ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: October 6th

 So I am going to enjoy this week as much as I can because yeah...next week is the Taylor Swift album bomb and it's not going to be pretty at all (nor are my thoughts on that particular album but that can wait) and it none the less will cut a swathe through the top ten next week however we do have this week's top ten to dive into first so let's do that, shall we?

For yet another week "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remains at number one probably for it's final week as it lost ground on sales and streaming, it will obviously get wiped from number one next week but it's still decently strong.

It held up over "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean at number two which seems the most likely to take number one post Taylor Swift album bomb. The rest of the top five held steady as well with "Ordinary' by Alex Warren at number three, "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe at number four and "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number five.

New entry at number six wth "Tit For Tat" by Tate McRae, now we'll talk about this song's quality later but it's here thanks to some terrific streaming through the week, I am not sure this is going to stick around so high though however it did push "12 to 12" by Sombr back one to seven, "Your Idol" from K-Pop Demon Hunters down one to nunmber eight and "Back to Friends" by Sombr to number nine.

Completing the top ten rising six places to number ten off the back of a boost thanks to the release of the album is "Nice to Each Other" by Olivia Dean...we have more Olivia Dean to talk about later.

Gains

As far as gains go outside the top ten, we did see a huge fifteen place come for "Where is My Husband?" by RAYE to sxteen this week. This song has hit written all over it but other than that no other major gains. 

Losers.

It was a rough week for Sabrina Carpenter with "House Tour" down sixteen to forty six while "Tears" is proving to be something of a disappointment as it slipped nine to twenty one. 

"Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran slumped nine to forty eight.

Drop Outs.

Three drop outs this week with Chappell Roan seeing the exits of both "Good Luck Babe!" and "The Subway" while Sabrina Carpenter's "Go Go Juice' also took it's exit.

New Entries

Three new entries this week. 

41. "Lady Lady" by Olivia Dean

I guess I didn't realize that Olivia Dean had gotten this big, she has four songs on the chart right now including two new songs from her new album "The Art of Loving" and Olivia has been a breath of fresh air on the charts in 2025. This song being the first of two new Olivia Dean songs on the chart and well...this is probably the weaker of the two songs, it's still damn good...it's just the instrument feels kind of oily and the lyrics play to Olivia getting used to changes in her life. It's fine but when the next song exists, it's definitely a weaker cut from the album.

27. "So Easy (To Fall In Love)" by Olivia Dean

Now this is more like it! A smoother jazzy cut where Olivia Dean muses on how easy it is to fall in love and be attracted to somebody and how happy she'd be walking with a man she loves through Central Park, it's a blissful. cozy song that makes me want to curl up by a warm fire with this on repeat. This will play well for Valentines Day and even over the Christmas period. Gorgeous song, check it out!

6. "Tit for Tat" by Tate McRae

I don't think it's any secret that I am not a fan of Tate McRae, her voice generally does nothing for me at all and I still have a pretty big intolerance for "You Broke Me First" but I was curious about this song as I am about most songs that debut in the top ten as top ten debuts have been rare this year and well...this isn't as bad as McRae's previous hits mostly because of that cool, watery production that better supports Tate's voice, it sounds nice even though Tate is telling a guy she is done with him after seeing the way he behaved but she doesn't really go into a lot of detail other than hinting at cheating which makes the song lose some of its pathos for me. Decent song.

No worst of the week again this week because I actually don't mind all three of them however the best of thr week is easy with "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean.

Next week...we have to deal with Taylor Swift and The Life of a Showgirl album bomb...it's about to get very messy. 

All 4 1994: 2nd October Always Lay Your Fantastic Voyage On Me

 We have one hell of a fascinating  week at hand here mostly because the top spot isn't one percent certain for next week but anyway lets get to the top ten where "Confide in Me" by Kylie Minogue spent a third week at number one...again, it's future at number one is looking shaky as it lost its sales margin. 

Right behind it, up four places to number two is "Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey, this song has a head of steam going and looks set to make a play for the top spot next week. The same could be true of "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry up one spot to number three while "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet got something of a second wind up one to number four. 

All-4-One slumped two places to number five with "I Swear" as it begins its graceful descent while "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men climbed one spot to number six.

"Swamp Thing" by The Grid had the biggest fall inside the top ten down four places to number seven while "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories  remained at number eight. 

Returning to the top ten is "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John rising three places to number nine..YAY! 

Finally "Rockin' For Myself" by Motiv 8 feat. Angie Brown slipped back one spot to number ten. 

