Saturday, 6 June 2026

Pretty Fly (For 1999). June 6th. Can't Get Enough Scar Tissue to Shimmer.

So we have an interesting week in prospect here especially as it seems the challengers are coming for our number one which of course remains "No Sctubs" by TLC but those sales margins are starting to look shaky against the competition.

Believe it or not, I don't think that competition is coming from "I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys which climb ed one slot to number two, it's solid enough on sales but doesn't look to be in a place to challenge for number one.

What may well be in a place to surpass TLC and the Backstreet Boys lies with "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer which climbed from fourteen to number three this week and has an incredible amount of momentum to make a move for number one next week.

All this leaves "Look At Me" by Geri Halliwell in a weird spot as it remains stalled at number four, it doesn't have the numbers to make a play for number one but it could face challengers for its spot soon if sales don't improve. 

That challenge could be coming from "Livin' La Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin up one to number five although that jump could be because "We Like to Party (The Vengabus)" by Vengaboys just crashed off the chart cliff slumping four slots to number six.

"Why Don't You Get a Job?" by The Offspring slipped two spots to number seven while Billie's "Honey to the Bee" remains steady at number eight.

The 'We Worship ABBA' crew of Steps, Tina Cousins, Cleopatra, B*Witched and BIllie Piper climbed one spot to number nine with "Thank ABBA for the Music". 

Savage Garden round out the top ten with "The Animal Song" down one to number ten but goodness knows with this song. 

Losers.

 So we do have a few big losers down the bottom end of the chart with "Enjoy Yourself" by A+ down six to forty eight while Pandora's "Rise 'n' Shine" isn't shining so much down nine to forty seven. 

"That Don't Impress Me Much" by Shania Twain continues it's graceful descent out of the chart down nine to thirty three. 

If you were wondering where "Baby, One More Time" by Britney Spears is...well it fell ten spots to seventeen this week.

Gains

There's not much to tell in the way of gains outside of our top ten, really, the biggest gain appears to be for "Say It Once" by Ultra up sev en slots to twenty six.


Re-Entries

Our returns are two songs that I mostly like with "Unforgivable Sinner" by Lene Marlin back at fifty and "Shimmer" by Fuel back at forty three. 


New Entries

Three new entries this week beginning with...

49. "Can't Get Enough" by Soulsearcher

So we're starting this week off with an English Studio project that was created by a record producer named Marc Pomeroy that has roots in alternnative. dance and R&B with this song being the lead single and yeah, this is a lot of fun! The vocals are infectious and the production gives the vocals room to breath and swell, it sounds great! Now given this is more of a dance cut, the content really isn't anything more than dancefloor filler about how they can't get enough of this significant other's love. Good song, definitely check this out. 

46. "Shimmer" by Shawn Mullins

Oh here we have the follow up to "Lullaby" and Shawn Mullins isn't doing the talk singing he did on that song here, the vocal performance is definitely better here than it was on "Lullaby" and overall I think this song is actually a step up, there's more to the guitars and drum work here, more of a flourish if that makes sense and the content doesn't feel as creepy as it did on "Lullaby" and the content of the song does work for what it is.

It points out that we try to keep children innocent and then as they grow teach them to hate and given the way the world is right now, it's a sentiment that has only grown more true with time although this sentiment for Mullins seems to be born out of a moment when he was visiting a friend in hospital, got lost and wound up in the maternity ward where he saw a newborn baby with their eyes wide open and was struck by how innocent the baby is. Check out the song if you are curious. 

16. "Scar Tissue" by Red Hot Chili Peppers

The lead single for the album "Californication" and given the Peppers have made some of the best rock music of the 90s I was hoping for more of that stadium rock vibe that RHCP had going at least in the early nineties, I had hope which is why the minute I went into this song and heard the down tuned guitars and Anthony Kiedis droning, the disappointment felt insurmountable...this song is just BORING...sure there's some good harmonies on the hook but god, otherwise this is just a flat song with no punch or life to it at all. Ugh. 

Yeah, it's the worst of the week. Best is going to "Can't Get Enough" by Soulsearcher because hey at least that song has some good groove and energy to it. 

Tuesday, 2 June 2026

ARIA SIngles Top 50 Chart Review: 1st June The One Where Olivia's The Cure Brings Greatness to The Charts

This week felt...weird...the fall out of the Drake album bomb was always going to be a thing but we also got two new entries, one of which I am very excited to talk about because folks, we might have one of the best songs of the year on or off the charts at hand here but anyway let's jump into the top ten where we have a new number one "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo which got to number one purely on some early sales, excellent streaming and a little Youtube. 

