ARIA top ten Chart/review: December 25

As we wind down to the end of the year the chart continues to slow down which couldn't be more true of this week's ARIA chart with only one new entry and two re-entries. The only song to leave the top 10 is "Young, Dumb and Broke" by Khalid which slipped down to number 13.

Remaining at number 1 is "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran and it's various remixes. I don't see this being knocked off number one any time soon.

Then we get to the lone new entry for the week at number 2 with "River" by Eminem feat. Ed Sheeran largely off the back of large radio airplay and the release of Eminem's album "Revival"

That means that "Havana" by Camilla Cabello feat. Young Thug got bumped back number 3, I suspect this song may start to slide hard in the weeks ahead.

"I Fall Apart" by Post Malone remains at four but its overtaken "Rockstar" by Post Malone and 31 Savage which slipped 2 places to number 5.

"Meant to Be" by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line remains at number 6.

"Silence" by Marshmello and Khalid slipped 2 places to number 7.

NF's "Let You Down" dropped one place to number 8 while Marshmello's other song inside the top 10 "Wolves" with Selena Gomez dropped one place to number 9.

Portugal, the Man remain steady with "Feel it, Still" rounding out the top 10 at number 10.


Outside of the top 10, the biggest gainer of the week was "Dirty Sexy Money" by David Guetta, Afrojack, Charli XCX and French Montana which jumped 10 places to 23. Other songs that jumped up the chart were the forgettable "Him & I" by G-Eazy feat. Halsey to number 16, "Go Bang" by PNAU continues to go bang jumping from 21 to 17, in more good news for Australian acts Sheppard rose following their top 50 debut last week to move into the top 40 at number 33 with "Coming Home" (That song is fantastic, if you haven't checked it out, what are you waiting for?) and "All I want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey climbing to the edge of the top 10 at number 11 (That song should decline soon given Christmas is virtually over)

As for the biggest loser of the week, I took great delight in seeing the 10 place fall of the abominable "Gucci Gang" by Lil Pump which dropped to 32 but apart from that there were no real major losers. The chart seems to try to begin the process of flushing the hits of 2017 out of the chart.

I mentioned the one lone new entry to the top 50, all of the new entries to the top 100 were Eminem album tracks which I won't go through here.

Speaking of Eminem, "Walk on Water" with Beyonce re-entered at number 44 while the onset of Christmas saw "Last Christmas" by Wham re-enter at number 36.

So that rounds up the top ten/Chart review for this week. Seems fairly likely "Perfect" will remain number one but with radio loving "River" who knows?

ARIA Chart top ten/Review: December 18th

So little happened this week that I was wondering if I should even bother with this this week but then I saw we had interesting things happen lower down the chart including the arrival of a fantastic song by an Australian band on the chart.

The one song to leave the top 10 was "What Lovers Do" by Maroon 5 and SZA (good, not a fan of it at all. It's not the worst Maroon 5 song by any stretch but still it's not good)

For a second week "Perfect" and it's various remixes by Ed Sheeran featuring Beyonce and Andrea Boccelli remains at number one and right now I think it's pretty much a lock to hold number one over the Christmas/New Year period.

Former chart toppers "Havana" by Camila Cabello remains at number 2 and "Rockstar" by Post Malone and 21 Savage (although I note that "Rockstar" recently got a Spanish remix which features Nicky Jam).

"I Fall Apart" by Post Malone stays at number 4 while "Silence" by Marshmello and Khalid spends another week at number 5

"Meant to be" by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line jumped two places to number six. There's real potential for this song to bust open the top 5 here which while the song isn't all that good, it'd be nice because that top 5 has felt stagnant lately.

"Let You Down" by NF remains at number 7 for a second week,

"Wolves" by Marshmello and Selena Gomez pretty much swapped with "Meant to be" by falling two places to number 8.

"Young, Dumb and Broke" by Khalid remains at number 9.

Returning to the top 10 with four place climb is "Feel It Still" by Portugal, The Man at number 10.

The biggest gainer this week was "Him & I" by G-Eazy and Halsey which jumped from 37 to 25...quite why I don't know.

In good Australian music news, Pnau had a jump of ten places to number 21 with "Go Bang" meanwhile former number 1 "Shape Of You" continues to climb back up the chart, it's at number 22. Big Shaq's "Man Not Hot" jumped from 33 to 28 while for some unexplained reason "Humble" by Kendrick Lamar leaped from 46 to 37 (it's a good song but really?).

A lot of songs took falls this week with "Mi Gente" by J. Balvin and Willy William slipping from 40 to 49 (Good, the sooner that song is gone the better). Songs like "Glorious" by Macklemore and Skylar Grey at 27, "I Like Me Better" by Lauv at 26, the "Homemade Dynamite" remix by Lorde, Khalid, SZA and Post Malone at 30 all took 4 place drops.

As for the drop outs, bit disappointed to be losing "Walk on Water" by Eminem feat. Beyonce and "Lay It On Me" by Vance Joy but I guess if they are taking "Bad at Love" by Halsey with them, it kind makes it okay...I guess.

So what replaced them? The highest new entry to the top 50 this week was the piano ballad "You are the reason" by Calum Scott at number 36 and in news I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, Aussie band Sheppard have another hit on the ARIA chart with "Coming Home" at number 43 (seriously Austrtalia, stream or buy or watch the video, we need this to do well).

Outside of the top 50? Well...Camila Cabello's new single "Never Be the Same" arrived at number 52 while Morgan Evans song about marriage "I Do" entered at 72.

The news wasn't as good on the re-entries because the lone re-entry to the top 50 was Taylor Swift's "...Ready for It?" most probably due to a remix of the song with BloodPop.

Re-entries outside of the top 50 were "Last Christmas" by Wham at 55 (unsurprisingly) and "Chameleon" by Pnau at 95.


Now I am going leave you with a hit pick from the United States Billboard Hot 100, it only entered the chart there last week but this song deserves your attention. Former American Idol winner Scotty McCreery has released a new single called "Five More Minutes" and it is absolutely stunning, we need to make this song a hit in Australia, please? If we can make the absolute worst of country music (Hi Sam Hunt) a hit, we can also make one of best country songs hit too.

New Music Friday Review: Camila Cabello, Augie March and...Mariana's Trench?

So we actually got some pretty good quality this New Music Friday, Camila Cabello released two new songs from her forthcoming album released on January 12 while Augie March return and it really is time for everybody in Australia to stop sleeping on Canadian pop punk band Mariana's Trench.


Song: Never Be the Same
Artist: Camilla Cabello




This song is apparently the follow up single to "Havana" but gee I wish I liked this more. The rattling percussion and the static like buzz hat under pin the melody in the verses before Camila pulls out her best Kate Bush impression in the pre chorus and chorus. Not a fan at all, it's not the worst but it's not something I'm keen on coming back to.

Rating: 5/10


Song: Real Friends
Artist: Camila Cabello




The better of the two songs Camila released because this track is largely rooted in guitar and it just works for Camila's vocals and quite honestly it's a song that connects more for me that Never Be The Same at least for me with Cabello on the search for 'real friends' that she can talk random stuff with. This is a nice song and I really wish this had been the single!


Rating: 7/10


Song: Bootikin
Artist: Augie March


I feel guilty that I don't push near enough Australian music so when Augie March dropped the title track from their forth coming album I was not going to miss the opportunity because as usual Augie March have released a great song that is in part dramatic and speaks to elements of the modern world. This is just a great rock song, I haven't ever really been into Augie March but this song may well just change all that.

Rating: 9/10


Song: Rhythm of Your Heart
Artist: Mariana's Trench




Mariana's Trench are a Canadian pop punk band who for some inexplicable reason have only ever experienced success in their homeland and not ever in the United States or anywhere else for some reason. (Check out their 2015 album Astoria, you will not regret it for one second).

Their newest song "Rhythm of Your Heart" which isn't on Astoria is a very eighties sounding affair with Josh Ramsay (the lead vocallist and main songwriter) sounding like he is in love but knows it's probably not a good idea, this song should be a hit around the but given the fact it feels like their management isn't keen to promote them around the world....sigh.

Rating: 8/10


Best of the week: "Bootikins" by Augie March is getting it this week no questions asked. Awesome song. If people believe in good Australian rock music then they will buy this as it deserves to be a hit


Worst: "Untouchable" by Eminem. Sadly this isn't Em's best work. Feels like he is trying way too hard to be like the young guys in the rap game right now.


New Music Friday next week

Tomorrow is the final major album release day really before everything slows down for the Christmas break. Expect new albums from Eminem and G-Eazy plus a new EP from Charli XCX.

ARIA Top Ten/ Chart Review: 11th December: New number one as two songs crash into top 10

This week saw plenty happen, not only do we have a new number one but we also have two songs crash into the top 10 with at least one looking likely to be a shot at climbing even higher so this week wasn't all bad and we had some new entries to boot including a song from an artist running hot right now.

The top ten lost "New Rules" by Dua Lipa which slipped to number 13 and 'Too Good at Goodbyes" by Sam Smith dropped to number 11.

So what's the new number one? Unfortunately it's the horribly bland and sappy "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran (Beyonce won't be credited on the track until next week) but there's no doubt that Beyonce appearing on a remixed version of the track helped push it to number one. It also comes as we learn that Sheeran is planning on a third remix of the song with Andrea Boccelli as if we actually wanted an even more sappy version of the track.

"Havana" by Camila Cabello slipped back to number two and given she has begun promoting her new single "Never Be the Same", I can't see this returning to number one especially when you consider what has momentum behind it.

The same applies for Post Malone and 21 Savage's 'rockstar" which slipped to number 3 and also Post Malone's "I Fall Apart" at number 4. These two songs have most likely peaked and while they may hang onto their position next week given streaming for both songs is pretty impressive.

