ARIA Singles Top Ten/Chart Review. 23rd August. Dumb Love Rumours for a Cold Heart

 A pretty quiet week here where things kind of stabilised a bit at least until next week when that new Ed Sheeran song shows up so let's begin with the top ten where "Stay" by The Kid Laroi feat. Justin Bieber remains at number one for another week because it's still crazy dominant on streaming but that may change next week thanks to Ed Sheeran.

Speaking of Ed Sheeran, "Bad Habits" remains at number two but there's a very real risk that with the new single "Visiting Hours" arriving on the charts next week, it could very well split "Bad Habits" streaming but we'll have to see. 

"Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo rebounded one spot to number three, it's doing a hell of a job sticking around on streaming but it's only a matter of time before it fades naturally as Olivia's management turn their attention to promoting "Traitor".

"Beggin'" by Maneskin rebounds back up to number four while "Industry Baby" by Lil Nas X feat. Jack Harlow returned to number five.

The rebounds for the above songs happened because "Happier Than Ever" by Billie Eilish slipped three places to number six as streaming took a dip this week.

There's a new entry at number seven..."Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)" by Elton John and Dua Lipa...now we'll talk about the quality of the song later but this song is an instant hit on sales right now. The sales battle between this and "Visiting Hours" is going to be interesting.

It pushed "Kiss Me More" by Doja Cat feat SZA back one place to number eight because it's starting to overstay it's welcome in the top ten while Doja Cat's other top ten hit "Need to Know" climbed one spot to number nine.

That all meant "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals slipped two places to number ten and will probably leave the top ten next week.

Gains

Not too many major gains this week, "Dreams" by Jolyon Petch jumped five places to break into the top twenty at 18 while the original "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac climbed four places to 31.

"Love Tonight" by Shouse rose three places to 36.

Re Entries

"Mr Brightside" by The Killers is back at 49...I mean come on...I get it but why couldn't we get anything from that new Killers album on the chart?

Losers

"Favourite Crime" by Olivia Rodrigo slipped six places to 46...I am actually impressed by the longevity this song has had, it's been impressive. 

Down twelve places to 37 is "Not Sober" by The Kid Laroi feat. Polo G and Stunna Gambino because that album bomb is pretty much done now.

Drop outs

Unfortunately "Skate" by Silk Sonic left the chart this week...I'm really god damn disappointed...that song deserves to be massive. 

I"m not complaining about the exits of "Before You Go" by Lewis Capaldi, "Lose" by KSI feat. Lil Wayne or "Motley Crew" by Post Malone, the last of those songs has just had no traction whatsoever.

New Entries

Three new entries this week beginning with...

43. "Dumb Love"  by Mimi Webb

So Mimi (Amelia) Webb is a British singer songwriter best known on Tik Tok for her single "Before I Go" which featured another Tik Tok personality Charli D'Amelio however Webb has managed to find success in the UK with "Good Without" hitting the UK top 10 and the same has happened with this song over there. Now here's the thing, Mimi Webb reminds me a lot of Camila Cabello with her slightly raspy vocals which is why it's such a shame she sounds completely unsupported with there being no swell kicking in at least on the chorus and overall the song is just sounds like it takes itself way too seriously much like G Eazy and Halsey's "Him and I". A song called "Dumb Love" shouldn't sound this pretentious! Next...

16. "Rumours" by Lizzo feat. Cardi B

The much awaited return of Lizzo has finally arrived, I've been surprised at how quiet she has been especially after an incredibly successful mainstream break out year in 2019 so how is "Rumours" where she brought along Cardi B for the ride.

Honestly, this is a terrific song! It sees Lizzo tearing apart the culture of rumours and innuendo that have become a large horrible part of social media discourse around music and even ripping into the deep rooted misogynistic culture within the music industry. Lizzo just subverts a lot of the recent chatter about her life and does so impressively! Then there's Cardi B who actually brings a nice breather from the more in your face Lizzo with her verse similar to what Ariana did on the remix of "Good As Hell" and does so by addressing rumours around fake boobs etc and even using her top ten hits as a flex and the production makes all of this sound as cheeky and salacious as hell. Definitely check this out.

7. "Cold Heart (PNAU remix)" by Elton John and Dua Lipa

Well this is interesting and it's really more of a mash up than anything else because Elton is singing a section of "Sacrifice" while Dua Lipa performs "Rocket Man (I think it's going to be a long long time) over PNAU's remix with rather heavy percussion and what sounds like strings and piano involved yet lyrically I'm not sure this mash up works as much as I want it too, I get what they were trying to do but it just doesn't quite come together or work like I was hoping it would. It's definitely not awful but it's not really all that good either so I guess meh it is.

So best and worst fall out easily with "Dumb Love" by Mimi Webb getting worst of the week...that song could have been better but best of the week is going to "Rumours" by Lizzo feat. Cardi because yeah that song is excellent.

