ARIA Singles Top Ten/Chart Review: 1st March: Love Songs ain't for 9pm, Martin & Gina!

 So my bad feelings about popular music in 2021 are increasing mostly thanks to this week where we got a couple of shifts that point to some bad signs ahead and honestly the bad news starts right from the top where "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals took the number one, it's got streaming on lock right now and sales are fine. It pushed past "Drivers License" by Olivia Rodrigo which pretty much slipped across the board on sales and streaming.

However it stayed above  "Without You" by The Kid Laroi which returned to number three switching places with "Calling My Phone" by Lil Tjay and 6Lack

"The Business" by Tiesto at number five and "Save Your Tears" by The Weeknd at number six remained steady. I am not sure if these two songs will get any higher but we'll see. 

Much to my annoyance "Goosebumps (remix)" by HVME and Travis Scott climbed two places to number seven. Just why this audio nightmare is climbing is beyond me.

The last three songs are all hits that are fading naturally with "Mood" by 24K Goldn and Iann Dior down one place to number eight, "Levitating" by Dua Lipa and DaBaby down one to nine and "Head & Heart" by Joel Corry and MNEK down one to number ten

Gains

Well at least "Up" by Cardi B is up seven places to number 12 while "Astronaut in the Ocean" by Masked Wolf up a massive 22 places to 25.

Fleetwood Mac rebound six places to 30

Losers

"Afterglow" by Ed Sheeran and "Willow" by Taylor Swift both slipped nine places. "Afterglow" to 33 and "Willow" to 37. 

Sadly "Prisoner" by Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa slipped eight to 40 and in not so sad news "Holy" by Justin Bieber feat. Chance The Rapper also down eight to 41.

Finally in disappointing news, "Good Days" by SZA went down six places to 18.

Drop Outs 

The drop outs aren't surprising with "Love Story (Taylor's version)" by Taylor Swift, "My Ex's Best Friend" by Machine Gun Kelly feat. Blackbear and "Take You Dancing" by Jason DeRulo gone.

New Entries

Three new entries this week, we start off with...

50. Martin & Gina by Polo G

Okay so I don't how this happened or how it got here now in February 2021 when this was a minor hit in the USA last year but hey I'll take it. Polo G is an American rapper, singer and song writer hailing from Chicago with this song being the best song from his album "The Goat" because yeah "Martin and Gina" is fantastic with it's sweet guitar rollick and Polo G comparing his relationship with this girl to a couple amed Martn and Gina from a US sitcom called "Martin". I am so glad this finally turned up on the Australia charts. Let's make this a hit...I'm down for it.

45. Your Love (9pm) by ATB, Topic and A7S

Sigh...another song going down the path of remembering late 90s dance, this time this song samples wholesale from ATB's 1999 hit "9pm (Till I Come)" and honestly I feel like while this song is fine it might well have the same thing for me as "Breaking Me" which I actually got really tired of toward the end of 2020 (I blame the overplay on radio a lot) and there's just not enough re contextualization of the sample which makes me feel like I'd rather listen to the original and even then I don't like the original so yeah...this gets a skip for me.

22. Love Songs Ain't for Us by Amy Shark feat. Keith Urban 

Another single from the upcoming sophomore album from Amy Shark called "Cry Forever" which is released on 30th April, this time with Keith Urban on board and Ed Sheeran with a co write on the song and boy, you can absolutely tell this is a Ed Sheeran song in the writing that said Amy Shark delivers the song well and when that chorus hits with enough almost country swell to make it work. I kind of like this probably more than I should. I will also say that it's unfortunate that Keith Urban wasn't given a verse on the song, this song had duet opportunities to explore from both Amy and Keith's perspectives. 

I am giving worst of the week to "Your Love (9pm) by ATB, Topic and A7S...that song does nothing for me. Best is going to "Martin & Gina" by Polo G because I'd love to see that song get big...its damn good.

Next week...I'm not sure, it could be a pretty quiet one but we'll find out on Saturday at 5pm AEDT

New Music Friday Review: 3, 2, 1... Stop for a Minute

"3, 2, 1" by 24kGoldn

So 24kGoldn is going to eventually have to expand on making rip offs of "Mood" and as much as I like the ridiculous "Coco" feat DaBaby...that song feels and sounds like "Mood" with different lyrics so how is 24kGoldn's latest effort called "3, 2, 1"?

Well it's about as catchy as you'd expect from 24kGolden but the lyrics feel like the same subject matter as "Mood" where 24kgoldn is cussing out this girl as he is confused over her feelings toward him and lying even with the rock production sounding good here. I am getting the feeling that 24kGoldn needs to change up his material soon. Also why does this song sound like Fall Out Boy merged with Panic! At the Disco?

Rating: 6/10

"Overdrive" by Conan Gray

I made no secret of my disdain for "Maniac"...I wasn't comfortable with the lyrical sentiment of the song at all and I wasn't so crash hot on the album "Kid Krow" either so I wasn't expecting much from Gray's new single "Overdrive" but it turns out the song is really damn good. There's a pop sensibility to the song that makes the song work so much better than previous songs like 'Maniac".

"Overdrive" sounds incredibly big as a pop song possibly can as the lyrics talk about escaping from the worries of the world and freedom all while finding love unexpectedly. It's actually reminiscent of a lot of the pop I heard in the early 2000s. I like it!

Rating 8/10

"To The Island" by Crowded House

So here's the second single from the upcoming 7th Crowded House studio album called "Dreamers Are Waiting" which is released on 4th June and honestly I actually like this one a lot! This actually feels like Crowded House have dipped a little bit into the sound of Split Enz as Neil Finn sings about escaping to an island...the song was written pre pandemic but honestly I think that has been everyone's wish to escape to an island during this pandemic, right?

Look, just check this out, it's good. 

Rating: 8/10

"Way Less Sad" by AJR

What is not good is A fucking J fucking R. Seriously? How is it that this shit is into their FOURTH fucking album cycle where by the writing is still skin crawlingly repulsive and makes the band sound like bloody Kevins (I don't know the name of the make version of Karens) and it's not like the music here redeems anything and the gang vocals make this sound even more generic and worthless like its stuck back in 2017. Just listen to anything else other than this.

