All 4 1994: 4th September. You Mean Standing Outside the World, Enough is Enough

Alright, no mucking around, let's drive straight into things with the top ten this week because the top three didn't change at all, mostly down to margins being too big to close so "I Swear" by All-4-One at number one, "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet at number two and "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters at number three.

"Swamp Thing" by The Grid climbed one spot to number four, its got decent momentum, it's just a question if that momentum can get bigger to catch the top three but for now, it was big enough to push past Big Mountain's "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain down one to number five.

Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories are starting to push for a spit in the top fove as "Stay (I Missed You)" climbed one to number six while "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry moved up three to number seven.

Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" remains in the number eight hole this week while "Son of a Gun" by JX slipped three places to number nine.

In the best and possibly best news on the charts for 1994, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John got a six place boost to join the top ten at number ten! So so happy to see it here. Let's hope it can rise higher in the weeks ahead. 

Losers

Not really that much in terms of big losers this week although we did see Kulcha's "Don't Be Shy" slide from twenty seven to thirty eight and former number one "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies slip ten to thirty.

"Only to Be With You" by Roachford slumped from twenty one to twenry nine...bit of a shame this song is on the downswing, it's not bad. 

Gains

Ir's on the gains front that things are interesting because rhere was an eleven place gain for Joshua Kadison's "Jessie" to number seventeen while "Rockin' For Myself" by Motiv 8 feat. Angie Brown rocketed with bullet points from forty one to eighteen,

Up seven splots to thirty is "American Life in the Summertime" by Francis Dunnery while "Regulate" by Warren G & Nate Dogg climbed nine to thirty one. 

Most annoyingly "Afternoons and Coffeespoons" by Crash Test Dummies climbed six places to forty two. 

New Entries

49. "You Mean the World To Me" by Toni Braxton

Surprised we didn't get an immediate follow up single to "Breathe Again" (a song that is good but has become kind of forgettable) and I got to admit I was curious what we'd get going in and yeah, we got a pretty sweet love song combining both piano and guitar but allowing Toni Braxton's vocals to shine and shine they do, there's a passion in the vocals from Toni that really make the song believeable. I dig it. 

48. "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)" by Kym Mazelle & Jocelyn Brown

Ahh, it's been awhile since we dealt with a cover version on in one of these retro episodes but today we get to deal with Kym Mamzelle and Jocelyn Brown's take on the hit duet between Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer, the original hitting number 8 on the Kent Music Report charts in 1979,  

Now it starts out well enough, it starts out favouring soft but strong vocals then dives into this weird Eurodance/disco vibe that really doesn't work especially when in comparision the production helped both Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand but on this cover, it feels like both Kym Mamzelle and Jocelyn Brown are having to sing shout to be heard over the noisy production. 

I'll stick to the original...next!

47. Standing Outside the Fire" by Garth Brooks

So Garth Brooks on the charts and briefly stepping away from being in 1994 mode, I'm going to confess that I cannot find a decent enough version of the song to be able to review this properly. I may also have to do this with any future Garth Brooks songs that chart. Sorry.

43. "Alrabaiye (Take Me Up)" by Amadin feat. Swing

And we end the week with more eurodance because that's the way we want to finish with one of the more screechy and annoying songs I've heard in quite some time and when I say screechy I am talking about the vocals that get increasingly more annoying as the beat that never changes so yeah... this isn't good. Next!

That was our week and the best and worst fall out easily, for the first "Alrabbiaye (Take Me Up" by Amadin feat. Swing...obviously. Best of the week is going to "You Mean the World to Me" by Toni Braxton. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 1st September

 So this is the final week before everything changes for the ARIA singles chart going forward so before we dive into this week's goings on on the ARIA singles chart, let's dive into the changes that will hit the singles chart next week with ARIA announcing a few months ago that songs that were released two years or more ago will be jettisoned from the top fifty and onto an "On Replay Chartt" however ARIA will give special provision to older tracks that are going viral so what that means is songs like "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House, "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac and "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls are spending effectively their last week in the ARIA top fi

Now we've got that all out of the way, let's get to the top ten and really...it's not even a story this week as that barely moved, of course, "Golden" by from K-Pop Demon Hunters remained at number one this week now that could come under fire from Sabrina Carpenter next week expecially if  Carpenter's album doesn't get a big push behind it. 

