Thursday 23 April 2020

2000 Sound: 23rd April: Bardot go number 1 as chaos reigns supreme on the chart!

Ooh boy, this week is a busy one folks, strap in because we have one of the wildest and maybe most frantic weeks I've seen in some time, we have a couple of big moves into the top ten, a slew of new arrivals, some big moves up and down the chart and yes, a new number one.

So let's get to our top ten and our new number one and it comes as no surprise that the Seven Network's made by TV pop group Bardot comprising of Katie Underwood, Tiffani Wood, Sally Polihronas, Sophie Monk and Belinda Chapple have snared the number one spot with their debut single "Poison" (the song is okay but not great, I hope the band has better songs on their debut album) courtesy of the hype generated by the TV show Popstars and Seven which saw fantastic sales to allow such a debut at the top.

It was enough to unseat and push *NSync's "Bye Bye Bye" back to number two this week as it finally started to waver on sales.

This leads to not quite the biggest mover of the week but its definitely up there with Destiny's Child vaulting from number 13 to number 3 this week with "Say My Name" riding a huge wave of sales, this song could be headed to the top if Bardot wobble.

Then we have the gains made by "Adelante" by Sash! which climbed six places back up to number four this week. Good to see a electronic song do so well.

Killing Heidi's "Live Without it" climbed one place to number five this week as sales kept it steady.

You maybe wondering where last week's number two, "Candy" by Mandy Moore is at this point, well it's at number six having suffered a four place drop, it's on its way out of the top ten naturally now.

This takes us to the biggest mover of the week and a song I predicted will be huge, "Never Be the Same Again" by Mel C feat Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes which moved directly into the top ten at number seven up from 33 last week and is the biggest mover of the week.

Blink 182's "All The Small Things" is the sole song that managed to hold its place amid all the chaos at number eight. Not so lucky was "Pure Shores" by All Saints which fell five places to nine, it was the same case for "What's a Girl to do?" by Sister2 Sister down three at number ten.

Gainers

Our two big gainers are the two songs that I have already mentioned in the top ten this week but outside of that "Rock Me All Night" by Kaylan jumped eleven places to 28. Naughty by Nature rose six places to 26 with "Holiday"

Re-Entries

28 Days head the first of two returns to the chart this week with "Here We Go" back at number 43 while Regurgitator's "Freshmint!" us back at 46


Losers

It's chaos on the losers front this week so many hit  songs just lost momentum and slid hard like "S Club Party" by S Club 7 sliding down to 30 from 16. while Len's "Steal My Sunshine" took a plunge from 29 to 40 this week while Christina Aguilera's "What A Girl Wants" tripped over a high heel to slip eleven places to 34 and Madonna's "American Pie" is almost gone dropping ten places to 22.

The Backstreet Boys also took a big hit with "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely" dropping hard from 30 to 41, same happened for

"Bloke" by Chris Franklin hit 11, "Move Your Body" by Eiffel 65 stumbled to 13 and Jessica Simpson's still pretty awful "I Wanna Love you Forever" slipped on a banana peel to hit 16...all three of those aforementioned songs were in the top ten just last week!

Coco Lee's "Do You Want My Love?" is losing a little interest as dropped from 15 to 21 while Aqua's "Cartoon Heroes" plunged from 25 to 3 and Vengaboys "Kiss (When The Sun Don't Shine" skidded down to 36 from 28

Finally the song that never really caught fire, Marc Anthony's "I Need to Know" crashed 12 places to land at 50.

What triggered all this could well be the big movers into the top ten but also our new entries this week so let's to those, shall we?

New Entries

I have already mentioned Bardot's big debut at number one with "Poison" which is obviously the highest debut of the week but beyond that, at number 14 is a Scottish rock band hailing from Glasgow called Travis with "Why Does it Always Rain On Me?" (I actually don't mind this song if I am going to be honest0.