Review: 2/10

So uh...I kind of saved the best till last.

"Stop for a Minute" by Polish Club

Now this is more like it. This is the catchiest pop rock song I have heard in ages and mainly because I feel like this song reminds me a LOT of Mariana's Trench although I will stress Novak doesn't quite have the vocals of Josh Ramsey but still this thing is a banger straight out of the late 80s just recorded in 2021 but still this is damn awesome and a lot of fun. 

CHECK THIS OUT!

Rating 9/10

Good 1992 Vibrations: 23rd February Mustang Sally slow that Mustang down Euphoria Loves You Right at Number One

What a frustrating week this was...but let's not waste any more time and get straight into the top ten where we have a brand new number one courtesy of Euphoria's "Love You Right". now it got to top spot because it managed to keep up it's sales momentum...Honestly I'm not that happy about this song being number one but ehh, at least "Saltwater" by Julian Lennon which rose two places to number two and looks like it may well challenge for number one sooner rather than later...I hope...

All this pushed "Let's Talk About Sex" by Salt 'n' Pepa off the number one spot back to number three as it's sales fell away and means its coming under significant pressure from "Justified and Ancient" by The KLF up three places to number four which is great...pleased that this is doing so well.

However it's rise puts "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" by George Michael Elton which slipped two places to number five this week as the song peaked on sales. 

Staying steady at number six is "Smells Like Teen Spirit"  by Nirvana which really is consistent on sales right now nothing more however that wasn't the case for Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" as it slipped two spots to number seven.

Rising one spot to number nine is Big Audio Dynamite II's "The Globe" which is becoming quite the hit right now while staying at number ten is Ce Ce Peniston's "Finally"

Gains

We have a lot of gains this week so let's begin at number 11 and work our way down because I am thrilled that "Remember The Time" by Michael Jackson is catching on as it climbed from 18 to 11...it'll be top ten soon, folks.

The same can be said for "Tip Of My Tongue" by Diesel which rose seven places to number 12...again, excellent.

What I'm not so thrilled about is that "Diamonds & Pearls" by Prince & The New Power Gaeneration jumped from 21 to 13...seriously?

In one of the bigger surprises of the week though, U2's "Mysterious Ways" got a second wind and jumped from 24 back into the top twenty at 18. I'm find with that I like the song.

"Dizzy" by Vic Reeves & The Wonder Stuff jumped eleven places to 24 off it's debut last week as did Crowded House's "It's Only Natural" jumped from 49 to 41, both these getting healthy rises is great but why on earth did "Don't Talk Just Kiss"by Right Said Fred leap from 40 to 27? Wasn't "I'm Too Sexy" embarrassing enough for you all?

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Jimmy Barnes got a ten place boost to 28 while "I Can't Dance" by Genesis climbed nine spots to 47.

Losers

Richard Marx looks to be on the way out with "Keep Coming Back" down nine spots to 48 while "No Son of Mine" by Genesis skidded six to 50.

Color Me Bad's "All 4 Love" plunged ten spots to 38...Good. "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred had his sexy meter fail taking a crash from 29 to 35. 

Diesel's "Come to Me" slipped six places to 29 while "Black or White" by Michael Jackson stumbled seven to 18.

New Entries

Four new entries to sift through this week, let's begin with....

47. "Feel So High" by Des'ree

So this is the debut single for British singer songwriter Des'ree, it peaked as high as 13 on the British official charts so of course, it would take until late February for the song to make its way onto the Australian charts but anyway it's here so what did we get? Honestly, not impressed, that percussion slathered all over the top of the song kills it and distracts from Des'ree herself and yeah she's got a nice vocal delivery and all but when the production is this clunky and this lazy, it ruins what could have been a solid song. Next!

46/ "Stars" by Simply Red

Well here's another song that was on the UK charts in 1991 and only just hitting the Australian charts now, "Stars" is the second single from Simply's Red album entitled 'Stars", it got as high as number eight in the UK so I was curious about this one especially as Simply Red have had consistent hits now for a couple of years and yeah, this one is probably the most wistful yet dreamy I've heard Mick Hucknall on a Simply Red song with instrumentation to match. I love how the guitars interplay to create this dreamy sense of atmosphere with Hucknall crooning his way through the song hoping his special other hears him. I'll take it!

43. "Mustang Sally" by The Commitments/Andrew Strong

So I thought we were all done with covers for a bit until I looked up the origins of this song, turns out it was originally written and recorded in 1965 by Mack Rice, the song got picked up and covered by Irish singer Andrew Strong for the film "The Commitments' and yeah I like this! It's catchy, plenty of fun and Strong delivers the lyrics well, I can see why the film loved the song. Good job by Andrew. Hope this sticks around.

42. "Cool Jesus" by Maybe Dolls

So here's the follow up to "Nervous Kids" from Maybe Dolls and I'm not really feeling this? The instrumental is fine enough but the vocals from Loene Carmen don't really stir anything or grab my attention, this feels like it needed some stronger vocals. Just saying.

That completes our week and the worst fell out easily this week...that's going to "Feel So High" by Des'ree while the best is going to Simply Red for "Stars" just ahead of "Mustang Sally" by The Commitments.

ARIA Singles Chart Top ten/Chart Review: 22nd February. Love Story of Calling My Phone

 This week saw the top ten see something of a clean out and unfortunately, it looks like some of the quality that was in the top ten got replaced by...well....ugh...you'll see, it's rough however what's not so rough is that "Drivers License" by Olivia Rodrigo spent a sixth week at number one however its leaking ground on both sales and streaming which makes "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals a player for number one as its got streaming on side for a run at number one next week.

A new entry at number three for American rapper Lil TJ and 6lack with a song called "Call My Phone". Now apparently this became a thing off a tik tok meme but more about that later however this song got some insane streaming tis week that saw it debut so high.

It disrupted the top ten though with "Without You" by The Kid Laroi pushed back to number four as it just lost out on streaming/ The same goes for Tiesto's "The Business" down one to number five although I expect this song to stick around...unfortunately.

