2000 Sound: 30th July. Anastacia goes number one while Five and Queen try to rock everyone in the top ten

This week feels like a relief...we're through the absolute mess that the last couple of weeks have been and we do have quite the busy week across the board so let's rip into that top ten where we finally have a new number one that's pretty damn good that being "I'm Outta Love" by Anastacia, it had a great sales week to take the top spot, it pushed "Freestyler" by Bomfunk MCs at number two this week as it just got beaten on sales hard by "I'm Outta Love"... thank goodness.

What isn't going anywhere much to my annoyance is "Thong Song" by Sisqo, which pretty much has outlived it's purpose for being on the charts around a fucking month ago, remaining at number three because the public hate me!.

Up three to number four is "Shalala Lala" by Vengaboys, it's got traction on sales. Wish the song was better but sales were enough to push "Who the Hell Are You" down to number five and 'It's My Life" by Bon Jovi.

There's a new entry at number seven with Five teaming up with Queen for a remix/remake of Queen's classic hit "We Will Rock You". I'm not to say it's the worst thing Queen have done but my god it's not good, behind that though is the one place gone for Fragma with "Toca's Miracle" up to eight this week, surprised how well this song is sticking around but it also meant that it pushed "Day & Night" by Billie Piper back to number nine this week. 

Finally "Jumpin' Jumpin'" by Destiny;s Child lives up to its name by jumping twenty five places to number 10 this week. This one is likely to follow "Say My Name" in being a hit.

Gains

So I already spoke about the big gain for "Jumpin' Jumpin'" by Destiny's Child but there was also a good gain for Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady" which rose from 22 to 15 this week...this could also go top ten soon, it has hit written all over it.

Unfortunately Killing Heidi's "Live Without It" rebounded from 31 to 18, I don't know why, it's not anywhere near as good as "Weir" or "Mascara"

Sonique's "It Feels So Good" jumped seven to 21 this week while Real Blondes got an eight place return to forty off the back of their return last week.

Losers

So we have a big list of losers this week that seem mostly because of all the new arrivals that flooded the chart which we will get to shortly.

We'll start with former number one "Say My Name" by Destiny's Child dropping 12 places to 39 this week while "Mambo Italiano" by Shaft took a deep dive from 30 to 41 as did Lo-tel's "Teenager of the Year" to 48.

S Club 7's really tepid ballad "Two in a Million" dropped from 33 to 49 this week proving how underwhelming that song is especially when "Friday Night" or "Viva La Fiesta" would have been the better songs to release from that album as singles.

Forner top ten hit "There You Go" by Pink dropped fifteen places to 30..ouch but that might have been coming anyway

Sadly, Kaylan's "Rock Me All Night" dropped from 36 to 50. Bit of a shame as I like that song a fair bit.

New Entries

Whoo boy. We have a busy week on this front, folks, seatbelts on because it wasn't just "We will Rock You" by Five & Queen entering at number seven this week and is the highest new entry of the week.

The next two are follow up singles following success on the chart previously with Sash! are following up their top ten mash "Adelante" with a song entitled "Just Around The Hill" which has debuted at number 27 and Coco Lee following up "Do You Want My Love?" with "Wherever You Go" in at number 29. 

American gospel duo Mary Mary have their first ARIA charting single with "Shackles (Praise You) debuting at 33. Bit rare that a Christian song has hit the ARIA charts but its fine enough, it's not outwardly as annoying and poorly produced as a lot of Christian based music can be.

Rapper Tupac Shakur is in at 36 with "They're Tryin' To Kill Me", Sister2Sister bemoan how much they have fallen in love on "Too Many Times" at number 37 while Joe says "I Wanna Know" at 38,

The new entries keep coming with Hanson's "This Time Around" in at 42 (I like this song a fair bit so I hope it does well), Darude's "Sandstorm" blows in at 43 and Everclear announce the arrival of "Wonderful" at number 46,

FINALLY, John Farnham is the last of the new entries at number 47 with "Trying to Live My Life without You"

ARIA Singles top ten/ Chart Review: 27th July. Three Ds in the new entries: DJ Khaled, Drake and....DARYL BRAITHWAITE?

So really this week really won't matter in the scheme of things especially as it seems like we are going to get an enormous album bomb from Taylor Swift that could make much of the chart considerably better next week (If you haven't heard "folklore" yet, I highly recommend you do so because it is an album of the year contender) however we did have something pretty awesome happen and it ties into our new entries, I'll get to it later but first our top ten where "Savage Love" spends a fourth week at number one and right now I don't see anything currently on the chart knocking it off, it's basically got streaming and it's doing well sales wise.

"Rockstar" by DaBaby feat. Roddy Ricch remained at nunmber two but its bleeding on streaming and on sales so this could be in for a bit of a fall next week especially if numbers on Spotify start falling hard and really the same could be said for "Roses" by Saint Jhn at number three although it got  remixes with Future and J Balvin respectively. which could see it hold its position.

Breaking into the top five at number four this week is "Come & Go" by Juice WRLD and Marshmello up two places from its debut last week, it pushed "Breaking Me" by Topic feat. A7S back to number five and "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles back to number six (This might get an indirect boost next week from the One Direction anniversary celebration which did get ruined by numbskulls sending threats to Zayn Malik for not acknowledging the anniversary of One Direction...what a way to ruin the band's anniversary celebration and not to mention show that its clear One Direction fans still have not accepted that Zayn has moved on with his life and made his own decisions)

"Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd remained stable at number seven this week ahead of "Rain On Me" by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande at number eight.

Back in the top ten this week is "What's Poppin'" by Jack Harlow up two places to number and finally a new entry to round out the top ten and the biggest charting debut of the week that being "Popstar" by DJ Khaled and Drake...this song is AWFUL...Oh well hopefully Taylor Swift can flush it right out of the top ten with an album bomb next week.

