Top Ten Best HIt Songs of 1994

So as I said on the worst list...1994 was a damn great year for the charts if you didn't look at the very top and that remains true. I had a hell of a time putting together this list in that there were so many damn great songs that deserved recognition such was the strength of pop, rock and even r'n'b and hip hop, Even more importantly it felt like the 90s in terms of the music finally woke up and finally found some sounds that didn't feel dated to the eighties and that can only be a good thing. 

Now just a reminder that "Zombie" by The Cranberries charted higher on the 1995 year end so I'll talk about that song when I get around to making a 1995 best hit songs list, now that I've cleared that up...let's get stuck into the ten best hit songs of 1994.

Number Ten

In 1993, this band released a cover of Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain" that really isn't all that good so imagine my shock and delight that they released this song...and it was better than I could have ever expected...

"Mountain" by Chocolate Starfish

For awhile this was my number one favourite hit of the year but ultimately that weird beeping noise in the back of the mix pushed this back to here for me but god, this song still hits like a hammer with the instrumentation feeling rugged yet comforting and the content hits hard too all about a relationship where one person wants the other to be their mountain and settle down but the other person isn't ready and really just wants to spend more time flowing like that river doing whatever it is they have a passion for rather than settling down and getting that sensible steady job like the partner asked them to get. I get the pathos...great song!

Number Nine.

Sp we're staying Australian and dealing with the first of two Aussie pop divas to make this list and maan...what a delight this song is...

"Chains" by Tina Arena

If you are looking for a powerhouse vocal performance from a woman in 1994 than look no further than this song from Tina Arena, this is an incredibly impassioned love song where Tina realizes that she is so in love with this guy that she is in metaphorical chains for him and this song makes use of it's dramatic swell so well that I almost felt like I was also tied in chains to this dude and Tina sells this song so well its convincing. 

Number Eight

Sometimes there's no denying that a pop song is this good....

"The Sign" by Ace of Base

I don't know what you want me to say about this song when the song's broad appeal is so dang obvious, that catchy hook that will be left stuck in your head for days on end especially given the hook is that ridiculously catchy and earwormy, it's pretty much what good pop music especially out of Sweden (one of the homes of great pop music) should be.

This song deals with someone that is seeing the sign that their relationship is finally done and it's time to find the strength inside to move on to hopefully something better and happier, I love the messaging of this song and it deserves its place as one of the best pop songs of the 90s

Number Seven

You all know I rather harsh on terrible cover versions of songs...well, this time around, here's a cover song that gets things right for a change.

"Ain't Nobody" by Jaki Graham

This is a cover that took the original by Chaka Khan (that was already great) and decided not to mess with it too much but added sosme more 90s big beat bounce and groove that Jaki Graham is effortlessly able to play to in order to sell this song to a newer generation. Now Jaki is definitely over singing on the hook a little but I kind of pin that down to selling the idea that nobody other than her lover could make her feel so good and happy. It's a cute song that I was happy to place on this list.

Number Six

Then there's the alternative, a relationship on the brink and one pushes the other out the door and the regret hits almost immediately...well we got a song about that in 1994...

"Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb & Nine Tales

There's something about this jittery emotional song that hits all the right notes with me, Lisa Loeb delivers this song as though she's nervously trying to convince this person she knows she pushed away to come back into her orbit and she regrets what she did to push this person who was genuinely in with her away even though this lover had issues with her talking too much etc. I also love the simplicity of the production here, it's just a spare guitar, Loeb's voice and some restrained backing vocals, it's only not higher because...

Nnumber Five

I like hip hop when it's breezy, the samples are bright and colourfjul, having fun and laying down some bars, Trap drudge does nothing for me so when this song turned up on the year end list...I was thrilled

"Hip Hop Holiday" by 3 The Hard Way

The minute that flip of "Dreadlock Holiday" by 10cc gets going where they rap "We don't like hip hop...we love it!" just makes me smile combine that with that reggae breakdown that reminds me suspiciously of "Inoformer" by Snow and this might well be more of the more infectious hits of 1994. The group get verses off bragging about the rhymes and swagger they bring to their music. This is fun, funky and sure does feel like one hell of a breezy hip hop holiday. 

Number Four

I know people are going to be shocked that more of the "Seattle Sound" aka grunge is not featured more prominently on this list and I there's a part of me that wishes I did find room for Soundgarden amd others but if there was a song from the Seattle scene that hit...it was this one...