Next week: Ed Sheeran returns, maybe something from that Lorde album...we'll find out when the chart updates at 5pm on Friday.

Good 1992 Vibrations. 16th August. It's Probably Boy in the Moon but Live and Learn

 Well, the top ten finally got interesting this week with changes everywhere including at number one that I didn't see coming so let's start there as usual with a first time number one for both these artists...yep, Jose Carreras and Sarah Brightman take the number one spot with "Amigos Para Siempre (Friends for Life)" , a six place climb thanks to momentum coming from the Olympics and yeah the song does connect in a lot of ways.

It blew right past last week's number one "Hazard" by Richard Marx stepping back to number two as it just couldn't go with the momentum of "Amigos Para Siempre (Friends For Life)" and it was pretty much the same case for "Please Don't Go" by K.W.S" shifting back to number three. 

Rising one place to number four is "As Ugly as They Wanna Be" by Ugly Kid Joe because of course it's still got some sales...yay...not.

All of this pushed "Too Funky" by George Michael back two places to number five, I kind of thought this song would have the momentum to take the number one a few weeks ago but it just hasn't happened.

Then there's the surprise five place rise to number six for "Heaven Knows" by Rick Price! Pleased to see this. Glad to see this song suddenly having a well deserved gain, it's one of the few ballads that hasn't made me cringe this year.

Speaking of cringe, "Save The Best For Last" by Vanessa Williams slipped three places to number seven while "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover" by Sophie B. Hawkins stalls at number eight.

"Sexy MF" by Prince and The New Power Generation slumped three places to number nine while "This Used to be My Playground" by Madonna slipped one spot to number ten.

Gains

Mariah Carey's "I'll Be There" sits on the cusp of the top ten as it rose four places to number 11 while Snap's "Rhythm is a Dancer" by Snap climbed six places to number 12 (I'll back this to be in the top ten next week).

Smashing its way into the top twenty is "Everything's Alright" by John Farnham, Kate Ceberano and Jon Stevens up eleven to 13! Nice to see!

Also nice to see is "Knockin' On Heavens Door" by Guns 'n' Roses up eight to 20. 

"Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix A Lot climbed six places to 23 while "Life is a Highway" by Tom Cochrane jumped nine to 24. Not thrilled about either of those to be honest.

In much better news though, "How Do You Do" by Roxette got a nice eleven place boost to 29. Again, this song is good fun.

"Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" by TLC rose six places to 30 while "Tear Me Apart" by The Angels jumped ten spots to 35 (Come on people, The Angels are better than this)

En Vogue's "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" jumped nine places to 41 while "Barcelona" by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe climbed six spots off it's debut last week to 42. 

Losers

Alright so let's begin with "Twilight Zone" by 2 Unlimited falling ten places to 49 while "That Word (L.O.V.E)" by The Rockmelons feat. Cutty Ranks, Nardo Ranks and Deni Hines slipped ten places to 36...not too worried as that song is pretty well effectively locked onto the year end list. 

'Make Love Like a Man" by Def Leppard slipped from 27 to 33 while "Clunk EP" by Frente clunked down five to 28. 

Former chart topper "Jump" by Kriss Kross slipped twelve places to 26. U2's "Even Better Than The Real Thing" tumbled from 16 to 21. 

New Entries

Four new entries this week and it's a varied bunch this week, let's begin with...

50. "Live and Learn" by Joe Public

So we're leading off the new entries with this American group, who hail from Buffalo in New York, that embraces the New Jack swing sound and this song apparently sampling Sly and the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song" along with various other samples of songs ranging from James Brown to Parliament so much so I was worried that this would just be mish mash of samples rather than it's own unique song so how is it?

It's fine...even if the vocals are not in anyway convincing and the lyrics are pretty cliche about living and learning in life...they don't do much for me but instrumentation works well here with the new jack swing sound definitely doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. Check this out if you are curious and not bothered by the cliched lyrics. 

48. "It's Probably Me" by Sting with Eric Clapton

Uh okay, this is an interesting pairing on a song. Sting with Eric Clapton...not sure why it doesn't say 'featuring' rather than 'with' but that's just a nitpick...let's talk about the song thesr two have put together for the film "Lethal Weapon 3". 

Well I kind of expected something a little more than a chill ballad that's more what you'd expect from Eric Clapton than Sting but Sting's vocals work well here. The saxophone and guitar work well off each other in the middle eight of the song. It's a pretty basic friendship song allowing a man to express his love and admiration for another man without losing his macho status, it's nothing special but not all that bad. 

46. "Tennessee" by Arrested Development

Our third new entry comes American alternative hip hop group called Arrested Development  with this song coming from the album "3Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life of..." and I was curious given the title so how is the song? Well, my first thought upon hearing this song was how melodic and well crafted this song is but dig deeper and wow the lyrics cut hard...its written about frontman Todd "Speech" Thomas meeting up with his brother at his grandmother's funeral in Tennessee only to then lose his brother to a severe asthma attack shortly after with the song detailing Speech's experience with the pain losing two loved one's so close together and yeah this song clicks into a lot that's raw here. 

