Thursday 31 December 2020

The Top Ten Best Hit Songs of 2000

So after discussing the absolute worst that the year 2000 had to offer, it’s time to flip the script and talk about the good to great songs that were popular in the mainstream and honestly 2000 was a pretty middling year because while I found plenty of good songs, I didn’t find many absolutely great songs that stood out as among the absolute best which means a lot of this list is songs I like but not love especially when the year overall carried on with the tropes of the late 90s in terms of bubblegum pop,



Let’s go through the rules before we kick this thing into gear.

1. The song must have made the ARIA singles top 100 year end list.

2. A song from 1999 year end list is eligible only if they charted on the year end higher in 2000 than they did in 1999.



Got that? Good. Now time to get this started with a party…cause this group are going to show us how…



10. “S Club Party” by S Club 7

This one is more a guilty pleasure pick than anything else but if “Bring It All Back” was a self-empowerment anthem in a pop song than “S Club Party” was an in your face introduction to Bradley, Hannah, Jon, Tina, Paul, Rachel and Jo and what S Club 7 were all about, “S Club Party” is this bright, garish and somewhat obnoxious pop song that tilts straight into the party but serves the purpose of having everyone know who the band are as individuals. I will say the song is clever for that and yeah, I am not going to lie, it’s a song that I still go back to and have way too much fun with however I think the video for the song is proof that S Club 7 could throw a party anywhere? In the middle of the desert does not seem like a good idea.

Go back and check out S Club 7’s first three albums, they are a lot more fun than you remember.



Now for an artist that stepped up her game and improved in 2000…

9. “Day & Night” by Billie Piper

Billie Piper stepped away and out of her annoying brat phase (Let’s face it, “Because We Want To” is absolutely obnoxiously bratty even if that bridge is fantastic) and showed that she has pipes with this euro pop dance song that has probably one of the best hooks of 2000 (seriously the damn thing got stuck in my head for days after listening to it), it’s a pretty basic love song praising her lover for making her happy but In the case with this song this happiness can feel incredibly infectious so yeah, this song does make me happy every day and night.



Oops that’s corny but ehh, I’ll live…so stepping away from the cheesy pop songs into rock (there’s plenty of it on this list) and an Aussie band that kind of swept all before them in 1999 and 2000 for good reason



8. “Mascara” by Killing Heidi

Look, I am not sure I can quite explain why I like “Mascara” however I have always found this song to be more appealing than their 1999 hit “Weir’. I suspect it’s the part of me that views this song as being about refusing to conform to other people’s opinions and to find things out for yourself/do your own research rather than being sucked in by the crowd that in the song’s case are all dressing the same also Ella Hooper is another pretty solid reason as her vocals just sparkle on this song so yeah this song kicks loads of arse.

This next song is one that has somehow been apart of my life coming from an 80s band that somehow got a second life this year…



7. “It’s My Life” by Bon Jovi

I think this song probably describes my attitude in 2000 as a thirteen year old wand who basically didn’t give a flying about a lot of things (there are days I wish I could go back to thirteen year old me)…I just wanted to live MY life because yeah it’s the only one I’ll have and the fact that this song from a band known for songs like “You Give Love a Bad Name” says something kind of bizarre. Jon Bon Jovi sounds great here, passionate with the delivery but anthemic in terms of trying to take the audience with him and it works, this song still resonates today, it is a worthy addition to Bon Jovi’s discography.



So much like “Mascara”, I have no idea why I put this next song here…



6. “Gotta Tell You” by Samantha Mumba

This is as close as R’n’B or hip hop will get to this list this year and it comes from a one hit wonder to a degree courtesy of Ireland’s Samantha Mumba. It’s a song where Mumba thinks this guy and her have something special and hook up but then realizes he doesn’t exactly love her so she doesn’t want to give her love and affection to him if he isn’t reciprocating, it’s the sort of song that resonated and stuck with me over time more so than some of the larger hits of the year. Just a shame Samantha Mumba would never really be able to follow up that success.



Life, death, taxes and here is another rock song on my best list…

5. “Bent” by Matchbox Twenty

So in 2000, Matchbox Twenty were looking to follow up the success of their late 90s smash debut album “Yourself or Someone Like You” so the sophomore album “Mad Season” was born with “Bent” being the lead single for that album, a rock ballad about two messed up people finding each other and falling in love that it doesn’t matter that if both have stuff to sort out in life, all that matters is that they are together…it’s a song that has a hopeful note attached and honestly…hope is something I love in music.



So next up is the biggest song of the year at least according to the ARIA year end chart for 2000 and may I say deservingly so



4. “I’m Outta Love” by Anastacia

Anastacia’s got better hits than “I’m Outta Love” eg: “Left Outside Alone” in 2004 however “I’m Outta Love” is still damn great with that bass groove, keyboard, guitar and that kick ass Anastacia vocals…lets not make any bones about it, Anastacia is the star of this track as she begs for this former lover to let her go and move on with her life as she simply just not in love with this person anymore and wants to move on. Yeah, it’s a little catty but my god Anastacia sells this well and earn a deserved place not only this list but also on the ARIA year end singles chart for 2000.



So here we are at the final rock song to make this list and yeah…it’s a beautiful day to put U2 on a year-end best list.



3. “Beautiful Day” by U2

I honestly struggle to have the words to describe why I love this song with it’s verses where Bono’s vocals are restrained as he describes somebody who has lost almost everything but is still grateful for what he has left with that soaring chorus being that moment of release as he realizes that what he has left is worth loving and celebrating, it’s a song that takes you on a ride of emotions and feelings and while it may not have clicked for me when I was a thirteen year back in 2000, given everything that has happened this year, this song connects in so many ways that it’s quite potent stuff. Great work U2. 



In a year where boy bands dominated…it might surprise that there aren’t many on this year-end l top ten however one did make it courtesy of the Backstreet Boys… 



2. “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely” by Backstreet Boys

The Backstreet Boys had two songs make the year end for 2000, one was this song and the other was “Shape of My Heart” (a song I like but don’t love) however “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely” is just concentrated wonderful with it’s lush orchestral arrangement and melody that supports the bands harmonies that sell the utter loneliness that underpins the song.

The song deals with the immediate feelings of loneliness and loss that come in the wake of a painful breakup and the longing of being where this ex is and that feeling of a hole being left in the heart when the break up occurs and the production genuinely makes the boys sound as though they are alone and trying to grapple with life beyond the end of this relationship, the song does get to me a fair bit and yeah, it’s one of the best of the year. 



Before we get to our number one, how about five honourable mentions.

HM 1: “Don’t You Worry” by Madasun

This was the last cut I made and my god, it was painful because this song works for me, it’s a song where Madasun are moving on with their lives but the exes can’t so Madasun set these exes straight over a pretty solid R’n’B groove. 



HM 2: “I Should’ve Never Let You Go” by Bardot

I’ve always liked this song more so than “Poison” because for one thing it shows the group harmonizing something that always felt missing from “Poison” with its clunky production, the issues in the production are still there in “I Should’ve Never Let You Go” which kept it off the list proper but it’s still a good song.



HM 3: “Everything You Want” by Vertical Horizon

Okay, so this song didn’t make the ARIA year end list and if it had it would have knocked “S Club Party” out of the top ten at the very least had It have done but yeah this song is epic with its guitar and those vocals telling this girl that this other guy is everything that she could want but for some reason he doesn’t mean anything to her and she can’t figure out why before the switch up on the last chorus where it turns out that this guy is actually him who can’t work out why he means nothing to her, it’s quite the switch not quite done as well as “Marry Me” by Thomas Rhett but still good.



HM 4: “Absolutely Everybody’ by Vanessa Amorosi

So I’ll say this, “Absolutely Everybody” might be Vanessa Amorosi’s biggest hit but it’s not her best song, her debut song “Have A Look” and “Perfect” are still miles better than “Absolutely Everybody” but I can’t deny that there’s an incredible power and idealism to “Absolutely Everybody” that’s just enough to make it work.


HM 5: “Bye Bye Bye” by *NSync

This song might be one of the ‘cattier’ songs I have heard from a boy band but my god it’s catchy as the guy kicks this girl. who has been doing wrong to him, to the curb. The song is lyrically pretty ugly but hey it still somewhat works.



That is the honourable mentions done so what could possibly be topping this list? Well leave that to the pure shores’ girl group All Saints are roaming…



1. “Pure Shores” by All Saints

For the longest time this song wasn’t going to be my number one then much like “Beautiful Day” did, it clicked for me and I began to appreciate what an incredibly textured electronic production and melodic song it is. Written for the film “The Beach” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, “Pure Shores” is a song that describes finding that place you can relax and escape, sometimes that place can totally call for you even when finding that moment to relax feels totally lost….a feeling that has so often happened to me even 20 years after the song was released.

It’s haunting song that got plenty of well deserved praise at the time, All Saints would go on to release “Black Coffee” that didn’t quite achieve the same success as “Pure Shores” but both songs are classics in the All Saints discography with “Pure Shores” being the deserved best hit song of 2000.

Tuesday 29 December 2020

Top Ten Worst Hit Songs of 2000

 So here we are at the end of another retro chart year and honestly, 2000 was a pretty good year...we got some classic hit songs and likely one hit wonders, the best stuff in 2000 was really good but today we're discussing the bottom of the barrel...the absolute worst that 2000 on the ARIA singles chart had to offer and for the most part most of the songs are from badly produced pop that hadn't aged well, r'n'b and hip hop that was either sleazy or hilariously badly written and even rock and country striking out and believe me, a few choices here will be controversial (there's at least three songs here I can think of that will piss people off)

Let's quickly go over the rules:

1. To make this list, the song has to have made the ARIA year end list for 2000

2. Being boring cannot be a factor, a song must annoy or irritate me in some form to make this list.

3. If a song made the 1999 year end list and peaked higher on the 2000 year end list than it's also eligible.

You got that? Good. Let us begin this list of bad with one question, Jennifer Lopez, what the fuck were you thinking?

