All 4 1994: 3rd April. Dry Sign Since I Lost The County

 Let's just jump straight into this week because yeah, it's really not all that interesting apart from a few shifts in the top ten because for yet another week, "It's Alright" by East 17, it's now spent five weeks at the top and doesn't look like slowing down any.

Remaining at number two is "The Power of Love" by Celine Dion because it's just doing steady on sales but will be a decent threat to top spot should "It's Alright' sales start to slow down or stumble.

Also in decent position is Mariah Carey's howling "Without You" up one to number three, it pushed past "Whatta Man" by Salt 'N' Pepa feat. En Vogue which slipped to number four...frankly I am surprised this really isn't making a bigger push for number one, it's got number one hit written all over it. 

Up one to number five is the grading "Sing Halleluljah" by Dr Alban, its just making steady gains and should continue to improve it's position.

The most pleasing news in our top ten this week is that Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia" had an eleven place rise to number six! I know it's because of the movie but I am just thrilled that this song is here. It's a great song. 

Melodie MC's remaining at number seven with "Dum Da Dum" while thankfully Michael Bolton's rising tide of ass "Said I Loved You...But I Lied" fell three to number eight...thank goodness for that!

Finally I have mixed feelings on our two new arrivals to the top ten with "Things Can Only Get Better" by D:Ream up four places to number nine. Fine song so reasonably happy to see it here.

Wish I could say the same for "Loser" by Beck which also rose four places to round out our top ten at number ten. 

Losers

Not as many losers this week and what of our losers, most of them were just continued losses of momentum like "Feels Like Heaven" by Urban Cookie Collective down from thirty eight to forty three while "What is Love" by Haddaway down from thirty seven to forty two. 

"Shoop" by Salt 'n' Pepa just utterly collapsed from twenty five to bit thirty eight...ouch!

Former top ten hit "Stay (Faraway, So Close!" by U2 slipped from twenty eight to thirty four while former number one "All For Love" by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting copped a nine place dump down to thrty. 

"Hey Mr D.J" by Zhane slipped nine places to twenty nine. 

Gains

This week was an incredibly busy one for gains and while I am not thrilled that "Twist and Shout" by Chaka Demus & Pliers with Jack Radics and Taxi Gang got a ten place boost to seventeen, we did see "Cornflake Girl" by Tori Amos jump from twenty six to nineteen and Chocolate Starfish climbed twelve spots to 21 with "Mountain" 

Right behind all of that is "Breathe Again" by Tori Braxton which jumped eight places to twenty two, I can see this breathy r'n'b song being a top ten hit and it's on it's way to becoming one.

Also not thrilled that "Let Me Show You" by K-Klass got a seven place boot to twenty eight however "I Can See Clearly Now" by Jimmy Cliff jumped nine spots to twenty seven which I am absolutely delighted about. 

Finally "Helping Hand" by The Screaming Jets jumped from forty one to thirty six because Aussie pub rock apparently still has a place on the charts.

New Entries

Thankfully a much lighter week in terms of new entries with just three new songs this week starting with

49. "Since i Don't Have You" by Guns 'N' Roses

I think it needs to be said that I have a mixed at best relationship with Guns 'N' Roses music. Sure "Sweet Child of Mine" is great but damn they have some absolute stinkers as well and I wasn't expecting much given they  are covering a 1958 song by The Skyliners that was also covered by Don McLean in 1981 and then by country singer Ronnie Millsap in 1991. Also seems like this ballad about having lost love and trying to move on from a lost relationship is just a good excuse for a guitar solo from Slash and Axl Rose to turn crooner. It's not terrible but this is just a little odd from Guns 'n' Roses.

41. "The Sign" by Ace of Base

So here we have the lead single from Swedish pop group Ace Base, it's from their debut album called "The Sign" and fuck, I don't know if I have heard a catchier pop song in a while! That hook is sticky as hell and combines a lot of sounds from reggae and europop. The song hits on themese of exploring the moment that a couple realizes that this relationship is probably over and yeah it does so maybe the catchiest and kind of fun way yet. Expect this to be heard everywhere!.

39. "Dry County" by Bon Jovi

Sixth and final single from Keep the Faith and it's a long song for sure clocking in at six minutes and thiry seven seconds where over gentle piano, guitar and drums, Bon Jovi laments the then decline of the US oil industry and how the decline affected thoses who relied on the income that the industry provided them in order to support their families. It's certainly an impassioned performance from Jon Bon Jovi. This is good but I am not sure that I will ever come back to it. 

That wraps up the week and I am going to give worst of the week to "Since I Don't Have You" by Guns 'n' Roses as that song probably just doesn't hit me as much as the other two do.

Best of the week is going to "The Sign" by Ace of Base and that's not even a contest. It has the potential to be a massive hit going forward in 1994. We'll see what happens next week and whether East 17 can hang on to the top spot. 

All 4 1994: 27th March Feel Like You Made Me Twist and Shout

 So this week is all change in our top ten and we do have our regular allotment of new entries that somehow don't seem to slow down any however the only thing that hasn't changed is that "It's Alright" by East 17 remains at number one, now it's got good sales but it really is now a matter of how long it can hang on because it's now got a song with genuine momentum behind it. that being "The Power of Love" by Celine Dion which climbed one place to number two.

It moved past "Whatta Man" by Salt-n-Pepa feat. En Vogue down one two number three while 'Without You" by Mariah Carey which climbed two places to number four and looks to have some solid momentum unfortunately, it pushed "Said I Loved You...But I Lied" by Michael Bolton back one place to number five. 

"Sing Hallelujah" by Dr Alban rose three places to number six while "Dum Da Dum" by Melodie MC climbed four places to number seven this week.

All of this saw "Slave to the Music" by Twenty 4 Seven feat Stay-C and Nance slide three spots to number eight while Cut 'N' Move's "Give It Up" continues its graceful exit from the top ten down two to number nine

Also down two places this week is "Feelin' Alright" by EYC to number ten and it's looking like it's time in the top ten is done. 

Losers

Down to forty five from thirty eight last week is "Dirty Dawg" by NKOTB. "Feels Like Heaven" by Urban Cookie Collective continues its slide toward the ecit down eight to thirty eight while "What is Love" is being asked even louder by Haddaway as it tumbled nine to thirty seven.

"Will You Be There (In the Morning)" by Heart took an eight place tumble to thirty two while "Shoop" by Salt 'n' Pepa slipped eight to twenty five. 

Finally "All For Love" by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting slipped seven to twenty one. 

Gains

A lot of big gains were for recent new entries with the first of those being a nine place gain to thirty six fot Jimmy Cliff's "I Can See Clearly Now" while "Let Me Show You" by K-Klass climbed from forty one to thirty five.

"Breathe Again" by Toni Braxton got a seventeen place boost to thirty while "One Night in Heaven" by M People climbed six to twenty three. 

"Mr Jones" saw a ten place gain to twenty two for Counting Crows but in great news this week, Bruce Springsteen's emotional "Streets of Philadelphia" climbed up to seventeen from thirty one. Happy to see it. 

Beck's "Loser" jumped eight places to fourteen while D:Ream's "Things Can Only Get Better" rose six to thirteen. 

New Entries

50. "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" by Elton John and RuPaul

No, stop...can we not do this? What the hell? Elton John teaming up with drag artist Ru Paul for a cover of his own song "Don't Go Breaking my Heart" and honestly this seems to have more novelty value on first glance especially with involvement of RuPaul and yeah...this is a novelty version of what was originally a damn great song just messing with the production and instrumentation enough to water it down into this trending chasing Eurodance number that really does not do anything to help Elton John's vocals at all so yeah...skip it.

49. "Feel Like Making Love"  by Pauline Henry

Rough start but let's see if we can do any better with former The Chimes singer Pauline Henry's cover of Bad Company's 1975 song "Feel like Making Love" which surprisingly wasn't a hit here back then even though it did reasonably well in the US, Canada and New Zealand and that surprises me because the Bad Company version gets played a lot on the radio in 2025! Anyway, I dig this version, the more soulful verse delivery by Henry and then drops into this kick ass rock hook with the guitars delivering a hell of a punch, Henry makes this work! Check it out. 

48. "Let the Beat Control Your Body" by 2 Unlimited

Alright, for some more 2 Unlimited, the last couple of run ins I have had with this group haven't gone well so let's see if this newest single is any better and nope...still the same crappy annoyance with doofy euro club beats that don't change up or do anything different complete with nightclub lyrics about letting the beat control the way your body moves. I am done with this shit already.

43. "You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart" by Sinead O'Connor

I was dreading having to review this song mostly because Sinead O'Connor as an artist was really complex and this song that was co written in part by Bono for a film called "In the Name of the Father" which starred Daniel Day-Lewis and it's this murky piano driven ballad about a woman murdering her lover just to keep him with her in the 14th century and yeah...this song is hard to listen to.  It's worth a listen as the song is definitely good but yeah it's definitely not an easy listen.

27. "Twist and Shout" by Chaka Demus & Pliers with Jack Radics & Taxi Gang. 

Oh god,,,no please no...this is a cover of a song that written and recorded in 1961 and wasn't a hit until the Isley Brothers reworked it and made into a hit, it has since been covered by The Beatles (The Beatles version is my absolute favourite) and Salt 'N' Pepa so what the charts did not require was this reggae infused version by Chaka Demus and Pliers where what sounds like yapping dogs feature prominently in the production and everyone sounds jacked up on too much marijuana to care about the music because dear god, at least The Beatles and the Isley Brothers infused their covers with some passion to show they cared, this is just a lazy, phoned in hack job of what is a pretty damn great song.

Yeah, it's the worst of the week by a country mile...I fucking hate it. Best of the week is going to "Feel Like Making Love" by Pauline Henry because at least she makes that song her own and it feels like less of a hack job, 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart: March 24th. The Music Giver's Emergence Rather Lies to Evil J0rdan

Sigh...I knew it was coming...the Playboi Carti album for "I Am Music" but really, I wasn't expecting one of this size...guess there's a lot of people into rap where the production is at best amateur and the songs sound completely unfinished but we'll get to that in the new entries because we finally do have a new number one with "Anxiety" by Doechii taking number one thanks to solid streaming and decent sales but I don't think it's got a healthy margin at all, it's going to come under threat. 