At 20 is an odd pairing British musician and composer Chicane (real name is Nicholas Bracegirdle) who has teamed up with Bryan Adams for a new entry called "Don't Give Up"

American country rock band Lonestar have hit the chart with a song likely to be used at wedding receptions for years to come, the song is called "Amazed" and it's in at number 42.

Finally almost on the same line of wedding reception song cheese is Enrique Iglesias new single "Be with You" which enters the chart at 44.

This was a wild week, folks, next week will be a question of whether Bardot can hang on to number one with the threats of Destinys Child, Mel C and *NSYNC just behind them.







Sunday 19 April 2020

ARIA Singles Top Ten/Chart Review: 20th April: Blinded by a return number one

Well this week was...interesting and surprising especially as I was all set for Drake's "Toosie Slide" to take number one riding streaming momentum but because I hadn't looked at sales all week, I'd forgotten certain other factors at play which takes us to the top ten where we have a returning number one, "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd and make no mistake it got it's eleventh week due to strong sales numbers because it spent the week bleeding on streaming but its stronger on sales than either of it's closest rivals right now.

"Blinding Lights" is now the longest running number one song by male artist in Australia since Drake's "God's Plan" in 2018.

However "Roses" by Saint JHN which got pushed back to number two. It's sales are still really good and it's retaken the lead on streaming so I wouldn't be surprised to see this go back to the top.\

Then there's the third player in all of this..."Toosie Slide" by Drake which based on streaming alone would have seen it take number one this week but it's just not doing the sales numbers the two songs above it are and given how it seems Australia seems reticent to send songs that have been streaming/TikTok fads in recent times eg: "Roxanne" by Arizona Zervas and "The Box" by Roddy Ricch which were huge on streaming but failed to enact any real interest in them on sales so unless sales pick up to match the streaming, I don't see this going number one unless it gets some absolutely monstrous streaming which I hope doesn't happen because the song blows all amounts of arse.

Same can't be said for "Don't Start Now" by Dua Lipa which remained at number four despite bleeding on sales, it's really only holding on because streaming is still hanging on somehow. Dua Lipa also managed to snag her first number one album this week with "Future Nostalgia" going to number one on the album chart.

"Death Bed" by Powfu feat. Beabadoobee remains at number five, 'Intentions" by Justin Bieber feat Quavo stuck at number six and "Say So" Doja Car glued to number seven for another are all holding on mostly due to streaming that won't go away.

Backing up what I said last week is "Break My Heart' by Dua Lipa which got a two place boost back up to number eight, this song has some traction behind it, would be good to see a song that interpolates INXS so well become a hit.
It was enough to push "Supalonely" by BENEE feat. Gus Dapperton down one place to number nine. I expect this song to remain top ten for awhile though.

Finally rising into the top ten for the first time is "Sunday Best" by Surfaces at number ten...Australia, WHY?

Gains

The biggest gain of the week belongs to Jack Harlow's "What's Poppin'" which rose twelve places to 23.

A song I am keeping an eye is on "Savage" by Megan Thee Stallion which rose five places to number 14, this song has the potential to go top ten maybe next week so we'll have to wait and see.

"Pump It Up" by Endor broke into the top twenty up three to 18.

"Know Your Worth' by Khalid and Disclosure went up four places to 36.

Losers
The biggest loser this week was PARTYNEXTDOOR's "Believe It" feat. Rihanna as it plunged nine places to 37/

"Maniac" by Conan Gray continues its underwhelming and forgettable presence by taking a fall to 31 this weekend, sooner it's gone the better

"In Your Eyes" by The Weeknd dropped four places to 26 while the same occurred for "Physical" by Dua Lipa which slipped on dancefloor sweat to hit 17 unfortunately.

"Godzilla" by Eminem and JuiceWRLD also plunged from 39 to 44.

Drop Outs

The drop outs aren't that surprising this week with "Find My Way" by DaBaby gone (will be back given album impacts the charts next week)

Sadly also gone is "Stupid Love" by Lady Gaga. I get the feeling people have been underwhelmed by this song but what I will say is that it's better than both our new arrivals...

