2000 Sound: 26th March: Glut of New Entries as *NSync keeps number one

So this week is interesting...just not in terms of the top ten right now but more the glut of new entries that really stalled any upward movement on the charts with a lot of big falls this week but the new entries didn't impact the top ten where for a 2nd week, *NSync's "Bye Bye Bye" rules roost at number one and really this song does look to have a hold on number one right now especially when you look at our number two which is "Bloke" by Chris Franklin which is losing strength on streaming.

"Candy" by Mandy Moore rose one place to number three forcing Madonna's rancid "American Pie" cover back to number four.

All Saints continue their really strange run on the chart with "Pure Shores" up two places again to number five, this song needs to find some consistency fast but it probably held up because "S Club Party" by S Club 7 weakened down one place to number six.

Eiffel 65's "Move Your Body" is back up one place to number seven while Killing Heidi's "Mascara" looks to be fading gracefully as it dropped two places to number eight while Vanessa Amorosi's "Absolutely Everybody" remains at number nine.

Jessica Simpson returned to the top ten this week with her painfully boring debut single "I Wanna Love Forever" up one place to number ten.

Gains

We are pretty short on big gains this week with the biggest coming for Leah Haywood's "We Think It's Love" which went up eight places to 34 but that was about it for gains over five places this week.

Losers

Oh boy. Brace yourselves for this because there's a long list of losers but let's stat at the bottom of the chart where William Orbit's "Barber's Adagio For Strings" which fell seven places to 50 while Savage Garden's "Affirmation" suffered an eleven place slip to 49.

Also finding life tough on the charts is "Otherside" by Red Hot Chili Peppers which fell from 46 to 31.

"Smooth" by Santana and Rob Thomas took a plunge from 28 to 44 as the waters got rough fast for that song.

Same could be said for Madison Avenue's "Don't Call Me Baby" which fell hard from 26 to 43 this week and is our biggest loser of the week.

28 Days dropped nine places to 36 with "Here We Go" while Macy Gray's "I Try" dropped twelve places to 28

New Entries

Hanson have the biggest new entry of the week with "If Only" in at 14. I actually really like this song so I genuinely hope it becomes a hit.

Alice Deejay is in at 19 with "Back In My Life" while No Doubt hit the chart at 25 with "Ex-Girlfriend"

Macy Gray's follow up "Still" breaks onto the chart at 26.

Kelis is in at number 30 with "Caught Out There"

Australian R'n'B group Kaylan have debuted on the chart with "Rock Me All Night" at 40 while finally the last of the new entries come from Metallica with Michael Kamen conducting the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra landing "No Leaf Clover on the chart.

ARIA Singles chart top ten/chart review: 23rd March.

So I am going to lay out some facts here in plain view, we are not going to see a change at the very top for a good few weeks yet but there's enough changes on the chart this week to keep things interesting especially as we have likely album bomb coming next week and maybe one not the week after but the following week after.

None the less, The Weeknd maintains his strange hold on the number one spot with "Blinding Lights" for a ninth week and with "After Hours" released on Friday and doing massive numbers on streaming, I don't see this being unseated from number one for some time.

Much to my disgust, a good streaming week saw regressive and antiquated garbage "Intentions" by Justin Bieber feat. Quavo climb one place to number two but given what it's up against, I suspect this song has hit it's peak however streaming was enough to ensure it moved past Dua Lipa's "Don't Start Now" which went down to number three however with "Future Nostalgia" dropping Friday 3rd April, don't be surprised if it returns to number two.

Also to my rampant disgust, "Say So" by Doja Cat jumped one place to number four because people don't have enough brain cells to realize that this song is just cut price Dua Lipa with a mediocre beat, seriously why is this song in the top five rather than the far superior "Physical" by Dua Lipa however "Say So" pretty much switched with "You Should Be Sad" by Halsey which fell one place to number 5 (If Halsey has any sense than she'll make "3am" the next single from "Manic").

The biggest gainer within the top ten this week is the current UK number one "Roses" by Saint Jhn which rose five to break into the top ten at number seven, now this song has momentum on it's side as streaming is getting hold of this song, it swallowed "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I which sneezed down one place to number eight.

"Adore You" by Harry Styles followed suit down one to number nine while finally BENEE and Gus Dapperton get their first ARIA singles chart top ten hit with TikTok pushing "Supalonely" up to number ten.

Gains.

The biggest gain came for Sam Smith's new single with "To Die For" up eleven places to 15 which is good because I do like that song.while "Blueberry Faygo" by Lil Mosey rose eight places to 23.

