ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 21st July. The Bs return...

 Yeah, it happened...we got a Justin Bieber album bomb and you know what? Even if the quality of the album is not great...at least it got the charts moving to some degree however Bieber didn't force a change at the top of the charts with "Ordinary" by Alex Warren at number one for a seventeenth week and unlike the last couple of weeks, it's got a challenger to it's hold on number one. 

However that challenger isn't "Golden" by the cast of K-Pop Demon Hunters which doesn't quite have the streaming to match "Ordinary" as yet.

What might overpower "Ordinary" though is the new entry at number three "Daisies" by Justin Bieber, this song is looking incredibly strong on streaming and looks set to pose a challenge for number one next week. 

Holding steady is "Victory Lap" by Fred again..., Skepta and PlaqueBoy Max at number four and really I am not sure this song is going to climb any higher at this point. 

Ravyn Lenae's "Love Me Not" slumped two places to number five while the cast of K-Pop Demon Hunters saw "Your Idol" climb two places to number six. 

Sombr's "Back to Friends" slipped two places to number seven while Sombr's other hit "Undressed" also fell two spots to number eight.

Cast of K-Pop Demon Hunters land a third song in the top ten this week with "Soda Pop" up three to number nine. Finally, "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe slumped one place back to number ten.

Gains

Not too much in the way of gains with the biggest being a six place gain for Drake's "What Did I Miss?" which climbed six places to thirty seven

Losers

So with nearly all of the chart losing ground this week, I am only going to focus on the double digit losers here so songs like "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone which slumped ten places to number forty one. 

Thankfully "Rock That Body" by The Black Eyed Peas collapsed eleven places to forty four while "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves slipped ten places to forty six. 

I am not thrilled "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll fell ten to forty eight but that should get a boost thanks to Warren's album dropping, the same goes for "Carry You Home" also by Alex Warren which fell fourteen to forty nine.

Finally down ten to fifty is long term charter "Stargazing" by Myles Smith down ten to fifty.

Drop Outs

So with the Justin Bieber album bomb, we lost a chunk of songs with songs like "Blue Strips" by Jessie Murph, "Good Luck, Babe" by Chappell Roan, "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez "Too Sweet" by Hozier and "Bad Dreams" by Teddy Swims all seemingly bound to make the year end list for 2025.

Then there's the songs that likely won't make the 2025 year end like "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran and "Illegal" by Pink Pantheress.

Finally the glut of older songs like "Mr Brightside" by The Killers and "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac. 

New Entries

So we did get a pretty sizeable Justin Bieber album bomb so outside of best and worst, we got "Way It Is" feat Gunna at forty (can see that song being a bit if it gets released as a single at some point), "Butterflies" at forty, "Walking Away" arrives at thirty eight, "Things You Do" at forty two, "All I Can Take" at twenty two and "Go Baby" at eighteen

So that leaves us with three new entries to discuss and we begin with Bieber because...

19. "Yukon" by Justin Bieber

So from the outset I am going to say that this Justin Bieber album is pretty bare bones with some sparse guitar, drums and some backing voacals this time from 2 Chainz who is uncredited on this track and honestly this does nothing for me mostly because it's just too bare bones to be anything close to memorable and the lyrics really remind me in more ways than one of "Swayze" by Zac Brown which is NOT a compliment...I'll pass...thanks. 

12. "Jump" by BLACKPINK

The return of Blackpink is something that I had been expecting for awhile and I was keen to hear what the group would return with after the members explored some solo work to varying degrees of success and what we got here..is something. The song starts off sounding straight out of the 80s with it's driving groove and the girls giving less that idea vocal performances beforce the beat switches up and goes into a sound that goes close to Hampton the Hampster, "Zorba's Dance" by LCD nd elements of the Chicken Dance that I guess would fit in with the title of the song but come on...Blackpink, you can do bnetter than this especially with that mock aggressive preening that I ain't buying. 

3. "Daisies" by Justin Bieber

So this was the song that I really dug from the album and I am glad it's the song from "Swag" that seems like it's set to be a major hit, It's a song where Bieber has a defined melody to work within thanks to the drum patter and the electric guitar that slides in and and out of the song. Sure, Bieber barely lifts his vocals out of crooning but that kind of makes sense when the song is about the juxtaposition of being in somebody's head and a desire to be romantically close to somebody.  It's a good song. 