New Entries

The biggest new entry of the week belongs to a collaboration between JP Saxe and Julia Michaels with "If The World Was ending" in at 34 because we need this kind of clunky crappy gunk on the charts at this time apparently.

The only other new entry lies at 50 with 'Rover" by S1mba and Dtg.

That wraps up the week, expecting new entries from Sam Smith's collab with Demi Lovato, like I said possibly also DaBaby and maybe Playboi Carti but we'll have to see when ARIA updates the chart on Saturday at 5pm.




Thursday 16 April 2020

2000 Sound: April 16. Girl bands and former members there of.

So this week is a busy one, not for our top four but for the rest of the chart with some moves that could have a few songs in the top ten looking over their shoulders and a new arrival in the top ten so let's get to that top ten where for yet another week, it's *NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye" at number one and really its almost an open question of whether or not it's strong enough to hold off the arrival of the new single arriving on the chart next week from reality TV show pop group Bardot because it held it's ground over "Candy" by Mandy Moore at number two, "Bloke by Chris Franklin stuck at number three and All Saints "Pure Shores" at number four

The first of our movers in the top ten comes at number five where Eiffel 65 live up to the name of their song with "Move Your Body" up one place this week, it held on despite the biggest new arrival coming from Killing Heidi with "Live Without It" debuting at number six - I am not a fan of this song unfortunately, both "Weir" and "Mascara" are much better than this.

All of that forced Sister2Sister down two places to number seven with "What's a Girl to Do?" as it loses steam slowly.

Surprisingly "All The Small Things" by Blink 182 rose one place to eight, I genuinely thought this would fall off after a week but it's sticking around.

Sadly what else is sticking around is "I Wanna Love You Forever" by Jessica Simpson up one place to number nine because people think this boring slog is worth anything.

Finally "Adelante" by Sash! fell off their debut last week plunging three places to number 10.

Gains

So biggest gainer this week belongs to American R & B group Destiny's Child whose song "Say My Name" has suddenly risen from 30 to 13. Not bad for a song that only re-entered the charts a few weeks ago!

Also having a sizeable gain is Five's "Don't Wanna Let You Go" which jumped from 36 to 22 this week. I don't mind that, the song is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me.

No Doubt's "Ex-Girlfriend" went up five to number 12 while Madison Avenue's "Don't Call Me Baby" rose six places to 44.

Re-Entries

Two re-entries this week with Naughty by Nature's "Holiday" back in the chart at 31 while "Tarantella 2000" by Linguini Brothers is back at 48.

Losses.

Most of the big losses seem to come for former top ten hits like "Mascara" by Killing Heidi which slipped nine to 27 and "The Bad Touch" by Bloodhound Gang which hit 35 from 23 last week and Hanson's "If Only" which fell eight places to 20 while 'I see You Baby" by Groove Armada fell from 33 to 43.

Then there are the non starters that lost ground like "Affirmation" by Savage Garden which dropped from 32 to 41 and "Run to the Water" by Live which fell from 38 to 46 this week.

New Entries 

So we have several other new entries besides "Live without it" by Killing Heidi at number six, we have to go all the way to 24 to find the debut hit for American singer Alecia Moore aka Pink with "There You Go" entering at 24 this week

Former Spice Girl Mel C has teamed up with Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes for chill ballad "Never Be the Same Again" which has arriving at number 33, keep your eye on this one, this could well be huge.

Unfortunately Limp Bizkit fill the unwanted bad rock presence in the new entries with the pretty awful "Break Stuff" in at number 47.

Finally Santana has hit up Everlast for a collab in an attempt to follow the success of "Smooth" with Rob Thomas, the song is called "Put Your Lights on" and it has debuted at number 50.








