Lookin' Fine '89. 4th June. If You Don't Know You Express Yourself with a Heart Lullaby

 Wow....1989, you are just exhausting at this point, we have got several major stories within our top ten and large number of new entries. One of those stories is right at the very top because leaping five places to take the number one position is..."Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler because somehow some Australians think the sound of horny cats in a bag sounds good...ugh...anyway it got to number one thinks to strong sales.

Those sales were enough to stop a quite amazing surge from "Bedroom Eyes" by Kate Ceberano which jumped nine places to take the number two slot this week. The song definitely worthy of being a hit however it is still a surprise it jumped to number two this fast.

Last week's number one "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles got pushed back to number three but remains a strong chance of returing to number one next week as it's still as strong as the two songs above it right now.

There's a new entry to the chart at number four via Kylie Minogue with "Hand on Your Heart", we'll talk more about the quality of the song later but it had good enough sales to ensue a top five debut.

Rising three places to number five is "Now You're in Heaven" by Julian Lennon. Now I am happy to see this doing so well, the song has only gotten better every week it's spent on the chart.

From there it's a bit of a mess with Paul Norton's "Stuck On You" slipping two places to number six, "Like A Prayer" by Madonna slumped from number two to number seven and "The Living Years" by Mike + The Mechanics tumbled five places to number eight.

Mercifully "Ring My Bell" by Collette got thumped down four places to number nine while "Stop!" by Sam Brown tumbled three places to number ten.

Gains

On the cusp of the top ten is "Good Thing" by Fine Young Cannibals which climbed four places to number eleven.

The big surprise this week is "Pop Singer" by John Mellencamp which jumped from it's debut of 46 last week to number 15! Seems like this song is connecting with the public which is nice to see.

Also connecting with the public is "The Look" by Roxette which climbed from 23 to 16 while 
"Patience" by Guns 'n' Roses climbed from 34 to 29.

 "I'll be There for You" by Bon Jovi got a nine place gain to 31...ugh...less said the better...the same goes for the six place gain for "Satisfied" by Richard Marx and for the eight place gain for "Changed His Ways" by Robert Palmer to 42.

Losses

Alright, "Fire Woman" by The Cult tumbled from 36 to 49 this week as interest in this song ebbs away while "Something's Got a Hold of My Heart" by Marc Almond and Gene Pitney tumbled six places to 47.

Former number one, "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers stumbled 16 places to 46 this week while mid chart hogger "Veronica" by Elvis Costello sliped twelve to 45.

"Leave Me Alone" by Michael Jackson tripped down from 39 to 43 while former top ten hit 'Tucker's Daughter" by Ian Moss fell from 35 to 41.

Sam Kinison's cover of "Wild Thing" got hit with a plunge from 32 to 39 while "When Love Comes to Town" by U2 with B.B King slid from 26 to 33. 

The Proclaimers other hit "I'm on Way" collapsed from 16 to 30 while "One Summer" by Daryl Braithwaite took a dip from 17 to 24 and "Wild Thing" by Tone Loc fell from 18 to 22.

New Entries

Six new entries thss week beginning with...

48. "If You Don't Know Me By Now" by Simply Red

You know I am beginning to think that it's almost guaranteed that I will have to cover a cover version every week in the new entries with this one coming from Simply Red who have covered Philadelphia soul group Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes 1972 single "If You Don't Know Me By Now", the song was originally written by Labelle but they never recorded it so what we needed was Simply Red in 1989 to record a new version of the song so how did it pan out?

I don't know, there's something special about the original version in there's passion in the vocal delivery with the pent up frustration with this partner and I do love the backing vocals on the original as well, Mick Hucknall and Simply Red do try hard wuth the more beefed up late eighties production but I feel like Hucknall isn't quite there on the emtional level for cover to connect for me, it's not bad but it's also not a cover that I am actively going to seek out. 

44/. "You Got It (The Right Stuff" by New Kids On The Block

The second single from the boy band's second album "Hangin' Tough" and wow, the production is more percussion than melody that's not even close to the mood that New Kids on the Block are going for with the drums and oh the lyrics are the usual pandering to their fanbase of teenage girls who no doubt will love this song, also it took this dude three dates to actually fall in love with this girl and now he is getting clingy? Ew. Look, it's a catchy pop song if you ignore the blatant fangirl pandering that every boy band is guilty of, it's just not my thing at all.

37. "Lullaby" by The Cure

This is the latest single from The Cure's eighth album "Disintegration" and wow, I actually like the production here with the guitars and piano combining to create a calm and actually serene atmosphere even as Robert Smith's hushed vocal delivery paints an uneasy picture of the songs that his father used to sing to him at night before he went to sleep and how these songs would have a horrific ending so yeah this is very much one of those very unnerving songs despite how bright the production is but it's still worth checking out.

36. "Express Yourself" by Madonna

The follow up to "Like A Prayer" from the album called "Like a Prayer" and it's a song all about female empowerment,, to never settle for sloppy seconds and to always express her inner feelings and look while I get and like the song's message in the lyrics, the music doesn't feel as empowering especially with that production that is becoming so god damn overused in 1989.  Not saying this is bad by any matter of means but I definitely wouldn't place this among Madonna's best songs this decade.