Ultimately the impending Sabrina Carpenter album bomb might be bad news for a few songs hoping to make a play for number one with "Ordinary" by Alex Warren remaining at number two, "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe at number three and "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number four.

Then we get to the only move inside the top ten with "You Idol" by K-Pop Demon Hunters moving up one to number five, it pushed "Daisies" by Justin Bieber back to number six (I am actually considering this song for my year end best list given how slow this year has been for the hits). 

Holding steady at number seven is "How It's Done" from K-Pop Demon Hunters while it's pretty much the same thing for "What It Sounds Like" also from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number eight, "Back to Friends" by Sombr at number nine and finally "Free" by K-Pop Demon Hunters at number ten. 

Gains

The better Olivia Dean song "Man I Need" has exploded up the charts off it's debut last week racing up a massive thirty one places to number twelve. 

Unfortunately the worst song from "Don't Tap the Glass" continues to gain traction for Tylor the Creator with "Sugar On My Tongue" up eighteen to nineteen. 

Re-Entries

Two returns this week with "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone back at forty six while "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll is back at forty one

Losers

Biggest loser this week was "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded Houser at number forty six but with the new chart rules coming, it's going to exit anyway otherwise there's not a real lot here on the losers front. 

Drop Outs

The drop outs aren't unexpected here with "Which Ones?" by Drake and Central Cee and "Jump" by Blackpink exiting.

Also exiting having made the year end list for 2025 are "Messy" by Lola Yound and "Luther" by Kendrick Lamar and SZA.

"I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves jumped off the top fifty before it was pushed off by ARIA.

New Entries

Three new entries this week, let's get keep things rolling with...

48. "Strategy" by Twice

Another song from Twice debuting on the chart, this one has been around awhile even with a guest feature from Meghan Thee Stallion although the version with Meghan isn't tbe one that charted here and she would have been handy here because geez this retro glossy sound that comes off as too overly polished is not a good fit for Twice and doesn't even match the lyrical content of the song where Twice are trying to get this guy's attention and have crafted out a "strategy" to get him, it's all a bit childish and that production just does not help. Next!

45. "Breakin' Dishes" by Rihanna

People miss Rihanna that much that they are desperate enough to chart older songs, in this case, I don't mind because this song is from an era of Rihanna I absolutely love where she's kicking ass in pop rock and really making it work, this song is from the album "Good Girl Gone Bad" released in 2007 and featured the hits "Disturbia" and my favourite Rihanna song "Shut Up and Drive". Now I will say that unless Rihanna's label can prove that this song is a viral hit and deserves to stay on the chart, it will get booted next week.

Which is a shame because I think this is a pretty good song overall especially with Rihanna's bratty charisma that reminds me a lot of Avril Lavigne although I will say I am concerned that lyrics where Rihanna is leaning toward domestic violence isn't exactly a good thing and some of the production doesn't hold up that well in 2025 especially that weird noise tbat underpins the song but I still dig this given what it is trying to do. Check it out if curious.

28. "Jealous Type" by Doja Cat.

"Born Again" by Lisa, Doja Cat and Raye is one of my favourite pop songs of the year and apart of it is because of Doja Cat's singing before jumping into a rap verse, Doja proved herself to be versatile on that song so would that also prove to be true on the lead single for her 80s inspired album "Vie"? Well yeah and I think she absolutely nailed it, it's glossy, it's got groove and Doja Cat is not shying away from admitting that she's the one to get jealous over men who are with girls who are not her, now sure that reads as a little possessive but Doja Cat is owning it and she's well aware of the dynamic and she doesn't want to end up hurting this dude with her behaviour. I love this song...check it out!

All up that was our week, not a bad one but best and worst do fall out easily with worst going to "Strategy" by Twice and best of the week to "Jealous Type" by Doja Cat.

All 4 1994: 28th August. Regulate Afternoons and Coffeespoons whiile Children play

This was an interesting week...more for the fact that there were some shifts in our top ten that I find exceedingly interesting going forward...now of course our top four didn't change with "I Swear" by All-4-One holding the number one spot ahead of "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet at number two, "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters at number three and "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain at number four. 