Gains

The Juice WRLD album bomb receded this week so everything else around it went back up this week with the biggest gain belonging to "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I which went up from 29 to 22 this week. Seriously, aren't people sick of this song yet? I like it but come on, it's time for it to leave already.

We had two songs break into the top twenty this week with "Some Say" by Nea up to 17 from 21 and "The Woo" by Pop Smoke up from 24 to 19 while "Secrets" by Regard and Raye continues to rise up to 27 from 33.

Re-Entries

The receding of the Juice WRLD album bomb saw the return of Regard's "Ride It" at 49. It won't last either. Will be gone next week.

Losers

So let's just get the Juice WRLD songs that lost hard this week out of the way, "Conversations" went quiet at 46, "Righteous" went wrong at 44, "Hate the Otherside" feat. Marshmello, Polo G and The Kid Laroi plummeted to 33 and "Life's A Mess" feat. Halsey sadly hit 32. All this will be replaced by the Taylor Swift album bomb.

Also taking a hit was "Go" by The Kid Laroi which featured Juice WRLD which fell four to 43. 

In non Juice WRLD entries to fall, "Toosie Slide" by Drake dropped five places to 40 (hopefully this is gone next week too. Sadly safe on the year end list though) while "Don't Start Now" by Dua Lipa fell four to 26 (yeah I know but the song is safe on the year end list...it's all good)

Drop Outs

Only one significant drop out of the four that did say goodbye that being "You Should Be sad" by Halsey which will make the year end list and probably my best hit songs of 2020 list.

The other three are Juice WRLD songs with "Titanic", "Bad Energy" and "Blood on My Jeans" gone

New Entries

So I already mentioned that "Popstar" by DJ Khaled and Drake hitting the top 10 at number 10 but they also have another song on the chart and unfortunately it's worse than "Popstar", "Greece" turned up at 35. These two didn't learn from 2016 clearly.

Anyway you remember how I said that there was something awesome that happened and it tied back into the new entries...well...for the first time since 1993, Daryl Braithwaite is on the ARIA singles top 50 chart with "Love Songs" in at 43. I don't have much hope that it will stick around but it is fantastic to see this song on the chart as it is really damn good.

That wraps up this week...a busy one and it's only going to get more chaotic next week because we have a likely Taylor Swift album coming along with that new Maroon 5 song so next week is going to be WILD when the chart updates at 5pm AEST on Saturday

2000 Sound: 23rd July; A slow week as Jessica Simpson turns up in the top ten...again

Wow. We get a calm down week this week with it being a relatively slow especially within the top ten. "Freestyler" by Bomfunk MCs keeps the number one spot for another week as it just kept it's sales lead ahead of "I'm Outta Love" by Anastacia which closed the gap a little to "Freestyler" but just not quite enough to take the number one spot.

It was the same case for the rest with "Thong Song" by Sisqo stuck at number three, "Who the Hell are You?" by Madison Avenue nailed to number four, "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi glued to number five, "Spinning Around" by Kylie Minogue frozen at number six and "Shalala Lala" by the Vengaboys immobile at number seven.

We did see a bit of movement lower down the top ten thoughwith "Day & Night" moving up one place to number eight, this song has traction which is good...as I still like the song, it moved past "Toca's Miracle" by Fragma which fell back one spot to number nine.

Finally rising into the top ten much to my displeasure is "I Think I am in Love with You" by Jessica Simpson...this song had better not outpeak the song its sampling...I am warning ya all now but it went up four places to hit number ten....

Gains

Lonester's corny "Amazed" broke into the top 20 up from 24 to 19 because it's become a sappy wedding song that I warned everyone about.

Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady" rose from 29 to 22 this week, this song looks set to become a hit in the weeks ahead so just keep an eye on it.

Invertigo's "Desensitized" finally got a decent gain as it went up eight to 32...about time...that song is really good.

"Blow up the Pokies" by The Whitlams rose eight places to 39 this week.

"The One" by the Backstreet Boys is the one that refuses to go away as it went up six to 44.

"

Re Entries

Three rentries this week with the best of them being "Put Your Lights On" by Santana feat Everlast at 46. "Arabian Pleasure" by Mario Piu and Mauro Picotto sidles back in at 47 and finally Lock 'n' Load reloaded at 49 with "Blow Ya Mind"

Losers 

Couple of big losers this week with "Say My Name" by Destiny's Child slipping eleven places to 27 this week as did "Live without It" by Killing Heidi which slipped to 31 from 20.

"Oops!...I Did It Again" by Britney Spears dropped eight places to hit 40...might be time for that new single, Britney?

Real Blondes dropped nine places to 48 with "I Won't Let Go", the same goes for Travis with "Why Does it Always Rain on Me" which dropped nine to hit 50.

New Entries

Just the one new entry this week with the follow up to "Say My Name" from Destiny's Child, it's called "Jumpin' Jumpin" in at 35,

ARIA Singles top ten/Chart Review: 20th July. Juice WRLD's "Legends Never Die" bombs the singles chart as Guy Sebastian stands in the top ten

So we got our first major album bomb of 2020 from sadly deceased American rapper Juice WRLD who managed to get eight new songs and one returning entry from his album "Legends Never Die" to hit the ARIA Top 50 and some of that was felt in the top ten just not at the top where "Savage Love" by Jawsh 685 and Jason DeRulo spends a third week at number one because it's got streaming and sales over "Rockstar" by DaBaby feat. Roddy Ricch as its sales plummeted hard this week and it's only hanging onto number two because of streaming.

"Roses" by Saint JHN is stuck at number three but I can see this song taking a tumble soon as its bleeding on streaming and on sales.