10. “Let’s Get Loud” by Jennifer Lopez

As somebody who mostly can tolerate Jennifer Lopez, there’s a part of me that wants to be benevolent and leave this song off the list but I can’t, this song drives me up the wall every time I hear it…that repetitive chorus that borders on the line of being annoying to obnoxious, the gang vocals that seem louder than J Lo is in the mix with their omnipresent yelps of “Hey!” and the lyrics that try to turn music into a metaphor for an empowerment anthem…all I can say J Lo, is if I was wanting to get loud, I’d be turning up songs that are much better than this attempt at empowerment via annoyance.

Jennifer Lopez would go onto further success in the 2000s before her career really kind of sputtered out a bit and has reverted to releasing songs mostly in Spanish…doesn’t stop “Let’s Get Loud” from being annoying as all hell.

 

So you might remember that in my 1998 best list, I praised “The Boy is Mine” by Brandy and Monica, well just two years later there’s a song that goes in a similar direction and does it so completely wrong, it’s nearly hilarious.

 

9. “He Wasn’t Man Enough” by Toni Braxton

This song is just embarrassing from Toni Braxton, it paints her as this capricious catty diva who has just found out her man is married to another woman but instead of handling it with class by ending the relationship and just moving on herself, Braxton tries to interfere in his relationship with his wife by telling her she can have him because he wasn’t ‘man enugh’ for her but is just the man for this other woman like she knows what this other woman wants from a man and Braxton declaring that she has already ‘had’ this man is enough for me to turn this garbage off, it’s toxic in an unpleasant way and the production doesn’t even acknowledge the toxicity…it’s too bright and doesn’t sell the drama so yeah…pass…at least “Unbreak My Heart” is good.

Speaking of relationship songs…this next one goes the other way to a point of being so gooey, it’s positively rainbows and lollipops to an almost sickening degree.

 

8. “Amazed” by Lonestar

This song is the only ‘country’ (if you can call it that) song to make the year end list for 2000 and in a way I get the feeling this song was one of the reasons behind why we rarely ever see country music hit the top 50 of the ARIA charts anymore because wow, this song when not being cliched, is corny, sugary and gooey to the point of making me want to vomit.

Lyrically the song reminds me of how absurd “I don’t Wanna miss a thing” by Aerosmith was in singing about love from a year earlier except toeing a line between corny and ridiculous in the lyrical department while being completely bland in the instrumentation, for a start, “Every little thing that you do, Baby I’m amazed by you”…Dude, I am pretty sure not every little thing she does is amazing, unless she farts rainbows and releases unicorns into the toilet when she poops which is extremely unlikely however it’s an example of how cloying and over reaching the lyrics are.

Another example is he wants to spend the whole night in her eyes…I’m sure burning an imprint of you into this poor girl’s retinas is fucking impossible. This song is ewww in every which way..

 

Remember when I said the Spice Girls should have went their separate ways after “Viva Forever”? Well here is the proof of that…

 

7. “Holler” by Spice Girls

The Spice Girls decided to drop the pop that made them global superstars and go for a popular R’n’B aesthetic and “Holler” is an example of why it did not work, the Spice Girls were known for being boisterous and very in your face with cheeky colourful pop music that established the very different personalities of the women involved, “Holler’ not only is bland from an R’n’B perspective but strips away the personalities of the four remaining members of the band as they sing about wanting this guy to come into their world and play by their rules so they can make him scream and it honestly combined with the production, I don’t think the guy would at all be enticed.

Especially when we get to the middle act of the song where it’s the girls and this male voice spewing the word “Holler” and other nonsense, its actually really creepy to a degree and again defeats the purpose of this song’s attempt to be sexy and lure this guy into their world so he can “holler” for them.

It’s also worth pointing out that only Mel C and Mel B sound even vaguely close to good over that beat. Emma and Victoria just don’t fit…yeah…I’ll stick to “Stop” and “Say You’ll be There” for my Spice Girls fix

Well now we get into where electronic music got completely annoying….

 

6. “Freestyler” by Bomfunk MCs

This song was irritating the first time I heard it in 2000, now it’s irritating with a capital I, that sound of what might be a rooster having it’s balls wrenched off with no anaesthetic in the back of the mix and the fact the song instrumentation wise sounds like it just wants to be a knock off Fat Boy Slim who did this sort of sound better in the 90s with “Praise You” and “Weapon of Choice”… however “Freestyler” manages to incorporate the annoying elements through the song including gang vocals that sound like a person about to start dry retching into a toilet however it’s the vocals solidly kill this track, the lead vocals have no flow and are so smug they grate on every single nerve and that’s before you realize the song itself makes about as much sense as Donald Trump being US President.

By the way, the rooster having his balls wrenched off returns at the end of the song just to make my headache from this wall of noise even worse. Next.

Now we’re hitting proof that 2000 couldn’t escape the trends of the 90s…1996 had a myriad of covers, several of which made my year end worst list for that year, unfortunately we weren’t completely free of covers in 2000 and the only question that I need to ask Madonna is WHY?

5. “American Pie” by Madonna

I can argue that 2000 was a bad year for Madonna, sure she got two hits on the year end list…this being one, the other we’ll get to but this cover of Don McLean’s “American Pie” is here because she turned a song that is about the loss of innocence in music with the line “the day the music died” being about the 1959 plane crash that killed big popular music names of the time Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens into this colourless albeit shortened slice of pop music that reduces Madonna to singing in a flat monotone for most of the song, she doesn’t sound good and takes away a lot of the texture and resonance of the original version by McLean.

Mercifully, we’ve all moved on from and forgotten about this awful cover, certainly don’t hear it played on the radio, but we’ve got more Madonna to deal with a bit later on this list, folks…stick around…

 

Remember when R’n’B songs about sex were sexy and had a recognisable groove…something this next act forgot…

 

4. “Thong Song” by Sisqo

This is a little lower on the list than I had thought it would be originally and that’s mostly because I find what’s in front of it intolerable but yeah “Thong Song” is a sleazy arse song that was approximately fourteen years ahead of its time with its unimaginative chorus and Sisqo sounding about as smooth as a car driving over humps in a shopping mall carpark which makes sense for a song about a woman’s arse…NOT!.

That said it’s not like he actually gets any sort of melody or rhythm to work with ditching the intro’s violin for the overuse of heavy percussion as Sisqo nasally goes on about a scandalous dress this woman is wearing and then uses the chorus to beg her to let him see her thong, it’s sleazy, leering and pretty god damn unpleasant to listen to so yeah…let’s quickly move on from this turd like the world moved on from this guy having a career…NEXT..

 

Rock on the ARIA singles chart was in a bit of a mess, depending on your definition of rock, we had Bon Jovi, Matchbox Twenty, U2 and these guys…

 

3. “Take a Look Around” by Limp Bizkit.

Oh dear god…Limp Bizkit were one of the worst bands of 2000 and this song is the perfect example of why. “Take a Look around” pairs a sample that basically sounds like the Mission Impossible theme and pair it with the bratty whiny rapping of Fred Durst who sounds buried in the mix on the verses, at least the guitars somewhat shred of a tolerable chorus when Durst isn’t trying to scream and really Durst is the one who just makes this song and Limp Bizkit’s presence on Australia’s music charts in the early part of the new millennium intolerable and I blame them, Creed and Nickelback for why rock has next to no presence on the charts in 2020.

 

2000 saw many female pop starlets hit the charts, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Billie Piper amongst others and for the most part their songs were good to objectively fine then Jessica Simpson showed up.

2. “I Think I’m in Love with You” by Jessica Simpson

Of the early 2000s female pop set, Jessica Simpson was one of the weakest, her first hit “I’m Gonna Love You Forever” is not good and only just barely missed the top ten proper but “I Think I’m I Love With You” just pisses me off wholesale. For one thing, why use a classic riff from John ‘Cougar’ Mellencamp’s 1980s classic “Jack & Diane” (a song I actually love) if all Jessica Simpson was just to coo and shout all over it? She hasn’t got the grit in her vocals to handle the sample, she hasn’t got the rock edge that say a Avril Lavigne would later have. For another, the lyrics are asinine, just because this guy looked her in the eyes does not mean he is reciprocating what she is feeling, making eye contact is part of how humans communicate nonverbally, Jessica!

This song is just lame and really given how Jessica Simpson would go on to have a brief period of prominence by playing the part of a stupid ditz on a terrible “reality TV” show, she’s mostly been forgotten but she left this turd with skidmarks as a memory of her time on the charts.

Before we discuss the worst hit song of 2000, lets race through some dishonourable mentions, shall we?

DHM 1: “B-Boys & Flygirls” by Bomfunk MCs

The follow up to “Freestyler” isn’t as bad but those vocals are absolute garbage, going for the cheesy sports announcer vocal style does not work for me at all.

 

DHM 2: “I Wanna Love You Forever” by Jessica Simpson

This is mediocre as hell and with overwrought lyrics like “ten thousand lifetimes together”. Jessica, we only have ONE lifetime, you are overplaying your hand with that lyric. Only got left off the list because “I Think I’m in Love with You” is considerably worse.

 

DHM 3: “Who Let the Dogs Out” by the Baha Men

Novelty song that has not aged as well as you’d like to remember it. Missed the list only because they really have not done too much lasting cultural damage other than occasionally being good for a joke or two.

 

DHM 4: “Jumpin’ Jumpin’” by Destiny’s Child

This is all a bit sleazy and questionable isn’t it? Girls and guys, leave your significant other to go to the club that’s jumpin’ jumpin’ for a night of presumably wild sex with another person and that production is just…no…

 

DHM 5: “Who the Hell Are You?” by Madison Avenue

Yeah…Madison Avenue’s 15 minutes of fame had hit their 13th minute when this song hit number one. The production is a mess and Cheyne Coates can’t pull off sounding angry, she just sounds sleazy or like she’s had a long night at the club…

 

So what’s the number one worst hit song of 2000? For as much as “I Think I’m in Love with You” and “Take A Look Around” make me angry, it just wasn’t going to be anything else other than this affront to “Music”

1.       “Music” by Madonna.

This song is unlistenable and one of the worst hit songs of Madonna’s career, its not quite as bad as the dirge called “Bitch, I’m Madonna” she released in 2015 with Nicki Minaj but man it’s close. A song weirdly called “Music” that just sounds nothing close to being music and more like a group of people who came together to produce the world’s worst hearing test disguised as a song with it’s beeps and that clunky as hell vocoder noise.