Yeah, Bieber's getting best of the week for "Daisies". J am going to give worst of the week to Blackpink for "Jump" because that song was just "what the hell"

All 4 1994. 17th July: Can You Feel Black Hole Love? Don't Be Shy and Turn Around, I Swear.

 We have quite the busy week at hand here, numerous new entries along with some movement in our top ten as per usual howver the only thing that didn't change was our number one which is "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet and honestly I don't see what's beating it right now as it has a comfortable lead on sales. 

It certainly won't be former number one "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by the Crash Test Dummies which remains at number two this week having not been able to bridge the margin to "Love Is All Around" and is probably a chance of sliding in the weeks ahead. 

This leaves things open for "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters which jumped a massive twelve spots to number three, it's not quite telling if it could threaten Wet Wet Wet's stranglehold on number one but it could very well climb to number two at least.

It did push "Stay" by Eternal down to number four this week as it's sales dipped and it's not quite as competitive as it once was. 

Big Mountain had a nine place gain to number five with their cover of "Baby, I Love Your Way"..I guess I am fine with this.

"I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Reel feat. The Mad Stuntman remained locked in at number six thanks moderately steady sales.fourte

More Kulcha in our new entries but tbey saw "Shaka Jam" rise two number seven while Jam & Spoon's "Right in the Night" featuring Plavka slipped three to number eight, 

Our last and rather unfortunate arrival to our top ten up fourteen places to number nine is "The Winner Is..." by Southend feat. Nik Fish...why are we dignifying this shit?

The biggest loser in the top ten this week is East 17's "Around the World" down six to number ten this week. 

Losers

"Is It Love?" by Twenty 4 Seven feat. Stay-C and Nance slipped fourteen places to fifty this week as its time on the charts looks to be sputtering out. Also on the way out is "Satisfy the Groove" by Culture Shock down nine spots to forty nine. 

Down ten to forty four is "Helping Hand" by The Scresming Jets who look like they could use a helping hand to stay in the top fifty

"I'll Remember"  by Madonna slipped eight to thirty eight while D:Ream's "Things Can Only Get Better"  slumped ten as it fell back to thirty six. 

Metallica's live version of "One" skidattled down from nineteen to thirty one. "Doop" by Doop slipped eight to thirty, Former chart topper "The Sign" by Ace of Base saw a sign and tripped eleven places to twenty nine. 

Gains

So outside of the major gains in our top ten, we saw "You Gotta Be" by Des'ree up from twenty seven to number twelve this week while "Anytime You Need A Friend" by Mariah Carey climbed six to number eighteen. 

Collective Soul jumped up hard off their debut at thirty eight last week to hit twenty six while Lighter Shade of Brown bounced up nine to twenty seven with "Hey DJ"

Re-Entries 

Two returns this week with "Only to Be With You" by Roachford at number forty and 'Flashdance...What a Feeling" by Bjorn Again at forty eight.

New Entries

Six new entries this week, beginning with...

47. "Love Is Strong" by The Rolling Stones

So we have got the lead single from the Stones album "Voodoo Lounge" and well, this is about what you would expect the Stones to sound like in the 90s and while I like the driving guitar melodies, there's something really kind of creepy about the vocal delivery here that makes my skin ctawl, it might work coming from Michael Hutchence or another frontman with more charisma but coming from the Rolling Stones, it's just weird on a love or lust at first sight song...yeah not a fan of this,,,next!

45. "Don't Turn Around" by Ace of Base

The follow up to "The Sign" which is a minor key cover of an 80s Tina Turner song and I have to be honest here, thos really does feel like a lesser cut than "The Sign", sure its got the same pop flourishes as "The Sign" but it's not gripping me in the way I think it wants me to given the hook feels really kind of weak. I don't know, I don't think it's a bad song but it's not one that I'll remember compared to "The Sign"

41. "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" by Elton John

So now we finally get this song on the charts, it's from the Lion King movie soundtrack and composed by Elton John with the lyrics written by Tim Rice and yeah, the result is a wonderful, magical masterclass in pop music, there's something about this song that makes you feel warm and fuzzy as Elton's voice just carries this song with just enough orchestral swell that it's a warmth that just lingers. I absolutely adore this song.

