ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: October 6th

 So I am going to enjoy this week as much as I can because yeah...next week is the Taylor Swift album bomb and it's not going to be pretty at all (nor are my thoughts on that particular album but that can wait) and it none the less will cut a swathe through the top ten next week however we do have this week's top ten to dive into first so let's do that, shall we?

For yet another week "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remains at number one probably for it's final week as it lost ground on sales and streaming, it will obviously get wiped from number one next week but it's still decently strong.

It held up over "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean at number two which seems the most likely to take number one post Taylor Swift album bomb. The rest of the top five held steady as well with "Ordinary' by Alex Warren at number three, "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe at number four and "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number five.

New entry at number six wth "Tit For Tat" by Tate McRae, now we'll talk about this song's quality later but it's here thanks to some terrific streaming through the week, I am not sure this is going to stick around so high though however it did push "12 to 12" by Sombr back one to seven, "Your Idol" from K-Pop Demon Hunters down one to nunmber eight and "Back to Friends" by Sombr to number nine.

Completing the top ten rising six places to number ten off the back of a boost thanks to the release of the album is "Nice to Each Other" by Olivia Dean...we have more Olivia Dean to talk about later.

Gains

As far as gains go outside the top ten, we did see a huge fifteen place come for "Where is My Husband?" by RAYE to sxteen this week. This song has hit written all over it but other than that no other major gains. 

Losers.

It was a rough week for Sabrina Carpenter with "House Tour" down sixteen to forty six while "Tears" is proving to be something of a disappointment as it slipped nine to twenty one. 

"Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran slumped nine to forty eight.

Drop Outs.

Three drop outs this week with Chappell Roan seeing the exits of both "Good Luck Babe!" and "The Subway" while Sabrina Carpenter's "Go Go Juice' also took it's exit.

New Entries

Three new entries this week. 

41. "Lady Lady" by Olivia Dean

I guess I didn't realize that Olivia Dean had gotten this big, she has four songs on the chart right now including two new songs from her new album "The Art of Loving" and Olivia has been a breath of fresh air on the charts in 2025. This song being the first of two new Olivia Dean songs on the chart and well...this is probably the weaker of the two songs, it's still damn good...it's just the instrument feels kind of oily and the lyrics play to Olivia getting used to changes in her life. It's fine but when the next song exists, it's definitely a weaker cut from the album.

27. "So Easy (To Fall In Love)" by Olivia Dean

Now this is more like it! A smoother jazzy cut where Olivia Dean muses on how easy it is to fall in love and be attracted to somebody and how happy she'd be walking with a man she loves through Central Park, it's a blissful. cozy song that makes me want to curl up by a warm fire with this on repeat. This will play well for Valentines Day and even over the Christmas period. Gorgeous song, check it out!

6. "Tit for Tat" by Tate McRae

I don't think it's any secret that I am not a fan of Tate McRae, her voice generally does nothing for me at all and I still have a pretty big intolerance for "You Broke Me First" but I was curious about this song as I am about most songs that debut in the top ten as top ten debuts have been rare this year and well...this isn't as bad as McRae's previous hits mostly because of that cool, watery production that better supports Tate's voice, it sounds nice even though Tate is telling a guy she is done with him after seeing the way he behaved but she doesn't really go into a lot of detail other than hinting at cheating which makes the song lose some of its pathos for me. Decent song.

No worst of the week again this week because I actually don't mind all three of them however the best of thr week is easy with "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean.

Next week...we have to deal with Taylor Swift and The Life of a Showgirl album bomb...it's about to get very messy. 

All 4 1994: 2nd October Always Lay Your Fantastic Voyage On Me

 We have one hell of a fascinating  week at hand here mostly because the top spot isn't one percent certain for next week but anyway lets get to the top ten where "Confide in Me" by Kylie Minogue spent a third week at number one...again, it's future at number one is looking shaky as it lost its sales margin. 

Right behind it, up four places to number two is "Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey, this song has a head of steam going and looks set to make a play for the top spot next week. The same could be true of "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry up one spot to number three while "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet got something of a second wind up one to number four. 

All-4-One slumped two places to number five with "I Swear" as it begins its graceful descent while "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men climbed one spot to number six.

"Swamp Thing" by The Grid had the biggest fall inside the top ten down four places to number seven while "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories  remained at number eight. 

Returning to the top ten is "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John rising three places to number nine..YAY! 

Finally "Rockin' For Myself" by Motiv 8 feat. Angie Brown slipped back one spot to number ten. 

Losers

Some long term songs that have stuck around longer than you might expect are finally getting the death rattle with "Hey D.J" by Lighter Shade of Brown down fifteen to fifty this week and "Don't Turn Around" by Ace of Base down eleven spots to forty nine. 

Similar case for "Letitgo" by Prince which tumbled eleven to forty eight and "Shine' by Collective  Soul which skidded from twenty seven all the way down to forty (it does have a year end spot wrapped up though)

Francis Dunnery's "American Life In the Summertime" slipped seven to thirty two while "Hands Out of My Pocket" by Cold Chisel is seeing it's hands sliding back into a pocket as it slumped eight places to twenty one. 

Gains

Some decent sized gains this week, let's start with the unchained seven place movement to number thirteen for "Chains" by Tina Arena, this song is potentially heading for a stint in the top ten which I wouldn't nind. 

However I do mind that "Gimme" by Boom Crash Opera got a huge boost up from forty two to twenty nine...why? 

At least Babyface's "When I Can See You" got a good ten place boost to thirty nine. 

New Entries

Six new entries this week beginning with....

46. "Lay Your Love on Me" by Roachford

So Roachford is back wtth yet another single straight out of his own somewhat acoustic r'n'b and you know what? I might like this song even more than "Only to Be With You"! This song seems to have this nervy tension about it with Roachford urging this girl to lay all her love on him especially as it's hit a point in their relationship where the talking isn't enough anymore and he wants something more from the relationship only she isn't sure. The only issue I have is were the handclaps really necessary? Otherwise great song!. 

45. "Fantastic Voyage" by Coolio

Third single from Coolio with thhis one sampling 1980s "Fantastic Voyage" by Lakeside and yeah, this groove goes off! I love it however that sumptuous groove and melody belies tbat this song is actually about the dream of escaping urban black poverty and dreaming of a place where his kids can play without the fear of a drive by shooting. All up it's actually a pretty sad song but yeah, I think this one is worth a listen, check it out. 

43. "Red Light Avenue" by James Reyne

The lead single from James Reyne's album "The Whiff of Bedlam" and another pretty damn good song this week although I will say this ballad is a strange choice of lead single as this song's content is dark, this is about somebody doing anything they can to make ends eg: selling out be it through prostitution, drugs or even a child selling candy...yeah this is a sad one but ultimately  I think it's one of James Reyne's best, check it out. 

42. "No Matter What You Do" by Olivia Newton-John

Ahh the return of Olivia Newton-John to the charts with this pretty standard "I love you and will stand by you no matter what you do" track because that's just pretty much what this sosng is and that weirdly trying to be hip for 1994 production is doing nothing for me whatsoever. Pass. 

26. "Tomorrow" by Silverchair

Now we have a debut from three Newcastle teenagers courtesy of this song from the EP also titled "Tomorrow" and well...this is as grungey as anything you'll hear out of Seattle from Soundgarden or Nirvana especially wirh the vocals from Silverchair's frontman Daniel Johns but those guitars just help drive the song home, as for the content, it appears to be a conversation between a very wealthy man and a man who is doing it tough, Damn good song but I think it's going to have a fight to be the best of the week. 

16. "Always" by Bon Jovi

Ending this week with more rock, this time from American band Bon Jovi except this is more of a piano ballad with some of the most dramatic and ridiculous language I have ever heard from this band. "This Romeo was bleeding but you can't see his blood"...what the hell is that even supposed to mean? That's all before we get to the hook where Jon Bon Jovi shrieks in the most nasal tone possible "Annndddd IIIII WILL LOVE YOU BAYBEEE FOR ALLLLWAAAYS", talk about clingy and over dramatic! 

That ends the week on a bit of a sour note but yes "Always" by Bon Jovi is getting worst of the week. Best however is tougher because wow, four of the six are damn great songs, I am going to give it to "Red Light Avenue" by James Reyne...just ahead of Silverchair and Coolio

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: 29th September

So very little changed this week that I almost wondered whether it was worth doing this episode but turns out we got two pretty good brand new entries so I guess that makes this worth doing but let's get through this top ten quickly because there really isn't a lot to say. 

"Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remains at number one for yet another week as it as strength on sales, Youtube and even still some strength on streamng although that has ebbed a little bit courtesy of "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean at number two which with the album release on Friday could make a strong play for the number one spot. 

These top two don't look like being knocked off at this point right now, there's a healthy gap back to "Ordinary" by Alex Warren which held steady at number three, it was a similar case for "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe at number four, "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number five and "12 to 12" by sombr at number six. 

Then we get to the little bit of movement in the top ten with "You Idol" from K-Pop Demon Hunters up one to number seven, it pushed back "Back to Friends" by sombr to number eight. 

:How It's Done" from K-Pop Demon Hunter jumped three places to numnber nine while "Daisies" by Justin Bieber remained at number ten for another week (go figure, it's one of the better songs in the top ten). 

Losers 

Not too much in the way of losers this week although we did see a twelve place slide for album cut "Go Go Juice" by Sabrina Carpenter to forty eight and a seven place dip for "Jealous Type" by Doja Cat to forty seven (this should get something of a rebound next week thanks to the album dropping on Friday)

"House Tour" by Sabrina Carpenter slipped seven to thirty. 