Wednesday 15 April 2020

ARIA Singles Top Ten/Chart Review: April 13th: Left foot up, right foot slide into number three for Drake

This week is going to be almost pointless to talk about mostly because there is going to be a new number one next week which we will talk about and really not a lot of changes this week were for the better but anyway "Roses" by Saint JHN held on to the number spot for a second week despite losing the lead on streaming but still being good on sales, it held on over The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" which is really not a player for number one now as it is starting bleed on sales and streaming.

However the highest new entry of the week sits at number three and is a big player for number one, "Toosie Slide" by Drake which didn't quite have the sales to go to number one but its got streaming on lock right now so sales may not matter, it's just a question of margins at this point as to whether "Toosie Slide" can go number one...I hope not because the song blows arse.

All this was enough to push "Don't Start Now" by Dua Lipa down to number four but that might have happened anyway as sales sand streaming start to bleed. 

It's good news for "Death bed" by Powfu feat. Beabadoobee which rose one place to number five on the back of good sales and rather good streaming, it could go higher.

Justin Bieber's "Intentions" feat. Quavo made a welcome slide to number six as interest sputters out in this song however not sputtering out fast enough for my liking, "Say So" by Doja Cat experienced similar as it fell two places to number seven.

"Supalonely" by BENEE and Gus Dapperton remained steady this week as it held on to number eight, it held off a surprisingly resurgent "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I which went back up to number nine off a sales boost.

Unfortunately Dua Lipa's "Break My Heart" slipped three places to number ten after the album boost faded, I think this song should recover though, we'll see.

Gains

The biggest gain this week was unfortunately "Boss Bitch" by Doja Cat which rose from 46 to 24 because now Doja Cat has a top ten hit, people are curious about what else she has made.

Megan Thee Stallion has her first Australian top 20 hit with "Savage" rising to 19 this week.



Re-Entries

So one re-entry this week with "July" by Noah Cyrus back at 48.

Losses

Sam Smith's new single "I'm Ready" feat. Demi Lovato will be out on Friday however "To Die For" is this week's biggest loser down from 31. to 43 this week. 

Lady Gaga will need a second single soon because "Stupid Love" is on the way out as it dropped seven places to 50. 

Drop Outs

Not really complaining too much about the drop outs this week with the only one I am disappointed to see gone is "Sugar" by Brockhampton but I am amazed it stayed on the chart at all let alone 13 weeks.
Maybe "After Hours" by The Weeknd as well but certainly not complaining about the exits of "Old Me" by 5 Seconds of Summer and "Skechers" by DripReport, both those songs are absolutely wretched.

New Entries

Aside from Drake's "Toosie Slide" at number three, we also finally saw "What's Poppin'" by Jack Harlow enter at number 35, it honestly might be the best of the new entries even thought it's not that good.

"Find My Way" by DaBaby found its way onto the chart at 47 to wrap up the week.

So next week we'll find out if Drake can take the top spot, not expecting a lot in the way of new entries might see something from Selena Gomez and Twenty One Pilots but the charts may well be static because of COVID-19, regardless the chart will update at 5pm AEST on Saturday. 


Thursday 9 April 2020

2000 Sound: 9th April. Sash! land top ten debut with "Adelante"

So this was a SLOW week on the chart, yeah we got a new entry in the top ten (it was the ONLY new entry this week) but most of the top ten was relatively static along with the rest of the chart this week...

Anyway let's get to that top ten where for a third week *NSYNC spend a third week at number one with "Bye Bye Bye", it effectively maintained it's margins at the top,

"Candy" by Mandy Moore remains at number two because its not like it's closing the gap to "Bye Bye Bye" although when you look nor is "Bloke" by Chris Franklin at number three, "Pure Shores" by All Saints (This song finally found some stability) at number four and "What's a Girl to Do?" by Sister2Sister at number f

Eiffel 65's "Move Your Body" moved it's body up two places to number six on the back of some resurgent sales.

Then we get to the new entry at number seven which comes a German electronic production duo known as Sash! with their song 'Adelante" and as I said...it's the ONLY new entry this week.