Losers

The big story in our losers is the twenty place fall for "Stupid Love" by Lady Gaga to 33, this song isn't going to stick around like her fans would have hoped. Suspect they will be praying the next single will be sticking around.

Also taking a hard plunge was "Sugar" by Brockhampton which suffered a sweet malfunction to go from 19 to 30.

"Never Seen the Rain" by Tones and I dropped from 15 to 21 while "Yummy" by Justin Bieber dropped from 36 to 43 as everybody tries to forget it exists.

Drop Outs.

Two significant drop outs this week those being "I Don't Care" by Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber finally being gone after 43 weeks on the chart while "Castles" by Freya Ridings also falls off after a respectable run, they took "No Time to Die" by Billie Eilish, "The Other Side" by SZA and Justin Timberlake and "Baby Pluto" by Lil Uzi Vert with them.

New Entries

Our highest new entry this week is a 5 year old song from Tame Impala with "The Less I Know the Better" debuting on the ARIA singles chart at 17 thanks to being voted at number one on Triple J's Hottest 100 of the Decade last weekend, I'd be surprised if it stuck around.

What might stick around though is Tones and I's new single "Bad Child" which debuted at 18 this week.

The other new entries come from Flume with "The Difference" feat. Toro y Moi at 45, most strangely Noah Cyrus's "July" enters at 49 and finally "Suicidal" by American rapper YNW Melly is in at 50.

That wraps up the week. Next week? Well, it's going to be the weekend of The Weeknd with an "After Hours" album bomb so we'll have to see what kind of carnage that will cause when the chart is updated on Saturday at 5pm AEDT

Smashing It Somewhere Else: "In The Air" by L.A.B

Currently #1 for three weeks in New Zealand.

This is going to be something I do on an occasion if there's a song I like somewhere in the world doing well that isn't on the ARIA top 50 singles chart in Australia and fortunately New Zealand is going to be where the focus lies for the first edition of this series as there is a song riding on top of the charts there that I just have to talk about it, that song being "In the Air" by L.A.B,

L.A.B hail from New Zealand's Bay of Plenty with it's founding members being keyboard/guitarist Brad and drummer Stuart Kora, they brought in Joel Shadbolt for lead vocals and bassist Ara Adams-Tamatea with their sound being spanning many genres including blues, funk, rock and even elements of electronic music with "In the Air" being the second single from their third album "L.A.B III" released at the back end of 2019. 

Let's not mince words here, "In the Air" is this gorgeously layered chilled song that is perfect for any occasion be it chilling at home or out on a long Sunday afternoon drive, I just love the sound of this song with its guitars and that groove that works so god damn well. This song is like coming home and finding a warm fuzzy blanket to curl up in.

As for the lyrics delivered by Shadbolt, the song is about finding that connection with somebody special and enjoying the moment of being with that person whoever that is which Shadbolt delivers with incredible sincerity.

"In the Air" is the sort of song that really should be getting big around the world right now, please give it a chance, people.

"In the Air" - L.A.B (Official Music Video)

2000 Sound: 19th March: *NSYNC say bye bye bye to Madonna to go number one

Another week another new number one and it looks like a fairly restrained week on the chart with some changes that were expected however the big story is that American boy band *NSync have their first number one in Australia with new single "Bye Bye Bye" hitting number one, this song could be number one for a while too as its sales saw it blow past "Bloke" by Chris Franklin which remained at number two this week.

It meant Madonna's "American Pie" slipped two places to number three as people hopefully realized that the cover is fucking atrocious and it is under threat from Mandy Moore's "Candy" which rose two places to number four.

It pushed "S Club Party" by S Club 7 down two places to number five as sales for this song are starting to slow. "Mascara" by Killing Heidi staged something of a recovery up one place to number six.

"Pure Shores" continued its wild ride in the top ten for All Saints down two places to number seven this week.

After hitting the heights of number four last week, "Move Your Body" by Eiffel 65 moved it's own body down in the wrong direction to number eight while "Absolutely Everybody" by Vanessa Amorosi fell one place to number nine.

Sister2Sister's "What's a Girl to do?" remained static this week at number ten.

Gains

The biggest gain of the week belongs to "Otherside" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers which rose seven places to to 31 while Live broke into the top 40 with "Run to the Water" rising to 34 from 41.

Re-Entries

Just the one re-entry this week with Leah Haywood's "We Think It's Love" back at 42

Losers

The biggest loser this week was "Thank God I Found You" by Mariah Carey feat. 98 Degrees and Joe dropped twenty places to 47, I don't expect this to be a huge hit like it has been in the US.