28. "I Swear" by All-4-One

This song was originally a country song penned for John Michael Montgomery in 1993 with American R'n'B group All-4-One covering it this year and here is the cover on the chart and I have to say almost immediately I prefer the John Michael Montgomery version especially as it seems more sincere in its vocal delivery and the instrumentation sounds less gummy and overproduced than on the All-4-One version,

Even so the song is still a cloying, clingy thing no matter the version so most days, it would be a skip for me. 

24. "Don't Be Shy" by Kulcha

Ahh, time for the follow up to "Shaka Jam" and I think it's an improvement? It's got a nice swagger to it which would make the whole "girl, don't be shy" aesthetic work however I am going to complain about how the vocals on the hook are lower than on the verses which feels like a mistake in the production and mixing of this song, otherwise this is a solid song, check it out if curious. 

14. "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden

Guess I shouldn't be surprised that this is the highest debuting song of the week, this song is the third single from Soundgarden's album "Superunknown" and was inspired by Chris Cornell mishearing something a news anchor said on his drive home from the recotding studio and wow, does this song hit a a really strong chord especially the line "times are gone for honest men" and wow, that resonates hard in 2025. I love that everything on the song including the guitars and drums are given their moment to shine but Cornell is the star here, the guy just commands your attention the minute he starts singing. Great song.!

However best of the week is going to "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John, it was really close there though.

As for thr worst, nothing outright terrible but "Love Is Strong" by the Rolling Stones gets it mostly for being weird and creepy. 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. July 14th. Did I Miss The Illegal Chain Takedown?

 So this week feels oddly normal in that we have a bunch of new entries and with a Justin Bieber album bomb on the way next week, things could finally be starting to get interesting, sadly it's not about getting interesting for the number one spot any time soon with "Ordinary" by Alex Warren remains at the top for yet another week and again, I don't see it changing with this song still incredibly dominant on both streaming and sales. 

Its safe for a bit at least given that "Golden"  by the Cast of Kpop Demon Hunters which climbed six places to number two thanks to massive gains on streaming and on sales, it pushed "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae back one to number three as this song has now peaked and is probably going to be one of the songs to take a direct hit from the Bieber album bomb.

Remaining at number four is "Victory Lap" by Fred Again,,,,feat. Skepta and Plaqueboy Max, it's streaming is solid if unremarkable at this point. 

Rebounding up one to number five is Sombr's "Back to Friends" which actually surpassed his other top ten hit "Undressed' which slipped back to number six.

One of the bigger losers this week is "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter which fell four spots to number seven while rising into the top ten is "Your Idol" by the Cast of Kpop Demon Hunters up four to number eight.

"No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe fell back two places to number while "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae fell back one spot to number ten.

Gains

Most of the big gains are from the Kpop Demon Hunters soundtrack so lets go through these quickly with "How It's Done" up ten to eleven, "Soda Pop" up fifteen to number twelve, "What It Sounds Like" up niue to sixteen and "Free" up thirteen to twenty.

Outside of that "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac rises eleven to nineteen and "Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan up eight to thirty

Losers

A good chunk of the chart lost this week but the biggest loser this week was "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez which slipped eleven to forty eight while the losses continued for "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran which tumbled ten places to forty nine. 

Former chart topper "Messy" by Lola Young fell seven places to twemty six while "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish also fell seven to twenty. 

Drop Outs

Delighted to see some pretty terrible songs drop out this week with "Gabriela" by Katseye and "Blue Strips" by Jessie Murph gone taking with them "Nokia" by Drake and "Sports Car" by Tate McRae. 

New Entries

Four new entries this week, starting with...

46. "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac

Oh god, we're starting off with a god damn classic, this song is from Fleetwood Mac's classic 1977 album "Rumours" and yeah, this song is a masterclass in song writing with the harmonies of the group and just how perfect and well put together this is to the point it sounds fresh when listening to it in 2025! 