Then we’ve got Madonna begging the DJ to put another record on because she wants to dance with her lover…let’s hope the DJ didn’t put this on because it’s not even vaguely close having a groove to dance to and Madonna’s assertion that music brings people together…well good music brings people together…not this absolute atrocity that was allowed to squat at number one for four weeks.

The worst part is that it all feels like Madonna made this in an attempt to compete with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera who were making better pop music than this…I’ll stick to “Just Like a Peayer” and “Into the Groove”, thanks Madge and bestow the honour of the worst hit song of 2000 on “Music” Instead.

2000 Sound: 31st December. Collapse of "Who Let the Dogs Out" as 12th Man's Bruce tribute rises to the occasion

 The final episode of 2000 Sound and on reflection, I am kind of sad...mostly because there's a lot about 2000 that was so much fun...sure the music was mixed but hey it was still decent if that and we've got a pretty busy week especially in the top ten where Wheatus maintained their grip on number one with "Teenage Dirtbag"

It thankfully held on ahead of "Cruisin'"by Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis which went up one place to number two and is somehow looking a threat to take number one in the new year as a sudden 22 place collapse by "Who Let the Dogs Out" by the Baha Men.

Also rising one place to number three is "Independent Women Part 1" by Destiny's Child while Vitamin C's "Friends Forever (Graduation)" also regained one place to number four.

The biggest move of the week came for the comedy single by The 12th Man called "Bruce 2000 - A "Special" Tribute" which climbed from 32 to number 5. Didn't realize there was still a hunger for comedy songs out there!

Human Nature remain steady at number six with "He Don't Love You" while The Offspring continue to make inroads into the top ten up three places to number seven with "Original Prankster" and "The Itch" by Vitamin C remained at number eight.

Also remaining steady is '7 Days" by Craig David at number nine while "Groovejet (If this ain't Love)" by Spiller returned to the top ten up one place to number ten.

Gains

I already mentioned the massive gain for The 12th Man's tribute to Bruce McAvaney gaining big to hit the top ten at number five but what gained big? Well, Powderfinger's 'My Happiness" jumped eleven places to number 26 while "Not That Kind" by Anastacia also got a nine place boost to 27.

"I Want Candy" by Aaron Candy insists on being a thing as it rose ten spots to 31. 

Breaking into the top twenty is "Kids" by Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams rising from 22 to 17 and Vanessa Amorosi's "The Power/Everytime I Close My Eyes" cllimbed five places to 13 as it look like its going to be big in 2001.


Re Entries

Back on the chart this week for some reason is "Girls On Top" by Girl Thing at 44 while Eminem also returns with "The Way I Am" at 48.


Losses

The big story was within the top ten with Baha Men slumping from number two down to 24! Probably a sign that the song was at best a novelty song while speaking of the top ten, Madonna was also cast adrift with "Don't Tell Me" falling five places to number 12.

"Please Stay" by Kylie Minogue fell to 37 off the debut last week while her former number one hit "On a Night Like This" stumbled nine places to 49. 

"The Way You Make Feel" by Ronan Keating slipped from 27 to 39. 

Former number one "Most Girls" by :Pink plunged eleven places to 40 (more on Pink in a moment), "Irresistible" by The Corrs continued to lose traction down from 35 to 42 


New Entries

Just the one new entry courtesy of Pink at number 41 with her latest single "You Make Me Sick".


That wraps up 2000 Sound. Stay tuned for Worst and Best lists for 2000 this week. On 11th January, we begin "Good 1992 Vibrations" going through the year of charting pop music. The latest ARIA chart update went up yesterday if you want to check that out. 



Monday 28 December 2020

ARIA SIngles Chart Top Ten: 28th December: Mariah takes number one in the final chart week of 2020.

So this week is the final chart week of 2020 and is going to just be the top ten with no full on chart review like normal...hopefully back to normal for the first chart week of 2021 next week so let's get through this shall we?

"All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey took the number thanks to the Christmas streaming avalanche and it had some sales to help it rise four places to the top, the Christmas streaming avalanche also helped "Last Christmas" by Wham rise thirteen places to number two. 

If the Christmas music wasn't a thing on the chart,"Mood' by 24kGoldn and Iann Dior would have returned to number one this week and spent a 10th week there but as it is it slipped one spot to number three and looks the most likely to go back to number one when the charts is restored to equilibrium. 

Also slipping a spot is"Without You" by The Kid Laroi down to number four, it's also a threat for number one but all it's really got is Spotify streaming and I am not sure how much longer that is going to hold up.

Back to Christmas music because rising from 26 to number 5 is "It's Beginning to look a Lot like Christmas" by Michael Buble while the biggest gainer of the week is Ariana Grande's honestly pretty funny Christmas sex song "Santa Tell Me" which jumped from 28 to number six.

Falling three places to number seven is "Head & Heart" by Joel Corry and MNEK. This still has a surprising amount of streaming, might well be a dark horse for the top spot...

Holding into it's traction despite dropping to number eight is "Levitating" by Dua Lipa feat. DaBaby....good to see. 

The second Ariana Grande song in the top ten is "positions" which stumbled three places to number nine. I wonder if anyone will remember this song by this time next year...just saying.

Finally, Taylor Swift had the biggest fall of the week with "Willow" plunging nine places to number 10.


Here's what the top ten would look like minus the Christmas songs
1/ Mood by 24kGoldn and Iann Dior
2. Without You by The Kid Laroi
3. Head & Heart by Joel Corry feat. MNEK
4. Levitating by Dua Lipa feat. DaBaby
5. Positions by Ariana Grande
6. Willow by Taylor Swift
7. So Done by The Kid Laroi
8. Fly Away by Tones and I
9. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd
10. You Broke Me First" by Tate McRae


The only other bit of news from this week is that in terms of the new entries, there were three of those but the only one that might well stick around and become a hit is "Afterglow" by Ed Sheeran in at 47 (pretty impressive given it was released on Monday last week).

Next week: The chart eitther resets to equilibrium or we have more Christmas chaos. Stay tuned. The chart updates at 5pm AEDT on Saturday. 

Don't forget we wrap up 2000 Sound with the year end worst and best lists for 2000. "Good 1992 Vibrations" starts on 11th January.. The best and worst lists for 2020 are written and will be released in from the 12th January.

Thursday 24 December 2020

2000 Sound: 24th December. Wheatus back on top of the chart Christmas Tree.

 This week was a surprisingly busy one as the chart winds down for Christmas/New Year holiday, plenty of movement in the top ten and a slew of new entries so let's get right into it where we have a song that I predicted would return to number one and that is what happened with "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus riding a sales boost to return to the top of the charts for another week.

It meant that "Who Let The Dogs Out" by the Baha Men got pushed back to number two as it's sales are finally starting to fade which means it's coming under pressure from..."Cruisin'" by Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis which rose three places to number three...geez...the song is lame as hell...there's nothing all that good about it, Australia!.

"Independent Women Part 1" by Destiny's Child continues to be a thing as it rose one place to number four.

All of that was enough to push past the first of two Vitamin C songs in the top ten this week with "Friends Forever (Graduation)" falling two places to number five and "He Don't Love You" by Humaan Nature likewise to number six (I am still on the fence about "He Don't Love You"...its cattier than I would like from a group like Human Nature).

Rising two places to number seven is "Don't Tell Me" by Madonna because we need that horror hanging around like a bad smell...

The biggest gain of the week belongs to the second of the Vitamin C songs in the top ten with "The Itch" rising all the way from 27 to number eight....as I said before, this song is better than "Friends Forever (Graduation)" so I am happy to see this here,

"7 Days" by Craig David surged from 15 to break into the top ten at number nine. This song is fine enough. Finally, The Offspring have another top ten hitwith"Original Prankster" rising four places to the top ten at number ten...that song's video is HILARIOUS,

Gains

I already talked about "The Itch" by Vitamin C jumping from 27 to into the top ten at number eight so let's see what else had big gains....Ronan Keating's "The Way You Make Me Feel" jumped from 43 to 27 this week..eh...that song is so bland, I am surprised people remember it exists.

"Dance With Me" by Debelah Morgan is a case of continued momentum as it rose ten places to 19. I just don't get the appeal of that song. Sorry. 

Limp Bizkit continues to be a pain in the neck as "My Generation" climbed from 42 to 31. Seriously? There's better rock music out there than Limp fucking Bizkit.

Re Entries

Two returns this week and neither make sense to me with "My Love" by Westlife back at number 45 and "We'll Be One" by Nikki Webster and Sing 2001 Choir back at number 50.


Losers

Couple of big losers this week, we'll start with Green Day's "Minority" which plunged nine places to 42 while "Black Coffee" by All Saints slide from 36 to 43 while Powderfinger lose some happiness with "My Happiness" slipped from 32 to 37.

Anastacia's "Not That Kind" collapsed eleven places to 36 while "Irresistible" by The Corrs didn't live up to its title by slipping from 28 to 35 and "I Turn to You" by Melanie C got turned away by the public as it fell from 26 to 33.

Pink's "Most Girls" continues to go on its way out gracefully as it slipped six places to 29 while "Shape of My Heart' by the Backstreet Boys and "Gotta Tell You" by Samantha Mumba both fell nine places to 25 and 24 respectively. 

Madsun were the biggest victims of the frantic shuffling of the top ten as "Don't You Worry" took a nine place hit to 17.

New Entries

The new entries are all Australian this week with the highest debut going to Kylie Minogue's "Please Stay" in at number 15, it's the latest single from Kylie's "Light Years" album. 

Vanessa Amorosi is back with "The Power/Every Time I Close My Eyes" at number 18. I like "The Power" a lot.

Finally Billy Birmingham aka The 12th Man is impersonating Channel Seven's Bruce McAvaney for "Bruce 2000 - A "Special" Tribute" at number 32.

 



Sunday 20 December 2020

ARIA Singles Top Ten/Chart Review: 21st December. Taylor's Evermore wreaks havoc and gives Taylor another number one single

 So this week is really the last week of the year that the charts matter all that much especially with the onslaught of Christmas music next week and this week wasn't helped by a second Taylor Swift album bomb that just wreaked havoc and likely ended the run of some songs early but we'll get to all of that because the first sign of the album bomb lies at number one with "Willow" by Taylor Swift riding decent sales and good streaming to number one, it was just enough to push nine week number one "Mood" by 24KGoldn and Iann Dior back to number as it started to bleed on streaming.