"Daughter" by Pearl Jam

I don't know what it is about this song that just works for me, is it Eddie's more restrained vocal delivery that just hits like a train when he does let loose into the middle eight of the song, the instrumentation especially that damn guitar riff that kicks so much arse but somehow I think it all boils down to the content of the song...it's about this poor child who has a learning disability and because not much was known about learning difficulties at the time...the kids that struggled at school due to ADHD were always pinned as the ones misbehaving so got 'beaten"

What is chilling about the ending of this song is the line "the shades go fown" and it's never expressly said what happened to the girl at the centre of this song although you can guess from what I said earlier. 

Number Three

I asked social media if this song was this artist's best work...the overwhelming response was yes.

Not like I am about to disagree.

"Confide in Me" by Kylie Minogue

There's not too many songs like "Confide In Me" that blend elements of western and eastern pop music so damn well like this, it just blows my mind how absolutely flawless this production is that swells and ebbs with Kylie's voice so damn well but let's not mince words here...Kylie is the star of the show here, it's her vocals that make this song the absolute power house it is as she urges this other person to share the problem they are facing with her reminding them that a problem is meant to be shared so others can help and support the person to fix it. This is just a great pop song and could have been my number one in a weaker year. 

Number Two

I am not shocked this is so high, the artist behind this song has a habit of making songs that get to the core of the matter in question and this song was no different...

"Streets Of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen

This song can be summed up in one word: devastating, it comes from the first major film at the time called "Philadelphia" which was the first film to seriously tackle the AIDS issue on the silver screen and this song from Bruce Springsteen realizes the seriousness and really underlines the impact that the AIDs crisis had on people who had the virus at the time, citing the loneliness and social isolation of a man who is dying of AIDS face and the desperate search for connection with others.

Bruce just nails the complexity here, it's not even just social connection, it's the loss of identity and that production also provides that haunting atmosphere that just broke me. It's a haunting song that emotionally hits all the right notes...it's not number one though...what could that be?

Number One

Nothing else was ever going to be number one on this list, this number one pick was fate...it was meant to be. This song is special in ways that take my breath away and thus...

"Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" by Elton John

Nothing else felt right at number one...nothing...this song hits so hard and powerfully I just break down and sob like a baby to the point I couldn't imagine anything else topping this list, there's a magic to "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" that I don't think anything else from 1994 can match from Elton's vocal delivery that's just warm and comforting and that orchestral in instrumentation that just sounds so full its overwhelming and maybe it just hits even harder given we are years removed from 1994 and the world hasn't exactly gotten better. 

It's the perfect song for one of the best Disney movies ever "The Lion King" (nothing beats it...outside of maybe Peter Pan) and maybe the perfect song that provides an escape from the troubles of the world as Elton sings to open the song "There's a calm surrender to the rush of dayWhen the heat of the rolling world can be turned away". Maybe it's just the ultimate comfort song for me alongside "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House.but whatever the case it's the number one best hit song of 1994.

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: March 2nd.

 This feels like a really quiet week which I will take considering that Bruno Mars and Blackpink are likely to both make an impact on the chart in a big way next week however let's dive into this week's top ten where for a fifteenth week, it's "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean, it's dominant on sales and streaming but not yet on Youtube. 

What did shock and thrill me is the four place gain to number two for "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean thanks to major streaming gains but it was enough for "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean to be pushed back to number three, "Ordinary" by Alex Warren back to number four and "Where is My Husband" by Raye back to number five.

Sombr's katest top ten hit "Homewrecker" climbed  two places to number six thanks to streaming.  Taylor Swift's "The Fate of Ophelia" held steady at number seven which is interesting for reasons you'll see why later. 

"Raindance" by Dave and Tems rebounded one spot to number eight and Sombr's '12 to 12" returned to the top ten up two spots to number nine while "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters also returned to the top ten up two spots to number ten. 

Losers

"Good Luck, Babe" bv Chappell Rean is  back on the cusp of leaving the chart (again) down fourteen spots to fifty. 

Bad Bunny's "Nuevayol" tumbled twenty places to forty six (Frankly I am surprised this song is still on the charts at all)

It will rebound in a couple of weeks time but "Aperture" by Harry Styles continues to fall in the mean time down ten places to thirty seven. 