Topic's "Breaking Me" feat. A7S remains at number four and "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles remains at number five both looking pretty good on both sales and streaming so they could both surpass "Roses"

We now come to the first of two new debuts inside the top ten with "Come & Go" by Juice WRLD and Marshmello at number six, this song looks like it might have the streaming traction to be a hit. Just a shame it's not that good.

Down one place to seven is The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights", it's fading naturally as the likely biggest hit song of 2020 in Australia. It's shaping as the song to beat for the number one spot on the year end list, probably going to be a decade defining song.

The better of the two new Juice WRLD songs in the top ten lies at number eight with "Life's A Mess" featuring Halsey. I really like this, Halsey sells this so god damn well.

Down two places to number nine is "Rain On Me" by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande. Probably would have only dropped to eight if not for the Juice WRLD album bomb but regardless this song's momentum has really stalled.

Finally up a ridiculous 25 places to number 10 is Guy Sebastian's "Standing With You" hitting number ten and is the biggest gainer this week. No telling if this is a sustainable top ten hit but it has traction on sales and is gaining on streaming so we'll have to see. What is telling is that it could have jumped even higher if not for Juice WRLD

Gains

So already talked about the biggest gain of the week that being "Standing With You" by Guy Sebastian but "Everybody Rise" by Amy Shark lived up to it's name by rising eleven places to 38 off it's debut on the chart last week.

Re Entries

One return this week with "Righteous" by Juice WRLD back at number 25.

Losers

Over half the chart chart lost big this week thanks to the Juice WRLD album bomb so let's start with 2019 songs that should have left the chart already like "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I which dropped ten places to 19 and "Circles" by Post Malone which walked down to 41 from 34 last week.

Then there are the former top ten hits that took a plunge like the biggest loser of the week, "Savage" by Megan Thee Stallion which hit 28 from 14, "Supalonely" by BENEE feat. Gus Dapperton fell seven to 18. "Intentions" by Justin Bieber featuring Quavo skidded down eight to 26 (that song is poop in an otherwise pretty good year for music), "Death Bed" by Powfu feat. Beabadoobee (this song has gotten annoying for me over time) fell twelve places to 27, "Say So" by Doja Cat dropped to 37 down ten places from last week. "Toosie Slide" by Drake did a twelve place cha cha slide down to 35 and finally "Adore You" by Harry Styles fell ten places to 49.

Then there are songs that were rising that got stopped in their tracks like "This City" by Sam Fischer which fell eleven to 32, "Ily" by Surf Mesa feat Emilee had swiped left and down eight to 36 while "Look into my Eyes" by Brando stopped making eye contact with the public as it went down ten to 34.

Most of this will rebound next week as the Juice WRLD songs leave on masse but we'll see what happens.

Drop Outs

There are a while slew of songs that dropped out, significantly for year end list reasons, "Ride It" by Regard, "Live in Life" by The Rubens and maybe "In Your Eyes" by The Weeknd all took their exits.

"Wash Us in the Blood" by Kanye West and Travis Scott also left but this one might return if Kanye does drop that new album on Friday...I don't think he should be releasing anything on Friday given the apparent mindset he is in...he needs help. 

Pop Smoke saw both his US hit "Dior" and "For the Night" exit taking "How You Like That" by Blackpink, "Ur So F****** Cool" by Tones and I and "If the World Was Ending" by JP Saxe and Julia Michaels with it.

New Entries

All the new entries this week are songs from Juice WRLD"s "Legends Never Die" posthumous album, I already mentioned "Come & Go" with Marshmello at number six and "Life's A Mess" with Halsey at number eight, from there we have the Dr L*ke produced :Wishing Well" in at 14, "Hate the OtherSide" feat. Marshmello, Polo G and The Kid Laroi at 15, "Conversations" begins and probably ends at 19, "Titanic" rises at 40, "Bad Energy" hits at 42 and finally "Blood on My Jeans" at 45.

Well that finally wraps up a looonnng week on the chart, next week is going to be the fall out from all of this and....DJ Khaled and Drake dropped two new songs that will likely chart...neither of them being any good...lovely...not. Also might see Kygo's remake of a classic 80s hit from Tina Turner as well which is actually probably one of he better new songs from last week's new music on Friday, we'll find out at 5pm AEST on Saturday.

2000 Sound: 16th July. Vengaboys sing Shalala Lala from the lofty heights of the top ten.

This week is mixed, sure the current number one is still terrible but we got a fairly slow week overall so I ain't complaining, yes, "Freestyler" by Bomfunk MCs remains at number one because sales remain consistent at least ahead of "I'm Outta Love" by Anastacia steady at number two as this song has got radio on board so I wouldn't be surprised if it does go number one in the next few weeks.

"Thong Song" by Sisqo isn't a player though remains at number three, same for "Who the Hell Are You" by Madison Avenue stuck at number four.

Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" went up one place this week to number five, am surprised at how well this song is doing on the chart, seems people like this defiant rock song, it passed "Spinning Around" by Kylie Minogue which just doesn't have the sales to stick around anymore

The big surprise is from Vengaboys with "Shalala Lala" jumping seven spots to number seven his week. Not sure how or why as the song isn't all that good...slightly over produced if anything.

"Toca's Miracle" by Fragma remains at number eight while "Day & Night" by Billie Piper is sticking to number nine.

Finally "Shine" by Vanessa Amorosi returns to the top ten at number ten this week which is good to see!

Gains

So apart from Vengaboys big move into the top ten, what else rose this week? Well, "I Should've Never Let You Go" by Bardot rose from 23 to break into the top twenty at 17 this week while Killing Heidi also broke into the top twenty, rising five to 20 with "Live Without It".

The biggest gain though comes from The Corrs with "Breathless" rising from 42 to 27 this week! This song looks set to be a hit.