However it is a margins game with "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley right behind it down one to number two, this song is still doing EXTREMELY well on sales and streaming and is in a good position to retake the number one should "The Cure" wobble. 

Not so much the case for our next two songs with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean pushed down one to number three and "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean which both just do not have the sales or streaming to match the top two. 

Sadly holding steady at number five is "Janice STFU" by Drake, it's holding steady on streaming sadly. more is the pity given the song sucks. 

Rebounding one spot to number six is "Dracula" by Tame Impala while "ILoveItILoveItILoveIt" by Bella Kay also rebounded one to number seven.  The receding of the Drake album bomb meant the return of "Ordinary" by Alex Warremat  number eight...dang it...come on...it's time for this song to free fall.

Rebounding a massive fourteen spots to number nine (I think the new number one had something to do with this) is "Drop Dead" by Olivia Rodrigo. 

Finally the second Drake song to remain in the top ten is "National Treasures" but it is down six slots to number ten.

Losers

All of our big losers were Drake album tracks with "Dust" down thirty three to forty three. "Plot Twist" down twenty three to forty one, "2 Hard 4 THe Radio" lost it's tuning down twenty one to thirty six,, "Shabang" down seventeen to twenty seven and "Whisper My Name" down fifteen to twenty one.

The only non Drake faller was "Hit the Wall" by Gracie Abrams down nine to thirty one.


Drop Outs

The drop outs are mostly Drake album tracks so gone and won't be back are "Make Them Cry", "What Did I Miss?", "Make Them Pay", "B's On the Table" feat. 21 Savage, "Burning Bridges", "Make Them Know" and "Make Them Remember".

However we also saw one big exit with "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish finally leaving the chart to join the On Replay chart.


Gains

Everything that's not Drake rebounded hard this week so I am going to go through the double digit gains only beginning with "Self Aqare" by Temper City which somehow climbed sixteen to twenty five...people really care about that song? Really?

Ravyn Lenae dropped a new single "Handle" on Friday but her big smash "Love Me Not" continues to hang onto the chart up eleven to twenty four.

Sombr's "12 to 12" rebounded ten to twenty, 


Re-Entries

Our returns are where we saw the most activity other than Drake songs losing or dropping out so what filled the slots left?

I am not sure why "Yukon" by Justin Bieber or "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars are back but they returned at fifty and forty nine respectively. 

"I Just Might" by Bruno Mars is back at forty seven while Taylor Swift's "Opalite" is back at forty six  (Taylor has a new single for the Toy Story 5 soundtrack coming on Friday).

Olivia Dean's excellent "A Couple Minutes" is also making its return at forty four and Sombr's "Undressed" climbed back in at forty.


New Entries

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

48. "Bed on Fire" by G Flip

So we finally got a second Australian song to chart in the singles top 50 behind "Dracula" by Tame Impala albeit it's from G Flip's album last year however the reason it's here is because the song was used in a sex scene on Netflix drama "Off Campus" so how is the song?

It's good? Feels very reminiscent of a Florence and the Machine cut except Florence Welch could absolutely go hell for leather on the vocals which is not really in G Flip's wheel house vocally and they do a fine enough  job here with a song all about exploring a prohibited attraction and embracing it anyway despite those around them saying "No, don't think about it, don't go there".

Good but just short of great song, check it out. 

1. "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo 

The second single from Olivia Rodrigo's third album "You Seem Pretty Sad for A Girl So In Love" and and I was curious what we would get with this song...well, I am happy to say that we got something that is absolutely without qualification GREAT, there's something so incredibly transcendent about this song and I think it lies in Dan Nigro's production where finally a song is allowed to have a build and this incredibly satisfying cresecendo that's built up with the vocals and the guitar and just the song taking on layers to reach that point where Olivia just yells "I'm unravelled"

The content is just as good with Olivia using the metaphor of love as a drug but only it's not working, the love her lover is giving is not enough to assuage Olivia's own self doubt and negative self talk that could see her push this lover away because she knows that it does matter how good the love is or how much love he gives that it'll never fix the raging insecurities that Olivia has and she needs to put in the work on herself to fix all that. 

"The Cure" is already oen of my favourite songs of 2026 even just outside the charts alone and I am so glad that Australia has given this a week at number one, damn great song and is absolutely worth your time, check this song out!