A contender for number one is The Kid Laroi's "Without You" which jumped six places to number three, this thing has got streaming and could very well take the number one when the Christmas songs leave as its got streaming especially on Spotify and is climbing on Apple Music.

All of that pushed "Head & Heart" by MNEK & Joel Corry down one spot to number four as its starts to lose ground on streaming and surprisingly "All I Want for Christmas Is You' by Mariah Carey also fell one place to number five.

The big loser out of all of the shuffling is 'positions" by Ariana Grande as the song plunged four places to number six, it's still got some streaming but that's not going to prop it up forever.

"Levitating" by Dua Lipa feat. DaBaby slipped one place to number seven as it doesn't quite have the wind in its sales on streaming anymore, the same goes for the rest of our top ten with "So Done" by The Kid Laroi down one to number eight, "Blinding Lights" by The Weekend slipped four places to number nine while "Therefore I Am" by Billie Eilish clings to the top ten down two places to number ten.

Gains.

As you might expect the gains were limited this week but there was the expected gain for "Last Christmas" by Wham up nine spots to 15, this will go top ten next week. 


Re Entries

The one re entry is from Jam Mountain Music with "Light a Candle" back at 23


Losses

This is where Taylor caused almost HALF the chart to either fall or drop out so let's deal with the big losers first: "Don't Start Now" by Dua Lipa losing all it's gains last week to drop from 37 to 50,  "One too Many" by Keith Urban feat. Pink collapsed from 34 to 48,  "Put Your Records On" by Ritt Momney suffered a cut to it's gramophone cord as it fell ten places to 46,  "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I fell ten to 41 as did "Breaking Me" by Topic feat. A7S to 40, "Savage Love" suffered a pretty mild fall comparatively to those below as it dropped six places to 39 for Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo, "Rockstar" by DaBaby feat. Roddy Ricch dropped eleven places to 38.


"Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac slipped eleven to 36,  "Roses" by Saint Jhn got clobbered down from 22 to 35 as did "Watermelon Sugar" as it plunged from 21 to 34, "Prisoner" by Miley Cyrus feat. Dua Lipa slipped from 20 to 32, "Take You Dancing" by Jason DeRulo slipped from 23 to 30, "Monster" by Shawn Mendes feat. Justin Bieber fell from 11 to 27 (the biggest loser of any song this week and not a good week for Shawn Mendes), "Midnight Sky" by Miley Cyrus plunged ten places to 25.

Drop Outs

A total of thirteen songs dropped out and boy, there's some big ones here: "Wonder" by Shawn Mendes, "Someone You Loved" and "Before You Go" by Lewis Capaldi (in the former's case, it's about fucking time...hope it doesn't return),  "Lonely" by Justin Bieber & Benny Blanco,  "Send it!" by Hooligan Hefs, "For the Night" by Pop Smoke, "Some Say" by Nea, "Paradise" by Meduza feat. Dermot Kennedy, "Holiday" by Lil Nas X,  . "Circles" by Post Malone, "What's Poppin'" by Jack Harlow (even despite the album release), "My Ex's Best Friend" by MGK feat. Blackbear and "Dancing in the Moonlight" by Jubel feat. Neimy.

Hard to know what will return until the Christmas music disappears, there's a few here I hope don't return but we'll see.

New Entries

Every single one of the twelve new entries is from Taylor Swift so I am just going to list them here apart from "Willow" which debuted at number one.

12. Champagne Problems

16. No Body, No Crime (feat. Haim)

21. Gold Rush

24. 'Tis The Damn Season

33. Tolerate It

37. Happiness

42. Coney Island

43. Ivy

45. Evermore feat. Bon Iver

47. Dorothea

49. Long Story Short


So that wraps up the week. As usual I will post the ARIA singles top ten but not do a few chart rundown as normal because with the Christmas songs it is just pointless and we do have a new Ed Sheeran song reportedly coming tomorrow afternoon...a Monday release for a new Ed Sheeran song is a bit oddball. ARIA will update the chart at 5pm AEDT on Saturday. 

Coming up on the blog:

  • The final weeks of "2000 Sound" on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve
  • The Top Ten Worst Hit Songs of 2000 on December 29th
  • The Top Ten Best Hit Songs of 2000 on New Years Eve
  • The Top Ten Worst Hit Songs of 2020 on  January 12th
  • The Top Ten Best Hit Songs of 2020 parts 1 and 2 coming soon
  • Good 1992 Vibrations starts on 11th January (so it doesn't clash with Top ten worst of 2020)

Thursday 17 December 2020

2000 Sound. 17th December: Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis Cruisin' into the top ten

 I'd describe this week as deceptive especially if you just looked at the static top five where nothing changed at all but we got chaos lower down the charts with songs hoping to be hits in 2001 starting to arrive on the charts as others try desperately to land a place on the ARIA year end list for 2000..yeah we got a whole bunch of new entries along with two new arrivals from lower down the chart in the top ten.

So to the aforementioned top ten where as I said the top 5 didn't change with Baha Men spending another week at number one with "Who Let The Dogs Out" however right behind it is "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus which may still have a chance at snatching the Christmas number one as it remained stuck at number two this week, "Friends Forever (Graduation)" by Vitamin C continues to keep grip on number three while Human Nature cling to number four with "He Don't Love You" as the Charlie's Angel's hype keeps "Independent Women Part 1' by Destiny's Child stays at number five.

The big new entry to the top ten is "Crusin'" by Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis which rose eight places to number six this week...I am not overly impressed by this...the song isn't good.

Remaining steady at number seven is "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" by Spiller while the big move by "Cruisin'" caused "Don't You Worry" by Madasun to slide down two places to number eight.

Returning to the top ten is Madonna's "Don't Tell Me" which rose eight places to number nine despite being junk...Madonna really chose this year to be absolutely awful.

Finally in slight better news "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)" by Modjo up one place to number ten.


Gains

Christina Aguilera may just have another hit on her hands with "Come On Over (All I Want is You)" jumping from 30 to 19. 

"Kids" by Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue rose six places to 20, Debelah Morgan's "Dance With You" continues to climb, this week up ten places to 29....I don't really care for the song but don't hate it either.


Losers

The only major loser this week is "Black Coffee" by All Saints which finally had it's resistance broken as it fell sixteen places to 36.


New Entries

The biggest new entry is the follow up single from Vitamin C called "The Itch" in at 27. I actually like this song more than "Friends Forever (Graduation)", there's a pop groove that just works for me.

American rapper Nelly lodges at number 38 with "(Hot S***) Country Grammar". UK singer Sonique climbs in at number 44 with "Sky" while Aussie metal act Superheist are in at 45 with "Crank the System".

Now the big one for me here is American rock band 3 Doors Down debut "Kryptonite' at number 47 which I am pretty happy about...would love to see it become a sustainable hit in 2001.

Finally Invertigo return to the chart with "Chances Are..." at number 50.

So that wraps up this week, two more weeks before the end of the 2000 chart year, On the 29th December, my top ten worst hit songs list. My top ten best hit songs list is released on New Years Eve (yeah the last episode of 2000 Sound will be a little early that week).

Next year this blog will wind all the way back to 1992 and the year of saccharine love ballads and Billy Ray Cyrus...sounds like fun!

Monday 14 December 2020

ARIA Singles Top Ten/Chart Review: 14th December. Holiday Heat Waves and Blinding Lights Without You

 So this week is a weird one but one that's ultimately not going to matter all that much given the Taylor Swift album bomb that's coming next week and the onslaught of Christmas music the following week (I am hoping that because Christmas falls on a Friday...the chart won't be that heavily deluged the following week but we'll see and all of this doesn't exactly help somebody trying to write her year end best hit songs of 2020 list either!

Anyway let's get stuck into the top ten where the top three did not change with "Mood" by 24K Goldn and Iann Dior spending a ninth week at number one and it's looking pretty solid for a tenth week right now, it stayed ahead of "positions" by Ariana Grande which held firm because streaming is doing okay for it and that's all it's got right now. "Head & Heart" by Joel Corry and MNEK remains steady at number three, it and "positions" look the most vulnerable to the onslaught of Taylor Swift coming so we'll have to see.

Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" makes it's first appearance in the top ten rising twelve places to number four...I am not sure the path to number one is as clar cut for it this year but we'll see what happens. 

The big surprise of the week was that "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd is back in the top ten rising nine places to number five, now this could be due to at least two factors, one being the remix with Rosalia, the other being the song is likely on a lot of people's year end playlists on Spotify and Apple Music meaning people are revisiting the song, the latter also a factor in a few of our other gains further down the chart but we'll get to those.

All of that pushed "Levitating" by Dua Lipa feat. DaBaby down one to number six as this song's streaming is starting to show signs of wavering, the same goes for "So Done' by The Kid Laroi which slipped one spot to number seven, it's streaming was enough to keep in the top ten, it's just going to be a question of how much of it's momentum will have stalled thanks to Taylor.

Billie Eilish's "Therefore I Am" fell four four places to number eight as streaming and sales continue to soften for this song almost to the point where I am surprised this is still in the top ten.

The highest debut of the three songs to enter the chart this week goes to The Kid Laroi with "Without You" at number nine, it got there mostly through absurdly strong streaming especially on Spotify.

Finally what looks to be on the way out is Tate McRae's "You Broke Me First" which tumbled two places to number ten...thank goodness.


Gains

So we can pretty much group the gains into categories this week so let's start with the Christmas music that gained big, I've already talked about "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey rising twelve places to number four but the biggest gain of the week belonged to Wham's "Last Christmas" which climbed from 40 to 24 this week! Michael Buble's "It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas" climbed from 41 to 28.

Then there's the big hit songs like the already mentioned "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd that got boosts thanks to people streaming their favourite hits from the past year on Spotify and Apple Music. "Roses" by Saint Jhn up eight places to 22 "Rockstar" by DaBaby feat. Roddy Ricch up from 31 to 27, "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I up five to 31 (I like "Dance Monkey" but come on Australia, time to move on, it's been on the chart for 79 weeks now!), "Don't Start Now" by Dua Lipa' up ten places to 37.