Lyrically the song deals with the tension within a telationship thats falling apart with both sides realizing that if they can't love each other now than at this point the relationship is done and there is no coming back from it. I love how Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks build the tension too. Great song! If you haven't heard this song and it's parent album yet, I highly recommend you do so. 

43. "What Did I Miss" by Drake

So after dealing with a high like "The Chain", we're on the letdown in that we're getting ready for another Drake album in 2025 at some point with this song being the lead single and I have to say at furst glance, I actually don't mind that beat with that piano and trap skitter, it's got some menace however the problem with this song is Drake himself where he whines about unnamed friends in the music industry betraying him during the rap beef last year.

This song is just Drake chucking a pity party for himself on record and honestly out of sheer embarrassment for the guy, I am going to move on because yeah,..this is not a good sign fpr that album. 

42. "Illegal" by Pink Pantheress

Oh finally, Pink Pantheress is back on the charts, I've been worried that she has never really been able to follow up the success she had with "Boy's A Liar Part 2" but regardless she is here with a song from her most recent mix tape "Fancy That" and it's decent at best...I've never really been that much of a fan of Pink Pantheress's vocal delivery or the production she uses for her 2000s throw back breakbeat pop but this works for what it is even if I do think the production is a bit too busy and does at points feel like it;s swallowing her whole in the mix but I'll take this...I guess.

27. "Takedown" by Cast of Kpop Demon Hunters feat. members of TWICE

So another song from the Kpop Demon Hunters soundtrack that reportedly has members of the Kpop act Twice on it and yeah, their voices are better miced in order to try and sell what is an oddly slapdash trap/kpop song that also winds up being pretty grating to sit through all things considered so yeah I'm going to keep this short and skip it,

So I'm going to disqualify "The Chain" from best of the week mostly because it's an older song and will be gone in September when the chart rules change so I am going to give it "Classic of the week" which makes best of the week an even more frustrating task because there are no stand outs, I'll give it to "Illegal" by Pink Pantheress as it was the most tolerable song here.

Worst of the week goes to "What Did I Miss?" by Drake for being a slice of miserable whining that nobody asked for. 

All 4 1994: 10th July. Wild Night For My Sweet Shine

 So we have a reasonably interesting week at hand here, sure our top three didn't change but we do have some changes to our top ten and up and down the chart this week but speaking of our top ten, let's dive into that where for a second week "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet remains at number one, its just got nobody able to compete with it at the moment so therefore it holds the top spot comfortably.

The same goes for "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies except at number two and for "Stay" by Eternal at number three. 

East 17 climb one spot to number four with "Around the World", it pushed "Right in the Night" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka back to number five, both these songs are facing some stiff competition from "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Reel feat. The Mad Stuntman up eight to number six and looks to have all the momentum to rise higher in the weeks ahead.

"Lonely"  by Frente remains a lonely figure at number seven while "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by The Symbol slipped two to number eight. 

The next two songs in the top ten are joining it for the first time with "Shaka Jam" by Kulcha up three to number nine and "Ptay" by Take That also up three to number ten.

Losers

Not too mamy major losers this week although we did see "Satisfy the Groove" by Culture Shock take a seven place dip to forty one, I hardly know what to make of this song's chart run to be quite honest, it's a bit all over the shop.

"The Beauitful Experience (EP)" by The Symbol slipped six to thirty nine while Madonna's "I'll Remember" stumbled ten places to thirty. 

"Doop" by Doop slipped seven spots to twenty two while "I Berlieve" by Marcella Detroit slumped six to sixteen this week. 

Gains

Only two big gains outside the top ten this week with "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain getting a massive boost off it's debut of twenty seven up to fourteen this week, This looks headed for the top ten. 

Also likely bound for the top ten is "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters rising nine to fifteen.

New Entries

Three new entries this week. starting with...

49. "Sweets For My Sweet" by CJ Lewis

Your regularly scheduled cover version of the week comes from British reggae singer CJ Lewis who decided to a reggae version of The Drifters 1961 hit "Sweets for My Sweet" and it pretty much sounds as you would expect...like if Glee was a thing in 1994...like come on, what the hell is this cloying disaster of a cover? Apart from the fact Lewis sounds like he is mumbling his way through his verses and the chorus sounds like the cast of Young Talent Time pitched up. Yeah no, let's move on fast. 