Also taking a plunge was Eiffel 65's "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" slipping 11 places to 46 while "Back at One" by Brian McKnight dropped ten places to 39.

"Smooth" by Santana" feat. Rob Thomas fell from 22 to 28 while Macy Gray's "I Try" slipped out of the top ten to 16 and "Tarantella 2000" by the Linguini Brothers slipped from 32 to 40 this week.

New Entries

The biggest new entry of the week is the newest single from Jennifer Lopez called "Feelin' So Good" which features Big Pun and Fat Joe. It entered at 22.

Dance/electronic group atb are back on the charts with "Killer 2000" in at number 36 while Aussie rockers Regurgitator are in at number 44 with "Freshmint!"

Finally at number 49 is "Holiday" by US rappers Naughty by Nature.

ARIA Top Ten Singles/Chart Review: 16th March

It's weeks like this one that make me grateful that we aren't like the United States where these days album bombs are the new normal on the Hot 100 week after week, this week they got a Lil Uzi Vert album bomb where EIGHTEEN new songs landed on the Hot 100 in the US this week while we in Australia? We only got one new Lil Uzi Vert song but we'll get to that.

Meanwhile in times of uncertainty and strife, the only thing that seems certain is "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd remaining at number one thanks to it's strangle hold on streaming right now, it's got a comfortable margin over "Don't Start Now" by Dua Lipa which spends another week at number two due to flagging sales.

The same can be said for "Intentions" by Justin Bieber feat. Quavo which while streaming is strong, sales aren't great.

Surprisingly "You Should Be Sad" by Halsey is up one place to number four and yeah it's still doing well on sales but those streaming numbers need to improve.

Doja Cat's "Say So" rides streaming and sales momentum to move up three places to number five...unfortunately.

"The Box" by Roddy Ricch continues to do well on streaming but just can't leverage that streaming into sales here so it remains at number six.

Now the rise of "You Should Be Sad" by Halsey to four can probably be explained by the three place fall for "Dance Monkey" to number seven as it's streaming and sales are bleeding.

"Adore You" by Harry Styles rises two places to number eight off the back of a surge on streaming and some solid sales which is good because the song is emerging as one of my favourites of the year much to my surprise.

Post Malone's "Circles" remains at number nine as sales and streaming haven't fallen off completely while rounding out the top ten is "Before You Go" by Lewis Capaldi because...I don't know why...let's just hope it disappears from the top ten next week.

Gains

The biggest gain of the week came from Saint JHN's "Roses" which went up from 30 to number 12, I fully expect this to be top ten next week while "Death Bed" by Powfu and Beabadoobee rose from 32 to 17.

Pleasingly "Sugar" by Brockhampton staged a miraculous recovery from 36 as it surged up to 19 off the back of a remix with Dua Lipa.

"City of Angels" by 24KGOLDEN rose 11 places to 39.

Losses

Despite it being a fairly quiet week for new entries we had some big losers right across the board with Billie Eilish's "No Time to Die" the biggest plunging from 28 to 42 while "Everything I Wanted" dropped ten places to 33.

While "Life Is Good" by Future and Drake dropped eleven places to 29, the same fall was had for "Roxanne" by Arizona Zervas which slipped to 24 (people have forgotten that song exists)

A puzzling fall came for "Lose Control" by Meduza feat. Becky Hill and Goodboys which fell from 14 to 22.

Finally if you are wondering where "Stupid Love" by Lady Gaga is, it fell from number 7 to 13 this week. Got a feeling that the song won't stick around.

Drop Outs

Two fairly significant drop outs this week as they are both former chart toppers, those being "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X and "Sunflower" by Post Malone feat Swae Lee, Both after having incredible 49 and 71 week runs in top 50 respectively.

New Entries

TikTok is pushing BENEE's 'Supalonely" so as a result it's the highest new entry this week at 11 while the only other new entry comes from Lil Uzi Vert with "Baby Pluto in at 48.

A faitly quiet week, expecting new entries from Tones and I and others. The chart will update 5pm AEDT on Saturday.

I am working on top ten best and worst hit songs lists of the decade lists, its taking a lot of time and energy to do so because believe it or not there are several years that I didn't have top tens for. Also on the way is a likely top ten best hit songs list for 1974.