Finally "Opalite" by Taylor Swift collapsed twelve places because an artificial boost via gaming the charts only nets rewards for so long and when there are other songs that do what this song is trying to do better,...yeah...

Drop Outs

Djo's "Back to beginning" returned to the On Replay Singles chart after it's ten week stint on the chaet thanks to virality. 

Long running hit "Yukon" by Justin Bieber took it's exit this week along with "Baile Involidable" by Bad Bunny ad "Sally, When the Wine Runs Out" by Role Model. 

Gains

So I am going to get to the big gain of the week in a moment but I do want to mention "Stateside" by Pink Pantheress which jumped six places to number eleven and looks likely to climb even higher in the weeks ahead thanks to the song being used by American ice skater Alysa Liu during her gold medal winning skate at the Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina.

However the biggest gain of the week is "IloveitIloveitIloveit" by Bella Kay up a massive twenty two spots to twenty,

"4 Raws" by EsDeeKid rebounded eight spots to thirty five and "I've Seen It" by Olivia Dean up eight to forty one. 

Re-Entries

Three returns this week with "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae back at forty four and "I Had some Help" by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen returning at thirty nine.

Finally back at number twenty seven is a 2002 song from Italian house music group Milky that originally peaked forty seven at the time, this time a remix with Mallgrab ensuring it returned to the chart,,,I don't see this lasting long on the chart but we'll have to see.

New Entries

Just the one new entry this week...

47. "White Keys" by Dominic Fike

Oh god, we're not giving Dominic Fike another hit again, are we? We've been lucky in that the new rules kept the terrible "Baby Doll" off the charts but we did get this and so I guess I do need to talk about in some capacity...and it meets my very low expectations of being alternative shlock that pop radio would accept as transgressive, who told Fike that his vocal delivery needed to be so inexecrably annoying to the point I had to turn the song off at multiple points? Also this bare bones production is unmitigated amounts of ass as that guitar sounds like it was in the middle of being fucking neutered. 

As for the content, its about a failed relationship and Fike musing on his early years geowing up in Florida and given how obnoxious he sounds on this sound, I don't blame the girl for leaving him because nooo, this song is not worth it. 

That was our week and geezus, I hope Bruno strikes in a big way to get ass like "White Keys" off the charts.

Pretty Fly (For 1999) February 28th Get What You Give Away in an Anthem for 2000

 So we have on the surface a pretty standard week here if you can call it that, three new entries and plenty of movement but remember last week that the showdown for the number one spot was on? That happened and we wound up with a brand new chart topper because Britney Spears did it as sales pushed "Baby, One More Time" to the top, this song has legs right now to be a long term chart topper. 

It pushed "Believe" by Cher back to number two as the numbers weighing in Britney's favour meant it couldn't hang on much longer. 

There's a new entry at number three coming from Silverchair with "Anthem for the Year 2000" having an impressive sales week to lodge itself this high although I would argue Silverchair arguably have the profile to do that. 

Rising on spot off the debut is "That Don't Impress Me Much" by Shania Twain at number four likewise for "Lullaby" by Shawn Mullins which jumped one to five although both those gains could be on the back of increasing weakness for the fading "Jackie" by BZ and Joanne.

What's not going away like an extremely virulent case chlamydia is "No Matter What" by Boyzone which remains stubbornly at number seven no matter how much spray and wipe I use to try to remove this godawful song from the chart.

That cannot be said for The Offspring's "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy" which slipped four places to number eight, its fading gracefully now. 

I am happy to see a one place gain for "Doo Wop (Dat Thing)" by Lauryn Hill to numner nine. I just wish itb wasn't at the expense of "How do I Deal" by Jennifer Love Hewitt down one to number ten. 

Losers

Celine Dion and R. Kelly need three busloads of angels to save "I'm Your Angel" exiting the chart, this week it slipped from forty two to forty nine.

Grinspoon are pushing all the wrong buttons as their EP "Pushing Buttons" slumped from thirty six to forty one. 

"Finally Found" by Honeyz is on its way out as it slipped ten spots to number thirty two while "From this Moment On" by Shania Twain slumped from twenty four to thirty one. 

Gains

We don't have that much in the way of big gains, unfortunately it seems more than enough people do want to touch Monifah's "Touch It" so that got an eight place boost to twenty four off of it's debut last week.