34. "I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty

Uhh...this was released in April and is only now just charting? What the hell? Anyway this is the lead single from Petty's solo album "Full Moon Fever" and was co written by Petty with ELO's Jeff Lynne and this sounds exactly like a Travelling Wilbury's song which is maybe why I like it so much. Lynne's production gives this a solid heartland rock vibe that really matches the message of the song which is defiant and standing against oppression and difficulty, a message that in 1989 resonates pretty loudly and it's a message I hear loud and clear because yeah, this song is excellent.

4. "Hand On Your Heart" by Kylie Minogue.

Alright, the biggest new release of the week comes from Australia's own pop princess and it's yet again another Stock, Aitken and Waterman effort, it comes from Kylie's second album "Enjoy Yourself" with the song being where Kylie wants this guy to be honest with her about where their relationship is at, is it over or what and if it's over does he truly mean it  or is he trying to convince himself that the relationship is done hence Kylie not believing him and wanting him to say the relationship is over with his hand on his heart. 

It's a pretty cute pop song from Kylie, she definitely has the habit of releasing pretty good without being excellent pop songs but hey, check this one out.

And that ends our week, the best falls out pretty easily here with that going to "I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty. As for the worst? Ugh, nothing to egregiously bad but I'm giving it to "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" by New Kids on the Block for basically being a piece of pandering. 

ARIA Top 50 Top Ten/Chart Review. 30th May. When Harry's House Meets the ARIA Singles Chart.

Look...this week is going to be a Harry Styles avalanche...we're going to be doing nothing other than talking about Harry Styles songs for the most part beause all twelve new songa from "Harry's House" made the ARIA singles chart all in the top fifteen with seven of them joining reigning number one "As It Was" in the top ten, it was a blitzkrieg that I am not convinced did all that much damage anyway given Kendrick cleared out the chart for the most part last week but like I said "As it Was" by Harry Styles spends a sixth week at number one thanks to massivc streaming off the back of the album release.

Now this massive streaming is pretty much the same for all the Harry Styles songs in the top ten so I am going to blow through those quickly with "Late Night Talking" at number two, "Matilda" at number three and "Music for a Sushi Restaurant" at number four.

Jack Harlow's "First Class' managed to stem the surge of Harry songs slightly by only falling three places to number five. 

"Little Freak" by Harry Styles debuts at number six ahead of Lizzo's "About Damn Time" which dropped three places to number seven (this song is still strong and should rebound next week).

The rest of the top ten is all Harry Styles though with "Daylight" at number eight, "Grapejuice" at number nine and "Satellite' at number ten.

Gains

So we do have some small gains this week with two place gains for "No Role Modelz" by J Cole to 48, "Woman" by Doja Cat to 47 and "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo to number 37.

"Cooped Up" by Post Malone feat. Roddy Ricch rose one place to 26.

Re-Entries

Two returns this week with one being "Say Nothing" by Flume and MAY-A at 49 and the unsurprising return of "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles at number 44.

Loses

There are a LOT of losers this week as you would expect so in an effort to keep this short, I am only going to go through the double digit losses and really given Kendrick did most of the damage last week, this list of double dgit losers isn't as big as you would think.

We'll begin with Kendrick Lamar album cuts that somehow remained the chart with "Die Hard" fear Blxst and Amanda Reifer sliding 22 to 27 and "N95" down 16 to 18.

"Thousand Miles" by The Kid Laroi slumped eleven places to 20 while "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals fell 10 to 16. 

Finally "Dua Lipa' by Jack Harlow fell fifteen to 46. 

Drop outs

Harry Styles took out the rest of Kendrick Lamar album tracks and two other songs that were already on the way out anyway with "Churchill Downs" by Jack Harlow feat. Drake and "Hurtless" by Dean Lewis.

New Entries

So we did get a Harry Styles album bomb so here are the songs that I won't be covering in full...

"Boyfriends" at 15, "Keep Driving" at 14, "Love of My Life" at 13, "Daydreaming" at 12,  "Cinema" at 11, "Satellite" at 10,  "Grapejuice" at 9, "Daylight" at 8 and "Little Freak" at 6.

That leaves us with just three songs to cover beginning with...

4. "Music for a Sushi Restaurant" by Harry Styles

Ahh yes, the vaguely annoying album opener with blaring horns that really do end up becoming aggravating before getting ridiculous and completely annoying. Then there's the lyrics where Harry sings that he could cook an egg on this girl...what the hell, Harry? Proceeds to call her sweet ice cream and then claim she needs a flake put in her which is all sorts of questionable. This song is the song of gross food and sex double entendre that like Timbaland and Justin Timberlake's "Carry Out" winds up disgusting. Next!

3. "Matilda' by Harry Styles

Ahh so this might be one of my favourite songs on "Harry's House", the plucky guitars and Harry Styles telling the story of this girl he knows and how she grew up an abusive or at leastt troubled household and Harry is the one to show empathy and encourage this woman to move forward with her life...travel the world and achieve everything she wants in life despite her upbringing. It's a sweet and well written song using hiding this woman's identity in the main character Roald Dahl's book "Matilda". Yeah, this is excellent. 

2. Late Night Talking" by Harry Styles.

Last of the songs to deal with here and well, it's a bit of a shame that the somewhat wonky production on the verses kind of rules the vibe that Harry Styles is going for here, he is going for the late 70s/early 80s sound that really doesn't work here or have the the late night vibe that the song seems to need and what but can't reach which is a shame because that chorus is actually really catchy but you win some, you lose some, I guess.

