Tuesday 24 March 2020

ARIA Singles chart top ten/chart review: 23rd March.

So I am going to lay out some facts here in plain view, we are not going to see a change at the very top for a good few weeks yet but there's enough changes on the chart this week to keep things interesting especially as we have likely album bomb coming next week and maybe one not the week after but the following week after.

None the less, The Weeknd maintains his strange hold on the number one spot with "Blinding Lights" for a ninth week and with "After Hours" released on Friday and doing massive numbers on streaming, I don't see this being unseated from number one for some time.

Much to my disgust, a good streaming week saw regressive and antiquated garbage "Intentions" by Justin Bieber feat. Quavo climb one place to number two but given what it's up against, I suspect this song has hit it's peak however streaming was enough to ensure it moved past Dua Lipa's "Don't Start Now" which went down to number three however with "Future Nostalgia" dropping Friday 3rd April, don't be surprised if it returns to number two.

Also to my rampant disgust, "Say So" by Doja Cat jumped one place to number four because people don't have enough brain cells to realize that this song is just cut price Dua Lipa with a mediocre beat, seriously why is this song in the top five rather than the far superior "Physical" by Dua Lipa however "Say So" pretty much switched with "You Should Be Sad" by Halsey which fell one place to number 5 (If Halsey has any sense than she'll make "3am" the next single from "Manic").

The biggest gainer within the top ten this week is the current UK number one "Roses" by Saint Jhn which rose five to break into the top ten at number seven, now this song has momentum on it's side as streaming is getting hold of this song, it swallowed "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I which sneezed down one place to number eight.

"Adore You" by Harry Styles followed suit down one to number nine while finally BENEE and Gus Dapperton get their first ARIA singles chart top ten hit with TikTok pushing "Supalonely" up to number ten.

Gains.

The biggest gain came for Sam Smith's new single with "To Die For" up eleven places to 15 which is good because I do like that song.while "Blueberry Faygo" by Lil Mosey rose eight places to 23.

Losers

The big story in our losers is the twenty place fall for "Stupid Love" by Lady Gaga to 33, this song isn't going to stick around like her fans would have hoped. Suspect they will be praying the next single will be sticking around.

Also taking a hard plunge was "Sugar" by Brockhampton which suffered a sweet malfunction to go from 19 to 30.

"Never Seen the Rain" by Tones and I dropped from 15 to 21 while "Yummy" by Justin Bieber dropped from 36 to 43 as everybody tries to forget it exists.

Drop Outs.

Two significant drop outs this week those being "I Don't Care" by Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber finally being gone after 43 weeks on the chart while "Castles" by Freya Ridings also falls off after a respectable run, they took "No Time to Die" by Billie Eilish, "The Other Side" by SZA and Justin Timberlake and "Baby Pluto" by Lil Uzi Vert with them.

New Entries

Our highest new entry this week is a 5 year old song from Tame Impala with "The Less I Know the Better" debuting on the ARIA singles chart at 17 thanks to being voted at number one on Triple J's Hottest 100 of the Decade last weekend, I'd be surprised if it stuck around.

What might stick around though is Tones and I's new single "Bad Child" which debuted at 18 this week.

The other new entries come from Flume with "The Difference" feat. Toro y Moi at 45, most strangely Noah Cyrus's "July" enters at 49 and finally "Suicidal" by American rapper YNW Melly is in at 50.

That wraps up the week. Next week? Well, it's going to be the weekend of The Weeknd with an "After Hours" album bomb so we'll have to see what kind of carnage that will cause when the chart is updated on Saturday at 5pm AEDT




Sunday 22 March 2020

Smashing It Somewhere Else: "In The Air" by L.A.B

Currently #1 for three weeks in New Zealand.

This is going to be something I do on an occasion if there's a song I like somewhere in the world doing well that isn't on the ARIA top 50 singles chart in Australia and fortunately New Zealand is going to be where the focus lies for the first edition of this series as there is a song riding on top of the charts there that I just have to talk about it, that song being "In the Air" by L.A.B,

L.A.B hail from New Zealand's Bay of Plenty with it's founding members being keyboard/guitarist Brad and drummer Stuart Kora, they brought in Joel Shadbolt for lead vocals and bassist Ara Adams-Tamatea with their sound being spanning many genres including blues, funk, rock and even elements of electronic music with "In the Air" being the second single from their third album "L.A.B III" released at the back end of 2019. 