Incredible song. Please check this out and make it a hit!

43. "Boy In the Moon" by Margaret Urlich

Margaret Urlich is back! This is her lead single from her second album "Chameleon Dreams" and wow...ignoring the fact that the piano doesn't sound like it fits here, this song feels like a by the numbers pop song with inspirational cliches linked to looking up and seeing a boy in the moon. Yeah, Margaret Urlich has done much better than this. I'm going to forget it exists in record time

So that means our best and worst fall out easily this week..."Tennessee" by Arrested Development gets best of the week (DUH!) while "Boy in the Moon" by Margaret Urlich gets the worst of the week. 

ARIA Top 50 Top Ten/Chart Review. August 16th. Take and Lose My Breath

 Ugh, last week was a really great week...this week not so good mostly because what of the Billie Eilish album bomb left and was replaced with...well...you'll see however let's start where we always do and that's with the top ten.

The top two remains the same with "Stay" by The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber remains at number one as it's still massive on streaming and doing well on sales, it's handily holding up by a sizeable margin over "Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran stuck at number two as it's also doing fine on streaming and on sales but just can't close the gap to "Stay".

Rising three places to number three is "Happier Than Ever" by Billie Eilish as this settles itself in the top ten. Hard to know if it's going to be a challenger for number one just yet...we'll have to see but hey I am happy it appears to be sticking around.

It did push "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo down to number four, "Beggin'" by Maneskin down to number five and "Industry Baby" by Lil Nas X feat. Jack Harlow down to number six. 

Behind that are two songs holding their places from last week those being "Kiss Me More" by Doja Cat feat. SZA at number seven and "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals at number eight.

Then we have a new entry at number nine that being "Take My Breath" by The Weeknd, now we'll talk about the song's quality later but it debuted in the top ten with decent streaming but I am not sure if this song has captured the imagination of the general public yet.

Finally because people think "Need to Know" by Doja Cat is worth something, it rose seven places to number ten, I still really don't like this song at all.

Gains

So apart from "Need to Know" by Doja Cat rising seven to hit the top ten, there really wasn't that much in this department but there was a five place gain for "Dreams" by Jolyon Petch to 23 while "Mood" by 24kGoldn feat. Iann Dior while "Love Tonight" by Shouse rose 10 places to 39 and unfortunately "Goosebumps" by HVME feat. Travis Scott rebounded six places to 42.

Re Entries

So this is where things got stupid, the re entries begin at number 49 with "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles, "Head & Heart" by Joel Corry & MNEK at 48. 

Unfortunately Lewis Capaldi returns with "Before You Go" at 47 and "Someone You Loved" at 41...WHY? None of these four makes sense apart from maybe "Before You Go" being covered on The Voice Australia

Finally in a return that makes a lot more sense than the previous four is "Heartbreak Anthem" by Galantis, David Guetta and Little Mix returning higher than they originally debuted at 46.

Losers

"Body" by Russ Millions and Tion Wayne slipped ten places to 34 as this song finally loses its appeal and traction.

"Astronaut in the Ocean" by Masked Wolf slumps six places to 20 while "Not Sober" by The Kid Laroi feat. Polo G and Stunna Gambino slips seven places to 25. 

New Entries

Just the two new entries this week so let's start with...

38. "Lose" by KSI feat. Lil Wayne

So even before the release of this song I was hearing alarm bells mostly because it's a single from the deluxe edition of KSI's sophomore album but here's the thing I don't hate this? Even if it sounds like a rip of "Mood" in a certain ways and trying to tap into the appeal that song had even if the lyrics are a collection of "Uhh...what?". KSI wants this girl to 'light him up like ampthetamines on the hook of the song and Lil Wayne just doesn't fit here, he sounds nasal as all hell here. I don't think the song is completely bad but it's pretty forgettable.

9. "Take My Breath" by The Weeknd

Now for the big new entry of the week, the lead single from an upcoming new The Weeknd album where Abel has promised the dawn is coming so what did we get with "Take My Breath"? Well we get this synthwave pop song that combines the late 80s sound with the early 80s and it honestly sounds pretty awesome, it's a pretty bright and upbeat song which is exactly what The Weeknd promised. As for the content, well it's typical Weeknd hedonism, romance and passion, he wants this girl to blow him away or take him by surprise. I really enjoyed this, great song!

"Take My Breath" by The Weeknd easily takes the best of the week. No worst of the week as I think "Lose" is more forgettable rather than bad.