In cases of continued momentum for "Fly Away" by Tones and I up from 19 to 12 and "Whoopty" by CJ up from 21 to 13. "Whoopty" somehow has streaming which is not a good sign at all.


Re Entries

Three re entries with Ariana Grande's pretty silly "Santa Tell Me" back at 32 because tis the season while "Before You Go" by Lewis Capaldi returns at 46 and "Circles' by Post Malone at 47...both will be gone next week when Taylor Swift's album bomb blows through next week.


Losers 

The biggest fall of the week belongs to Jubel and Neimy's cover of "Dancing in The Moonlight" which crashed 15 places to 50 this week. Ouch!

"Midnight Sky" by Miley Cyrus fell from number 7 to 15 while "Prisoner' feat. Dua Lipa dropped to 20 from 13 as hype from the album release dies. In more pleasing news "Put Your Records On" by Ritt Momney plunged 11 places to 36 and Justin Bieber's "Lonely" with Benny Blanco also dropped eleven spots to 39 (this song is kind of forgettable which is an upgrade from outright trash for Bieber)

Speaking of forgettable, the mediocre "One Too Many" by Keith Urban and Pink slipped eight places to 34. "For the Night" by Pop Smoke slid from 34 to 41, "My Ex'st Best Friend" by Machine Gun Kelly and Blackbear plunged from 42 to 49 and "Savage Love" by Jawsh 685 feat. Jason DeRulo fell from 27 to 33.

Drop Outs.

No surprising drop outs this week with the big two being "Come & Go" by Juice WRLD and Marshmello and "Laugh Now, Cry Later" by Drake feat. Lil Durk (that will be back when Drake releases "Certified Lover Boy" sometime next year)

Also gone are Harry Style's late album single "Golden", "POV" by Ariana Grande because it's not going to be a single, "Always Do" by The Kid Laroi and most unsurprising of all "Light A Candle" by Jam Mountain Music because that is a charity single that isn't designed to have chart longevity.

New Entries

Just two other new entries alongside "Without You" by The Kid Laroi at number nine with "Holiday" by Lil Nas X finally on the chart at 44 (I hope this becomes a hit) and most surprisingly "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals at 45...I wouldn't be surprised if Tik Tok had something to do with that charting but it's one of the better songs from that last awful Glass Animals album.

Next week...yeah....Taylor Swift album bomb for the second time this year, I am not convinced the "Evermore" album bomb is going to be as big as "Folklore" was but hey it's Taylor so we'll see when the chart updates at 5pm AEDST on Saturday.



Thursday 10 December 2020

2000 Sound: December 10. 7 Days as Independent Women

So let's dive straight into this week without any of the usual mucking around as it looks like being a fairly straight forward week here...the top ten hasn't changed right at the very top in spite of how much I badly want it to change, "Who Let the Dogs Out?" by the Baha Men remains at number one for a third week

The song best placed to retake the top spot is "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus which has sales on its side...may well just be a matter of time before it returns to number one but it blew past "Graduation (Friends Forever)" by Vitamin C which slipped back to number three. 

Human Nature remain at number four with "He Don't Love You", the hype in the UK around this song is crazy thanks to Neighbours being shown over there however there's pressure being brought to bear by a new arrival to the top ten that being "Independent Women Part I" by Destiny's Child which climbed seven places to number five thanks to Charlie's Angels movie hype.

Madasun's "Don't You Worry" remained stable at number six which is good because I still like the song while "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love" by Spiller slides gracefully down two places to number seven, it pushed the Spice Girls down one places to number eight with "Holler"

Refusing to go away is "Let's Get Loud" by Jennifer Lopez which remains steady at number nine while rising nine places to number ten is "7 Days" by Craig David, it's his second consecutive top ten hit.

Gains

So apart from "7 Days" by Craig David reaching the top ten, what else gained big? Well, there's Matchbox Twenty's ballad "If You're Gone" which roared up from 39 to land at 22.

"My Love" by Westlife climbed from 43 to 37 and "Dance With Me" by Debelah Morgan rose eight places to 39. 

"Girls On Top" by Girl Thing jumped seven places to 43,

Re-Entries

The one return is from Blink 182 with "Man Overboard" back at number 50. 

Losses

The Sydney Olympics hype has well and truly faded so that meant "We'll Be One" by Nikki Webster and Sing 2001 Choir went down from 41 to 49. Mandy Moore's "I Wanna Be With You" skidded down from 25 to 32.

"Shackles (Praise You)" by Mary Mary tumbled from 18 to 25 while the terrible "Don't Tell Me" by Madonna fell out of the top ten to 17.


New Entries.

Just two new entries with the highest debut coming from Ronan Keating's ballad "The Way You Make Me Feel" in at 45 while shock rocker Marilyn Manson is right behind him at 46 with "Disposable Teens"




Monday 7 December 2020

ARIA Singles Top Ten/ Chart Review: 7th December. The Running of the Christmas Music Begins

So this week is a pretty easy one to get through...mostly because this week signified the onslaught of Christmas music hitting the ARIA top 50 beginning and one really bad sign for the charts going forward.

Anyway let's get to the top ten where, for now, Christmas music doesn't impact at all. "Mood" by 24kGoldn feat. Iann Dior spends an eighth week at number one. All it's got is streaming right now as sales have fallen off but there's no challenge coming for it within the top ten right now.

"Positions" by Ariana Grande held onto number two again thanks to streaming while "Head & Heart" by Joel Corry and MNEK climbed one place to number three as it still has some sales and decent streamining.

"Therefore I Am" by Billie Eilish looks to be in danger of free falling down the chart, sales have died and streaming is starting to show signs of bleeding early. Not good.

"Levitating" by Dua Lipa and DaBaby remains at number five but it looks to have peaked now as streaming is starting to shrink and while sales might prop this up a little longer....

"So Done" by The Kid Laroi rebounded two places to number six because for some reason this thing has traction on streaming right now...lovely...

Breaking into the top ten is "Midnight Sky" by Miley Cyrus which thanks to the release of the album saw "Midnight Sky" climb six places to number seven. Good. Happy it's now safe on the year end list.

"You Broke Me First" by Tate McRae" climbed one place to number eight swapping with "Monster" by Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber who slipped to number nine however I do expect "Monster" to rebound thanks to the rather messy album that was released on Friday by Mendes.

Finally in the most pleasing bit of news in the top ten, "Holy" by Justin Bieber feat. Chance The Rapper fell four places to number ten.

Gains

"Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd rebounded six places to 14 as people check out their Spotify Wrapped top 100 songs playlist and revisit the songs they loved in 2020.

However that isn't the gain that bothered me this week, the worrisome gain is for "Whoopty" by CJ which jumped from 32 to 21 and given it's got streaming momentum, this could become a top ten hit. Australia, we're better than this, stop!

Meanwhile "34+35" by Ariana Grande rose from 22 to 18,  "Fly Away" by Tones and I climbed from 24 to 19

Re Entries

The big story of the week is right here because all three returns this week are Christmas songs with Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" back at 14 and likely in the top five next week...you watch.

"Last Christmas" by Wham at 40 and "It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas" by Michael Buble back at 41.

Losses

The biggest loser this week was "Lonely" by Justin Bieber and Benny Blanco which fell nine places to 28...this looks like it might have a year end spot shored up so we'll see. Meaniwhile "Laugh Now, Cry Later" by Drake feat. Lil Durk plunged six to 49, "Come & Go" by Juice WRLD and Marshmello down 5 to 46, "pov" by Ariana Grande dropped from 35 to 43 because Ariana isn't making the song a single.


Drop Outs 

The drop outs aren't surprising "Mood Swings" by Pop Smoke being the biggest and most likely safe on the year end list, also gone after longer than expect runs are "Ain't It Different" by Headie One feat AJ Tracey and Stormzy and "Forever After All" while unsurprisingly "Life Goes On" by BTS also left the charts (bit of a shame tbh...the song isn't bad)

New Entries

Just the one new entry with a charity song called "Light a Candle" by Mountain Jam Music at 32 being the lone new entry...the song aims to raise money to help support children in Australia who are victims of abuse/neglect.

Next week: What impact comes off the release of that Shawn Mendes album (the album is apparently a bit of a mess) and the likely continued rise of Christmas music...the year is finally beginning to slow down. 

Year end lists aren't far away, The worst and best lists for 2000 are due out after Christmas, the worst and best lists for 2020 will be likely out in January at least after ARIA release their year end list.





Thursday 3 December 2020

2000 Sound: 3rd December. Don't Tell Me Baha Men Let the Dogs Out AGAIN at number one

 Ughh...I'm not going to mince words...this week kind of sucked...the new entries are not good at all and even worse..."Who Let The Dogs Out" by the Baha Men remains at number one because people think it's a good joke apparently but it held off "Graduation (Friends Forever)" by Vitamin C rising one spot to number two.

Wheatus slipped back to number three this week with 'Teenage Dirtbag" as it's sales softened this week but it remained ahead of "He Don't Love you" by Human Nature which climbed one place to number four on continued strong sales. Spiller's 'Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" fell back one place to number five in the face of the stronger competition above it.

"Don't You Worry" by Madasun remains at number six and "Holler" by the Spice Girls sticks at number seven.

The highest new entry of the week belongs to Madonna with the second single from "Music" called "Don't Tell Me" which is in at number eight. This song is only slightly better than "Music"...

Jennifer Lopez keeps steady at number nine with "Let's Get Loud" while "She Bangs" by Ricky Martin bangs down two places to number ten.


Gains

"Independent Women Part 1" by Destiny's Child rose six places to number 12 mostly thanks to the hype from the Charlies Angels movie. 

Most pleasingly "Black Coffee" by All Saints rebounded from 32 to 20 this week which is great news! The Offspring gained nine places with "Original Prankster" to 21. 


Re-Entries

The one return comes from You Am I with "Damage" back at 48


Losers

Craig David's "Fill Me In" dropped ten places to 44 while unfortunately "When You're Gone" by Matchbox Twenty collapsed from 22 to 39. 

"Beautiful Day" by U2 was rained on down eight places to 27.


New Entries

So apart from Madonna's "Don't Tell Me" at number eight, we have Britney Spears latest single called "Stronger" at number 29...it's serviceable at best.

Darude's "Feel The Beat" is dancing in at number 31 while Bon Jovi's appreciation for getting a hit this year called "Thank You For Loving Me" arrives at number 34.