Let's not mince words here, "In the Air" is this gorgeously layered chilled song that is perfect for any occasion be it chilling at home or out on a long Sunday afternoon drive, I just love the sound of this song with its guitars and that groove that works so god damn well. This song is like coming home and finding a warm fuzzy blanket to curl up in.

As for the lyrics delivered by Shadbolt, the song is about finding that connection with somebody special and enjoying the moment of being with that person whoever that is which Shadbolt delivers with incredible sincerity.

"In the Air" is the sort of song that really should be getting big around the world right now, please give it a chance, people.





Thursday 19 March 2020

2000 Sound: 19th March: *NSYNC say bye bye bye to Madonna to go number one

Another week another new number one and it looks like a fairly restrained week on the chart with some changes that were expected however the big story is that American boy band *NSync have their first number one in Australia with new single "Bye Bye Bye" hitting number one, this song could be number one for a while too as its sales saw it blow past "Bloke" by Chris Franklin which remained at number two this week.

It meant Madonna's "American Pie" slipped two places to number three as people hopefully realized that the cover is fucking atrocious and it is under threat from Mandy Moore's "Candy" which rose two places to number four.

It pushed "S Club Party" by S Club 7 down two places to number five as sales for this song are starting to slow. "Mascara" by Killing Heidi staged something of a recovery up one place to number six.

"Pure Shores" continued its wild ride in the top ten for All Saints down two places to number seven this week.

After hitting the heights of number four last week, "Move Your Body" by Eiffel 65 moved it's own body down in the wrong direction to number eight while "Absolutely Everybody" by Vanessa Amorosi fell one place to number nine.

Sister2Sister's "What's a Girl to do?" remained static this week at number ten.

Gains

The biggest gain of the week belongs to "Otherside" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers which rose seven places to to 31 while Live broke into the top 40 with "Run to the Water" rising to 34 from 41.

Re-Entries

Just the one re-entry this week with Leah Haywood's "We Think It's Love" back at 42

Losers

The biggest loser this week was "Thank God I Found You" by Mariah Carey feat. 98 Degrees and Joe dropped twenty places to 47, I don't expect this to be a huge hit like it has been in the US.

Also taking a plunge was Eiffel 65's "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" slipping 11 places to 46 while "Back at One" by Brian McKnight dropped ten places to 39.

"Smooth" by Santana" feat. Rob Thomas fell from 22 to 28 while Macy Gray's "I Try" slipped out of the top ten to 16 and "Tarantella 2000" by the Linguini Brothers slipped from 32 to 40 this week.

New Entries

The biggest new entry of the week is the newest single from Jennifer Lopez called "Feelin' So Good" which features Big Pun and Fat Joe. It entered at 22.

Dance/electronic group atb are back on the charts with "Killer 2000" in at number 36 while Aussie rockers Regurgitator are in at number 44 with "Freshmint!"

Finally at number 49 is "Holiday" by US rappers Naughty by Nature.













Tuesday 17 March 2020

ARIA Top Ten Singles/Chart Review: 16th March

It's weeks like this one that make me grateful that we aren't like the United States where these days album bombs are the new normal on the Hot 100 week after week, this week they got a Lil Uzi Vert album bomb where EIGHTEEN new songs landed on the Hot 100 in the US this week while we in Australia? We only got one new Lil Uzi Vert song but we'll get to that.

Meanwhile in times of uncertainty and strife, the only thing that seems certain is "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd remaining at number one thanks to it's strangle hold on streaming right now, it's got a comfortable margin over "Don't Start Now" by Dua Lipa which spends another week at number two due to flagging sales.

The same can be said for "Intentions" by Justin Bieber feat. Quavo which while streaming is strong, sales aren't great.

Surprisingly "You Should Be Sad" by Halsey is up one place to number four and yeah it's still doing well on sales but those streaming numbers need to improve.

Doja Cat's "Say So" rides streaming and sales momentum to move up three places to number five...unfortunately.

"The Box" by Roddy Ricch continues to do well on streaming but just can't leverage that streaming into sales here so it remains at number six.

