Pretty Fly (For 1999). 12th September. Mambo Genie of My Castle in a Bottle No. 5 All I Ever Had

 We got a wild one this week, got two shiny new entries in the top ten this week and they both might be worth keeping an eye on so let's dive straight in, there's no movement at the top as "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam continues to hold sway at number one ahead of "If Ya Gettin' Down" by Five at number two and "When You Say Nothing at All" by Ronan Keating at nunmber three. 

Smash Mouth are the first of our movers this week as "All Star" climbed to a new peak of number four., it switched places with "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!" by The Vengaboys at number five and appears to be on the way out.

Then we have the first of our two new songs inside the top ten with "Genie in a Bottle" by Christina Aguilera at number six, it's here thanks to sales really giving this song a huge lift.

Right behind it is the second of the new songs to debut in the top ten that being "Mamb No. 5" by Lou Beg at number seven, like with "Genie in a Bottle", I'll go into this song's quality in the new entries but this looks like a hit in the making maybe more so than "Genie in a Bottle" but we'll have to wait and see but right now those numbers are looking solid for a run at the top.

It did cause "Sweet Like Chocolate" by Shanks & Bigfoot to go slightly off down one to number eight while rising two slots to number nine is "Wild Wild West" by Will Smith. 

Finally "Baby Did A Bad Bad Thig" by Chris Isaak fell one slot to complete our top ten for this week at number ten. 

Losers

A lot of big losers this week with a couple of former top ten hits suffering big plunges this week, take "Man! I  Feel Like A Woman" by Shania Twain down from twenty six to forty five while "Say It Once" by Ultra down from forty three to twenty five.

"When I Grow Up" by Garbage slipped eight slots to forty two while "Saltwater" by Chicane featuring Maire Brennan fell seven to thirty eight, it was a similar story for Steps with "Love's Got a Hold of My Heart" down eight to thirty seven. 

Sadly, "Dig" by Mark Lizotte fell hard off it's debut down from eighteen to thirty three while "Livin' La Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin fell seven to thirty. 

Gains

So we did see a few gains and I am mostly fine with the big gains we got like "Bailamos" by Enrique Iglesias climbing twelve to twenty seven. 

"Smooth" by Santana feat. Rob Thomas up eleven to twenty two however the biggest gain of the week belonged to "Sing It Back" by Moloko which jumped from forty one to twenty four. 

New Entries

Five new entries this week beginning with...

47. "King Of My Castle" by Wamdue Project

So we're starting this week with what seems like our weekly new electronic music entry this time coming from an American music producer Chris Brann who goes under the name Wamdue Project with vocals supplied by Gaelle Adisson. 

Now this song is fascinating because it actuallt references Sigmund Freud's theroy about the unconscious being that the human ego is not actually free but is controlled by the unconscious mind (which to a degree does explain a lot about human behaviour recently) which makes it a shame that I am not really all that impressed by the production here, the vocals from Adisson are buried in the mix which is not great given I am not sure her vocals are all that impressive to begin with! The instrumentation doesn't change all that much or do anuthing all that interesting...ehh, we can do better.

44. "Mambo No. 5" by Latin Lou + The Mambo All Stars

See number 7 for my thoughts on "Mambo No. 5", this is just the same song with a Latin touch.

35. 'She's All I Ever Had" by Ricky Martin

So after the party that was the previous single "Livin' La Vida Loca", we're going into ballad territory with this song from Ricky Martin and while this instrumentally sounds great, I cannot help but think this strips Ricky of his charm and charisma, it  sounds like something Bryan Adams would have madei in the early nineties especially on the hook but at least Ricky sounds somewhat believeable here in that this woman in his life is all he has ever had or needed. It's fine, I just wish it felt a little less Bryan Adams and more Ricky Martin...just saying.

7. "Mambo No. 5" by Lou Bega

The second of three newcomers to the chart this week and it comes from German singer David Lubega Balemezi but goes by Lou Bega, he has taken a classic 1949 instrumental piece by Prado to remake it into this song and well...this song is just sold on Lou Bega's charisma and effortless charm alone and it makes sense considering how many women he has on his arm in this song. In the first verse he mentions he can't beer bust like last week before talking about women that he likes and how flirting is a sport, he sounds like he is having fun flirting with Angela, Pamela, Sandra, Rita, Jessica, Monica, Tina and Erica!