Marshmello and Khalid arrive in the top 5 with "Silence, it climbs past Marshmello's hit with Selena Gomez "Wolves" at number 6.

I called it on Twitter last week, NF climbed into the top ten this week with "Let You Down" jumping four places to number seven.

What I didn't call was the surprise at number 8 with "Meant to be" by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line being the biggest climber of the week by jumping from 26 to 8. It's the first top ten hit in Australia for either artist.

Then we have two songs that are pretty much on their way out anyway, Khalid's "Young, Dumb and Broke" dropping two places to number 9 and "What Lovers do" by Maroon 5 and SZA dropping two places to round out the top ten at number 10.


So what else was a big mover up apart from "Meant to be"? Oddly enough, a past number one "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran jumped from 32 to 25 but that could be because of the current number one, "I Miss You" by Clean Bandit and Julia Michaels jumped from 46 to 28, "Go Bang" by PNAU jumped from 42 to 31 (Go Aussies!) but apart from those, no real major gainers this week.

As for a top ten entry prediction, look for "Let Me go" by Hailee Steinfeld feat. Alesso and Watt to enter the top ten soon.


As for the biggest fallers, that honour falls to Pink this week with her former chart topper "What About Us" dropping to 43 from 28 last week, it wasn't a good week for Pink at all even though her album returned to number one on the album charts with the title track "Beautiful Trauma" dropping from 25 to 36. "Mi Gente" by J Balvin and Willy William dropped from 33 to 40, "Walk on Water" by Eminem and Beyonce continues to under perform dropping to 38 from 24


There was one re-entry and surprisingly quite high up, it's also one of the worst Christmas songs known to man, "All I want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey re-entered at number 18.

Two new entries to the top 50 this week and I called out this song as being likely to be huge last, well "Candy Paint" by Post Malone has arrived at number 24, this song is showing all the signs of being BIGGER than both "rockstar" and "I Fall Apart" put together.
As for the other new entry, it's only G-Easy and Halsey's pipe dream of being the modern Bonnie and Clyde "Him & I" at number 37.

As for new entries to the top 100, there were two with "So Far away" by Martin Garrix and David Guetta feat. Jamie Scott and Romy Dya at number 58 and  "Miss You" by Louis Tomlinson at 66.


Nothing all that remarkable or surprising with the drop outs, there were three "Too Much to Ask" by Niall Horan, " Bodak Yellow (Money Moves" by Cardi B and "Mic Drop" by BTS and Desiigner all dropped out.

So that rounds things up for the week. Hopefully I'll have my worst hit songs of the year up at some point this week and also New Music Friday Review coming up with plenty of Camila Cabello to talk about!

New Music Friday Review: G -Eazy and Halsey's "Bonnie and Clyde" song.

Yet again a shorter than usual New Music Friday in the holiday season but I will post several songs to give a chance to.

Song: Him & I
Artist: G-Eazy, Halsey





So we have G-Eazy and his girlfriend Halsey releasing a song that Halsey described as being a "Bonnie and Clyde" song between two lovers cause there's nothing more amazing or original in pop rap than comparing your relationship to a pair of lovebird murderers.

As for the song, Halsey does well on the hook but wow, the lyrics are generic as all get out and G-Eazy jokes about if he was ever to be caught cheating, Halsey would cut his "hahahaha" off (we all know what he means though) and then goes on about dying and doing drugs. Meh, this song is forgettable, guaranteed I won't remember it unless radio picks it up

Rating: 4/10


Song; Miss You
Artist: Louis Tomlinson



So this might well be one of Louis Tomlinson's better songs, mainly because he has shed the EDM producers which I thought hamstrung the messages of his previous songs but "Miss You" takes a very pop rock feel rather than EDM and it works well with the guitar plus the stadium rock feel of the chorus. I actually like this a lot more than when I first heard it. Maybe Louis should shed the likes of Steve Aoki and Digital Farm Animals permanently.



Rating: 6/10


Songs to check out

"Stand Up Tragedy" by The Fratellis




"Broken People" by Logic feat. Rag 'n' Bone Man






"Fireworks" by First Aid Kit.






Best of the week: It's going to a song called "Swing" by Josiah and the Bonnevilles. It's actually pretty excellent.



Worst: Ugh. "Him & I" by G-Eazy and Halsey gets it for being forgettable.


Next week's New Music Friday:

Camila Cabello is releasing TWO new songs
Dinah Jane of 5th Harmony fame and Leona Lewis are releasing something tomorrow



So that wraps it up for this week. Don't forget you and check out the songs that I have been listening to this year via my playlist on Spotify. ARIA Chart out on Saturday, something tells me we're in for a
"perfect" new number one so stay tuned for my review of all that craziness.

ARIA top ten/Chart Review: 4th December: Top 10 barely got moves

I considered not bothering with this week's chart because barely anything happened inside the top 10 apart from a few moves lower down the top ten.

So yes, for a third week "Havana" by Camila Cabello remains at number one because it's had a pretty damn good sales week.

"Rockstar" by Post Malone and 21 Savage remains at number 2 but I see this song falling away a bit now especially with competition moving in behind it.

Post Malone's 2nd song inside the top 5 "I Fall Apart" remains at number 3 but yet again I really don't see this as a threat to "Havana"

Perhaps the biggest threat to "Havana" lies at number 4 with "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran and with a remix featuring Beyonce dropping on Friday, there is a very big chance that this song will make a serious play for the number one spot,

"Wolves" by Marshmello and Selena Gomez couldn't bridge the margins so remained at number 5. Marshmello's collab with Khalid "Silence remains at number 6.

Khalid remains at number seven with his solo hit and one that keeps growing on me every time I hear it "Young, Dumb and Broke"

Then finally we get to some movement with "What Lovers Do" by Maroon 5 and SZA up one to number 8 and "New Rules" by Dua Lipa up to number 9 but both those moves up look to be based on the weakness "Too Good at Goodbyes" by Sam Smith slipping to number 10.

Now where things get interesting is the moves outside of the top 10, biggest gainer of the week where "Anywhere" by Rita Ora which moved from 23 to break into the top 20 at number 16 while NF's "Let You Down" jumped to the cusp of the top 10 at number 11 up from 17 last week. Pink's "Beautiful Trauma" jumped from 32 to 25 probably more based on the fact some people can't get enough of Channing Tatum.

As for the biggest losers? The biggest loser this week was "Walk on Water" by Eminem and Beyonce which continued it's downward momentum 24 from 15 last week. "1-800-273-8255" by Logic feat. Alessia Cara and Khalid slipped to number 22 from 16. A song that continues not to catch on whatsoever is "Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)" by Cardi B which slipped to number 45 from 38 last week.

So what dropped out?, There were three drop outs most surprisingly two of them from Taylor Swift with both "..Ready For It?" and "Look What You Made Me do" falling out of the chart, would expect "Look What You Made Me Do" will make the year end ARIA singles chart though. The other drop out is "Location" by Khalid.

As for the new entries inside the top 50: the highest debut this week was "Meant to be" by Bebe Rexha feat. country music (although in light of recent songs by Florida Georgia Line I guess that 'country' label can be questioned) duo Florida Georgia Line at number 26. "I Miss You" by Clean Bandit feat. Julia Michaels at number 46 and "Mic Drop (Stve Aoki Remix" by BTS and Desiigner entered the top 50 at number 50.

Outside of the top 50, the best of the new entries was "Deja-Vu" by Timmy Trumpet and Savage at number 55, "Cola" by CamelPhat and Elderbrook (this song is blowing up huge in the UK) at number 89 and "Kiwi by Harry Styles at number 97.

Would expect the ARIAs to have much more of an impact on this week's chart but before I go I want to alert you all to a song that could well be about to blow up big time on the charts, I mentioned Post Malone earlier, well he has a song on the Billboard Hot 100 right now called "Candy Paint" from the Fate of the Furious soundtrack and there are signs that this song is headed for the ARIA singles chart big time.





See you all soon for New Music Friday Review!

New Music Friday: Little Mix, James Arthur

Short New Music Friday this week because there's not a great deal around that is quite worth writing about this week and quite frankly I would rather work on some year end stuff and also...there wasn't a lot of music that would be deemed worth writing about but Little Mix released the dueluxe edition of Glory |Days and a new James Arthur song so it can't be all that bad.


Song: Is Your Love Enough?
Artist: Little Mix



New songs that come off dulux editions of albums tend not to be good, they usually feel like songs that have been left on the cutting room floor of the recording studio for whatever reason so I was dubious when going into listen to this song however this song is actually pretty damn good, that said you can tell that Little Mix have spent a lot of time around Latin music after their collaboration with CNCO because there is a serious latin flavour to "Is Your Love Enough?" but hey it works so I'll take it!

Rating: 8/10


Song: Naked
Artist: James Arthur




Oh James, no. If this song is about sex then this is about the furthrest thing from sexy what with the piano and jarring percussion with a chorus that features James Arthur declaring he is standing in a room naked for this girl, after all maybe it's the fact he is standing in the room naked that is putting the girl off. Just no. Ewwww. Maybe stop blaming her and put some clothes on, James.

4/10


Song: This is How We Roll
Artist: Cole Swindell



Pretty simple, a bro country sontg complete with all the cliches and Cole Swindell thinking singing out of tune on the chorus is an option. This is awful, fast forward this! Sooner Cole Swindell works out bro country has sputtered out the better.


Rating: 2/10


Best: Easily "Is your Love Enough" by Little Mix. Easily!

Worst: For terrible bro-country at the end of 2017, Cole Swindell gets it.

New Music Friday 1st December

Louis Tomlinson is releasing a song called "Miss You"
There's talk of a G-Eazy and Halsey collaboration being released (or as some may think) escaping.