Gains

The biggest gain of the week belonged to "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez which got an eight place rebound to forty one but that's the one major gain this week.

Re-Entries

Three re-entries this week with "Good Luck, Babe!" back at forty two and "The Subvway" at fifty both for Chappell Roan.

While "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter returned at forty eight.

Drop Outs

Five drop outs this week headlined by "The Door" by Teddy Swims taking its exit to the on replay singles chart. 

Also gone is "The Dead Dance" by Lady Gaga and three Sabrina Carpenter album cuts with "My Man on Willpower", "Sugar Talking" and "Goodbye"/

New Entries

Two new entries this week, starting with...

45. "Folded" by Kehlani

About time this turned up on the Australian charts,  this song is becoming a sleeper hit in the US and I got to be honest, I am glad it is because I think this is Kehlani's best song to date with swell of the multi tracked vocals doing a masterful job with the gentle guitar touches and Kehlani actually sounding fantastic  The content of this song is pretty much Kehlani telling this guy that she has his clothes folded and they are ready for him to come over and collect if he is ready but there's this undercurrent of sexual tension that serves this song well...I dig it either way...good song.

31. "Where Is My Husband?" by RAYE

So I am going to bust out some disappointment that "Suzanne" with Mark Ronson wasn't the hit it should have been earlier this year, come on folks, that song is great and deserved all the acclaim...ugh...moving on because we have Raye's new single here and man, I have never seen a song that feels like it's equipped to be absolutely huge as the year winds down especially with that monster hook and how the song feels like a throwback to the soul of the 60s just given a new lick of paint from Raye to make it fresh and modern, it's a fascinating song even with her singing verses quick in parts that I am not always convinced works but when the song is this infectious,,,who cares.

Raye is getting best of the week for "Where is My Husband?"/ No worst of the week because I don't think "Folded' by Kehlani deserves that, that song is good too!

All 4 1994. 25th September. Gimme A Fly Girl

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ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 22nd September

 A slow week on the chart with no new entries this week and for as much as ARIA brought in these changes I do have to wonder how much these changes have fixed anything. No new entries and the very top of the charts haven't changed so let's get stuck into the top ten where for yet another week "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remained at number one but streaming is starting to slip so a lot is on that sales margin. 

Remaining at number two is "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean which took the lead on Spotify streaming through the week but does need to start closing that sales margin. Also holding steady at number three is "Ordinary" by Alex Warren and "No Broke Boys" by Disco Linea and Tinashe at number four. 

Also sready this week is"Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters, there's questions around the use of AI around the writing of this song which is pretty disappointing to say the least.

Rising seven places to number six is "12 to 12" by Sombr...so glad the public have realized that this song is absolutely fantastic, hope it goes higher. Sombr also saw "Back to Friends" rebounded four places to number seven. 

"Your Idol' from K-Pop Demon Hunters slipped one spot to number eight while "Tears" by Sabrina Carpenter slumped three places to number nine (this song definitely will fall faster than a lot of people expect).

Dropping two places to number ten is "Daisies" by Justin Bieber which is on the down swing.

Gains

So outside of the gains for Sombr in the top ten, we saw a six place gain to twenty for "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae while "The Door" rebounded eight spots to thirty for Teddy Swims while "Gabriela" by Katseye got a nine place boost to thirty one.

"Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran rode a twelve place album boost to thirty four for Ed Sheeran and that was about it for our big gains this week. 

Re-Entries

Three retirrns this week, just a shame that none of them are precisely good, "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone is back at fifty, "What I Want" by Morgan Wallen and Tate McRae at forty eight and "Sports Car" by Tate McRae returned at twenty seven. 

Losers

Most of the big losers are Sabrina Carpenter "Man's Best Friend" cuts so lets start with "Sugar Talking" which fell eleven to forty five, "My Man On Will Power" lost all it's will power this week tumbling seventeen spota to forty four, "Goodbye" waved down eight spots to thirty nine and "Go Gio Juice" lost it's mojo down twelve to thirty six,

Drop Outs

So we lost "The Subway" by Chappell Roan which I think is a fucking travesty for the charts in a lot of ways.

Also gone are two Sabrina Carpenter album tracks, those being "Never Getting Laid Again" and "We Almost Broke Up Again Last night".

And with there being no new entries this week that will wrap things up, lets hope we get some new songs injected into chart.

All 4 1994. 18th September Black Book of Endless Love Chains Selling Drama Out of My Pocket

 Well, things just got interesting...it's been a duopoly at the rop for the past couple of weeks and now that duopoly is out on its ear because we do have a new number one, rising a massive thirty places to hit the top spot...it's "Confide In Me" by Kylie Minogue at number one and it got there on those massive sales numbers in a surge so big that previous number one "I Swear" by All-4-One was never going to match as it slipped back to number two. 

The same happened for "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet at number three and "Swamp Thing" by The Grid at number four. 

"7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry remained at number five and "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories followed suit at number six. 

The big victim in all of this is "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters which slumped three places to number seven while "Rhythm of the Night" by Corona climbed two spots to number eight. 

Finally we have two new entries to wrap up the top ten for this week with "Hands Out of My Pocket" by Cold Chisel entering at number nine as our biggest debut of thr week while Luther Vandross has teamed up with Mariah Carey for "Endless Love" which enters the chart at number ten. We'll talk about both songs later.

Losers

Stone Temple Pilots are on the precipice of slipping out of the top fifty this week with "Vasoline" sliding from thirty seven to fifty. 

Green Day's "Long View" fell ten to forty eight (this song really just hasn't gotten going at all). Kulcha's "Don't Be Shy" slumped seven spots to forty seven while "The Ballad of Oz" by Daddy Cool tumbled eleven slots to forty six. 

"Wild Night" isn't going to last much longer for John Mellencamp and Me'shell N'degeocello as it folded fifteen spots to hit forty five. It was also a rough week for "That's The Thing About Football" by Greg Champion as it fell eleven to hit forty four (then again I don't expect this song to stick around).

The hardest fall of the week belonged to Des'ree as "You Gotta Be" utterly fell into a hole down from twenty six to forty two. Roachford was hit with a ten place fall to thirty nine for "Only to Be With You".

Ten place slide for "Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous as it hit twenty nine while "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real Stuntman probably hated to move it down nine to twenty three. 

We did have three songs fall out of the top ten with "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain falling five spots to number twelve, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John slumping from nine to thirteen and " Son of a Gun" by JX crumbled eight spots to fourteen. 

Gains

We had some decent sized gains this week starting with the huge boost for "I Like the Nightlife (Disco Round)" by Alicia Bridges which boogied all the way up from it's debut of forty one up to twenty thanks to the impact of "Priscilla: Queen of the Desetrt"

Another noted boost off the debut was for Jaki Graham's great cover of "Ain't Nobody" wbich got a well deserved bump up from forty three to twenty eight while "Dreams" by The Cranberries also had a decent boost off it's debut as it climbed from fotty two to thirty six.

"Wild Flowers" by Things of Stone and Wood jumped from from forty nine to forty one.

Sadly not all the last week debuts having gains this week are good with "My Enemy" by Culture Shock getting a seven place gain to forty three,

 New Entries.

Six new entries this week, let's get the show rolling with...

49. "Selling the Drama" by Live

We're leading off with Live's lead single from "Throwing Copper" and my god this song is way too on the nose for it to be a 1994 song with lyrics ained at how political and religious leaders try to control the public and yeah, I get it especially if we're looking at the political scene in Australia and around the world. I guess my criticism would come in on the production where sometimes the vocals can get a bit smothered by the guitar riffs etc but still damn good song.

35. "One Night A Day" by Garth Brooks

Like, I said last time when "Stnading Outside the Fire" charted, it's impossible to get a decent quality version of a Garth Brooks song and this one is no different so unfortunately I am not able to review this particular song. 

30. "Black Book" by E.Y.C

So lets go another round with E.Y.C and I guess this is fine if you can ignore how lethargic the production and instrumentation is forcing you to pay attention to the lyrics which are just...wow...toxic much" You tell this girl she can open up to you and tell you whats going because she can trust you then on the hook say "Well girl, I'm taking you out of my black book". Toxic and manipulative garbage..,next!

21. "Chains" by Tina Arena

So the next two songs are ballads and we begin with the lead single from "Don't Ask" and my god, we have a powerhouse of a love song here that just builds and builds into that crescendo at the end. Tina sells the pure joy of being in love with this guy and  being spellbound by being in chains or in love with the incredible backing harmonies that join in on the verses and choruses plus the instrumentation is just perfect here. Phenomenal song.

10. "Endless Love" by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey

Genuine question here: Who was asking for this cover of Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross's sappy 1981 ballad? Mariah's got a good song on the charts right now so this cover feels a little unnecessary but I will give Luther Vandross this, he can sell this even if he is going to get outsung by Mariah Carey...I wish they'd learnt how to harmonise properly on this. At the end of the day, it's just two people declaring their endless love for each other, nothing more nothing less, now can we move on from the sappy please?