Lo-tel's "Teenager of the Year" rose five places to 34 while Faith Hill's "Breathe" recovered from 43 to 38.

Re-Entries

Three returns this week with the biggest coming Real Blondes with "I Won't Let Go" at number 39, Savage Garden's "Crash and Burn" is back at 44 and finally and maybe most surprisingly "Move Your Body" by Eiffel 65 returned at 45..that last one is a bit of a strange one.

Losers

So we had a couple of top ten hits take major plunges this week with "He Wasn't Man Enough" by Toni Braxton collapsing from 10 to 21 while "Oops!...I Did It Again" by Britney Spears dropped from 19 to 32,  "What's A Girl to Do" by Sister2Sister dropped from 28 to 36 and "Don't Give Up" by Chicane feat. Bryan Adams dived from 34 to 48 this week...ouch.

"The Call" bv Backstreet Boys is getting hung up on as it fell nine places to 50, "Why Does It Always Rain On me" by Travis dried up from 35 to 41 and "Mambo Italiano" by Shaft hit 33 down from 26.

New Entries

So only two new entries this week with the highest of them being from American R'n'B superstar Aaliyah with her new single "Try Again" debuting at number 15 on the ARIA singles chart, this song is pretty damn good, it's set to be a smash hit in the US.

The only other new entry is from American rock band Vertical Horizon with a song called "Everything You Want" at number 46. Again, this is also a pretty good song, hope it becomes a hit for them.

ARIA Top Ten/ Chart Review: 13th July. Static week for the Top Ten as Pop Smoke charts posthumously

This could well be a very short blog entry this week which is good considering the almighty JuiceWRLD album bomb that will hit next week...Seriously...seen Spotify's Australian chart and the Australian chart on Apple Music? It's going to be a mother of an album bomb but anyway all of that is for next week, in the mean time we have a rather static top ten where "Savage Love" by Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo remains at number one, it took the lead on sales and streaming is still goof.

It held off "Rockstar" by DaBaby feat. Roddy Ricch which stayed at number two this week because basically it's not closing the margins and its starting to show signs of bleeding on streaming. The same could be said of "Roses" by Saint Jhn which remained at number three, "Breaking Me" by Topic feat. A7S and "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles which were stuck at four and five respectively just couldn't close the margins enough even though both "Rockstar" and "Roses" are starting to show signs of wavering on streaming.

"Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd continues to hang on remaining at number six this week while "Rain On Me" by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande continues to remained glued to the number seven position

The only change of position within the top ten came through "What's Poppin'" by Jack Harlow rising one place to number eight as streaming continues to be surprisingly good for this song and completely goes against everything I said about it last week.

It moved past "Rover" by S1mba feat. DTG which fell to number nine and finally "Go Crazy" by Chris Brown and Young Thug remains at number ten...hopefully a Juice WRLD album bomb will see this gone from the top ten next week.

Gains

The biggest gain this week was for top ten hit in waiting "Some Say" by Nea which rose 13 places to break into the top twenty at number 19. 

"Dance Monkey" by Tones and I continues to be a presence by rising five places to number 19 this week.

Losers

As I said last week, Korean pop music tends not to stick around and that was the case with "How You LIke That" by Blackpink which plunged from 12 to 40 this week and will likely be gone next week as a result of the Juice WRLD album bomb. 

Also taking a hit was "Standing With You" by Guy Sebastian which fell off its debut of 25 to 32 this week, this song needs some strong promotion and a push on streaming from Guy's label.

"Ride It" by Regard dropped from 34 to 42 this week, it's place on the year end list is sealed which is a good thing considering it's probably one of the songs in danger when Juice WRLD does sweep in.

Drop Outs

Two significant drop outs this week with one being 2019 hit "Memories" by Maroon 5 finally making its exit and will be forgotten about almost immediately while the other is "The Box" by Roddy Ricch, it's sealed its place on the year end list so not too worried about that one being gone.

Also taking their exits this week are "Boss Bitch" by Doja Cat (Would not shock me if she isn't able to follow up the success of "Say So" in Australia) and "July" by Noah Cyrus however what did please me was "Gooba" by 6ix9ine also exited after seven weeks too long on the chart.

New Entries

Pop Smoke's posthumous new album debuted at number one on the ARIA albums chart so we did get three songs from the album with "The Woo" being the highest charting new entry at number 25, "For the Night" at number 32 and his US hit "Dior" in at 48. 

The other two debuts this week are "Wash Us in the Blood" by Kanye West feat. Travis Scott at 31 probably due to a streaming boost following Kanye's US presidency run publicity stunt (if you think he is legit going to run for president than I have a vial of legally sourced moondust I'd like to sell you) and in good news for Australian music, Amy Shark enters at 49 with "Everybody Rise" (probably the best of the five new arrivals this week)

Anyway that wraps up this week. Next week...yeah...the carnage a posthumous Juice WRLD album bomb will create...oh well, hopefully it cleans out a few older songs that are still on the chart somehow. we'll find out next week on Saturday at 5pm AEST. 

2000 Sound. 9th July. "Freestyler" boms up at number one. Eminem asks for The Real Slim Shady in the new entries

Ugh, this week was a wild one, we have moves all over the place, the top ten is ever changing and unstable right now in an otherwise pretty normal week but lets get to our top ten where we have a new number one in the form of...sigh..."Freestyler" by Bomfunk MCs, it got there because sales were pretty solid right across the board.

It held off "I'm Outta Love" by Anastacia rose 3 places to number two and looks like massive threat for the number one song which I don't mind as the song is pretty damn good...certainly take it over "Thong Song" by Sisqo which refuses to go away by regaining one spot to number three this week. Gross.