It may not be from "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars which slipped to number two but it still as some streaming and sales to continue hanging around for a lot longer than people might expect. 

"That's So True" by Gracie Abrams remains at number three while "Ordinary" by Alex Warren has vaulted ten places to number ten and looks the most likely threat to our current number one. 

Rising to number five is "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan climbed one to number five, this may have peaked but we'll have to see. 

Slipping two places to number six is "Messy" by Lola Young while there is a new entry at number seven with the first sign of the Playboi Carti album bomb with "Evil JOrdan" at number seven (yes, stylised like that) 

"Luther" by Kendrick Lamar and SZA down three spots to number eight while the biggest plunge inside the top ten belongs to "Die with a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars which fell seven to number nine. 

Also slipping seven is "Birds of A Feather" by Billie Eilish which looks to be finally on its way out of our top ten.

Gains

So apart from "Ordinary" by Alex Warren gaining ten spots to number four, what about outside the top ten? "The Door" by Teddy Swims climbed five places to thirty six but that was about it for our gains this week thanks to what entered the chart this week.

Losers

A large chunk of the chart lost this week so let's begin with the Sleepy Hallow and Doechii version of "Anxiety" which took a crash down twenty two places to forty one. "I Love You, I'm Sorry" by Gracie Abrams fell six to thirty nine while "TV Off" by Kendrick Lamar also fell six to thirty four.

Wasn't a good week for Lady Gaga as "Abracadabra" tumbled ten to thirty one while "Wildflower" by Billie Eilish skidded down six to thirty. 

"All the Stars" by Kendrick Lamar and SZA fizzled out six places to twenty six

Drop Outs

So we saw the exits of some long running hits with "Pink Skies" and "Something in the Orange" both by Zach Bryan gone alongside "Please Please Please" by Sabrina Carpenter, "Guess" by Charli XCX and Billie Eilish and "Stargazing" by Myles Smith.

Also exiting are pretty much the non hits like "Busy Woman" by Sabrina Carpenter, "Die Trying" by PartynextDoor and Drake feat. Yebba. and "I Know Love" by Tate McRae feat. The Kid Laroi.

New Entries

So we did get something of a Playboi Carti album bomb and in the guise of not really wanting to cover this album anymore than what I have to..."Crush" at 29, "Toxic" at 46,  "Philly" at 49 and "Good Credit" which rather questionably features Kendrick Lamar.

That leaves us with four new entries to review, beginning with...

38. 'Emergence" by Sleep Token

I was shocked this showed up on the charts considering just how much heavy music has fallen by the way side in terms of charting on an all genre chart like the ARIA singles but in retrospect this should have made sense as Sleep Token are the kind of heavy metal band to try to mix their metal sound with more pop and r'n'b flourishes and to me, it just doesn't work, it just sounds incredibly wonky.  I'd pass on this.

16. "Rather Lie" by Playboi Carti feat. The Weeknd

Now I thought Abel said he was done doing features on others songs? So why is he on this Playboi Carti song where it ends up sounding like a Drake knock off in terms of The Weeknd's own vocal delivery and Playboi Carti really not offering up much of anything especially as the song is just him complaining about women and bragging about being back on lean with all the flare of a two year old having a tantrum. I'll pass. 

14. "The Giver" by Chappell Roan

A brand new single from Chappell Roan with this having a decidely country pop flourish with the squealing fiddle that's on this song and cheeky lyrics about a lesbian relationship where she can make this woman orgasm or as the song says in the chorus "she gets the job done" in terms of satisfying this woman in her life, its such a fun cheeky song that couldn't help but like it on first listen, it's not quite Chappell's best but in a week like this, I'll take it. 

7. "Evil JOrdan" by Playboi Carti

Alright let's deal with this somewhat more industrial noise track from Playboi Carti and look, this just sounds unfinished like they just threw a bunch of sounds together and had Carti mumble his way through a rather rote and basic verse. 

 Yeah it's also the worst of the week however "best of the week is going to "The Giver" by Chappell Roan because...duh

All 4 1994: 20th March. I Can See Mr Jones and Loser Breathe Again Clearly Now, Let Me Show You

No preamble this week, straight into the top ten where to no one's surprise. "It's Alright" by East 17 remains at number one for another week, it's got sales and looks comfortable.

Right behind it is "Whatta Man" by Salt 'n' Pepa feat. En Vogue up three places to number two. The same three place rise occurred for Celine Dion's "The Power Of Love" to number three. 

Thankfully both songs pushed "Said I Loved You...But I Lied" by Michael Bolton down two number four while "Slave to the Music" by Twenty 4 Seven feat. Stay-C and Nance down one to number five. 

Moving up five places to number six is "Without You" by Mariah Carey because of course we need one overwrought love ballad in the top ten.

Former number one "Give It Up" by Cut 'n' Move slipped four places to number seven as it's making a s natural exit from the top ten.

Remaining at number eight is "Feelin' Alright" by EYC while up one place to number nine is "Sing Hallelujah" by Dr Alban.

Finally a three place drop for "Asshole" by Denis Leary rounds out our top ten. 

Losers

A few big losers mostly down the lower end of the top 50 this week beginning with "Somebody Dance With Me" by DJ BoBo which slipped twelve places to fifty while former chart topper "All That She Wants" by Ace of Base took a six place slide to forty eight. 

?Boom! Shake the Room" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince tumbled from thirty four to forty three while the boring "Please Forgive Me" by Bryan Adams stumbled down ten places to forty two. 

"Got to Get It" by Culture Beat is reaching but falling nine to thirty nine while in the biggest fall of the week "Hero" by Mariah Carey just utterly collapsed from nineteen to thirty four.

"Feels Like Heaven" by Urban Cookie Collective slipped seven to thirty while "Stay (Faraway, So Close" by U2 tumbled from fifteen to twenty one and "All For Love" by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting fell from nine to fourteen.

Gains

It's a bit quieter on the gains front this week with "What's My Name" by Snoop Doggy Dogg up seven to thirteen while "Things Can Only Get Better" by D:Ream up five to nineteen.

Also having a decent gain is "Mountain" by Chocolate Starfish which had a seven place gain to thirty three. 

"Return to Innocence" by Enigma jumped from forty one to thirty seven.

New Entries

47. "Breathe Again" by Toni Braxton

We're starting with a single from American r'n'b singer Toni Braxton with this song being written by Babyface. The lyrics do strike me as being a bit clingy here with Braxton claiming that if her boyfriend were to break up with her, she'd have a nervous breakdown which yeah gives me icky vibes to a degree but I do like the song's production and how Braxton's vocals interweave easily with the backing vocals and how she almost sounds like she's letting out a breath upon singing "breathe again". I don't think it's great but it's fine enough. Check it out if you are curious.

45. "I Can See Clearly Now" by Jimmy Cliff

A cover of a 1972 Johnny Nash song has debut on the chart this week and it comes from  Jamaican reggae singer Jimmy Cliff, the cover was recorded for 1993 movie Cool Runnings (you know that movie about the Jamaican bobsled team?) and look, I generally give a lot of shit to bad cover version but honestly, I love this version especially as it's probably become the standard version that most people now sing. Its got that bright optimism and Cliff is matching that optimism in his vocal delivery.  I dig it!

44. "Helping Hand" by The Screaming Jets

So the fourth single from "Tear of Thought" and I think this one is definitely more memorable for that guitar lick that features quite prominently and that hook which does make the song memorable even though it; does take its damn sweet time to get moving which might make sense from a lyrical perspective as it appears all about wanting to find somebody who is willing to help him but he knows that that person could turn against him. It's an interesting song for sure.

41. "Let Me Show You" by K-Klass

British house act K-Klass with their take on eurodance and I'm sorry but what's so different about this one that hasn't been done before? Same piano with a thumping base and a screechy sounding female vocallist that really adds nothing to the song. I'd say move on from this quick but chances are you'll forget it exists. 

32. "Mr Jones" by Counting Crows

Debut single from American rock band Counting Crows which comes from their album "August and Everything After" and oddly this song kind of epitomises the dreams of wannabe rock stars, they want to be big stars so that they will never ever wind up lonely and everyone loves him when in reality life on the road as a rockstar can be inherently lonely and that fan love can get weird.

I really admire what this song is trying to do with the lyrics and the instrumentation especially when the song slows down to focus on the dreams of this rockstar kind of as a mirror. I like it! Good song!

22. "Loser" by Beck

I have been dreading covering this song from American artist Beck mostly because the song just doesn't resonate me with as much as it does with a lot of other people who I respect, there's only so much goodwill you can give that hook which does hold up the song quite well but when the verses are mostly just nonsense that lend no additional weight to the hook then it's going to leave me wanting at the best of times especially when he is saying to this girl that he is loser so she should kill him...yeah, not keen.

That ends our week so worst of the week goes to "Let Me Show You by K-Class while Jimmy Cliff gets best of the week for "I Can See Clearly Now" 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Singles Chart Review: March 17th.

 Not going to lie, I am getting pretty frustrated with the charts in 2025 and that frustration is only made worse by the fact that a Playboi Carti album bomb is likely all but assured on the horizon but also the fact the charts have been so slow and really just tired.

What? You want proof? Look at our number one this week where "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars retained the number one spot for a fourteenth non consecutive week. 

There was an album boost for "Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars up five to number rwo even though you can argue that this song doesn't fit at all on "Mayhem"

"That's So True" by Gracie Abrams continues to refuse to go away as it is up one spot to number three  while "Messy" by Lola Young slipped one spot to number four. Kendrick Lamar and SZA's "Luther fell three places to number five.

"Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan keeps dancing at number six while "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish fell two to number seven  and "Sports Car"  by Tate McRae climbed one to number eight.

We have a new entry at number nine with "Anxiety" by Doechii debuting at number nine, it's the solo version of the song that was released witih Sleepy Hallow and debuted last week, more on the quality of the song later.