47. "Wild Night" by John Mellencamp feat. Me'Shell N'degeocello

Well we can only go up from here...you may not know that I do actually like a lot of John Mellencamp's music, "Jack & Diane" is a staple song for me so I was kind of curious to check out a cover of a Van Morrison 1971 song in which he brought on board American singer/songwriter Me'Shell N'degeocello for a collab and it turns out what we got is pretty good! It's funky, Mellencamp and N'degeocello have a tonne of vocal chemistry and the song really does benefit from the guitars playing off each other...I enjoyed this quite a bit...check it out!

38. "Shine" by Collective Soul

Ending this week with a song from an American alternative band called Collective Soul and in a year where grunge has pretty well dominated the rock and alternative scenes, this is actually a really bright, kind of sweet song where Collective Soul are asking for heaven to shine a light down just to find love or something tangible. The song is a bit of a prayer, regardless with the repetitive riffs that definitely work to this song's advantage, I can see this becoming a hit. 

However it's not the best of the week that's going to "Wild Night" by John Mellencamp and Me'Shell N'degeocello. 

Worst is easy with that going to "Sweets for My Sweet" by CJ Lewis. Seriously we can do better than this. 

ARIA Singles top 50 Chart Review: 7th July

 So much like in 2022 when the movie Encanto ruled on slow and stagnant charts, similar is happening in 2025, the charts are slow and stagnant hence we've got a Netflix K-Pop series music breaking onto the charts and it does affect the top ten so let's dive in where for a fifteenth week "Ordinary" by Alex Warren remains at number one and again, it's dominant on sales and streaming, it doesn't look like it's going to be knocked off any time soon.

The big surprise was the two place move up for "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae to number two, mostly becvause it's streaming has lagged a bit so to see this move up was something of a surprise.

Then again "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter doesn't look to be strong overall as it slipped back one to number three, yeah, I don't see this song sticking around. Also down one to number four is "Victory Lap" by Fred Again..., Skepta and Plaqueboy Max as streaming is consistent but not challenging those above it just yet, 

"Undressed" by Sombr remained steady at number five while his other hit "Back to Friends" also remained where it is at number six. 

"No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe climbed two places to number seven thanks to streaming. 

Now we get to the new entry at number eight from the cast of kpop Demon Hunters called "Golden", I'll talk about this song's quality in more detail later but this song is steady on streaming right now and could make a play for the top five in the weeks ahead.

Rebounding into the top ten up seven is "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae at niumber nine but I think it's because the F1 movie soundtrack was finally released. 

Still clinging to the top ten down two is "Beautiful Tungs" by Benson Boone...the sooner this song goes away the better. 

Gains

So because of all the new entries this week there were no gains apart from the already aforementioned seven place gain for "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae in the top ten, 

Losers

So we have a bunch of double digit losers and I am not complaining about most of these, I mean "Good Luck Babe!" by Chappell Roan has had a great run but it is about time for it to go as it tumbled twelve to forty eight. 

I am delighted that  "Blue Strips" by Jessie Murph stumbled sixteen places to forty seven and "Nokia" by Drake down fourteen to forty six (new Drake song will probably chart next week unfortunately).

Maybe the one I am a little sad about is "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran which slipped thirteen to thirty nine. 

"Sports Car" by Tate McRae fell eight to forty nine, "Espresso"  by Sabrina Carpenter tumbled eight to thirty five and "Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars also slumped eight to twenty.

New Entries

We do have six new entries but we do have somewhat of an album bomb so here's the Kpop Demon Hunters songs that qualify for neither best nor worst of the week..."Free" at 33, "Soda Pop" at twenty seven, "What It Sounds Like" at twernty five and "How It's Done" at twenry one.

So let's get this show on the road with...

44. "Gabriela" by Katseye

So all three of our new entries are some form of K-Pop with Katseye being a much talked about all female group from South Korea. Tbankfully we avoided the pretty atrocious "Gnarly" with the group reverting to bland latin infused pop/r'n'b with trap touches that sounds about as flavourful and energetic as dry stale cornflakes and the consistency of mush which is weird cobnsidering the cobtent basically runs the same throughline as that of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" except the lack of intensity or anger Dolly was able to impart on "Jolene when she was warning this other woman to stay away where as Katseye tell "Gabriela" to stay away with all the intensity and anger of a baby farting. Not a good song. 