So yeah, in a week dominated by Harry, he gets worst of the week for "Music for a Sushi Resraurant" but he also gets the best for "Matilda"

Next week...the fall out of all this which ARIA will reveal on Friday at 5pm AEST

Lookin' Fine '89. 28th May. Satisfied Patience Changed His Ways For You

Well knock me over with three dozen bulldozers, we've got a doozy of a week here and it all starts right at the very top where out of it seems completely nowhere, "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles has taken the number one spot, it stormed six places to the top of the chart thanks to sales that were strong enough to unseat "Like A Prayer" by Madonna back one to number two and "The Living Years" by Mike + The Mechanics back to number three as both songs are weakening and both ready to gracefully slide their way out of the top 50.

It also meant that "Stuck On You" by Paul Norton took a one place to number four while "Ring My Bell" by Collette remains steady at number five somehow.

What I am not thrilled about is the continued rise for Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings" which climbed three places to number six and looks unfortunately well positioned for a run at the top five.

All that did was help send "Stop!" by Sam Btown on a three place plummet to number seven and it's going to come under threat from our latest arrival to the top ten "Now You're In Heaven" by Julian Lennon up three places to number eiight.

At least it pushed "Lost in Your Eyes" Debbie Gibson back one place to number nine while "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals gets a three place push down to number ten. 

Gains

Kate Ceberamo's "Bedroom Eyes" have the attention of the charts this week, it's darting up five to number eleven this week. 

Breaking into the the top twenty this week is "Iko Iko" by The Belle Stars which climbed one place to twenty

"The Look" by Roxette is up ten places to number 23 as it looks set for a run toward the top ten while "House of Cards" by James Reyne climbed big off it's debut as it climbed from 50 to 26!

"Straight Up" lived up to it's name for Paula Abdul as it rose from 34 to 27 while "I Drove All Night" climbed from 35 to 28.

Daryl Braithwaite's "L:et Me Be" rose ten places to 29 and "One" by Metallca jmped nine places  to 38 while "Something's Got a Hold of My Heart" by Marc Almond feat. Gene Pitney rebounded back to 41...shame, thought that song was done.

Losers

We start with "Soul Revival" by Johnny Diesel & The Injectors which stumbled down from 41 to 49 this week while "Twist in My Sobriety" by Tanita Tikaram slipped eleven places to 43.

"She's A Mystery To Me" by Roy Orbison slipped twelve places to 42 while "Belfast Child" by Simple Minds fell back from 31 to 37 and "Fire Woman" by The Cult slimped nine places to 36.

Fprmer top five hit "Tucker's Daughter" by Ian Moss slid ten places to 35 and former number one "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers slipped six places to 30.

New Entries

Six pieces of fresh meat in the top fifty this week, let's begin with...

50. "Change His Ways" by Robert Palmer

So we're starting with the fifth single from Robert Palmer's album "Heavy Nova" and this is not one of Palmer's better singles to date, it's messy conglomeration of genres into something that doesn't work at all and then there's Palmer yodelling which doesn't even fit with the vibe he is going for here! Yeah, not good!

47. "Simple Man" by Noiseworks

Hopefully this third single from Noisework's second album "Touch" is better than what we've heard from Robert Palmer and yeah, it is but that's mostly because the instrumentation is more organic and sounds really damn good but why is Jon Stevens placed that low in the mix and the lyrics incredibly basic? I get he is just a simple man wanting the touch of another human but I am going to struggle to remember any of this song going forward. 

46.  "Pop Singer" by John Cougar Mellencamp

So I actually really like John Cougar Mellencamp's brand of heartland rock and I was looking forward to hearing his new single from album "Big Daddy" and yeah, this is a sassy clapback at a music industry that was more interested in burying Mellencamp's identity and turning him into their ideal pop singer and that he realized he couldn't be himself with all the deals that were being made. The song is definitely catchy and sounds great even if it does sound like somewhat of a detour from Mellencamp's usual sound even if it makes sense for this sort of song. Check it out.

44. "Satisfied" by Richard Marx

Brand new single from Richard Marx coming from his album "Repeat Offender" and oh wow...this sounds as dated to 1985 or 1986 in the production, sure that hint of guitar on the end of the hook sounds nice but dear god, this song could have used some genuine rock energy and some fire in the belly because yeah this ain't doing it for me especially if Marx isn't going to stop until he is satisfied. Sadly he'll be waiting awhile to satisfy me.

40. "I'll Be There For You" by Bon Jovi

Sigh...I miss the Bon Jovi that made songs like "Livin' On a Prayer" and "Bad Medicine" because this third single from "New Jersey is the corniest simp song I have ever heard. You'll be the air she breathes for her? Did nobody realize how desperate and pandering that sounds or that you might actually be smothering her with unwanted affection? This isn't good either...NEXT!

34. "Patience" by Guns 'n' Roses.

Okay so we wind up a pretty rough week with a single from Guns 'n' Roses which comes from the album "G N' R Lies" and much to my surprise, it's a gentle acoustic guitar ballad and features. Axl Rose whistling and not yetlling for once, he actually sounds great in this vocal timbre and it kind of makes sense when the song is about a relationship that's on the brink of falling apart and how he and this woman need a little time and patience to sort things out. I needed Guns 'N' Roses to come through with a good song and they have...check this song out.

