanks to it's award winning performance at the Grammys.

Finally "Wildflower" by Billie Eilish climbed sixteen slots to number twenty five and I am not sure why as she performed "Birds of a Feather" at the Grammys. Might be a fan led push to make it the next single from Hit Me Hard and Soft so we'll have to see. 

Re entries

The one re entry this week was "Sao Paolo"  by The Weeknd feat. Anitta

Drop Outs

The drop outs this week are mosrly characterised by long running hits finally dropping out apart from "Linger (SiriusXM Sessions)" by Royel Otis, the others like "Austin" by Dasha, "Pink Skies" by Zach Bryan, "Cruel Summer" by Taylor Swift and "Mr Brightside" by The Killers are all good to great songs but I am glad to see them having left the charts.

New Entries

Four new entries this week, starting with...

50. "Abracadabra" by Lady Gaga

The second single from the upcoming new Lady Gaga album "Mayhem" and I have some mixed feelings about this song, Lady Gaga is back to spouting nonsense in the hook and she sounds great here. I am just not wild about some of the more industrial elements of the song that can actively distract from the song and I do think that Gaga can afforrd to get weirder, it's not precisely bad but it's not great either. 

22. "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roanbut i

Oh finally, something else crossed over from "The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess" and this is one of my favourite songs from the album as this song is just Chappell Roan using her classical training to create a song where she wants to move to Santa Monica in California from Tennessee much to her mother's unhappiness but Chappell is going to follow what her heart is set on which dancing down at the Pink Pony Club in Santa Monica. it's just queer in the best way possible and that hook is a fucking earworm. Great song!

21. "I'm the Problem" by Morgan Wallen

Unlike this song which is apparently the lead single for that new upcoming album of Morgan Wallen's and this thing is basically the lyrical version of a  relationship nuclear toxic waste dump where Wallen is doing that whole manipulative bullshit of "I am not really the problem" and proceeds to blame it ALL on her, it bares all the hallmarks of "I Had Some Help" by Post Malone...a track he was featured on where Wallen refused to take responsibility for his own damn culpability in the alcohol abuse that was and happening and the same is happening here with this relationship that is now so toiic...it may as well been blown up...the same goes for this song, it can be blown up any time now. 

20. "Cry for Me" by The Weeknd.

So the only new song to chart from "Hurry Up Tomorrow' and it's not one of the better ones unfortunately, the song just doesn't do much for me at all especially as The Weeknd croons through what is a pretty basic chorus that sounds hollow as hell and pretty darn annoying at worst. There's better songs on the album that could have charted over this eg: "Open Hearts"

That wraps this week and the best and worst fell out fast bere with "I'm The Problem" by Morgan Wallen being the worst of our new arrivals....I don't see that one sticking around. Best of the week is going to "Pink Pony Club" bty Chappell Roan because yeah...that song is awesome.

All 4 1994. 6th February. Wouldn't Normally Do This but Time to Relight Nails in Your Open Heart

 This week feels wild in a lot of ways, we got some interesting changes to the top ten and some songs gaining momentum lower down that will be interesting to talk about  but let's not delay things and get to the top ten because we do have a new number one with Cut 'N' Move leaping to the top spot with "Give It Up"...probably the best number one we've had thus far in 1994. 

It wiped "All For Love" by Bryan Adams. Rod Stewart and Sting back to number two as it couldn't match "Give it Up" on sales, the same goes for "Shoop" by Salt 'n' Pepa which slipped back one to number three. 

M People's "Moving On Up" keeps living up to it's name climbing two spots to number four. This song has been reverberating around my head for days now so it is catchy as hell.

"Slave to the Music" by Twenty 4 Seven feat. Stay-C and Nance climbed three spots to number five which completes a top five where three songs are definitely big beat songs. 

Also climbing is "Asshole" by Denis Leary up three to number six while "Boom! Shake the Room" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince was the big victim of all the movement in the top ten down three to number seven/

After weeks of being stalled at number seven, "Hero" by Mariah Carey took a step in the wrong direction down to number eight this week.

Former number one "Please Forgive Me" by Bryan Adams dived four places to number nine as it continues to hopefully disappear. 

Up four to number ten is "Feels Like Heaven" by Urban Cookie Collective as their follow up to "The Key. The Secret" continues to do well. 