Then he gives out the instructions for a dance on the second verse and the song immediately tilts into being this insanely silly but fun dance song. I dig it, this is hilarious, check it out.

6. "Genie in a Bottle" by Christina Aguilera.

Third and final newcomer of the week is from American singer Christina Aguilera, she got her start around the same time as Britney Spears did on Mickey Mouse Club and is now releasing this song as her debut single and well...it's okay? I don't think its anywhere near as good as Britney's "Baby, One More Time" but I do like the piano and Christina is definitely a talented singer...there's more to her range than she shows on this song. 

As for the content, she's telling this dude that if he wants to get with her than he needs to pretend she's this genie in a bottle and has to rub the bottle the right way to let her out...the Aladdin trope in full there, only surprised there was no mention of giving the guy three wishes. In short, the song is fine, Aguilera has potential but she can do better.

That ends this week and while nothing was too egregious, I am giving worst of the week to "King Of My Castle" by Wamdue Project. "Mambo No. 5" by Lou Bega is getting the best of the week because yeah...that song is so much fun. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart. 7th September. The One Where There's Very Little To Say

 Alright, this one is going to be brief because there were again no new entries and...I am kind of disappointed by the fact that Alex Warren's "Emerald Eyes" didn't debut.but anyway let's get into the top ten where of course there's no change at the top where "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley rules the roost for yet another week, it's still a monster, sales and streaming.

Hence it held up easily over "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean at numbder two which effectively swapped positions with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean which slipped back to number three. 

Same goes for Alex Warren's "Ordinary" jumping back up one slot to number four and "Boston" by Stella Lefty falling back to number five.

"Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo held steady at number six while Rodrigo's other top ten hit right now "The Cure" rebounded two slots to number seven. 

"Loser" by Tame Impala also held firm at number eight although I really would like to see this leave the top ten quickly now. the same goes for "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd which fell two to number nine.

Finally remaining steady at number ten is "Self Aware" by Temper City.

Losers

Former number one "Animal" by Katseye fell nine slots to twenty two while "Oh yeah?" by Steve Lacy hit a thirteen slot rough patch back to twenty nine. 

Olivia Rodrigo's "Drop Dead' slipped eight to thirty five while F3miii's "Noble" suffered a ten place skid to forty nine. 

Drop Outs

So we did see four songs drop out, those being "Some of Your Love" by PartyNextDoor, "Petal" by Ariana Grande, "Baby Steps" by Olivia Dean and maybe the biggest drop out of the four..."Stateside" by PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson.

Gains

So most of our big gains were for older songs however "Midnight Sun" by Zara Larsson climbed ten to twenty six.

Bruno Mars tour of Australia also saw "I Just Might" rise fourteen off it's return to number thirty six. 

The two older songs that saw major boosts were "Back to Friends" by Sombr up twelve to sixteen and "Where is My Husband" by RAYE up ten to fifteen. 

Re-Entries

Four returns this week with album release impact seeing Alex Warren's "Fever Dream" back at thirty one although he also saw the return of "Carry You Home" at forty six.

Bruno Mars had "Risk It All" back at number thirty eight while finally Sombr's "Undressed" is back at fifty.

With there being no new entries to talk about that wraps this week. Next week could be as quiet as this week because unless streaming picks up...I do not see the new Miley Cyrus single charting but we'll have to see. 

Pretty Fly (For 1999). 5th September. Sing it and Bailamos Back, Nookie!

 Let's dive right into the top ten where for yet another week, it's "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam remains at number one for yet another week, its strong on sales still. Really, am over this song already though however I am glad it kept "If Ya Gettin' Down" by Five at nunmber two.

Rising one slot to number three is "When You Say Nothing At All" by Ronan Keating which had another good sales week to the point it pushed "Boom Boom Boom Boom" by Vengaboys back to number four.