Losers

Some long term songs that have stuck around longer than you might expect are finally getting the death rattle with "Hey D.J" by Lighter Shade of Brown down fifteen to fifty this week and "Don't Turn Around" by Ace of Base down eleven spots to forty nine. 

Similar case for "Letitgo" by Prince which tumbled eleven to forty eight and "Shine' by Collective  Soul which skidded from twenty seven all the way down to forty (it does have a year end spot wrapped up though)

Francis Dunnery's "American Life In the Summertime" slipped seven to thirty two while "Hands Out of My Pocket" by Cold Chisel is seeing it's hands sliding back into a pocket as it slumped eight places to twenty one. 

Gains

Some decent sized gains this week, let's start with the unchained seven place movement to number thirteen for "Chains" by Tina Arena, this song is potentially heading for a stint in the top ten which I wouldn't nind. 

However I do mind that "Gimme" by Boom Crash Opera got a huge boost up from forty two to twenty nine...why? 

At least Babyface's "When I Can See You" got a good ten place boost to thirty nine. 

New Entries

Six new entries this week beginning with....

46. "Lay Your Love on Me" by Roachford

So Roachford is back wtth yet another single straight out of his own somewhat acoustic r'n'b and you know what? I might like this song even more than "Only to Be With You"! This song seems to have this nervy tension about it with Roachford urging this girl to lay all her love on him especially as it's hit a point in their relationship where the talking isn't enough anymore and he wants something more from the relationship only she isn't sure. The only issue I have is were the handclaps really necessary? Otherwise great song!. 

45. "Fantastic Voyage" by Coolio

Third single from Coolio with thhis one sampling 1980s "Fantastic Voyage" by Lakeside and yeah, this groove goes off! I love it however that sumptuous groove and melody belies tbat this song is actually about the dream of escaping urban black poverty and dreaming of a place where his kids can play without the fear of a drive by shooting. All up it's actually a pretty sad song but yeah, I think this one is worth a listen, check it out. 

43. "Red Light Avenue" by James Reyne

The lead single from James Reyne's album "The Whiff of Bedlam" and another pretty damn good song this week although I will say this ballad is a strange choice of lead single as this song's content is dark, this is about somebody doing anything they can to make ends eg: selling out be it through prostitution, drugs or even a child selling candy...yeah this is a sad one but ultimately  I think it's one of James Reyne's best, check it out. 

42. "No Matter What You Do" by Olivia Newton-John

Ahh the return of Olivia Newton-John to the charts with this pretty standard "I love you and will stand by you no matter what you do" track because that's just pretty much what this sosng is and that weirdly trying to be hip for 1994 production is doing nothing for me whatsoever. Pass. 

26. "Tomorrow" by Silverchair

Now we have a debut from three Newcastle teenagers courtesy of this song from the EP also titled "Tomorrow" and well...this is as grungey as anything you'll hear out of Seattle from Soundgarden or Nirvana especially wirh the vocals from Silverchair's frontman Daniel Johns but those guitars just help drive the song home, as for the content, it appears to be a conversation between a very wealthy man and a man who is doing it tough, Damn good song but I think it's going to have a fight to be the best of the week. 

16. "Always" by Bon Jovi

Ending this week with more rock, this time from American band Bon Jovi except this is more of a piano ballad with some of the most dramatic and ridiculous language I have ever heard from this band. "This Romeo was bleeding but you can't see his blood"...what the hell is that even supposed to mean? That's all before we get to the hook where Jon Bon Jovi shrieks in the most nasal tone possible "Annndddd IIIII WILL LOVE YOU BAYBEEE FOR ALLLLWAAAYS", talk about clingy and over dramatic! 

That ends the week on a bit of a sour note but yes "Always" by Bon Jovi is getting worst of the week. Best however is tougher because wow, four of the six are damn great songs, I am going to give it to "Red Light Avenue" by James Reyne...just ahead of Silverchair and Coolio

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: 29th September

So very little changed this week that I almost wondered whether it was worth doing this episode but turns out we got two pretty good brand new entries so I guess that makes this worth doing but let's get through this top ten quickly because there really isn't a lot to say. 

"Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remains at number one for yet another week as it as strength on sales, Youtube and even still some strength on streamng although that has ebbed a little bit courtesy of "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean at number two which with the album release on Friday could make a strong play for the number one spot. 

These top two don't look like being knocked off at this point right now, there's a healthy gap back to "Ordinary" by Alex Warren which held steady at number three, it was a similar case for "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe at number four, "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number five and "12 to 12" by sombr at number six. 

Then we get to the little bit of movement in the top ten with "You Idol" from K-Pop Demon Hunters up one to number seven, it pushed back "Back to Friends" by sombr to number eight. 