Next week: Not sure, possibly that Lizzo and Cardi B collab will headline the new arrivals next week along with Elton John working with Dua Lipa and PNAU but we'll find out when the chart updates at 5pm on Friday

Good 1992 Vibrations. 9th August. Barcelona, How Do You Do, Amigos Para Siempre

Looks like the ARIA singles chart caught a dose of Olympics fever this week as the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona got underway because we got disruption to at least the lower half of our top ten thanks to the Olympics Opening ceremony so let's begin with that because right at the very top nothin changed with "Hazard" by Richard Marx maintaining the top spot...now it's not clear just whether or not it will keep the number one in the weeks ahead.

However it did thankfully hold up over "Please Don't Go" by K.W.S which remains stuck at number two...thank goodness and it's facing a challenge from "Too Funky" by George Michael which rose one spot to number three.

Although that might be because "Save The Best for Last" by Vanessa Williams weakened enough to slip to number four and might slip further in the weeks ahead thanks to "As Ugly as They Wanna Be" by Ugly Kid Joe rising two places to number five as it got a disturbing amount of sales momentum behind it.

This pushed "Sexy MF" by Prince and the New Power Generation down one spot to number six as its sales fell away.

There's a new entry at number seven and the first impact of the opening ceremony of the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona with "Amigos para siempre (Friends for Life" by Jose Carreras and Sarah Brightman debuting at number seven and it's got some huge momentum going forward thanks to the Olympics going on in Spain right now, this song is going to be huge...mark my words.

There was a one place gain for "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover" by Sophie B. Hawkins to number eight while somehow "This Used to Be My Playground" by Madonna climbing three spots to number one...just what we need...more blandness in the top ten.

Finally "Heaven Knows" by Rick Price remains steady at number ten.

Gains

I'm not so sure about the quality of our gains this week especially as proven by "Rhythm is a Dancer" by Snap which rose eight places to breach the top twenty at 18 however at least Guns 'n' Roses cover of "Knockin' On Heavens Door" climbed from 36 to 28 this week.

On the pretty awful side though there's Teen Queens cover of "Be My Baby" up from 40 to 32 as it somehow regained ground or "Deeply Dippy" by Right Said Fred rising from 46 to 38...Not good signs ar all.

Losers

We've a long list of losers this week starting with "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica down six to 47 while "Take It From Me" by Girlfriend just completely collapsed down from 28 to 42.

"The Disappointed" by XTC fell from 34 to 41 this week as "Twilight Zone" by 2 Unlimited disappointed itself by slipping from 32 to 39 ad "You Won't See Me Cry" by Wilson Phillips cried down six to 31.

Sadly "I Don't Care" by Shakespears Sister tumbled from 18 to 30 while "Clunk EP" by Frente slithered down from 16 to 23 and "I Can Feel it" by Radio Freedom slipped six places to 19.

Finally "Cry" by Lisa Edwards suffered a fall to make me wanna cry as is her hit fell five places to number 11.

New Entries

Five new entries and we begin with...

48. "Barcelona" by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe.

So here's an appropriately titled song given the eyes of the world are on Barcelona right now to get us started though to explain this song is the lead single as part of a collaborative album that Mercury and Caballe worked on called "Barcelona" and boy, you can tell that Mercury has a love of opera here because this song has the full orchestral backing that combines pop with opera and is Mercury co write and was supposed to be the theme for the 1992 Olympics until organisers chose another song we'll get to shortly at the last minute to avoid any controversy following Mercury's death in 1991.

This song is also incredibly dramatic as well which kind of makes sense given the song is about meeting a lover in a beautiful city like Barcelona and yeah,while this is not my cup of tea, I can definitely appreciate how absolutely beautifully this track is written and arranged, it's breath taking. Check it out if you are curions.

45. "Tear Me Apart" by The Angels

Can't help but think that it's jarring to go from a pop opera track to a blatant hard driving Aussie rock song from The Angels and yeah this feels a little predictable, strum by numbers love song here suggesting this lover can tear him apart and yeah this comes across as pretty flat in the vocals. Not precisely bad but nothing anything I am going to remember going forward so yeah...next!

40. "How Do You Do" by Roxette

I am going to be upfront here. "Joyride" is one of my favourite hit songs of 1991 so I was keen to hear whatever Roxette had up their sleeve for 1992 with this song being the lead single for the duo's fourth album called "Tourism", it got play time during the UEFA Euro final and I'm not surprised because this is pretty standard bright and very colourful from Roxette with Marie Fredriksson absolutely shining on the hook here, her enthusiasm makes "How Do You Do" incredibly catchy with Per Gessle providing the grounding on the verses that allow. This is just such a fun little pop song...I like this. Glad to have Roxette back.

29. "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot

Ahh here we go...American rapper Sir Mix A Lot lands a charting single from his album called "Mack Daddy". Now this song has caused controversy with talk that the song objectifies women sexually and references to butts (boy...try living in 2014..the year of the BUTT in song writing especially in hip hop) but I am generally not bothered by that stuff so why is it that this song does nothing other than annoy me? Well for me, it comes down to the way the lyrics of the song and it comes across as incredibly douchey...like dude, we get it...you like big butts and you can't lie about it but there's no reason to come across like douchebag, factor in the production and no, I ain't a fan of this...next!