However up one spot to number six is "Save Your Tears" by The Weeknd thanks to good streaming although it probably gained because "Mood" by 24kGoldn and Iann Dior tumbled two places to number seven.

Also down two spots is "Levitating" by Dua Lipa feat. Dababy to number eight as it gracefully looks set to leave the top ten

Arriving to the top ten for the first time and is the unpleasant turd that is "Goosebumps (remix)" by HVME and Travis Scott up five places to number nine. Only one word for this...ewww.

Returning to the top ten is "So Done" by The Kid Laroi at number ten up one spot from last week.

Gains

Biggest gain of the week belongs to Ava Max with "My Head & My Heart" up to 12 spots to 29 which is some good news as I still really like the song. That was the only major gain outside of the top ten.

Losers 

Biggest loser of the week belonged to "What You Know bout Love" by the late Pop Smoke which tumbled ten spots to number 43.

A slew of songs fell six places including "Take You Dancing" by Jason DeRulo to 45, "Dynamite" by BTS to 42, "WAP" by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion to 34 and "Therefore I Am" by Billie Eilish to 31

Drop Outs

A bunch of 2020 hits fell off the chart including "Savage Love" by Jawsh 685 and Jason DeRulo, "Don't Start Now" by Dua Lipa, "For the Night" by Pop Smoke and "Midnight Sky" by Miley Cyrus

The only song I'd say is a bit of a non starter that fell off was "Monster" by Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber

New Entries

Five new entries on the chart this week, we begin with....

47. "Astronaut In the Ocean" by Masked Wolf

So this is your very definition of sleeper hit, this song was released 18 months ago only for it to blow up on Tik Tok this year, it's by a little known Australian MC who goes by the rap name Masked Wolf and well...this song is interesting mostly because the chorus reminds me a lot of what Juice WRLD was doing before he died while his flow on the verses reminds of Eminem, he is quick and while there's no real story here other than Masked Wolf showing that he has overcome mental health problems, he could have built the story a little better and the song itself feels pretty short but this is still better than I expected coming off it blowing up on Tik Tok so yeah check this out if you are curious.

27. "We're Good" by Dua Lipa

So Dua Lipa released the deluxe edition of "Future Nostalgia" and I got to be honest as somebody who loved the tightness of the pop on the standard edition of the album...the extra songs really didn't anything for me and "We're Good" kind of falls into that category of not having the tightness to it that makes for a great Dua Lipa song, it's not precisely bad but given what was on Future Nostalgia, disappointment hurts here.

21. "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" by Taylor Swift 

So here's the first of the newly recorded Taylor Swift songs with the first album to be re recorded and released to be "Fearless" on April 9th with Taylor's first Australian number one in 2008 "Love Story" the first re release single and...well I actually like this more than the original...for one thing the new version strips out a lot of the syuthetic elements that didn't mesh at all with Taylor's vocal and gives the song a much more organic country sound which is fantastic so yeah I am okay with this version. Good job Taylor. Now to if you can make "You Belong With Me" tolerable for me, you'll be doing brilliantly.

15. "Cover Me In Sunshine" by Pink and Willow Sage Hart

Well then...I didn't see this coming especially as this is the best performing Pink song in a long time but put Pink in a studio with her nine year old daughter to record a song aimed at making people smile during a pandemic and I think there's a reason it debuted as high as it did because yeah less not mince words this is adorable and the production is acoustic guitar that can sound country if you squint. Yeah I'm not going to dunk this song, it is adorable and achieves what it sets out to do which is make people smile during a tough time in the world right now. Nice job from both Pink and Willow.

3. "Call My Phone" by Lil Tjay and 6lack

So the second hip hop song to get big on Tik Tok comes from two American rappers although it is mostly Lil Tjay's song with 6lack handling the hook all about the end of a relationship and Lil Tjay trying to make it clear to a girl that it's over and it's time for her to leave him alone and move on although it's not a good look when Lil Tjay says he might buy his 'new bitch' Dior (really, give yourself some time to get over the break up!)

Look the song is fine from a production standpoint even if it does sound a Pop Smoke song at points. I'll take it even if it's really only a solid song rather than excellent.

So that wraps up our week and there's no real clear stand outs one way or the other, I'm giving worst of the week to "We're Good" by Dua Lipa purely for being the most disappointing of the five new entries. Best goes to "Cover Me In Sunshine" by Pink and Willow Sage Hart just edging out "Love Story (Taylor's Veraion)" by Taylor Swift.

Next week: something from that deluxe edition release of Ariana Grande's album "Positions" and maybe the collab between Amy Shark and Keith Urban but we'll find out on Saturday when the chart updates at 5pm AEDT

New Music Friday Review: 12th February: What it feels like when only love can save me now

 "Only Love Can Save Me Now" by The Pretty Reckless feat Matt Cameron and Kim Thayil

So this seems to pretty likely to be the next single from the recently released The Pretty Reckless album "Death by Rock n Roll" this time bringing on board Matt Cameron of Soundgarden and Kim Thayil of Pearl and also Soundgarden for this song as The Pretty Reckless are big fans of Soundgarden.

There was a reason for bringing the members of Soundgarden on board because this song is basically a homage to Soundgarden and the band's frontman the late Chris Cornell. The whole song souds like it's straight out of the 90s grunge era and Pretty Reckless frontwoman Taylor Momsen sounds fantastic. Also that guitar solo from (I think) Matt is AWESOME. Check this song and indeed the rest of that Pretty Reckless album, it's something special.

Rating: 9/10

"Take Me Away" by Morgan Wade

So American bluegrass, pop and rock singer Morgan Wade caught my attention late last year with "Don't Cry" and with this song...all I can say is don't sleep on Wade's album "Reckless" when it is released in March so yeah I am literally putting this here as a reminder to you all to check this amazing artist's work out and oh yeah, the song "Take Me Away" is outstanding.

