Thursday 2 April 2020

2000s Sound: April 2nd, Unremarkable week sees NSYNC remain at number 1

So this week is a pretty standard one as far as a chart in 2000 can be normal but we have an incredibly busy top ten as *NSYNC keep hold of the number one slot for another week with "Bye Bye Bye" and it looks good for awhile as "Candy" by Mandy Moore rising one place to number two really isn't a threat right now.

Neither is "Bloke" by Chris Franklin which fell one place to number three as sales fell back again this week against slightly stronger opposition, its coming under threat from "Pure Shores" by All Saints up one place to number four on the back of a week where it's sales finally improved and stabilised for once.

Leaping six places to number five is Sister2Sister's "What's a Girl to do?" on the back of some strong sales which in doing so helped to push "American Pie" by Madonna down two places to number six, it was the same effect for "S Club Party" by S Club 7 down one place to number seven and it was the same case for "Move Your Body" which fell one to eight.

Hanson's "If Only" moved up five places to reach the top ten at number nine, also arriving in the top ten is "All The Small Things" rose two places to fill the final spot in the top ten at number ten.

Gains

There were nine place gains for No Doubt's "Ex-Girlfriend" to 14 and Coco Lee's "Do You Want My Love?" to 15.

Leah Haywood's "We Think It's Love" rose ten places to 24 this week, this song has some momentum now, could be a chance of reaching top ten.

However the biggest gain this week was for Savage Garden's "Affirmation" which jumped from 49 to 36 this week.

Re-Entries

Destiny Child's "Say My Name" is back at 38 this week.

Losers.

Not many big losers this week with the biggest loser this week being "Tarantella 2000" by Linguini Brothers which fell from 42 to 49 this week.

New Entries

All the new entries are below forty this week with Slipknot earning the highest new entry of the week with "Wait and Bleed" arriving at 46.

Human Nature are in at 47 with "Be There with You" while UK boy band Five latest single "Don't Wanna Let You Go" is in at 50.














Wednesday 1 April 2020

ARIA Singles top ten/chart review: 30th March. Change is in the air.

So this week was surprising, I was preparing for a massive album bomb courtesy of The Weeknd's number one album "After Hours" but much to my shock...that didn't happen,  oh sure there was still some impact on the chart which we'll get too however let's get to the top ten where "Blinding Lights" maintains the number one spot for a tenth week however I will say that there are signs that streaming slowing down which makes life interesting with "Roses (Imanbeck Remix) by Saint JHN up five places to number two.

"Roses" would be my best bet for number one unless Drake's new single called "Toosie Slide" being released on Friday AEDT makes a run especially if it gets virality on TikTok...joy...

It pushed "Intentions" by Justin Bieber and Quavo back to number three as streaming seems to finally be sick of this song the sooner it leaves the better.

"Don't Start Now" by Dua Lipa down to number four but I expect this will regain some momentum following the release of "Future Nostalgia".a week earlier than planned.

Doja Cat's "Say So" also slipped down one to number five and honestly, it's probably in a good position to take advantage of any songs weakening above as it is still credible on both sales and streaming.

Maintaining it's presence at number six is "The Box" by Roddy Ricch, again, sales are absent and streaming is dying in slow motion so this will be gone from the top ten soon.

Arriving in the top ten this week is "Death Bed" by Powfu feat. Beabadabee which went up six places off the back of streaming.

A victim of the frantic shuffling this week was "You Should Be Sad" by Halsey which went down three places to number eight as streaming and sales are being blunted for it.

"Supalonely' by BENEE feat.  Gus Dapperton goes up one place to number nine this week as it had a good sales and streaming week.

Finally former chart topper "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I slipped two places to number ten as it makes a slow graceful exit befitting a record breaking hit song.

Gains

This week was the week of The Weeknd as the title track from "After Hours" was the biggest gainer this week as it went from 48 to 17.
"Sunday Best" by Surfaces looks set to make an entrance to the top ten as it rose four places to number 12.

"Pump It Up" by Endor rose eleven places to 26 this week. I will give that song something, it is quite catchy!,

"Live in Life" by The Rubens continues to do well as it rose from 31 to 27 this week.