ARIA Singles Chart Top Ten/ Chart Review: 9th March

So this week is an odd one mostly because there was changes to the top ten this week (one of them being disappointing in the extreme) except for our top four starting with our number one "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd which is still dominant on streaming and on sales, I can see this staying at number one for another few weeks yet as Dua Lipa's "Don't Start Now" which remained at number two but while it was gaining ground on streaming, it has started bleeding on sales.

"Intentions' by Justin Bieber and Quavo continues to make a pest of itself by remaining at number three because it's got strength on streaming and sales...Ewww. The sooner this falls off the better, people really wanted Bieber singing about intending to treat his wife like his property as hit?

"Dance Monkey" by Tones and I remains at number four because of still incredibly good sales but streaming is bleeding so expect this to take a hit next week which opens the way for "You Should Be Sad" by Halsey the first of our movers in the top ten up one place to number five to make a move up but sales aren't strong and while streaming is still good...I don't see it going much further.

Whatever the case it went past The Box by Roddy Ricch which slipped one place to number six as this song is only really doing anything on streaming and once streaming starts to bleed...

We now have the biggest debut of the week courtesy of Lady Gaga's lead single from her upcoming a;bum "Chromatica" called "Stupid Love" in at number seven and look I don't expect this to hang around as streaming is already dropping off as is sales.

At number eight is the biggest gainer of the week...Doja Cat's "Say So" which reached the top ten on massive streaming and sales. Why? People apparently prefer this to a much better song in a similar vein..."Physical" by Dua Lipa (Dua should have two songs in the top ten right now). "Physical" has a much better groove compared to this garbage....ugh.

Post Malone's "Circles" dropped one place to number nine, this song is fading gracefully after its extended run in the top ten.

Finally Harry Styles completes the top ten at number ten with "Adore You'  down one place from last week.

Gains

We had numerous gains this week outside of the big gain by "Say So" by Doja Cat at number eight.
A performance at Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras saw "Physical" by Dua Lipa rise eleven places to 16 (this song is showing signs of being a real sales monster, let's hope the streaming picks up)

Surfaces "Sunday Best" rides traction on streaming to go up ten to 20 and is probably the absolute worst of our gains, in better news "To Die For" by Sam Smith went up eight to 25, "Roses" by Saint JHN jumped from 39 to 30 (I expect this song to be big and in the top ten soon) and "Blueberry Faygo" by Lil Mosey rose from 42 to 34 this week (a song that I actually don't mind)

Losers

There were three big losers were "After Hours" by The Weeknd which plunged from 11 to 37, "No Time to Die" by Billie Eilish which dropped from 10 to 28 and "Yummy" by Justin Bieber from 14 to 31. (If the two Justin Bieber songs on the chart could both just suddenly collapse that would be great for my sanity)

Drop Outs

No real surprises in our drop outs with the much welcome news that "Rare" by Selena Gomez is gone taking with it Ali Gatie's pious song "What If I Told You That I Love You", "Forever" by Justin Bieber feat. Post Malone and Clever and "Turn Me On" by Riton feat. Oliver Heldens and Vula.

Unfortunately for the BTS army while "Map of the Soul: 7" did remain at number one on the ARIA album chart, the single "On" fell out of the top 50.

New Entries.

So what else did we get apart from the top ten arrival of "Stupid Love" by Lady Gaga, we got a mish mash of songs that will likely stick around and songs that will likely not last.

The one song I suspect will stick around is "Death Bed" by Powfu feat. Beabadoobee at number at number 32, this song is popular on streaming right now.

As for the rest that I don't expect to stick around: well, "The Other side"  by SZA and Justin Timberlake from that new Trolls movie is in at 43 while "Moral of the Story" by Ashe arrives at 46 and finally, "City of Angels" by 24kGOLDEN arrives at number 50.

So that wraps up the week, expect new entries from Demi Lovato (I wish that song was good), Katy Perry and maybe even...the Dixie Chicks but we'll what happens when the updated chart is released on Saturday at 5pm AEDT

2000s Sound: 12th March

This week is...interesting, we've got two new entries to the top ten with one of them entering at number one,some interesting shifts in the top ten but overall it was a pretty standard week with no real wild shifts up and down the chart so let's get to the top ten first of all and this where my excitement fades a little because debuting at number one is Madonna's trimcated cover of Don McLean's classic "American Pie"which turns the song into karaoake tailor made for Madge and loses the entire meaning of the song however strong sales were enough to see it get to number one.

"American Pie" did push Chris Franklin's "Bloke" back to number two this week as it lost the sales lead and it was the same for S Club 7's "S Club Party" which fell one placr to three but it looks to be vulnerable to Eiffel 65's 'Move Your Body" which rose two places to number  four this week thanks to excellent sales.