Losers

So starting at the bottom, we have "Soul to Squeeze" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers down ten to fifty, "Lemon" by U2 down fron thirty three to forty six, 

The Badloves "Green Limousine"  ran out of fuel stalling down from thirty five to forty two while their hit with Jimmy Barnes "The Weight" slipped from eighteen to twenty seven.

1993 hit "Right Here" by SWV down from thirty two to forty one.

Madonna's " Bye Bye Baby" starts to wave bye bye to the top 50 down eight to thirty eight while "\Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum runaway down from twenty four to thirty five. 

The dreams are becoming nightmares for Gabrielle's "Dreams" as it slid seven to twenty eight. 

Gains

Our gains are mostly all new entries from last week with "Daughter" by Pearl Jam up nine places to eighteen and 'What's My Name?" by Snoop Doggy Dogg up from thirty seven to twenty nine. I am thrilled about those.

However I am not thrilled that "Dirty Dawg" by NKOTB rose nine to twenty, "Can We Talk?" by Tevin Campbell climbed eleven places to thirty two and  "Maximum Overdrive" by 2 Unlimited rode a six place gain to thirty two.

Finally Caligula's "Tears of a Clown" climbed from 31 to twenty five.

New Entries

We have seven new entries this week...so again I am going to endeavour to keep each review...

48. "The Power Of Love" by Beverly

So we start off with a dance song that covers Jennifer Rush's "The Power of Love" because that's what we really need...a dance/electronic version of a ballad and I kind of think the lyrics here lose their punch and Beverly doesn't really do much to make this memorable at atll...I'd skip it.

47. "Open Up" by Leftfield/Lydon

So this is from British electronic duo Leftfield who have teamed up with Sex Pistols John Lydon and well I actually don't mind this at all...more because there feels like there is a groove there courtesy of some guitar and keyboard and there's some punch in the vocals...I dig this...check it out if you are curious,

45. "Nails in My Feet" by Crowded House

So we have the second single from Crowded House's "Together Alone" even as the lead single "Distant Sun" is doing well in Canada and yeah, of course this song is great with the guitars and the dramatic piano before the song absolutely soars at the end. Definitely worth checking out.

44. "Is There Any Love In Your Heart" by Lenny Kravitz

So time for new Lenny Kravitz song, the fourth single from "Are You Gonna Go My Way" and I think it might be the weakest to date because apart from the decent instrumentation, I am finding the falsetto that Kravitz sits with on this song to be fucking annoying, the only decent thing about this is that guitar solo before Kravitz wails like somebody on helium...next!

39. "Relight My Fire" by Take That feat, Lulu

So I was all prepared to absolutely tear this song apart because the title and the two acts involved set off alarm bells so colour me surprised when the song turns out to be a rather good pop song, it's not perfect, Take That's harmonies on the hook are little off and Lulu's vocals on the bridge kind of take me out of the song a little but yeah this is better than what I was expecting.

36. "Time" by INXS

Time to rock out to the third single from INXS's ninth album "Full Moon, Dirty Hearts" and wow, I absolutely how this song's instrumention goes off, instrumentally this song is incredible but what on earth happened to the vocal production here. Michael Hutchennce sounds like he is recording his vocals in another room so buried in the mix that he is which is a shame!

34. "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing" by Pet Shop Boys

So in recent yrars I have built a liking for the kind of synth pop the Pet Shop Boys make, I hold "West End Girls" as an absolute 80s classic that should be respected as ,much as "It's A Sin"  so I was curious how they would follow up "Go West" and yeah, it's fine... but Pet Shop Boys have made better songs especially with that weird droning hook.

That wraps our week...a long one if I am blunt but worst of the week falls out easily with "Is There Any Love In Your Heart".

For the best...I actually think this was a solid week overall so I am going to go with a tie..."Nails in My Feet" by Crowded House and.,,:"Open Up" by Leftfield/Lydon

ARIA Singles Top 50 Review: 3rd February: New Number One Messy Sports Car

 So this week was a weird one, what I expected to turn up new this week didn't and we only have one new entry this week and yet we have some changes to our top ten this week that pleased me didn't thrill me at all. 

What did please me with our top ten is that we have an excellent new number one, "Messy" by Lola Yojung...now anyone culd have seen this coming for weeks, the song has been gaining rapid momentum on streaming and has been there abouts on sales and Youtube to take the number one spot.