American singer/songwriter Debelah Morgan has notched her first ARIA charting single with "Dance With Me" in at 48.

UK girl group Giel Thing are in at umber 50 with the follow up to "Last One Standing" called "Girls on Top"...

Tuesday 1 December 2020

ARIA Singles Top Ten/Chart Review: 30th November. Monster hit Mood in Seventh Week Heaven

 Well this week was always going to be a busy one but it was busy in a way I didn't expect, I thought we'd get an album bomb from BTS but that didn't happen instead we got a pretty wild collection of five new arrivals with one in the top ten and with Christmas music coming to make the charts irrelevant for the next month or so (seen the Australia Spotify top 50 lately?), this could be one of the last weeks of the year that the chart is unaffected by Christmas songs

Anyway for a seventh week, "Mood" by 24kGoldn feat. Iann Dior remains at number one, its mostly thanks to the kind consistent streaming that songs below it would kill for right now, that streaming kept it ahead of "Positions" by Ariana Grande which remained at number in spite of decent streaming, it's just not doing the sort of numbers to stop "Mood".

The same goes for both "Therefore I Am" by Billie Eilish and "Head & Heart" by Joel Corry feat. MNEK  which remained at numbers three and four respectively in spite of solid streaming and in the case of the latter has sales.

What does have solid sales and streaming is "Levitating" by Dua Lipa feat. DaBaby climbing three places to hit number five, this song probably needs better streaming and sales for it to climb however it knocked "Holy" by Justin Bieber feat. Chance the Rapper back one place to number six...this song is starting to suffer on sales and on streaming.

Speaking of Bieber, he is the featured guest on the new entry at number seven from Shawn Mendes called "Monster"...it's the highest new entry of the five this week. "Monster" is the new single from Shawn Mendes forthcoming new album "Wonder" which is out on Friday.

All this meant "So Done" by The Kid Laroi got pushed back two places to number eight likewise for "You Broke Me First" by Tate McRae to number nine as both start to suffer on streaming. 

Finally "What You Know Bout Love" by Pop Smoke dropped back one place to number ten.

Gains

"Dynamite" by BTS jumped eight places to 16 following the release of "Be" ( the impact of that mini album was kind of muted in Australia with only "Dynamite" gaining" and just one new entry from it), "Whoopty" by CJ rose from 41 to 32.


Losers

Most of the big losers were past hits like "For the Night" by Pop Smoke which was the biggest loser of the week down eight places to 33 and "Breaking Me" by Topic feat. A7S down six to 28/Also losses for songs I am shocked have stuck around this long like  "Ain't it Different" by Headie One feat. AJ Tracey and Stormzy down seven places to 47  and "Forever After All" by Luke Combs dropped from 42 to 49 while "Lonely" by Justin Bieber and Benny Blanco fell five places to 19.

Drop Outs

The five drop outs are mostly ones I am not complaining about. "Before You Go" by Lewis Capaldi, "Go Crazy" by Young Thug and Chris Brown, "My City" by OneFour Feat. The Kid Laroi, "Train Wreck" by James Arthur and "Diamonds" by Sam Smith.

Okay,., I am disappointed that people don't seem ready to make "Diamonds" a hit especially as it is Sam Smith's best song since "Dancing With a Stranger" feat. Normani.

new Entries 

So there were four other new entries besides "Monster" by Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber this week with the first of those being the second single from Miley Cyrus new album "Plastic Hearts" called "Prisoner", featuring Dua Lipa in at number 14.

The only new entry for BTS inside the top 50 is the single called "Life Goes On", I'll be curious to see if this one sticks around especially as "Dynamite" has hung around a lot longer than I thought it would.

Hooligan Hefs hit the singles chart at number 40 with "Send It!" while Meduza has teamed up with singer/songwriter Dermot Kennedy for "Paradise" at number 48.

Nrxt week will likely see gains for both Miley Cyrus songs on the chart thanks to the release of the album and the yearly invasion of Christmas music begins but we'll have to see when the chart updates on Saturday at 5pm AEDT.

 


Thursday 26 November 2020

2000 Sound: 26th November. Dogs barking at the top as Destinys Child declare women are independent

 This week...oh boy...let's just dive straight into it with the top ten where we have a brand new number one with "Who Let the Dogs Out" by the Baha Men...it got there because somehow this got sales traction enough to take the number one...sigh...this is another of those.."WHY? Just why, Australia?.

it pushed "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus back to number two but its still play to take number one, it had a good week on sales, it just got outdone by the sales surge for "Who Let The Dogs Out".

"Friends Forever (Graduation) by Vitamin C climbed one place to number three as schools across Australia opt to use this for their graduating year twelve students. I'm kind of sick of this song.

Spiller's "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" tumbled two places to number four as the sales fell away, it's under threat from Human Nature's "He Don't Love You" which somehow rose seven places to number five...I know it had a lot of hype from appearing on Neighbours but really?

Madasun's "Don't You Worry" jumped two places to number six. Nice to see this song sticking around...I still like it a lot. 

All of this meant the rest of our top ten took steps backward or remained steady, starting with "Holler" by Spice Girls which slipped two places to number seven, "She Bangs" by Ricky Martin which stumbled two places to number eight, remaining at number nine is "Let's Get Loud" by Jennifer Lopez and finally "Gotta Tell You" by Samantha Mumba plunged three places to number ten.

Gains

"Lady (Hear Me Tonight)" by Modjo climbed eleven places to 14 because as I keep saying this song is going to be a top ten hit,there's an appeal to it that just works for it.

Matchbox Twenty jumped from 34 to 22 with "If You're Gone" (a song I actually really like so am glad to see this become a hit),

Also happy that "Gravity" by The Superjesus climbed nine places to number 35. Good to see!


Re-Entries

Paul Kelly's "Roll On Summer" EP is back at number 40 while Anuj will be glad that the Australian public still remember him with "Remember Me" back at number 46


Losers

Alright, we had a lot of losers this week so let's start with "Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)" by 98 Degrees slipped from 42 to 50.

Madison Avenue plunged from 37 to 44 with "Everything You Need" while "We'll be One" by Nikki Webster and Sing 2001 Choir slipped ten places to 43. 

Billie Piper's "Something Deep Inside" fell from 35 to 41 this week...this song just doesn't quite have the same energy as "Day & Night" so not surprising.

Not a great week for the Aussies continued with Savage Garden down seven places to 37 with "Chained to You" while "On A Night Like This" 

" I Want Candy" by Aaron Carter slipped nine places to 36 because who the hell wants this?

"Fill Me In" by Craig David got the shimmies down from 26 to 33 while unfortunately "Black Coffee" by All Saints slipped from 23 to 32...damn.

"B-Boys & Flygirls" by Bomfunk MCs fell from 17 to 24.


New Entries

The highest debuting new entry of the week belongs to Craig David with "7 Days" in at number 16. Not better than "Fill Me In" but ehh...its fine.

Destiny's Child's 'Charlie's Angels' song "Independent Women Part 1" debuts at number 18. 

Finally because we apparently we needed it...Limp Bizkit are back with a new song called "My Generation at number 49....ewww.




Monday 23 November 2020

ARIA Singles Top Ten/ Chart Review: 23rd November. Whoopty! Mood retains number one.

 A fairly standard week here which I will take given next week is likely going to have a lot of chaos and disruption around it thanks to BTS and collabs by Miley Cyrus with Dua Lipa and Shawn Mendes with Justin Bieber coming but let's get right to it starting with our top ten where "Mood" by 24kGoldn feat. Iann Dior rules at number one for a sixth week thanks mostly to just purely consistent streaming because it's not dominant on any platform right now.

The song that spent the week mostly dominant on streaming was "positions" by Ariana Grande, I was sure this was going to return to number one but it effectively doesn't really have the sales to match or surpass "Mood". 

There's a new entry at number three this week courtesy of Billie Eilish with "Therefore I Am". Good sales and streaming but not enough to topple either "Mood" or "positions" but it did push "Head & Heart" by Joel Corry feat. MNEK back to number four. It feels like "Head & Heart" has been trying to launch a run at number one for the last few weeks with it taking a lead on Apple Music for a couple of days last week.

"Holy" by Justin Bieber feat. Chance The Rapper slipped back one place to number five, its a monster on sales still and it's streaming is holding up a little better than those behind it.

Rising one place to number six is "So Done" by The Kid Laroi because yeah we need a pretty god damn awful song in the top ten for some bizarre reason.

Speaking of rubbish rising that would explain why "You Broke Me First" by Tate McRae also climbed one place to number seven. Like "So Done", this song still has some streaming so we've not seen the last of this song in the top tenn.

In good news, "Levitating" by Dua Lipa feat. DaBaby gained two places to number eight and it's got traction on streaming and on sales so we'll have to see what happens. Hopefully we can get four Dua Lipa songs from "Future Nostalgia" on the Australian year end chart.

All this was because "What You Know about Love" by Pop Smoke which fell back four places to number nine as this song is only hanging on via streaming that doesn't quite ready to die yet, the same goes for "Lemonade" by Internet Money and Gunna feat. BAV and Don Toliver which also fell four places to number ten as streaming slowed up.


Gains

The gains this week aren't exactly bundles of good news here.Okay, I'll give a pass to Ariana Grande's "POV" which rebounded from 47 to 29 ( I do not get why "34+35" is the single when its clear that "POV" is the song that Ariana fans love from "positions") as I do like that song but the other two major gains are questionable at best.."Lasting Lover" by Sigala and James Arthur rose 16 places to 30, "My City" by OneFour feat. The Kid Laroi jumped from 48 to 35 (OneFour released an EP which explains the rebound of this song).


Re-Entries

There is one return this week courtesy of James Arthur's "Train Wreck" back at number 50...lovely...


Losers

There's more bad news in our losers with  "Forever After All" by Luke Combs took an eleven place hit to 42, and "Diamonds" by Sam Smith down ten to 44.


Drop Outs

Two of the four drop outs are likely assured of places on the year end list with "Rain on Me": by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande and "This Ciry" by Sam Fischer both gone. 

Ariana Grande's "Motive" feat Doja Cat is also gone taking with it 'Tragic" by The Kid Laroi.