9. "Hand Out of My Pocket" by Cold Chisel

Oh here we go...this is more like it, time for some Cold Chisel even if this song doesn't sound like a typical Cold Chisel rocker and  Barnesy isn't screaming his lungs out. It's claimed by Australian music historian Glenn A. Baker that the song was inspired by a horrible incident on Christmas Day where a ousin of Jimmy Barnes who is Hare Krishna decided to hold a self immolation rite in a bathtub...yowsers. Either way while this is good, this really does sound like the band are indifferent to the song, there's not quite the same energy that typically gets Chisel going. That's all I'll say,

As a result, best and worst of the week fall out quite easily. Worst is going to "Black Book" by E.Y.C and best of the week to "Chains" by Tina Arena

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 15th September. The Sabrina Fallout of Dead Dance

 A much more muted week than I'd expected even the recedation of the Sabrina Carpenter album bomb to be slower than normal for most album bombs but also the mere fact Spotify charts were down for a large chunk of the week which meant that we were spared any impact from Justin Bieber's "Swag II" but anyway enough horsing around, lets jump into the top ten where for yet another week "Golden" from K-:Pop Demon Hunters remains at number one much to my frustration, this song has only gotten actively worse over the last couple of weeks especially with that god awful shrill hook.

However we do have an emerging contender to possibly take over the number one spot, it's "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean which climbed four spots to number two thanks gains on streaming and sales. 

It pushed past former number one "Ordinary" by Alex Warren which fell back one place to number three. "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinash held steady at number four while the same is true of "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number five.

Sabrina Carpenter's "Tears" fell back three spots to number six after it's debut last week. Kind of curious to see how this song holds up in  the weeks ahead.

"Your Idol" from K-Pop Demon Hunters climbed one spot to number seven whole "Daisies" by Justin Bieber returned to the top ten climbing three places to number eight.

The last two spots in the top ten are songs from K-Pop Demon Hunters holding their places in the top ten with "How it's Done" at nnumber nine and "what It Sounds Like" at number ten. 

Losers

Alright let's blow thtough the songs from the Sabrina Carpenter album bomb that lost big this week as they really were the only songs to lose big  "Manchild" dropped five spots to number twelve, "My Man On Will Power" by Sabrina Carpenter slipped twelve spots to twenty seven, "Goodbye" collapsed five spots to number thirty one, "Sugar Talking" lost fourteen spots to thirty four, "Never Getting Laid" slumped thirteen to forty one and thankfully the biggest loss of the week belonged to "We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night" which utterly went into a twenty place frree fall to number forty seven. 

Aside from that the continued heart breaking losses for "The Subway" by Chappell Roan this week down another six places to forty four.

Gains

So in a way the chart did reset a bit but I am not overall happy with a few of these gains especially for "Gabriela" by Katseye whicb climbed seven places to forty. Teddy Swims celebrated the news he will headline the NRL's Grand Final pre game entertainment by "The Door" rising seven spots to thirty eight. 

What did surprise me is the twelve place rebound for "Die With a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars to twenty eight, might have to do with the new entry that we will get to but still. pretty weird to me. 

"Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae climbed seven spots to twenty six while "Nice to Each Other" by Olivia Dean jumped nine to twenty one. 

Re-Entries

Just one return this week with"Messy" by Lola Young back at forty nine.

Drop Outs

Only two songs left this week with "What I Want" by Morgan Wallen and Tate McRae gone and likely locked on the year end list unfortunately.

The other to go is "Don't Worry, I'll Make You Worry" by Sabrina Carpenter. 

New Entries

Just one new entry this week so lets dive into...

50. "The Dead Dance" by Lady Gaga

The only new entry comes from the soundtrack of the season 2 Netflix show "Wednesday" and if there was somebody who could pull off a somewhat scary song for a show based off the Addams family than it is going to be Lady Gaga, right? Well, yes and no, this song has some seriously tight grooves and is a bunch of fun to dance to but it doesn't quite pull off the spooky aspect as well as it could  so much so it comes across as more campy and maybe too close to the sound that pervaded Gaga's last album "Mayhem". Overall, I don't hate it but I do get the feeling it should be better. 

All 4 1994. 11th September. My Wild Flowers Dreams Confide In Me: I Love Football and Nightlife

A busy as hell week here and I have to say, things look like they may be headed for a bit of a shake up as we got the return of Kylie Minogue to deal with but she isn't a player in our top ten so let's get to that where for another week "I Swear" by All-4-One ruled the roost but the question is for how much longer. 

"Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet continues to be a like a pimple on a backside remaining at number two, can people please just be done with this gooey nonsense clogging the charts?

"Swamp Thing" by The Grid climbed one spot to number three, it ultimately pushed back "100% Pure Love" bv Crystal Waters back to nunber four

"7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry moved up two spots to number five which was nice to see while "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories lived up to it's name and remained at number six and "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain slumped two spots to number seven.

Rest of our top ten are gains with "Son of a Gun" by JX u[ one to number eight, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" by Elton John up one to number nine and finally "Rhythm of the Night" by Corona climbed one to number ten.

Losers

"Snake Skinned Shoes" by The Black Sorrows as done well to stick around for as long as it has but it's down sevcn place to forty seven and appears to be headed on it's way out likewise for "Alone Like Me" by The Sharp which collapsed ten spots to number forty four.

"Don't Turn Around" by Ace of Base suffered a six place fall down to twenty seven while "Hey D.J" by Lighter Shade of Brown is shouting for the D.J a little less loudly as it slipped eight to twenty four.

Gains

Not much in the way of gains this week with "Regulate" by Warren G and Nate Dogg up eleven spots to twenty but other than that...pretty quiet, most movement stymied by the new entries this week so let's get to that, shall we?

New Entries

A whopping seven new entries this week, let's begin with...

50. "My Enemy" by Culture Shock

Starting off with a weekly dose of Eurodance and its already a bad sign when I am greeted what sounds like a casio keyboard playing a painfully gerneric melody along with vocals that are absolutely buried in the mix and sounds terrible. I won't be revisiting this song anytime soon. Can we do better please?

49. "Wild Flowers" by Things of Stone and Wood

Well this is better.. a piano led song from Things of Stone and Wood that's actually pleasant with the drums really doing a lot of heavy work with the song's content appearing to be a running commentary on how we as humans always seem doomed to repeat past mistakes and the rise of racism with the line that hits asnd resonates the hardest being "Why do Nazis seem to grow like wild flowers?", a troubling question in 1994 and probably even more timely in 2025! Good song all up. 

43. "Ain't Nobody" by Jaki Graham

Now for our regularly scheduled cover of the week, this time this cover is of Rufus and Chaka 1983 song "Ain't Nobody" which went on to become something of a medium hit in the US on the Billboard Hot 100 but didn't cross over to Australia so now we've got a version released by British singer/songwriter Jaki Graham hittinng the charts and I will say I like this a fair bit more because Graham has some real distinctive power and presence on the microphone, she sounds phenomenal here and I love how fresh it sounds, the original does hasn't aged as well as some might hope it as especially sound wise. I'll take this though!

42. "Dreams" by The Cranberries

So The Cranberries are an Irish rock act that apparently released this song in late 1992 and went on to appear on the band's debut album "Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We" and yeah, this song is legitimately great, I love how distinctive in sound to the point the melody washes over you and then there's frontwoman Dolores O'Riordan who vocally just makes her presence on the mic known, she sounds so good here and given the song is about her first love back in Ireland it makes sense that she sounds lovestruck and to a point giddy. Yeah, check this out!

41. "I Love the Nightlife (Disco Round)" by Alicia Bridges

Well here we go, this is here because of the movie "The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert", this song originally was a decent sized hit in 1979 saw the song reach number nine on the Kent Music Report chart and reach number forty six on the year end chart for the same year now it's being re released in line with the release of "The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert"...I got to say it's a song that's very much of it's time and does feel out of place on a chart that's smothered in euro-dance, pop and grunge rock with hints of r'n'b and hip hop given this is a disco song and Alicia Bridges does have a terrific voice even if she sounds way too casual about loving the nightlife and wanting to boogie, it's good fun but I don't see this disco revival lasting.

33. "That's The Thing About Football" by Greg Champion

Oh this is timely especially with the AFL finals underway, Greg Champion is from ABC's Coodabeen Champions and is also a songwriter and guitarist, he co wrote this song with Mike Brady (the man behind "Up There Cazaly") and Paul Kelly...now that's some serious pedigree of Australian music talent there so what about the song? Well it's definitely written to be an anthem for going to the footy and it does have one killer hook even if it takes a bit to get there. It's definitely a novelty track but one that I can respect the hell out of. Nice.

31. "Confide In Me" by Kylie Minogue

And the biggest new song of the week is the lead single from Kylie Minogue's fifth studio album and I have to say this is a pretty daring choice of lead single mostly because this is a move away from the clean cut pop sound from the Stock Aitken and Waterman era and into something darker and dare I say edgier thanks to her signing with dance label Deconstruction records , there's elements of eastern music, indie music and even trip hop and Kylie's vocals on this are just...wow...she sounds absolutely incredible on the hook

That vocal delivery from Minogue makes sense for the content of the song to where she seduces and tries to manipulate people to confude in her, she can manipulate a situation between her and another person and that she holds the power. Yeah, this song is one of Kylie's best. Check this out,

However it's not the best of the week, that's going to "Dreams" by The Cranberries...it was a close run thing. 

However worst falls out easily...that's going to Culture Shock for whatever the hell "My Enemy" is.

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 8th September

 What do you get when you combine ARIA's brand new rules and a Sabrina Carpenter album bomb? The short answer is an absolute mess and one that doesn't actually answer as to whether ARIA's changes have worked and I suspect we're not going to find out next week because Justin Bieber decided to drop a whole second album/deluxe edition of "SWAG" that will inevitably mean further album bomb chaos on the chart next week. Ugh.