Finally "Beautiful Things" by Benson continues to be the worst song in the top ten right now and refuses to go away as it should have done months ago clinging on at number ten.

Gains

So let's go through some of the big gains this week with "Ordinary" by Alex Warren looking like it's going to be his big breakthrough hit up thirteen places to fourteen next week. I fully expect this song to be top ten post the Playboi Carti album bomb.

Lady Gaga saw some album impact with "Abracadabra" up ten to twenty one

Losers

The big loser this week was "Die Trying" bty PartyNextDoor and Drake feat. Yebba down nine places to forty nine while "Too Sweet" by Hozier is falling away naturally down eight to forty three.

"Ain't No Love in Oklahoma" by Luke Combs slipped eight to forty as the traction he gained from his recent Australian tour has really died off. 

Finally "Riptide" by Vance Joy finally appears to be about to exit the top 50 again as it lost seven places to fifty.

Re Entries

Two songs re entered this week with "Austin" by Dasha back at number forty seven and "Carry You Home" by Alex Warren back at number thirty (Not really surprising that the latter would gain some traction considering how often radio stations are playing this song)

Drop Outs

This week saw the exits of both "Chihiro" by Billie Eilish and "Where the Wild Things Are" by Luke Combs, two good to great songs that have had decently good chart runs unlike "Somedays" by Sonny Fodera, D.O.D and Jazzy which also exited...a good song that deserved better

New Entries

Two new entries this week, beginning with...

35. "Like Jennie" by JENNIE

Bit surprised we got album impact from JENNIE of Blackpink instead of anything from Lady Gaga but none the less we got this from Jennie's album and I'm unfortunately not as much of a fan of this as I like to be. It's clear that Jennie was inspired by Charli XCX in terms of how the song's sound seems to chase the sound Charli XCX used for "Brat" obly the sound here is less appealing and when Jennie's vocals aren't appealing to me...yeah I'm going to skip this. 

9. "Anxiety' by Doechii

So we finally get the solo form of "Anxiety" and I think the solo form of this song might be better just in terms of Doechii's performance, you can absolutely tell this wad meant to be a solo jaunt at first and she sounds smoother in her flow and vocal delivery than she did in the versiion with Sleepy Hallow. Yeah that sample of "Somebody I Used to Know" by Gotye and Kimbra remains prominent but I wouldn't mind if this become a hit.

Yeah it's best of the week this week. JENNIE gets worst of the week by default for "Like Jennie"

All 4 1994: March 13th. I Ain't Going Out Because Streets of Innocence and Love

 This week is...exasperating...especially in terms of developments in our top ten, I am not a happy camper so lets start there because much to my annoyance "It's Alright" by East 17 remains at number one for some inexplicable reason, it's got a handy lead on sales and that might be good news because up three to number two is "Said I Loved You...But I Lied" by Michael Bolton...this song is gross and the fact it's number two is infuriating to me.

Cut 'N' Move's "Give It Up" remains stranded at number three while "Slave to the Music" by Twenty 4 Seven feat Stay-C and Nance slipped two to number four,

Meanwhile Salt 'n' Pepa and En Vogue's awesome collab single "Whatta Man" climbed one spot to number five. I desperately want this to become a hit please.

Also thrilled that Celine Dion's cover of "The Power of Love" is up ton number six from thirteen last week which is awesome to see.

Slipping down three places is "Asshole" by Denis Leary to number seven while "Feelin' Alright" by EYC tumbled one to number eight and "All for Love" by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting continues its slow decline down one to number ten.

Up eight to number ten is "Sing Hallelujah" by Dr Alban...Joy...sarcasm fully intended with that. Not thrilled about that last one at all.

Losers

So let's begin right down the bottom of the top 50 because "Is There Any Love In Your Heart?" by Lenny Kravitz fell twelve places to five while "Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through" by Meatloaf fell flat to forty seven.

"Open Up" by Leftfield and Lydon is having it's chart time closing up on it as it slipped from thirty nine to forty six. 

"Green Limosousine" by The Badloves continues to run out of fuel down eight to forty five. while Ace of Base's hit "All That She Wants" collapsed eleven places to forty two

People are starting to get tired of sappy Bryan Adams so the pain that is "Please Forgive" is down eight to thirty twi.

We've got Haddaway's follow up in the new entries this week but their former hit "What is Love" by Haddaway fell six to twenty nine. Mariah Carey also saw "Hero" fall from eleven to nineteen/

Gains

So let's talk about the gains outside the top ten and we have some huge ones this week with "Without You" by Mariah Carey which for some reason is up from twenty eight to eleven...ugh...do we really need another hit cover of this originally sappy ballad?

In better news "Dum Da Dum" by Melodie MC is up nine to fourteen while "Things Can Only Get Better" by D:Ream had one of the biggest gains of the week up eighteen places to twenty four while in other pleasing news "Mountain" by Chocolate Starfish is up ten to forty.

Re Entries

We did get two re entries with "You Open My Eyes" by Hoodoo Gurus at forty nine and 'In Your Room" by Depeche Mode at forty four. 

New Entries

Five new entries starting with 

43. "I Ain't Going Out Like That" by Cypress Hill

So first up we have the third single from American hip hop group Cypress Hill's second album "Black Sunday" and I actually don't mind this especially the use of the sample of "The Wizard" by Black Sabbath and lyrics that flick between bragging and some funny jokes like "Makin Stevie Wonder why" which made me laugh. Also learning that this song was recorded while the entire group was high on shrooms is some very funny stuff but also makes sense in terms of the lyrics where they don't quite come together. All up fun song...check it out. 

41. "Return to Innocence" by Enigma

Now to turn our attention to a German group and the lead single from their album "The Cross of Changes" and while I think it's definitely quite pretty in terms of it's production, I am just not feeling what this song is going for, it just sounds flat apart from the male chanting. Yeah, not feeling this at all...I'm skipping it. 

39. "Life" by Haddaway

Okay so the follow up to "What Is Love" has arrived and I am afraid it is very dime a dozen dance/electronic song where Haddaway sings about how life is short and everyone needs to find somebody to love over thimping dance grooves like this subjject hasn't been covered to death club dancefloor songs before. Definitely do not care for this AT ALL. Next. 

35. 'Streets of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen

So this song is for a movie called "Philadelphia" which starred Tom Hanks and is one of the saddest songs I have heard, it paints a very raw and realistic portrait of somebody suffering with the AIDS virus while watching as society just didn't care as he struggled with his plight wandering the streets of downtown Philadelphia at night out of their sight. Springsteen's vocal delivery gives this song an incredible emotional weight. What's with so much music from 1994 hitting me like a fucking sledgehammer? Please check this one out, it's great.

27. "Because of Love" by Janet Jackson

The new single from Janet Jackson's 1993 album "Janet" and well it's a pop funk number that while it doesn't quite have the lyrical depth of some of her previous singles, this one is just funky with a good groove and Janet just being incredibly playful and she sounds like she is having fun here. I adore the chorus and the very new jack swing sound of the song...only Janet could make new jack swing not sound tired. Check this out.

However it just misses best of the week, that's going to "Streets of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen...too much emotional weight there.

Worst is tough but I'm giving it to "Life" by Haddaway" for being nothing more than dancefloor filler.

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: 10th March

 The chart this week seemingly settled down a bit even though I am starting to get concerned that things are becoming a bit stagnant which is where we get to our top ten and our second longest running number one of the 2020s with "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars which has been number one on the ARIA singles chart now for thirteen weeks. 

Holding position are both "Luther" by Kendrick Lamar and SZA at number two and "Messy" by Lola Young at number three.

"That's So True" by Gracie Abrams climbed one spot to number four as it regained some traction on streaming thanks to 2025 being extremely slow so far...I just want this song gone from the top ten...that's how much I've come to dislike it. 

Also up one to number five is "Birds of a Feather" Billie Eilish while "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan climbed two places to number six.

Holding steady at number seven is "Die with a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, I expect this to get a boost thanks to the release of Lady Gaga's album "Mayhem".

Meanwhile "Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar tumbled four to number eight while "Sports Car" by Tate McRae held steady at number nine and "Beautiful Things by Benson Boone held on to number ten because this thing refuses to fucking go away already. 

Gains

So the lone big gain this week was "Nokia" by Drake up eight to number twelve because it's becoming something of a viral hit while "Die Trying" by PartyNextDoor and Drake feat. Yebba climbed four to forty. 

"Iris" by The Goo Goo Dolls climbed six places to number twenty nine while "Indigo" by Sam Barber and Avery Anna continues to yo yo this week up six to thirty six. 

Re-entries

So we saw five returns this week as the Tate McRae album bomb receded hard this week with older songs like "Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan back at forty eight, "Where the Wild Things Are" by Luke Combs at number forty six and "Riptide" by Vance Joy at forty three.

We also saw "Stargazing" by Myles Smith back at fifty while I am pleased to see the return of "Somedays" by Sonny Fodeera, D.O.D and Jazzy at number forty seven.

Losers

So the biggest loser this week was "I Know Love" by Tate McRae and The Kid Laroi down nine to number twenty six, it was pretty much the only major loser this week.

Drop Outs

All of the songs that dropped out were Tate McRae album cuts 

New Entry

Just the one new entry this week so this should be short for once, let's get to...

14. "Anxiety" by Sleepy Hallow feat. Doechii.

So this song actually has quite a long and somewhat confusing history which I am not going to even try to dig into here because dear god, it's complicated. The song samples the now classic hit "Somebody that I Used to Know" by Gotye and Kimbra. The content of the song is probably the best part of the song as Sleepy Hallow raps about substance abuse and violence. Doechiii's hook is solid but it's not amazing, she does better on her solo version of the song.

It's fine enough.

All 4 1994: 6th March. Whatta Man Mountain, Get Better on Peace, Love & Harmony

Finally a reasonable week at hand here with some notable changes and new arrivals so let's get to the big story of the week...our new number one and yeah, I am not exactly thrilled about it because East 17 rose six places to take number one with "It's Alright", it's got a sizeable sales lead so it could be number one for awhile.