A song that might make a play for number one is "All Star" by Smash Mouth as it moved up two number five.

"Silence" by Delerium feat. Sarah McLachlan claimbed two slots to number six while "Sweet Like Chocolate" by Shanks & Bigfoot slipped back one to number seven.

All this action was likely because "If You Had My Love" by Jennifer Lopez slipped three slots to number eight, this song appears to be on the way out now. 

"Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing"  by Chris Isaak rose six into the top ten at number nine. Finally Britney Spears completes the top ten at number ten with "Sometimes" dropping one spot. 

Losers

Australia have had enough of Soulsearcher's "Can't Get Enough" so its down ten to fifty this week. 

"The Day the World Went Away" bore witness to the day it fell off it's chart debut of thirty one to forty six for Nine Inch Nails.

"Westside" is heading southside on the charts down from twenty six to forty for TQ while "Animal" by Jebediah lost it's bite down twelve to twenty eight.

Gains

Gains are a bit on the slow side with the biggest gain of the week being for a consistent gainer lately that being "2 Times" by Ann Lee which climbed ten places to number twelve.

New Entries

Six new entries this week, beginning with

43. "Mi Chico Latino" by Geri Halliwell

About time we got the follow up to the rather underwhelming "Look at Me" (seriously...that song only gets worse with time) and well, I am not convinced that this song is that much better although Geri's vocals are definitely sounding better on the verses until that bridge and honestly this just feels like it's trying to do a 90s version of "La Isla Bonita" by Madonna only this song doesn't quite stick the landing. I'd probably skip this song. 

41. "Sing It Back" by Moloko

Another newcomer on the chart...had a lot of those in 1999, this time it's an English-Irish electronic duo of singer Roisin Murphy and producer Mark Brydon and I'll say this...this song is pretty effective at what it does well especially in the production which features some really nice sounding guitarrs and percussion and Murphy's vocals are placed really nicely in the mix because she just stands out here.as she tries to keep a fading connection in her life via using music and wanting this other person to sing it back to her. All in all...pretty good song. 

39. "Bailamos" by Enrique Iglesias

We're onto another newcomer although Enrique Iglesias has been around awhile in Latin America having released three albums in Spanish with his fourth album his debut English album and well...this is actually a pretty damn good introduction to Iglesias sound. "Bailamos" (English translatoin: "We Dance") is for the film "Wild Wild West" and well, I just think this song is absolutely great and I'd love to see it be huge here, I love the elements of flamenco that slide in and Enrique Iglesias has enough charm and charisma to make his urging of surrendering to the music and just simply living in the moment work. Great song but I don't know if  it''s better than...

32. "Unpretty" by TLC

The follow up to the nummber one hit "No Scrubs"...I am going to ditch any kind of preamble with this song because this is better than "No Scrubs" mostly because the message this song carries holds resonance for me especially when the production is somewhat more restrained even if there is a pretty cool little guitar solo toward the end as TLC sing that no matter how much make up you put on or doing your hair nice, you are only going to be pretty on the outside when it's what's on the inside that counts in terms of accepting yourself flaws and all. This is just a  damn great pop r'n'b song, check this out.

18. "Dig" by Mark Lizotte

I was kind of shocked this debuted higher than TLC but hey, it's nice to see Mark Lizotte in the top 20 of the ARIA singles chart mostly because this song is his first single under his actual birth name rather than Diesel and wow...this snng is definitely nothing like what he made as Diesel, it reminds me a lot of Collective Soul but with more of a jangle pop edge. The content is somewhat dark, Lizotte encouraging this person not to dig to correct his past mistakes but rather to accept what happened and become "friends" with those demons. Another damn good song.

13. "Nookie" by Limp Bizkit

 To end what has been a long week, we're finishing it off with American act Limp Bizkit because of course we can't have all good things. Yeah, this sucks, there's no melody to this and it sounds like the percussion is actively playing two separate songs at once while Fred Durst has all the presence of a street sweeper even with just how annoying his vocals are, there's nothing here that makes me want to come back to this shit show of a song.