7. "Amigos Para Siempre (Friends for Life)" by Jose Carreras and Sarah Brightman

So here's the theme song for the Olympics in Barcelona and as it turned out it was one of two theme songs for the Olympics with "Barcelona" by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe being the other however this song brings together British soprano Sarah Brightman and Spanish tenor Jose Carreras with the end result being a cute song about being friends forever even if I think the vocal reverb here is too heavy but that instrumentation sounds magical here and Brightman and Carreras have enough chemistry vocally to make this song worth engaging with. Yeah, this is worth checking out it's not bad.

However it's not the best of the week, that's going to "How Do You Do" by Roxette...it's a simple pop song that does its job for me while the worst of the week goes to "Tear Me Apart" by The Angels, a song I doubt nobody will remember in a few weeks.

ARIA Singles top ten/Chart Review: 9th August. Skate Dreams of being Happier Than Ever.

Well we got a busy but overall better week than expected thanks to a combination of Billie Eilish and Silk Sonic in the new entries even if the top ten was mostly static so let's begin where there was the least amount of movement because "Stay" by The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber spends a fourth week at number one and at this point, it's a matter of when the streaming slows down because it's got huge margins on streaming right now, its set at number one for at least another two weeks or so.

That's bad news for "Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran stuck at number two because it just can't compete on streaming even with its handy sales margin and the same goes for "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo which remained at number three despite it losing ground on sales and on streaming hard (also potentially turning attention to "Traitor" which looks like being the next single from "SOUR").

The same goes for "Beggin'" by Maneskin glued to number four for a fourth week, it's streaming has pretty much stalled and sales aren't going to keep holding it up, in fact it's going to come under threat from "Industry Baby" by Lil Nas X feat. Jack Harlow as that climbed one spot to number five, it's got streaming momentum and I can see this maintaining momentum going forward.

Now this might all be superseded by the first of the impacts of the Billie Eilish album bomb with the album's title track "Happier Than Ever" debuting at number six, now this unlike previous Billie Eilish singles during this album roll out has sizeable traction on streaming so this could be interesting for the songs above it at this point.

All this pushed "Kiss Me More" by Doja Cat feat. SZA back two places to number as it just hasn't got any sort of traction anymore, I can see this gracefully leaving the top ten while the same goes for "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals as it slipped back one place to number eight.

Holding steady is "Levitating" by Dua Lipa feat. DaBaby as this version of "Levitating" losing steam thanks to DaBaby's homophobic remarks at Rolling Loud while "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" by Lil Nas X remains steady at number ten.

Gains

One of the biggest gains of the week belongs to Sleepy Hallow's "2055" which jumped 21 places to 13 as it looks set to become a hit...I am kind of okay with that...the song is pretty decent. 

Unfortunately not on the good side is that "Need to Know" by Doja Cat rose four places to 17 as that looks set to become a hit...joy...

"Cloudy Day" by Tones and I rose three places to 33. 

Re Entries

Two re entries both from Billie Eilish thanks to the album with "Lost Cause" back at 46 and "NDA" returning at number 36. 

Losers

So most of these losers will likely rebound next week when the album bomb recedes but there's worrying signs for Post Malone as "Motley Crew" slips 20 to 50...seems I am not the only one who thinks that song is a disappointment coming from him.

"Goosebumps (remix" by Travis  Scott and HVME fell six to 48...it's probably safe on the year end list but the sooner this audio torture leaves the better.

"You Right" by Doja Cat featuring the Weeknd took a ten place tumble to 47 while "Clash" by Dave feat. Stormzy fell 14 to 43. 

"Favourite Crime" by Olivia Rodrigo fell six places to 39...this song is growing on me and becoming one of my favourite songs from "Sour" so kind of sad to see this heading the wrong way. As for Olivia's second single "Deja Vu", it fell six to 23.

"Not Sober" by The Kid Laroi feat. Polo G and Stunna Gambino fell out of the top ten to hit 18. 

Drop outs

Drop outs are a mish mash of songs ranging from the long running like "Someone You Loved" by Lewis Capaldi or songs that just haven't had consistent momentum like "Holiday" by KSI and "Thot Shit" by Megan Thee Stallion, album cuts from The Kid Laroi like "Still Chose You" feat. Mustard and "Over You", Olivia Rodrigo album track like "Happier" or Pop Smoke's "Woo Baby" feat Chris Brown" and songs taking a premature exit like "Permission to Dance" by BTS and "Don't Go Yet" by Camila Cabello although given the way "Permission to Dance" was slipping on streaming how much that song is a premature exit is up for debate.

New Entries

Anyway we have EIGHT new entries to deal with here...well six because Billie Eilish album bomb does fit into my album bomb rules so the songs I won't be covering here are "Billie Bossa Nova" at 40 and "I Didn't Change My Number" at 45

However our look at the new arrivals doesn't begin with Billie so let's start with...