Rating: 8/10

"What It Feels Like" by Nipsey Hussle and Jay Z

So I am a bit leery of writing about the work of artists released after they have died, mostly because I am always concerned that any new release is cashing in on the legacy the dead artist left as we've seen with XXXtentacion and Juice WRLD (Yes, it's getting to that point with Juice unfortunately) so this new song involving Jay Z and the late Nipsey Hussle kind of bothered me but than I learned that the track has been in the making when Nipsey died, it's taken eight years for the song to be released so was the wait worth?

Well...I think it was, I love the instrumentation and the energy that both Jay Z and Nipsey Hussle bring to the song, I don't think this will be a hit but it's still excellent and well worth your time checking out.

Rating 8/10

"Big" by Rita Ora, David Guetta and Imanbek feat. Gunna.

Okay...stop...just stop! Why do pop acts especially ones like Rita Ora feel the need to have the underwhelming presence of Gunna on their songs? I mean I half expect this sort of crap from Bebe Rexha's next album if that's ever going to happen but anyway back to this song and really...it's rubbish, the production squishes Rita Ora's vocals into this flat as hell monotone that's completely uninteresting combined with production from Imanbek and David Guetta that is really dime a dozen and doesn't fit at all with the song's title.

The song sucks is what I am trying to say. It's not the worst thing I've heard but wow...it's on the list of suck.

Rating: 3/10

Good 1992 Vibrations: 16th February. It's Only Natural that I'm Dizzy.

 So this week was interesting to say the least even if the top ten was partially stagnant and we only had three new entries but let's begin with the top ten because we've got an interesting battle going on but this week saw "Let's Talk About Sex" by Salt 'n' Pepa remaining at number despite a drop in sales, its now facing a challenge from 'Love You Right" by Euphoria which is gaining on sales but just not enough to take the number one spot...yet.

"Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me" by George Michael & Elton John remained at number three mostly because it couldn't close the margins to the songs above it but it also means its under pressure from "Saltwater" by Julian Lennon which rose one spot to number four, this song has some momentum behind it and could be a player for number one soon.

Also rising one place to number five is Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" while "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana climbed two spots to number six as "Justified & Ancient" by The KLF remained steady at number seven.

However most of the above gains can be explained by the sudden collapse of "Cream" by Prince and The New Power Generation which tumbled four slots to number eight. Ouch.

We have two new arrivals to the top ten this week with Big Audio Dynamite II"s "The Globe" Breaking it on up five to number nine while Cece Peniston's "Finally" finally broke into the top ten up three slots to number ten

Gains

Let's deal with the good news first with the good to great debuts last week having massive gains like  "Remember The Time" by Michael Jackson rocketing from 42 to 15 and "Tip of My Tongue" by Diesel bolting up nine to 19!

The bad news is that Clivilles & Cole's bastardisation of U2's "Pride (O the Name of Love" rose nine to 16, "If You Go Away" by NKTOB jumping twelve spots to 26 and "I adore mi amor" by Color Me Badd jumped from 31 to 27 for no adequately explained reason.

Re Entries

Just the one re entry and that was from Sabrina Johnston with "Peace" at number 41

Losers

Again most of our big losers are 1991 songs with "All 4 Love" by Color Me Badd thankfully sliding six spots to 28, "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred (more on Right Said Fred in the new entries) down nine to 29, Roxette's "Spending My Time" slipped from 24 to 32, "Do Anything" by Natural Selection tumbled from 26 to 34, "There Will Never Be Another Tonight" by Bryan Adams down six to 36, "No Son Of Mine" by Genesis down nine spots to 44 and "Change" by Lisa Stansfield down seven to 47.

"Once Bitten, Twice Shy" by The Angels slipped seven spots off its debut last week to number 50.

New Entries

Three new entries this week, let's start with...

49. "It's Only Natural" by Crowded House

So here's the third single from Crowded House's album "Woodface" and yeah, this is excellent, granted its an oddly cheery upbeat song about death and reuniting wherever we go after we die. The guitars sound as organic as ever and Neil and Tim Finn's vocal harmonies are stunning as they are on several tracks on the album! Check this out!.

40. "Don't Talk Just Kiss" by Right Said Fred

Seriously? We indulged "I'm Too Sexy" as the weird novelty crap that it was and now we've got a second song from Right Said Fred on the chart and this is way worse than "I'm Too Sexy" because for one the lead vocals lack any charisma or personality that might make the song interesting and as for the lyrics...don't Talk, just kiss and let your tongue fool around" I think I'll pass on that. Ew. Skip this song.

35. "Dizzy" by Vic Reeves and The Wonder Stuff

"Dizzy" was originally a 1969 hit for Tommy Roe which peaked at number two so of course in 1992 the thing to do is have a cover recorded by comedian Vic Reeves and alternative rock band The Wonder Stuff and I actually like Vic Reeves version a lot better. 

The original felt too cloying plus that production has not aged well and sweet and I am not convinced that Tommy Roe sells the frustration of the song all that well.

However Vic Reeves and The Wonder Stuff give the song a bit of energy and bombast to turn it into this really fun rock jam plus it feels like Vic Reeves nailed the frustration and confusion of the lyrics a heck of a lot better. Check it out, it's not bad.

It's not that best of this week though, that's going to Crowded House for "It's Only Natural". Right Said Fred get worst of the week with "Don't Talk Just Kiss".

Next week...we could see a change for number one but we'll have to wait and see. 

ARIA Singles Top Ten/Chart Review: 15th February. Save Your Tears, Up goes The Business

Another pretty quiet week this week and I am not sure how much more weeks of consecutive quiet we are going to get (seen this week's avalanche of new releases yet?) but let's not muck around and get stuck into the top ten where for a fifth week, it's "Drivers License" by Olivia Rodrigo, it's dominant across the board...on sales and streaming, nothing got near it in this past week.

"Heat Waves" by Glass Animals, stuck at number two, just can't match "Drivers License" on streaming and it's leaking on sales. The same could be said of "Without You" by The Kid Laroi at number three but it's sales and streaming are still decent.

Look, i am not happy about "The Business" by Tiesto rising four places to number four and has strength across the board, this song just sounds miserable to me, I have no idea who appreciates those horrible vocals.