Then we get to all the shifting that happened with "Swamp Thing" by The Grid moving up four to number five, it's got momentum thanks to sales and could rise higher in the weeks ahead. 

JX got a one place gain to number six with "Son of a Gun" while Lisa Loeb launched four spots into the top ten with "Stay (I Missed You)". 

This saw "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden tumble two to number eight while "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real slipped back one to number nine.

Rising four spots into the top ten is the brilliant "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry. It's a terrific song and am happy to see it here.

Losers

Sad to see "You Got Me Floatin'" by P,M Dawn not really getting all that much traction, its down seven to number fifty. 

The losses continued this week for Eternal as "Stay" collapsed a further nine spots to forty three. "Snake Skinned Shoes" by The Black Sorrows toppled from twenty one thirty eight...ouch!

The chart fire is well and truly going out for "Light My Fire" by Cluh House feat. Carl has it stumbled nine slots to thirty seven. 

Finally tumbling out of the top ten is "Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous as it crashed six spots to number eleven.

Gains

There are a lot of gains this week so let's start with "Rhythm of the Night" by Corona which smashed it's way up from twenty seven to fourteen. I'd not be surprised if this breaks into the top ten. 

Also gaining big is "LetitGo" by Prince which jumped ten places to twenty two this week while Public Enemy hit an eleven place sweet spot with "Give It Up" hitting twenty four.

Joshua Kadison's appeal to "Jessie" earnt that song an eight place gain to twenty eight while 'American Life In the Summertime" by Francis Dunnery continues to climb up nine to thirty.  

New Entries

Five new entries this week beginning with...

48. "Afternoon & Coffeespoons" by Crash Test Dummies

Time for the follow up to "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" and well...rhis is better than "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" even if the instrumentation reminds me a lot of "Happy Birthday Helen" by Things of Stone and Wood however it's tbe lead vocals that drive me up the wall and the fact it does feel like he is trying to force each word to feet into the song hard, the vocal delivery just makes me want to grind my teeth so yeah...no thanks, I am moving on. 

47. "Rain (Let the Children Play)" by Marcia Hines

The lead single from Marcia Hynes eighth studio album "Here and Now" has arrived on the charts and I don't know? Maybe for a song where it's about letting the children play, I was expecting something a bit more infectious and energetic or at least reflective of children playing but instead we get this meditative piano ballad that suits Marcia's voice but doesn't really hit in the way that I was hoping it would. It's good but could stand to be better.

41.  "Rockin' For Myself" by Motiv 8 feat Angie Brown

The moment I saw the artists involved I knew this was an electronic dance cut, Motiv 8 is the stage name of British electronic dance producer Steve Rodway. This song uses a rather prominent sample of Italian act 49ers 1992 single "Move Your Feet" and I guess this is solid, I like Angie Brown's vocals and there's almost somehow a gospel vibe to the song that works in it's favour. I dig this. Check it out!

40. "Regulate" by Warren G & Nate Dogg

Getting an eclectic mix of songs this week because we're diving into R'N'B and hip hop with Warren G and Nate Dogg with this song intriguingly using a four bar sample of Michael MacDonald's "I Keep Forgettin' (Every time You're Near) along side "Sign of the Times" by Bob James and an interpolation of "Let Me Ride" by Dr Dre and I got to say there's a smooth slickness to the use of the samples and the interpolation that make me dig this a fair bit even if the production doesn't quite match content which centres around the stealing of property! Cool song. I dig it. 

35. "The Ballad of Oz " by Daddy Cool

So this was credited with the B side from Skyhooks called "Happy Hippy Cut" so I am only going to review the song credited first which is this song from Daddy Cool and...I am already reminded of "Eagle Rock" in the instrumentation especially with the guitars and handclaps. I appreciate the song is telling a story but I don't know...I just can't get behind it when all the instrumentation wants me to do is go back to better Daddy Cool songs. Don't hate it but sure don't love it either.

That was our week, bit of a rough one but best and worst fall out reasonably easy. For best, I'm going with "Regulate" by Warren G and Nate Dogg...the production killed did enough for me.

As for the worst, yeah it's got to be "Afternoons and Coffeespoons" by Crasb Test Dummies

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 25th August.

 Look, let's just get stuck into this week because again...it was another pretty slow week apart from the two new entries and the fact that K-Pop Demon Hunters have almost taken over the entire top ten. 