12. " Your Idol" by Cast of Kpop Demon Hunters.

I don't have Netflix so I am going in blind with these songs from "K-Pop Demon Hunters and I kind of dig this? There's something of a boy band vibe that reminds me a lot of BTS with the harmonies and rap verse plus I like how it's got a bit of dramatic swell to pay off the whole Idol thing. I think it works for what's trying to do, I'll take it. Good song. 

8. "Golden" by Cast of Kpop Demon Hunters

Biggest debut of the week and it's one that I am only luke warm on at best, sure, it's got some nice bass behind it however the vocals on this song leave a lot to be desired, it feels like they being smothered in the mix which is either too loud or the vocals have put closer to the back which is an asinine thing to do. Either way, I am hoping that this song doesn't stick around. 

That ends our week and the best and worst fall out easily. K-Pop Demon Hunters Cast get best of thr week for "Your Idol", the worst is going to "Gabriela" by Katseye because that song is just full of nothing worth anything. 

All 4 1994: 3rd July Baby, I Love Your Son of A Real Thing..What A Feeling

 Sigh...yeah...let's get on with this, starting with the top ten where we do have a new number one that being "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet and yeah, its at the top thanks to sales to whom I'd have to assume are people planning weddings and want this song to be the music for their wedding...yikes.

It did push "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies back to number two as it just couldn't compete with "Love Is All Around" and is facing some real competition from "Stay" by Eternal up two spots to number three, it's got some decent momentum right now which probably helped it move past "Right in the Night" by Jam & Spoon feat. Plavka which slipped ne to number four.

"All Around the World" by East 17 climbed one spot to number five which was mostly on the weakness of "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World' by The Symbol down two to number six.

"Lonely" by Frente! climbed two spots to number seven while "I'll Stand by You" by The Pretenders reamains standing stuck at number eight.

"U R The Best Thing" by D:Ream climbed from thirteen to number nine to give D:Ream another hit for 1994. 

Finally joining the top ten this week is "I Believe" by Marcella Detroit which climbed two places to number ten.

Losers

Pearl Jam's "Animals" tumbled eleven to fifty this week while former chsrt topper "The Power of Love" by Celine Dion fell ten to fotty seven. ile 

Also down ten is "Light My Fure" by Club House feat. Carl to thirty nine while "Is It Love?" by Twenty 4 Seven feat. Stay-C and Nance slid nine spots to thirty six. 

"The Beautiful Experience (EP)" by The Symbol crashed twelve to thirty three and "Breathe Again" by Toni Braxton slipped eleven to twenty nine.

Finally down nine this week is former number one "The Sign" by Ace of Base to sixteen.

Gains

So up sixteen spots to twenty four off it's debut is "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters. This has all the makings of becoming a hit so we'll have to see. 

Also up solidly is "You Gotta Be" by Des'ree which bounced up from thirty two to twenty five.

Sadly not all the gains were good this week with "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Reel feat. The Mad Stuntman up ten to fourteen

New Entries

Six new entries this week beginning with...

49. "Flashdance...What a Feeling" by Bjorn Again

ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again have turned to covering Irene Cara's massively successful 1983 hit "Flashdance..What A Feeling" and I have to be honest, there's just something magic about the original that Bjorn Again even with the somewhat trying to imagine ABBA covering the song just don't quite get, the ladies atre more nasal than needed. Yeah, I'lll stick to the Irene Cara original.

48. "Alone Like Me" by The Sharp

Our weekly Australian rock entry comes from Melbourne band The Sharp and honestly I kind of like this? Sure that scream of "OOOOHHH" on the hook could have been left out and the lead vocals a bit louder in the mix but song reminds me a lot of if Midnight Oil and R.E.M collaborated. This isn't too bad...I'll take this. 

46. "Son Of A Gun" by JX

The debut single of British DJ Jake Williams otherwise known as JX with this song featuring a sample of 1976 song "Touch and Go" by Ecstasy, Passion & Pain feat Barbara Roy and you know what? This song isn't as bad as some of the other dance cuts that have charted. For once the sample is used effectively and the vocals are clear and crisp. I like this a lot, check it out. 