However it looks like some people want to go a long way together with "Praise You" by Fatboy Slim rising from it's debut of forty one to thirty five.

Will Smith's "Miami" is up eight to thirty six which is nice to see. I still like that song. 

New Entries

Three new entries and all some variation of rock this weekbeginning with....

46. "Get What You Give" by New Radicals

So New Radicals are an American pop/rock act with with song being their first to hit the ARIA singles chart and you know what? I actually really love this! It's a song about finding hope  and connection in a world that has become cold, cynical and corporate with the song reminding everyone that you only get back as much as you put into life. Throw in that guitar, the rather passionate delivery of the lyrics and you have a pretty damn great song, Check it out

44. "Fly Away" by Lenny Kravitz

The fourth single from Lenny Kravitz album "5" and boy, I wish I liked this more than I do especially as this song really is limited in soaring to any kind of great height by that production where thr guitars are choked that they cannot soar or fly away like Lenny Ktavitz wants to do and honestly, I'm not buying Kravitz's performance on the hook either, this song just isn't doing anything for me so I'm going to skop it more often than not. 

3. "Anthem for the Year 2000" by Silverchair

Lead single from "Neon Ballroom" and again, I am not feeling this song as much as I probably should, this has a pretty damn good hook and the instrumentation and production feel so by the numbers for a song that's aimed at rebelling against authority or even vaguely speaking truth to power (even if meant to be taken sarcastically) even Daniel Johns sounds less punchy and the song just lacks that punch that the best anthemic rock songs have. 

Best and worst fall out easily this week with "Get What You Give" by New Radicals the best this week. The worst going to "Fly Away" by Lenny Kravitz.

"Pop" Country Gone Haywire: Lee Brice's "Country Nowadays" is the height of entitled, privileged whining

There are moments where country music just nails the mood and strikes the right tone, I have examples of how great the genre can be on my best of 2026 playlist already (See Carter Faith and William Beckmann's collab from earlier this year and Emily Scott Robinson's beautiful new album "Appalachia" but every so often the genre hits a turd like in 2017 with "Body Like a Backroad" by Sam Hunt which unfortunately became a staple of the genre that year and this year it's Lee Brice's "Country Nowadays"

Firstly, let's do a little background on Lee Brice, he originally worked behind the scenes as a songwriter for Jason Aldean and even co wrote Garth Brooks song "More than a Memory" amd from there was signed to Curb Records in 2007 and has since released several albums and even collaborated with Carly Pearce on "Hope You're Happy Now".so yes, you can absolutely say that Brice was apart of the instigation of the worst period for mainstream country in years where all the male artists wanted to do was drink beer off the back of tailgates and leer at women although Brice was on the decidedly more tasteful side of the nonsense, he did have one or two songs I liked. '

All that brings me to his new song enttled "Country Nowadays" that he performed at the "alternate" Superbowl half time show much to the amusement of the internet, there already several Youtube Poops mocking this song and honestly I am not sure they go far enough to underline just how extraordinarily privileged this song comes across so I am going to breakdown the fundamentals of this song's lyrics (I am not going to discuss the actual music because I am not giving this song a click)

"I just wanna catch my fish, drive my truck, drink my beer
And not wake up to all this stuff I don't want to hear
Like the same kind of gun I hunt with, just killed another man
When the only thing mine ever shot was a deer from my deer stand"\

You can go catch your fish, drive your truck and drink beer, Lee, NOBODY is stopping you. Also if you don't want to wake up to the news of another school shooting in America, you can just not turn the TV on in the morning and avoid social media but the real reason you don't want to wake up to the news of another school shooting or another innocent person being murdered is that you don't want your thoughts on gun ownership and putting bullets through an animal challenged by people who actually want gun reform.

"I just want to grow my corn, feed my dogs, wear my boots

Not turn the TV on, sit and watch the evenin' news
And be told if I tell my own daughter that little boys ain't little girls
I'll be up the creek in hot water in this "cancel your ass" world"

Trans people simply existing do not stop Lee from growing vegetables and feeding his dog nor are anyone else's private parts or lack there of anyone's concern and shouldn't be in the news anyway...who cares if somebody wants a penis instead of a vagina..how does their decision affect Lee Brice or Fox News?.