:How It's Done" from K-Pop Demon Hunter jumped three places to numnber nine while "Daisies" by Justin Bieber remained at number ten for another week (go figure, it's one of the better songs in the top ten). 

Losers 

Not too much in the way of losers this week although we did see a twelve place slide for album cut "Go Go Juice" by Sabrina Carpenter to forty eight and a seven place dip for "Jealous Type" by Doja Cat to forty seven (this should get something of a rebound next week thanks to the album dropping on Friday)

"House Tour" by Sabrina Carpenter slipped seven to thirty. 

Gains

The biggest gain of the week belonged to "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez which got an eight place rebound to forty one but that's the one major gain this week.

Re-Entries

Three re-entries this week with "Good Luck, Babe!" back at forty two and "The Subvway" at fifty both for Chappell Roan.

While "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter returned at forty eight.

Drop Outs

Five drop outs this week headlined by "The Door" by Teddy Swims taking its exit to the on replay singles chart. 

Also gone is "The Dead Dance" by Lady Gaga and three Sabrina Carpenter album cuts with "My Man on Willpower", "Sugar Talking" and "Goodbye"/

New Entries

Two new entries this week, starting with...

45. "Folded" by Kehlani

About time this turned up on the Australian charts,  this song is becoming a sleeper hit in the US and I got to be honest, I am glad it is because I think this is Kehlani's best song to date with swell of the multi tracked vocals doing a masterful job with the gentle guitar touches and Kehlani actually sounding fantastic  The content of this song is pretty much Kehlani telling this guy that she has his clothes folded and they are ready for him to come over and collect if he is ready but there's this undercurrent of sexual tension that serves this song well...I dig it either way...good song.

31. "Where Is My Husband?" by RAYE

So I am going to bust out some disappointment that "Suzanne" with Mark Ronson wasn't the hit it should have been earlier this year, come on folks, that song is great and deserved all the acclaim...ugh...moving on because we have Raye's new single here and man, I have never seen a song that feels like it's equipped to be absolutely huge as the year winds down especially with that monster hook and how the song feels like a throwback to the soul of the 60s just given a new lick of paint from Raye to make it fresh and modern, it's a fascinating song even with her singing verses quick in parts that I am not always convinced works but when the song is this infectious,,,who cares.

Raye is getting best of the week for "Where is My Husband?"/ No worst of the week because I don't think "Folded' by Kehlani deserves that, that song is good too!

All 4 1994. 25th September. Gimme A Fly Girl

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ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 22nd September

 A slow week on the chart with no new entries this week and for as much as ARIA brought in these changes I do have to wonder how much these changes have fixed anything. No new entries and the very top of the charts haven't changed so let's get stuck into the top ten where for yet another week "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remained at number one but streaming is starting to slip so a lot is on that sales margin. 

Remaining at number two is "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean which took the lead on Spotify streaming through the week but does need to start closing that sales margin. Also holding steady at number three is "Ordinary" by Alex Warren and "No Broke Boys" by Disco Linea and Tinashe at number four. 

Also sready this week is"Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters, there's questions around the use of AI around the writing of this song which is pretty disappointing to say the least.

Rising seven places to number six is "12 to 12" by Sombr...so glad the public have realized that this song is absolutely fantastic, hope it goes higher. Sombr also saw "Back to Friends" rebounded four places to number seven. 

"Your Idol' from K-Pop Demon Hunters slipped one spot to number eight while "Tears" by Sabrina Carpenter slumped three places to number nine (this song definitely will fall faster than a lot of people expect).

Dropping two places to number ten is "Daisies" by Justin Bieber which is on the down swing.

Gains

So outside of the gains for Sombr in the top ten, we saw a six place gain to twenty for "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae while "The Door" rebounded eight spots to thirty for Teddy Swims while "Gabriela" by Katseye got a nine place boost to thirty one.

"Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran rode a twelve place album boost to thirty four for Ed Sheeran and that was about it for our big gains this week. 

Re-Entries

Three retirrns this week, just a shame that none of them are precisely good, "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone is back at fifty, "What I Want" by Morgan Wallen and Tate McRae at forty eight and "Sports Car" by Tate McRae returned at twenty seven. 

Losers

Most of the big losers are Sabrina Carpenter "Man's Best Friend" cuts so lets start with "Sugar Talking" which fell eleven to forty five, "My Man On Will Power" lost all it's will power this week tumbling seventeen spota to forty four, "Goodbye" waved down eight spots to thirty nine and "Go Gio Juice" lost it's mojo down twelve to thirty six,

Drop Outs

So we lost "The Subway" by Chappell Roan which I think is a fucking travesty for the charts in a lot of ways.