"Slave to the Music" by Twenty 4 Seven featuring Stay-C and Nance jumped to number two but that was basically on the weaknesses of the former number one "Give It Up" by Cur 'N' Move as it just lost a chunk of its sales momentum this week.

The same could be said for "Asshole" by Denis Leary which slipped two places to number four and it's now coming under threat from "Said I Loved You...But I Lied" by Michael Bolton up six places to number five because we apparently need shittty garbage like this in our top ten...grrr.

Than we have a new entry at number six wuth :Whatta Man" by Salt 'N' Pepa feat. En Vogue, I'll talk about the song's quality in the new entries but it's here through a decent sales week. Don't mind seeing it here in all honesty and it could be argued that Salt 'n' Pepa are merely replacing themselves in the top ten.

EYC's "Feelin' Alright" took advantage of the weaker songs below it to move up to number seven. 

The rest of the top ten is songs falling away naturally like "All For Love" by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sying which slipped four places to number eight while "Moving On Up" by M People slumped three places to number nine.

Sadly "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" by U2 skiittered down five places to number ten. Would have liked this song to have a longer time in our top ten, it deserved much better than this. 

Losses

So we had a lot of songs move downward in large style this week with 1993 hit "Again" by Janet Jackson down ten to forty nine and "No Rain" by Blind Melon down from thirty six to forty eight. 

"The Key, The Secret" by Urban Cookie Collective tumbled six to forty seven while their other hit "Feels Like Heaven" slipped eight notches to twenty one, it might take some major effort to relight the fire for Take That and Lulu's "Relight My fire" which slipped nine to forty four and "Creep" by Radiohead wound up being one of the biggest losers of the week down twelve to forty five.

Also down twelve is "Rock and Roll Dreams come Through" by Mestloaf to forty

Finally "Boom! Shake the Room" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince slipped nine to twenty nine.

Gains

So the rise of "The Power of Love" by Celine Dion continues unabated, its up eleven spots to thirteen this week and seems to be plotting a course for the top ten.

"Sing Hallelujah" by Dr Alban rose broke into the top twenty this week up from twenty five to eighteen this week...guess we had to have some junk rise. 

Melodie MC's "Dum Da Dum" climbed twelve places to twenty five. wbile "One Night in Heaven" by M People got a decent eight place gain to 32 off it's debut last week.

New Entries

Four new entries this week beginning with...

50. "Mountain" by Chocolate Starfish

So doing these retrospective charts and I occasionally see a song I vaguely recognise, one that got played all the time on the radio at the time after it's release or in the background of some event I was at and that's kind of the case for this song from Australian rock band Chocolate Starfish (I hear the laughing overseas and all I can say is get your filthy minds out of the gutter...:)) with "Mountain" being the third single from their self titled album and yeah this one does click with its incredibly instrumental swell as the lyrics sound off about how he can't be what his partner wants him to be which is an immovable force or object like a mountain when he feels like a river.

Damn good song, worth checking out if you aren't familiar with it or don't listen to the radio.

43. "Peace, Love and Harmony" by Cut 'N' Move"

So the follow up to "Give It Up" is here and well, I am not a big fan of this at all, it's this standard eurodance and rap song that kind of feels a bit dime a dozen especially in 1994. I might like their cover of "Give It Up" but I am really not a fan of this especially when others just the previous week did it better. Next!

42. "Things Can Only Get Better" by D:Ream

This is a song from a North Ireland group called D:Ream with this song's inspration coming from a conversation that one of the band members was having with an office colleague and you know what? I do like this a fair bit, I like the passion and resolve that the hook is sung with and the swell of the backing vocals. Solid song, worth checking out.

6. "Whatta Man"  by Salt 'N' Pepa feat. En Vogue

Well no wonder this song charted so high, a collab between two girl groups that could be almighty interesting and what we got was this pretty sweet, fun song about praising the guys in their lives that are apparently incredibly good providers and lovers and while I'd love for the hook to be something a little more than that one line, I love the beat and groove of this to the point that it feels like nit picking on the hook, this is a damn good song.

Yeah, "Whatta Man" by Salt 'n' Pepa feat. En Vogue gets bet of the week. It was close though because "Mountain" by Chocolate Starfish hits like a train for me.

As for worst, I guess that has to go to Cut 'N' Move for "Peace, Love and Harmony" although its really not that bad...just a sound and style that I need a break from for a bit.

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 3rd March.

This week surprised me so much not just that we have a returning number one but that we had something resembling a major album bomb from Tate McRae for "So Close To What?" and somehow it had a bigger impact on the chart than The Weeknd's "Hurrry Up Tomorrow"

So let's not delay any further and get to the top ten where Tate McRae does impact just not right at the rop where "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars returns to number one despite not really ruling in any channel other than maybe having some sales.

It held out "Luther" which remained at number two this week despite having some incredible streaming ahead of 'Messy" by Lola Young which rebounded one place to number three although that might have been because "Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar fell three places to number four as the momentum from the Superbowl performance fell away

Staying at number five is "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams as it clings to what streaming it has. ( honestly wish this song was gone sooner because I am done with it.

Regaining one spot to number six is "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish although it probably regained traction thanks to the weaknesses of  "Die with a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars which slipped back to number seven.

Rising one place to number eight this week is "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan, its just steady at the moment, like it's settling for a long run in the top ten. 

Then we have the first sign of the Tate McRae album bomb with "Sports Car" returning to the top ten up sixteen to number nine. It's a new peak for this song after debuting at number ten.

Finally still clinging to the top ten like poo is "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone at number ten, can we just get rid of this song now please.

Losers

Not really a lot of big losers this week with "The Door" by Teddy Swims down eight to forty three while "I Love You, I'm Sorry" by Gracie Abrams fell seven to forty one and "Indigo" by Sam Barber feat. Avery Anna lost most of it's boost last week down six to forty two. 

The biggest loser this week was Sabrina Carpenter's "Please Please Please" which slipped fifteen places to thirty two this week and while on Sabrina Carpenter, "Busy Woman" tumbled nine to thirty one and former chart topper "Taste" slipped seven to twenty three. 

Finally "TV Off" by Kendrick Lamar fell seven to nineteen. '

Gains

So I have already mentioned the biggest gain of the week in the top ten with "Sports Car" by Tate McRae up sixteen to number nine. \

Outside of that though, there's really not much with "Nokia" by Drake up eight to twenty being the other considerable gain. 

Re Entries

Four re entries this week headlined by the returns Tate McRae's "2 Hands" at forty and "It's Ok, I'm Ok" at thirty seven.

Also saw "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac back at forty eight and "Chihiro" by Billie Eilish at number forty five. 

Drop Outs

So we saw some longstanding hits leave like "Stick Season" by Noah Kahan, "Stargazing"  by Myles Smith, "Where the Wild Things are" by Luke Combs and "Humble" by Kendrick Lamar.

We also lost SZA tracks like "BMF" and "30 for 30"  feat. Kendrick Lamar.

I am definitely complaining that "CN Towe" by PartyNextDoor and Drake and "Gimme A Hug" by Drake are gone along with "I'm The Problem" by Morgan Wallen and "Dreamin"  by Dom Dolla feat. Daya.

New entries

So we did get an album bomb for Tate McRae's "So Close to What?" so apart from the top 20 and the best or worst, we had "BloodonmyHands" feat Flo Milli at forty seven (pretty close to worst of the week, this isn't good), "Miss Possessive" at thirty four, "Dear God" at twenty six 

Now that's out of the way, we've got four new entries to deal with but we're not starting with Tate McRae because...

44. "Die Trying" by PartyNextDoor, Drake and Yebba

And here I was thinking that I was done dealing with songs from that already forgotten PartyNextDoor and Drake project however this is probably one of the better songs from that project even if Yebba is just backing vocals but at least Drake is putting aside his shitty misogyny and is trying to be genuine here in his attempt to find love...let's just hope he can keep the misogyny to a minimum

33. "Purple Lace Bra" by Tate McRae

One of the biggest issues I have with Tate McRae is that she has a very limited vocal range and has very little charisma or personality that she can use in her music mercifully she actually got a pretty good sultry R'n'B jam out of it because yeah I like this especially when McRae switches to cooing on the chorus that reminds me a lot of Ariana Grande on "Positions". I'll take it. 

17. "I Know Love" by Tate McRae feat, The Kid Laroi

Oh xome on this is just Tate McRae and The Kid Laroi taking their flirting into the recording studio and it sounds embarrassing as all hell with Tate going on about she knows love when it hits. Now I actually like the hook but god damn, this song has very little substance otherwise especially when The Kid Laroi does his whiny yelping like a love sick puppy best.

13. "Revolving Door" by Tate McRae

Kind of stunned this is being pushed as a single especially as I just don't think it's better than "Purple Lace Bra" especially when the song exposes a lot of the issues around Tate's lack of charisma or actual personality. I kind of wish her song writing had more oomph or substance which again is a very real problem with this song.

So yeah...that was our week. Giving best to "Purple Lace Bra" by Tate McRse and the worst to "Revolving Door" also by Tate McRae although that hook only just saved "I Know Love"

Next week...who knows?

All 4 1994: 27th February. Cornflake Girl Without Anything Sings Hallelujah to Heaven

 Ahh...so this one is going to be a little late, blame my procrastination but hey a week like this one will do it to you where Cut 'N' Move's "Give It Up" remains at number one for another week. it's actually starting to look shaky and when we look further down the chart, you'll see why

The challenge for the top spot certainly isn't going to come from "Asshole" by Denis Leary which returned to number two ahead of "Slave to the Music" by Twenty 4 Seven feat. Stay-C and Nance down to number three whose challenge looks to have come to end.

The sane can be said for "All For Love" by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart at number four and "Stay (Faraway. So Close!)" by U2 remains at number five. 

M People's "Moving On Up" stalls at number six however the challenger for number one comes from our first of two new arrivals to the top ten with "It's Alright" by East 17 climbing from twenty five to seven, this has a massive amount of momentum and could make a play for the top as early as next week.