As for complaining about "cancel culture" since when was Lee ever cancelled? Again, two of his biggest hits have been fairly  recent with "One of them Girls" and the collab with Carly Pearce that I mentioned earlier. Also if cancel culture was actually a fucking thing, Chris Brown wouldn't still be gaining hits and relevance on the charts to this fucking day. It looks pretty myopic and incredibly privileged for somebody like Lee Brice who has had a modicum of success on the charts to be whining about cancel culture.

" It ain't easy being country in this country nowadaysThe direction the fingers point when everything goes up in flames
Sayin' I'm some right-wing devil 'cause I was small town, Jеsus raised
It ain't easy being country in this country nowadays"

Oh wow, whining it's hard to be country nowadays when the genre is actually having the biggest boom in terms of success on the Hot 100 and around the world, there's actually never been a better time to be an artist making real country music eg: Ella Langley, Luke Combs etc not that Lee would know what actual drums are that aren't borrowed from a drum machine are. 

As for the religious implications here, can I suggest Lee go spend some more time with his bible and learn how to be humble because this entitled privileged whining in song form does not imply that he understands what God and Jesus meant by modesty and humility...yes, modesty is not just dress standards for women, they apply in terms of behaviour for everyone.

"I just wanna cut my grass, watch my gamе, say my prayers
Not get a picture of a flag up in flames as people cheer
Yeah, the same one my grandaddy fought for being stepped on like it's trash
And I'm a downright hateful monster if I back the blue and badge"

Okay, I do agree flag burning is not a good thing and it's something that peaceful protest should not resort to but again...nobody is stopping Lee Brice from praying, watching football or mowing his overgrown lawn that probably has more weeds than any actual realisation from Lee Brice that this privileged whining is just not going to cut it, he is free to do all that shit he names in this song but the real world is going to keep being the real fucking world..is Lee Brice even cognisant of the fact that ICE have murdered innocent people, that his president Donald Trump is in the Epstein files and as a result Trump is threatening to start a WAR with Iran...where's the song talking about the actual real shit that is happening, Lee?

As for support the police, he is free support whoever he wants just as long he is aware that people are allowed to disagree. We all face consequences for things we say and do, we are not free from the consequences of our free speech like so many entitled and privileged people seem to believe they are.

Final part of this shit show of a song is this:

"All I do is mind my business, live my life the best I can
Try to be a real good husband, a real good daddy, a real good man
But because I have my morals and a small town point of view
You assume that you don't like me means that I don't like you, too"

Minding his own business when he was complaining about trans people earlier in his own song? I would suggest none of that was minding his own business. Now I am not going to judge him as a husband or as a parent however morals do come into question when you sign up to perform as part of what is fairly blatantly a Donald Trump and Republican suppprting grift like Turning Point USA while Trump is still in the Epstein Files and may possibly  be deeply involved, eyeing bombing other countries and pushing US democracy to the brink of extinction, Lee may well have bigger issues to worry about that trans kids and school shootings in the news on his small town home TV. 

This isn't escapism from Lee Brice, this is just privileged shitlord material that doesn't have the good sense to have some balance and acknowledge that there are real problems in the US and the world that need to be dealt with such as the pedophiles in positions of power (which is wild Lee doesn't acknowledge that given he has kids) and when we have this sort of worthless art in country, it actually hurts the genre and those artists in country trying to speak truth to power.

Fuck this song.

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 23rd February

So there have been some shifts on the chart this week that I did not see coming and some of them on the absolutely amazing side but let's set sail with the top ten because remaining at number one for a fourteenh week, it's "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean at number one, it's got massive streaming margins ahead of "So Easy (Tio Fall In Love)" also by Olivia Dean, she's still a dominant presence in the top ten right now.

Holding steady at number three is "Ordinary" by Alex Warren. Streaming and sales are mostly done with this song but Youtube is not letting this song go away. Rebounding one spot to number four is "Where is My Husband" by Raye (a song I am kind of sick of at this point, I wouldn't mind if it started to lose some traction)

Rising two to number five off the back of a sales boost is "Opalite" by Taylor Swift, we'll see how long the sales boost and traction from the video hold up because streaming is dine for this song, what's getting ready to move past it is "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean which climbed eight places to reach a new peak of number six, it pushed "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift back one to number seven.

"Homewrecker" by Sombr is the second new arrival to our top ten rising ten spots off its debut to number eight, this song is looking to be absolutely huge in the next few weeks. 