Similar story for All Saints as "Pure Shores" recovered to rebound up three places to number five, this song is shaping to be the girl group's biggest hit in Australia since "Never Ever"

It was enough to push "Candy" by Mandy Moore down one place to number six while Killing Heidi's "Mascara" took a four place tumble to number seven as sales start to slow for that song.

Vanessa Amorosi's 'Absolutely Everybody" rebounded two places to number eight this week with the big story is the sudden 5 place drop for 'I Try"  by Macy Gray to number nine.

The second of of the new entries in the top ten is Australian duo Sister2Sister managing to land following single "What's A Girl to Do?" at number ten this week, Great effort by Sharon and Christine Muscat.

Gains

Not much in the way of big gains this week with Aqua's "Cartoon Heroes" which broke into the top 20 at number 17 up from 22 but the biggest gain came for Shania Twain's "Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)" rising ren place to 33.

Re Entries

Filter's "Take A Picture" is back at 36 while "Can You Feel?" by Taxiride lobs back in at 49

Losers

Not many major losers with the biggest being former top ten hit "Don't Say You Love Me" by M2M plunging from 33 to 48 this week. Ouch!

Deni Hines "Pull Up to the Bumper" dropped nine places to 45 while former number one "Blue (Da Ba Dee) by Eiffel 65 dropped eight places to 35

New Entries

So to recap: Madonna's "American Pie" debuted at number one while Sister2Sister lodged "What's A Girl to Do" at number ten.

Outside of that there's a new entry at number 27  for a collab between Mariah Carey, Joe and 98 Degrees called "Thank God I Found You" (It's a bit too saccharine and sappy for me).

The Linguini Brothers are in at 32 with "Tarantella 2000" and finally Aussie trio The Robertson Brothers are in at 50 with "The Lost Love Song"

ARIA Singles Top Ten/Chart Review: 2nd March

Honestly, there's so much of me glad that the ARIA singles chart isn't like the US charts where there's an album bomb nearly every single week over there but the last two weeks in Australia where there's been a very real threat of an album bomb but it never materialised which was the case for BTS "Map of the Soul: 7" as it only lodged one new song on the chart but anyway we'll get to the new entries, let's firstly deal with the top ten where The Weeknd spends a sixth week at number one with "Blinding Lights", its still dominant on both sales and streaming and will lodge a seventh week on top when ARIA reveals the updated chart on Saturday.

Dua Lipa's "Don't Start Now" remains "Blinding Lights" closest challenger at number two for another weeks, it just cannot match the sales of and streaming momentum of "Blinding Lights"

Unfortunately "Intentions" by Justin Bieber and Quavo remains at number three...seriously this song sucks and does not belong anywhere near the top ten let alone at number three...ugh...regardless it somehow had good sales and streaming numbers to remain where it is.

"Dance Monkey" by Tones and I recovered one place to number four, this song is on it's way out slowly but surely, really only recovered for a reason we'll get to in a moment. Could say the same about "The Box" by Roddy Ricch which returned to number five this week, this song is doing well on streaming but sales have never caught on.

Halsey's "You Should Be Sad" also went up one to number six which is actually good news because I like that song, in not so good news "Before You Go" by Lewis Capaldi rose two places to number 7.

"Circles" by Post Malone continues its run in the top ten as it went up two places to number eight and in excellent news "Adore You" by Harry Styles rose three places to return to the top ten at number nine, this song has been growing on me A LOT.

The reason mostly everything either went up or remained where it was in the top ten this week was the expected collapse of "No Time to Die" by Billie Eilish which fell six places to number ten.

Gains

In not so good news in the gains department, Doja Cat's "Say So" went up 7 places to 21 because people for some reason are impressed by an underweight beat and groove. Ew/

"Sunday Best" rose six places to 30 for Surfaces but that was about it for the gains this week.

Re-Entries

Just one re-entry with "Turn Me On" by Riton feat. Oliver Heldens and Vula back at number 47.

Losers
The biggest loser this week was the only Justin Bieber album cut to lodge on the chart "Forever" feat. Post Malone and Clever which dropped from 29 to 40.


Speaking of Post Malone, his 2018/19 smash "Sunflower" feat. Swae Lee dropped from 43 to 49 while "Rare" by Selena Gomez plunged from 38 to 46.

"Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish hits 22 from 16 last week and "Yummy" by Justin Bieber fell from 8 to 14.