Also gaining big was "Maniac" by Conan Gray up ten to 28 although I suspect some of that gain was because of the release of his album called "Kid Krow"

Re-Entries

The sad death of American country music legend Kenny Rogers saw "The Gambler" back on the charts at number 31. It originally appeared on the Kent Music Report charts in 1978 peaking at 25.

The Weeknd is back at 38 with "Heartless"

Losers

The biggest loser this week is Tame Impala's "The Less I Know the Better" which tumbled from 17 to 34 this week as hype from the Hottest 100 of the decade dies down.

Suffering a ten place fall is Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy which fell to 35 this week.

Unforunately "Sugar" went sour for BROCKHAMPTON as their first charting song went down a  sticky eleven places to 41 although it's a miacle that this song charted at all.

 In more  bad news "To Die For" by Sam Smith dropped eight places to 23 as they rescheduled the album release due to COVID-19 and finding another name for the album

In better news "Tummy" by Justin Bieber got indigestion and slipped six places to 49 as a result

Drop Outs.

The only drop out of any real note is "My Oh My" by Camila Cabello feat. DaBaby...good.

The other four that fell off the chart were "The Difference" by Flume feat. Toro y Moi, "Moral of the Story" by Ashe and "Suicidal" by YNW Melly.

New Entries

Two new entries this week with the highest debut of the week belonging to The Weeknd with "In Your Eyes" in at 13 while the latest streaming fad "Skechers" by DripReport in at 47.

So that wraps up a surprisingly short week on the chart with there being no album bomb from The Weeknd. Next week should be Dua Lipa's week, might see a song from 5 Seconds of Summer and the new one for Little Mix but we'll see whats when the chart is announced on Saturday at 5pm AEDT.


Thursday 26 March 2020

2000 Sound: 26th March: Glut of New Entries as *NSync keeps number one

So this week is interesting...just not in terms of the top ten right now but more the glut of new entries that really stalled any upward movement on the charts with a lot of big falls this week but the new entries didn't impact the top ten where for a 2nd week, *NSync's "Bye Bye Bye" rules roost at number one and really this song does look to have a hold on number one right now especially when you look at our number two which is "Bloke" by Chris Franklin which is losing strength on streaming.

"Candy" by Mandy Moore rose one place to number three forcing Madonna's rancid "American Pie" cover back to number four.

All Saints continue their really strange run on the chart with "Pure Shores" up two places again to number five, this song needs to find some consistency fast but it probably held up because "S Club Party" by S Club 7 weakened down one place to number six.

Eiffel 65's "Move Your Body" is back up one place to number seven while Killing Heidi's "Mascara" looks to be fading gracefully as it dropped two places to number eight while Vanessa Amorosi's "Absolutely Everybody" remains at number nine.

Jessica Simpson returned to the top ten this week with her painfully boring debut single "I Wanna Love Forever" up one place to number ten.

Gains

We are pretty short on big gains this week with the biggest coming for Leah Haywood's "We Think It's Love" which went up eight places to 34 but that was about it for gains over five places this week.

Losers

Oh boy. Brace yourselves for this because there's a long list of losers but let's stat at the bottom of the chart where William Orbit's "Barber's Adagio For Strings" which fell seven places to 50 while Savage Garden's "Affirmation" suffered an eleven place slip to 49.

Also finding life tough on the charts is "Otherside" by Red Hot Chili Peppers which fell from 46 to 31.

"Smooth" by Santana and Rob Thomas took a plunge from 28 to 44 as the waters got rough fast for that song.

Same could be said for Madison Avenue's "Don't Call Me Baby" which fell hard from 26 to 43 this week and is our biggest loser of the week.

28 Days dropped nine places to 36 with "Here We Go" while Macy Gray's "I Try" dropped twelve places to 28

New Entries

Hanson have the biggest new entry of the week with "If Only" in at 14. I actually really like this song so I genuinely hope it becomes a hit.

Alice Deejay is in at 19 with "Back In My Life" while No Doubt hit the chart at 25 with "Ex-Girlfriend"

Macy Gray's follow up "Still" breaks onto the chart at 26.

Kelis is in at number 30 with "Caught Out There"

Australian R'n'B group Kaylan have debuted on the chart with "Rock Me All Night" at 40 while finally the last of the new entries come from Metallica with Michael Kamen conducting the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra landing "No Leaf Clover on the chart.


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.