Holding steady at number nine is "Raindance" by Dave and Tems, tbe fact this song is still doing great on streaming is impressive to me. Finally in no surprise to anyone, "DtMF" by Bad Bunny fell six places to number six...I would be surprised if this song doesn't leave quickly.

Losers

"Yukon" bty Justin Bieber couldn't make much of it's return so it slipped thirteen places to fifty this week. 

"Baile Involidable" by Bad Bunny slipped seven places to number forty one while "Aperture" by Harry Styles contiinues to free fall down seven to twenty seven. 

Drop Outs

 Six drop outs this week and I am not complaining about any of these being gone with long running hits like "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter, "I Had Some Help" by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen, "Gabriela" by Katseye and "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae gone

Also gone are "Fame is a Gun" by Addison Rae and "The Days (Notion Remix)" by Chrystal. Massive net win here!

 

Gaiuns

Not much in the way of gains outside the two already mentioned in the top ten. The biggest gain unfortunately comes from "Die On this Hill" by Sienna Spiro up six to twenty two sadly.

Re-Entries

Two returns this week, Ed Sheeran in the country at the moment meant that "Sapphire" returned at forty seven while "I've Seen It" by Olivia Dean made it's return for the third time at fifty. 

New Entries

Four new entries this week, lets start with...

45. "Sally, When the Wine Runs Out" by Role Model

So this finally turns up in the top 50, for those who are unaware, Role Model is a former rapper turned singer/songwriter hailing from the USA with this song released as a single in February last year and having some viral traction without ever really breaking through in Australia, this song got some renewed interest this past week thanks to Robert Irwin playing the role of Sally at Role Model's appearance at Laneway Festival in Perth and yeah this song has something of a charm that would net an audience over on Triple J with it's electric guitars and stompy bassAnother  as Role Model tells Sally that he'll buy her couple of drinks but begs her not to fall in love with him or to leave when the wine runs out only for him to realize that he is catching feelings for her. 

Definitely a cute summer song that I wouldn't mind sticking around. 

42. "IloveitIloveitIloveit" by Bella Kay

Another new name on the charts this week in the form of nineteen year old Bella Kay, an American singer who was born in Texas but is now living in Florida with this song coming from her yet to be named second album and I am not sure how to feel about this one especially given the themes running in the lyrics where she is acknowledging that she is in a toxic and possibly abusive relationship but she loves it because the drama associated with such a horrifically bad relationship is giving her validation and a visceral thrill from all the drama of it even though she knows it's bad for her...now that 

Also this song feels very bare bones in the production with just an acoustic guitar and some backing vocals supporting Bella. I want to like this because we do need more guitar driven songs on the charts...check this out if you are curious but I am not going to be surprised if the content of this song gets some pushback. 

39. "Midnight Sun" by Zara Larsson

Oh I am not surprised to see this here what with the revisit Australia and the rest of the world seems to be giving Zara Larsson's music amidst this bizarre obsession with 2016 (2016 was a terrible year for the world in general), "Lush Life" would be in the top ten of this chart if it were not for ARIA"s new rules and with this song being the title track from Zara's album last year that was generally well recieved, I was curious.

Well turns out that Zara is playing into the Pink Pantheress lane of pop music with more than a few glances at Charli XCX's notes and that dtop into the chorus does feel very computer music but it's not terrible and I have heard worse. Decent song...that's about all I have to say about this one

33. "Be By You" by Luke Combs

So I cannot be the only one feeling a sense of trepidation over this new Luke Combs album that's coming next month, right? The singles for this album have at best been underwhelming to outright mediocre so I went into this song with some very limited expectations given the disappointment of the past singles nad much to my very welcome surprise, Combs swings back toward neo traditional country with this ballad dedicated to his wife and how he wants to spend every moment he can with her and their three children.

It's a pretty sweet love song that definitely works for Valentines Day hence why it chaeted. 

It's also tbe best song of the week. As for the worst...nothiing outright terrible here and I actually like all four to some degree...I think I am going to go with "IloveitIloveitIloveit" by Bella Kay mostly because I do think the lack of pushback on some of the themes expressed in the song just don't sit well. 

Pretty Fly (For 1999): 21st February. Everlasting Touch Night Don't Impress Me Much

No horses were actually harmed in the making of this week's look back on the charts of 1999.