Drop Outs

Some massive drop outs this week with "Senorita" by Shawn Mendes and Cabella Cabello, "One Thing Right" by Marshmello and Kane Brown, "10,000 Hours" by Dan and Shay feat. Justin Bieber (not a good week overall for Bieber) and "South of the Border" by Ed Sheeran feat. Camila Cabello and Cardi B all gone, they took OneFour's "Welcome to Prison" with them.

New Entries

Four new entries this week with the album  title track from The Weeknd called "After Hours" landing the highest debut of the week at number 11. I don't expect this to stick around.

Likewise "On" by BTS in at number 29.

What might stick around is "Blueberry Faygo" by Lil Mosey at number 42 and "Pump It Up" by Endor at number 43.

So that wraps up the chart this week. Next week, Lady Gaga's new single, that new SZA and Justin Timberlake/SZA song from the new Trolls movie and maybe that new Keith Urban song, we'll have to see when the chart updates at 5pm AEDT on Saturday.

2000 Sound: 5th March. Mandy Moore's sugar sweet "Candy" reaches top 5

Welcome to another wild week on the chart because geezus christ, the top ten is a mess. Well except for the top where "Bloke" by Chris Franklin spends a second week at number one, it held off a challenge from "S Club Party" by S Club 7  which rose two places to number two but it's doubtful either song will be at the top next week as both are starting to wobble on sales.

However they are not vulnerable to former chart toppers  "Mascara" by Killing Heidi", which felling one place to number three, and "I Try" by Macy Gray as it fall one place to four.

However a song that is emerging as a surprise player for the top spot is Mandy Moore's song "Candy" which rose nine places to number five. Keep an eye on this one, folks. 

Eiffel 65 moved sales with "Move Your Body" up one to number six as it pushed "Steal My Sunshine" by Len down one place to seven

Now all the movement hit "Pure Shores" by All Saints hard as it fell three places to number eight while Jessica Simpson returns to the top ten with "I Wanna Love You Forever" up three places to number nine.

Finally Vanessa Amorosi drops two places this week with "Absolutely Everybody" at number ten.

Gains

Moby's strange run on the chart continues as "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad" leapt from 50 last week to 34 and was the biggest mover up this week

Shaft's "(Muho Mambo) Sway" which rose sixteen spots to 30 while there's a rebound for Santana's massive US smash with Rob Thomas which rose twelve places to 24

Live's "Run to the Water" is up nine places to 40.

Two songs broke into the top twenty this week with "All the Small things" by Blink 182 up from 21 to 15 this week and "I Need to Know" by Marc Anthony up eight places to 20.

Re Entries

The Red Hot Chilli Peppers have the first of our two re-entries with "Otherside" back at 42 while Celine Dion's "That's the Way It is" is back at 49.

Losers

Some huge losers this week with Five's "Keep on Movin'": not moving in the right direction as it took a tumble from 34 to 47.

Shania Twain's "Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)" hit the skids as it dropped eleven places to 43.

Blessed Union of Souls pretty good "Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me for Me)" took a hard hit as it plunged from 25 to 38 while Savage Garden's "Affirmation" ,lost some of it's belief as it nose dived from 22 to 35

New Entries

The new entries aren't as wild this week with Smashing Pumpkins landing the biggest debut of the week with "Stand Inside Your Love" at number 31.

Area-7's new single is in at 37 and it's called "Start Making Sense" while finally there's a new Australian female singer hitting the chart at number 41, it's Leah Haywood with "We Think It's Love"

The Top Ten Best Hit Songs of 2019

I always like making best hit songs lists of any given year, it’s fun to remember the songs you loved during a year and know that so many other people were also loving the same songs hence making them massive hits and honestly while 2019 did have some pretty dire stuff that I’ve already discussed in the Worst Hit Songs of 2019, it also had Taylor Swift making a solid to good album, the breakout success stories of Billie Eilish, Tones and I, Lil Nas X and rather belatedly Lizzo and you know what? All four artists produced some quality, hell three of the four artists I mentioned made this list.

A reminder that the songs on this list must have made the ARIA year end list for 2019 and 2018 and other past hit songs don’t count unless they ended up higher on the 2019 list than they did in 2018 or previously which rules out a song like "Bohemian Rhapsody"

First though a couple of shoutouts to songs that missed out so consider these my honourable mentions

•          “Choir” by Guy Sebastian
•          “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish
•          “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I
•          “Never Seen the Rain” by Tones and I
•          “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper
•          “Wow” by Post Malone
•          “Sunflower” by Post Malone feat. Swae Lee
•          “Woke Up Late” by Drax Project feat. Hailee Steinfeld
•          “If I Can’t Have You” by Shawn Mendes
•          “Mess Her Up” by Amy Shark 
•      "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X

• 
  

All good to great songs but just missed out because I simply couldn’t find room in my top ten for them so let’s get on with the list proper.