However we'll get to Justin Bieber next week, we've still got the matter of this week's chart to get through so let's get to our top ten where for yet another week, "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters continues to rule the roost at number one and it is a dominant number one across the board here, nothing is touching this song right now.

Former number one "Ordinary" by Alex Warren remains at number two as a result but it's not matching the dominance of "Golden" and really is starting to look a weak number two at this point.

We hit our first sign of the Sabrina Carpenter album bomb at number three with "Tears" arrival, now I don't think this song has the streaming traction it needs to challenge "Golden",  I will have more to say about this song later.

It did push "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tiaashe back one spot to number four as while it has streaming on board, it's just not getting anywhere near the traction in other channels, the same applies for "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters as it slipped one to number five, 

Rising six places to number six and one of the biggest gainers of the week is "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean, I am happy about this one, glad to see the better song becoming a hit. 

The biggest gainer of the week though is "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter which climbed thirteen places to number seven off the back of the album dropping...wish the song was better. 

The rest of the top ten are all from K-Pop Demon Hunters with "Your Idol" down three to eight, "How It's Done" down two to nine and "What It Sounds Like" slipping two spots to number ten. 

Gains

So apart from "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter rising thirteen to return to the top ten and "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean up six to number six, there was not a lot in the way of gains thanks to the Sabrina Carpenter album bomb.

Re-Entries

So we did get one return this week with "Gabriela" by Katseye back at number forty seven. 

Losers

Given most of the chart lost hard this week, I am going to limit this to double digit losses this week. We begin with "Die With a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars which slumped thirteen to forty while former number one hit "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish slipped ten spots to thirty nine.

What worries me is the sevcenteen place collapse to thirty seven of "The Subway" by Chappell Roan..now I know it's triggered by the Sabrina Carpenter album bomb but this song has been going in the wrong direction for weeks now, we need to correct that, Australia...and urgently.

At least "Yukon" by Justin Bieber slumped sixteen to thirty four and "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone got slapped down twelve to twenty nine. 

Drop Outs

So given "Man's Best Friend" by Sabrina Carpenter entered the chart in its entirety. we have a sizeable list of drop outs and with the new rules in mind, I am going to start with the songs that dropped out and could return next week, let's begin with Alex Warren with both "Bloodline" feat Jelly Roll and "Carry You Home"  making their exits alongside "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone and "Azizam" by Ed Sheeran.

Taking their exits and definitely won't be back though and we got major ones here in namely "Lose Control" by Teddy Swims and "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan, they are gone from the top 50 and are now on the new "On Replay" chart.

Joining both those songs on the new replay singles chart are the songs that I have been touting would like "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls, "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac, "Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan, "All The Stars" by Kendrick Lamar & SZA, "Breakin' Dishes" by Rihanna and finally..."Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House. 

New Entries

We have a lot of Sabrina Carpenter to talk about so I will endeavour to keep this pretty short overall so not making the top twenty and are neither best or worst of the week..."Don't Worry I'll Make You Worry" at number thihrty two (this song was close to worst of the week), "Never Getting Laid" at number twenty eight, "We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night" at twenty seven, "Goodbye" at number twenty six, "House Tour" at twenty three and "Go Go Juice" at twenty one.

That still leaves us with a meaty chunk of "Man's Best Friend to talk about so let's dive in and get started with...

20. "Sugar Talking" by Sabrina Carpenter

So expect to hear me talk a lot about innuendo but here it's Sabrina getting fed up with men not speaking her love language to her and still trying to slide into her bed through charisma and look, I get it, I hate having guys get in my face and want love when it's not earned or I don't feel the same way about them but I don't know the instrumental just does nothing for me at all here, it just feels so downtuned and doesn't do much. Not bad but not good either...something I expect to be saying a lot lately. 

19. "Nobody's Son" by Sabrina Carpenter

So this song has caused a lot of anger with critics naming this as the worst song on "Man's Best Friend" so let's see if a pair of fresh ears can find something out of the song that's...uhhh, no...I cannot...this song is one of the worst songs I've ever heard from Sabrina Carpenter, it's actually as toxic as anything I heard put across on that godawful Jessie Murph album from earlier this year yet Sabrina Carpenter sells mens mental health and guy who needs space away from his girlfriend as him "crying in bed" with a chrous that sounds straight from a British comedy sitcom with instrumentation playing off very real toxicity in a relationship like its fucking camp...no...just no. Sabrina, you are better than this. 

15. "My Man on Willpower" by Sabrina Carpenter

So this is the song from the album that I mostly dislike because of how muddy and one note the production feels here all while Sabrina complains about this guy in her life having found some self control and disicipline to not go to water every time she wears "slutty pyjamas and that he isn't fawning over her anymore. Look, maybe it's part of the wider joke on the album but maybe dude has had enough of the toxicity and is just ready to move on because yeah, given how painfully dull this song is...I don't blame him

13. "When Did You Get Hot?" by Sabrina Carpenter

So this is one of the songs that goes vaguely close to working where Sabrina goes to a convention with her friends and meets up with a guy she's known for awhile and she realizes that this guy is actually now good looking instead of what he used to be. I think it's nice that a lot of the toxic dynamics that appeared in a few of the songs we discussed previously don't appear here and the line about naked twister back at his place was genuinely funny. Cool song.

3. "Tears" by Sabrina Carpenter. 

Now we finish the week off with a glossy retro disco song from Sabrina Carpenter where she admits to being horny by a guy doing the most basic of house duties to the point 'tears' run down her thigh. I do think its funny but I also wonder how the hell this song is getting radio airplay considering kids are going to ask how on earth tears can fall down thighs. It is the correct choice of single from "Man's Best Friend"

That was the week and yeah, "Tears" gets best of the week here, really didn't have that much competition. Worst is going to "Nobody's Son" even though "My Man on Willpower" is eye roll worthy. 

All 4 1994: 4th September. You Mean Standing Outside the World, Enough is Enough

Alright, no mucking around, let's drive straight into things with the top ten this week because the top three didn't change at all, mostly down to margins being too big to close so "I Swear" by All-4-One at number one, "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet at number two and "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters at number three.

"Swamp Thing" by The Grid climbed one spot to number four, its got decent momentum, it's just a question if that momentum can get bigger to catch the top three but for now, it was big enough to push past Big Mountain's "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain down one to number five.

Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories are starting to push for a spit in the top fove as "Stay (I Missed You)" climbed one to number six while "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry moved up three to number seven.

Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" remains in the number eight hole this week while "Son of a Gun" by JX slipped three places to number nine.

In the best and possibly best news on the charts for 1994, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John got a six place boost to join the top ten at number ten! So so happy to see it here. Let's hope it can rise higher in the weeks ahead. 

Losers

Not really that much in terms of big losers this week although we did see Kulcha's "Don't Be Shy" slide from twenty seven to thirty eight and former number one "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies slip ten to thirty.

"Only to Be With You" by Roachford slumped from twenty one to twenry nine...bit of a shame this song is on the downswing, it's not bad. 

Gains

Ir's on the gains front that things are interesting because rhere was an eleven place gain for Joshua Kadison's "Jessie" to number seventeen while "Rockin' For Myself" by Motiv 8 feat. Angie Brown rocketed with bullet points from forty one to eighteen,

Up seven splots to thirty is "American Life in the Summertime" by Francis Dunnery while "Regulate" by Warren G & Nate Dogg climbed nine to thirty one. 

Most annoyingly "Afternoons and Coffeespoons" by Crash Test Dummies climbed six places to forty two. 

New Entries

49. "You Mean the World To Me" by Toni Braxton

Surprised we didn't get an immediate follow up single to "Breathe Again" (a song that is good but has become kind of forgettable) and I got to admit I was curious what we'd get going in and yeah, we got a pretty sweet love song combining both piano and guitar but allowing Toni Braxton's vocals to shine and shine they do, there's a passion in the vocals from Toni that really make the song believeable. I dig it. 

48. "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)" by Kym Mazelle & Jocelyn Brown

Ahh, it's been awhile since we dealt with a cover version on in one of these retro episodes but today we get to deal with Kym Mamzelle and Jocelyn Brown's take on the hit duet between Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer, the original hitting number 8 on the Kent Music Report charts in 1979,  

Now it starts out well enough, it starts out favouring soft but strong vocals then dives into this weird Eurodance/disco vibe that really doesn't work especially when in comparision the production helped both Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand but on this cover, it feels like both Kym Mamzelle and Jocelyn Brown are having to sing shout to be heard over the noisy production. 

I'll stick to the original...next!

47. Standing Outside the Fire" by Garth Brooks

So Garth Brooks on the charts and briefly stepping away from being in 1994 mode, I'm going to confess that I cannot find a decent enough version of the song to be able to review this properly. I may also have to do this with any future Garth Brooks songs that chart. Sorry.

43. "Alrabaiye (Take Me Up)" by Amadin feat. Swing

And we end the week with more eurodance because that's the way we want to finish with one of the more screechy and annoying songs I've heard in quite some time and when I say screechy I am talking about the vocals that get increasingly more annoying as the beat that never changes so yeah... this isn't good. Next!