ARIA Top ten/Chart Review: November 27. Havana remains number 1 as Anywhere climbs

I wasn't expecting a lot of change this week, largely because the big releases have finally slowed down and we usually don't get much in the way of big names dropping new music especially in December when there's an onslaught of artists desperate to cash in Christmas by releasing Christmas music eg: Sia amongst others.

But enough of all that, the only song to leave the top ten was "Walk on Water" by Eminem feat. Beyonce which fell 5 places to number 15.


For a second week, Camila Cabello remains number 1 for a second week with "Havana" because she's ruling sales and Youtube, she's not quite there yet on streaming. Could well be a long term number 1 if those streams pick up some steam all of a sudden.

"Rockstar" by Post Malone and 21 Savage stays at number 2, it gained ground on sales but not enough to return to number 1 as it is absolutely crushing streaming at the moment.

What is looking like being a threat for number one is Post Malone's second song inside the top 10 and the new number 1 in New Zealand, "I Fall Apart", this song has found a swell of momentum of the back of "Rockstar" going number one with people checking out Post Malone's other work. Just a pity that the song isn't all that good.

"Perfect" by Ed Sheeran slips back to number 4. I don't see this being a player for the number one spot right now. Streaming is letting down this song, it's streaming numbers are not good even though sales are impressive.

Biggest mover inside the top 10 sits at number 5 and I suspect this is because of the performance and subsequent controversy over said performance, "Wolves" by Marshmello and Selena Gomez climbed 4 places this week, it could very make a play for top spot in a week or two if this momentum keeps up, streaming and sales numbers are decent.

"Silence" by Marshmello and Khalid climbed one place to number 6. It's going alright sales wise but not as strongly as "Wolves" is.

The pushes for both "Wolves" and "Silence" saw Khalid's "Young, Dumb and Broke" fall to number 7. I still don't know what to think about this song if I am quite honest but I am glad it's here over some of the songs bubbling up below it.

Sam Smith's "Too Good at Goodbyes" continues to fall, this week down two spots to number 8 because momentum for this song is sputtering out. Should still make the year end list.

Maroon 5's probable lone hit from "Red Pill Blues" called "What Lovers Do" feat. SZA dropped from 8 to 9 this week.

Rounding out the top ten is the surprise return of Dua Lipa's "New Rules" which jumped one place this week.


Biggest gainer this week was Rita Ora's excellent song "Anywhere" which climbed from 37 to 23. Looking likely that this song could make a run for the top ten.
What's not so excellent is the gains for Lil Pump's "Gucci Gang" which climbed from 26 to 21, I really still do not see the appeal of that song. NF's "Let You Down" (a song I am ambivalent on) broke into the top 20 at number 17. The title track from Pink's album "Beautiful Trauma" climbed to 32 off the back of the release of the video.

Biggest loser was "...Ready for it" by Taylor Swift which slipped ten to number 45 (the sooner that song is gone the better for all concerned, I can't believe they gave that song a video), "Look What You Made Me Do" by Taylor Swift slipped from 43 to 49 but apart from those two there were no real major losers this week. Still surprising "Bodak Yellow" by Cardi B continues not to catch on.


No re-entries this week and we got three new entries to the top 50, the highest debut went to "Dirty Sexy Money" by David Guetta feat. Afrojack, Charli XCX and French Montana at number 37, "Go Bang" by Pnau at number 48 and "Whatever It Takes" by Imagine Dragons at number 50.

New entries to the top 100 is a long list this week, starting at number 64 with "You Are the Reason" by Calum Scott, "Home" by Machine Gun Kelly, X Ambassadors and Bebe Rexha arrived at 74, "Get it Right" by Diplo feat Mo at number 77, "Plain Jane" by A$AP Ferg at 79, "Echame La Culpa" by Luis Fonsi and Demi Lovato at number 80 (Disappointing as that song is awesome), "Hola" by Flo Rida and Maluma at 81 and finally "All Falls Down" by Alan Walker feat. Noah Cyrus and Digital Farm Animals.


As for the drop outs, there were three with "Gorgeous" by Taylor Swift, "Praying" by Kesha and "Feels" by Calvin Harris feat. Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry and Big Sean. Both should in all likelihood make the year end list.

So that rounds out the chart review, I am expecting a chart slow down to kick in so "Havana" could well remain at number one unless something comes along unexpectedly to topple it. See you soon for ARIA Awards predictions and New Music Friday review

New Music Friday Review: Luis Fonsi/Demi Lovato,

After last week's massive amount of quality that arrived, I was really looking forward to what this week provided and what we got was...interesting...a song by Luis Fonsi and Demi Lovato that's already being described by some as the new 'Despacito' by some media, Maggie Lindemann has released a follow up to "Pretty Girl" and Lauv also arrives with a new song.

Song: Echame La Culpa (Not On You)
Artist: Luis Fonsi, Demi Lovato




So this song is the one that some are suggesting is the new "Despacito" and while I can see that, I do think this song is better than "Despacito" in that it isn't playing the sleazy vibe but rather a song where they are sick of fighting and want the other person to place the blame on them, it's an interesting tangent the song goes on mentioning The Beatles hit Let It Be in the chorus. The framing is interesting and is kind of a perfect Australian summer song and compared to some of the other trash coming, I'll take it!

Rating: 8/10


Song: All Night
Artists: Steve Aoki, Lauren Jauregui



Ohh boy, I wish I could say I liked this song more. Aoki's brand of EDM has never impressed me (check re: Louis Tomlinson) and it's really not great here either and Lauren sounds totally checked out on the track, no enthusiasm or noise about going all night, it just lacks the energy it would need for an anthem about partying all night. Pass.


Rating: It's not the worst thing I've heard (believe me). we'll get to it) 4/10


Song: The Opener
Artist: Camp Cope





So Camp Cope are back and this song seems to hail from the early nineties in terms of it's sound, it reminds me very much of a mix between Pearl Jam and Semisonic especially when you combine it with the lead vocals of Georgia MacDonald, it's not all that bad, would love to see this song chart.


Rating: 7/10


Song: I'll Make You Happy
Artist: The Bamboos, Montaigne



I was pleasantly surprised to hear a song that sounds very much like it could come straight out of a 60s soul studio rather than a modern recording studio cause yeah this is pretty darn great and Montaigne sounds absolutely fantastic on this. I love it.


Rating: 9/10. Best song I have heard in a long time. Definitely a late player for the best overall songs of 2017 list!


Song: Hola
Artists: Flo Rida, Maluma



The second of the Spanglish songs and definitely the catchiest song of the week right here, this is a sticky one. A song full of Latin vibes that I can definitely see becoming a hit, Flo Rida brings a lot of cheeky charisma to this track, sure some the lyrics are a bit borderline but once you hear that chorus, it is going to get stuck in your head for several days at a time\

Rating: I like this somehow...7/10



Song: Obsessed
Artist: Maggie Lindemann



I have been kind to Maggie Lindemann's first single "Pretty Girl" because it was her debut song but man oh man the lyrics in the chorus pissed me off re: drinking and smoking to keep up with the guys, that's just ridiculous, I get its a feministic song but surely something better than health hazards like drinking and smoking could have been used.

So what about the follow up single "Obsessed"? Well I am not sure production wise, it's much better than "Pretty Girl", sparse piano and heavily reliant on percussion that seems to rely on Lindemann to provide what melody there is while the lyrics deal with a boyfriend who is an apparent narcissist in love with himself. Yeah I really not got much time for this. Sorry.


Rating: 4/10


Song: Paris in the Rain
Artist: Lauv





Lauv made a splash with his song "I Like Me Better" everywhere bar the United States of America which isn't a surprise given how heavily America is into their trap music so is his follow up "Paris in the Rain" as good? Not really, it's not quite as catchy and really I am not impressed by the lack of melody within the production and the ooh ooh in the first verse drove me crazy!

Rating 5/10


Best of the week: "I'll Make You Happy" by The Bamboos featuring Montaigne. I'm a sucker for a good guitar and reminds me a bit of "Don't Hesitate" by The Meltdown (if you haveb't checked that song out yet, do it now, it is AWESOME)


Worst of the week: It's not going to any of the songs I have reviewed here so don't worry Fifth Harmony/Lauren Jauregui fans, worst this week is going to a song called "Salad Dressing" by Borgore feat. Bella Thorne, this is the worst 'song' of the year and maybe of all time, only click play if you think your ears are up to it.





New Music Friday 24th November

James Arthur is releasing a song called "Naked"

2017 American Music Awards winners.

Lifetime Achievement: Diana Ross
Artist of the Year: Bruno Mars
Favourite new Artist: Niall Horan
Favourite Adult Contempory Artist: Shawn Mendes
Collaboration of the Year: "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber
Video of the year: "That's What I Like" by Bruno Mars
Favourite Tour of the Year: Coldplay
Top Soundtrack: Moana

Pop/Rock
Male Artist: Bruno Mars
Female Artist: Lady Gaga
Duo or Group: Imagine Dragons
Album: 24k Magic by Bruno Mars
Song: "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber


Soul/R&B
Male Artist: Bruno Mars
Female Artist: Beyonce
Album: "24k Magic" by Bruno Mars
Song: "That's What I Like" by Bruno Mars


Favourite Rap/hip hop
Artist: Drake
Album: "DAMN" by Kendrick Lamar
Song: "I'm The One" by DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance The Rapper and Lil Wayne

Favourite Country
Male Artist: Keith Urban
Female Artist: Carrie Underwood
Duo or Group: Little Big Town
Album: "Ripcord" by Keith Urban
Song: "Blue Ain't Your Colour" by Keith Urban

Favourite EDM
Artist: The Chainsmokers

Favourite Alternative rock
Artist: Linkin Park

Favourite Latin
Artist: Shakira

Favourite Contemporary Inspirational
Artist: Lauren Daigle

ARIA Top Ten/Chart Review: 20th November: Australia's heart is in Camila's Havana na na na

This week, I expected a Taylor Swift album bomb with the release of Reputation last Friday and the chart would be like my bedroom...messy to a massive degree

However what I got was anything but a Taylor Swift everywhere chart and no real album bomb to speak of, in fact we got a new number one and two new songs in the top ten. I'll explain why there has been no real Taylor Swift album bomb this week a bit later. 