New Entries

There are two other new entries aside from "Therefore I Am" by Billie Eilish with Tones and I's "Fly Away" in at 21 and American rapper CJ's pretty terrible "Whoopty" arriving at 41.


So that wraps up this week...next week is going to be pretty damn wild this BTS and the two collabs I mentioned so we'll have to see what happens and how all tha shakes up the chart at 5pm AEDT on Saturday

Thursday 19 November 2020

2000 Sound: 19th November. Who Let the Baha Men Out? Why Are Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis Cruisin?

 Well ain't this an interesting development? We have yet another brand new number one this week and a brand new entry in the top five so let's get stuck into it with the top ten where the new number one is the first for this American rock band....that's right....it's Wheatus with "Teenage Dirtbag" and it got there through extremely strong sales. 

Ir handily outsold "Groovejet (If this Ain't Love)" by Spiller which slipped back to number two, whether or not it can return to number one is an open question. 

A new entry in at number comes from a group hailing from the Bahamas called the Baha Men, the song is called "Who Let the Dogs Out"...the song is every bit as annoying as the title sounds.

The biggest mover of the week within the top ten comes from Vitamin C with "Friends Forever (Graduation)" rising six places to number four, this is a player for number one if any of the songs above it start showing weakness.

"Holler" by Spice Girls regains one place to number five because people don't realize that this song is not actually a very Spice Girls song. 

All of this meant the rest of the top ten either got pushed back or remained steady with "She Bangs" by Ricky Martin down two places to number six,  "Gotta Tell You" by Samantha Mumba down four to number seven and "Don't You Worry" by Madasun down one to number eight. Jennifer Lopez remained steady at number nine while Pink's 'Most Girls" finally looks to be on the way out down two spots to number ten.


Gains

"Original Prankster" by The Offspring went up six places to 29 while "Chain of Fools" by Jimmy Barnes went up five spots to 15.


Losers

Wow, we had a lot of big losers this week so we'll go in chart order so down nine places to 14 is "Shape of My Heart" by the Backstreet Boys.

 "Kids" by Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue tripped over lego to slide eight places to 22.

Craig David's got more gaps as "Fill Me In" blanked out eleven places to 26. Nikki Webster & Sing 2001 Choir's song for Sydney Olympics "We'll Be One" fell from 26 to 33 this week.

"If You're Gone" by Matchbox Twenty fell from 27 to 34 this week...bit of a shame as I really like that song. The same goes for "Absolutely (Story of  a Girl)" by Nine Days which slipped eleven places to 49.

The rest of the falls are songs that have been hits fading away naturally like U2's "Beautiful Day" got clouded over six places to 18, "Everything You Need" by Madison Avenue fell eight places to 37, m Madonna's "Music' plunged from 24 to 38 as people finally realize the song is fucking awful.

Finally Ronan Keating's "Life is a Rollercoaster" fell eleven places to 45.

New Entries

So outside of "Who Let The Dogs Out" by the Baha Men debuting at number three, what else debuted? Well at number 12 is the new single from Human Nature called "He Don't Love You", a pretty brash, kind of catty number from Human Nature which is unusual for them.

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow has teamed up with 80s star Huey Lewis for a cover of the Smokey Robinson song "Cruisin'" which is in a 28...the cover is not good AT ALL.

Westlife's new single "My Love" sails in at number 36 while The Corrs are looking to follow up the success of "Breathless" with "Irresistible as it debuts at number 39




Tuesday 17 November 2020

ARIA Singles Top Ten/Chart Review: November 16th: The Kid Laroi rides into the top ten.

 So this week was a cool down week and it somewhat played out exactly the way I thought it would a few weeks ago, we have a returning number one and a few easily explained shifts up and down the chart so let's get stuck into it where as I said we have a returning number one in the form of "Mood" by 24k Goldn feat. Iann Dior, it's the song's fifth week at number one and honestly it's an open question as to whether it will get a sixth week at the top because right behind it is last week's number one "positions" by Ariana Grande, it's still got some traction on streaming but I am not certain that it can make a play to return to number one given the new releases coming to the chart next week....oof.

I would say "Head & Heart" by Joel Corry and MNEK is in perfect position to snatch the top spot as it is doing better on digital sales than both songs above it but again with the new releases especially one that's probably going to debut at least top five

That's not the case for "Holy" by Justin Bieber feat Chance The Rapper remaining at number four, its steady on sales but it's not making up ground on the songs ahead of it.

The late Pop Smoke has his first top five hit with "What You Know Bout Love" rising two places to number five thanks to good streaming in the most part because it doesn't have sales traction, it moved past "Lemonade" by Internet Money feat. Gunna, NAV and Don Toliver down one to number six as streaming slowly starts to fade for this song.

We have the first of two new arrivals to the top ten at number seven with "So Done" by The Kid Laroi which off the back of streaming gains and an EP release rose nine places to give The Kid Laroi his first Australian top ten hit...wish the song was actually good though...just saying;

"You Broke Me First" by Tate McRae remains steady at number eight. Kind of annoyed this song is hanging around now but it's safe from "WAP" by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion as it fell away naturally down three to number nine, likely gone from top ten next week.

Finally rising one place to join the top ten for the first time is "Levitating" by Dua Lipa feat. DaBaby at number ten. This song will likely make the year end which I am fine with because the original version of this song is one of my favourite songs from "Future Nostalgia"

Gains

The biggest gain of the week belonged to Miley Cyrus with "Midnight Sky" rising from 25 to 12 mostly thanks to the insanely good mash up of it with the song that inspires the melody namely 'Edge of Seventeen" by Stevie Nicks...you can argue the mash up is actually pretty damn great to be honest.

There were a lot of gains this week as the Ariana Grande album bomb receded so I am just going to go through a few of the other big gains like for the long running 2019 hits that won't go away like "Someone You Loved" by Lewis Capaldi up six places to 32 and "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I up from 43 to 36,

"Rain on Me" by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande jumped from 44 to 38 while "This City" by Sam Fischer rose seven places to 40. 

"What's Poppin'" by Jack Harlow rose from 49 to 43,

Re-Entries

Lewis Capaldi is back at number 50 with "Before You Go" but surprisingly that was it.

Losers

Ariana Grande album tracks form the majority of our big losers with "Motive" feat. Doja Cat demotivating down from 19 to 45, "Pov" POQed down from 39 to 47 (this song has some groundswell behind so wouldn't be surprised to see it rise while "34+35" slipped out of the top 10 to 18. 

The one non Ariana loser was "My City" by Onefour feat. The Kid Laroi which slipped twenty places to number 48.

Drop Outs

The drop outs are all Ariana Grande album tracks with "Off The table" feat. The Weeknd, "Safety Net" feat. Ty Dolla $ign, "Just Like Magic" and "Shut Up" all gone and probably won't be back.


New Entries

Three new entries with two of them being from The Kid Laroi thanks to the EP with "Always Do" at 37 and "Tragic" at 41 while "Lasting Lover" by Sigala and James Arthur turns up at 46 (a song I actually don't mind).

Next week is huge, Billie Eilish's new song debuts likely top five at this point rather than number one, Tones and I flies in with her latest single and Onefour will likely get a song on the chart as well. Not sure about whether or not Lil Nas X will chart as "Holiday" doesn't seem to have any kind of streaming whatsoever right now but we'll find out on Saturday at 5pm AEDT when ARIA update the chart.



Thursday 12 November 2020

2000 Sound: 12th November. Don't You Worry, the top ten cleanout is just doing it for the KIds

 We got a moderate to standard week here, yeah we had some changes but nothing that is too wild or anything like that...in fact, it's pretty normal especially if you look at the number one for yet another which which is Spiller's "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" as it still rules on sales and radio are absolutely LOVING this song, its everywhere right now.

It's closest threat and contender for number one is "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus up one place to number two on back of solid sales but is also rising to be a player for top spot is "Gotta Tell You" by Samantha Mumba which rose two places to number three, it's actually looking like being a serious threat to Spiller. 

What surprised me is the out of nowhere two place rise to number four for "She Bangs" by Ricky Martin, this still somehow has legs...why?

The highest debut of the week comes from the Backstreet Boys with "Shape Of My Heart" at number five. The song is fine but the Backstreet Boys have done better this year.

All that meant the sudden four place drop to number six for "Holler" by the Spice Girls...honestly I'd be fine if this disappeared off the charts altogether especially as it strips the girls of their personalities making it flat and lifeless as a Spice Girls song.

So it seems it was a week of change in the top ten because the first of three songs to rise into the top ten is Madasun's "Don't You Worry" which climbed seven places to number seven. 

Pink's "Most Girls" stalls at number eight while unfortunately, "Let's Get Loud" by Jennifer Lopez got a six place jump to arrive in the top ten at number nine.

Finally, Vitamin C's "Friends Forever (Graduation" rose seven places to number ten to give Vitamin C her first top ten hit.


Gains

So two major gains this week are cases of continued momentum with "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)" by Modjo up from 31 to 23 and "If You're Gone" by Matchbox Twenty rising eleven places to 27.

There were five place gains for "Rome Wasn't Built in a Day" by Mircheeba to 44 and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want is You) by Christina Aguilera to 11.


Losers

It was a bloodbath for songs that were in the top ten last week with U2's "Beautiful Day" down eight places to 12, "Fill Me In" by Craig David dropping down from number seven to 15, "B Boys & Flygirls" by Bomfunk MCs down from number nine to 16 while "On A Night like this" by Kylie Minogue dropped nine places to 19.

"These Days" by Bardot dropped six places to 39, "Everything You Need" by Madison Avenue got hit down six to 29 and the charts are proving to be a rollercoaster for Ronan Keating with "Life is a Rollercoaster" down from 26 to 34...ouch.

New Entries

So I have already talked about the new entry for the Backstreet Boys in the top ten with "Shape of My Heart" at number five but beyond that we have a collab between Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue called "Kids" at number 14...a song I actually kind of like.

The new entries have got a distinctly Australian flavour with You Am I at number 37 with "Damage" and Anuj with 'Remember Me" at number 50. The ,latter being kind of annoying



Monday 9 November 2020

ARIA Singles Top Ten/Chart Review: 9th November. Positions lands album bomb for Ariana Grande

 I was tempted to just ignore this week and not worry about covering it mostly because everyone is busy watching the US Presidential election play out as though it's an episode of "Days Of Our Lives" or one of those stupid American soaps, nobody really gives a shit about the pop charts right now especially when it's not particularly an interesting week, right?