That was our week and the best and worst fall out easily, for the first "Alrabbiaye (Take Me Up" by Amadin feat. Swing...obviously. Best of the week is going to "You Mean the World to Me" by Toni Braxton. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 1st September

 So this is the final week before everything changes for the ARIA singles chart going forward so before we dive into this week's goings on on the ARIA singles chart, let's dive into the changes that will hit the singles chart next week with ARIA announcing a few months ago that songs that were released two years or more ago will be jettisoned from the top fifty and onto an "On Replay Chartt" however ARIA will give special provision to older tracks that are going viral so what that means is songs like "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House, "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac and "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls are spending effectively their last week in the ARIA top fi

Now we've got that all out of the way, let's get to the top ten and really...it's not even a story this week as that barely moved, of course, "Golden" by from K-Pop Demon Hunters remained at number one this week now that could come under fire from Sabrina Carpenter next week expecially if  Carpenter's album doesn't get a big push behind it. 

Ultimately the impending Sabrina Carpenter album bomb might be bad news for a few songs hoping to make a play for number one with "Ordinary" by Alex Warren remaining at number two, "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe at number three and "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number four.

Then we get to the only move inside the top ten with "You Idol" by K-Pop Demon Hunters moving up one to number five, it pushed "Daisies" by Justin Bieber back to number six (I am actually considering this song for my year end best list given how slow this year has been for the hits). 

Holding steady at number seven is "How It's Done" from K-Pop Demon Hunters while it's pretty much the same thing for "What It Sounds Like" also from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number eight, "Back to Friends" by Sombr at number nine and finally "Free" by K-Pop Demon Hunters at number ten. 

Gains

The better Olivia Dean song "Man I Need" has exploded up the charts off it's debut last week racing up a massive thirty one places to number twelve. 

Unfortunately the worst song from "Don't Tap the Glass" continues to gain traction for Tylor the Creator with "Sugar On My Tongue" up eighteen to nineteen. 

Re-Entries

Two returns this week with "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone back at forty six while "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll is back at forty one

Losers

Biggest loser this week was "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded Houser at number forty six but with the new chart rules coming, it's going to exit anyway otherwise there's not a real lot here on the losers front. 

Drop Outs

The drop outs aren't unexpected here with "Which Ones?" by Drake and Central Cee and "Jump" by Blackpink exiting.

Also exiting having made the year end list for 2025 are "Messy" by Lola Yound and "Luther" by Kendrick Lamar and SZA.

"I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves jumped off the top fifty before it was pushed off by ARIA.

New Entries

Three new entries this week, let's get keep things rolling with...

48. "Strategy" by Twice

Another song from Twice debuting on the chart, this one has been around awhile even with a guest feature from Meghan Thee Stallion although the version with Meghan isn't tbe one that charted here and she would have been handy here because geez this retro glossy sound that comes off as too overly polished is not a good fit for Twice and doesn't even match the lyrical content of the song where Twice are trying to get this guy's attention and have crafted out a "strategy" to get him, it's all a bit childish and that production just does not help. Next!

45. "Breakin' Dishes" by Rihanna

People miss Rihanna that much that they are desperate enough to chart older songs, in this case, I don't mind because this song is from an era of Rihanna I absolutely love where she's kicking ass in pop rock and really making it work, this song is from the album "Good Girl Gone Bad" released in 2007 and featured the hits "Disturbia" and my favourite Rihanna song "Shut Up and Drive". Now I will say that unless Rihanna's label can prove that this song is a viral hit and deserves to stay on the chart, it will get booted next week.

Which is a shame because I think this is a pretty good song overall especially with Rihanna's bratty charisma that reminds me a lot of Avril Lavigne although I will say I am concerned that lyrics where Rihanna is leaning toward domestic violence isn't exactly a good thing and some of the production doesn't hold up that well in 2025 especially that weird noise tbat underpins the song but I still dig this given what it is trying to do. Check it out if curious.

28. "Jealous Type" by Doja Cat.

"Born Again" by Lisa, Doja Cat and Raye is one of my favourite pop songs of the year and apart of it is because of Doja Cat's singing before jumping into a rap verse, Doja proved herself to be versatile on that song so would that also prove to be true on the lead single for her 80s inspired album "Vie"? Well yeah and I think she absolutely nailed it, it's glossy, it's got groove and Doja Cat is not shying away from admitting that she's the one to get jealous over men who are with girls who are not her, now sure that reads as a little possessive but Doja Cat is owning it and she's well aware of the dynamic and she doesn't want to end up hurting this dude with her behaviour. I love this song...check it out!

All up that was our week, not a bad one but best and worst do fall out easily with worst going to "Strategy" by Twice and best of the week to "Jealous Type" by Doja Cat.

All 4 1994: 28th August. Regulate Afternoons and Coffeespoons whiile Children play

This was an interesting week...more for the fact that there were some shifts in our top ten that I find exceedingly interesting going forward...now of course our top four didn't change with "I Swear" by All-4-One holding the number one spot ahead of "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet at number two, "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters at number three and "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain at number four. 

Then we get to all the shifting that happened with "Swamp Thing" by The Grid moving up four to number five, it's got momentum thanks to sales and could rise higher in the weeks ahead. 

JX got a one place gain to number six with "Son of a Gun" while Lisa Loeb launched four spots into the top ten with "Stay (I Missed You)". 

This saw "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden tumble two to number eight while "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real slipped back one to number nine.

Rising four spots into the top ten is the brilliant "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry. It's a terrific song and am happy to see it here.

Losers

Sad to see "You Got Me Floatin'" by P,M Dawn not really getting all that much traction, its down seven to number fifty. 

The losses continued this week for Eternal as "Stay" collapsed a further nine spots to forty three. "Snake Skinned Shoes" by The Black Sorrows toppled from twenty one thirty eight...ouch!

The chart fire is well and truly going out for "Light My Fire" by Cluh House feat. Carl has it stumbled nine slots to thirty seven. 

Finally tumbling out of the top ten is "Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous as it crashed six spots to number eleven.

Gains

There are a lot of gains this week so let's start with "Rhythm of the Night" by Corona which smashed it's way up from twenty seven to fourteen. I'd not be surprised if this breaks into the top ten. 

Also gaining big is "LetitGo" by Prince which jumped ten places to twenty two this week while Public Enemy hit an eleven place sweet spot with "Give It Up" hitting twenty four.

Joshua Kadison's appeal to "Jessie" earnt that song an eight place gain to twenty eight while 'American Life In the Summertime" by Francis Dunnery continues to climb up nine to thirty.  

New Entries

Five new entries this week beginning with...

48. "Afternoon & Coffeespoons" by Crash Test Dummies

Time for the follow up to "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" and well...rhis is better than "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" even if the instrumentation reminds me a lot of "Happy Birthday Helen" by Things of Stone and Wood however it's tbe lead vocals that drive me up the wall and the fact it does feel like he is trying to force each word to feet into the song hard, the vocal delivery just makes me want to grind my teeth so yeah...no thanks, I am moving on. 

47. "Rain (Let the Children Play)" by Marcia Hines

The lead single from Marcia Hynes eighth studio album "Here and Now" has arrived on the charts and I don't know? Maybe for a song where it's about letting the children play, I was expecting something a bit more infectious and energetic or at least reflective of children playing but instead we get this meditative piano ballad that suits Marcia's voice but doesn't really hit in the way that I was hoping it would. It's good but could stand to be better.

41.  "Rockin' For Myself" by Motiv 8 feat Angie Brown

The moment I saw the artists involved I knew this was an electronic dance cut, Motiv 8 is the stage name of British electronic dance producer Steve Rodway. This song uses a rather prominent sample of Italian act 49ers 1992 single "Move Your Feet" and I guess this is solid, I like Angie Brown's vocals and there's almost somehow a gospel vibe to the song that works in it's favour. I dig this. Check it out!

40. "Regulate" by Warren G & Nate Dogg

Getting an eclectic mix of songs this week because we're diving into R'N'B and hip hop with Warren G and Nate Dogg with this song intriguingly using a four bar sample of Michael MacDonald's "I Keep Forgettin' (Every time You're Near) along side "Sign of the Times" by Bob James and an interpolation of "Let Me Ride" by Dr Dre and I got to say there's a smooth slickness to the use of the samples and the interpolation that make me dig this a fair bit even if the production doesn't quite match content which centres around the stealing of property! Cool song. I dig it. 

35. "The Ballad of Oz " by Daddy Cool

So this was credited with the B side from Skyhooks called "Happy Hippy Cut" so I am only going to review the song credited first which is this song from Daddy Cool and...I am already reminded of "Eagle Rock" in the instrumentation especially with the guitars and handclaps. I appreciate the song is telling a story but I don't know...I just can't get behind it when all the instrumentation wants me to do is go back to better Daddy Cool songs. Don't hate it but sure don't love it either.

That was our week, bit of a rough one but best and worst fall out reasonably easy. For best, I'm going with "Regulate" by Warren G and Nate Dogg...the production killed did enough for me.

As for the worst, yeah it's got to be "Afternoons and Coffeespoons" by Crasb Test Dummies

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 25th August.

 Look, let's just get stuck into this week because again...it was another pretty slow week apart from the two new entries and the fact that K-Pop Demon Hunters have almost taken over the entire top ten. 

Speaking of K-Pop Demon Hunters and the top ten, let's get to that because "Golden" by K-Pop Demon Hunters cast remains at number one and...unless Sabrina Carpenter can bring an absolute belter of an album bomb, I don't see what's knocking off this song from number one until Taylor Swift eithet releases a lead single or drops her album in October, it's dominant on sales, streaming and even on Youtube. 

Alex Warren held steady at number two with "Ordinary" albeit on now faltering margins ahead of "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe which rose one spot to number three,. 

"Soda Pop" by cast of K-Pop Demon Hunters rose one spot to number four, in fact the Netflix show helped push "Daisies" by Justin Bieber back two spots to number five. 