Of course, "Patience" is the best of the week ahead of John Cougar Mellencamp's "Pop Singer". As for the worst of the week, monogenre clusterfuck v simp anthem, I think I'll give it to the monogenre clusterfuck that is "Changed His Ways" by Robert Palmer.

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Top Ten/ Chart Review. 23rd May. Kendrick's Mr Morale and The Big Steppers Album Bomb

 We got the biggest disruption to the singles chart this year courtesy of Kendrick Lamar's final album for TDE called "Mr Morale & The Big Steppers", 14 songs from the album entered the ARIA top 50 this week including three in our top ten so let's start there where for another week "As It Was" by Harry Styles kept the number one spot, it's got a lock on number one thanks to excellent streaming and sales with Youtube also kicking in, its postion at the top will only be strengthened next week thanks to the album release.

That meant "First Class" by Jack Harlow stuck at number two. Now it's still reasonably strong on sales and streaming and also has some youtube but have to wonder if it's going to come under some pressure in the weeks ahead.

That brings us to the first of three new arrivals to the top ten...all of them are from Kendrick Lamar with "N95" debuting at number three and really that's all on streaming, I don't see this being in the top ten next week, it shifted "About Damn Time" by Lizzo back one to number four but this song should rebound, it's still reasonably strong on streaming. 

The second of the new entries from Kendrck Lamar in the top ten is "Die Hard" feat. Bixst and Amanda Reifer debuting at number five. 

All of this pushed "Heat Waves" back two places to number six for Glass Animals (I am ready for this song to go the hell away if I am to be hobest)

The laat of Kendrick Lamar new entries is in at number seven with the album opener "United in Grief"...again no expectation that it will stick around.

"Big Energy" by Latoo feat. Mariah Carey and DJ Khaled slipped back two to number eight while "Thousand Miles' by The Kid Laroi slumped four places to number nine while The Kid Laroi's biggest hit to date "Stay" feat Justin Bieber slipped three places to number ten.

For those wondering how the top ten would look without the Kendrick album bomb...

1. As It Was

2. First Class

3. About Damn Time

4. Heat Waves

5. Big Energy

6. Thousand Miles

7. Stay

8. Bad Habits

9. Where Are You Now

10. Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)

Gains

There are none. Every single song that's not from Kendrick  lost hard this week.

Losses

So not to make this blog post a really long one, I am only going to cover the double digit losses which begins with the thirty place loss for "Churchill Downs" by Jack Harlow feat. Drake...ouch.

"Hurtless" by Dean Lewis suffered an eleven place fall while "Starlight" by Dave collapsed seventeen places to 42 and "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo tumbled eleven to 39.

The momentum has been zapped out of Leah Kate's "10 Things I Hate About You" as it fell 14 to 37 while Adele's "Easy On Me" took a 15 place fall to 34.

Jack Harlow's "Dua Lipa" got unceremoniously dumped 18 places to 31 while "Industry Baby" by Lil Nas X feat. Harlow took an eleven place slide to 26. 

Drop Outs

There's fifteen drop outs and with Harry Styles album bomb next week, some of these likely have ghad their chart runs ended permanently.

New entries from last week like "This Love (Taylor's Version)" by Taylor Swift, "The Heart Part 5" by Kendrick Lamar (weird, would thave thought name recognition alone would have kept the song in the top 50) and "Hold My Hand" by Lady Gaga.

The long running hits that took their exits this week like "Kiss Me More" by Doja Cat and SZA, "Happier Than Ever" by Billie Eilishm "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd and "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles, 

Older songs that got viralitylike "Lost" by Frank Ocean and "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls.

Newer songs that definitely won't qualify for the year end with "Flowers" by Lauren Spencer-Smith. 

Songs that are question marks for the year end like "Tom's Diner" by AnnenMayKentereit & Giant Rooks, "Nail Tech" by Jack Harlow

Definitely making the year end is "Down Under" by Luude feat. Colin Hay

New Entries

So we are in an album bomb situation so here's the Kendrick Lamar songs that charted that didn't qualify for best nor worst of the week.

48. "Auntie Diaries", 44. "Crown", 45. "Mr Morale" feat Tanna Leone, 30. "Savior" feat. Baby Keem and Sam Dew, 22. "Purple Hearts" feat. Ghostface Killah & Summer Walker, 21. "Silent Hill" feat. Kodak Black, 20. "Count Me Out", 17. "Worldwide Steppers", 16. "Rich Spirit", 12. "Father Time" feat. Sampha

So that leaves us with five new entries to talk about here however we aren't starting with Kendrick somehow because...

27. "Cooped Up" by Post Malone feat. Roddy Ricch

So did you know that Post Malone is literally dropping an album called "Twelve Carat Toothache" in June? Yeah given Post Malone was literally one of the biggest artists in the world around 2018/19, it is kind of amazing how under the radar Post Malone has managed to go however considering both "Motley Crue' and "One Right Now" weren't exactly the kind of hits that Post Malone would have expected in the lead of to the album I guess it's not that much of a surprise this upcoming album feels really low key so how is "Cooped Up"?

Like I was with "Motley Crue", I am really disappointed by this, feels like Post Malone is stepping back toward a trap comfort zone that doesn't even begin to make sense after the best album of his career in 2020, yeah the piano sounds good but Post Malone sounds like he is singing in pain over this trap beat that doesn't do much and couple that with Roddy Ricch dropping his most disappointing verse to date? Yeah I'm skipping this one. 

TW: Mentions of abuse. 