Yippee yo kiyay! We are down for a showdown for the number one at high noon...Cher riding the horse "Believe" hangs on to the number one spot this week but it's a margins game becasuse Britney Spears riding "...Baby, One More Time" is making a play cantering up two spotss to number two and is within a short half head of the number one spot. 

"Jackie" with BZ and Joanne riding her held steady at number three but it's coming under pressure which won't be coming from The Offspring all riding "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)" as it bucked two positions to number four. A new entry rides into town at number five thanks to Shania Twain riding "That Don't Impress Me Much"...more on this new filly later but she racked up an impressive pedigree in sales.

It;'s just as well Shawn Mullins isn't singing to put his horse "Lullaby" to sleep as it trotted up a cautious one spot to number six. 

The next three are bucking and are seeking pastures at the Past Hits Retirement home with Boyzone on "No Matter What" down two to number seven, "When You're Gone" by Bryan Adams and Melanie C tossing it's head around so much it's down two to number eight and "How Do I Deal" didn't like what it was seeing and walked back one spot taking it's rider Jennifer Love Hewitt with it. 

Lauryn Hill has entered the top ten showdown ring with :"Doo Wop (Dat Thing)" up eagerly observing up one spot to number ten.

Losers

Smash Mouth apparently are tired of the charts because "Can't Get Enough of You Baby" slipped from thirty seven to forty three. 

People are not convinced anymore by Stardust's "The Music Sounds Better with You" so it's taken a six place stumble to thirty seven. 

Jennifer Paige's former chart topper "Crush" got crushed nine places to twenty nine while Honeyz might be losing their grip with "Finally Found" down from sixteen to twenty two. 

"Goodbye" by Spice Girls is beginning it's goodbye as it slipped seven to seventeen. 

Re-Entries

So I am reasonably happy with the return of "Miami" by Will Smith at number forty six. 

Gains

Wish I could be that nice about our two big gains this week though. When the best of them is "Have You Ever" by Brandy up nine to fifteen...that's not a good sign.

The other big gain is "This Kiss" by Faith Hill up ten to number twelve. 

New Entries

Three new entries beginning with...

46. "Everlasting Night" by Danni Minogue

So this song was the theme for the 1999 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and you know what? Apart from the title being blasted into your head harder than an a nail being hit into wood by a hammer but for what it's worth, this is a pretty fun disco track that calls upon the late seventies in sound so yeah, it's a little dated but it somewhat works in the song's favour.

What doesn't work in the song's favour is how low Danni sounds on the verses in the mix. it just takes away from the song but at least it's not...

32. "Touch It" by Monifah

Oh god, this song is just levels of creepy and that synth that sounds like a dying cow passing it's final fart before death does not help things especially as the mood of the song is supposed to be all about Monifah showing this guy what he is doing to her wrong in the bedroom...yet this song has all the sexual appeal of spending a night at the cheapest brothel in the world. i

This song is just yikes all over and no amount of Monifah cooing over it saves it. 

5.  That Don't Impress Me Much" by Shania Twain

So we are ending off the week with some Shania Twain and I'll be honest here, I don't care for Shania's ballads "From this Moment On" is definitely a weddidng song and wil end up walking so many people down the aisle but it stripped one feature that I think is the key tit Shania;'s songs working...her charisma, she can sell songs like "If You're Not in it (For Love)" with a cheeky wink etc and thankfully this song gives us back the charismatic Shania because this song is Shania wanting a man who is himself and can keep her warm ar night, being a rocket scientist or having delusions that he is Brad Pitt is not going to impress her at all. Great song. Check this out

It easily takes best of the week. The worst also falls out easily...it's "Touch It" by Monifah.

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review 16th February

 We got a Spanish influx this week thanks to Bad Bunny and his performance at the Superbowl and as a result we mght see some interesting times ahead on the chart especially if Bad Bunny can challenge in the weeks ahead. although he isn't challenging Olviia Dean right now as "Man I Need" comfortably holds number one with bumper streaming. 

It held up over her second top ten hit "So Easy (To Fall In Love)" which remained at number two but it may well start coming under heat from songs below it in the weeks ahead. 

Why is "Ordinary" by Alex Warren back up two slots to number three? Australia, I thought we came to a mutual understanding that we were just going to let this song fade away gracefully? Hmph!