What's not making a play is "Shoop" by Salt 'n' Pepa which slipped one to number eight and "Hero" by Mariah Carey which lost some of it's regained traction down to number nine.

Finally rounding out our top ten is the second of the new arrivals to the top which is "Feelin' Alright" b EYC which rose one...Blergh but I'll take it over that god damn awful Michael Bolton song.

Losses

Like we normally do let's look at the big losers, down nine to fifty is "Let's Get It On" by Peter Andre as his funky junky slips away. 

"Green Limousine" by The Badloves is running out of petrol down eight places to forty four. The same goes for Caligula's "Tears of a Clown" which slumped eight to forty two. 

"The Key. The Secret" by Urban Cookie Collective is increasingly starting to look like it lost the key and the secret to chart success as the song slipped from thirty five to forty one.

"Relax '93" by Frankie goes to Hollywood slipped nine to thirty eight whlle "All That She Wants" by Ace of Base was one of the biggest losers of the week down eleven to thirty two. 

The audio torture that is "Somebody Dance With Me" by DJ BoBo also took a nine place slide to thirty one. 

Biggest disappointment of this week was the seven place slide to thirty for Soundgarden's "Spoonman"...come on the song is excellent! however not going to complain that "Dirty Dawg" by NKOTB dipped seven to twenty seven.

Finally "Boom! Shake the Room" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince seems to be on it's way out naturally down seven to twenty. 

Gains

The gains are a bit easier this week because apart from the big gain into the top ten for "It's Alright" by East 17. We also got a decent nine place gain for Celine Dion's cover of "The Power of Love" 

Also unfortunately got an eight place gain for the increasingly corny "Now and Forever" by Richard Maex up to  sixteen for some inexplicable reason. 

Re Entries

One re entry this week courtesy of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince with "I'm Looking Fpr the One (To Be With Me)" back at forty eight. 

New Entries

Six new entries this week...yeah...it's a busy one...beginning with...

47. "Without You" by Mariah Carey

Oh great...we're starting off with a cover of a song that I really cringe at everytime I hear it mostly because it sounds so god damn overwrought and clingy like this person who has had enough and wants out of the relationship is somehow responsible for living this partner's life...it's icky so yeah that's my feelings on Harry Nilsson's 1972 hit that Mariah Carey is covering here and yeah, the same issues I had with the original show here because my god the overwrought singing these guilt trippy lyrics just makes me cringe, Mariah has a great voice but my god, there were far better songs she could have covered instead of this cloying, icky song. Next!

40. "One Night in Heaven" by M People

So we have the follow up to "Moving On Up" and unfortunately...it's not as good as that song. Sure the lead vocals are great but that weird nineties dance groove doesn't sound like somebody being taken to heaven in one night for as much as the vocals try to sell it. I don't know...I like the hook but this song is not doing a lot for me. That's all. 

37. "Dum Da Dum" by Melodie MC

Alright, a Swedish MC going by the name Melodie MC sampling "Feel That Beat" by 2 Static and I don't know but I dig this a bit!. The melody is punchy and has this tendency ro get stuck in your head a fair bit along with that hook. Melodie MC can certainly flow even if I am not convinced his bars are all that good just empty bragging and flexing but you know what? I'll take this, it's a cool dance rap jam. 

26. "Cornflake Girl" by Tori Amos

Lead single from Tori Amos second studio album entitled "Under the Pink" and yeah, holy hell, this is a damn great song! I love the piano and now it adds to the song where Amos has said the inspiration was derived from conversations with a friend about female genital mutilation in Africa and how often it was the closest fenale family member doing the operation and the betrayal to the victim of the operation. Amos said those who did this were called "Cornflake Girls" and yeah it hits...terrific song!

25. "Sing Hallelujah!" by Dr Alban

Another big beat dance rap song that unlike "Dum Da Dum" lacks the punch from Dr Alban in the rapping especiallhy when the verses seem so short and derivative, theyfeel like empty words for partying, the best parts of this song are the female vocals on the hook which at least have harmonies but when the handclaps come in I was about done with this song. Yeah, not a fan...next! 

14. "Anything" by Culture Beat.

Kind of surprised this one debuted so high but I guess after having a decent sized hit, this German Eurodance act had to roll the dice again with this third single from "Serenity" and honestly of the big beat songs that dropped this week...this is one I don't mind even if that melody doesn't change much and the vocals on the hook seem way too low in the mix but the rapping has punch and flow which I like plus the guy has some charisma...I don't mind this. 

However best of the Week is going to Tori Amos for "Cornflake Girl"...what can I say,,,I love it. 

As for the worsr...nothing to egregious this week but I'm giving it to "Sing Hallelujah" by Dr Alban for just not having much to it at all. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 24th February: Busy Woman Going 30 for 30 Complains Music Lacks Sexy

 I was dreading this week...really dreading it,  mostly because of one disaster that pops up in our new entries and by now you know what that disaaster is...PartyNextDoor and Drake impacted the ARIA singles top 50 ths week with three songs from "$ome $exy $ongs 4 U" and we'll get into why the album blows in the new entries because it doesn't impact our top ten where to my surprise, "Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar remained at number one for a second week, it built up enough for a srreaming lead to hold out Kendrick's "Luther" with SZA at number two, I would favour this song to take number one nexr week as it took the streaming lead.

It did have the effect of pushing "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars down to number three as it is losing on streaming and sales, the same goes for "Messy" by Lola Young down to number four and 'That's So True' by Gracie Abrams down to five.

"Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars holds on at number six mostly because streaming refuses to let this song go. The same could be said for "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish which slipped two spots to number seven, surving basically on the scraps of streaming.

Rising fourteen to the top ten is "All the Stars" by Kendrick Lamar and SZA because I would guess people are looking for more music these two have made together and the fact this was performed at the Superbowl.

All of this unfortunately knocked "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan to number nine. It spent this week losing traction on streaming unfortunately.

Benson Boone's 'Beautiful Things" tumbled one spot to number ten because we can't have a one hundred percent good top ten for a fucking change.

Losses

So some of the big losses were just Luke Combs songs that fell back because the tour has ended with "When It Rains It Pours" down eighteen spots to forty eight and "Where the Wild Things Are" down fourteen spots to forty two.

In other double digit losses, "Dreamin" by Dom Dolla feat. Daya down ten to forty three and "Abracadabra" by Lady Gaga down twelve to twenty four but I figure the latter will rebound when "Mayhem" drops in a few weeks time.

Gains

So the big story this week is that "Please Please Please"  by Sabrina Carpenter thanks to the deluxe edition of her album "Short 'n' Sweet" with a pretty god awful remix of the song with Dolly Parton, it climbed twenty two spots to seventeen. 

Weirdly "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls swung up nine spots to thirty two.

Re Entries

Three re entries this week with "Pink Skies" by Zach Bryan at forty nine, "Bad Dreams" by Teddy Swims at forty six and "Humble" by Kendrick Lamar back nt forty

Drop outs

Eight drop outs and really the only drop out I am sad about is "Born Again" by Lisa, Doja Cat and Raye...it's a great pop song and deserves to be a smash.

"Fast Car" by Luke Combs, "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac and "Hot to Go!" by Chappell Roan have all had great runs but it was beyond time fior them to depart,

Also gone are songs that I am mostly indifferent to like "Cry For Me" by The Weeknd and "Beautiful Crazy" by Luke Comb however I am absolutely delighted that "Kisses" by BL3SS x CamrinWatson feat. bbyclose and "Slow It Down" by Benson Boone are gone, good fucking riddance.

New Entries

Sigh...five new entries this week and unfortunately we have to start with...

44. "Gimme A Hug" by Drake

Let's begin this laborious three track exploration of "$ome $exy $ongs 4 U" with Drake throwing himself a pity party complete with his god damn victim narrative to boot complaining that people wanted to see him dead etc and begging women who he is calling "hoes" and "bitches" to give him a hug and claim that despite everyone apart from 21 Savage, turning on him, he came out of the rap beef unscathed except for you know...suing his own record label and all that jazz...

Yeah the instrumental might be okay but it doesn't make this song any good or sound any less like Drake swallowing large bottles of copium. Next!

39. "30 for 30" by SZA and Kendrick Lamar

Look, when these two have made a song like "Luther", my standards are going to be pretty fucking high and yeah, I do think this song is a bit of a step back from "Luther" but it's still decent, the ionstrumental is at least gentle and kind of pretty as both SZA and Kendrick assert their demand for boundaries and respect and not allowing fake energy to interupt their peace. I do wish there'd been a little more introspection on the track but hey, it's fine enough, I'll take it, it's better than...

38. "CN Tower" by PartyNextDoor and Drake.

So this only charted because it's the first song on the album and the fitst indication that this album has absolutely nothing to offer anyone who tries to listen to it and this dull trap beat where both Drake and PartyNextDoor concern troll this poor woman who has clearly not wanted any contact with either of these two clowns ands then brag about going to Japan of all places and having a load of money. 

Yeah, this song is as worthless as "Gimme A Hug"...Next!

28. "Nokia" by Drake

So this is the best song on the album mostly because it actually has a pulse and Drake actually rapping with some enthusiasm here with a vibrant beat and a pretty inspired sample of the Nokia phone start up music. The content isn't much, it's basically just Drake wanting to hook up with a woman but it's mostly innocuous, I can vibe to this. Not too bad. 

22. "Busy Woman" by Sabrina Carpenter

Ahh...it feels like a treat to get a Sabrina Carpenter song even though I am not Sabrina's biggest fan at all  but despite what I said about the remix of "Please Please Please". I actually like most of the new somgs from the deluxe edition of "Short 'n' Sweet",,,except for this one...it's this pretty little pop song where Sabrina is all prepared to be this perfect woman for this guy if he wants to love her and be loverd in return until the song gets actively where she says "If you don't want me, I'll just deem you gay" which is just downright ugly and toxic in a manner that puts me off this song.