Both "Mood" by 24k Goldn and Iann Dior at number five and "Levitating" by Dua Lipa feat. DaBaby at number six. The latter should get a gain next week of the back of the release of the deluxe edition of "Future Nostalgia" but otherwise with it losing streaming I think we can expect to see this song take its leave soon.

Rising eleven places on the back of The Weeknd's Super Bowl performance is "Save Your Tears" at number seven, time will tell if it's streaming can hold up because it's going to need to given sales have already fallen off.

"Fly Away" by Tones and I suffered on streaming with high sales not enough to save it dropping four places to number eight.

Down two spots to number nine is "Head & Heart" by Joel Corry & MNEK, this song is starting to fall away gracefully now.

Also down two spots is "Good Days" by SZA, now come on, this song deserves to be in the top five of this chart...its gorgeous!

Gains

Pretty quiet week overall on this front but there was a seven place gain for "Prisoner" by Miley Cyrus feat. Dua Lipa to 27, "Paradise" by Meduza feat. Dermot Kennedy jumped four spots to 19,  "Best Friend" by Saweetie feat. Doja Cat up five to 35 and "My Head & My Heart" by Ava Max up six spots to 41.

Re Entries

Just the one re entry with "For the Night" by Pop Smoke back at 50.

Losers

Well there was only really the only major loser which was "Take You Dancing" by Jason DeRulo which slipped six places to 39.

Drop outs

No complaints here with "Breaking Me" by Topic feat. A7S and "The Difference" by Flume feat. Toro Y Moi dropping out.

Hitting the charts elsewhere

So like last week, we only have the one new entry to the ARIA singles chart so let's check out a song that is rising up the UK charts and could well do the same in Australia but we're going to Canada...

49. On the Canadian Billboard Hot 100: "I'm Not Pretty" by JESSIA

So here have 20 year old unsigned Canadian artist Jessia who has a top 50 hit in Canada with this song thanks largely due to virality on Tik Tok and it's not hard to see why the song took off on Tik Tok, "I'm Not Pretty" is insanely catchy and it's got a solid alternative pop rock groove to it and JESSIA sings with plenty of attitude and gusty...reminds me a bit of fellow Canadian Avril Lavigne to a certain extent. Check this out. 

Getting back to the ARIA singles chart though....

New Entries

20. "Up" by Cardi B

This is Cardi B at her most ridiculous...flexing on her haters and having fun courtesy of a song that leans into the Chicago drill sound (drill becoming more popular in mainstream hip hop) and is full of instantaneously quotable lines like "If I had a dick, you'd probably lick it like a lollipop" which is actually pretty hilarious. All in all if "WAP" and "Up" are examples of what is on this upcoming Cardi B sophomore album, I'm keen. Bring it on.

Next week: Pink's collab with her nine year old daughter, Taylor Swift's rerecording of "Love Story" and just maybe a breakthrough for The Pretty Reckless...we'll find out next week when the chart updates at 5pm AEDT on Saturday

New Music Friday Review: 5th February Glad You Exist is What GLAM! People Say

 Okay...first off before we dig into some reviews, I must apologise for it being so late this week..mostly because I haven't felt inspired to write anything for a lot of the new stuff that appeared on Spotify's New Music Friday playlist especially when you consider I don't cover what is likely to chart here, the choices are limited here but I did manage to pull out a few releases worth a few words so here goes..

"What Other People Say" by Sam Fischer and Demi Lovato

So what the hell is Demi Lovato doing? She's released song after song with there being no sign of an album coming any time soon and it's not like any of the songs she has released have had any kind of chart run or success, it feels like she's just releasing music for the sake of it (granted a lot of artists are due to the fact they cannot tour because of the pandemic) so why not team up with Australian singer/songwriter Sam Fischer for a song about caring about what other people have to say about them.

The problem is that Demi is an overwhelming vocal presence on the track that you'd barely know Sam is on the track, it really should have been credited as being by Demi Lovato featuring Sam Fischer because she really does steal the show. It's not a bad song but both Demi and Sam have done better.

Rating: 6/10

Onto something a bit brighter and very much 80s inspired....

"GLAM!" by Allie X

So Allie X, a Canadian indie pop singer/songwriter who has been around for a large part of the 2010s and into the 2020s, returned with this track from the upcoming deluxe edition of her underwhelming "Cape God" album and my god, Allie X might just have joined the category of acts that do The 1975 sound better than the actual The 1975, Allie X has got the sound down pat here and she sounds great over this mid to late 80s style production with the slightly modern touch. Love it!

Rating: 8/10

Time to turn down the energy for some boyfriend country

"Glad You Existed" by Dan & Shay

At some point, Dan & Shay are going to have start writing interesting songs that are a little more than bland pop country, sure "Tequila" is pretty good but they've not really impressed me at all since then so with this new song and I don't know, the production is closer to pop than country and the lyrics play to them being glad their loved ones exist but I don't know it just feels like typical polite Dan & Shay fodder where it's not particularly bad but it's at all interestingly.

Rating: 6/10

Good 1992 Vibrations: 9th February. Tip of My Tongue Loves You, Right?

So a week where there's SEVEN new entries and plenty of movement up and down the chart (some of it good, some of it pretty terrible) however let's get stuck into the top ten first where things might be starting to get interesting even with "Let's Talk About Sex" by Salt -n- Pepa spending a third week at number one and while it's still pretty strong, it's going to come under some pressure from Euphoria's "Love You Right" which climbed three places to number two...I wish I understood the appeal of that song.

"Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" by George Michael and Elton John remains steady at number three. I kind of want to say this is still a player for the top spot but it feels like its hanging back waiting should either song above it collapse.

What is on it's way out is "Cream" by Prince and the New Power Generation which slipped two places to number four...more on Prince and the New Power Generation later in the new entries. 

In the most surprising news of the week, Julian Lennon's "Saltwater" climbed four places to number five. It's not a bad song and right now given where 1992 is trending, I'll take it.

"Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen climbed four places to number six mostly due to the film "Wayne's World" and it's placement in the movie which is utterly hilarious by the way.

Also staying in it's slot is "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana at number eight.