First, the issue of the top ten, where both "New Rules" by Dua Lipa and "Feel It Still" by Portugal, the Man left the top ten. 

It also brings us to the fact that we have a new number one and my god, it has been coming for some time, it's her first number one and its also first time a member or ex-member of Fifth Harmony has hit number one, yes, "Havana" by Camila Cabello is Australia's new number one 1, this is despite not ruling streaming but is ruling sales and Youtube. 

All this meant that despite ruling streaming, "rockstar" by Post Malone and 21 Savage slipped back to number 2. I still see it as a player to get back to number 1 but needs sales to get there rather than just being reliant on streaming.

Ed Sheeran's "Perfect" got a boost off weakness of "Too Good at Goodbyes" by Sam Smith to jump one place to number 3.

Now at number 4 is "I Fall Apart" by Post Malone, this was a sales and streaming giant through the week so could still make a play for number one as it has some serious momentum behind it.

Australia is loving Khalid at the moment with the first of two songs in the top ten is "Young, Dumb and Broke" remaining at number 5, he should be a massive favourite for Best New Artist at the Grammys next year.

As mentioned "Too Good at Goodbyes" by Sam Smith slipped off it's album boost this week to drop 3 places to number 6.

"Silence" by Marshmello feat. Khalid jumps two places to number 7. The first of two songs inside the top ten for Marshmello and Khalid's second song inside the top 10.

"What Lovers Do" by Maroon 5 and SZA drops a place to number 8. Think it's largely in top 10 right now because it's very radio friendly.

I predicted this on Twitter last week, Marshmello's second song inside the top 10 is "Wolves" with Selena Gomez which climbed four places to number 9 this week.

Rounding out the top 10 is a new entry with "Walk on Water" by Eminem feat. Beyonce at number 10 and was the highest debuting new entry this week.

As for other new entries? Avicii's "Lonely together" with Rita Ora debuted at number 32 and "Feels Great" by Cheat Codes feat, Fetty Wap and CVBZ at number 45.

As for new entries outside the top 50, the best of those was Keith Urban's "Female" at number 55, "Coming Home" by Sheppard at 79, "No Limit" by G-Eazy, A$AP Rocky and Cardi B at number 96 (that song is absolutely huge in the US, predicted to crack the top ten soon) and the terrible "Tip toe" by Jason Derulo and French Montana at number 99. 

There were also two re-entries with "Location" by Khalid at 46 and for some inexplicable reason "Bad at Love" by Halsey re-entered at number 48.

As for the drop outs? The only real notable drop out was "Attention" by Charlie Puth but you'd expect that will make the year end list.

The other drop outs being "Lemon" by N.E.R.D and Rihanna, "Pray" by Sam Smith, "Without You" by Avici and Sandro Cavazza, and "Call It What you want" by Taylor Swift.

Speaking of Taylor Swift, she was one of the big gainers this week with "...Ready for it" climbing 10 places to 35 however that was it as far as her gains went with "Gorgeous" falling 11 to number 49 and "Look What You Made Me Do" falling one place to 43, no album tracks entered the ARIA chart this week largely due to Swift preferencing physical album sales ie: making people go out and buy the album which has meant people haven't been able to listen to "Reputation" on their favoured streaming service and the album bomb, that we saw for Ed Sheeran earlier this year where physical sales + streaming saw "Divide" just tear the ARIA Singles Chart apart, didn't happen for Taylor. Seems a bit of a dumb decision but I am sure she's not regretting it considering how well the album has sold in Australia and worldwide.

Outside of that the biggest gainer this week was "Man's Not Hot" by Big Shaq which climbed from 47 to 34, "Gucci Gang" by Lil Pump climbed 6 places to number 26 because people can't get enough of drug references, brand names and referring women in unpleasant ways. "Let You Down" by NF went up to 22 from 27. the other big mover was Rita Ora's "Anywhere" which climbed 12 places to 37 (now top 5 in the UK this week).

As for the biggest loser, that went to "Feels" by Calvin Harris feat. Pharrell, Katy Perry and Big Sean which dropped 25 places to number 50, already mentioned "Gorgeous, Kesha's "Praying" slipped 8 to 42 and former US number 1 "Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)" by Cardi B really isn't catching on in Australia, it slipped from 33 to 36 this week.

So that completes this week and to be honest, I won't deny I am kind of happy we didn't get a Taylor Swift album bomb, she's probably done me a favour by not releasing "Reputation simultaneously as a physical release and a streaming release but the chart was interesting enough, can Havana stay at number one? All those questions and more to be answered next week!.

New Music Friday Review: Eminem/Beyonce boss it

After the crap show that was last week, we got some amazing quality in this week's New Music Friday playlist including a return by Eminem and he brought along one of the biggest female R 'n'B stars in the world while Sarah Blasko and Bastille were also amongst those that brough impressive quality to New Music Friday. Less said about another certain song that did it's best to drag down the quality.

Song: Walk on Water

Artists: Eminem, Beyonce

The much talked about return of Eminem has begun with a surprising ballad, one that isn't full of the usual Eminem bluff and bluster, instead this is Eminem at his most vulnerable, he knows he isn't the top dog in the rap game at the moment and there's a certain weariness to his voice that is very noticeable, There's a certain fallibility from Eminem and he knows it at least until right at the end where he returns to normal and raps quickly "Bitch, I wrote Stan". Beyonce just nails her hook, she sounds incredible, all this set to a piano. I am not the world's biggest rap fan or even Eminem fan but I did enjoy this from start to finish because it felt like something tangible and REAL.

Rating: 8/10

Song: Tip Toe

Artists; Jason DeRulo, French Montana\

Getting this done and out of the way because seriously whoever at DeRulo's record company green lighted this nonsense for public consumption was high on drugs, this is absolutely awful from start to finish. The hook is "Hold tight when you tip toe/Shake something when you tip toe"..uh what the hell is that supposed to mean?. The pre chorus is utterly forgettable too. Just another crap sex jam.

Rating: 3/10

Song: Lemon to a Knife Fight

Artist: The Wombats

The Wombats return with the lead off single for their new album to be released in 2018 and yeah, it's not that much different to what they did on Glitterbug but "Lemon to a Knife Fight" reminds me a little of the 80s especially in the vocals. It sounds great though!.

Rating: 9/10

Song: Phantom

Artist: Sarah Blasko

Ugh, Sarah Blasko is one of those artists I really should like more than I currently but "Phantom" could well be the start of me liking her material more.

"Phantom" is a sharper and harder song especially in the production with the piano and buzzing synths and Sarah sounds great over it. Nice job!

Rating: 8/10

Other songs to check out:

"Hurt" by Trophy Eyes (If ever there was a more blatant U2 sounding song, it's this one)

"World Gone Mad" by Bastille (Considering current events around the world, this could well be a massive hit. I wouldn't mind either cause it's damn good)

Best of the Week

Hard this week but I'm giving it to "Lemon to a Knife fight" by The Wombats just edging out "Walk on Water" by Eminem feat. Beyonce

Worst of the week

No debate here. "Tip Toe" by Jason DeRulo feat French Montana. If we're lucky, people will ignore this.

New Music Friday next week:

Lauren Jauregui is teaming up with Steve Aoki, Maggie Lindemann is finally releasing a follow up to "Pretty girl", Demi Lovato is the latest to get in on the popularity of Latin music by teaming up with Luis Fonsi.  

ARIA Top ten/Chart Review: 13th November

This week was, to put it bluntly a shocker, and despite the album bomb coming next week almost certain to cut a swathe through the current ARIA top 50 singles chart, things didn't slow down all that much with "Good Old Days" by Macklemore and Kesha dropping to number 11 from 8 last week and "Dusk til Dawn" by Zayn and Sia dropping to 12 from 9.

However no change at the top with Post Malone and 21 Savage continuing their rampant success with "Rockstar" having seventh week at number one. It could have a challenger next week in the new Eminem and Beyonce song "Walk on Water" though but we will soon find out.

"Havana" by Camila Cabello remains stable at number 2 and really, I am not convinced that this song is still any chance of getting number one right now, sure it's doing okay on iTunes but streaming continues to lag well behind "rockstar".

"Too Good at Goodbyes" by Sam Smith had resurgence courtesy of his album dropping jumping from number 10 to number 3.

What that meant is "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran fell to number 4 and "Young, Dumb and Broke" by Khalid to number 5.

Steady at number 6 is Post Malone's other top 10 hit "I Fall Apart".

New to the top 10 at number 7 is the best song from Red Pill Blues. "What Lovers Do" by Maroon 5 feat SZA. It climbed 7 places to jump into the top 10.

At number 8 is Portugal. The Man with "Feel It Still". So surprising how well this song has done. It really is.

"Silence" by Marshmello and Khalid is new to the top 10 at number 9, "Silence" climbed three places to sit within the top 10. (May not be Marshmello's only song inside the top 10 soon either!)

Rounding out the top 10 is "New Rules" by Dua Lipa which dropped 3 places to sit at the edge of the top 10, I expect that this song will fall out of the top 10 next week given the likely course of events through this week.