Sliding down one place to number two after an incredible run at number one is "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars, it just no long could match "Messy" on streaming even with the sales it has been racking up. 

The same goes for another former chart topper "That's so True" by Gracie Abrams, its still doing decently on streaming and sales but again not enough to challenge however it does seem like it might just do enough to take number two next week so we'll have to see.

On the downswing is "Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars staying at number four, I don't see this moving up in the weeks ahead while "The Days (Notion Remix)" by Chrystal and Notion remained stuck at number five 

Chappell Roan's Triple J  Hottest 100 win saw "Good Luck Babe!" catapault back up six places to number six this week, I don't expect this to last in the top ten though, it did push past "Birds of a Feather' by Billie Eilish which slipped one place to number seven, "A Bar Song (Tipsy)"  by Shaboozey at number eight and "I Had Some Help" by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen at number nine.

Finally our lone new entry in the top fifty this week debuted in the top ten at number ten courtesy of Tate McRae's new single "Sports Car" 

Gains

Lots of gains that basically continue on from momentum last week, the continuing gains for Luke Combs songs thanks to his tour of Australia with "Fast Car" up six to twenty, "When It Rains It Pours" up eight to twenty two , "Ain't No Love" in Oklahoma" up eleven spots to twenty three, "Where the Wild Things are" up six places twenty nine and "Beautiful Crazy" up seven to thirty nine. 

Both the debuts last week also gained nicely unfortunately that meant "GBP" by Central Cee and 21 Savage gained eleven places off of it's debut to thirty six and "Denial is a River" by Doechii rose five places to thirty nine.

Losers

Lots of older tracks losing traction this week with "Cruel Summer" by Taylor Swift down eight places to forty nine, Zach Bryan's "Pink Skies" and "Something in the Orange" both down six places to forty four and forty two respectively.

"Austin" by Dasha fell six places to thirty eight while "Please Please Please" by Sabrina Carpenter slid eight places to thirty seven and "Kisses" by BL3SS and CamrinWatsin (feat. bbyclose) slipped seven places to thirty foir.

"Indigo" by Sam Barber and Avery Anna seems to have lost all momentum to slide nine places to thirty two while most pleasingly "Slow It Down" by Benson Boone dipped ten places to thirty one...thank god, 

Finally "Stargazing" by Myles Smith slipped seven to twenty seven.

Re-Entries

Two re-entries I am happy about this week with "Guess" by Charli XCX and Billie Eilish back at number forty seven and "Not Li\ke Us" by Kendrick Lamar returning at forty five. Both are back courtesy of the Hottest 100 so not sure if they will stick around. 

Drop Outs

So we lost both "Smile" by Morgan Wallen and "Carry You Home" by Alex Warren. Both pretty much non starters really.

Coldplay's 2000s hit "Yellow" exited the top fifty this week as well.. 

New Entries

Just the one new entry this week so let's just dive straight in...

10. "Sports Car" by Tate McRae

Oh this was never going to go well at all now was it? A brand new Tate McRse song where she tries where too hard to be every late 90s/2000s popstar and only ends up looking the worse for the effort because she cannot concievably pull the sound or the aesthetic off. Well, this time sround McRse continues to try to be 2020s Britney Spears over an interpolation of the Pussycat Dolls "Buttons" (And if its not an interpolation of "Buttons", the verses sound really close to that song) whuile trying to get all hot and steamy for her partner and again, she just can't nail this wantonly sexual atmosphere she is going for here, the hook sounds forced as hell and honestly annoying...I ain't buying this.

 No best or worst of week because with there only being one song, it feels a bit redundant. Next week will probably see an album bomb from The Weeknd but we'll have to see. 

All 4 1994: January 30th. Estranged Dirty Dawg Daughter Now and Forever, what's my name?

 This week was busy in more ways then one, multiple new entries across the board and plenty of changes to our top ten...just not right at the top where "All For Love" by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting remained at number one for another week thanks to a decent sales margin, it handily held up over our new number two "Shoop" by Salt 'N' Pepa which climbed one place this week as it seemed to gain more momentum, it just remains to be seen if it can take number one,.

Cut 'n' Move continues to move on up with their cover of KC and The Sunshine Band's "Give It Up" up three places to number three, this is a cover I actually don't mind, it's a bit of fun and the band didn't mess with the key melodies too much.