"Black or White" by Michael Jackson collapsed five places to number nine which is unsurprising (there's something we'll get to related to this song in the new entries) while "Ain't No Sunshine" by Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines slipped four places to number ten. Both songs are on the way out...bit of a pity as both songs are damn good to great.

Gains

The biggest gain of the week belongs to the pretty tepid and bland ballad "If You Were With Me Now" by Kylie Minogue and Keith Washington and also rising hard was "If You Go Away" by NKTOB as it climbed eight places to 38...WHY?

The other major gain probably also falls in the category of not good with Freaked-Out Flower Children's "Spill the Wine" up six places to 34.

The one gain I am delighted about is "One Word" by Baby Animals "One Word" up eight places to 15...that is just AWESOME.

Losers

So ALL of the losers this week are1991 songs that are making their way out like "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby" which collapsed down from 29 to 47, Gang Starr's "Lovesick" which slipped from 33 to 46. C&C Music Factory's "Just a Touch of Love (Every Day)" lost a lot of love plummeting from 27 to 41.

Lisa Stansfield's "Change" dived from 26 to 40 and "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred is heading south down nine to 20. 

New Enties

So we have a tonne of new entries this week so I am going to endeavour to keep my thoughts on these pretty short...starting with...

49. "I Can't Dance" by Genesis

I have an odd relationship with Genesis, I don't mind some of their eighties material even if I find Phil Collins solo work to be mostly mediocre at best (hey, that's being kind...I know people who absolutely despise his music) however "I Can't Dance" being the second single from their album called "We Can't Dance" behind "No Son of Mine" which peaked at 29 in 1991.

So how is "I Can't Dance"? Honestly, its a pretty catchy goofy number that's not anything close to being serious, it's Genesis poking fun at themselves and the video cements that. I don't mind this, it's a bit of fun. Check it out.

48. "Do You Feel Like I Feel?" by Belinda Carlisle

So looks like this week is replacing the bland ballads of last week with up tempo numbers with this song being the second single from Carlisle's album "Live Your Life Be Free" and honestly I want to like this song more than I do...Belinda Carlisle's vocals and the delivery don't match the energy of the song, she doesn't sound as good here as she did on a song like "Summer Rain" or even "Heaven is a Place on Earth" which is a bit of a shame because I do like the music here but even so I don't see this sticking around so let's just move on.

43. "Once Bitten Twice Shy" by The Angels

Ahh finally...some Australian rock courtesy of The Angels except that it's a cover of a 1975 song from Ian Hunter and this just isn't doing anything for me at all especially as I don't really care all that much for the original, look, The Angels have done better even as recently as  1990's "Beyond Salvation" but here the vocals are grating as all hell without having any of the visceral power and the music itself is pretty ehh... I am going to forget this exists beyond "Good 1992 Vibrations"

42. "Remember The Time" by Michael Jackson

So we're dealing with Michael Jackson twice this week, we'll get to the other thing a bit later but "Remember The Time" is the second single from "Dangerous" and honestly I really like this. Michael Jackson is delivering the kind of performance where his charisma shines all over the track and the production is honestly pretty great using that new jack swing to great effect and the lyrics play to the reminiscing about the moment of meeting and falling in love with someone. This is good! Hope it does well!.

28. "Tip of My Tongue" by Diesel

Oh look more Aussie music, this time leaning into more of the pop/rock sound coming from Diesel and another single from the impressive album :"Hepfidelity" and look, this might well be one of the best singles from that album, I love how the guitar matches his nervous energy as Diesel sings about the moment he wants to express his feelings to this girl, he knows in his heart what he wants to say but can't find the way to say, its right there but for whatever reason he can't. Also that guitar solo is fantastic. Check this song out!

21. "Diamonds & Pearls" by Prince & The New Power Generation

Ohh boy...Prince is another act I have mixed views on, I love a LOT of his 80s sound, he brought an energy to his music that I got swept up with songs like "1999", "Raspberry Beret", "Lets Go Crazy" etc however I'm sorry I don't like "Cream" AT ALL...that hook just rubs me up the wrong way so for the follow up, we get this and I'm sorry even if the critics are rushing to praise this, I just can't, Prince sounds flat here and ends up getting outshone by his female backing vocalist Rosie Gaines who sings her nut off and doesn't go with the flat, lowkey vibe of the song which is weird because its a song all about offering up love yet it feels I'm listening to a funeral. Pass.

Finally...

18. "Black or White (Clivilles & Cole (C&C) Remixes)" by Michael Jackson

Oh come on...I dealt with Clivilles & Cole last week and their horrendous butchering of U2's "Pride (In the Name of Love)"...I really didn't want to have to deal with them again this week and considered leaving this out given that I love the original version of "Black Or White" and that its a 1991 song but we may as well deal with the remix here and look...this remix is HEADACHE inducing and manages to make Michael sound like a chipmunk here. Yeah this is garbage.

It's also easily the worst song here given the second worst song new this week is forgettable/mediocre. As for the best...it's a toss up but I'm giving this to "Tip of My Tongue" by Diesel over "Remember the Time" by Michael Jackson, both are really damn good though. 

ARIA Singles Top Ten/Chart Review: 8th February. The Business of My Head & My Heart

 So we have a cool down week here where we find out what is settling in to become smash hits long into 2021 and while we'll get to the bad signs in our gains in a second but there's some positives in our top ten like "Drivers License" by Olivia Rodrigo holding on to the number one spot for another week, this song looks pretty comfortable at the top for now, it's got streaming and sales for now as I don't see what in the top ten right now could challenge it.

It's comfortably ahead of "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals which remains at number two as it lost out on sales and its streaming has not been able to match that of "Drivers License", the same goes for "Without You" by The Kid Laroi which thankfully remained stuck at number three despite it's parent album "F*** Love" going to number one on the ARIA albums top 50 and meant that The Kid Laroi is now the youngest artist to have ever taken the number one spot on the ARIA album chart.

Rising two places to number four is "Fly Away" by Tones and I, it needs to get streaming back onside in order to rise much further but it got to number four on good sales numbers and decent if not robust streaming.