Biggest gainer of this week was Lil' Pump's "Gucci Gang" which went from 45 to 32 proving there is still a market for rappers to rap about brand names, cars, jewellery, crime and stealing your partner.
In other big gains this week, "How Long" by Charlie Puth broke into the top 20 by jumping from 24 to 19 (it's a decent song if I am being honest), "Let Me Go" by Hailee Steinfeld, Watt and Alesso also into the top 20 with a jump from 21 to 17 while NF looks like having a surprise hit with "Let You Down" jumping from 31 to 27.

As for the losers, "Gorgeous" by Taylor Swift slipped from 26 to 38, I expect that and other Taylor Swift songs will regain momentum with "Reputation" having been released. "Look What You Made Me Do" also dropped 10 places from 32 to 42, "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee is also on the way out having dropped from 39 to 46 but is set to be one of the biggest songs of the year when the year end chart is revealed in January.

As for the new entries inside the top 50? The top debut was "Call it What You Want" by Taylor Swift which will more than likely push top 10 next courtesy of the album drop, best of the new ones is Rita Ora's "Anywhere" which entered at 49 but the others? I can't say it's good that "Man's Not Hot" by Big Shaq entering at 47 and "Lemon" by N.E.R.D and Rihanna entering at 48 as both those songs are TERRIBLE.

Outside of the top 50 though... "Dirty Sexy Money" by David Guetta featuring Afrojack, Charli XCX and French Montana enters at 52, "Ghostface Killers" by 21 Savage, Offset and Metro Boomin' feat. Travis Scott at 69 (that could make top 50 considering 21 Savage is on the current number one) and at 89, "The Way Life Goes" by Lil Uzi Vert feat. Nicki Minaj and Oh Wonder.

Re entering the chart this week and it's because of the album drop, Sam Smith with "Pray" at number 41,

Three really big exits this week with Niall Horan's "Slow Hands" and Liam Payne feat Quavo's "Strip That Down exiting meaning that there is currently no One Direction band members on the ARIA chart at the moment, also exiting are DJ Khaled's "Wild Thoughts" feat. Rihanna and Bryson Tiller along with "Pretty Girl" by Maggie Lindemann. Those four songs should be safely into the year end top 100 of 2017. 
The only other drop out was "Revenge" by Pink feat. Eminem,

So next week should be interesting with the "Reputation" album bomb set to drop and "Walk on Water" by Eminem feat. Beyonce likely to debut in the top 10, what will survive is going to be quite interesting.

New Music Friday Review: N.E.R.D/Rihanna and more

Folks, we got a really bad week so the pickings are slim, we got a new single from N.E.R.D who teamed up with Rihanna, a David Guetta led collaboration involving Charli XCX and French Montana, and a new single from Vance Joy.


Song: Lemon
Artists; N.E.R.D, Rihanna





There's not a lot to say about this but given how sweet I imagined a collaboration between Pharrell Williams and Rihanna might sound however the sound that swirled through my head kind of turned sour when I heard this song because "Lemon" is an unadulterated mess from start to finish. In between N.E.R.D trying to bring back the 90s by shouting and Rihanna delivering an unconvincing rap on her verse complete with this awful beat. Ew. Just avoid it.


Rating: 3/10


Song: Dirty Sexy Money
Artists: David Guetta, Afrojack, Charli XCX and French Montana




So David Guetta is finally back with the follow up to his collab with Justin Bieber and this really isn't anything at all much other than being your basic club banger. French Montana drops a verse you'd hear in any of his songs, Charli XCX gives her usual performance but as I say, it's generic filler for the club scene.

Rating: 5/10



Song: Like Gold
Artist: Vance Joy





After the bright and unusually happy nature of "Lay It On Me" (which I loved this year), Vance Joy is back with a follow up and really, this doesn't feel like an inspired effort cause man "Like Gold" doesn't really go anywhere however it kind of makes sense given the song is about a failed relationship, still it was a bit of a struggle of a song. Ehhh...


Rating: 5/10



Song: Get Out of Your Own Way
Artists: U2, Kendrick Lamar






Ever get the feeling that U2 may just be back in form following the mess that was the album "Songs of Innocence", well, I have had that feeling majorly with the upcoming new U2 album "Songs of Experience". I love the harmonies on the chorus and Bono is sounding better than ever. This isn't as good as the rollicking "The Blackout" but this is U2 at the best they've been in a very long time.


Rating: 8/10


Best: Goes easily to U2 and Kendrick Lamar for "Get Out of your own way"

Worst: Another easy one. "Lemon" by N.E.R.D and Rihanna.

Next week: The Wombats, Bastille, Jennifer Lopez and who knows what else.

ARIA Chart top ten/Chart Review: November 6. Post Malone Falls Apart in top ten

This week was weird, not only did a certain song that I was expecting to re-enter in the top 10 fail to do so but we'll get to that. Leaving the top 10 was Macklemore and Skylar Grey's "Glorious" (Don't worry, there's still Macklemore inside the top 10) as it slipped to number 11.

Really the top 5 of our top 10 on the ARIA chart remained the same, Post Malone's "rockstar" feat. 21 Savage keeps hold of the number 1 with "rockstar" (he has a much better song called "Candy Paint" which entered the Billboard Hot 100 recently. it's much better than either "rockstar" or "I Fall Apart).

New UK and Canadian number 1 "Havana" by Camila Cabello feat. Young Thug remains at number 2 for another week.

"Perfect" by Ed Sheeran remains at three, "Young, Dumb and Broke" by Khalid at number 4 and "Feel It Still" by Portugal. The Man at number 5

Then we get to our new arrival in the top 10 and this is probably because of the current number 1 with "I Fall Apart" rising from 14 to number 6.

Rebounding from 10 to 7 is "New Rules" by Dua Lipa.

The other new arrival in the top 10 is Macklemore's collaboration with Kesha called "Good Old Days" jumping from 11 to 8.

"Dusk til Dawn" by Zayn and Sia dropped from 9 to 7 and "Too Good at Goodbyes" by Sam Smith dropping from 8 to number 10. I expect "Too Good at Goodbyes" will get a boost from the album drop.

Biggest gain this week is "Let You Down" by NF which jumped from 43 to 31. "Silence" by Marshmello and Khalid looks to be on the verge of breakinginto the top ten climbing 4 places to number 12. Continuing a good week for Post Malone "Congratulations" (feat. Quavo) climbed to number 30.

Biggest loser this week was "Gorgeous" by Taylor Swift which fell from 9 to 26 while "Look What You Made Me Do" dropped from 26 to 32 but both should get an album boost when "reputation" drops, "Slow Hands" by Niall Horan lost it's gains from last week to slip to 41.

As for re-entries, Taylor Swift re-enters at 44 with "...Ready for It?" at number 44 because of the video which is odd, would have thought that it would have re-entered a bit higher but I guess that shows how divisive this album roll out is proving.
"Let You Down" by Peking Duk and Icona Pop re-enters at 49.


Two new entries inside the top 50 with "Wolves" by Selena Gomez and Marshmello entering at 15 to be the top debut, I wouldn't be surprised if this enters the top 10. The other new entry is the horrendous "Gucci Gang" by Lil Pump (PLEASE AUSTRALIA DO NOT MAKE THIS SONG A HIT!)

Outside the top 100 the best of the new entries was "I Miss You" by Clean Bandit feat. Julia Michaels entering at number 65, "Man's Not Hot" by Big Shaq at number 68 (that song has just entered the Billboard Hot 100 in the US), "Motorsport" by Migos, Nicki Minaj and Cardi B arrives at number 74 (I expect this song to break into the top 50), "Burning" by Sam Smith at 80, "Go Bang" by Pnau at 81 and finally "Way Out" by 360 feat. Teischa at 95.

So what dropped out? I'm pleased that the awful "Your Song" by Rita Ora and the bland "Back to You" by Louis Tomlinson feat. Bebe Rexha and Digital Farm Animals exited but I'm not so happy that "Lose My Mind" by Dean Lewis exited the top 50 after just one week (is it really worth losing this terrific song so Lil Pump can enter the chart? Come on...). The other drop out is "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" by Shawn Mendes but that should have enough credits to make the year end 100 anyway.

So that rounds up this week's chart review. This week should be the calm before Tropical Cyclone Reputation wreaks havoc on the chart but can "Havana" give Camila Cabello her first number one hit in Australia or will Post Malone and 21 Savage hold number one for another week?

New Music Friday Review: Selena Gomez and

So this week's New Music Friday saw new music from Selena Gomez teaming up with another EDM producer, Pitbull gets Fifth Harmony on board and Aussie rockers The Rubens return with a new single.


Song: Wolves.
Artists: Selena Gomez, Marshmello




It's not been a great year for Selena Gomez, sure she had success with "It Ain't Me" but it was more Kygo's song than hers and her two solo singles "Bad Liar" and "Fetish" performed badly on the charts so it's back to EDM producers she goes and this time she's teamed up with Marshmello for a song called "Wolves" and while on Twitter, I did say that I was bemused by some of the lyrics in the song after all wolves don't live in jungles but it's the second best thing Selena has done all year musically after the collaboration with Kygo, maybe this could well be a hit, it's okay I guess.

Rating: 6/10


Song: Por Favor
Artists: Pitbull, Fifth Harmony



A collab that I always thought was likely after all Pitbull or  "Mr Worldwide" as he seems like to refer to himself as has always struck me as a bit of a ladies man so it seemed a natural fit for him to record a song with Fifth Harmony. "Por Favor" is a Spanglish song that has long as you don't Google translate the Spanish language because they reveal Pitbull to be at his sleazy best.wamting this girl to give him kisses or french kisses while the Fifth Harmony girls play the woman and right at the end mentions rice with fried egg? Huh?