It's not the worst of the week, that's going to "Gimme a Hug" by Drake for being a load of pathetic copium from a man who should know better. Best of the week was going to go to Sabrina but that one line...oof...so "30 for 30" by SZA and Kendrick Lamar gets it, I don't think it's their best but in a week like this...yeah.

Next week...ugh...Tate McRae album bomb seems likely. 

All 4 1994. 20th February. The Power Of My Eyes, It's Alright.

Well...things have slowed a little bit on the chart this week, just the three new entries, the top ten continued to shuffle around with at least one change that wasn't for the better and some old hits have finally started falling away so let's get to that top ten where for another week "Give It Up' by Cut 'N' Move continued to rule the roost at number one and I don't see what is going to stop it. it's got solid sales traction at this point.

Rising two to number two is "Slave to the Music" ny Twenty 4 Seven feat. Stay-C and Nance but it just doesn't have the traction on sales to challenge our current number one however it was enough to move past "Asshole" by Denis Leary at number three while "All for Love" by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting slipped back to number four.

Much to my surprise, "Stsy (Faraway So Close!)" by U2 remained at number five but hey I am happy about this, would love to see it become a massive hit. 

M People's "Moving On Up" continues to live up to it's name up one to number six, it moved past "Shoop" by Salt 'N' Pepa which slipped to number seven. 

"Hero" by Mariah Carey climbed one spot to number eight, I guess it's not completely done after all~. Then we get to the first of two new arrivals to our top ten with "Hey Mr. D.J" by Zhane up two number nine this week.

Unfortunately, "Said I Loved You...but I Lied" by Michael Bolton somehow got a seven place boost to number ten as it had a solid sales week. 

Losers

Lets blow through these losers quickly because it looks like the end of Gabrielle's "Dreams" chart run is nigh as it tumbled from thirty six to forty nine this week.

Sadly the great "In Your Room" by Depeche Mode was hit with a seven place drop to forty seven while Jimmy Barnes 1993 hit with The Badloves "The Weight slipped nine to forty six.

A ten place tumble to forty five occured for The Pet Shop Boys single "I wouldn't normally do thing kind of thing" while "Nails in My Feet" fail eight to forty two for Ceowded House.

Peter Andre saw one of the biggest falls of the week as it collapsed from twenty nine to forty one with "Let's Get It On" 

Bit disappointed that Take That's "Relight My Fire" feat. Lulu isn't taking off as trhat slipped six to thirty nine while Janet Jackson's "Again" fell seven to thirty eight

"Creep" by Radiohead" hit a nine place skid to thirty one while "No Rain" by Blind Melon stumbled nine to thirty and "All That She Wants" by Ace of Base" fell from fifteen to twenty one. 

Gains

Our gains this week are a rather rough lot this week, I already mentioned Michael Bolton climbing into the top ten but can anyone explain why "Feelin' Alrught" by EYC is up five to eleven or that "Can We Talk" by Tevin Campbell is up eight places to nineteen? Neither song is all that good.

At least "Spoonman" by Soundgarden got a decent seven place boost to twenty three but it's not exactrly a good sign that the biggest gain of the week was a ten place gain for "Is There Any Love in Your Heart" by Lenny Kravitz to thirty two or that "Tears of a Clown" by Caligula got a five place jump to  thirty four. 

"Green Limousine" by The Badlovrs drove from forty three to thirty six ehile "She Don't Let Nobody"
 by Chaka Demus and Pliers climbed from forty one to thirty seven. 

Re Entries

One re entry this week with "The Power of Love" by Beverly back at number twenty seven.

.

New Entries

Just the three new entries this week, lets get this started with...

43. "You Open My Eyes" by Hoodoo Gurus

So we begin this week with the second single from the Hoodoo Gurus album "Crank" and interestingly enough, it's the first song that was not written or co written by frontman Dave Faulkner with Brad Shepherd taking over lead vocal duties on this particular song and while I think the rock instrumentation sounds great...I can't be the only one who thinks the lead vocals are buried way too far back in the mix here? The back vocals have better placement in this song than Shepherd's do which is a shame because it's not a bad song. 

33.  "The Power of Love" by Celine Dion

Another week another cover of Jennifer Rush's 1985 hit "The Power Of Love", this time coming from Celine Dion for her album "Falling into You" and I have to be honest here...I actually really think Celine's version might be the best version of the song, she absolutely owns this song, she MAKES you believe that she believes in the relationship she has and the power of love with HER man and the instrumentation that swells around Celine but still allows her to own the song...yeah, you'll see this on a list at the end of the year, Believe me. 

25. "It's Alright" by East 17

Oh boy, East 17 are back after angering me with their rancid cover of Pet Shop Boys "West End Girls", "It's Alright is the sixth and final I was hoping that this song could make me forgive me.

the 
Well it started off well enough with the gentle piano and the vocals about love shining through and a chorus where the band sing repeatedly "It's alright" but than the beat switch happens and the song turns into this electronic pop song and when the hook is nothing more than the band repeating "Alright" and "Everything's going to be alright"into ad najuseam...yeah...no thanks.

It takes worst of the week too only mostly because there was more to like about the Hoodoo Gurus track.

Celine Dion runs away with best of the week for "The Power of Love"

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review. 17th February : Ordinary Dreamin to be Born Again

 I am going to spare a preamble this week because the NFL's Superbowl half time show caused chaos on the charts this week in the best way possible, the person responsible for that chaos is Kendrick Lamar, he has several songs in the top ten this week and it all begins at number one with "Not Like Us" up twenty six slots to take the top spot and its dominant on sales and streaming but not Youtube.  It also feels like a history correction for last year when it did only peaked at number five.

"APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars remains at number two by virtue of being top of Youtube and having somewbat stronger streaming than that of "Messy" by Lola Young which just had a bad week on sales and streaming thus couldn't compete with the behemoth that was Kendrick Lamar.

The same is true of "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams which slipped one to number four  while "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish climbed one to number five but that may have been on the weaknesses of "Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars which dropped two places to number six, I suspect this will get a boost with Gaga's album next month but we'll see.

Rising fifteen places to number seven is "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan which is riding a streaming and sales wave thanks to Chappell's performance at the Grammys...it's amazing to see this song finally take off in the way it deserves to given it was recorded by Roan six years ago.

Back to Kendrick Lamar because "Luther" feat. SZA climbed eight places to number eight on the back of streaming and being performed at the NFL half time show.

Sadly, nothing budged "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone from number nine while "Good Luck, Babe!" by Chappell Roan fell three places to number ten.

Losers

So let's begin at the bottom of the chart where "Kisses" by BL3SS x CamrimWatson frat.  bbyclose slipped eight spots to fifty while the tour boosts for Luke Combs songs is wearing off as "Beautiful Crazy" slipped fourteen to forty six, "Fast Car" down eight to thirty one and "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma" down seven to twenty six

Noah Kahan's "Stick Season" slid eleven places to forty five while "Stargazing" by Myles Smith lost more ground this week down eight to forty three.

The chart appears to be showing the door to Teddy Swims "The Door" as it tumbled thirteen slots to forty two. 

It was a rougb week for The Weeknd as well with "Cry For Me" doen twenty to forty and "Timeless" feat. Playboi Carti down nine to twenty.

Morgan Wallen's noxious "I'm The Problem" mercifully skidded down seventeen to thirty eight while "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves fell nine to thirty four.. Finally 'Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez slipped seven spots to twenty one.

Gains

The gains this week can be split into two groups so let's deal with the -nr Kendrick Lamar gain outside the top ten first because "TV Off" with Lefty Gunplay moved up thirty one spots to sixteen, 

However the biggest gainer of the week was for Lady Gaga's "Abracadabra" which climbed a massive thirty eight slots to twelve. 

"Guess" by Charli XCX and Billie Eilish is up fifteen places to twenty off ithe back of residual Grammys streaming. 

One song that I think deserves some attention this week though is "Denial is a River" by Doechii which climbed five to thirteen. This song is going to be a hit, folks, get ready.

Re Entries

Kendrick Lamar is the story of our returns this week where two of the three are Kendrick songs but we start at number forty seven with the return of "Hot To Go!" by Chappell Roan. 

From there, it's Kendrick with "Squabble Up" back at thirty five and "All The Stars" featuring SZA back at twenty two. 

Drop Outs

Six drop outs this week and honestly most of them do not upset me especially as we lost long running hits "Riptide" by Vance Joy and "Something In the Orange" by Zach Bryan. We also lost utter crap like "GBP" by Central Cee and 21 Savage along with "Sao Paulo" by The Weeknd feat. Anitta IWow. A really rough week for The Weeknd here)

But we did also lose "Somedays" by Sonny Fodera, D.O.D and Jazzy and "Bad Dreams" by Teddy Swims which is a shame because I really liked both those songs. 

New Entries

Three new entries this week beginning with...

48. "Born Again" by LISA feat. Doja Cat and Raye

So Lisa of Blackpink is making another attempt at being a solo act with her new album and she actually got both Doja Cat and Raye on this song which actually turns out to be a Raye demo that her old label Polydor rejected and well, how is the song?

Uh...no jokes here but this song is emerging quite quickly to be one of my favourite songs of 2025 over all, it is this slick, glossy yet elegant nu disco song that just screams for a Dua Lipa remix  at some point. The hook is infectious and Doja Cat delivers one of her best performances where she both sings and raps her verse on this song and she sounds incredible. I adore the harmonies  between the three and it feels like there is some genuine chemistry there. 

The song tells of overcoming heartbreak or adversity, finding themselves and becoming a better person or being person again. I wish there was more vocal interplay between the three but that's nit picking because this song is absolutely fantastic. Check it out!

33. "Dreamin" by Dom Dolla feat. Daya

Always nice to see new Dom Dolla on the ARIA singles chart, he always makes a decent electronic banget with interesting artists except this time, he co opted 2016 flashback Daya for this song, if you don't remember who Daya is, she was one of the weakest of the 2010's pop girl set who snagged hits with "Hideaway" and "Sit Still, Look Pretty' so yeah I was wary.