Yeah, easy worst of the week. As for the best...it was a really good week overall, I am going to go with "Unpretty" by TLC narrowly ahead of Mark Lizotte and Enrique Iglesias. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart. 31st August. The one where normal service is resumed aka Ella's number one

 Little point in messing around, let's jump straight into the top ten where "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley returns to number one as it continues to hold sway on sales and streaming. 

"Man I Need" by Olivia Dean returned to number two while "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean rebounded to number three.

Rising two slots to number four is "Boston" by Stella Lefty...can we not let this song rise any further, Australia...please/

Staying steady at number five is "Ordinary" by Alex Warren while "Stupid Song" by Ollivia Rodrigo rebounded two slots to number six. 

Returning to number seven up three is "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd, it moved past "Loser" by Tame Impala which slipped one to number eight,

"The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo remained steady at number nine. Finally, arriving in the top ten this week is "Self Aware" by Temper City which climbed two slots to..unfortunately...hit number ten this week...ugh.

Losers

Two major losers this week with "Petal" by Ariana Grande slipping ten to forty two, mostly because I think people are still clinging to "Hate That I Made You Love Me" which is understandable as "Petal" is pretty lousy.

The other major loser is last week's number one "Animal" by Katseye which fell twelve lots thirteen.

Drop Outs

This week saw four songs leave with Sombr's "My Body Isn't Ready" and "Undressed" gone alongside "Been by Now" by Morgan Wallen and "The Days (Notion Remix" by Chrystal. 

Gains

Not much in the way of gains this week with the biggest gain being a fifteen place jump for "Great Expectation" by Sienna Spiro to fifteen for some reason. That song is not any good for goodness sake!

Re-Entries

Three returns this week beginning with "I Just Might" by Bruno Mars at fifty, "Baby Steps" by Olivia Dean at forty nine and "Die on This Hill" by Sienna Spiro at forty eight. 

New Entries

Just the one new entry this week so let's talk about...

32. "Some of Your Love" by PartyNextDoor

So when I saw this debuted, I rolled my eyes, it's not like PartyNextDoor as a artist is a goldmine of personality and he was worse than Drake on "Some Sexy Songs 4 U" and yeah, it's no different here with the production that ensures that this song could have been done better by The Weeknd especially with that guitar and PartyNextDoor is using Jesus Christ turning water into wine on the second verse to justify his love of alcohol which is just weird as hell so no this song sucks.

That's our week and man alive, the charts suck right now. Next week could be anything...I guess maybe Alex Warren? We'll have to see. 

Pretty Fly (For 1999). 29th August. The Day Animal Went Away Smooth

 No preamble this week, let's just get straight into it with our top ten where for yet another week, it's Pearl Jam's "Last Kiss" at number one, it's ruling sales right now to the point that I don't see what is going to challenge it.

Sure Five rise to number two with "If Ya Gettin' Down" but it's thankfully not bridging any margins right now, really could argue it moved up one because "Boom Boom Boom Boom" by The Vengaboys which slipped one to number three. 

"When You Say Nothing At All" by Ronan Keating remained at number four likewise for Jennifer Lopez's "If You Had My Love" which remains at number five.

"Sweet Like Chocolate" by Shanks & Bigfoot rose one spot to number six as it continues to get traction. Smash Mouth's "All Star" jumped three spots to number seven while "Silence" by Delerium feat. Sarah McLachlan remains rooted to the number eight slot.

"Sometimes" by Britney Spears slipped three places to number nine while rising into the top ten is "Wild Wild West" by Will Smith up one to number ten.

Losers

Not much in the way of major losers this week although we did see "Don't Cry" by Human Nature slip from twenty eight and "Say It Once" by Ultra dropping from nineteen to twenty five. 

Finally "Man! I Feel Like A Woman!" by Shania Twain was the biggest loser of the week down nine spots to wenty three.

Gains

Also not much to report with out gains. Ann Lee's "2 Times" continues to see traction this week, it's up eleven to twenty three.

New Entries

Three new entries this week beginning with...