Former number one "Who the Hell Are You" by Madison Avenue dropped two places this week to number four as people get tired of it pretty damn quickly. "Spinning Around" by Kyle Minogue collapsed on sales which resulted in it falling from number one to number five. Ouch.

Not so for "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi which regained one place to number six. This song is sticking around rather impressively right now, the same can't be said of "There You Go" by Pink which slipped one to number seven but it's on its way out naturally and will make the year end list.

Now we get to the first of two songs new to the top ten this week with "Toca's Miracle" by Fragma rising six places to number eight, this is looking like being a surprise hit folks.

Finally reaching the top ten is Billie Piper's "Day & Night" which climbed two places to number nine this week. Good. I actually like this song more than most of the songs Billie has released previously.

Rounding out the top ten is "He Wasn't Man Enough" by Toni Braxton which is clinging to number ten down one place from last week. This should be gone soon.

Gains

Continuing it's unfortunate rise is "I think I'm in Love with You" by Jessica Simpson which rose five places to number 20. Eww.

"Live Without It" by Killing Heidi also climbed five places to 25. I hope this isn't a hit, it isn't a good song. 

The biggest gainer of the week though was "It Feels So Good" by Sonique which climbed nine places to 32 off it's debut last week. Looks like this song has struck a chord out there.

"Breathless" by The Corrs went up six places to 42.

Losers

Not too many big losers worth noting this week but No Doubt's "Ex-Girlfriend" falling ten places to 48 while "Breathe" by Faith Hill hasn't caught on in Australia as it did in the US as it fell eleven places to 43.

Sister2Sister "What's a Girl to Do?" fell seven to 28.

New Entries

So the highrst new entry of the week belongs to American rapper Eminem whose controversial new single "The Real Slim Shady" enters the chart at 27, the song features potshots at Britney Spears amongst others.

Italian electronic producers Mario Piu and Mauro Picotto land at 36 with "Arabian Pleasure" while Australian DJ Friendly hits the chart at 44 with "I Love You But...".

Finally Lock 'n' Load hit the chart at 45 with "Blow Ya Mind"

Rating the Number One songs on the week of my birthday part 2: 2000 to 2020

If you missed part 1, click here to read part 1 which was 1987 to 1999.

Here's part two starting with a rock banger from 2000

2000: “Mascara” by Killing Heidi

I still like this song a lot, Ella Hooper is an amazing rock vocalist. Killing Heidi were definitely on a winner with this song and the chorus is quite hard to get out of your head once you hear it. 8/10

2001: “Can’t Fight the Moonlight” by LeAnn Rimes

I will guarantee most people forget that this song was a number one hit for LeAnn Rimes, the song coming from the soundtrack for the movie “Coyote Ugly” but it signified a move toward a pop direction for Rimes which didn’t suit her at all and yeah, the production here isn’t great. 6/10

2002: “Whenever, Wherever” by Shakira

“Lucky that my breasts are small and humble so you don’t confuse them with mountains” should have been a meme already and really showcased the incredible charisma of Shakira. Pity, she hasn’t had more hits in the 2010s in Australia, could have done with her on the charts here. 8/10

2003: “Lose Yourself” by Eminem

Look, this song from “8 Mile” Is a classic and if I said anything negative about it, I’d be hung, drawn and quartered. I miss this Eminem right now. Enough said. 9/10

2004: “What About Me” by Shannon Noll

Another cover, this time Shannon Noll’s debut hit is a cover of Moving Pictures 1982 hit “What About Me?” and while I think “Learn to Fly” and even “Drive”, the latter of which has meme possibilities, are better of the singles from “That’s What I’m Talking About”, his cover does the original justice which is all you can ask for, right? 7/10

2005: “Over and Over” by Nelly feat. Tim McGraw.

I don’t really feel much of anything toward this song tbh, it’s a pleasant R’n’b crossed with country song, it just feels meh to me. 5/10

2006: “Run It!” by Chris Brown feat. Juelz Santana

This was annoying in 2006 when it was a hit and Chris Brown’s star was on the rise and the production does not help. Fuck this. 3/10

2007: “Lips of an Angel” by Hinder.

Why the hell was this garbage a hit? Were we really that desperate for Nickelback knock offs that we had to send this piece of shit to number one? The vocals suck and the lyrics are  just whining that this girl’s ability to give great blow jobs is making is difficult to be faithful to his girlfriend who is in the next room with nothing to sell any kind of danger at all. Fuck this trash off! Worst number one of the 2000s! 1/10

2008: Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis

Oh a pleasant change, Leona Lewis’s “Bleeding Love”, a song that I loved back in 2008 but yeah I can’t lie…it hasn’t aged all that well in terms of the production. 7/10

2009: “You Found Me” by The Fray

I have never liked The Fray and this song is just cut price Red Hot Chilli Peppers. I just don’t like the vocals on this song at all. 4/10

2010: “Replay” by Iyaz

I guess the record industry were really desperate to keep the cocaine pile going after they all blackballed Chris Brown, that said, this song sounds more like an Akon rip off and not a pleasant one at that. Annoying to say the least 3/10

2011: “S&M” by Rihanna

A song that makes bondage sound less sexy than catching gonorrhoea. Yuck 3/10

2012: “Wild Ones” by Flo Rida feat. Sia

Well at least this has a decent hook but otherwise pass. 5/10

2013: “Same Old Love” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis feat. Mary Lambert

I miss this Macklemore and this song sends an incredibly important message…Love is love. 8/10

2014: “Say Something” by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera

I respect this song more than I like it tbh, it does paint the picture of a painful break up well but I am not sure that without Christina Aguilera the song would hold up as well. 6/10

2015: “FourFIve Seconds” by Rihanna, Kanye West and Sir Paul McCartney

This is much better. I really like this song, Rihanna’s hook reminding me a lot of the Golden Girls theme and Kanye is good. I just wish they had given Sir Paul McCartney more to do on the song other than play the guitar. 7/10