Rating: Like I said, it's alright if you ignore the English translation of the lyrics but I can't. 4.10


Song: Boom Boom
Artists: RedOne, Daddy Yankee, French Montana, Dinah Jane




Lauren's done it, Ally's done it so why not Dinah? She's the latest Fifth Harmony to step into the breech for a song outside of Fifth Harmony (which is odd consdering Fifth Harmony released an album earlier this year) and yeah, the chorus of "Boom Boom" interpolates the chorus of Modjo's hit "Lady" big time and is all about having a good time in the club which isn't as sleazy as some of Daddy Yankee's past work? "Despacito" anyone?


Rating: I'll take this over "Por Favor" even with the obvious Modjo chorus melody rip off. 6/10


Song: Million Man
Artist: The Rubens



So The Rubens are back with their lead off single from their forthcoming third album and the fact that they've been working with Run the Jewels is kind of on show here, "Million Man" is very different in sound to anything on "Hoops", that said it is still a decent song and I would give anything to see this chart highly over some of the rubbish on the ARIA Singles Chart right now. it's got a decent hook, I'll take it.

Rating: 8/10


Best of the week: The Rubens get it for "Million Man"

Worst: "Por Favor". Just not a fan of how sleazy some of the lyrics are. Sorry

Next week
A new Christiaa Aguilera song called "America"
Plenty of rumours about N.E.R.D possibly releasing a song with Rihanna.
Talk of a fourth song from Taylor Swift's new album being released (I hope not)

ARIA Top Ten/Chart review: October 31st

This week was busy...well not in the top 3 really but we'll get to that but down the lower end of the chart, there's one or two songs that look as though they could be bound for the top ten and there was one new entry that quite predictably broke into the top ten.

The only song to have left the top 10 was "What About Us?" by Pink because of course the album boost wore off a little.

As for the top 10, well "Rockstar" by Post Malone and 21 Savage remains at number one for a fifth week because sales have started to catch up to the streams a little bit.

Camila Cabello and Young Thug remain at number 2 for another week with "Havana". Now if stream can pick up a bit, there's a fair chance that this song will challenge for top spot, it looks to be well on the way to number one in the United Kingdom already.

"Perfect" by Ed Sheeran is at number three and remains a fair chance of getting to number one, it's a song that the radio seems to love at the moment for some reason.

Then we have two songs that have broken into the top 5, at number 4 is "Young, Dumb and Broke" by Khalid which climbed three places and "Feel it Still" by Portugal, The Man which rose 1 place to number 5.

Both those songs may well have gotten to the top five on the weaknesses of "Glorious" by Macklemore feat Skylar Grey dropping two places to number 6.

"Dusk til Dawn" by Zayn and Sia continues to hang around the lower half of the top 10 climbing one place to number 7.

"Too Good at Goodbyes" by Sam Smith is proving it's actually bad at saying goodbye to the top ten by jumping one place to number 8.

Which brings us to a new entry at number 9 and predictably, it's "Gorgeous" by Taylor Swift. I expect this to slide badly next week. Just a shame that the song doesn't live up to it's name.

"New Rules" by Dua Lipa continues to dangle precariously at number 10 for a second week.


Biggest gainer of the week was Niall Horan's "Slow Hands" which climbed from 50 to 34 this week off the back of the release of his album "Flicker". Amongst the other big gains was Charlie Puth's "How Long" which climbed from 40 to 27, the success of  "Rockstar" has seen Post Malone's "I Fall Apart" climb from 23 to 14.

The biggest loser was Pink's "Beautiful Trauma" which fell from 27 to 40, other big losses came for "Despacito" by Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi which fell from 32 to 39.


On the new entry front inside the top 50 beyond Taylor Swift's 'Gorgeous", "Let You Down" by NF was the best entering at number 43, "Stargazing" by Kygo feat. Justin Jesso at 49 and the best song of all the new entries in the top 50 "Lose My Mind" by Dean Lewis at 50.
New entries to the top 100, "Bedroom Floor" by Liam Payne entered at 52 (should probably break into top 50 next week but we'll see), "Bank Account" by 21 Savage enters at 62, Rita Ora's "Anywhere" debuts at number 68, "Bloodstone" by Guy Sebastian at 90, "Kids in Love" by Kygo feat. The Night Game at 94 and "Meant to be by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line at 100.

There were four drop outs with two signifcant, that being "Mama" by Jonas Blue feat. William Singe and "Fallin'" by Jessica Mauboy. "Mama" should make the year end top 100 list.
The other two being "Pray" by Sam Smith and "Let You Down" by Peking Duk and Icona Pop.

So that ends this week's ARIA top ten/chart review and wow, it will be fascinating to see if number one changes hands this week or not but before all that new music review with Selena Gomez teaming up with Marshmello, new stuff from The Rubens and Clean Bandit team up with Julia Michaels.

New Music Friday Review: God damn it, Taylor Swift.

It's a busy New Music Friday review because not only is there new music from Rita Ora and Liam Payne but Taylor Swift chose to drop a new song as well plus I may add in some Guy Sebastian but we'll see so let's start with the new single from Rita Ora.


Song: Anywhere
Artist: Rita Ora





Well, we have the follow up to "Your Song" and I don't think it's a stretch to say that "Anywhere" is a 100% improvement over "Your Song" both lyrically and production wise. "Your Song" had a lot of questionable lyrics (having sex on his best friend's couch? When was that a good idea?) where as "Anywhere" seems to be a fair deal better as it being another love song and being committed to someone, it's a nice sentiment I can live by.

Rating: 7/10



Song: Bedroom Floor
Artist: Liam Payne




So we get a tropical sounding R & B track as Liam Payne's latest single and yeah, it's a bit of a shocker I am sorry to say, Liam wails his way through "You said it was over" and in the middle of the bridge sees some kind of attempt at a phone ringing sound effect, it's a bit of a weird song and I have to say I could go with him on "Strip That Down" but not on this mess of a song.


Rating: 4/10


Song: Gorgeous
Artist: Taylor Swift



This blog is rapidly turning into "God damn it, Taylor Swift" so I was hoping that she could produce some quality with "Gorgeous" after the horrors that were both "Look What You Made Me Do" and "Ready For It", only to be disappointed because yet again it's another melody less song with lyrics laden with hypocrisy because the song is about HER cheating on her boyfriend with another 'gorgeous' man and given Taylor's songs in the past berating ex boyfriends for cheating, this really is hard to take coming from her.

Just one question though: what does Taylor have against having any kind of melody in her new songs these days? I miss the days of "Love Story" and even her songs off her debut album,

Rating: 3/10


Song: Bloodstone
Artist: Guy Sebastian


The latest release from Guy Sebastian's upcoming 10th album "Conscious" and while not quite as good as "High On Me" (which should have been a hit, shame on you, Australia!) but still feels every European pop (images of Eurovision spring to mind), it's the kind of song I could see being a hit and deserves to be a hit if I am quite honest, I really like everything about this from the production to the lyrics. Nice one, Guy!

Rating: 8/10


Other songs to check out:

• "Kids in Love" by Kygo feat. The Night Game
• "Seeing Blind" by Niall Horan and Maren Morris (I hope to goodness this song will be a single)

Best of the week: Torn between "Kids in Love" by Kygo feat. The Night Game and "Bloodstone" by Guy Sebastian. I think I am going to give it to "Bloodstone"...just.

Worst: Damn it, I didn't want to do this but I am giving worst to "Gorgeous" by Taylor Swift

New Music on 27th October:\

Expecting "Por Favour" by Pitbull feat. Fifth Harmony to be released on Friday. 

Starley drops "Been Meaning to Tell You"

ARIA Chart top ten/chart review: October 23rd. Rockstar's fourth week at number 1

So it seems we have another Taylor Swift single bomb headed the way of the ARIA chart next week (more om that song's quality in New Music Friday review) but this week saw Pink's album drop and have something of muted effect on the chart that strangely saw one of her songs drop out of the top 50 and see another rebound into the top 5.

The only song to drop out of the top 10 was "Good Old Days" by Macklemore feat. Kesha. I expect at least one or two losing momentum next week to fallout with the arrival of Taylor Swift's new single and possibly the new Liam Payne song.

So onto the top 10, "rockstar" by Post Malone and 21 Savage remains at number one for a fourth week at number one. Quite literally the only thing propping up this song is streaming so once the streaming dies off (and hopefully soon), it should fall off number one.

At number 2 is "Havana" by Camila Cabello. Unfortunately while it's had a good run, I don't see this getting to number one especially if Taylor Swift's "Gorgeous" does debut at number 1 but it's not quite doing enough on streaming or on sales to knock over "rockstar" and is getting outsold on iTunes by this week's number 3.

That number 3 being "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran which climbed 1 place to reach it's current peak. Could very well go number 2 should "Havana" wobble.

This all meant a fall back to number 4 for "Glorious" by Macklemore and Skylar Grey.  Quite surprised that this song hasn't fallen off the cliff yet to be honest, it's done pretty well to remind in top 5.\

The week's biggest gainer sits at number 5 and unsurprisingly it's Pink's "What About Us?" which got a 7 place boost due to the album dropping and going straight to number one on the ARIA albums chart so not really even a surprise that "What About Us?" returned to the top 10.

"Feel it Still" by Portugal, The Man continues to be the surprise indie rock hit of 2017 with a three place rise to number 6.

At number 7 is "Young, Dumb and Broke" by Khalid, feel like he will win the Grammy for best new artist next year. He has had an absolutely outstanding 2017.

"Dusk til Dawn" by Zayn and Sia slips to number 8 from number 6 last week.

"Too Good at Goodbyes" by Sam Smith dropped 4 places to number 9 and looks a bit precarious as does "New Rules" by Dua Lipa which rounds out the top ten at number 10.