Turns out I had every right to be wary because as it turns out it's not Daya's whispery, somewhat hushed vocals that have improved a lot since 2016, it'sand  the production from Dom Dolla that's the problem here, the song sound very nineties however there are some really srange and honestly the synths might be the most annoying thing I have ever heard in awhile. Mercifully the song is reasonably short but I don't see myself coming back to this one.

27. "Ordinary" by Alex Warren

Alright so "Carry Yoiu Home" barely lasted a couple of weeks on the chart so time for a new single from Alex Warren and I was curious because Warren does seem to have decent song writing chops and this is a pretty simple anthemic love song that reminds me a lot of Hozier but just going for gospel swell rather than the gothic swell and swagger that Hozier has which kind of makes sense as this is a pretty basic love song where Warren is grateful for this girl's love taking him out of the ordinary. 

It's a solid if abbrieviated song (could have afforded a bridge) that's worth checking out if you are curious. 

That wraps up our week, Worst of the week goes to "Dreamin" by Dom Dolla and Daya, I just can't handle the pile up of effects on that song.

Best of the week is going to "Born Again" by Lisa, Doja Cat and Raye because that song is AWESOME.

Next week...unfortunately, Drake and PartyNextDoor album bomb, hopefully something from that Sabrina Carpenter deluxe charts to counteract the Drake and PattyNextDoor

All 4 1994. 13th February. Stay, I'm Looking For Spoonman In Your Room

This week feels bit busier than I expected so no major preamble here especially as I have a lot else going on and straight into the top ten where Cut 'N' Move maintained numnber one for a second week with "Give It Up", it had enough sales to hold up over our new number two this week "Asshole" by Denis Leary which climbed four places to hit the runner up slot. 

It thankfully moved past "All For Love" by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting which slipped back to number three and looks to be on the downswing.

The same cannot be said for "Slave to the Music" by Twenty 4 Seven feat. Stay-C and Nance which climbed onne spot to number four. Thinking this could make a play for number one if it gets it's cards right.

A new entry at number five with "Stay (Faraway. So Close)" by U2, it's here becaqse it had a solid sales week. I'll talk about this song when I review all the new entries. 

All of this caused "Shoop" by Salt 'N' Pepa to tumble three places to number six. "Moving On Up" by M People down three to number seven and "Boom! Shake the Room" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince down one to number eight,

The last two are on the way out of the top ten naturally with "Hero" by Mariah Carey down one to number nine and "Please Forgive Me" by Bryan Adams also down one to number ten.

Losers

Unsurprisingly "Time" by INXS fell hard off it's debut last week down from thirty six to forty nine this week. Also hitting the skids is "Estranged" by Guns 'N' Roses down six places to forty six.

Jordy's "Dur dur d'etre bebe!" slipped eight to forty five as it's non starter status continues. "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum ran the wrong way down nine to forty four,

The clown in "Tears of a Clown" by Caligula is crying even harder as the song just utterly collapsed from twenty five to thirty nine this week. 2 Unlimited's underpowered "Maximum Overdrive" slipped six places to thirty eight.

"The Weight" by Jimmy Barnes and The Badloves unfortunately got hit with a ten place drop to thirty seven.

It's bad dreams for Gabrielle as "Dreams" fell eight to thirty six and "The Key. The Secret" by Urban Cookie Collective is on the downswing down from twenty one to thirty two. 

Gains

The gains are a bit of a mixed bag this week with "What's My Name" by Snoop Doggy Dogg getting a welcome ten place boost to nineteen but why is utter junk like "Feelin' Alright" by EYC breaking into the top twenty at sixteen...that's not good.

Or that "Now and Forever" by Richard Marx jumped nine to twenty four or "Can We talk" by Tevin Campbell climbed to twenty seven from thirty one and I'm confused as to how Heart managed to get one of the biggest gains of the week with "Will You Be There (In the Morning)" up from forty three to twenty eight.

At leasr we did get "Relight My Fire" by Take That feat Lulu up to thirty three and "Natils in My Feet" by Crowded House up nine to thirty four.

We also had "She Don't Let Nobody" by Chake Demus and Pliers up eight to forty one because...sigh....

New Entries

Four new entries this week, starting with...

50. "I'm Looking For the One (To Be With Me) by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

We finally get the follow up "Boom! Shake the Room" hitting the chart this week and while this is weaker than the previous single, it doesn't quite have the instant punch that "Boom! Shake the Room" does but Will Smith  brings his usual energy to it. My only concern is that new jack swing that underpins the melody does kind of feel played out by now but still decent song that is worth checking out. 

40. "In Your Room" by Depeche Mode

Ahh the fourth and final single from Depeche Mode's album "Songs of Faith and Devotion" and wow, this is certainly one hell of a dark turn from this UK electronic band, this sounds incredibly sinster with the guitars playing to a darker and more cold vibe and you know what I really dig this a fair bit. worth checking out if you aren't too creeped out  by the lyrics.

30. "Spoonman" by Soundgarden

Lead single from "Superunknown" and I think I dig this as well. Chris Cornell has described this song has been about a paradox of who an artist is and the perceptions people have of him given he is a street musician and automaticaly as a value placed on him and is wrongfully judged by others and yeah this song adds to that street vibe with the production. Definitely an interesting song. 

5. "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)

So we close out this with a far quieter but still incredibly dark song from U2 from their album Zooropa with this song being inspired by both Frank Sinatra and a film called "Faraway So Close!" (about angels who long to be on Earth and be human)  where this ghost basically haunts and follows this woman's every move. Bono sounds incredible here and I actually really love the anthemic instrumentation which gives this song a really spooky vibe. Great song.

No worst of the week this week, none of the songs here deserve that. I am giving best of the week to "In Your Room" by Depeche Mode because that song is bound to stick with me 

ARIA Singles top 50 Chart Review: Abracadabra! I'm The Pink Pony so Cry For Me

 This week felt stranger than it should have because we got a more muted than you might expect with a muted album impact for The Weeknd's "Hurry Up Tomorrow" and Grammys impact for at least one of our other new entries which we'll get to. 

None of that impacts our top ten though where "Messy" by Lola Young maintained the number one spot for a second week mostly thanks to decent enough streaming and sales. Really, the top five was stagnant this week with "That's So True' by Gracie Abrams at number two, "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars at number three, "Die with a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars at number four and "The Days (Notion Remix" by Chrystal and Notion at number five.

Frorm there "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish gained one place to number six moving past "Good Luck Babe!" by Chappell Roan at number seven.

Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" remained stuck at number eight while "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone made it's unfortunate return up four places to nine.

Finally "Sports Car" by Tate McRare remains rooted to the number ten spot. 

Losers

This week was busy in this department!. Let's begin with more recent hits though with "BMF" by SZA which tumbled down fourteen to thirty three, "Bad Dreams" by Teddy Swims fell thirteen spots and hit forty six while "The Door" slammed eight places to twenty nine, "Somedays" by Sonny Fodera, D.O.D and Jazzy slumped twelve spots to thirty eight, "Indigo" by Sam Barber feat. Avery Anna continues to slump down nine to forty one, "Kisses" bv BL3SS x CamrinWatson feat bbbunch yclose slipped eight to forty two, "Stargazing" by Myles Smith slid down eight ton thirty five and "GBP" by Central Cee collapsed down thirteen to forty nine. 

From there, a bunch of older songs lost ground like 'Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac which tumbled fourteen spots to forty four, "Something in the Orange" by Zach Btyan slipped six places to forty eight. , "Stick Season" by Noah Kahan which also suffered a six place drop to thirty four, 'Riptide" by Vance Joy going out with the tide seven places to thirty one. Finally "Too Sweet" by Hozier down ten spots to twenty eight

Gains

So "Timeless" by The Weeknd and Playboi Carti rebounded up six to number eleven thanks to The Weeknd's new album. 

The rest are all big new peaks for songs courtesy of the Grammys with the biggest coming for "Denial Is a River" by Doechii which climbed twenty one slots to number eighteen...I expect this to make a play for the top ten soon.

Kendrick Lamar's " Not Like Us" climbed eighteen to twenty seven thanks to it's award winning performance at the Grammys.

Finally "Wildflower" by Billie Eilish climbed sixteen slots to number twenty five and I am not sure why as she performed "Birds of a Feather" at the Grammys. Might be a fan led push to make it the next single from Hit Me Hard and Soft so we'll have to see. 

Re entries

The one re entry this week was "Sao Paolo"  by The Weeknd feat. Anitta

Drop Outs

The drop outs this week are mosrly characterised by long running hits finally dropping out apart from "Linger (SiriusXM Sessions)" by Royel Otis, the others like "Austin" by Dasha, "Pink Skies" by Zach Bryan, "Cruel Summer" by Taylor Swift and "Mr Brightside" by The Killers are all good to great songs but I am glad to see them having left the charts.

New Entries

Four new entries this week, starting with...

50. "Abracadabra" by Lady Gaga

The second single from the upcoming new Lady Gaga album "Mayhem" and I have some mixed feelings about this song, Lady Gaga is back to spouting nonsense in the hook and she sounds great here. I am just not wild about some of the more industrial elements of the song that can actively distract from the song and I do think that Gaga can afforrd to get weirder, it's not precisely bad but it's not great either. 

22. "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roanbut i

Oh finally, something else crossed over from "The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess" and this is one of my favourite songs from the album as this song is just Chappell Roan using her classical training to create a song where she wants to move to Santa Monica in California from Tennessee much to her mother's unhappiness but Chappell is going to follow what her heart is set on which dancing down at the Pink Pony Club in Santa Monica. it's just queer in the best way possible and that hook is a fucking earworm. Great song!

21. "I'm the Problem" by Morgan Wallen

Unlike this song which is apparently the lead single for that new upcoming album of Morgan Wallen's and this thing is basically the lyrical version of a  relationship nuclear toxic waste dump where Wallen is doing that whole manipulative bullshit of "I am not really the problem" and proceeds to blame it ALL on her, it bares all the hallmarks of "I Had Some Help" by Post Malone...a track he was featured on where Wallen refused to take responsibility for his own damn culpability in the alcohol abuse that was and happening and the same is happening here with this relationship that is now so toiic...it may as well been blown up...the same goes for this song, it can be blown up any time now. 