Also gone are two Sabrina Carpenter album tracks, those being "Never Getting Laid Again" and "We Almost Broke Up Again Last night".

And with there being no new entries this week that will wrap things up, lets hope we get some new songs injected into chart.

All 4 1994. 18th September Black Book of Endless Love Chains Selling Drama Out of My Pocket

 Well, things just got interesting...it's been a duopoly at the rop for the past couple of weeks and now that duopoly is out on its ear because we do have a new number one, rising a massive thirty places to hit the top spot...it's "Confide In Me" by Kylie Minogue at number one and it got there on those massive sales numbers in a surge so big that previous number one "I Swear" by All-4-One was never going to match as it slipped back to number two. 

The same happened for "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet at number three and "Swamp Thing" by The Grid at number four. 

"7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry remained at number five and "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories followed suit at number six. 

The big victim in all of this is "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters which slumped three places to number seven while "Rhythm of the Night" by Corona climbed two spots to number eight. 

Finally we have two new entries to wrap up the top ten for this week with "Hands Out of My Pocket" by Cold Chisel entering at number nine as our biggest debut of thr week while Luther Vandross has teamed up with Mariah Carey for "Endless Love" which enters the chart at number ten. We'll talk about both songs later.

Losers

Stone Temple Pilots are on the precipice of slipping out of the top fifty this week with "Vasoline" sliding from thirty seven to fifty. 

Green Day's "Long View" fell ten to forty eight (this song really just hasn't gotten going at all). Kulcha's "Don't Be Shy" slumped seven spots to forty seven while "The Ballad of Oz" by Daddy Cool tumbled eleven slots to forty six. 

"Wild Night" isn't going to last much longer for John Mellencamp and Me'shell N'degeocello as it folded fifteen spots to hit forty five. It was also a rough week for "That's The Thing About Football" by Greg Champion as it fell eleven to hit forty four (then again I don't expect this song to stick around).

The hardest fall of the week belonged to Des'ree as "You Gotta Be" utterly fell into a hole down from twenty six to forty two. Roachford was hit with a ten place fall to thirty nine for "Only to Be With You".

Ten place slide for "Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous as it hit twenty nine while "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real Stuntman probably hated to move it down nine to twenty three. 

We did have three songs fall out of the top ten with "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain falling five spots to number twelve, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John slumping from nine to thirteen and " Son of a Gun" by JX crumbled eight spots to fourteen. 

Gains

We had some decent sized gains this week starting with the huge boost for "I Like the Nightlife (Disco Round)" by Alicia Bridges which boogied all the way up from it's debut of forty one up to twenty thanks to the impact of "Priscilla: Queen of the Desetrt"

Another noted boost off the debut was for Jaki Graham's great cover of "Ain't Nobody" wbich got a well deserved bump up from forty three to twenty eight while "Dreams" by The Cranberries also had a decent boost off it's debut as it climbed from fotty two to thirty six.

"Wild Flowers" by Things of Stone and Wood jumped from from forty nine to forty one.

Sadly not all the last week debuts having gains this week are good with "My Enemy" by Culture Shock getting a seven place gain to forty three,

 New Entries.

Six new entries this week, let's get the show rolling with...

49. "Selling the Drama" by Live

We're leading off with Live's lead single from "Throwing Copper" and my god this song is way too on the nose for it to be a 1994 song with lyrics ained at how political and religious leaders try to control the public and yeah, I get it especially if we're looking at the political scene in Australia and around the world. I guess my criticism would come in on the production where sometimes the vocals can get a bit smothered by the guitar riffs etc but still damn good song.

35. "One Night A Day" by Garth Brooks

Like, I said last time when "Stnading Outside the Fire" charted, it's impossible to get a decent quality version of a Garth Brooks song and this one is no different so unfortunately I am not able to review this particular song. 

30. "Black Book" by E.Y.C

So lets go another round with E.Y.C and I guess this is fine if you can ignore how lethargic the production and instrumentation is forcing you to pay attention to the lyrics which are just...wow...toxic much" You tell this girl she can open up to you and tell you whats going because she can trust you then on the hook say "Well girl, I'm taking you out of my black book". Toxic and manipulative garbage..,next!

21. "Chains" by Tina Arena

So the next two songs are ballads and we begin with the lead single from "Don't Ask" and my god, we have a powerhouse of a love song here that just builds and builds into that crescendo at the end. Tina sells the pure joy of being in love with this guy and  being spellbound by being in chains or in love with the incredible backing harmonies that join in on the verses and choruses plus the instrumentation is just perfect here. Phenomenal song.