Now the rise of "You Should Be Sad" by Halsey to four can probably be explained by the three place fall for "Dance Monkey" to number seven as it's streaming and sales are bleeding.

"Adore You" by Harry Styles rises two places to number eight off the back of a surge on streaming and some solid sales which is good because the song is emerging as one of my favourites of the year much to my surprise.

Post Malone's "Circles" remains at number nine as sales and streaming haven't fallen off completely while rounding out the top ten is "Before You Go" by Lewis Capaldi because...I don't know why...let's just hope it disappears from the top ten next week.

Gains

The biggest gain of the week came from Saint JHN's "Roses" which went up from 30 to number 12, I fully expect this to be top ten next week while "Death Bed" by Powfu and Beabadoobee rose from 32 to 17.

Pleasingly "Sugar" by Brockhampton staged a miraculous recovery from 36 as it surged up to 19 off the back of a remix with Dua Lipa.

"City of Angels" by 24KGOLDEN rose 11 places to 39.

Losses

Despite it being a fairly quiet week for new entries we had some big losers right across the board with Billie Eilish's "No Time to Die" the biggest plunging from 28 to 42 while "Everything I Wanted" dropped ten places to 33.

While "Life Is Good" by Future and Drake dropped eleven places to 29, the same fall was had for "Roxanne" by Arizona Zervas which slipped to 24 (people have forgotten that song exists)

A puzzling fall came for "Lose Control" by Meduza feat. Becky Hill and Goodboys which fell from 14 to 22.

Finally if you are wondering where "Stupid Love" by Lady Gaga is, it fell from number 7 to 13 this week. Got a feeling that the song won't stick around.

Drop Outs

Two fairly significant drop outs this week as they are both former chart toppers, those being "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X and "Sunflower" by Post Malone feat Swae Lee, Both after having incredible 49 and 71 week runs in top 50 respectively.

New Entries

TikTok is pushing BENEE's 'Supalonely" so as a result it's the highest new entry this week at 11 while the only other new entry comes from Lil Uzi Vert with "Baby Pluto in at 48.

A faitly quiet week, expecting new entries from Tones and I and others. The chart will update 5pm AEDT on Saturday.

I am working on top ten best and worst hit songs lists of the decade lists, its taking a lot of time and energy to do so because believe it or not there are several years that I didn't have top tens for. Also on the way is a likely top ten best hit songs list for 1974.




















Thursday 12 March 2020

ARIA Singles Chart Top Ten/ Chart Review: 9th March

So this week is an odd one mostly because there was changes to the top ten this week (one of them being disappointing in the extreme) except for our top four starting with our number one "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd which is still dominant on streaming and on sales, I can see this staying at number one for another few weeks yet as Dua Lipa's "Don't Start Now" which remained at number two but while it was gaining ground on streaming, it has started bleeding on sales.

"Intentions' by Justin Bieber and Quavo continues to make a pest of itself by remaining at number three because it's got strength on streaming and sales...Ewww. The sooner this falls off the better, people really wanted Bieber singing about intending to treat his wife like his property as hit?

"Dance Monkey" by Tones and I remains at number four because of still incredibly good sales but streaming is bleeding so expect this to take a hit next week which opens the way for "You Should Be Sad" by Halsey the first of our movers in the top ten up one place to number five to make a move up but sales aren't strong and while streaming is still good...I don't see it going much further.

Whatever the case it went past The Box by Roddy Ricch which slipped one place to number six as this song is only really doing anything on streaming and once streaming starts to bleed...

We now have the biggest debut of the week courtesy of Lady Gaga's lead single from her upcoming a;bum "Chromatica" called "Stupid Love" in at number seven and look I don't expect this to hang around as streaming is already dropping off as is sales.

At number eight is the biggest gainer of the week...Doja Cat's "Say So" which reached the top ten on massive streaming and sales. Why? People apparently prefer this to a much better song in a similar vein..."Physical" by Dua Lipa (Dua should have two songs in the top ten right now). "Physical" has a much better groove compared to this garbage....ugh.

Post Malone's "Circles" dropped one place to number nine, this song is fading gracefully after its extended run in the top ten.