Madonna's "American Pie" effectively swapped places with Eiffel 65's "Move Your Body" because unlike Eiffel 65, "American Pie" went down two places to number eight.

Up one place to number nine is "All the Small Things" by Blink 182 while rounding out the top ten is the consistently in and out of the top ten, "I Wanna Love You Forever" by Jessica Simpson (I would prefer if "If Only" by Hanson was in the top ten instead of this sappy gunk)

Gains

UK boyband Five were the biggest gainers this week as "Don't Wanna Let You Go" went up fourteen places to 36...I actually don't mind this because I don't mind this song.

Destiny's Child is up nine places to 30 this week with "Say My Name"...this song is starting to gain momentum, I expect this to be huge soon.

Leah Haywood has her first top twenty hit with "We Think It's Love" up from 24 to 19 this week. Be great if this little pop song made the top ten.

Re-Entries

Back at number 42 is Tom Jones and Mousse T with "Sex Bomb" which didn't get going in it's first chart run...maybe this time...I kind of hope it doesn't...

Losers

Couple of big losers this week with former chart topper Macy Gray's "I Try" slipping from 31 to 45 this week. Also suffering a big fall is Marc Anthony's "I Need to Know" which dropped ten places ti 40.

New Entries

Already mentioned "Adelante" by Sash! new in at number 7.

Just a quick announcement, I have decided that I am going to put my top ten worst hit songs of the 2010s on hold for the time being, I am still going to work on it but I won't set a date for its release so still to come are Best hit songs of the 2010s and  top ten best hit songs of 1974 in terms of somewhat retro lists.

ARIA Singles top ten/Chart Review: 6th April. It's a week of Roses and Dua Lipa

So I cannot be the only who does acknowledge that while there has been a positive swing for the better in the standard of the music on the charts however I am seeing what's rising on the charts and what is coming next week and cringing, there's some absolute garbage on and coming to the charts, folks, brace yourselves.

However there are two big stories this week and they are both revolve around the top ten where we have a new number one, "Roses (Imanbeck Remix" by Saint JHN rode streaming traction and decent sales to take the number one spot for how long is anyone's guess given Drake dropped his new single last Friday and is currently doing well on streaming however "Roses" did push back ten week chart topper "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd to number two, this song is still strong but those streaming numbers are starting to slip.

Then there's the other big story, Dua Lipa landing three songs in the top ten this week with the first of them being "Don't Start Now" which regained some momentum off the back of the release of "Future Nostalgia" to move up one place to number three, I don't expect this song to keep up that  momentum though

However it did push past "Intentions" by Justin Bieber and Quavo down one place to number four as Bieber is readying the next single from his album which turns out to be the say nothing album title track "Changes". See ya on my worst hits list of 2020, Bieber.

Speaking of worst hits of 2020, "Say So" by Doja Cat remains a thing in the top ten by staying at number five...ewww...

Up one place to number six this week is "Death Bed" by Powfu feat Beabadoobee, it's got streaming traction.

The highest new entry of the week and the second of Dua Lipa's three songs in the top ten is "Break My Heart" - a song that samples the melody of INXS smash hit "Need You Tonight", is in at number seven this week.

Up one place is :"Supalonely' by BENEE and Gus Dapperton to number eight. A song that I am not sure how to feel about it.

The biggest gainer this week is the last of the Dua Lipa songs on the chart this week, "Physical" which jumped ten places to number nine courtesy of the album dropping last week.

Finally "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I continues its tenuous hold on number ten this week.


Gains

So I have already mentioned "Physical" by Dua Lipa breaking into the top ten at number nine. Outside of the top ten, Endor's "Pump It Up" jumped six places to break into the top twenty at number twenty, this has some streaming traction right now.

It's good news for The Rubens as "Live In Life" jumped from 27 to 21 this week. (That song has grown on me a fair bit in recent weeks)

Finally "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish continues to hang around jumping six places to 29 while the pretty awful "City of Angels" by 24KGOLDEN jumped five places to 25.