19. "We Cry Together" by Kendrick Lamar and Taylour Paige

This is my favourite song on "Mr Morale & The Big Steppers" and I don't say that lightly. More for the very real depiction by Kendrick Lamar and Taylour Paige of an ugly abusive abusive relationship where both Kendrick and Taylour say some terrible things to each other before Taylour Paige delivers a verse while she's in tears and the anger and frustratio felt by both is palpable before it culminates in the pair having sex. The song is set over this ska jazz groove which gives the song a lot more power and adds to the bitter darkness and rage that swells in the song. 

Probably not a song to listen to if you have been in an abusive relationship and find this sort of song triggering.

7. "United in Grief" by Kendrick Lamar

This is one of those songs where we discover that Kendrick Lamar is revealing his own fallibility as a human being questioning his own attitudes to women,  in that he cheated on his partner while he was on tour and the pain that this brief hook up caused her, reflections on his long career in the music industry, he knows and chooses the need to stay humble and all those accolades he has recieved won't last when he does die and how he has entered therapy to deal with his own mental health. If anything this might be the song where Kendrick is at his absolute best on the album in terms of being able to switch up his flow but it's also a painful reminder that like all of us, Kendrick is not perfect, he is also human...something that become more abundantly clear on the album.

5. "Die Hard" by Kendrick Lamar feat Blxst and Amanda Reifer

So this song is a slice of R & B that brings Blxst and Amanda Reifer on board as Kendrick begs for his partner to be patient with him as he is very much in a vulnerable place right now and pleading her to remain loyal to him and that in the hook delivered by Blxst that she can love him despite all his flaws and all that she has had to put up with from him. Kendrick knows that when he falls in love he falls in love hard which for him means a lot of emotion. Its definitely an intertesting song even though the instrumention is more upbeat and less dark than it is on other songs on the album. 

3. "N95" by Kendrick Lamar

Okay so the album opener charts the highest and is a reference to a particular type of mask used during lockdowns etc in 2020 and 2021 but it's Kendrick lashing out at the state of society in 2022 and with particular refernce to Afican-American culture, he warns against chasing material wealth and possessions amid the troubling economic circumstances of so many post COVID lockdowns. Kendrick also spends a bit of the song calling out the criminals who are on the end of attention of the feds. Not really the best song from the album but ehh, I'll take it. 

And that wraps up the week, a week that really was tough to get through but best and worst fell out easily with worst going to "Cooped Up" by Post Malone feat. Roddy Rich. Best of the week going to "We Cry Together" by Kendrick Lamar and Taylour Paige.

Next week, Harry Styles album bomb but we'll find out when the charts update at 5pm AEST on Friday. 

Lookin' Fine '89. 21st May Help Good Thing Crack Up One House Of Cards.

 Well the unpredictability of the chart at the moment is kind of starting to drive me a little crazy especially as there was one particularly bad song that entered the top ten this week in a really bad sign of what's ahead but anyway speaking of the top ten, let's as usual start there because "Like A Prayer" by Madonna returned to number one yet again much to my surprise, it had strong enough sales to deny "The Living Years" by Mike + The Mechanics a second week at number one with "The Living Years' slipping back to number two.

The surprise is that "Stuck on You" by Paul Norton rose three places to number three this week which is really good to see as I still like this song.

However "Stop!" by Sam Brown at number four and "Ring My Bell" by Collette stalled at four and five respectively. 

Rising two places to number six is "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles, this song always set to be a surefire hit. 

All this caused "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals slip four places to number seven, it's coming under pressure from "Lost In Your Eyes" by Debbie Gibson which rose one spot to number eight.

What I am not thrilled about is the eight place gain for the cats in heat strangulation song "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler to number nine. Really? We really want sappy crap like this in the top ten...that Debbie Gibson song was more than fucking enough without adding this shit to it.

Wrapping our top ten is "Cry in Shame" by Johnny Diesel & The Injectors rising one place to number ten,

Gains

So apart from Bette Midler's cats in heat in a bag song, Most of last week's debuts gained hard beginning with  "Bedroom Eyes" by Kate Ceberano rose nine places to 16 which yeah is great to see.however I am not thrilled that "Iko Iko" by The Belle Stars got a boost from 37 all the way to 21...can we not do this?.

Thankfully Roxette's "The Look" is on the rose as well as it climbed twelve places to 33 and even if I don't think it's Simple Minds best song, I am most okay with "This is Your Land" rising nine places to 38.

Losers

Let's start with "Something's Got a Hold of My Heart" by Marc Almond feat. Gene Pitney which slipped from 35 all the way down to 49, it's really had quite the abortive run. 

Then there's "Celebrate The World" by Womack & Womack which tumbled from 39 to 46 and "Where Did I Go Wrong" by UB40 down from 35 to 43. 

Former top ten hits took a massive plunge this week like "Too Many Broken Hearts" by Jason Donovan which skidded down 12 places to 42. 

"Soul Revival" by Johnny Diesel & The Injectors tumbled from 34 to 41 while "End of the Line" by The Traveling Wilburys fell seven to 40  "Belfast Child" by Simple Minds skidded from 23 to 31 and "She's A Mystery To Me" by Roy Orbison tumbled eight to 30. 

"Wild Thing" by Sam Kinison fell nine places to 28 while former chart topper "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" slid from 16 to 24 and former top ten hit "I'm On My Way" skidded from 7 to 13 both for The Proclaimers.