Speaking of K-Pop Demon Hunters and the top ten, let's get to that because "Golden" by K-Pop Demon Hunters cast remains at number one and...unless Sabrina Carpenter can bring an absolute belter of an album bomb, I don't see what's knocking off this song from number one until Taylor Swift eithet releases a lead single or drops her album in October, it's dominant on sales, streaming and even on Youtube. 

Alex Warren held steady at number two with "Ordinary" albeit on now faltering margins ahead of "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe which rose one spot to number three,. 

"Soda Pop" by cast of K-Pop Demon Hunters rose one spot to number four, in fact the Netflix show helped push "Daisies" by Justin Bieber back two spots to number five. 

"Your Idol" held steady at number six as did "How It's Done" at number seven both for K-Pop Demon Hunters. 

"What It Sounds Like" by K-Pop Demon Hunters bounced up one to number eight, it pushed back Sombr's "Back to Friends" to number nine (I expect this to get a sizeable boost back up the chart with Sombr having dropped an album yesterday)

Finally K-Pop Demon Hunters bookend the top ten with "Free" up four spots to number ten.

Gains

Sombr's "12 to 12" got a seven place gain to number seventeen...I expect this to go top ten and become a massive hit. 

We've got more Olivia Dean to discuss in the new but her previous single "Nice to Each Other" climbed a massive twenty one spots to twenty four! I am not sure why, it could be off the back of people liking the new single and wanting to hear what she has done previously. 

Losers

Blackpink's "Jump" is jumping the wrong way down eight to number fifty while "Messy" by Lola Young down nine to forty nine.

"Azizam" by Ed Sheeran slipped six to number forty six while it was the same sized slip for "The Door" by Teddy Swims as it slammed into door forty four on the chart.

However I am pissed that "The Subway" by Chappell Roan continues to go in the wrong direction down six to sixteen. Ugh, the fact that such a great song continues to slide says a lot about the stale and sragnant nature of the charts in 2025. 

Drop Outs

Not complaining about losing "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone...that song can stay out of the top fifty if you ask me. Also gone is "Mr Brightside" by The Killers.

New Entries

Two new entries, starting with...

43. "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean

So given "Nice to Each Other" continues to give me the ick every week it's on the chart but I guess second time lucky right? Well yeah, this is actually pretty good! It's got this nice gospel sound even if it doesn't quite get there., she just wants this guy to be the man she needs in her life and to be on the same page as her. Its definitely a cute song and worth checking out. Olviia Dean, you've redeemed yourself here.

37. "Sugar On My Tongue" by Tyler, the Creator.

Oh come on, this is the song we're choosing to make a hit from "Don't Tap the Glass" when "Ring Ring Ring" was rught there and sctreaming hit? Yeah, "Sugar on My Tongue" is one of the weaker songs from that new Tyler album and it's mostly because of the weird ass production that has breathing sounds forming part of the melody and this weird ass analogy comparing this girl's body to "sugar on my tongue" which just feels creepy even if Tyler didn't intend it to be.

It's not terrible but we could have done better. "Sugar on My Tongue" gets worst of the week howeverr "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean gets best of the week, really dug that song.

Next week...probably that new Doja Cat single. 

All 4 1994: 21st August If You Leitgo, Rhythm of the Tunnel follows

So it's a bit of a standard week here, the top ten is settling down at least in the top half and we have our usual group of new entries to talk about later so let's not waste any more time and get through this top ten where of course "I Swear" by All-4-One retained the niumber one slot, its got a comfortable margin over former number one "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet which remained at number two.

Also holding steady are the trio of "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters at number three, "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain at number four and " Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous" at number five. 

From there "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden reached a new peak up one to number six,  "Son of a Gun" by JX shot up two spots to number seven.

After six weeks of stalling at number six, "I Like To Move It" by Reel 2 Real feat. The Mad Stuntman fell two spots to number eight.

The big surprise this week was the massive gain by "Swamp Thing" by The Grid as it climbed off it's debut of forty three to number nine.

Finally down two places to number ten is "Shine" by Collective Soul, that song has lost it's shine with the public rather quickly.

Losers

Now we get to the losers where "Whoomp! (There It Is)" by Tag Team sliding seventeen spots to fifty while "I Believe" by Marcella Detroit slipped from thirty two to forty six. 