Finally Harry Styles completes the top ten at number ten with "Adore You'  down one place from last week.

Gains

We had numerous gains this week outside of the big gain by "Say So" by Doja Cat at number eight.
A performance at Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras saw "Physical" by Dua Lipa rise eleven places to 16 (this song is showing signs of being a real sales monster, let's hope the streaming picks up)

Surfaces "Sunday Best" rides traction on streaming to go up ten to 20 and is probably the absolute worst of our gains, in better news "To Die For" by Sam Smith went up eight to 25, "Roses" by Saint JHN jumped from 39 to 30 (I expect this song to be big and in the top ten soon) and "Blueberry Faygo" by Lil Mosey rose from 42 to 34 this week (a song that I actually don't mind)

Losers

There were three big losers were "After Hours" by The Weeknd which plunged from 11 to 37, "No Time to Die" by Billie Eilish which dropped from 10 to 28 and "Yummy" by Justin Bieber from 14 to 31. (If the two Justin Bieber songs on the chart could both just suddenly collapse that would be great for my sanity)

Drop Outs

No real surprises in our drop outs with the much welcome news that "Rare" by Selena Gomez is gone taking with it Ali Gatie's pious song "What If I Told You That I Love You", "Forever" by Justin Bieber feat. Post Malone and Clever and "Turn Me On" by Riton feat. Oliver Heldens and Vula.

Unfortunately for the BTS army while "Map of the Soul: 7" did remain at number one on the ARIA album chart, the single "On" fell out of the top 50.

New Entries.

So what else did we get apart from the top ten arrival of "Stupid Love" by Lady Gaga, we got a mish mash of songs that will likely stick around and songs that will likely not last.

The one song I suspect will stick around is "Death Bed" by Powfu feat. Beabadoobee at number at number 32, this song is popular on streaming right now.

As for the rest that I don't expect to stick around: well, "The Other side"  by SZA and Justin Timberlake from that new Trolls movie is in at 43 while "Moral of the Story" by Ashe arrives at 46 and finally, "City of Angels" by 24kGOLDEN arrives at number 50.

So that wraps up the week, expect new entries from Demi Lovato (I wish that song was good), Katy Perry and maybe even...the Dixie Chicks but we'll what happens when the updated chart is released on Saturday at 5pm AEDT

2000s Sound: 12th March

This week is...interesting, we've got two new entries to the top ten with one of them entering at number one,some interesting shifts in the top ten but overall it was a pretty standard week with no real wild shifts up and down the chart so let's get to the top ten first of all and this where my excitement fades a little because debuting at number one is Madonna's trimcated cover of Don McLean's classic "American Pie"which turns the song into karaoake tailor made for Madge and loses the entire meaning of the song however strong sales were enough to see it get to number one.

"American Pie" did push Chris Franklin's "Bloke" back to number two this week as it lost the sales lead and it was the same for S Club 7's "S Club Party" which fell one placr to three but it looks to be vulnerable to Eiffel 65's 'Move Your Body" which rose two places to number  four this week thanks to excellent sales.

Similar story for All Saints as "Pure Shores" recovered to rebound up three places to number five, this song is shaping to be the girl group's biggest hit in Australia since "Never Ever"

It was enough to push "Candy" by Mandy Moore down one place to number six while Killing Heidi's "Mascara" took a four place tumble to number seven as sales start to slow for that song.

Vanessa Amorosi's 'Absolutely Everybody" rebounded two places to number eight this week with the big story is the sudden 5 place drop for 'I Try"  by Macy Gray to number nine.

The second of of the new entries in the top ten is Australian duo Sister2Sister managing to land following single "What's A Girl to Do?" at number ten this week, Great effort by Sharon and Christine Muscat.

Gains

Not much in the way of big gains this week with Aqua's "Cartoon Heroes" which broke into the top 20 at number 17 up from 22 but the biggest gain came for Shania Twain's "Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)" rising ren place to 33.

Re Entries

Filter's "Take A Picture" is back at 36 while "Can You Feel?" by Taxiride lobs back in at 49

Losers

Not many major losers with the biggest being former top ten hit "Don't Say You Love Me" by M2M plunging from 33 to 48 this week. Ouch!