49. "Love Tonight" by Shouse

So I guess I should have seen this coming, Shouse are an Australian electronic duo based in Melbourne with this song being released in 2017 and a subsequent remix of said song by David Guetta saw the song catch fire in Europe thanks to Tik Tok and therefore ending up on the Australian singles chart this week and look, I'm on the fence as to whether I like this or not, electronic house has never been something I have cared for here even if the vocals have a spooky quality to them and those hand claps build pretty nicely into the chorus that's delivered rather flatly so ehh I'll pass on this.

38. "Oxytocin" by Billie Eilish

So here's the first of the songs from "Happier Than Ever" that we'll be taking a look at and this one has a pretty infectious groove here and reminds me a bit of Groove Armada here as the lyrics are from the abuser's point of view and the abuser's need to be aroused and intimate without regard to Billie's feelings but just pushing ahead because it's what he wants to get that sexual hormone oxytocin. I got to say that this was one of my favourite songs from when I first heard the album and yeah, this is still really damn good. 

35. "Getting Older" by Billie Eilish

So the opening song on Billie's album and wow, this is a pretty reflective way to open an album as Billie reflects on growing up and says she's ageing pretty well and managing her life better than she did when she burst onto the scene as a teenager (Billie, nobody handles their teen years well,...being a teenager is a rough ride) and crawling out from the ugliness of the music industry's underbelly. It's also a strong reflection on fan culture and dealing with the love and hate from people. It's a really Billie reflecting on where she is in life at the moment and while I'm not crazy about some of the production here from Finneas, Billie is still allowed to shine here.

32. "Skate" by Silk Sonic

Okay Bruno and Anderson, it took us until August to get second single?! You two are killing me here but anyway here's "Skate" and my god, this is better than "Leave The Door Open" what with that dreamy 70s melody and grooves that allow both Anderson Paak and Bruno Mars to be as charismatic yet smooth as hell in begging this girl to skate on over to them so they can get to know her. Yes, there's some really corny lines but here's the thing 70s music contained plenty of corny lyrics that people ignored because the song felt good and it's the exact same with this song. This is one of the best songs of the year and deserves to be a hit!

28. "Dreams" by Jolyon Petch

And here we have another electronic house song this time courtesy of New Zealand born Australian Jolyon Petch who decided to capitalise on the viral success of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" for electronic house cover of the song...now I am honestly pretty sick of the original right now so what does this new version bring to the table? It's fine...I guess...it's got that thumping bass groove and handclaps but the occasional splash of guitar but I feel like the meaning of the song here gets lost in terms of the fact the bass can distract a fair bit from the vocals here which isn't ideal so yeah not bad but it's certainly not great either.

6. "Happier Than Ever" by Billie Eilish

The album title track earns the highest debut of the week a song where Billie Eilish opens up and becomes more vulnerable as she sings about her abusive relationship and how she's happier than ever when she's away from him and as per most Billie Eilish songs in this era, it starts slow with just a lone guitar and backing vocals supporting Billie as she tells this person that she's not happy with them but can't explain it before that guitar kicks up a gear and the song just goes full on ROCK? Something I wasn't expecting from Billie Eilish of all people and it sounds great! Not sure if it's better than "Bury A Friend" or "When the Party's Over" but holy shit it's close.

That wraps up a pretty good week, in fact when the worst of the week is going to a merely mediocre song like "Love Tonight" by Shouse then this has been a good week. No dishonourable mention because I'm giving a tie for best of the week between "Skate" by Silk Sonic and "Happier Than Ever" by Billie Eilish. "Oxytocin" by Billie Eilish gets honourable mention.

Next week, The Weeknd will show up and likely unsettle top five but we'll have to see when the chart updates at 5pm on Friday.

Good 1992 Vibrations. 2nd August. Pretend We're Deeply Dippy

 Alrighty so we've finally got a cool down week at hand here, the insane turnover slowed for a week although that doesn't necessarily mean what we have in terms of the new entries is anything with substantial quality but we'll get to it, in the mean time let's firstly deal with the top ten where for a second week it's "Hazard" by Richard Marx at number one and let's be real this song has pretty much settled into the top spot now and it intends to be there for the long haul which is pretty much a good thing because it's biggest threat now is the horrendous cover of "Please Don't Go"  by K.W.S which climbed a place to number two and is looking a threat for number one unfortunately.

It was able to move past "Save the Best for Last" by Vanessa Williams which slipped back to number three and looks like it's losing ground on sales, it may well come under threat from "Too Funky" by George Michael which rebounded two places back it's peak of number four.

"Sexy MF" by Prince and the New Power Generation remains stuck at number five mostly because it just can't bridge the gap to the songs above it while Lisa Edwards "Cry" climbs one spot to number six.