38. "Smooth" by Santana feat. Rob Thomas

So we're beginning this week with a song that I am certain is probably already showing signs of dominating the US charts. Santana, a rock legend of the 70s and 80s working with the lead singer of Matchbox Twenty, Rob Thomas and I guess if you picture a cross section where these two could possibly meet, it's "Smooth" with Santana providing this searing Latin guitar groove and Rob Thomas sliding in with the vocals that definitely are filtered on the verses however when the filter disappear on the hook and what a hook it is, Thomas is singing with a conviction that I haven't heard since Matchbox Twenty's first album. This song is going to be huge in the US and should be msssive in Australia too. Check this out.

31. "The Day The World Went Away" by Nine Inch Nails

So my experience with NIne Inch Nails is rather limited, they are a band I really haven't seeked out to llisten to unless they have appeared in the new entries for one of these blog entries but anyway we have this song which comes from Nine Inch Nails album "The Fragile" and well I like the sentiment of the song and not much else here, it's about the loss of a loved one that leaves a person so shattered and empty the world feels like it's gone away from them the loss being that hard to cope with. 

However I really cannot get behind the production here, it just feels like a wall of noise with Trent Reznor's voice barely heard in the middle of the mix, it's a hard listen. I think I am going to skip this one. 

16. "Animal" by Jebediah

I am floored this song debuted as high as it has, definitely something I wouldn't have expected when I first looked at the chart for this week but anyway Jebediah are a alternative roclk band hailing from Perth, Western Australia. This song coming from their second album titled "Of Someday Shambles" and well...this is fine, it's better than the Nine Inch Nails track before it because yeah there's good melody here even if some the instrumentation sounds oddly electronic and I am not overly wild about the vocals either, they can feel a bit to sharp and nasal for me. I don't think the song is bad...far from it, it's just not for me. 

That wraps this week and the best and the worst falls out easily. Worst of the week goes to "The Day the World Went Away" by Nine Inch Nails. Best of the week went to "Smooth" by Santana feat. Rob Thomas

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 24th August The One Where I'm Confused.

 So this week confounded and confused me in one way and yet it seems like another very stagnant, slow week on the ARIA singles chart however where the confusing and confounding comes in is right at the very top because we have a new number one..it's "Animal" by Katseye and I am not really sure how because it's not like it's been even close to "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley which slipped back to number two this this week on sales or streaming unless "Animal" got some incredible traction on Youtube...just a weird one. 

Anyway "Man I Need" remained steady at number three while "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean slipped back two to number four,

"Ordinary" by Alex Warren fell back one to number five while "Boston" by Stella Lefty hit a new peak rising two to to number six.

There was also a new peak for "Loser" by Tame Impala up four to mimber seven. "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo slipped back two to number eight while "The Cure" also by Olivia Rodrigo remained at number nine.

Finally "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd stumbled three spots to number ten. Can only hope this means the song exits the top ten next week. We deserve that piece of good news, surely?

Losers

So if you are wondering where "Hate That I Made You Love Me" by Ariana Grande went, it fell six places to number eleven. "Daisies" by Justin Bieber fell seven to thirty four. 

The biggest fall of the week was "Petal" by Ariana Grande which got dumped twenty two spots to thirty two. 

Drop Outs

Three songs took their exits this week with "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez and "Die On This Hill" by Sienna Spiro taking their exits (again).

The only other exit is "The One That Got Away" by Katy Perry which went to the On Repeat Top 50 Singles Chart

Gains

As for the gains this week, not too many major gains but we did see a twelve place gain for "Oh Yeah?" by Steve Lacy to number thirteen. "Where Is My Husband" by RAYE up seven to twenty two and "Nice to Each Other" by Olivis Dean up seven to twrnty four

Re-Entries

Two songs returned this week, I am particularly pleased to see "My Body Isn't Ready" by Sombr back at number forty eight. Also back this week though is the still incredibly annoying "The Days (Notion Remix)" by Chrystal.

New Entries

Just the one new entry this week so let's talk about...