44. "The Real Thing" by 2 Unlimited

Okay, another song with 2 Unlimited and I'll be fair here, this one is better than their previous efforts. The rap verses are pretty generic dancefloor hype up but after all that's really what this song is aiming to do and the harmonies on the hook are nice. I'll take this as I've heard much worse from this group previously. 

43. "Ease My Mind" by Arrested Development

So this is the new single from Arrested Development's new album called "Zingalamaduni" and I don't  know...I think the song is fine but given what this group have released previously, I kind of expected a little better, its still distinctly Arrested Development but that hook is more repetitive than I would like it to be. This song just doesn't do it for me. Sorry. 

27. "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain

Sigh, another cover of Peter Frampton's 1975 classic song as if we didn't already have enough of that god awful cover of the song in 1989 from Will to Power and now American reggae/pop act Big Mountain are giving it a go for the soundtrack of the movie "Reality Bites" and look, this is merely decent as at least this version looks to have a bit of a groove thanks to the drums and percussion, the harmonies on the hook, not terrible for a change I guess.

Which leaves me in quandry as there are no real contenders for worst of the week here, I guess I'll go with Bjorn Again's cover of "Flashdance...What A Feeling" because that just felt off. 

Best of the week though...I'm giving that to JX for "Son of a Gun. 

 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review. 30th June.

 Really, what's even the point anymore? The chaerts have become so boring and stagnant, its hardly worth caring but oh well, let's dive straight in where "Ordinary" by Alex Warren spends a fourteenth week at number one and again I don't see wherre the challenge is coming from as this song is still incredibly strong on both streaming and sales. 

I am not sure it's coming from "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter which holds steady at number two but it's actually losing streaming and sales aren't as strong as it should be, this might open the way for a new entry at number three "Victory Lap" by Fred Again..., Skepta and PlaqueBoy Max, more on this song later but it got some incredible streaming but doesn't have much else to go with it. 

Remaining stalled at number four is "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae, mostly because it's not much in the way of sales but is holding up nicely on streaming. 

Dropping two places is "Undressed" by Sombr at number five, streaming just falling away for this song. Same goes for "Back to Friends" by Sombr down one to number six. 

Also down one just to number seven is "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan while "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone continues to be that stinky bum in the top ten but down one to number eight, 

Rising eleven places to number nine is "No Broke Boys" by Disco-Lines and Tinashe because this song got streaming on board...yay...not.,

Finally down two to number ten is "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish. 

Gains

So outside the big boost for "No Broke Boys" into th withe top ten, there were some other scattered gains up and down the chart and honestly we need an intervention if "Rock That Body" by The Black Eyed Peas got a twenty three place boost to twenty four (it'll be gone in September when those new chart rules come into play).

"Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone unfortunately up eight to twenty two but I'll pin that to the album release.

Losers

It was a rough week for Tate McRae songs with "Sports Car" down seven to forty one and her song with Morgan Wallen "What I Want" down nine to twenty five. 

While "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll unfortunately down ten to thirty four while in some good news "Blue Strips" by Jessie Murph slipped eight to thirty one...thank god.

Drop Outs.

Two songs dropped out this week with "WildFlower" by Billie Eilish and "Shake It To the Max" by MOLIY, Skillbeng and Shenseea both taking their exits this week.bo

New Entries

Two new entries this week, beginning with...

43. "Nice to Each Other" by Olivia Dean

So the ARIA Chart breakthrough of English neo soul singer Olivia Dean and boy, do I wish there was more to this half baked song that really goes skin deep relationship melodrama. There is something incredibly toxic about this song in a way that makes me want to throw something out a window screaming irrationally. Gross. 

3. "Victory Lap" by Fred again..., Skepta and Plaqueboy Max

Well this might be Fred Agsin's catchiest beat in awhile because this goes hard and both Skepta and Plaqueboy Max ride this beat incredibly well. It reminds me of a lot of those club dance big beat bangers in the 90s except this one is tighter and goes off harder. Good song. Check this one out.

Yeah best of the week to "Victory Lap". Worst of the week is obviously "Nice to Each other"