"Your Idol" held steady at number six as did "How It's Done" at number seven both for K-Pop Demon Hunters. 

"What It Sounds Like" by K-Pop Demon Hunters bounced up one to number eight, it pushed back Sombr's "Back to Friends" to number nine (I expect this to get a sizeable boost back up the chart with Sombr having dropped an album yesterday)

Finally K-Pop Demon Hunters bookend the top ten with "Free" up four spots to number ten.

Gains

Sombr's "12 to 12" got a seven place gain to number seventeen...I expect this to go top ten and become a massive hit. 

We've got more Olivia Dean to discuss in the new but her previous single "Nice to Each Other" climbed a massive twenty one spots to twenty four! I am not sure why, it could be off the back of people liking the new single and wanting to hear what she has done previously. 

Losers

Blackpink's "Jump" is jumping the wrong way down eight to number fifty while "Messy" by Lola Young down nine to forty nine.

"Azizam" by Ed Sheeran slipped six to number forty six while it was the same sized slip for "The Door" by Teddy Swims as it slammed into door forty four on the chart.

However I am pissed that "The Subway" by Chappell Roan continues to go in the wrong direction down six to sixteen. Ugh, the fact that such a great song continues to slide says a lot about the stale and sragnant nature of the charts in 2025. 

Drop Outs

Not complaining about losing "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone...that song can stay out of the top fifty if you ask me. Also gone is "Mr Brightside" by The Killers.

New Entries

Two new entries, starting with...

43. "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean

So given "Nice to Each Other" continues to give me the ick every week it's on the chart but I guess second time lucky right? Well yeah, this is actually pretty good! It's got this nice gospel sound even if it doesn't quite get there., she just wants this guy to be the man she needs in her life and to be on the same page as her. Its definitely a cute song and worth checking out. Olviia Dean, you've redeemed yourself here.

37. "Sugar On My Tongue" by Tyler, the Creator.

Oh come on, this is the song we're choosing to make a hit from "Don't Tap the Glass" when "Ring Ring Ring" was rught there and sctreaming hit? Yeah, "Sugar on My Tongue" is one of the weaker songs from that new Tyler album and it's mostly because of the weird ass production that has breathing sounds forming part of the melody and this weird ass analogy comparing this girl's body to "sugar on my tongue" which just feels creepy even if Tyler didn't intend it to be.

It's not terrible but we could have done better. "Sugar on My Tongue" gets worst of the week howeverr "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean gets best of the week, really dug that song.

Next week...probably that new Doja Cat single. 

All 4 1994: 21st August If You Leitgo, Rhythm of the Tunnel follows

So it's a bit of a standard week here, the top ten is settling down at least in the top half and we have our usual group of new entries to talk about later so let's not waste any more time and get through this top ten where of course "I Swear" by All-4-One retained the niumber one slot, its got a comfortable margin over former number one "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet which remained at number two.

Also holding steady are the trio of "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters at number three, "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain at number four and " Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous" at number five. 

From there "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden reached a new peak up one to number six,  "Son of a Gun" by JX shot up two spots to number seven.

After six weeks of stalling at number six, "I Like To Move It" by Reel 2 Real feat. The Mad Stuntman fell two spots to number eight.

The big surprise this week was the massive gain by "Swamp Thing" by The Grid as it climbed off it's debut of forty three to number nine.

Finally down two places to number ten is "Shine" by Collective Soul, that song has lost it's shine with the public rather quickly.

Losers

Now we get to the losers where "Whoomp! (There It Is)" by Tag Team sliding seventeen spots to fifty while "I Believe" by Marcella Detroit slipped from thirty two to forty six. 

The Pretenders "I'll Stand by You" sitting position on the charts keeps getting lower and lower as it plunged another nine spots to forty four. 

"The Winner Is..." by Southend with Nik Fish slumped from twenty eight to forty one wbile "Lonely" by Frente! collapsed eleven spots to forty. 

"Stay" by Eternal is continuing to fall, this time tumbling from twenty one to thirty four while "Vasoline" by Stone Temple Pilots slipped seven to thirty one

Crash Test Dummies former number one hit "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" slumped ten spots to twenty two. 

Gains

Solid amount of big gains outside the top ten this week with "Do You Wanna Get Funky?" by C&C Music Factory up from thirty one to nineteen while "Find Me (Odyssey to Anyoona)" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka is up fourteen spots to twenty six. 

Up ten to twenty nine is the underwhelming "Heaven 'n' Hell" by Salt 'N' Pepa  Finally "Speed" by Billy Idol sped up eight to thirty eight. 

Re-Entries

We do have one re-entry with "Hey Jealousy" by Gin Blossoms back at forty nine

New Entries

Four new entries this week, starting with

48. "If You Go" by Jon Secada

To kick things off, the "Just Another Day" dude is back and the problems kick in yet again because the instrumental is somehow louder in the mix than Jon Secada is at points. A very early nineties piano track where Jon Secada croons about how all he really wants is this girl and if she goes there'll be something missing in his life which is actually really fucking guilt trippy. So bad writing and bad production combine for a pop song not worth the sum of it's parts....NEXT!

42. "Tunnel" by The Screaming Jets

Moving onto The Screaming Jets and I will be honest that I haven't really cared that much about a Screaming Jets single since 1991's "Better" so I don't hold a lot of hope for this and you know what? I think I dig this one, I like what the instrumentation is doing and Dave Gleeson is actually trying to do what sounds like either an odd nasal impersonation of Michael Stipe but hey the song works, the hook kicks ass so hey, I'll take it. 

32. "Letitgo" by Prince

Alright so I like "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" which was under another alias The Symbol so I was curious to see what this song would offer up snd yeah, it's a dark but ultimately very funky R'n'B with hints of hip hop jam where Prince admits he has a lot of feelings pent up inside him and now he wants to let everything go so he can move on with life. Yeah, you know what? I'll take this. Good song.

27. "The Rhythm of the Night" by Corona

Eurodance this time from Corona, a group out of Italy and yeah, this a pretty incredible dance track especially in terms of production where big doofy beats are somewhat held bacl to allow lead vocalist Giovanna Bersola (aka Jenny B) to shine, she sounds absolutely phenomenal here. Good song, hope it catches on. 

However I am going to give "Letitgo" by Prince the best of the week...that song resonated a bit more for me. Worst falls out easily..."If You Go" by Jon Secada...seriously. enough of the guilt tripping ex partner songs please. 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: August 18th. No New Entries So How about 5 Songs I am Loving in 2025?

Yeah, we got a very quiet week with no new entries (don't worry I do have something in store for that) and that for two weeks in a row, we have the same fifty songs here which I really do believe is something we need to be worried about however let's get to the top where for a third week "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remained at number one and so far its looking a comfortable number one, it may well be a dominant number one at least uintil Taylor Swift drops either a lead single or when then album drops in October as it's dominant on sales, streaming and youtube.

It's well ahead of "Ordinary" by Alex Warren which rebounded to number two but I don't see this going back to number one, it did however push past "Daisies" by Justin Bieber which fell back to number three. 

Rising three spots to number four is "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe, this has gotten some nice boosts on streaming in the past few weeks,. 

"Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters bounced back one spot to number five pushing past "Your Idol" which stumbled back to number six while on that note "How It's Done" also from K-Pop Demon Hunters rebounded to number seven

"Back to Friends" by Sombr climbed one spot to number eight and with the album dropping on Friday, this song could return to the top five in the weeks ahead.

There's more K-Pop Demon Hunters in the top ten with "What It Sounds Like" up one spot to number nine and finally perhaps the biggest indictment on the charts in 2025, "The Subway" by Chappell Roan down six to number ten. 

Gains

Justin Bieber's "Yukon" up seven to number thirteen because somehow it's the song from "SWAG" that Beliebers really want to make a hit...unfortunately.

While "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" by Shaboozey climbed eight spots to twenty two because this song needs a second wind. Just make "Blink Twice" with Myles Smith or "Good News" a thing in the top fifty. 

At least I like "A Bar Song (Tipsy)", I can't say that about "Takedown" by Twice rising eight to thirty three.

"Carry You Home" by Alex Warren up seven to forty three. 

Losers

Two Kendrick Lamar and SZA collabs suffered losses this week with "Luther" down eight to forty seven and "All The Stars" down seven to forty four.

Meanwhile the losses continued for Drake with "Which Ones?" featuring Central Cee down eight to thirty...the sooner this song is gone the better for everyone while "Eternity" by Alex Warren down nine to twenty five.

As there are no drop outs or any new entries and I really don't want to have a blog entry this short, I want to do a small segment where I talk about some of my favourite songs released this year, this is something I wish I did on this blog more, I also want to stress that most of these songs will not have charted so let's dive in...

Great 2025 Songs That Deserve More Love

"One Way Ticket" by Tyne-James Organ

This song is my favourite Australian song of the year so far, I love how this song is just Organ showing that him and this girl want the same thing and he is down for it but promises he will never let her down and she is more than welcome to take what she wants from him, the feeling is likely mutual. I also love how the song juxtaposes Organ's rougher vocals against the cleaner and sleeker pop/rock production and how propulsive that hook is. Damn great song!

"Fair Game" by HolyBrune

So I don't know that much about HolyBrune, there's not that much information about her online but what I do know is that this song is a god damn jam. Yeah the distortion of the verses give away to this sleek yet sexy as hell chorus where she's telling this guy she knows he wants to touch her but she won't let him because she doesn't trust him as he is a bit of a faker. Definitely an R'n'B jam to check out.