All of this saw "Boom! Shake the Room" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince slide down two places to number four as it slowly makes it way out alongside "Please Forgive Me" by Bryan Adams as it slipped one to number five and "Moving On Up" by M People down one to number six.

Stalled at number seven is "Hero" by Mariah Carey. This song just stuck right now and it remains to be seen if it can get any kind of real traction to move up.

Moving up is "Slave to the Music" by Twenty 4 Seven feat. Stay-C and Nana up one to number eight while "Asshole" by Denis Leary is one of the big gainers of the week by jumping from its debut at 30 to number nine this week, this song has some very real momentum and it will be interesting to see if it can make a play for numnber one.

Finally defeating my prediction from last week "Got to Get It" by Culture Beat remains stubbornly at number ten. 

Losers

One of 1993's biggest hits looks like it's spending it's last week in the top 50, "Dreamlover" by Mariah Carey plummeted from thirty three to fifty this week while non starter "Where is the Love" by Rick Price and Margaret Urlich stumbled ten places to forty five. 

"Soul to Squeeze" by Red Hot Chili Peppers slipped eleven places to forty while "Maximum Ovcrdrive" by 2 Unlimited stumbled six places to thirty eight and "Lemon" by U2 lost it's juice down from twenty six to thirty three. 

Finally "All About Soul" by Billy Joel collapsed from thirty four to forty eight this week. 

Gains

I mentioned "Asshole" by Denis Leary joining the top ten earlier but there were a couple of other noteworthy gains this week starting with "Tears of a Clown" by Caligula which climbed from thirty nine to thirty one and interestingly "Feelin' Alright" by EYC jumping from forty two to twenty six

New Entries

Alright so because we have plenty of new entries I am going to aim to keep my reviews brief this week, starting with.

44. "Estranged" by Guns 'n' Roses

Well, starting off with a nine minute song from a 1991 Guns 'N' Roses album sure is a wild way to start the week's new entry reviews but it is their second longest song overall and lead singer Axl Rose said that the song is about acknowledging estrangement and how it all works aft the estrangement has happened, it's supposed to be a continuation of "November Rain". 

The song is fine, I do like the instrumentation but why are Axl's vocals so weirdly produced ? He sounds so tinny here. This song isn't for me but if you are curious, check it out. 

39. "Will You Be There (In the Morning)"  by Heart

So Nancy Wilson takes the lead vocal on this song and serves as the lead single from their album "Desire Walks On" and yeah, this is not the best song I have ever heard from Heart, I do like the piano that underpins the melody but I am not a fan of the weirdly pitchy vocals here at all, it just sounds like a Wilson Phillips song with a rock edge. Next!

37. "Who I Am (What's My Name0" by Snoop Doggy Dogg

Now for some hip hop, this time coming from American rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, he appears to be a prodigy of producer Dr Dre with this song being Dogg's first single and well...I think I love this. Dre has give Snoop Dog just this perfect West Coast G funk groove for him to just absolutely kill it as he raps about finding his true identity and where he sits within hip hop and broader life. Definitely a good song. Check it out!

34. "Now and Forever" by Richard Marx

Oh god, you know when you see a song title and absolutely know what you are going to get? Yeah, that was the case with this song from Richard Marx and my expectations and thoughts going in were thoroughly met, this is a corny "I will be your man not just now but forever" over guitar that is very reminiscent of Bryan Adams at his most treacly sweet and that high note on the bridge is willowy as all hell. Yuck yuck yuck.

29. "Dirty Dawg" by NKOTB

Oh so we have a previously unreleased track from New Kids on the Block's greatest hits album...and dear god this reeks of trying to leap onto nineties hip hop trends that NKOTB cannot remotely do and the production just buries their vocals which might be as well considering the lyrics are pretty terrible as well where he is whining about this girl not treating him right and leaving him cold which doesn't even begin to make sense but than he accuses her of cheating on the bridge and outright calls her a "Dirty Dawg" on the hook...like that's classy, my guy.

Nope, add this one to the filth to toss aside.