Also on an upward climb is "As Ugly as They Wanna Be" by Ugly Kid Joe rising one place to number eight and with every week booking a spot on worst list seems more likely for this song.

All of this is because "Jump" by Kriss Kross slumped four places to number eight and is fading naturally. 

Up one spot to number nine is "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover" by Sophie B. Hawkins, a song that is getting better and better for me. I really do like it a fair bit.

Finally "Heaven Knows" by Rick Price slipped one spot to number ten.

Gains

"I Don't Care" by Shakespears Sister broke into the top twenty this week by jumping from 23 to 18 while Mariah Carey's "I'll Be There" jumped from 24 to 19.

Girlfriend look set to have another hit on their hands with "Girl's Life" leaping from their debut of 33 to 21 while Kriss Kross's "Warm It Up" climbed ten spots off it's debut to 22. Another debutant from last week, "Everything's Alright" by John Farnham, Kate Ceberano and Jon Stevens climbed all the way from 46 to 25...excellent!.

Unfortunately "Life Is A Highway" by Tom Cochrane climbed ten places to 30...not so good but "You Won't See Me Cry" by Wilson Phillips jumped from 45 to 31 which is good news.

TLC's "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" climbed from 43 to 35 while "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" by Guns 'n' Roses leapt eight places to 36

Losers

Alright let's begin this with "Always the Last to Know" by Del Amitri which lost all it's gains to slip back nine spots to 48 while "Living In England" by The Screaming Jets slumped nine places to 45. 

"Heaven Sent" by INXS is being heaven sent out of the top 50 as it collapsed from 31 to 44 this week (kind of says something about how INXS fans feel about that song if I am to be honest). 

"Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica plunged from 35 to 41 while "I Can't Help Myself" by Teen Queens took a pleasing dive from 28 to 40 (thank god!)

In further pleasing news, "Midlife Crisis" by Faith No More slipped five to 39 while former chart topper "To Be With You" by Mr Big fell ten places to 37 and "Twilight Zone" by 2 Unlimited fell from 21 to 32 this week. 

Another former chart topper to take a hit was "Take It From Me" by Girlfriend which plunged nine to 28.

New Entries

Two entries this week beginning with...

50. "Pretend We're Dead" by L7

So L7 are an American rock band having their first charting single in Australia and I will admit to some curiosity about the song given the title so how is it? Well the music is a bit chug a chug and the lyrics are a bit banal about how society is beating the individuality out of people so pretend we're dead but the vocals are so flat and passionless, they really don't convey anything here so yeah when rock has done better than this in 1992, there's no excuse for this sludge.

46. "Deeply Dipply" by Right Said Fred

Okay, we're giving Right Said Fred another charting song, why? "Deeply Dippy" might be slightly better than "I'm Too Sexy" but that's because it's boring! It's a song about him being "deeply dippy"
 about this girl he is in love with. The saving grace is literally when the horns kick in on the middle eight of the song but that doesn't save the vocals which don't match the energy of the instrumentation. Ugh.

And that wraps up a pretty short week. No best of the week because both songs are pretty ordinary but worst is is going to "Pretend We're Dead" by L7. Let's hope for better next week

ARIA Singles Top 50 Top Ten/Chart Review: 2nd August. Industry Baby is Not Sober or Over You so Don't Go Yet

 So things are about to get interesting on the charts with some of the rumoured up coming releases and indeed could get interesting in the near future but none the less let's get through the top ten because the top half of the top ten wasn't all that interesting to say the least because for a third week "Stay" by The Kid Laroi featuring Justin Bieber remains at number one where it's right now got a strangle hold on the top spot thanks to strong as hell streaming, this song's grip on top spot.

So while "Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran steady at number two thanks to excellent sales but it's not got the streaming to be competitive with "Stay" while "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo remains stuck at number three as it bleeds on sales and streaming.

The same goes for "Kiss Me More" by Doja Cat feat SZA at number five for another week, it just can't bridge the gap to those above it anymore.

This places the first of two new entries in the top ten "Industry Baby" by Lil Nas X feat. Jack Harlow in a strong position to climb higher over the next few weeks  especially in light of the attention new Lil Nas X music seems to attract from his obsessed haters...when will they learn their constant talk about Lil Nas X promotes his music?

It pushed "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals back one place to number seven as somehow it's still got good enough streaming to keep it in the top ten.

The second of the new entries is an impact from the new The Kid Laroi album, "Not Sober" by The Kid Laroi feat. Polo G and Stunna Gambino. More on this song later but it's here because of strong streaming during the week, it'll likely get a second week in the top thanks to there being a deluxe version of the album released

Regardless, it pushed its way above "Levitating" by Dua Lipa which fell back two places to number nine while Lil Nas X has a second song in the top ten with "Montero (Call Me By Your Name" up one spot to number ten.

Gains

Just one one major gain this week and unfortunately it's not on the good side with "Need to Know" by Doja Cat up eleven spots to 21.