There’s a deep part of me frustrated that this song wasn’t the breakout global smash like it deserved to be for Tones and I but hey it made the year end of 2019 still so it is making this list.

10. “Johnny Run Away” by Tones and I

For as much as I liked “Dance Monkey”, it won’t be making the list proper as ridiculously catchy as it is, “Johnny Run Away” just connects for me so much better. The story of a young man opening up about his sexuality to his father at a young age and his father not being at all accepting of it and how the young man deals with being judged and the pain of being rejected by his father, his wider family and a world that while is growing to be more accepting of homosexuality, there’s still many that reject it for whatever reason, it’s actually heart breaking to listen to

This song is just a well crafted pop gem that tells a story very effectively and while it wasn’t the smash Tones and I’s next single was, this song deserves your attention all the same, check it out.

This next artist is making two appearances on this list and while this song has appeared at number one on several other best hits of 2019 lists, it’s only appearing at number nine here but it’s place on this list is so richly deserved.

9. “When the Party’s over” by Billie Eilish

You know, there hasn’t been an artist with this much intrigue over her music career as Billie Eilish in a while and this haunting sparse piano ballad about a toxic relationship that’s at the breaking point turned a lot of heads when it was released in 2018 as it should because “When the Party’s Over” is the sort of song with a self-aware framing where Billie knows she’s not good for this other person and often that loneliness that she’s feeling is better than being around that other person even if it blows to get to that point and she just wants the other person to let the relationship end and both move on with their lives.

It’s a bitter track but framed in a way that shows both Billie and this other person have done wrong and it’s time for both to part and move on with their lives. Great song.

I never imagined I’d be putting this next act on my best hits list of ANY YEAR but in 2019, he really improved to a point where four of his songs ended up on my most played of 2019 playlist on Spotify and while this wasn’t his big number one hit of 2019, this was the song that saw him get even bigger if that was possible...

8. “Circles” by Post Malone

2019 was the year I made an about face on Post Malone, I like “Sunflower” with Swae Lee, Young Thug’s verse on “Goodbyes” is the worst part of that song and “Wow” is so incredibly stupid it comes together well but “Circles” is the song of his hits this year that blew me away, mainly because it was a step away from the trap sound into a more chill brand of pop rock music that instrumentally was so chill yet Post Malone is frustrated that he and this girl are still doing the same thing over and over again and he wants her to make up her mind and make a decision instead of sending them both around in circles, it’s a good song and the fact it’s still in the top ten at the end of February is testament to that.

Speaking of artists who in the recent past probably would have been more likely to make my worst list…come on down, Taylor Swift.

7. “Lover” by Taylor Swift

The title track from Taylor Swift’s surprisingly good album “Lover” is not the best song from it, hell, “The Archer” and “Paper Rings” are better but given Taylor chose “Me!” with Brendon Urie and “You Need to Calm Down” (the latter would have  been a dishonourable mention on my worst list if I’d done dishonourable mentions) as singles and make “The Archer” a promotional single, “Lover” was the song that stood out mostly because it’s a very intimate song where Taylor is deeply in love wanting to go wherever her new beau goes, its actually a sweet love song and I am glad it made the ARIA Year end list,

Empowerment songs are generally mediocre, they tend to only work if the person singing as a powerful and passionate voice and genuinely believes what they are attempting to sell to the public, when they don’t work, they sound tinny, whiny and kind of conceited. Not the case for this though…

6. “Good as Hell” by Lizzo

So 2019 saw me come to grips with the fact that try as I might, Lizzo is not my cup of tea, “Truth Hurts” frequently reminds me of Khalid’s “Young, Dumb and Broke” and really its not a great song and  Lizzo is an artist really does give a LOT of personality in her songs and she can be very in your face however I think that kind of confident persona is something that works so well on “Good As Hell”, she’s this breezy, confident person who can sell this sort of self-empowerment song.

The song’s message pretty boils down to not letting the world’s or your own problems get you down and trying, it’s quite the fitting song for Lizzo given she has been recording and releasing albums for years but older songs like “Truth Hurts” and now “Good as Hell” and the remix with Ariana Grande is probably better than the original given it gives us a brief break from the very in your face personality of Lizzo. Great song!