2016: “Never Be Like You” by Flume feat. Kai

I honestly wish I liked this more than I do. It’s fine enough. Bit strange that Flume isn’t having consistent success though 6/10

2017: “Shape Of You” by Ed Sheeran

Yes, this song was overplayed on the radio, but you know what? I do like it. Ed Sheeran’s best songs know their way around a hook and it’s not designed to be a romantic song, this relationship for both Ed and the girl is disposable, it’s just for the hook up. Its sleazy and for me it works. 8/10

2018: “God’s Plan” by Drake

Oh come on Australia, you know you don’t have to send every piece of background noise filler Drake releases to number one right. BORING! 4/10

2019: “7 Rings” by Ariana Grande

I have already expressed my feelings about this song enough. It’s one of Ariana Grande’s worst songs of her career. 3/10

2020: “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd

I am going to save my comments about this song for year end. All you need to know that you need to hear this. 9.5/10

ARIA Singles Top Ten/Chart Review: 6th July. Jason Derulo gives out some "Savage Love" to go number one

So I guess I kind of expected this week to be busier than it actually was, mainly due to all the new releases for New Music Friday last week but that wasn't to be however it was busy in our top ten this week so let's go straight to that where after six weeks, we have a new number one that being "Savage Love" by Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo, it's Jawsh 685's first number one hit in Australia and Jason DeRulo's third (Yes, I am a little blown away by that fact to be quite honest), it got to number one mostly because of sales and streaming.

"Savage Love" rising to the top pushed "Rockstar" by DaBaby feat. Roddy Ricch down to number two as it lost out on sales and on Apple Music to "Savage Love". Whether or not it can get back to number one is an open question.

Which is not the case for the rest of the top ten which begins at number three with "Roses" by Saint Jhn which fell one place to number three mostly because it's finally losing ground on sales and streaming.

"Breaking Me" by Topic and A7S remains stuck at number four mostly because while it's stable on both sales and streaming, it's not doing enough to surpass the songs in front of it.

"Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles continue to claw its way up the charts up one place to number five, it's getting sales on board and streaming is not that far behind, it could climb further if songs ahead of it start weakening, it blew past "Blind Lights" by The Weeknd which is bleeding on streaming and once sales really start falling away, this song will be gone.

"Rain on Me" by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande remains at number seven mostly because streaming is still hanging on for this song, likewise sales. It's a similar case for "Rover" by S1mba feat. DTG remaining at number eight.

The big story within the top ten though outside of the new number one which is the rise of "What's Poppin'" by Jack Harlow which rose to number nine from 38 due to a remix feat. DaBaby, Tory Lanez and Lil Wayne, I don't see this sticking around in the top ten as it's not the most sustainable gain and there are some people who are unhappy ARIA haven't credited the remix on the chart this week...here's the thing with that, ARIA didn't credit Nicki Minaj when the remix helped Doja Cat's "Say So" get a boost or Beyonce on "Savage" by Megan Thee Stallion so not sure why this should be any different.

Finally dropping one place to number ten is "Go Crazy" by Chris Brown and Young Thug which will benefit if "What's Poppin'" does fall off unfortunately.

Gains

So I have already talked about the massive gains for "What's Poppin'" by Jack Harlow to number nine. Nea's "Some Say" got a big boost to 33 up from 50 last week as it looks set to become a hit even if sampling "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" by Eiffel 65 is not the most ideal way to a long term music career.

Losers

Most pleasingly the biggest loser this week was Soundcloud Waifu's "Gooba" which fell from 31 to 43...good....the sooner it's gone the better the charts will be for this song's disappearance from it.

"Go" by The Kid Laroi feat. Juice WRLD got hit hard down from 24 to 32 this week while "Ily" by Surf Mesa feat. Emilee collapsed six places to 29 and the utter boring crap that is "Toosie Slide" by Drake fell from 17 to 22...good.

Also taking a hit is "Ur So Effing Cool" by Tones and I down five to 49, "In Your Eyes" by THe Weekend also plunged five to 40 while "Say So" by Doja Cat dropped five to 25.

Drop Outs

So we had two drop outs this week with both maybe a chance of year end list with "The Scotts" by The Scotts and "Bad Child" by Tones and I gone. Fine with that, don't really care for "The Scotts" and "Bad Child is fine enough but it wasn't going to be a massive hit.

New Entries

So we have two new entries this week with Blackpink's disappointing new single "How You Like That" the highest new entry at number 12. Like with BTS, this song is going to fall off hard next week either down to the 40s or out of the top 50 altogether, that just seems to be what happens with k-pop on the Australian singles chart.

The song that has the better chance of sticking around is "Standing with You" by Guy Sebastian at number 23 thanks to sales, just wish Australian music knew how to get on the streaming train and actively promoted Aussie music on Spotify and Apple Music because streaming is what really stopped this song from being a top ten debut and I fear that will be the same for The Veronicas new single.

Anyway that wraps up the week, next week may see a posthumous mini album bomb from Pop Smoke and from what I have heard, the album is not good, also maybe The Veronicas new single but we'll find out at 5pm on Saturday when ARIA updates the chart.

Rating the number ones on my birthday Part 1: 1987 to 1999

So I thought this would be fun to do, I trawled back through to the day I was born which was 16th February 1987 and listed the songs that were at the top of the Australian singles chart the week of my birthday from 1987 to now and because it is so long, I do need to do this in parts so 1987 to 1999 is up first before we hit up 2000 through to 2020. Most of the comments are kept short so this isn't too long.

So let's keep it moving and dig into 1987 first...!