Well it got ahead of "Mood" by 24kGoldn and Iann Dior which slipped to number five as it's losing ground in all channels now as is "Levitating" by Dua Lipa feat DaBaby which also stumbled one spot to number six although I expect this will get a boost following the release of the deluxe edition of "Future Nostalgia" on February 12th.

In good news, returning to the top ten is SZA's "Good Days" rising five places to number seven, this song appears to be doing well even if Australia radio is ignoring it unfortunately.

Cracking the top ten this week is Tiesto's "The Business" which also jumped five places to number eight. Sigh. I just don't like this song and think the vocals sound absolutely miserable.

"So Done" by The Kid Laroi remains at number nine while Justin Bieber's "Anyone" stays at number ten

Gains

The gains are a mix of good and bad. The good being that "Streets" by Doja Cat jumped from 27 to 14 this week and I'll also take "Save Your Tears" by The Weekend up eleven to 18.

However why is HVME's atrocious remix of Travis Scott's "Goosebumps" up six to 16 or "Best Friend" by Saweetie feat Doja Cat up eight spots to 40. Ugh. 

"Looking for Me" by Paul Woolford, Diplo and Kareen Lomax rose eight to 32 because of course it did.

Re Entries

Just the one return this week with "My Ex's Best Friend by Machine Gun Kelly and Blackbear back number 46

Losers

The biggest losers are off the back off the Hottest 100 with Flume's "The Difference" feat Toro y Moi down 18 down to 41, "WAP" by Cardi B and Megan The Stallion down to 25,

Drop Outs

Both "Get on the Beers" by Mashd n Kutcher feat. Daniel Andrews and "I'm Good?" by Hilltop Hoods left and probably won't be back either.

New Entries

So we've only got the one new entry to discuss so how about we check in with a song that's rising in Belgium before we get to it...

Number 18 in Belgium: "Strangers" by Laura Tesoro and Loic Nottet feat. Alex Germys

So to explain both Laura Tesoro and Loic Nottet are household names in Belgium, both have competed for Belgium at Eurovision. Laura with "What's the Pressure" and Loic with "Rhythm Inside', they linked up with fellow Belgian Alex Germys who is a producer for this song and...this is solid stuff, it's got a solid groove and Loic and Laura have a decent chemistry and those harmonies for the chorus are outstanding. The song tells the story of a relationship where the love has clearly gone out of the relationship and now it feels like they are two strangers sharing the bed. Its a mid tempo song that hooks the listener in. Give it a listen, it's not bad!

Getting back to the ARIA singles chart and our only new entry of the week....

47. "My Head & My Heart" by Ava Max

Oh thank god this finally showed up, Ava Max is absolutely killing it in Europe with "Who's Laughing Now" breaking into the top ten in Belgium and I have been wondering when Australia is going to give her another top ten hit after "Sweet but Psycho" in 2019, well here's 'My Head & My Heart" a song that interpolate's the ATC 2000s classic "All Around the World (La La La La)" and does it well that it honestly makes this song a lot of fun, the lyrics describe a confrontation Ava Max has had with an ex and she can't get it out of her head and now wants him to repair her broken heart. I'll take this, let's take this opportunity to give Ava Max a hit this time, hey, Australia?

So that wraps up this week on the singles chart. Next week, it looks like Cardi B's new single and the collab between Sam Fischer and Demi Lovato will show up but we'll see when the chart updates on Saturday at 5pm AEDT

Good 1992 Vibrations: 2nd February. If you were with me now to talk about sex

 We got a busy one here this week...the top ten changed a fair bit and we got some...interesting...shifts and new entries that said not all of those shifts were for the better but anyway let's get stuck into it beginning with the top ten where the top two didn't shift at all with "Let's Talk about Sex" by Salt-N-Pepa remaining at number one for a second week, it held up strong over "Cream" by Prince and The New Power Generation mostly because "Let's Talk About Sex" sales are pretty strong as "Cream" may well be starting to slide a bit on sales.

That could leave room for "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me" by George Michael and Elton John to make a play for number two at least as it climbed one spot to number three, this song has potential to be a number one hit as its still building strength, hell it marched right past "Black or White" by Michael Jackson which slipped one spot to number four as sales slowed.

Holding it's place at number five is Euphoria's "Love You Right"....kind of annoyed by this mainly due to not liking the song all that much. Also holding steady is "Ain't No Sunshine" by Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines at number six...this cover has grown on me a bit, Deni sounds great on this.

The big mover in our top ten though and one I am delighted about is "Justified & Ancient" by The KLF climbing from number eleven to seven this week, seriously...this song has a chance at going top five. 

Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" climbed one spot to number eight because it looks like being a grunge classic, it moved past "Saltwater" by Julian Lennon which slipped back to number nine.

Also joining the the top ten is Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" up two spots to number ten.

Gains

CeCe Peniston's "Finally" broke into the top twenty up eight places to 15 while Kate Bush's cover of Elton John's "Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to be a Long, Long Time)" climbed twenty one spots off its debut last week to 28...nice to see as it's a decent cover.

Unfortunately what also climbed off it's debut last week is "I Adore Mi amor" by Color Me Badd up sixten places to 30!. Guys, we do not need this miserable shit of a song to be a hit. Fuck it off.

In much better news, Naughty by Nature's "O.P.P" climbed twelve places to 36 which is really damn good news.

Re-Entries

Boom Crash Opera are back at number 50 with their EP called "Dreams on Fire"

Losers

This week saw continued losses for the hits of 1991 like PM Dawn's "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" down nine spots to 47, "Lovesick" by Gang Starr which tumbled from 25 to 33, "When Something is Wrong With My Baby" by Jimmy Barnes and John Farnham slipping from 22 to 29, "Rush" by Big Audio Dynamite II which skidded down from 37 to 44, "Just Like You" by Robbie Nevil down twelve spots to 39 and "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred down five spots to 11 (effectively getting replaced in the top ten by a far better song too...just saying)

However there were also losses for 1992 songs with "I've Had You" by Jenny Morris which is losing grip down ten to 39 along with crap like "Martika's Kitchen" by Martika which collapsed from 29 to 42...thank goodness, "Spill the Wine" by Freaked-Out Flower Children spilling eight slots to 40

New Entries

Five new entries this week starting with

48. "Peace" by Sabrina Johnston

So Sabrina Johnston, an American soul singer, who is having some success in the UK with this song and honestly this isn't bad, she sells it well and the production is a bit what you would expect for the early nineties especially given the era of big doofy dance beats but this song is so big it really comes together quite well and Sabrina's vocals almost convince me that this could have been a gospel song although I will say the pronunciation of  'peace' does get pretty damn annoying at points but still, this is pretty good. 