New Entries

Seven new entries beginning with...

50. "House of Cards" by James Reyne

So we're starting this week off with the lead single from James Reyne's album entitled "Hard Reyne" and look I am not the biggest fan of James Reyne so I was kind of dreading this song and yeah this isn't for me at all in that there's barely a sticky melodic hook here and Reyne sounds like he woke up in the morning with a mouth full of marbles, it's not the worst thing in the new entries this week (we'll get to that) but it's the one song this week that I am not going to remember going forward. Next!

47. "One" by Metallica

Ahh so next up, we have the third and final single from Metallica's "...And Justice for All" with this song portraying a World War I soldier who sustained serious wounds to his arms and legs, had his jaw blown off by a landmine and is thus rendered blind and unable to speak or move and is left begging for a higher power to take his life. 

It's a dark, sad song that really does paint war and the impacts of it it on individual human beings in a dark but extremely powerful light, it's almost as though the song was designed for the music and the lyrics to take a backseat to the recordings that are played through out the song. May we never forget the horroes that war brings with it and is never the answer. Great song by Metallica, check it out. 

45. "The Crack Up" by The Black Sorrows

Ahh finally a song with some groove to it! Well here's the latest single from The Black Sorrows from their 1987 "Hold Onto Me" and wow...I hear the Fleetwood Mac influence here with the guitar work and also some of the harmonies, I also appreciate that this has a really damn strong hook with it that gives people something to sing along with so yeah I really actually enjoyed this a lot even though I wouldn't say it's better than "Chained to the Wheel", check it out

39. "Let Me Be" by Daryl Braithwaite

Newest sungle from "Edge" hits the charts and it's actually a Daryl Braithwait song I've never heard before that was in part co written by David Reyne so this could be interesting. Turns out that "Let Me Be" is your very definition of 80s ballad just with enough spare guitar to keep it the song moving, it's also following the pattenr of songs that Braithwaite has released before (even if this one wouldn't sound out of place on a Phil Collins record). The song is about a man questioning why people won't leave him alone and let him live in his life in peace, it's not bad but I'm not going to remember this one much, Daryl has done better previously.

35. "I Drove All Night" by Cyndi Lauper

So the first of two covers to hit the chart new this week with this one being a cover of a song that was originally recorded by Rob Orbison in 1987 but wasn't released until 1992 so Cyndi Laurper took the song and recorded it for her album "A Night to Remmber" and honestly while I think the song sounds like something that would have worked for somebody like a Belinda Carlisle, Cyndi Lauper sounds better than I thought here helped by production that ampeds up some rock in the drums and the guitars on the hook. The song being all about escaping a busy city even just for a bit of respite even if it meant driving all night to do it to just get to a loved one so yeah in other words I think I liked this more than I thought would. 

26. "Help" by Bananarama

Okay...what the hell? Why are Bananarama reducing themselves to recording a cover of The Beatles 1965 hit "Help" which went on to be a number one hit in 1965? Turns out they recorded the song for the UK Comic Relief charity where they teamed up with Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Kathy Burke to record this and yeah, this is exactly what I expected...a washed out 80s cover where nobody sounds like they are having any fun and some od them sound just plain bored to be on the song...this sounds dreadful...next!

18. "Good Thing" by Fine Young Cannibals

So here's the follow to "She Drives Me Crazy"...a song that I still really like by the way. and yeah "Good Thning" is that perfectly servceable follow up. Catchy and really kind of fun. My only quibble with the song is that the vocals on the verse could have been turned up a little but othrwise I am absolutely fine with this song doing well (I kind of expect it to do alright). Well worth checking out.

However it's not getting best of the week with that going to "The Crack Up" by The Black Sorrows. Worst of the week is going to that wretched cover of "Help" by Bananarama. 

ARIA Top 50 Top Ten/Chart Review: 16th May Hold My Heart for This Love

 This week shocked me in one way, he impact of Jack Harlow's album "Call Home The Kids Miss You" is severely blunted this week, now sure he did have two songs from the album that debuted this week but there was nowhere near the impact I was expecting.

This is also obvious when we look to our top ten where much to my surprise, "As It Was" by Harry Styles maintained the number one spot now there's an open question of whether Kendrick Lamar can get anything from "Mr Morale & The Big Steppers" to number one next week but "As It Was" held steady thanks to strong streaming and sales along with decent Youtube.

This meant that despite the album impact, "First Class" by Jack Harlow couldn't retake number one although I will say it was pretty close because the streaming for this song is just as strong however I will say that it may have some stronger competition behind it with that strong competition coming from "About Damn Time" by Lizzo which stormed up nine places to number three thanks to enormous sales and streaming growth and is among the sales leaders, ccould be a playr for number one down the track.

Beyond that though..the rest of the top ten isn't that interesting with "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals continuing to overstay it's welcome by remaining at four while "Thousand Miles" by The Kid Laroi slipped to number five (just me or is this Kid Laroi's most anonymous song to date?) and "Big Energy" by Latto feat. Mariah Carey and DJ Khaled hangs around at number six.

Then there's "Stay" by The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber which slipped two places to number sevem. Up one place to number eight is "Cold Heart (PMAU Remix)" by Elton John and Dua Lipa..unfortunately.

Sliding one place to number nine is "Where Are You Now" by Lost Frequencies and Callum Scott (the sooner this song is gone the better) and finally the biggest loser inside the top ten this week..."Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran down three to number ten as people are finally sick of this god...thank god.