1987: “You keep Me Hangin’ on” by Kim Wilde

The production has aged badly on this one but hey it is still a solid cover of the Supremes song, one of several covers that Kim Wilde has done in her music career. 7/10.

1988: “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes

Another song where the production hasn’t aged well but this one has become a classic thanks to the movie “Dirty Dancing”. I don’t really love it but I don’t hate it either. 6/10

1989: “Teardrops” by Womack and Womack

This year had two number ones on my birthday, mainly because the Australian Music Report and ARIA were both publishing charts at the time but I elected to talk about this one because this is probably the best of the three songs from the 80s, I love the groove and this feels like it hasn’t aged as badly as “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”. 8/10

1990: “Love Shack” by The B-52s

A BONAFIDE PARTY CLASSIC AND I WILL HEAR NO SLANDER OF THIS SONG! Although the female vocals can get a little annoying but damn this song is a party and a half. 9/10

1991: “I’ve Been Thinking about You” by Londonbeat

Oof. Early nineties R ‘n’ B and an early hint of the R ‘n’ B explosion of the mid-nineties, that said “I’ve Been Thinking About You” is the sort of song with groove and spark that most songs today can only dream of and I do love the vocal harmonies 8/10

1992: “Let’s Talk about Sex” Salt-n-Pepa

A song that probably got common use in classrooms as an inroad to sex education with teenagers. Again…this song is a load of fun but sends an important message to have that conversation about the birds and the bees…7/10

1993: “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston

A cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” that rips away the understated nature of the original to instead come across as incredibly cheesy and overwrought. I know they wanted to show off Whitney’s powerful vocals but come on there was no need to turn a Dolly Parton song into making me want to vomit. 3/10

1994: “Give It Up” by Cut ‘n’ Move

I think I prefer the KC and the Sunshine band original and can somebody answer the phone that’s ringing in the back of the mix on the chorus? Pass. 5/10

1995: “Another Night” by The Real McCoy

Ooh a dance song from the big beat era that is not completely annoying. I like this a lot. Just wish I could understand what the man is singing about, he is a way too low in the mix or trying to impersonate the lead vocalist from Right Said Fred but yeah this song has a groove and energy that is a lot of fun  7/10

1996: “Wonderwall” by Oasis

I honestly always have mixed feelings about this one. Yeah, the Gallagher brothers were dicks around that time, but “Wonderwall” is nigh on a 90s classic. 8/10

1997: “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt

While still good, this wasn’t No Doubt’s best song from the Tragic Kingdom album,” Sunday Morning” was much better but “Don’t Speak” is still a good song and Gwen Stefani proved a really good front woman for the band. 7/10

1998: “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion

This song from the overdramatised James Cameron movie “Titanic” is in the same category as “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston and the fact I heard it at year end school assembly two years running is enough to make me want to never hear this song again while actively vomiting into a toilet. 3/10

1999: “Believe” by Cher

We finally come across a song where the cover done in 2017 by Australian group The DMAs is much better than the original. The production on the original by Cher has not aged well and Cher shrieking “Do you believe in life after love” gets stale damn fast. 4/10

New Music Friday review: Boys don't cry so stick that in your country song, Girlfriend!

I am reviving New Music Friday review because the past week has delivered so much damn great new music that deserves attention and I do not want to see get lost between the cracks. Spanning Eric Church to Megan Thee Stallion to Dan Owen, we got some amazing music so let’s start with…Charlie Puth?

 

“Girlfriend” by Charlie Puth

So Charlie Puth was busy releasing music last year which, for most part, people ignored, it wasn’t good and felt like most of the songs were at least two steps down in quality from the best songs on “Voicenotes” but his new single “Girlfriend” could be considered right up there with “Done for Me” (feat Kehlani) or “If You Leave Me Now” (feat. Boyz II Men), this song has slick pop grooves that go on for miles and features some of the best hooks that Puth has written in ages, if you are looking to satisfy that sweet tooth, there’s no better place to start then with this song.

Rating: 9/10

 

“Boys Don’t Cry” by Dan Owen

UK singer-songwriter Dan Own is an artist I have been following for awhile now, his 2018 album “Stay Awake With Me” is one of my favourite albums for that year, since then he has released a folk EP and collaborated with UK country act Ward Thomas however “Boys Don’t Cry” is the lead single from a new album and well…if this is a sign of things to come…well I am looking forward to that sophomore album because for one thing “Boys Don’t Cry” still is signature Dan Owen in sound but the lyrics delve into mental health stereotypes/stupid belief that boys/men don’t cry because men crying is seen as weak and Owen acknowledges that hiding raw emotion and tears is hard to hide so wouldn’t it be easier to let that emotion out with the support of others there.

Rating: 8/10

 

“Stick That In Your Country Song” by Eric Church

Going from Dan Owen to the new leadoff single for American country rock singer Eric Church might seem like whiplash but it kind of feels natural to talk about “Stick That In Your Country Song” next mainly because it feels like Eric Church is making a statement with this song in terms of challenging the rest of mainstream country who right now aren’t releasing the most challenging material rather sticking to songs about beer, bars, girls, trucks and tailgates rather than singing about anything of substance like teachers doing it tough with very little funding or issues facing rural America. Church wants more substance to country music than the stock standard clichés typical of the mid 2010s bro country movement and stopped doing what country is so good at which was telling those stories of rural America. This song is quickly becoming one of my favourites of 2020, check it out!

Rating: 9/10

 

“Girls In the Hood” by Megan Thee Stallion

So quite honestly if I am looking for female rap, I don’t look to Nicki Minaj anymore, Nicki’s music has become more about advertising than anything that is actually music so more often than not I have looked toward Meghan Thee Stallion because yeah, I still think “Savage” is a pretty damn good song and as for her new single “Girls in the Hood”? Well it’s certainly braggadocious with Megan rapping about her lavish lifestyle, clapping back at her haters and challenging the somewhat patriarchal cannon that is rap music (could argue in music across the board honestly) all while flipping Eazy-E’s “Boys in the Hood”. Its not anything revolutionary but it’s still a great song. Hope this is a hit for her.