20. "Cry for Me" by The Weeknd.

So the only new song to chart from "Hurry Up Tomorrow' and it's not one of the better ones unfortunately, the song just doesn't do much for me at all especially as The Weeknd croons through what is a pretty basic chorus that sounds hollow as hell and pretty darn annoying at worst. There's better songs on the album that could have charted over this eg: "Open Hearts"

That wraps this week and the best and worst fell out fast bere with "I'm The Problem" by Morgan Wallen being the worst of our new arrivals....I don't see that one sticking around. Best of the week is going to "Pink Pony Club" bty Chappell Roan because yeah...that song is awesome.

All 4 1994. 6th February. Wouldn't Normally Do This but Time to Relight Nails in Your Open Heart

 This week feels wild in a lot of ways, we got some interesting changes to the top ten and some songs gaining momentum lower down that will be interesting to talk about  but let's not delay things and get to the top ten because we do have a new number one with Cut 'N' Move leaping to the top spot with "Give It Up"...probably the best number one we've had thus far in 1994. 

It wiped "All For Love" by Bryan Adams. Rod Stewart and Sting back to number two as it couldn't match "Give it Up" on sales, the same goes for "Shoop" by Salt 'n' Pepa which slipped back one to number three. 

M People's "Moving On Up" keeps living up to it's name climbing two spots to number four. This song has been reverberating around my head for days now so it is catchy as hell.

"Slave to the Music" by Twenty 4 Seven feat. Stay-C and Nance climbed three spots to number five which completes a top five where three songs are definitely big beat songs. 

Also climbing is "Asshole" by Denis Leary up three to number six while "Boom! Shake the Room" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince was the big victim of all the movement in the top ten down three to number seven/

After weeks of being stalled at number seven, "Hero" by Mariah Carey took a step in the wrong direction down to number eight this week.

Former number one "Please Forgive Me" by Bryan Adams dived four places to number nine as it continues to hopefully disappear. 

Up four to number ten is "Feels Like Heaven" by Urban Cookie Collective as their follow up to "The Key. The Secret" continues to do well. 

Losers

So starting at the bottom, we have "Soul to Squeeze" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers down ten to fifty, "Lemon" by U2 down fron thirty three to forty six, 

The Badloves "Green Limousine"  ran out of fuel stalling down from thirty five to forty two while their hit with Jimmy Barnes "The Weight" slipped from eighteen to twenty seven.

1993 hit "Right Here" by SWV down from thirty two to forty one.

Madonna's " Bye Bye Baby" starts to wave bye bye to the top 50 down eight to thirty eight while "\Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum runaway down from twenty four to thirty five. 

The dreams are becoming nightmares for Gabrielle's "Dreams" as it slid seven to twenty eight. 

Gains

Our gains are mostly all new entries from last week with "Daughter" by Pearl Jam up nine places to eighteen and 'What's My Name?" by Snoop Doggy Dogg up from thirty seven to twenty nine. I am thrilled about those.

However I am not thrilled that "Dirty Dawg" by NKOTB rose nine to twenty, "Can We Talk?" by Tevin Campbell climbed eleven places to thirty two and  "Maximum Overdrive" by 2 Unlimited rode a six place gain to thirty two.

Finally Caligula's "Tears of a Clown" climbed from 31 to twenty five.

New Entries

We have seven new entries this week...so again I am going to endeavour to keep each review...

48. "The Power Of Love" by Beverly

So we start off with a dance song that covers Jennifer Rush's "The Power of Love" because that's what we really need...a dance/electronic version of a ballad and I kind of think the lyrics here lose their punch and Beverly doesn't really do much to make this memorable at atll...I'd skip it.

47. "Open Up" by Leftfield/Lydon

So this is from British electronic duo Leftfield who have teamed up with Sex Pistols John Lydon and well I actually don't mind this at all...more because there feels like there is a groove there courtesy of some guitar and keyboard and there's some punch in the vocals...I dig this...check it out if you are curious,

45. "Nails in My Feet" by Crowded House

So we have the second single from Crowded House's "Together Alone" even as the lead single "Distant Sun" is doing well in Canada and yeah, of course this song is great with the guitars and the dramatic piano before the song absolutely soars at the end. Definitely worth checking out.

44. "Is There Any Love In Your Heart" by Lenny Kravitz

So time for new Lenny Kravitz song, the fourth single from "Are You Gonna Go My Way" and I think it might be the weakest to date because apart from the decent instrumentation, I am finding the falsetto that Kravitz sits with on this song to be fucking annoying, the only decent thing about this is that guitar solo before Kravitz wails like somebody on helium...next!

39. "Relight My Fire" by Take That feat, Lulu

So I was all prepared to absolutely tear this song apart because the title and the two acts involved set off alarm bells so colour me surprised when the song turns out to be a rather good pop song, it's not perfect, Take That's harmonies on the hook are little off and Lulu's vocals on the bridge kind of take me out of the song a little but yeah this is better than what I was expecting.

36. "Time" by INXS

Time to rock out to the third single from INXS's ninth album "Full Moon, Dirty Hearts" and wow, I absolutely how this song's instrumention goes off, instrumentally this song is incredible but what on earth happened to the vocal production here. Michael Hutchennce sounds like he is recording his vocals in another room so buried in the mix that he is which is a shame!

34. "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing" by Pet Shop Boys

So in recent yrars I have built a liking for the kind of synth pop the Pet Shop Boys make, I hold "West End Girls" as an absolute 80s classic that should be respected as ,much as "It's A Sin"  so I was curious how they would follow up "Go West" and yeah, it's fine... but Pet Shop Boys have made better songs especially with that weird droning hook.

That wraps our week...a long one if I am blunt but worst of the week falls out easily with "Is There Any Love In Your Heart".

For the best...I actually think this was a solid week overall so I am going to go with a tie..."Nails in My Feet" by Crowded House and.,,:"Open Up" by Leftfield/Lydon

ARIA Singles Top 50 Review: 3rd February: New Number One Messy Sports Car

 So this week was a weird one, what I expected to turn up new this week didn't and we only have one new entry this week and yet we have some changes to our top ten this week that pleased me didn't thrill me at all. 

What did please me with our top ten is that we have an excellent new number one, "Messy" by Lola Yojung...now anyone culd have seen this coming for weeks, the song has been gaining rapid momentum on streaming and has been there abouts on sales and Youtube to take the number one spot.

Sliding down one place to number two after an incredible run at number one is "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars, it just no long could match "Messy" on streaming even with the sales it has been racking up. 

The same goes for another former chart topper "That's so True" by Gracie Abrams, its still doing decently on streaming and sales but again not enough to challenge however it does seem like it might just do enough to take number two next week so we'll have to see.

On the downswing is "Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars staying at number four, I don't see this moving up in the weeks ahead while "The Days (Notion Remix)" by Chrystal and Notion remained stuck at number five 

Chappell Roan's Triple J  Hottest 100 win saw "Good Luck Babe!" catapault back up six places to number six this week, I don't expect this to last in the top ten though, it did push past "Birds of a Feather' by Billie Eilish which slipped one place to number seven, "A Bar Song (Tipsy)"  by Shaboozey at number eight and "I Had Some Help" by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen at number nine.

Finally our lone new entry in the top fifty this week debuted in the top ten at number ten courtesy of Tate McRae's new single "Sports Car" 

Gains

Lots of gains that basically continue on from momentum last week, the continuing gains for Luke Combs songs thanks to his tour of Australia with "Fast Car" up six to twenty, "When It Rains It Pours" up eight to twenty two , "Ain't No Love" in Oklahoma" up eleven spots to twenty three, "Where the Wild Things are" up six places twenty nine and "Beautiful Crazy" up seven to thirty nine. 

Both the debuts last week also gained nicely unfortunately that meant "GBP" by Central Cee and 21 Savage gained eleven places off of it's debut to thirty six and "Denial is a River" by Doechii rose five places to thirty nine.

Losers

Lots of older tracks losing traction this week with "Cruel Summer" by Taylor Swift down eight places to forty nine, Zach Bryan's "Pink Skies" and "Something in the Orange" both down six places to forty four and forty two respectively.

"Austin" by Dasha fell six places to thirty eight while "Please Please Please" by Sabrina Carpenter slid eight places to thirty seven and "Kisses" by BL3SS and CamrinWatsin (feat. bbyclose) slipped seven places to thirty foir.

"Indigo" by Sam Barber and Avery Anna seems to have lost all momentum to slide nine places to thirty two while most pleasingly "Slow It Down" by Benson Boone dipped ten places to thirty one...thank god, 

Finally "Stargazing" by Myles Smith slipped seven to twenty seven.

Re-Entries

Two re-entries I am happy about this week with "Guess" by Charli XCX and Billie Eilish back at number forty seven and "Not Li\ke Us" by Kendrick Lamar returning at forty five. Both are back courtesy of the Hottest 100 so not sure if they will stick around. 

Drop Outs

So we lost both "Smile" by Morgan Wallen and "Carry You Home" by Alex Warren. Both pretty much non starters really.

Coldplay's 2000s hit "Yellow" exited the top fifty this week as well.. 

New Entries

Just the one new entry this week so let's just dive straight in...

10. "Sports Car" by Tate McRae

Oh this was never going to go well at all now was it? A brand new Tate McRse song where she tries where too hard to be every late 90s/2000s popstar and only ends up looking the worse for the effort because she cannot concievably pull the sound or the aesthetic off. Well, this time sround McRse continues to try to be 2020s Britney Spears over an interpolation of the Pussycat Dolls "Buttons" (And if its not an interpolation of "Buttons", the verses sound really close to that song) whuile trying to get all hot and steamy for her partner and again, she just can't nail this wantonly sexual atmosphere she is going for here, the hook sounds forced as hell and honestly annoying...I ain't buying this.

 No best or worst of week because with there only being one song, it feels a bit redundant. Next week will probably see an album bomb from The Weeknd but we'll have to see.