Deni Hines "Pull Up to the Bumper" dropped nine places to 45 while former number one "Blue (Da Ba Dee) by Eiffel 65 dropped eight places to 35

New Entries

So to recap: Madonna's "American Pie" debuted at number one while Sister2Sister lodged "What's A Girl to Do" at number ten.

Outside of that there's a new entry at number 27  for a collab between Mariah Carey, Joe and 98 Degrees called "Thank God I Found You" (It's a bit too saccharine and sappy for me).

The Linguini Brothers are in at 32 with "Tarantella 2000" and finally Aussie trio The Robertson Brothers are in at 50 with "The Lost Love Song"










Thursday 5 March 2020

ARIA Singles Top Ten/Chart Review: 2nd March

Honestly, there's so much of me glad that the ARIA singles chart isn't like the US charts where there's an album bomb nearly every single week over there but the last two weeks in Australia where there's been a very real threat of an album bomb but it never materialised which was the case for BTS "Map of the Soul: 7" as it only lodged one new song on the chart but anyway we'll get to the new entries, let's firstly deal with the top ten where The Weeknd spends a sixth week at number one with "Blinding Lights", its still dominant on both sales and streaming and will lodge a seventh week on top when ARIA reveals the updated chart on Saturday.

Dua Lipa's "Don't Start Now" remains "Blinding Lights" closest challenger at number two for another weeks, it just cannot match the sales of and streaming momentum of "Blinding Lights"

Unfortunately "Intentions" by Justin Bieber and Quavo remains at number three...seriously this song sucks and does not belong anywhere near the top ten let alone at number three...ugh...regardless it somehow had good sales and streaming numbers to remain where it is.

"Dance Monkey" by Tones and I recovered one place to number four, this song is on it's way out slowly but surely, really only recovered for a reason we'll get to in a moment. Could say the same about "The Box" by Roddy Ricch which returned to number five this week, this song is doing well on streaming but sales have never caught on.

Halsey's "You Should Be Sad" also went up one to number six which is actually good news because I like that song, in not so good news "Before You Go" by Lewis Capaldi rose two places to number 7.

"Circles" by Post Malone continues its run in the top ten as it went up two places to number eight and in excellent news "Adore You" by Harry Styles rose three places to return to the top ten at number nine, this song has been growing on me A LOT.

The reason mostly everything either went up or remained where it was in the top ten this week was the expected collapse of "No Time to Die" by Billie Eilish which fell six places to number ten.

Gains

In not so good news in the gains department, Doja Cat's "Say So" went up 7 places to 21 because people for some reason are impressed by an underweight beat and groove. Ew/

"Sunday Best" rose six places to 30 for Surfaces but that was about it for the gains this week.

Re-Entries

Just one re-entry with "Turn Me On" by Riton feat. Oliver Heldens and Vula back at number 47.

Losers
The biggest loser this week was the only Justin Bieber album cut to lodge on the chart "Forever" feat. Post Malone and Clever which dropped from 29 to 40.


Speaking of Post Malone, his 2018/19 smash "Sunflower" feat. Swae Lee dropped from 43 to 49 while "Rare" by Selena Gomez plunged from 38 to 46.

"Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish hits 22 from 16 last week and "Yummy" by Justin Bieber fell from 8 to 14.

Drop Outs

Some massive drop outs this week with "Senorita" by Shawn Mendes and Cabella Cabello, "One Thing Right" by Marshmello and Kane Brown, "10,000 Hours" by Dan and Shay feat. Justin Bieber (not a good week overall for Bieber) and "South of the Border" by Ed Sheeran feat. Camila Cabello and Cardi B all gone, they took OneFour's "Welcome to Prison" with them.

New Entries

Four new entries this week with the album  title track from The Weeknd called "After Hours" landing the highest debut of the week at number 11. I don't expect this to stick around.

Likewise "On" by BTS in at number 29.

What might stick around is "Blueberry Faygo" by Lil Mosey at number 42 and "Pump It Up" by Endor at number 43.

So that wraps up the chart this week. Next week, Lady Gaga's new single, that new SZA and Justin Timberlake/SZA song from the new Trolls movie and maybe that new Keith Urban song, we'll have to see when the chart updates at 5pm AEDT on Saturday.