Gains

So the obvious big story in terms of gains is the one I already mentioned for Lizzo's "About Damn Time" hitting number three but what gained big this week? 

Well okay. "Wait for U" by Future feat. Drake and tems up three to number twelve but the gain that raised my eyebrows was the sixteen place gain for "10 Things I Hate About You" by Leah Kate to 22...I mean I get the song has got traction and I do think the song is okay but it's kind of a surprise a song so obviously catty and toxic has this sort of traction.

Re Entries

So 1998 hit "Iris" by The Goo Dolls returned to the top 50 this week at number 45...bit weirded out by this one...I am guessing it's probably viral on Tik Tok at this point.

Fortunately the other return makes more sense because it's "Nail Tech" by Jack Harlow which came back off the back of the album release.

Losers

Mostly pleased with the losers this week because some long term hits are finally starting to move out with "The Motto" by Tiesto and Ava Max down 13 to 50.

"Lost" by Frank Ocean lost seven places to 49 while "Tom's Diner" by AnnenMayKantereit and Giant Rooks slipped seven places to 47.

That said newer songs like the complete crap "Honest" by Justin Bieber feat. Don Toliver slumped sixteen places to 46.

Doja Cat;s "Woman" plunged eight places to 42 while her other big hit "Kiss Me More" with SZA also slipped eight to 41 while "Down Under" by Luude feat. Colin Hay collapsed nine places to 40.

A bunch of songs lost seven places this week with "Mr Brightside" by The Killers to 39, "Watermlon Sugar" by Harry Styles to 37, "Flowers" by Lauren Spencer-Smith to 33. "That's What I Want" by Lil Nas X to 27 and "Starlight" by Dave to 25

Drop Outs

Seven songs dropped out this week and look the only one I really unhappy about leaving is "When You're Gone" by Shawn Mendes. 

The others gone are "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac, "Light Switch" by Charlie Puth, "We Don't Talk About Bruno" by The Cast of Encanto (locked on the year end list), "In My head" by Lil Tjay, "That That" by Psy feat. Suga of BTS and finally "Drivers License" by Olivia Rodrigo.

New Entries

Five new entries this week, beginning with...

36. "Hold My Hand" by Lady Gaga

We're starting this week's reviews with a song that was recorded by Lady Gaga for the soundtrack of the new Top Gun sequel (the fact we're only now getting a sequel for this is a sign that the film industry have run out of ideas for movies but I digress) and well given Lady Gaga's track record with film songs, I was hoping for something amazing so what did we get? 

We got a ballad that Lady Gaga sounds good on but the production is a mess here for one thing the crescendos on the verses really don't build to much so leaves the chorus kind of really feeling flat which is odd given it's clearly going for the 80s power ballad sound so yeah while I get what the song is trying to do and I don't think it's completely bad...I likely won't be coming back to this song.

31. "The Heart Part 5" by Kendrick Lamar

We got a whole lot more Kendrick Lamar to be discussing next week when the album inevitably bombs the singles chart but this song got released on Monday as part of Kendrick's "The Heart" series where he has released this before every album and well...I am not going to mince words here because this is one of the best songs to be released this year, I can't say if it's better than anything from "Mr Morale & The Big Steppers".

Flipping a Marvin Gaye sample that gives the song a shocking amount of groove and punch, Kendrick gives an update on where he is at in his life and as usual for Kendrick, the lyrics and themes are incredibly dense and quite meta as he raps about life on the streets, sociery's habit of using drugs to quell pain but what tips the song over the edge is the empathy for the late Nipsey Hussle in third verse that made me oddly emotional so yeah if this song made me cry than it's something pretty special. Check it out.

23. "This Love (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift

The second single from "1989 (Taylor's Version)" following "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" and I do like the production here, it's cleaner and feels warm with the guitars but for a song that's about a complicated relationship, the lyrics feel suspiciously abortive and simple like Taylor doesn't really seem too keen on fleshing out how and why this relationship has gotten so complicated. Ehh, I don't hate it but I certainly don't love it either.

17. "Churchill Downs" by Jack Harlow feat. Drake

So I am going to say something that some of you will not like..."Call Home The Kids Miss you" is a perfectly serviceable hip hop album that is actually better than the nonsense both Drake and Kanye West released last year and I guess it's mostly because he doesn't engage in the concern trolling that Drake does (and when Drake does do that, it leaves a really sour taste in my mouth) however this is probably one of the best songs on the album, the song is named after the famous racecourse in Kentucky which is Harlow's home state and sees both Harlow and Drake casting some introspection about their lives and their rise to the top of the game over a decent beat if slightly overmixed...I'll take this.

13. "Dua Lipa" by Jack Harlow

Yeah perhaps naming one of your most dank trap songs after one of the most colourful popstars we've currently got is a pretty bad idea, I'm actually surprised Dua Lipa herself gave this the okay considering it doesn't reflect the brand of pop music she makes. It just sounds odd for a trap song where Harlow goes on and on about wanting to hook up with Dua Lipa and yet the song has no groove or energy to it? Come on Jack, you did better on the album but this is not it.

It's also the worst of the week. The best falls out easily as well because that's going to "The Heart Part 5" by Kendrick Lamar. 