The Pretenders "I'll Stand by You" sitting position on the charts keeps getting lower and lower as it plunged another nine spots to forty four. 

"The Winner Is..." by Southend with Nik Fish slumped from twenty eight to forty one wbile "Lonely" by Frente! collapsed eleven spots to forty. 

"Stay" by Eternal is continuing to fall, this time tumbling from twenty one to thirty four while "Vasoline" by Stone Temple Pilots slipped seven to thirty one

Crash Test Dummies former number one hit "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" slumped ten spots to twenty two. 

Gains

Solid amount of big gains outside the top ten this week with "Do You Wanna Get Funky?" by C&C Music Factory up from thirty one to nineteen while "Find Me (Odyssey to Anyoona)" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka is up fourteen spots to twenty six. 

Up ten to twenty nine is the underwhelming "Heaven 'n' Hell" by Salt 'N' Pepa  Finally "Speed" by Billy Idol sped up eight to thirty eight. 

Re-Entries

We do have one re-entry with "Hey Jealousy" by Gin Blossoms back at forty nine

New Entries

Four new entries this week, starting with

48. "If You Go" by Jon Secada

To kick things off, the "Just Another Day" dude is back and the problems kick in yet again because the instrumental is somehow louder in the mix than Jon Secada is at points. A very early nineties piano track where Jon Secada croons about how all he really wants is this girl and if she goes there'll be something missing in his life which is actually really fucking guilt trippy. So bad writing and bad production combine for a pop song not worth the sum of it's parts....NEXT!

42. "Tunnel" by The Screaming Jets

Moving onto The Screaming Jets and I will be honest that I haven't really cared that much about a Screaming Jets single since 1991's "Better" so I don't hold a lot of hope for this and you know what? I think I dig this one, I like what the instrumentation is doing and Dave Gleeson is actually trying to do what sounds like either an odd nasal impersonation of Michael Stipe but hey the song works, the hook kicks ass so hey, I'll take it. 

32. "Letitgo" by Prince

Alright so I like "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" which was under another alias The Symbol so I was curious to see what this song would offer up snd yeah, it's a dark but ultimately very funky R'n'B with hints of hip hop jam where Prince admits he has a lot of feelings pent up inside him and now he wants to let everything go so he can move on with life. Yeah, you know what? I'll take this. Good song.

27. "The Rhythm of the Night" by Corona

Eurodance this time from Corona, a group out of Italy and yeah, this a pretty incredible dance track especially in terms of production where big doofy beats are somewhat held bacl to allow lead vocalist Giovanna Bersola (aka Jenny B) to shine, she sounds absolutely phenomenal here. Good song, hope it catches on. 

However I am going to give "Letitgo" by Prince the best of the week...that song resonated a bit more for me. Worst falls out easily..."If You Go" by Jon Secada...seriously. enough of the guilt tripping ex partner songs please. 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: August 18th. No New Entries So How about 5 Songs I am Loving in 2025?

Yeah, we got a very quiet week with no new entries (don't worry I do have something in store for that) and that for two weeks in a row, we have the same fifty songs here which I really do believe is something we need to be worried about however let's get to the top where for a third week "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remained at number one and so far its looking a comfortable number one, it may well be a dominant number one at least uintil Taylor Swift drops either a lead single or when then album drops in October as it's dominant on sales, streaming and youtube.

It's well ahead of "Ordinary" by Alex Warren which rebounded to number two but I don't see this going back to number one, it did however push past "Daisies" by Justin Bieber which fell back to number three. 

Rising three spots to number four is "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe, this has gotten some nice boosts on streaming in the past few weeks,. 

"Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters bounced back one spot to number five pushing past "Your Idol" which stumbled back to number six while on that note "How It's Done" also from K-Pop Demon Hunters rebounded to number seven

"Back to Friends" by Sombr climbed one spot to number eight and with the album dropping on Friday, this song could return to the top five in the weeks ahead.

There's more K-Pop Demon Hunters in the top ten with "What It Sounds Like" up one spot to number nine and finally perhaps the biggest indictment on the charts in 2025, "The Subway" by Chappell Roan down six to number ten. 