"Night Diving" by Max McNown

So in the last few years I have become a bit of a fan of American singer songwriter Max McNown, his music strips back a lot of the rough edges that can be found on Zach Bryan's music to their bare components but still making songs that hit just has hard and his writing seems to have a maturity that just resonates for me which was the case for this song where McNown is struggling with addiction and realizing that the addiction is still strong and the frustration that he is falling back into old habits is taking hold, it's a dark song that hits hard. 

"The Actor" by Willow Avalon

The only country song of the five songs I am highlighting but my god, I do think "Southern Belle Raisin' Hell" is an album that has gone unnoticed by way too many and when you can get Charles Wesley Godwin on a remix than you know you have a fucking great song. Willow Avalon has the conversational cadence down pat as she describes this guy who stole her heart yet he turned out to be a sham and he was an actor that she had fallen for. Now the CWG remix tells the story from the point of view of the actor in the second verse. This song is worth your time as is the whole of "Southern Belle Raisin' Hell". 

"Settle Down" by Vella

Vella might be the artist on this list that hasn't as yet had the same bucket load of attention yet she's dropping consistently great singles that make me want an album from her, I nearly didn't go with this particular song because her newest single "River Styx" is incredible but because "Settle Down" has been on my mid year list, I ultimately went with it and this is still an incredible song about yearning for love and yet trying to quell the instincts in her to reach out to this person she clearly still harbours feelings for complete with production that really does sell the danger the potential liasion could spell.

Other songs worth your time:

• "We Own the Night" by Black Atlass (Warning around some swearing on the hook if thats something that bothers you)
• "Gravelweed" by Jason Isbell 
• "Night After Night" by The Amazons
• "Maybe I'm Lonely Too" by Addison Johnson
• "Broken Glass" by Harper Finn (If you like Sombr's "Back to Friends" and "Undressed", this song might be up your alley)

All 4 1994: 14th August. Give it Up and Get Funky, Jessie.

 It's a pretty standard week for 1994 this week with five new entries and some changes that could reasonably be seen to be coming including right at the very top so let's dive straight into the top ten because we do have a new number one and unfortunately it's..."I Swear" by All-4-One. it finally pushed past "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet which slipped back to number two on weaker sales. 

Sigh. Let's move on from our incredibly sappy top two with "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters remaining at number three, it's not a challenger for the top spot at this point, the same goes for "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain despite it climbing one spot to number four ahead of "Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous at number five,

"I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real featuring The Mad Stuntman continues to just stall at number six, this is this song's sixth week at number six. 

"Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden remains at number seven while "Shine" by Collective Soul jumps one spot to number eight, also on the rise is "Son of a Gun" by JX up one spot to number nine. 

Finally the top ten is rounded out by Des'ree's "You Gotta Be" which jumped one spot to number ten. 

Losers

Let's start at the bottom of the chart as we usually do as D:Ream's "U R The Best Thing" slumped thirteen to fifty while "Around the World" by East 17 crashed eleven to forty nine. and Jam & Spoon feat, Plavka slumped from thirty four to forty eight with "Right in the Night"

The "Hip Hop Holiday" might be over for 3 The Hard Way as their hit slipped eight to fotty four while "Shaka Jam" shook down from twenty six to fourty two. 

"I'll Stand By You" by The Pretenders needed to sit down as it slumped eight spots to thirty five.

Frente! experienced a sharp decline of twelve places to twenty nine with "Lonely" while "Stay" by Eternal did the exact opposite running down nine spots to twenty one.

Gains

The gains are a wild bunch this week, Lisa Loeb's "Stay (I Missed You)" rocketed up from thirty nine to fifteen while much to my surprise "Snake Skin Shoes" by The Blake Sorrows slithered it's way up ftom twenty two to sixteen.

"Wild Night" by John Mellencamp and Me'Shell N'degeocello rebounded ten spots to eighteen. 

Up ten spots to twenty off it's debut is "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry which is great to see. Up eight to twenty seven for some ungodly reason is Bjorn Again's cover of "Flashdance...What a Feeling". 

Finally "American Life in the Summertime" by Francis Dunnery climbed up from forty eight to forty one whch I don't mind.

New Entries

Six new entries this week beginning with...

46. "Speed" by Billy Idol

Well this sure is a way to begin the week's reviews, the new song from Billy Idol, the song for the movie of the same name and this is pretty good. At first I wasn't sure about Idol's lower vocals but I think they work well alongside the instrumentation which just gives the song the whole riocking fast car energy with the wailing guitars, there's definitely the thrill and the adrenaline of driving a fast car pumped into this song. I dig it!

43. "Swamp Thing" by The Grid

Needs to be said first things first that the baby in the music video is adorable so if you need a couple of moments of cute, check out that out but anyway, The Grid are a British electronic group which is wild because this song features a fucking banjo amongst all that electronic production yet the song does absolutely nothing for me because fucking hell, that banjo gives me a god damn headache. Next!

39. "Heaven 'N' Hell" by Salt 'N' Pepa

Salt 'n' Pepa's final single from their alnum "Very Necessary" and this one is probably the least good of the singles mostly because the rapping sounds rough as hell and not as well delivered as I would expect from this group but then again given the song is about street crime and drugs that really makes sense. Still not an overall fan of the song given the hook isn't much to grab on to, this song could have been better.

37. "Give It Up" by Public Enemy

Lead single from Public Enemy's fifth album "Muse Sick-n-hour Mess Age" and here we have a much better depiction of the destruction on the streets and battling for respect and unity against all the gun vioence and drug crime, it hits hard as hell with that incredible groove and yeah, there's a weight to this song that makes it impossible to ignore, check this out!

34. "Jessie" by Joshua Kadison

Relax, this is not a cover of the Carly Simon song, this is an original song from Joshua Kadison about a relationship thats falling apart before the narrator's eyes even though he is clearly still in love with this woman however fraught the relationship is and he wants "Jessie" to know that he will be there no matter what if she wants to talk. It is a bit corny and lovelorn but there's a sincerity that stops me from wanting to say it's a bad song, it feels lived in and genuine which is more than I can say about a few songs at the top of our chart right now.

31. "Do You Wanna Get Funky" by C&C Music Factory

Oh joy, a new C&C Music Factory single although to be fair, this one does live up to the title because that little melody that this song has going on is quite good! In fact overall, I actually like this more than the noise of their previous songs to have hit the charts. There's some nice harmonies here along side the really good rap versions being delivered that only add to the vibe. Good song.

However best of the week is going to Public Enemy for "Give It Up". I guess worst of the week is going to "Swamp Thing" by The Grid

ARIA Singles top 50 Chart Review: 11th August

 This week wound up decent but only decent in terms of the new entries and there's a new entry in the top ten that I am incredibly excited to talk about so let's dive right into this top ten where of course K-Pop Demon Hunters kept hold of number one courtesy of "Golden", it's got strength on streaming, sales and even on Youtube, it looks a comfortable chart leader right now.

All of that makes impossible for "Daisies' by Justin Bieber to retake the top spot as it remains stuck at number two, the same goes for former chart topper "Ordinary" by Alex Warren although I can see this having a slow exit from the chart.

Then we get to our new entry at number four "The Subway" by Chappell Roan, now this is not going to stay high especially as it already slipping off it's streaming highs.

However it's arrival did push "Your Idol" from K-Pop Demon Hunters back to number five and "Soda Pop" back one to number six. 

Diving down one is "No Broke Boys' by Disco Lines and Tinashe at number seven. I really hope we see the end of this song in the top ten soon, Tinashe is too talented to let this nonsense be her biggest hit.

We're back to K-Pop Demon Hunters with "How It's Done" down one to number eight while Sombr's "Back to Friends" slipped one to number nine (more Sombr later)

Returning to K-Pop Demon Hunters as "What It Sounds Like" climbed two places to number ten.

Gains

Not much in the way of gains this week but we did see "Something in the Orange" rebound seven spots to number thirty five while the increasingly annoying "Nice to Each Other" by Olivia Dean climbed six to forty four. 

Re-Entries

So we did see four re-entries with the best in quality of those being "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves at forty five , "Mr Brightside" by The Killers at forty nine, "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez at forty eight and most unfortunately "Mystical Magical" at forty seven.

Losers

Crowded Hpuse were the biggest fallers this week with "Don't Dream It's Over" down ten to thirty two but it is the only song from the Triple J's Hottest 100 Australian songs to see a second week in the top fifty. 

"Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae saw people turning off so its down nine to twenty seven while "Which One?" by Drake and Central Cee proved it's a nothingburger of a song down six to twenty two. 

Drop Outs

So the drop outs this week were mostly songs that returned last week as a result of the Triple J Hottest 100 Australian songs with "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS, "The Nosebleed Section" by Hilltop Hoods, "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC, "Sweet Disposition" by The Temper Trap, "My Happiness" by Powderfinger and "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye and Kimbra.

The other exit outside of songs from the countdown was "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac.

New Entries

Three new entries this week,  beginning with...

41. "Takedown" by Twice

This is yet another version of the same song from K-Pop Demon Hunters and honestly I still do not care for the song at all, it's still this curdled trap infused nightmare that I really don't want to keep on talking about so yeah, keeping it short, sweet and moving on...