As for the gainers this week, the biggest was "Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)" Cardi B which climbed from 48 last week to 39, I am still bemused as to why this song is a hit in the US but anyway...
I already mentioned Pink's 7 place climb for "What About Us". Charlie Puth's "How Long" climbed 7 places to number 40 off it's debut last week. "Silence" by Marshmello feat. Khalid went to 17 from 21 last week.

On the flipside, the biggest loser was former chart topper "Despacito" which dropped from 25 to 32. Oddly "Pray" by Sam Smith dropped from 45 to 48. Most of the losses to be expected with songs like "Mama" by Jonas Blue feat William Singe headed for the exit.

Only two new entries inside the ARIA top 50 with Pink's collaboration with Eminem "Revenge" entering the chart at 21 to be the highest debut of the week with "Let You Down" by Peking Duk and Icona Pop entering at number 45.

Outside of the top 50, Pink had two songs enter with "Where We go" at 88 and "I am Here" at 97, NF arrived at number 70 with a song called "Let You Down", "Feels Great" by Cheat Codes feat. Fetty Wap and CVBZ at 74 and because people like their pop music bland and stupid "Just Like You" by Louis Tomlinson entered at 99.

The lone re-entry to the top 50 was Niall Horan's "Slow Hands", I wouldn't be surprised if that song returns to a place higher up the chart with his album "Flicker" having dropped.

As for the drop outs, maybe the one of most significance is "Whatever You Want" by Pink as given the album has now dropped, it doesn't make sense that it dropped while everything else Pink related got a jump this week.

The other two to drop out were "Bad at Love" by Halsey and "Would You Ever" by Skrillex and Poo Bear.


So question remains just how long will streaming hold up for Post Malone and 21 Savage to reman at number one, will Taylor Swift get to number one or can Ed Sheeran get his 2nd number one of 2017?

All those questions and more answered next week!

The Saturday Music Review: Charlie Puth, Cardi B, Sam Smith,

So today I am going to review some of the songs that have reached the ARIA charts that I didn't cover while New Music Friday review was on hiatus and cover a song that is a hit already elsewhere in the world but let's begin these reviews with Cardi B.


Song: Bodak Yellow
Artist: Cardi B





So if you aren't aware of who Cardi B is, she is an American hip hop artist who first came to prominence through Instagram before signing her first record deal with Atlantic Records whom released her first commercial single called "Bodak Yellow". "Bodak Yellow" has since spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the US which is kind of a big deal considering that Lauryn Hill was the last solo female rapper to hit number 1 in the US in 1998 before being knocked off by "rockstar" by Post Malone and 21 Savage.

"Bodak Yellow" as a song is of questionable quality if I am  being honest though, Cardi B has a similar flow to that of another American rapper Kodak Black  and really there's nothing all that interesting in this song. It's just not my cup of tea personally but I can get why this song was a hit in the US.

Rating: 5/10



Song: How Long
Artist: Charlie Puth






It has kind of surprised me just how much of a hit 'Attention" has been this year and while it was a song that I wanted to like, there were things about it that actively annoyed me eg: the lyrics so how is "How Long"

Well, I'd say this "How Long" is better and I am finding it harder to dislike but I wish the build up of bridge didn't reach a dead end once it got to the chorus but otherwise it is pretty tolerable and I wouldn't complain if I heard this song more on the radio than "Attention". It's a decent song, Charlie Puth has definitely improved here.


Rating: 7/10. The momentum kill of the chorus really does dampen the song for me.


Song: Pray
Artist: Sam Smith






So Sam Smith has dropped a promotional single from his forthcoming new album and I really wish I could say I like this but it's all starting to feel a bit predictable from Sam if I am quite honest. This kind of song has been done better by Dan Sultan and others. I like the gospel tinges but otherwise it's just a drab kind of song. Pass.


Rating: 4/10


*** HIT PICK: NZ  #13  ***

Song: Don't Give It Up
Artist: Six60






Okay, a little bit of explanation is required here. Six60 are a five piece soul and electronic pop rock band from Dunedin, New Zealand, they have been around since 2008 and are absolutely huge in their home land but that success hasn't translated to having big hits elsewhere in the world like Australia.

So what about their latest charting single "Don't Give It Up"? It's actually a pretty decent pop/R 'n' B song even though I am not overly a fan of the vocal sample that begins the song and hangs around in the back ground but the drums and guitar are tight and it's something of a fun listen especially when the choir kick in at the end of the song.

Rating: 6.5/10



So that wraps up The Saturday Music review, see you all later for this week's ARIA Chart top ten rundown/review

New Music Friday Review: Pink, Daya, Louis Tomlinson

After a long break New Music Friday Review is back this week and while it's not the strongest New Music Friday to come back on, what I am going to do is review some songs from this week and others that are of interest over the next few days but we'll begin with this past week's new releases with a long rumoured yet surprising collaborations this year.


Song: Revenge
Artists: Pink, Eminem





Okay, granted it's not as big a surprise as when Calvin Harris teamed up with Frank Ocean and Migos for "Slide" earlier this year but like "Slide", this is a collab that works pretty damn well better than it should have ever been. Sure, Pink's rapping isn't everything but it's better than efforts I have heard in some hip hop songs this year and Eminem only makes a rather short appearance on the track. I kind of really like it, I don't love it as yet though.

Rating: 7/10



Song: New
Arist: Daya




She's back! Yes, the girl behind the god awful 2016 hit "Hide Away" has returned with a new single called "New" and yeah, while its not as awful as "Hide Away" or even that collab she did with The Chainsmokers, "New" is pretty inoffensively boring and quite honestly I didn't remember much of that song even after I played it three or four times.

Rating 4/10


Song: Just Like You
Artist: Louis Tomlinson




Ever noticed that the guys from One Direction are constantly referencing One Direction in their solo work, Liam Payne mentioned the former band in "Strip That Down" and now Louis Tomlinson mentions the band in his latest song and yeah if I wasn't a Louis fan before, this song reminding everyone that just because he is a celebrity doesn't mean he isn't like the rest of us really does quite enough to get on my nerves. Seriously, this is just awful lyrically and the production isn't much better.


Rating: 2/10.


Best of the Week: Check out Dagny's "Love You Like That"...it's really damn good





Worst: That's going to "Just Like You" by Louis Tomlinson. Bland nonsense is not going to help Louis's solo career.


Next week: New music from Liam Payne, Rita Ora and Kygo. Dua Lipa also drops a cover of Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang" (she did it for an ad by the way)

ARIA top ten/Chart Review: 16th October: "Havana", "Perfect" emerge as dangers to "rockstar"

This week served up a colossal fall out from the predictable fact that most of the Macklemore and The Killers songs fell out of the chart, it was just matter of what was going to replace them and wow the chart went a little mental.

We lost not only "Same Love" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Mary Lambert which dropped out of the top 50 altogether because the controversy over that died but also "1-800-273-8255" by Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid which dropped from 7 to 11 and "Thunder" by Imagine Dragons which finally dropped out of the top 10 after peaking at number 2 earlier this year.

So what replaced all that inside the top 10? Let's find out.

Of course, there's  no change at number 1 with "rockstar" by Post Malone and 21 Savage number 1 for a third week. (It's not the worst song but I am not quite seeing it's appeal).

At number 2 is Camila Cabello with 'Havana" which climbed up six spots to be Cabello's most successful song in Australia to date and outchart 5th Harmony's most successful song in Australia "Work From Home" which peaked at number 3 last year. "Havana" is a halfway decent song, happy to see it in the top 5.

Macklemore and Skylar Gray dropped back to number 3 with "Glorious"

Ed Sheeran has a broken arm after being hit by a car in London while on his bike meanwhile "Perfect" is this week's biggest gainer, it rose from 19 to number 4.

The next two songs "Too Good at Goodbyes" by Sam Smith and "Dusk til Dawn" by Zayn and Sia remain at five and six respectively.

Dua Lipa's "New Rules" bore the brunt of the fall out this week with that song dropping from 3 to 7 this week.

Khalid is an early favourite to snare a Grammy nomination for best new artist which is not surprising considering "Young, Dumb and Broke" continues to climb the chart, it sits at number 8 this week.

Portugal. The Man continue their shock success with "Feel It Still" rising from 15 to number 9. It's predicted it will reach number 6 in the US this week.

Rounding up the top 10 is "Good old days" by Macklemore and Kesha which climbed 6 places to number 10.

So as I mentioned before Ed Sheeran's "Perfect" is the biggest gainer this week but next week I am expecting Pink's "What About Us" to return to the top 10 with the "Beautiful Trauma" album drop, it regained much of it's lost ground to jump from 17 to 12. "What Lovers Do" by Maroon 5 and SZA jumped to 17 from 21 last week. "Too Mjuch to Ask" by Niall Horan to 31 and "Homemade Dynamite" by Lorde, Khalid, SZA and Pos Malone to 32.


The biggest loser this week was Demi Lovato's "Sorry Not sorry" which slipped from 13 to 20, "Humble"  by Kendrick Lamar slipped from 30 to 36, "Lay It On Me" by Vance Joy went back to 28 from 24.

As for the new entries, they are interesting, the success of "rockstar" has seen the arrival of "I Fall Apart" by Post Malone at 26 as the chart's highest new entry. Halsey's "Bad at Love" enters at number 42, another Pink album track "Whatever You Want" lands at 44, "Pray' by Sam Smith enters at 45, Charlie Puth's decent "How Long" arrives at number 47 and the last of the new entries in the top 50 is current US number one "Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)" by Cardi B at 48.

New entries to the top 100 include "Mystik" by Tash Sultana at 77 (check that song out, it is brilliant), "Help Me Out" by Maroon 5 and Julia Michaels at 83 and "Gucci Gang" by Lil Pump at 91.