46. "Ain't in LA" by Adela

Oh I have been waiting for this chart debut to happen, I was expecting it sooner than this though, for those who don't know, Adela is a Slovakian singer-songwriter and dancer, she rose to prominence on 2023 show Dream Academy (yes, same show that spawned the birth of Katseye) and she actually put out an EP called The Provocateur around the same time last year that got a lot of praise and attention...now that really wasn't to my taste but I got why she was so highly thought of so I was curious when "Ain't In LA" the latest single from her upcoming debut album "La Prima" due out next week, I was curious and...

I'm sorry but I am not a fan of this at all, this just sounds like it's been melting in the California sun on a freeway between the California desert and Nevada.because right from the opening this reminds me of god damn "23" by Mike Will Made It especially with the creepy ass male vocal that sounds slimy as fact while Adela pontificates that the maybe the baddest bitches aren't in L.A over one of the more lethargic beats imaginable.

Yeah, this bis is disappointing. Skip it

It's also the worst of the week. No best of the week because we only had the one new debut.

Next week...oh god...PartyNextDoor...maybe Olivia Rodrigo could notch an early debut with her new song...

Pretty Fly (For 1999) 22nd August. Friend, You Are Not My Passenger

 Little bit of a slower week this week but I'll take a slower week so let's dive into the top ten where for yet another week, it's "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam at number one, it's pretty much a solid lock to stay at the top next week too. 

Meanwhile "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!" by The Vengaboys rebounded one spot to number two but it's coming under pressure from "If Ya Gettin' Down" by Five which climbed three spots to number three because I guess a bunch of people are wiggy wiggy that Five are apparently getting jiggy...ew.

Anyway "When You Say Nothing At All" by Ronan Keating rose two to number four although that's probably because "If You Had My Love" by Jennifer Lopez which slipped three to number five. 

Britney Spears saw a one place slide to number six for "Sometimes", it's now got "Sweet Like Chocolate" by Shanks & Bigfoot which climbed two slots to number seven and "Silence" by Delerium feat. Sarah McLachlan which moved up three to number eight. 

Former number one "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer slipped two spots to number nine. 

Smash Mouth jumped into the top ten up four spots to number ten with "All Star"

Losers

So we start with "Look at Me" by Geri Halliwell sliding out of the top fifty down ten slots to forty six, we have to be due a new single from her soon. 

Monifah's "Bad Girl" dipped twelve to forty while "When I Grow Up" by Garbage fell off it's debut to fall seven to twenty nine.

Ultra's "Say It Once" fell out of the top ten down nine to nineteen. 

Gains

The gains are a bit on the messy side this week, we do have "American Woman" by Lenny Kravitz rising from twenty three to sixreen and somehow "Baby Did A Bad Bad thing" by Chris Isaak is the biggest riser of the week climbing from it's return of thirty five to eighteen.

"2 Times" by Ann Lee rose twelve slots to thirty one while "Saltwater" by Chicane feat. Maire Brennan regained some ground rising from forty two to thirty five.

Re-Entries

One return this week with "Happiness" by Regurgitator back at number forty four

New Entries

Two new entries this week, beginning with....

49. "You Are Not My Friend" by Frenzal Rhomb

Both new entries are from Australian rock bands and we're starting off with this relationship break up that's gotten nasty from punk rockers Frenzal Rhomb and this is one I really do not get the instrumental appeal of, for a song where he is resentful and angry because this ex friend rooted against the narrator's successful career but I'm sorry this song for as mad as the lyrics are just isn't going hard enough in the instrumentation to sell the anger and resentment that's clearly on display here. This song could be so much better...next!

32. "Passenger" by Powderfinger

Now this is more like it. Powderfinger back with a new single and the first thing I noticed is how there's genuine tension in the vocal delivery on the verses and how the song actually builds into a damn great hook delivered with conviction by frontman Bernard Fanning. It's a song all about escaping the 9 to 5 grind and everyday routines for something different and exciting that's completely out of the rat race. Damn great song, check this out!

Yeah, easy best of the week for "Passenger" by Powderfinger. Worst of the week goes to "You Are Not My Friend" by Frenzal Rhomb.