Gains

Justin Bieber's "Yukon" up seven to number thirteen because somehow it's the song from "SWAG" that Beliebers really want to make a hit...unfortunately.

While "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" by Shaboozey climbed eight spots to twenty two because this song needs a second wind. Just make "Blink Twice" with Myles Smith or "Good News" a thing in the top fifty. 

At least I like "A Bar Song (Tipsy)", I can't say that about "Takedown" by Twice rising eight to thirty three.

"Carry You Home" by Alex Warren up seven to forty three. 

Losers

Two Kendrick Lamar and SZA collabs suffered losses this week with "Luther" down eight to forty seven and "All The Stars" down seven to forty four.

Meanwhile the losses continued for Drake with "Which Ones?" featuring Central Cee down eight to thirty...the sooner this song is gone the better for everyone while "Eternity" by Alex Warren down nine to twenty five.

As there are no drop outs or any new entries and I really don't want to have a blog entry this short, I want to do a small segment where I talk about some of my favourite songs released this year, this is something I wish I did on this blog more, I also want to stress that most of these songs will not have charted so let's dive in...

Great 2025 Songs That Deserve More Love

"One Way Ticket" by Tyne-James Organ

This song is my favourite Australian song of the year so far, I love how this song is just Organ showing that him and this girl want the same thing and he is down for it but promises he will never let her down and she is more than welcome to take what she wants from him, the feeling is likely mutual. I also love how the song juxtaposes Organ's rougher vocals against the cleaner and sleeker pop/rock production and how propulsive that hook is. Damn great song!

"Fair Game" by HolyBrune

So I don't know that much about HolyBrune, there's not that much information about her online but what I do know is that this song is a god damn jam. Yeah the distortion of the verses give away to this sleek yet sexy as hell chorus where she's telling this guy she knows he wants to touch her but she won't let him because she doesn't trust him as he is a bit of a faker. Definitely an R'n'B jam to check out.

"Night Diving" by Max McNown

So in the last few years I have become a bit of a fan of American singer songwriter Max McNown, his music strips back a lot of the rough edges that can be found on Zach Bryan's music to their bare components but still making songs that hit just has hard and his writing seems to have a maturity that just resonates for me which was the case for this song where McNown is struggling with addiction and realizing that the addiction is still strong and the frustration that he is falling back into old habits is taking hold, it's a dark song that hits hard. 

"The Actor" by Willow Avalon

The only country song of the five songs I am highlighting but my god, I do think "Southern Belle Raisin' Hell" is an album that has gone unnoticed by way too many and when you can get Charles Wesley Godwin on a remix than you know you have a fucking great song. Willow Avalon has the conversational cadence down pat as she describes this guy who stole her heart yet he turned out to be a sham and he was an actor that she had fallen for. Now the CWG remix tells the story from the point of view of the actor in the second verse. This song is worth your time as is the whole of "Southern Belle Raisin' Hell". 

"Settle Down" by Vella

Vella might be the artist on this list that hasn't as yet had the same bucket load of attention yet she's dropping consistently great singles that make me want an album from her, I nearly didn't go with this particular song because her newest single "River Styx" is incredible but because "Settle Down" has been on my mid year list, I ultimately went with it and this is still an incredible song about yearning for love and yet trying to quell the instincts in her to reach out to this person she clearly still harbours feelings for complete with production that really does sell the danger the potential liasion could spell.

Other songs worth your time:

• "We Own the Night" by Black Atlass (Warning around some swearing on the hook if thats something that bothers you)
• "Gravelweed" by Jason Isbell 
• "Night After Night" by The Amazons
• "Maybe I'm Lonely Too" by Addison Johnson
• "Broken Glass" by Harper Finn (If you like Sombr's "Back to Friends" and "Undressed", this song might be up your alley)

All 4 1994: 14th August. Give it Up and Get Funky, Jessie.

 It's a pretty standard week for 1994 this week with five new entries and some changes that could reasonably be seen to be coming including right at the very top so let's dive straight into the top ten because we do have a new number one and unfortunately it's..."I Swear" by All-4-One. it finally pushed past "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet which slipped back to number two on weaker sales. 

Sigh. Let's move on from our incredibly sappy top two with "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters remaining at number three, it's not a challenger for the top spot at this point, the same goes for "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain despite it climbing one spot to number four ahead of "Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous at number five,

"I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real featuring The Mad Stuntman continues to just stall at number six, this is this song's sixth week at number six. 

"Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden remains at number seven while "Shine" by Collective Soul jumps one spot to number eight, also on the rise is "Son of a Gun" by JX up one spot to number nine. 

Finally the top ten is rounded out by Des'ree's "You Gotta Be" which jumped one spot to number ten. 

Losers

Let's start at the bottom of the chart as we usually do as D:Ream's "U R The Best Thing" slumped thirteen to fifty while "Around the World" by East 17 crashed eleven to forty nine. and Jam & Spoon feat, Plavka slumped from thirty four to forty eight with "Right in the Night"

The "Hip Hop Holiday" might be over for 3 The Hard Way as their hit slipped eight to fotty four while "Shaka Jam" shook down from twenty six to fourty two. 

"I'll Stand By You" by The Pretenders needed to sit down as it slumped eight spots to thirty five.

Frente! experienced a sharp decline of twelve places to twenty nine with "Lonely" while "Stay" by Eternal did the exact opposite running down nine spots to twenty one.

Gains

The gains are a wild bunch this week, Lisa Loeb's "Stay (I Missed You)" rocketed up from thirty nine to fifteen while much to my surprise "Snake Skin Shoes" by The Blake Sorrows slithered it's way up ftom twenty two to sixteen.

"Wild Night" by John Mellencamp and Me'Shell N'degeocello rebounded ten spots to eighteen. 

Up ten spots to twenty off it's debut is "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry which is great to see. Up eight to twenty seven for some ungodly reason is Bjorn Again's cover of "Flashdance...What a Feeling". 

Finally "American Life in the Summertime" by Francis Dunnery climbed up from forty eight to forty one whch I don't mind.

New Entries

Six new entries this week beginning with...

46. "Speed" by Billy Idol

Well this sure is a way to begin the week's reviews, the new song from Billy Idol, the song for the movie of the same name and this is pretty good. At first I wasn't sure about Idol's lower vocals but I think they work well alongside the instrumentation which just gives the song the whole riocking fast car energy with the wailing guitars, there's definitely the thrill and the adrenaline of driving a fast car pumped into this song. I dig it!

43. "Swamp Thing" by The Grid

Needs to be said first things first that the baby in the music video is adorable so if you need a couple of moments of cute, check out that out but anyway, The Grid are a British electronic group which is wild because this song features a fucking banjo amongst all that electronic production yet the song does absolutely nothing for me because fucking hell, that banjo gives me a god damn headache. Next!

39. "Heaven 'N' Hell" by Salt 'N' Pepa

Salt 'n' Pepa's final single from their alnum "Very Necessary" and this one is probably the least good of the singles mostly because the rapping sounds rough as hell and not as well delivered as I would expect from this group but then again given the song is about street crime and drugs that really makes sense. Still not an overall fan of the song given the hook isn't much to grab on to, this song could have been better.

37. "Give It Up" by Public Enemy

Lead single from Public Enemy's fifth album "Muse Sick-n-hour Mess Age" and here we have a much better depiction of the destruction on the streets and battling for respect and unity against all the gun vioence and drug crime, it hits hard as hell with that incredible groove and yeah, there's a weight to this song that makes it impossible to ignore, check this out!

34. "Jessie" by Joshua Kadison

Relax, this is not a cover of the Carly Simon song, this is an original song from Joshua Kadison about a relationship thats falling apart before the narrator's eyes even though he is clearly still in love with this woman however fraught the relationship is and he wants "Jessie" to know that he will be there no matter what if she wants to talk. It is a bit corny and lovelorn but there's a sincerity that stops me from wanting to say it's a bad song, it feels lived in and genuine which is more than I can say about a few songs at the top of our chart right now.

31. "Do You Wanna Get Funky" by C&C Music Factory

Oh joy, a new C&C Music Factory single although to be fair, this one does live up to the title because that little melody that this song has going on is quite good! In fact overall, I actually like this more than the noise of their previous songs to have hit the charts. There's some nice harmonies here along side the really good rap versions being delivered that only add to the vibe. Good song.

However best of the week is going to Public Enemy for "Give It Up". I guess worst of the week is going to "Swamp Thing" by The Grid