48. "If You Go Away" by NKTOB

So I've never really cared for New Kids on the Block, I always have found their writing to be the worst kind of patronising and pandering eg: "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" is probably the biggest example of the patronising garbage NKTOB have come up with but anyway here's their new single and yeah the patronising nonsense is back only the chorus throws in added guilt tripping in the chorus in spite of the fact that this girl would have every right to walk away from him if he has hurt her. 

Throw in the production being this bland piano percussion heavy thing and yeah...there's a reason NKTOB have never impressed me at all, it's slurry pop music aimed at pleasing their fanbase...pass!

41. "If You Were With Me Now" by Kylie Minogue and Keith Washington

So the second of the ballads new to the chart this week and I got to be honest this feels like Kylie replacing Jason Donovan with American singer Keith Washington taking Donovan's role and I am just not convinced that these two have any chemistry whatsoever. The song itself is this pretty piano and strings ballad that probably should hit harder than it does with two people being apart and wishing they could be together...its not all that bad but this could have worked even better if it were two singers who had some vocal chemistry...that's all.

38. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Jimmy Barnes

Jimmy Barnes covering a 1967 Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell classic for his album Soul Deep released last year and honestly I actually kind of like this...its not ever going to be magic that Gaye and Terrell created but this is still really damn good for what it is, the production and Jimmy respect the hell out of the original all while Jimmy still manages to put his own spin on the song and you know what if covers were more like this then hell, they might just make my best list. Nice one, Jimmy.

However we're finishing with a cover that should not exist at all with...

25. "Pride (In the Name of Love) by Clivilles & Cole

Okay, Did this really need to happen? Did we really need a cover of what is one of U2's best songs where Bono sings that chorus with so much passion in his voice that it's infectious with the guitars and drums backing him the whole way. This cover from American record producers Clivilles & Cole which turns a song about civil rights on both sides of the coin into an electronic beepy mess and no, Deborah Cooper's vocals do not have the power or the passion to carry a song like this. This is what would happen if rock songs being attacked by the Imagine Dragons was a thing in 1992.

It's easily the worst of the worst week while  Jimmy Barnes just edges out Sabrina Johnston for best of the week with "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"

New Music Friday Review: 29th January. All You Ever Wanted was a Girlfriend so C'est La Vie

"C'est La Vie" by The Killers

No, this is not the lead off single for that album that's apparently coming from The Killers this year, this is from their deluxe edition of "Imploding the Mirage" and as somebody who is becoming a fan of The Killers thanks to that last album, I am glad "C'est La Vie" is not the lead single for that next album because to put it in a polite manner, this song is a mess to the point where Brandon Flowers does not sound good here at all and the instrumentation is all clunky and not all in line with how amazing the rest of "Imploding the Mirage" was.

Avoid this song if you possibly can...

Rating: 4/10

"All You Ever Wanted" by Rag 'n' Bone Man

Fair to say that I wasn't looking forward to hearing this song given what Rag 'n' Bone man had done in the past especially with how "Human" just faded harder than the bluff and bluster of a certain former US President so I pretty much went into this with no expectations whatsoever so how was "All You Ever Wanted" by Rag 'n' Bone Man?

Holy shit! I was not expecting this from somebody like Rag 'n' Bone Man of all people, he has pivoted toward more of the rock sound that The Killers embraced on "Imploding the Mirage" and my god he does it so damn well...it sounds awesome and was one of the best new songs that was released on Friday. Check this out!

Rating: 9/10

"Girlfriend" by Rebecca Black

It's been pretty clear for awhile now that Rebecca Black is trying to walk the path of being a serious musician since she was some marketing mob's plaything when "Friday" escaped into the public consciousness so I was curious to check out this song and yeah, its a pretty damn solid pop song that Rebecca sounds good over this production and lyrics about getting back with a partner (in this case, Rebecca's girlfriend) so yeah this is a decent pop song. Might be time for people to start taking Rebecca Black as something more than the "Friday" song girl.

Rating 7/10

"Higher" by Clean Bandit feat. Iann Dior

So we have the first Clean Bandit in awhile, they've brought on board Iann ior for this one so after Dior's feature on "Mood", I was weirdly optimistic that this one would turn out alright and yeah...this is pretty good, the only issue I have is with the production that's occasionally louder than the vocals but yeah there's a bounce and groove to this song that works well and Dior's delivery matches the production well even if it reminds me in parts and the harmonies at the end work well...it's just a nice song to have around...good job Clean Bandit and Iann Dior

Rating: 7/10

"Everything We Need" by A Day to Remember

I'll keep this short. A Day To Remember has been treleported to the world of the Imagine Dragons and looks highly unlikely to comeback, although this song reminds of that One Republic song "Something I Need" and I didn't like that song either. Not going to enjoy hearing this in shitty car commercials and phone company ads.

Rating: 2/10

Finally...something I need to address...

I will not be reviewing songs released from the soundtrack of the film "Music"

Normally I would not refuse to write about a song that come from an unexpected source but I won't be reviewing the song that was released on Friday from the soundtrack for "Music" due to the issues that I have with this film eg: a film about autism that has no actual autistic actors cannot be authentic to what autistic people experience (only got to look at the music videos for a song like "Together" to discover that they aren't at all friendly to autistic people with sensory overload), the use of prone restraint to deal with a meltdown in the film, Sia's unwillingness to listen to those who are actually autistic and their justified and well thought out criticisms of the film and I am concerned that this film might play into some romanticised and Hollywood styled stereotypes and tropes about autism.

That is where I feel comfortable leaving it for now. Go watch films about autism that have real representation of autism not this Hollywood stylised representation of it.