Well okay...we may as well deal with the charts because we did get an album bomb from Ariana Grande who got seven new songs from her album "positions" onto the top fifty on the singles chart while the album debuted at number two on the ARIA top 50 albums behind Midnight Oil's "The Makarrata Project" however "oositions" album release was enough to keep the title track at number one for a second week however it's dying in slow motion on sales with streaming propping it up for now.

It held on ahead of "Mood" by 24k Goldn and Iann Dior which spent another week at number two as it also is leaking on sales but like "positions" is holding its place on streaming however it does also hve a remix feat. Justin Bieber and J Balvin that might just see it nab another week at number one.

A song that could make a play for number one is "Head & Heart" by Joel Corry feat. MNEK which is doing well on sales and finally picking up some traction on streaming again, it held up over "Holy" by Justin Bieber feat. Chance the Rapper which again remained at number four.

"Lemonade" by Internet Money and Gunna feat. NAV and Don Toliver up one place to five, it's got consistent streaming that's keeping it afloat in the top ten as it flew past "WAP" by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion as it is beginning to fade naturally down place to number six.

"What You Know Bout Love" by the late Pop Smoke rose one place to number seven as it continues to look like it might have a run in the top ten, following it up is unfortunately "You Broke Me First" by Tate McRae up one to number eight, we don't need bland derivative Billie Eilish rip offs on the chart, people!

Now we hit the first evidence of the Ariana Grande album bomb with "34+35" debuting at number nine, not surprising as it is being touted as the next single from the album.

Finally "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac is down three places to number ten as the virality wears off but I suspect it should still make the year end list.

Gains

Not too many big gains given it is an album bomb week but we did get "Diamonds" by Sam Smith having the biggest gain of the week up  ten places to 33 thanks to the release of Sam's album "Love Goes"

"So Done" by The Kid Laroi up four places to 16, this song looks like blowing up in the USA somehow which is unfortunate because it's not that good.


Re Entries

Just the one return this week with "Golden" by Harry Styles back at number 41.


Losers

We have a slew of losers this week and most of them are set to make the year regardless, well, maybe apart from the week's biggest loser "Forever After All" by Luke Combs which slipped 20 spots to 34 unfortunately (this should hopefully rebound as the Ariana album tracks leave the chart)

The rest of these are pretty much locked on the year end list like "Don't Start Now" by Dua Lipa down ten places to 50 or "What's Poppin'" by Jack Harlow also down ten to 49, "Go Crazy" by Chris Brown and Young Thug down 12 places to 48, "Rain on Me" by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande down nine places to 44 (bit of a surprise, would have thought this song would get a rebound considering Ariana is involved with it) and "Mood Swings" by Pop Smoke down from 34 to 46 this week.

"Dance Monkey" by Tones and I slipped from 37 to 43 while "This City" by Sam Fischer dropped nine places to 47, "My Ex's Best Friend" by Machine Gun Kelly feat. Blackbear dropped six places to 36.

Some of these will likely rebound next week so we'll have to see.


Drop Outs

Nine drop outs and there are some massive ones here like "Circles" by Post Malone which leaves after 60 weeks on the ARIA singles chart (it's also left the Billboard Hot 100)

Also gone are songs likely to make year end list like "Before You Go" by Lewis Capaldi,  "Popstar" by DJ Khaled and Drake and possibly "Heather" by Conan Gray.

The Ariana Grande album bomb also saw "Kings & Queens" by Ava Max, "Everybody Rise" by Amy Shark, "Secrets' by Regard, "Train Wreck" by James Arthur and "Together" by Sia

New Entries

So the only non Ariana Grande new entry came from Onefour who teamed up with The Kid Laroi for "My City" which is in at number 28.

As for the Ariana Grande songs, I already mentioned "34+35" in at number 9 but beyond that? Well, "Motive" feat. Doja Cat slots in at 19, "Off the Table" feat. The Weeknd is in at number 32, "Pov" checks in at 39 (the best song from the album), "Just Like Magic" waves its wand at 40, "Safety Net"
feat. Ty Dolla Sign makes it's landing at 42 and somewhat appropriately "Shut Up" zips in at 45.

That wraps up a busy week, shaping like we're going to be seeing some more new The Kid Laroi on the chart next week. Hopefully one or two songs from that new Kylie Minogue album cross over but we'll find out when ARIA updates their charts at 5pm on Saturday.






Thursday 5 November 2020

2000 Sound. 5th November. Spice Girls given something to Holler about by Spiller's flying Groovejet

 So this week we finally got some stability at the very top of the ARIA singles chart and I am kind of glad of that because I was starting to get frustrated at the revolving door cycle of number ones we were having but anyhow let's get to the top ten where for a second week, it's "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" by Spiller at the top again riding some pretty solid sales. it kept hold of the top spot despite a surge from a new entry from the Spice Girls (now minus Geri) called "Holler" which debuted at number two which I guess got hype off the back of the curiosity of how the group would sound without Geri Halliwell.

However it looks like Wheatus are going to be the big challenger for number one as it rose two places to number three on the back of some pretty good sales, this song could well be the next number one, hell it flew past "Beautiful Day" by U2 which remained steady at number four and right behind them is this week's big top ten gainer "Gotta Tell You" by Samantha Mumba which flew into up six places to number five! Wowsers!

"She Bangs" by Ricky Martin has less bang this week as it clattered down three places to number six while Craig David  asking to be filled in at number seven for another week with "Fill Me In"

Pink's "Most Girls" got hit with a six place drop as it slipped down to number eight while unfortunately up a place is "B-Boys & Flygirls" to number nine.

Finally rounding out the top ten is "On A Night Like This" by Kylie Minogue.

Gains

Continuing it's rise is "Friends Forever (Graduation)" by Vitamin C which hit the top 20 up from 22 to 17 this week, this song will hit the top ten eventually.

"Lady (Hear Me Tonight)" by Modjo rose five places to 31. One of the biggest rises of the week belongs to American rock band Matchbox Twenty as they climbed ten places to 38 which is fine because I like the song while Bardot's "These Days" recovered nine places to 33.


Losers

Let's deal with a lot of losers this week so we'll start with the hits that are fading naturally like Britney Spears "Lucky" down eleven places to 48 and "Try Again" by Aaliyah which dropped from 31 to 44 this week (ouch).

Dropping out of the top ten is "Come On Over Baby (All I Want is You)" by Christina Aguilera which dropped from 9 to 16 this week.

Then there are songs that have just lost all momentum like "Rome Wasn't Built in a day" by Morcheeba which plunged eleven places to 49, "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" by Nine Days dropping nine places to 41, "Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche" by 98 Degrees slipped eight places to number 37 while Girl Thing's "Last One Standing" got sat down at 35 down from 28.


New Entries

So what else turned up this week apart from the Spice Girls having the biggest new entry of the week with "Holler" at number two?

Well, Jimmy Barnes is at 18 with his cover of Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools". The Offspring have let "Original Prankster" off the chain at number 39 while Blink 182 are shouting "Man Overboard" lodging at 40.

Finally, Paul Kelly's "Roll on Summer (EP)" debuts at number 50

Monday 2 November 2020

ARIA Singles Top Ten/Chart Review: 2nd November. Ariana Grande positions herself at number one.

So this week was probably a bit busier than I would have liked given there's likely an Ariana Grande album bomb coming next week (despite the album being fine but pretty underwhelming) because we've got four new entries and some big moves in the top twenty but let's start with the biggest story of the week, our new number one which is "positions" by Ariana Grande, it got there through solid sales and streaming and should hold onto number one for a couple of weeks post the album release and while the song is not bad, it's like the album...underwhelming that said I think my opinion on the song is somewhat soured by the behaviour of some of Ariana's fanbase during the week however I will save my bake of stan Twitter for the year end worst list though.

Anyway all that was enough to push "Mood" by 24k Goldn and Iann Dior down to number two...I would have liked to have seen this remain number one as I think it is the better song, the same can be said for "Head & Heart" by Joel Corry and MNEK which slipped to number three.

"Holy" by Justin Bieber and Chance The Rapper continues to linger like herpes on the genitals by remaining at number four.

"WAP" by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion is finally on it's way out as it bled on streaming and on sales to drop two places to number five.

Also remaining steady this week is "Lemonade" by Internet Money & Gunna feat. Don Toliver and NAV at number six.

The virality slipping away has seen "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac fall two spots to number seven...honestly this should be enough to seal a year end spot but we'll have to see in January. Pop Smoke's "What You Know Bout Love" dropped one place to number eight.

Staying at number nine is "You Broke Me First" by Tate McRae....hopefully Ariana's album bomb knocks this out of the top ten and stalls it's momentum.

Speaking of  momentum that's dying off, "Savage Love" by Jawsh 685 and Jason DeRulo slipped down two places to number ten.


Gains

Pretty quiet on the gains front with the biggest gain being for "Levitating (remix)" by Dua Lipa feat DaBaby which rose nine places to 13 while "Diamonds" by Sam Smith rose four to 43 this week ("Diamonds" should get a boost  off the back of the album release next week)


Losers

The biggest loser this week is "Kings & Queens" by Ava Max which got dethroned from 42 to 48 this week while "Everybody Rise" is doing the opposite of the songs title in collapsing down from 43 to 49.


Drop Outs

So there are four drop outs this week with "Wishing Well" by Juice WRLD, "Adore You" by Harry Styles, "Be Kind" by Marshmello and Halsey and "Look Into My Eyes" by Brando all gone


New Entries

So beyond Ariana Grande's "positions" debuting at number one, we did have three other new entries with American country star Luke Combs achieving his highest ever singles chart position in Australia thanks to the deluxe release of his album thanks to the song "Forever After All" debuting at number 14, I am all for this happening, it's the best country song to hit the ARIA top 50 in such a long time.

The Kid LAROI's "So Done" arrives at number 20 while James Arthur's "Train Wreck" turns up at number 45 thanks to virality on TikTok.


So next week, we should see what carnage Ariana Grande can create with the "positions" album bomb when the chart updates at 5pm AEDT on Saturday.