Re Entries

As you would expect the only new entry comes from The Kid Laroi with "So Done" back at 46/

Losers

"Holiday" by KSI slips nine to 50, Pop Smoke's "Woo Baby" feat. Chris Brown down 23 to 47. "Happier" by Olivia Rodrigo slumped 13 to 49 while "Favourite Crime" slipped seven to 33, "Motley Crew" by Post Malone slumped 11 places to 30.

Drop Outs

 Some long running hits finally dropped out like "Head & Heart" by Joel Corry and MNEK, "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles and "Fly Away" by Tones and I, they took with them "Leave the Door Open" by Silk Sonic and "Jealousy Jealousy" by Olivia Rodrigo.

Two Pop Smoke songs also fell off with "Demeanour" feat Dua Lipa and "Tell The Vision" feat. Kanye West and Pusha T both gone.

"NDA" by Billie Eilish also left but will likely be back next week.

New Entries

44. "Over You" by The Kid Laroi

So first off the bat is a piano trap ballad from The Kid Laroi and unfortunately The Kid Laroi's vocal delivery happens to be the worst part of the song, he sounds nasal and like he is yelling rather than rapping or singing either way he sounds AWFUL especially for a song where he supposed to be bitter and angry over a girl leaving him which I just don't biy. Yeah...yuck. Let's move on...

43. "Don't Go Yet" by Camila Cabello

So I cannot be the only one surprised that a new Camila Cabello single has hit the Aussie charts, right? Okay, she had a modicum of success thanks to her collab with Shawn Mendes but her second album didn't do as well as I think she would have liked so here's "Don't Go Yet" and well...it's actually really damn great and possibly the best thing Camila has recorded since "Havana", what's more its got more traditional Latin flare than whatever J Balvin and others in reggaeton are crapping out. When that chorus hits, its genuinely magical and that guitar through out the song. Camila also sounds like she's singing within a good range for her. Yeah, check this out, it's an excellent slice of Latin pop and deserves to be a hit.

34. "2055" by Sleepy Hallow

Sleepy Hallow (real name being Tegan Joshua Anthony Chambers) is an Jamaican American rapper who briefly hit the Hot 100 last year with a freestyle so with this song being his first to hit the Australian charts, how is the song? Well I like that guitar provides a good solid melody and that heavy trap sound has been done to death and the lyrics are also pretty well done to death, the song seems to swing toward looking for an escape and having fun so while it's not that good...it's passable...certainly better than a slew of other hip hop on the chart this week.

29. "Clash" by Dave feat. Stormzy

So this is from the new Dave album and from that piano line with that rather all consuming percussion line supports both Dave and Stormzy as they rap about their typical wealth by dropping brand names and bragging about getting to drive expensive cars so in other words this just does nothing for me at all other than waste my time...NEXT!.

26. "Still Chose You" by The Kid Laroi feat. Mustard

So we've got two The Kid Laroi songs in a row here, this one featuring producer Mustard so given the production Mustard has given to both Migos and Roddy Ricch in the past, I kind of have hope that this song might actually be good...and it's passable? The song sample's YG's "I'm Good" with that piano, leaden snaps and percussion and The Kid Laroi sounds less nasal here than he did on "Over You" as he sings about his vulnerability to a serious relationship....I think this is okay, check it out. 

8. "Not Sober" by The Kid Laroi feat. Polo G and Stunna Gambino

And here's the highest charting Kid Laroi to debut this week and much to my surprise this is solid although instrumentation wise this really isn't a change up with sparse piano and percussion as The Kid Laroi, Polo G and Stunna Gambino rap about how relationship break up are leading them to hit drugs and alcohol to deal with their emotions over the break up despite knowing it's not healthy, this is pretty solid stuff and given that Kid Laroi sounds pretty good here...I'll take this.

6. "Industry Baby" by Lil Nas X feat. Jack Harlow

So here is the biggest new entry of the week...right now Lil Nas X's album roll out is 3 from 3 in terms of quality ahead of the album and well...better make it four from four because "Industry Baby" is AWESOME, it's a song where Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow rap about their fame and rise to the top, Lil Nas X even takes a stab at the conservatives who bitched and whined about the video for "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" and that he knows that his haters are contributing to his success by watching his music videos on Youtube and endlessly discussing his music...throw in those horns which sound incredibly triumphant and yeah this song is a Lil Nas X classic....Bring on that album

The best and worst fell out easily with worst going to "Over You" by The Kid Laroi because my god being that nasal is just insufferable. Dishonourable mention to "Clash" by Dave and Stormzy.

As for the best, well...the honourable mention is going to Camila Cabello for "Don't Go Yet" with the best going to "Industry Baby" by Lil Nas X feat. Jack Harlow. I won't say "Industry Baby" runs away with it because I was torn...that's how good "Don't Go Yet" is.

Next week...looks like being a Billie Eilish album bomb and maybe that new Silk Sonic song....we'll see on Friday at 5pm