10. "Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey

Genuine question here: Who was asking for this cover of Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross's sappy 1981 ballad? Mariah's got a good song on the charts right now so this cover feels a little unnecessary but I will give Luther Vandross this, he can sell this even if he is going to get outsung by Mariah Carey...I wish they'd learnt how to harmonise properly on this. At the end of the day, it's just two people declaring their endless love for each other, nothing more nothing less, now can we move on from the sappy please?

9. "Hand Out of My Pocket" by Cold Chisel

Oh here we go...this is more like it, time for some Cold Chisel even if this song doesn't sound like a typical Cold Chisel rocker and  Barnesy isn't screaming his lungs out. It's claimed by Australian music historian Glenn A. Baker that the song was inspired by a horrible incident on Christmas Day where a ousin of Jimmy Barnes who is Hare Krishna decided to hold a self immolation rite in a bathtub...yowsers. Either way while this is good, this really does sound like the band are indifferent to the song, there's not quite the same energy that typically gets Chisel going. That's all I'll say,

As a result, best and worst of the week fall out quite easily. Worst is going to "Black Book" by E.Y.C and best of the week to "Chains" by Tina Arena

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 15th September. The Sabrina Fallout of Dead Dance

 A much more muted week than I'd expected even the recedation of the Sabrina Carpenter album bomb to be slower than normal for most album bombs but also the mere fact Spotify charts were down for a large chunk of the week which meant that we were spared any impact from Justin Bieber's "Swag II" but anyway enough horsing around, lets jump into the top ten where for yet another week "Golden" from K-:Pop Demon Hunters remains at number one much to my frustration, this song has only gotten actively worse over the last couple of weeks especially with that god awful shrill hook.

However we do have an emerging contender to possibly take over the number one spot, it's "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean which climbed four spots to number two thanks gains on streaming and sales. 

It pushed past former number one "Ordinary" by Alex Warren which fell back one place to number three. "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinash held steady at number four while the same is true of "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number five.

Sabrina Carpenter's "Tears" fell back three spots to number six after it's debut last week. Kind of curious to see how this song holds up in  the weeks ahead.

"Your Idol" from K-Pop Demon Hunters climbed one spot to number seven whole "Daisies" by Justin Bieber returned to the top ten climbing three places to number eight.

The last two spots in the top ten are songs from K-Pop Demon Hunters holding their places in the top ten with "How it's Done" at nnumber nine and "what It Sounds Like" at number ten. 

Losers

Alright let's blow thtough the songs from the Sabrina Carpenter album bomb that lost big this week as they really were the only songs to lose big  "Manchild" dropped five spots to number twelve, "My Man On Will Power" by Sabrina Carpenter slipped twelve spots to twenty seven, "Goodbye" collapsed five spots to number thirty one, "Sugar Talking" lost fourteen spots to thirty four, "Never Getting Laid" slumped thirteen to forty one and thankfully the biggest loss of the week belonged to "We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night" which utterly went into a twenty place frree fall to number forty seven. 

Aside from that the continued heart breaking losses for "The Subway" by Chappell Roan this week down another six places to forty four.

Gains

So in a way the chart did reset a bit but I am not overall happy with a few of these gains especially for "Gabriela" by Katseye whicb climbed seven places to forty. Teddy Swims celebrated the news he will headline the NRL's Grand Final pre game entertainment by "The Door" rising seven spots to thirty eight. 

What did surprise me is the twelve place rebound for "Die With a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars to twenty eight, might have to do with the new entry that we will get to but still. pretty weird to me. 

"Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae climbed seven spots to twenty six while "Nice to Each Other" by Olivia Dean jumped nine to twenty one. 

Re-Entries

Just one return this week with"Messy" by Lola Young back at forty nine.

Drop Outs

Only two songs left this week with "What I Want" by Morgan Wallen and Tate McRae gone and likely locked on the year end list unfortunately.

The other to go is "Don't Worry, I'll Make You Worry" by Sabrina Carpenter. 

New Entries

Just one new entry this week so lets dive into...

50. "The Dead Dance" by Lady Gaga

The only new entry comes from the soundtrack of the season 2 Netflix show "Wednesday" and if there was somebody who could pull off a somewhat scary song for a show based off the Addams family than it is going to be Lady Gaga, right? Well, yes and no, this song has some seriously tight grooves and is a bunch of fun to dance to but it doesn't quite pull off the spooky aspect as well as it could  so much so it comes across as more campy and maybe too close to the sound that pervaded Gaga's last album "Mayhem". Overall, I don't hate it but I do get the feeling it should be better.