27. "Daughter" by Pearl Jam

Trigger Warning: Child abuse

Second single from the second studio Pearl Jam album entitled "Vs.", also I really need something truly excellent to end the week and you know what? I think I got what I was after with this song, nice scathing guitar riffs bounce off the wall with this song and Eddy Vedder's vocals are immaculately produced and he sounds incredible in the mix, The content of this song is incredibly dark, a little girl with learning disabilities the parents of this child don't understand, they get angry and frustrated abd abuse the little girl only after pulling down the shades so the neighbours don't see and can't report the abuse. which is just heavy and devastating content especially for a song in 1994. Yeah, this song is great but if you are struggling with issues from childhood abuse...might be a song to avoid.

"Daughter" by Pearl Jam is easily best of the week. The worst of the week also easily falls out..it's going to "Dirty Dawg" by NKOTB

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review. 27th January. GBP is a River

Tbis week was a case of the more things change the more they stay the same on the ARIA singles chart this week and that was especially the case with our top ten where for an eleventh week "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars stayed at number one, it lost a bit of its margin on streaming but has a good lead on sales and streaming which was enough to keep it at the very top of the chart.

It was enough to hold up over "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams which despite closing some of that streaming margin couldn't narrow the gap to "APT so spent a ninth week at number two.

The open question is whether "Messy" by Lola Young holding strong at number three this week can surpass "That's So True' especially as it seems to have so momentum behind it on streaming and on sales so it's going to be one to watch for the number one spot in the weeks ahead.

"Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars appears to be done as it is starting to sputter on sales and streaming, it just appears to be waiting on something stronger to surpass it and that might come in the form of "The Days (Notion Remix)" by Chrystal and Notion which climbed one spot to number five as it leapt past "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish which dipped to number six but it should get a Hottest 100 streaming boost next week.

"A Bar Song (Tipsy)" by Shaboozey held it's place number seven while "I Had Some Help" by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen climbed one place to number eight pushing past "Taste" by Sabrina Carpenter at number nine. 

Unfortunately back in the top ten up two places is the lingering skidmark in the underpants that is "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone at number ten.

Gains

Not too many big gains this week, just "Fast Car" by Luke Combs up seven places to twenty six thanks to Combs being in the country right now, this also explains why "When It Rains, it Puurs" being up ten to thirty.

Speaking of country, "Indigo" by Sam Barber and Avery Anna climbed five places to twenty three.

"Iris" by The Goo Goo Dolls climbed five places to forty three.

Re-Entries

 Three songs returned this week and all three are from Luke Combs with "Beautiful Crazy" at forty two, "Where The Wild Things Are" at thirty five and "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma" at thirty four.

Losers

Pretty quiet on the losers frontt with the biggest losers this week basically being non starters like "Smile" by Morgan Wallen and "Carry You Home" by Alex W\arren, both down six places to forty eight and forty nine respectively.

Drop Outs

Mixed news on the drop out front because did see "Stumblin' In" by Cyril drop out which was welcome  news. The bad news is that we also lost "Tweaker" by Liangelo Ball/Gelo which is sad considering I actually think the song is good.

Also gone is "Bed Chem" by Sabrina Carpenter, "Love Somebody" by Morgan Wallen and "Take Me to Church" by Hozier'

New Entries

Two new entries this week

47. "GBP"  by Central Cee feat. 21 Savageboth 

So I have absolutely no interest in listening to that Central Cee album that dropped on Friday, I have a bunch of other albums that are just more interesting than a British rapper who alternates between awful and mediocre, sadly this song is pretty much on the mediocre side of the equation with both Central Cee and 21 Savage rapping about the struggles of street life in the UK with all the enthusiasm of damp socks especially as Central Cee interpolates lines from his other songs in order to brag about how he would of had a high powered gun with several rounds of ammunition. I'd say skip it but chances are high that this will be forgotten about in no time. 

44. "Denial is a River" by Doechii

Finally, a proper chart breakthrough for Doechii, I did expect  "What it is (Block Boy)" to be her break through on the ARIA charts especially with the airplay on the radio it got but it somehow didn't but none the less, "Denial is a River' did cross over to the charts so what did we get? A damn good song as it turns out! That piano melody is just hitting for me and Doechii can absolutely flow over this as she reflects on her come up and the things that have happened to her and other people that have been apart of her life. 

Easily best of the week here...no contest.

"GBP" by Central Cee and 21 Savage gets worst of the week because yeah...I'm going to forget that one exists.