A new arrival in the top ten this week at number four, it's "DtMF" by Bad Bunny, now I will talk about this song later but it's here thanks to insane streaming following that Superbowl performan ce...there's a whole load of discourse going on right now that I kind of really don't want to get into because it involves a whole lot of stupid. 

The above did have the affect of pushing "Where is My Husband" by Raye back two places to number five and "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift also back two to number six.

Taylor also has one of the biggest gains of the week with "Opalite" up twenty spots to number seven but that was due to the release of the music video on streaming services Spotify and Apple Music. I doubt it's going to stick around and I honestly hope it doesn't. 

Sombr's new single is one we'll get to in the new entries however "12 to 12" is down two spots to number eight. "Raindance" by Dave and Tems remains steady at number nine. Finally "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters slipped two spots to be on the cusp of leaving the top ten at number ten.

Losers

So it was a rough week for a few older songs like "I Had Some Help" by Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen which collapsed eight spots to number forty six,. 

It was a rough week for Tate McRae with "Tit for Tat" down seven to forty three and "Sports Car" down nine to forty two. 

EsdeeKid's "4 Raws" got rawdogged down ten to forty while Olivia Dean's "Let Alone the One You Love" slipped seven to thirty six. Fred Again's "Victory Lap" with Skepta annd Plaqueboy Max slipped seven to thirty three,

"I Run" by HVN and Kaitlyn Aragon has not quite caught on in the same way so it's down ten to thirty two. 

"The Great Divide" by Noah Kahan had the biggest fall of the week down twelve to twenty seven...I do expect this song to recover though,

The fall of "Aperture" by Harry Styles continues, this week down eight to twenty. 

Drop Outs

So we have some big ones in this category with "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars and "Messy by Lola Young again departing.

More recent arrivals "Sleepless in a Hotel Room" by Luke Combs, "Folded" by Kehlani and "Chanel" by Tyla also took their exits.

Gains

Some of these gains just don't make any sense at all like "Good Luck, Babe!" by Chappell Roan up eight to thirty six and "Dracula" by Tame Impala up ten to twenty two although in the latter's case, it got a remix with Jennie so that explais that. 

Re-Entries

And that befuddlement remains because our one return is "Yukon" by Justin Bieber at  number thirty seven. HIs Grammys performance can't have been that good especiially when this song is one of the more underwhelming cuts on "SWAG"

New entries

We have four new entries this week with three of them being from Bad Bunny, let's begin with

34. "Baile Involidable" by Bad Bunny

So parsing my way through these Bad Bunny songs is going to be tough given I do not speak a word of Spanish but this is one of my favourites from the album with it's thumping dancefloor ready grooves and Bad Bunny rapping about a past love who clearly left her mark on him. the relationship fleeting but beautiful and that no one compares to her and he realizes he was the one who so stupidly threw that good thing away. Good song. Glad that's it is here. 

25. "Nuevayol" by Bad Bunny

One of the songs that explores one of the biggest themes of the album from Bad Bunny and it's a song that vividly celebrates Latin American culture especially Bad Bunny's home of Puerto Rico in New York City and how the latino/latinx culture plays out in a city like New York. It's definitely a fun jam even it's in political subtext (fighting for immigrants and against modertnisation). I just wish I liked this as much as "Baile Involidable" but I do appreciate what it's going for. 

18. "Homewrecker by Sombr

Was not expecting a brand new Sombr song but from everything I have been seeing on social media, people have ebeen rushing to praise this song even people I respect so what did we get? Yeah, this is a great song even if yet again its about a relationship gone wrong except this time the morality is framed as him having cheated on her which actually makes the song even more interesting. I just wish the hook didn't sound so weird but otherwise, I'm taking this. 

4. "DtMF" by Bad Bunny

Now to end the week with the album title track and this one is actualy a really sad and kind of profound track where Bad Bunny regrets not taking more photos of special moments in his life especially moments with family and friends who have died. It's also a rather sweet celebration of Puerto Rican culture but definitely more restrained. Sweet song and Benito, keep celebrating Latino/latinx cuture loud and proud. 

That ends our week on a somber note. I'm scrapping worst of the week because nothing here is worth that. I'm giving a tie for best of the week to "DtMF" by Bad Bunny and "Homewrecker" by Sombr. Fuck ICE.