Rating: 7/10

 

“How You Like That” by Blackpink

If you ever want to hear a case of a song having blown it’s potential, it’s right here with Blackpink’s new single, there’s a lot to like about the verses and the bridge, there’s promise there but that chorus has to be one of the more poorly produced choruses of the year with it’s rattling electronics etc, it just doesn’t work at all. Again, before the stans get upset with me, it’s not Blackpink themselves that are the problem, it’s the production they are put over that is the issue.

Rating: 5/10

 

“Standing with You” by Guy Sebastian

So no, I am not going to discuss Guy Sebastian being apart of Prime Minister Scott Morrison or the most recent issues involving his manager, I am going to write about his new single “Standing With You”, a song that is getting traction  on iTunes right now and in the realm of Guy Sebastian songs its not quite as catchy as “Choir” or even “Before I Go”, it’s a ballad that while is growing on me, I’m not sure this is going to have any real staying power on the charts, that said given how well “Choir” did last year, that remains to be seen. Objectively the song is fine, if you like a good empowering ballad than this would be the song to go for.

Rating: 6/10

So that wraps up the new music reviews in full other songs to check out include:

• "Team" by Rory Noble
• "Greed" by Tash Sultana
•  "I Miss You. I'm Sorry" by Kita Alexander
• "Overkill" by Holly Humberstone
• "I Cry" by Usher
• "Say Something" by Eskimo Joe.

Few week updates: Trying to find time to work on my best hit songs of 1998 list, obviously with coming out of COVID lockdown has meant that there's less time to work on pet projects etc.

2000 Sound: 2nd July. Kylie has the chart spinning around to her newest number one hit.

So if you can't tell already, we are in a pretty rough period for the ARIA singles chart right now, there are some terrible songs on the chart and in a way we kind of got a break from the onslaught of awful at the top because we got a new number one with Kylie Minogue's new single "Spinning Around" debuting at the very top of the chart this week, it's Kylie's fifth number one single in Australia, it comfortably dislodged "Who the Hell Are You" by Madison Avenue which slipped back to number two this week as it bled on sales...finally.

That also means that "Freestyler" by Bomfunk MCs is probably the next likely number one even though it remained at number three this week which is unfortunate because the song still sucks however in good news, there was a two place drop for Sisqo's "Thong Song" which took a well deserved two place dive to number four, I want to see this gone sooner rather than later.

Also in the picture for a shot at number one soon is Anastacia's "I'm Outta Love" despite only a one place gain to number five but this song has momentum on it's side going beyond the next few weeks, hell it blew past "There You Go" by Pink which slipped two places to number six and "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi which tumbled two places to number seven.

"Never Be The Sam Again" by Mel C and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes fell one place to number eight. Toni Braxton's "He Wasn't Man Enough" staged something of a recovery up one place to number nine while on the way out is "Shine" by Vanessa Amorosi down two places to number ten.

Gains

I am not at all impressed that Jessica Simpson got a ten place gain with "I Think I'm in Love With You" to number 20...I mean come on...give your song a distinctive melody rather than jacking "Jack & Diane" hardcore. Sheesh.

Also it's not a good sign that Limp Bizkit got a twenty place gain to 29 with "Take A Look Around"...come on Australia, there's better rock than this that deserves to chart!

Also having a gain off it's debut is "So Real" by Mandy Moore" which rose five to 22 this week. Fine enough and it's the best of the gains this week...I guess..

Re-Entries

Killing Heidi are back at number 30 with "Love Without It" (a song from "Reflector" I really don't like like) while Lo-tel return with "Teenager of the Year" at 37.

Losers

Of the songs that reached the top ten and are on their way out, Chicane's "Don't Give Up" featuring Bryan Adams gave up eleven places to 34 this week while Leah Haywood's "We Think it's Love" plunged from 33 to 50...ouch.

Also taking a nasty drop was "Around the World" by Aqua which hit the skids down from 35 to 47 while "Lonesome" by Unwritten Law looks like not sticking around as it dropped nine to 45 while "Crash and Burn" by Savage Garden fell down eight places to 46.

"Ex-Girlfriend" by No Doubt slipped from 26 to 38 this week as it appears headed for the exit while US hit "Bent" by Matchbox Twenty unfortunately took a hit down to 36 this week as did S Club 7's rather gooey ballad "Two In A Million" which dropped to 33 and Kaylan's "Rock Me All Night" rocked down eight to 28.

New Entries

We got a lot of new arrivals outside of the new number one "Spinning Around" by Kylie Minogue. A collab between American music superstar Whitney Houston and rising Latino heartthrob Enrique Iglesias called "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" has debuted at number 24, this song could steam the charts up a fair bit...wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a hit.

Snoop Dogg is back on the the chart this time presenting The Eastsidaz with a song called "Got Beef". I don't see this one sticking around, sadly for Snoop, but it's in at 27.

A song that is rising on the UK charts is new at 41 in Australia this week, it's called "It Feels So Good" by Sonique while at 43, the Backstreet Boys are back with a new single from their album "Millennium" called "The One"...I'll be shocked if "The One" is a hit just quietly, it's not quite as catchy as some other songs from that album.

So we have our obligatory rock entry this week, this time it's from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers with 
"Californication" debuting at 44, I can see this sticking around. RHCP fans are pretty good about making sure Red Hot Chilli Peppers have some longevity on the charts.

Finally Irish family act The Corrs are in at number 48 with "Breathless"