So the top five on this list are unchanged from the mid year list although I may have changed the ranking, this song nearly fell out of my top five owing to how shallow it is but…

5. “Sweet But Psycho” by Ava Max

Honestly, this song is your definition of shallow pop music but there’s a place in pop for this kind of song and Ava Max does it well, The framing is about both people involved are completely into it, they both want it especially as he is just as crazy as she is. Granted I am not sure how much of a good thing sampling “Down” by Jay Sean will do for Ava Max’s career, she’s not really had a second hit despite releasing multiple singles.

Also to those trying to take “Sweet But Psycho” seriously, stop, take a cold shower and move on, it’s not designed to be even vaguely serious, it’s just an absurd, ridiculously fun pop song, remember when pop music was FUN? ‘Sweet But Psycho” gets sillier the more you think about it and you know what? That’s okay.

This was Miley’s best performance in 2019…

4. “Nothing Breaks Like A Heart” by Mark Ronson and Miley Cyrus

2019 was a weird one for Miley, she released an EP which everybody forgot about a good two months after, a stand alone single called “Slide Away” which while not being bad, it wasn’t great and she also collaborated with Mark Ronson for “Nothing Breaks Like A Heart” a wonderful tasteful slice of EDM crossed with pop and country that, unlike Marshmello’s horrendous “One Thing Right” with Kane Brown, nailed this song damn near perfectly.

For one thing, Miley sounds so damn good on this song, the day she wakes up and realizes her voice is perfect for country or country adjacent music is going to be a wonderful day and Mark Ronson knows how to put together production that suits the vocalist involved, its genuinely impressive, in terms of EDM, Ronson is definitely out in front. Great job!

This is the second and last time she will appear on this list, if anything was clear from music in 2019, Billie Eilish is here to stay.

3. “Bury A friend” by Billie Eilish

It’s amazing this song was even a hit to begin with it’s industrial sound, it’s not anything close to being your conventional pop song yet in 2019, “Bury A friend” was a hit signifying that the Australian public has a whole are ready for songs that sink into a darker and more twisted subject matter, Billie is able to warp and twist the subject matter of this monster talking to her from underneath her bed as she seems more scared of real life terrors rather than whatever is lurking beneath her bed. It’s an incredibly catchy but low key song that emphasises how well Billie can capture an audience. If anything, “Bury A Friend” is the song that made it clear that Billie Eilish is a star and she is sticking around and for mainstream music, that’s a good thing.

So in an era where hip hop has mostly seemed bland and lifeless, this song particularly in early 2019 provided a reminder of how much fun hip hop can be,

2. “Leave Mr Lonely” by Hilltop Hoods.

Yes, this is my favourite Australian hit of the year, a song with a sublime guitar sample to start the song. MC Suffa told Triple J the song is about the struggle of being cornered into a conversation with a close talker who is talking a lot of rubbish and being just tired enough of it to snap hence the line lines “Loser, I won’t dress it up. Me and my friends, we are not here for your BS” which is a line that should be engraved into Australian culture already.

It’s just a fun song that should have been huge around the world given it completely steers away from the dreary trap slog that the US hip hop scene finds itself in and I find incredibly monotonous so yeah “Leave Me Lonely” is a slice of Aussie hip hop that the rest of the world should have cottoned onto in 2019 but hey given its success in Australia, I’m happy and deserves to be this high on this list.

I think my number one pick was almost set in stone by March 2019, I was deeply in love with this smooth coolness of this song and it struck a chord for me that no other song in 2019 matched because for as much as I love “Leave Me Lonely” and “Bury A Friend”, neither quite hit for me like this did…

1.       1. "Dancing with A Stranger” by Sam Smith and Normani

So yeah I know, this song is light weight Emotional Oranges and its easy to see the parallels between this song and Normani’s hit with Khalid “Love Lies’ from 2018 but unlike “Love Lies”, “Dancing with a Stranger” is a melancholy song where Sam Smith and Normani are seeking to move on from a past relationship and find some relief from their melancholy with a dance.

Musically, “Dancing With a Stranger” owes a lot of it’s sound to 80s R’n’B but my god it does it well especially at achieving the cool not wanting to be lonely sound that the song’s subject matter deals with and hell the watery textures work better here than they did on “Without Me” by Halsey plus Sam Smith sounds great over a song like this, I can only hope his upcoming album has more tracks like this one and Normani is the perfect choice for the collab as they work so damn well together.

“Dancing With A Stranger” the best hit song of 2019.