23. "12 to 12" by Sombr

We finally got a date for Sombr's debut album which has felt long in coming considering the success of both "Back to Friends" and "Undressed", you'd think his label would want to capitalise on the public appetite for Sombr by giving the public an album by the only big new pop act in 2025 even though "We Never Dated" didn't chart but "12 to 12" did and this is a sharpened disco banger where you can tell tbe edges are starting to become more curdled like in the 70s, now sure the content is pretty much subject material that Sombr has been over before... a relationship break up and all of that but my god, this song is just so damn good that I can look past how repetitive it is. Check this out. 

4. "The Subway" by Chappell Roan

Chappell Roan is back with a song that she has been performing live for the last two years but wanted to make sure the song sounded as close to the live version in the studio as possible before she released it and wel...it might be one of the best songs in any genre of music to hit the charts this year. Chappell gives a compelling vocal perforamance, one of her best to date wuth the song being about this mystery girl with green hair and beauty mark on the subway who Chappell very briefly makes a connection with but this young woman who stole Chappell's heart very quickly moves on leaving any lasting connection behind and Chappell heartbroken. It's a damn great song and one of the best of the year. Make it a hit.

It's also the best of the week but damn it was a close fight because "12 to 12" by Sombr is also excellent.

Worst of the week falls out easily as that's going to "Takedown" by Twice. Twice are capable of better than this shit. 

All 4 1994: 7th August Summertime American Vasoline in 7 Seconds, Stay!

For the first time in what seeems like weeks, we may have a fight for the number one spot and we also have quite the week to deal with here outside the top ten so let's dig into what happpened. Wet Wet Wet held onto the number one spot with "Love Is All Around" but I question for how much longer as sales are slowing.

This opens an opportunity for All-4-One as "I Swear" climbed one spot to number two on the back of major sales gains, this song has some major momentum behind it as it pushed past "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters which slipped back one spot to number three.

The next three songs stayed exactly where they are this week so "Absolutely Fabulous" by Absolutely Fabulous at number four, "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain at number five and "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real feat. The Mad Stuntman at number six.

Moving up one to number seven is "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden as it is was strong enough to move past "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies which slipped back to number eight.

"Shine" by Collective Soul continues to shine brighter up one to number nine while joining the top ten is "Son of a Gun" by JX up six to number ten.

Losers

Some older songs on their way out like "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by The Symbol down ten spots to forty. 

Much to my disappointment, "Hey Jealousy" by Gin Blossoms hit the skids down twelve to forty nine while Blur's "Girls and Boys" is down from thirty three tio forty seven.

The losses continued for "Pray" by Take That down seven to forty one, the same goes for "Around the World' by East 17 down nine to thirty eight.

Sadly 3 The Hard Way's "Hip Hop Holiday: dived from twenty one down to thirty six this week. Ouch. Former top ten hit "Right in the Night" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka slumped eleven places to thirty four. 

The big boost for "Wild Night" by John Mellencamp feat. Me'shell N'degeocello didn't last as it crumbled nine slots to twenty eight and "Shaka Jam" by Kulcha got jammed down from eighteen to twenty six. 

In good news, "The Winner is..." by Southend feat. Nik Fish got slapped down eight spots to twenty three.

Gains

So continuing it's gains drom last week is Roachford's "Only to Be With You" which rocketed from thirty to nineteen!.

Surprisingly The Black Sorrows got a rather healthy gain with "Snake Skinned Shoes" up from forty eight to twenty two.  Also up decently off the debut last week is "Longview" by Green Day up ten to thirty three. 

However the big eleven place gain that I am absolutely over the moon about is "Can you Feel the Love Tonight" which jumped from twenty five to fourteen...uhh...fuck yes!.

New Entries

48. "American Life in the Summertime" by Francis Dunnery

We kick off our reviews of this week's new entries with the former lead singer of British prog rock band It Bites and well I definitely was not expecting a catchy summery pop rock song that is as fun as it is entertaining to listen to! Not much else to say here other than this is a surprising jam...check this out!

43. "Find Me (Odyssey to Anyoona)" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka

The follow up to "Right in the Night" has landed and honestly...I am bit colder on this one than I was with "Right in the Night" and its hard to pin down why, maybe because it sounds less like something interesting that could work outside of the club like "Right in the Night", sure there's then keyboard that comes in but yeah...no, this does very little for me other than missing the ring tone era. 

39. "Stay (I Missed You" by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories

A song from the Reality Bites soundtrack has hit the chart via American singer/songwriter Lisa Loeb and this is definitely one of the better songs from the singer'songwriter cannon, its a guitar ballad about the end of a relationship and now the narrator is regretting the decision and is now wanting the former romantic partner to stay instead of leaving and yes, the warning on the first line that song is quite self involved was welcome. Great song, worth checking out!

30. "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry

Excited to talk about this one because it's fascinating considering how brash Neneh Cherry was on 1989's "Buffalo Stance" (a song that I still think is awesome today) and a Sengalese singer Youssou N'Dour and well, this quite the song given it takes the first seven seconds of a child's life and contrasts them with racial and social prejudice emphasising how a child is free from those complex issues and unaware of difference in class or status. It's quite a beautiful song and both do an incredible job on getting the message across. I also like how paired back the production is. Another great song this week!

24. "Vasoline" by Stone Temple Pilots

And we finish off this week's reviews with American tock band Stone Temple Pilots with song being from their second album "Purple" and I really don't care for this at all, I don't like how the vocals feel buried under that monotonous guitar riff which might explaimable given the content of the song which is described as being about feeling like an insect under a microscope and just generally being stuck in the same situation however that doesn't excuse how the production just feels...off.

That was our week, I am going to give worst of the week to "Find Me (Odyssey to Anyoona" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka because that just...nooo.

Best of the week is a bun fight and a half. I think it JUST goes to "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb but "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry were close.

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: 4th August

We got a healthy dose of the Triple J Hottest 100 Australian songs this week on the chart and it was kind of interesting to see how that all played out at least outside of the top ten where we do have another new number one, this time it's from K-Pop Demon Hunters "Golden"...now this is doing well on streaming and on sales, it should get a second week at number one.

It flew past "Daisies" by Justin Bieber which slipped back to number two this week as it didn't quite have the strength on streaming to match "Golden". Alex Warren remained at number three with "Ordinary" as it now just doesn't have the strength to match the songs above, look for it to start falling away naturally.

That's good news for K-Pop Demon Hunters as "Your Idol" remained at number four but could go higher if "Ordinary" does falter while also from K-Pop Demon Hunters "Soda Pop" got a two place gain to number five.

Disco Lines and Tinashe have hit a new peak of number six with "No Broke Boys" which climbed two places thanks to considerable boosts on streaming. 

"How It's Done" from K-Pop Demon Hunters also climbed two places just to number seven while Sombr's "Back to Friends" rebounded four places to return to the top ten at number eight.

Next we have the two biggest losers inside the top ten with "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae down three to number nine and "Victory Lap" by Fred again..., Skepta and Plaqueboy Max down five to number ten. 

Gains

So let's go outside the top ten now and I am not sure why but "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran jumped an enormous twenty five places to twenty three...maybe that song is starting to catch on? Would have to hope so considering nothing else from that upcoming Ed Sheeran album has caught on. 

Apart from that, that's it for the major gains this week.

Re-Entries

So this is mostly where the impact of the Triple J's Hottest 100 Australian songs was centred because we had a whopping SEVEN returns this week. 

Let's work our way through the returns courtesy of the Hottest 100 first with "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye and Kimbra back at forty six, "My Happiness" by Powderfinger sliding back at forty five, "Sweet Disposition" by The Temper Trap at thirty nine, "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC thundering in at thirty seven, the Hottest 100 number one "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS hitting twenty eight and "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House dreaming at twenty...the only one of these I can see sticking around next week is "Don't Dream It's Over" given streaming for that song has been insane this year.

The only return not connected to the Hottest 100 is that of "Azizam" by Ed Sheeran which came back to number forty one. 

Losers

So the losses continued for Blackpink this week with "Jump" down thirteen places to number thirty three while "Carry Me Home" by Alex Warren slumped fourteen to forty nine. 

"Messy" by Lola Young fell eight to number forty four while "Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan slipped nine to forty two. 

Drop Outs.

We got a lot of them this week so let's run through these with two more Justin Bieber album tracks in "Go Baby" and "Walking Away" gone alongside older songs like "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves,  "Mr Brightside" by The Killers and "Rock That Body" by Black Eyed Peas.

Then there's "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez which will have safely made the year end again, "Stargazing" by Myles Smith, "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone and "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll that also departed. 

Some of this will also likely return next week which is frustrating as hell. 

New Entries

Two new entries this week and we're beginning with.,,

31. "The Nosebleed Section" by Hilltop Hoods

It's honestly wild to me that it took a Triple J countdown for this song to hit the ARIA singles chart in 2025 given it didn't hit the charts in it's original run and yeah there's a reason this song is thought of so fondly...unlike a lot of modern rap, it's bright and the flute that forms the main melody is just awesome snd the sampling of Melanie Safka's "The People In the Front Row" is just inspired. The MCs are on point with their flow and this song is just oozing in personality and charisma. It's just one of those songs that will go off anywhere it's played. Damn great song!

16. "Which One?" by Drake feat. Central Cee.

I thank the music gods who ensured we got the excellence of Hilltop Hoods this week who don't need banal boring content in their lyrics or shitty fake accents unlike Drake and Central Cee who with this song add absolutely nothing to the conversation about music, Dorake tries on another half assed phony accent over a completely forgettable beat. Yeah, this is rubbish, time to move on.

It's easy worst of the week however the best of the week is going to "The Nosebleed Section" by Hilltop Hoods.