As for the drop outs, apart from the Macklemore and The Killers songs, "...Ready for it?" by Taylor Swift (apparently a new single on the way soon), significantly "Slow Hands" by Niall Horan (done enough to make the year end top 100 so not that worried), "Most Girls" by Hailee Steinfeld and "2U" by David Guetta and Justin Bieber.


Whew, we should get a bit of a comedown week so expecting a fourth week at number one for "rockstar" or can "Havana" challenge it? We'll see on Saturday when ARIA reveal the charts.

A Song For Every Year of My Life Part 1: `1987 to 1998: My childhood

My name is Julie and I was born on 16th February 1987 so I have been on this god forsaken planet for 30 years. I am taking up a challenge that was started on Youtube and have seen done a couple of times there, I am going to share 30 songs that have been apart of my life but it's in blog form rather than video, I am going to do it in three parts so this part will feature from 1987 to 1998, some will be from that year and some not so much so let's get this show on the road.


1987: "Walk Like an Egyptian" by The Bangles

I chose this song because it was the number one hit in Australia in the week of my birth which is okay by me as this song is actually pretty damn awesome. Imagine some of the adults in a couple of years time discovering that the previous generation made "Can We Fix it?" by Bob the Builder a number one hit in the week and year of their birth in the early 2000s but yeah, "Walk Like an Egyptian" is a terrific song.



1988:  "What A Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong


I don't have the strongest memories of what I liked musically as a baby but for some reason I have a recollection of hearing this song either via the analogue TV which somebody would have to adjust the aerial to. This song really does make me tear up a fair bit.






1989: "I Feel The Earth Move" by Carole King


Ironically the same year that Martika would have a hit with her cover of this Carole King song but I have chosen the original "I Feel The Earth Move" because 1989 was the year of the Newcastle earthquake, my mother was about 7 or 8 months pregnant with my sister at the time and on the day of the earthquake, my dad, mum, another relative (can't remember if it was my nanna or my grandma) and I were at Garden City, I was in a pram sound asleep and apparently didn't even stir when the ground shook.





1990: "Sister" by Sister2Sister

So I was soon to be a three year old but ten days before that third birthday in 1990 arrived my little sister so I have chosen Sister2Sister's 1999 hit "Sister" which got to number 3 on the Australian ARIA charts. The song is a bit cheesy but damn, as a three year old I was more into Fat Cat and Romper Room rather than music!





1991: 'The Pushbike Song" by Play School (originally by Mungo Jerry


1991 was the year that my parents brought me by first CD and first CD player which was from the cast of Play School and I literally thought that the Play School CD was the greatest thing on earth especially the cover of Mungo Jerry's "The Pushbike Song" performed by Phillip Quast. I couldn't get enough of the song, since that little phase I've always thought the song to be a bit childish.





1992: "Camptown Ladies"

1992...the year I officially started 'Big School'...yep, mum would take me to school with me wearing the school uniform a size or two a bit big and a school bag with recess, lunch, something for show and tell, a hat and in summer mosquito repellant. "Camptown Ladies" was one of those silly ones that as a five year I absolutely loved even if I got the lyrics wrong half of the time.




1993: "Eggs' by Don Spencer

My parents didn't want me to get into the latest pop music at the time because understandably the themes in top 40 music are something impressionable young kids shouldn't be hearing but my parents would let me get appropriate cassettes of kids music and one of them was Don Spencer's kids album called "Walkabout" of which the song "Eggs" is on and at the time, I used to copy the actions of the presenters on Play School (I loved John and Benita although George and Monica were awesome too!) when I saw the song performed on Play School.




1994: "Cats in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin

So as a seven year old, I was being introduced to music not just at home but at school as well because my grade 2 teacher Mr Davies would bring his guitar with him and teach us these two or three songs, one of them was "Cats in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin - a song about a father who never spent much time with his son as he grew up, it's actually an extremely sad song but one I have felt has always been apart of my life.





1995: "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet

Ughhh. This is my biggest memory of 1995 at school when my classmates and I were forced to sing this sappy ballad every Tuesday in the open learning area. I still hate this song to this day and damn those images in my head.




1996: "Eight Days A Week" by The Beatles

This was the last year I'd let my parents influence what I listened to musically, I still loved my Don Spencer tapes but in 1996 somebody brought me a tape called "Beatles Hits for Kids" which featured songs like "For the Benefit of Mr Kite" and "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and I fell in love with the music of the Fab Four especially "Eight Days a Week", I had memorised the lyrics of the song and while walking home from a night out during a holiday on the Gold Coast, I started singing "Eight Days A Week" and was quite proud I'd memorised the whole song! I also got my first sony Walkman so I could listen to music in the car without annoying mum and dad.



1997: "Say You'll Be There" by Spice Girls

The first 'hip' popular culture CD that parents brought for me was the Spice Girls album "Spice", my dad would even tape the CD and put it onto a little recordable cassette tape so I could listen to it on tape. I would also start loving making my own cassette mix tapes of songs I liked so I could listen to them in the car whenever I liked.





1998: "All I Have to Give" by Backstreet Boys

In 1998, I was hit by the "I'm in love with a boy band" and for me it was the Backsstreet Boys, they have better songs than "All I Have to Give" but it seems appropriate given it was on the year end ARIA Chart for 1998 and a decent way to end things for part 1 of this marathon. I was also a school leader and helped lead my house to winning the school athletics carnival which was exciting and madly in love with Nick, Howie, AJ, Brian and Kevin from the Backstreet Boys.





Next up the teenage years from 1999 through to 2007 but before that the ARIA Chart top ten/review (that is crazy) and hopefully the return of New Music Friday this week but no promises on that.

ARIA top ten/chart review: October 9: Week 2 at number one for Rockstar as chart goes haywire

Last week, I did warn of the potential of the charts going haywire this week and wow, they did in many ways due to a number of factors that I will mention through out this chart top ten/chart review.

But before we get to the top ten, the songs that left the top 10 were Lauv's "I Like Me Better" slipping 4 places to 12, Demi Lovato's "Sorry not Sorry" slipping 3 places ro 13 and Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" dropping to 14. Can't say I am sorry to see two of that three gone from the top ten, you can work out which two I am talking about for yourselves.

So with those departures did the top ten improve? Well not at number one with "Rockstar" by Post Malone and 21 Savage remaining in the top spot for another week.

"Glorious" by Macklemore feat. Skylar Grey has matched it's previous peak after it was performed at the National Rugby League Grand Final jumping one place to number 3.

This means "New Rules" by Dua Lipa drops to number 3.

Now on the back of the controversy over the performance eg: the whinging of Tony Abbott which resulted in people taking to iTunes and buying the song. Former Australian number 1"Same Love" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis feat. Mary Lambert re-entered the chart at number 4 purely on digital downloads...that is all. Should drop out next week. The NRL Grand Final appears to have had a serious impact on the singles chart this week actually because of Macklemore.

Former number one "Too Good at Goodbyes" by Sam Smith dropped to number 5.

A song that is rising slowly but surely is "Dusk til Dawn" by Zayn and Sia which climbed 1 place to number 6.

"1-800-273-8255" by Logic feat Alessia Cara and Khalid dropped two places to number 7.

Then we get to one of the big climbers of the week and this artist's first solo top ten hit "Havana" by Camila Cabello feat. Young Thug which climbed from 16 to number 8. I actually expect this song to be top 5 soon. It's gonna be a smash for Camila and boy, she needs it ahead of that album release.


Khalid makes his 2nd appearance but this time as the main artist in the top ten with "Young, Dumb and Broke" jumping from 13 to number 9.


Rounding out the top ten is "Thunder" by Imagine Dragons which fell four places to number 10 and looks like falling out of the chart naturally as it's on its way out. (Good!)

On the way up though is "Mi Gente" by J Balvin and Willy William which climbed 20 places to number 11 off the back of the release of a remix featuring Beyonce, "Good Old Days" by Macklemore and Kesha jumped from 25 to 16, Ed Sheeran's sappy daytime love scene song "Perfect" jumped from 41 to 19.

Also noted a bounce back up the chart for Kendrick Lamar's "Humble" which jumped from 42 back to 30.


The biggest loser this week was unsurprisingly a song that was on the way out naturally anyway "Slow Hands" by Niall Horan which fell from 34 to 46, also Rita Ora's "Your Song" fell from 32 to 40, "...Ready for It" by Taylor Swift also experienced a big drop from 26 to 37.


So what dropped out? The only real significant drop out was "Something Just Like this" by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay but that has done enough to make ARIA's end of year chart, the other two songs to drop out were "There for You" by Martin Garrix and Troye Sivan and "More Than You Know" by Axwell and Ingrosso

One new entry this week in the top 50, it's the title track of Pink's new album "Beautiful Trauma" which entered the chart at 27. Outside the top 100, Post Malone got a boost for "I Fall Apart" which entered at 56 and will probably break into the top 50 soon considering the success of "rockstar" and Kita Alexander's song "Hotel" entered at 89 (Check that song out, it's a great song)

The Killers AFL Grand Final appearance helped "Mr Brightside" re-enter the top 50 at number 48, they also saw several songs re-enter the top 100 with "Somebody told Me" at 71 and "When You were Young" at 82.

"Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton also re-entered yet again as a result of the song being performed at the NRL Grand Final.

There were also re-entries for the sadly now departed Tom Petty with "Free Fallin'" re-entering at 59 and "I Won't Back Down" at 78.


So that wraps up quite the week on the charts thanks largely to the footy grand finals, have a feeling we are in for a bit of a slowdown week. I think "rockstar" may well see this week at number one but we'll see on Saturday.