Speaking of Kendrick Lamar, expect the mother of all album bombs when the chart updates on Friday at 5pm

Lookin' Fine '89. 14th May. This Is Your Bedroom Eyes Look

 Well then...we've got a pretty interesting week to wade through including some rises that are getting disturbing to say the least and some promise in the new entries but first let's talk about the big news in our top ten which is after sitting back and watching the battle raging ahead of it, "The Living Years" by Mike + the Mechanics reached number one thanks to a massive sales surge, it absolutely roared past "Like a Prayer" by Madonna which got pushed back to number two and is starting to look like it's weakening but we'll have to see.

What is most definitely weakening is "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals which remained at number three but it's done as a contender for number one.

Unfortunately that can only mean that "Stop" by Sam Brown can probably continue its rise as it climbed one place to number four this week while the even worse "Ring My Bell" by Collette also jumped one to number five because Australia is fucking confused right now or think it sounds like Anita Ward's version...ugh.

However in much better news, "Stuck on You" by Paul Norton got a two place gain to number six however I think that may have been helped by the three place collapse to number seven by "I'm on My Way" by The Proclaimers. 

Then much to no one's surprise is the new arrival to the top ten of "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles up four places to number eight. Happy to see it here!.

Hell, it pushed back the increasingly frustrating ballad "Lost In Your Eyes" by Debbie Gibson back two places to number nine while "Chained to the Wheel" by The Black Sorrows fell back one place to number 10 but I am just happy the latter made the top ten at all.

Gains

The hot streak of 1927 singles doing well continues with "Compulsory Hero" up six to twenty.. 

Also rising unfortunately like the malodorous fart that hasn't quite unleashed it's full stench yet is "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler which climbed from 22 to 17. 

Meanwhile breaking into the top ten is "Young Years" by Dragon up three places to 18 and Samantha Fox's awful cover of "I Only Wanna Be With You" leapt six places to 20.

Rising 12 places to 21 is "Hurricane" by James Freud, kind of surprised by this one if I can be honest.

"Fire Woman" by The Cult jumepd seven places to 24 while rising twenty places to 26 is "When Love Comes to Town" by Us with B.B. King. "How'm I Gonna Sleep" by Tim Finn rose nine places to 27 and "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul got a straight boost from 39 to 31.

Finally "Celebrate The World" by Womack & Womack  had a nice ten place gain to 39/

Re Entries

Just the one re entry with "So Good" by Wa Wa Nee back at 49. 

Losers

"Like the Way I do" by Melissa Etheridge is on the way out having dropped six places to 50 while "My Prerogative" by Bobby Brown also slipped six places to 46. 

Poision are finding out their song "Your Mama Don't Dance" is dancing it's way out of the chart and it tangoed down twelve places to 44 while "You'll Never Know" by 1927 slumped from 37 to 43.

Unfortunately "Buffalo Stance" by Neneh Cherry limped down seven places to 41 while former top five hit "You Got It" by Roy Orbison tumbled nine places to 38 and "End of the Line" by Traveling Wilburys is heading for Destination Chart Exit as it slipped eight places to 33.

The same could said for "Too Many Broken Hearts" by Jason Donovan which took a fourteen place hit to 30 while "Tuckler's Daughter" by Ian Moss crumbled eleven places to 27.

New Entries

47. "This Is Your Land" by Simple Minds

Kind of surprised to see a new single from Simple Minds weven with "Belfast Child" still doing reasonably well on the charts and unfortunately this really doesn't do much for me at all. Yeah, the twang of the guitar is pretty but I feel like the song is missing a cohesive melody at some points and it really does put the structure of the song out of complete whack to the point, it's confusing to listen to. I am skipping this. 

45. "The Look" by Roxette

Okay so next up a Swedish pop duo with their fourth single from thier second studio album "Look Sharp!" and look, what to do want me to say? This song positively drips with appeal! Its outrageously catchy and an extreme amount of fun...it's almost so infectious it should probably be illegal with that hook allowing call and response. This is a great song, check this out!

40. "Leave Me Alone" by Michael Jackson

Latest single from 1987 album "Bad" and features Michael Jackson taking potshots at tabloid rumours about him over a pretty jaunty piano and weird sound effects which I will admit that I am not a huge fan of but it does allow Jackson to plead with the tabloids to leave him alone and to stop making up stuff about him.even if I think the way 'leave me alone' is sung on the hook can be thought of as a little whiny but overall it is a decent Michael Jackson song just not one of his best.

37. "Iko Iko" by  The Belle Stars

Okay so The Belle Stars are a British all girl group and for some ungodly reason we've got their cover of an already much covered song that was originally recorded by James "Sugar Boy" Crawford and Cane Cutters however it failed to chart. It wasn't until jam band the Dixie Cups recorded the song that it became a hit and now we've got this cover from the Belle Stars complete with clanking atonal percussion that makes the song sound like a prolapsed anus, hell the vocals aren't even mixed correctly here. This is flat garbage...next!

25. "Bedroom Eyes" by Kate Ceberano

It's always nice to end a week on an Australian note, this week being the lead single from Kate's third solo album "Brave" and yeah, this is a pretty damn cute song about a woman who despite telling herself that the relationship is over, she's still in love with this guy because of those 'bedroom eyes' he makes and leaves her wanting him. The song has a neat piano line too. Worth checking out.

However it's not the best of the week because that is going to "The Look" by Roxette. Worst of the week in a pretty good week generally is going to "Iko Iko" by The Belle Stars.