Gains

The Weeknd's album title track "After Hours" was the biggest loser this week as it tumbled from 17 to 48 as hype for the album fades away while "In Your Eyes" got a six place poke in the eye to 19.

Sam Smith's "To Die For" continues to lose ground unfortunately as it stumbled from 23 to 31 this week. 

"Godzilla" by Eminem feat. JuiceWRLD is sputtering out as it plunged hard from 18 to 32, the same happened for "Glitter" by BENEE which lost it's shine in skidding down from 21 to 37,

Finally "The Less I Know the Better" by Tame Impala fell ten places to 44. 

Drop Outs

Not really a lot to complain about here with the unsurprising exit of "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers. We also lost 2019 hit "Good as Hell" by Lizzo, it had a great run on the chart so not too sad it's gone. 

"Heartless" by The Weeknd also left taking with it "July" by Noah Cyrus and most pleasingly "Yummy" by Justin Bieber, thank fucking christ however I do expect "Yummy" to make the year end list and my worst hits list for 2020.

New Entries

So outside of Dua Lipa's "Break My Heart" at number seven, what else entered the chart this week, well we have to go to 23 to find "Savage" by Megan Thee Stallion, a song that I actually don't mind from her, it's one of the better songs from the EP and it's got traction so it will stick around thankfully.

At number 30 is the pointless new PARTYNEXTDOOR single "Believe It" feat. Rihanna. What's the point of having Rihanna on the song if you are just going to use her as a backing vocalist? Ridiculous waste of talent.

5 Seconds of Summer have managed to chart their Maroon 5 impersonation "Old Me" off the back of the release of CALM. at 39.

Finally to wrap up this week, the success of "Say So" has meant that people are looking for what else Doja Cat has done so it's meant that "Boss Bitch" enters at 46.

That wraps up a pretty wild and busy week, keep an eye out for the next episode of 2000 Sound. Next week that new Drake song will most likely debut top ten, we'll find out from ARIA on Saturday at 5pm AEST. 




Thursday 2 April 2020

Justin Bieber's "EPs" are playlists.

So you may have noticed that Justin Bieber is releasing two EPs a week right now, so far we have "R&Bieber", "Work From Home", "Biebs and Chill" and today he released his fourth EP called "Couple Goals" however I have a massive problem with this...

Now ordinarily, I wouldn't have an issue with EP releases as it's a way of getting some extra songs that didn't make the album out into the world, artists do it all the time and it's a good way to sample the ideas an artist is set to express on an upcoming album however I am not fine with what Bieber is doing and to explain why I'll show you a couple of pictures including the album track listing and the track listing of all four EPs so far.\

"Changes" Album Tracklisting (via Wikipedia)


Tracklistings of all four EPs (Via Spotify)










With the exception of "Intentions (Acoustic)", these are album tracks not new music with the title track appearing on all four EPs, "Habitual", "Available" and "Confirmation" are are two of the four EPs each. There are no new songs on these "EPs" to be seen unless you count the acoustic version of "Intentions" as a new song (I don't), all of the tracks are on the album which kind of makes these releases really stupid as they are not new songs and most people who would want these songs would already have the album "Changes" and be listening to these songs on the album, right?

However it would seem these twice a week releases are a lame attempt to bolster streaming numbers for album tracks off an underwhelming album by calling these releases "EPs" rather than what they actually are which are playlists and it should be pointed out that Bieber and his team could have very easily assembled these as playlists on Spotify especially given how repetitive the playlists actually are.

As I said before releasing an EP is a good way to give people a taste of the album before the album drops but to release playlists thinly disguised as EPs AFTER the album is out reeks of serious desperation and it doesn't help the music isn't good.

Please Bieber, either release offcuts from the album as an EP or stop releasing these twice weekly EPs and curate these as playlists on streaming services instead.