Monday 26 July 2021

Good 1992 Vibrations. 26th July. Everything's Alright when Girls Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg for Jam in Life

 Okay 1992...just stop already...this week was INSANE. We got a brand new number one which we will get to in a moment, wild shifts in the top ten and up and down the chart which kind of characterises what 1992 has been like even if a lot of the music on the chart this year has been dull and kind of limp then there's the long list of new entries which means this blog entry is going to run long...just a warning.

Anyway let's start with the top ten because as I said before we have a new number one and to the surprise of nobody, it's "Hazard" by Richard Marx, yeah it got there because it finally got the edge on sales and tipped "Save the Best for Last" by Vanessa Williams back to number two as its starting to weaken.

Unfortunately this might open the way for "Please Don't Go" by K.W.S which jumped from number six to number three this week. Can we not let this shit go to number one, please? Ughh. Whatever the case it pushed past "Jump" by Kriss Kross down one to number four. 

Then we get to one of the biggest gainers of the week and the gain that caught me off guard, "Sexy MF" by Prince and the New Power Generation up twenty places to number five, I get it but it does feel like it's here on Prince's name alone, the song doesn't do anything for me.

All of that pushed "Too Funky" by George Michael back two to number six and "Cry" by Lisa Edwards slipped two places to number seven. 

Making it's return to the top ten this week is "As Ugly as they Wanna Be" by Ugly Kid Joe rising from eleven to eight...sigh...it unfortunately pushed "Heaven Knows" by Rick Price back one spot to number nine.

Completing the top ten and spending it's first week inside the top ten is "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover" by Sophie B. Hawkins up two spots to number ten. I am fine with that! The song is pretty solid.

Gains

So I already mentioned "Sexy MF"  by Prince and the New Power Generation jumping twenty places to hit number five but the big gains didn't stop there because Madonna's miserable "This Used to be My Playground" rocketed up from 50 to 13 which is an incredibly bad sign.

In mixed news, "I'll Be There" by Mariah Carey jumped six places to 24 but the Teen Queens cover of "I Can't Help Myself" also climbed from 42 to 28...another incredibly shitty sign.

Our gains continue to be a disaster because "Workaholic" by 2 Unlimited jumped nine places to 37.


Losers

So we have a long list of losers (thanks to the ten new entries mostly) here beginning with "Even Flow" by Pearl Jam which has never really had a solid footing on the chart to begin with as it tumbled from 36 to 48 while "Djapana (Sunset Dreaming)" by Yothu Yindi plunged from 38 to 47. 

Voice of the Beehive's "Perfect Place" plunged off it's debut down eleven to 42. while "Love is Holy" by Kim Wilde slumped from 29 to 41.

XTC's "The Disappointed" slipped six places to 38 while "Living in England" by The Screaming Jets plunged from 21 to 36...ouch. "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica took a nine place hit to 35 (this song is safe on the year end thankfully)

Unsurprisingly "Heaven Sent" by INXS fell hard from 16 to 31 mostly because it's definitely not INXS's best song.

"The One" by Elton John skidded from 17 to 25 this week...bit disappointing...I still like the song. 

Finally "Take it From Me" by Girlfriend slipped out of the top ten down nine to 19 while "Clunk (EP)" by Frente slumped seven places to 14


New Entries

There are ten new entries so in the interests of trying to keep this short, I'm going to keep each song review pretty short.


50. “My Lovin’ (You’ve Never Gonna Get It)” by En Vogue.

We start our look at the new entries with this song from American R’n’B girl group En Vogue, it comes from their album called “Funky Divas” and samples James Brown’s “The Payback” with the guitar sample forming a large part of the melody as En Vogue deliver a sassy performance telling a douchebag that he can try as hard as he likes but he isn’t going to be getting love from any of these girls. It’s definitely a heck of a lot better than some of the other junk on the chart…I don’t mind this.

 

49. “Four Seasons in One Day” by Crowded House

The latest single from “Woodface” and unlike the previous singles from the album, this song sounds darker and more ominously eery song than their previous singles like “It’s Only Natural” and “Weather With You”, it was also originally intended for that Finn Brothers project with the lyrics reflecting on Melbourne’s changeable weather and how you can have four seasons in one day in the city and reflective the many moods of the band as they were in the process of writing “Woodface”. It’s good but not quite my favourite song from the album. Can we get ”Whispers and Moans” as a single please?

 

46. “Everything’s Alright” by John Farnham, Kate Ceberano and Jon Stevens

This is a collaboration I wasn’t expecting, Noiseworks frontman Jon Stevens teaming up with Kate Ceberano and crooner John Farnham for a version of “Everything’s Alright” from the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber penned musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Ceberano singing the part of Mary Magdalene while Stevens bringing the rock fire power and Farnham sounding shockingly good here, throw in the choir and we have a rock opera that works really damn well…yeah I like this a lot…check this out!

 

44. “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” by Guns ‘n’ Roses

This week’s cover version (as has been standard thus far in 1992) comes from Guns ‘n’ Roses who have recorded a cover of Bob Dylan’s 1973 classic “Knockin’ on a Heaven’s Door” which they originally recorded in 1990 for the movie soundtrack of Days of Thunder with a slightly modified version added to their 1991 album called “Use Your Illusion II” and is the second single from the album and well, it’s okay. Yeah, Axel Rose sounds about as exactly as you would expect here although I will say there’s a part of me that feels like he is vocally overdoing it but again the guitars and drums sound great here, it’s an interesting cover, check it out.

 

43. “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg” by TLC

Another American all girl R’n’B act this time, it’s a debut single from a trio calling themselves TLC with this being the debut single from their debut album called “Ooooohhh” and well…this is something special especially with the way the song uses all sorts of sampling and the TLC members killing it with their charisma suggesting that they aren’t too shameless to beg for attention…uhh, TLC, I don’t think you shamelessly need to beg for attention here because yeah, I love this! Catchy, insanely memorable and a load of fun! Awesome stuff.

 

40. “Life is a Highway” by Tom Cochrane.

And here we have Canadian country rock artist Tom Cochrane with his first charting song on the Aria charts and while I don’t want to call this bad per se because it is catchy and you will find yourself singing along with it however the lyrics are just corny and Cochrane’s delivery just makes me want to turn the sound down so I guess it’s just meh.

 

33. ‘Girl’s Life” by Girlfriend

Here’s the third girl group with a new song on the chart this week with Girlfriend seeking to follow up “Take It From Me”  with a pop/rap song about living a girls life and make keep the boys anticipating them, it’s the sort of flowery girl power song you’d expect, I’m not sure it’s quite as instantly catchy as “Take It From Me” was but Robyn Loau and her bandmates certainly deliver the song with plenty of enthusiasm, may as well make the most of what Girlfriend have offered up here.

 

32. “Warm It Up” by Kriss Kross

Kriss Kross striking while the iron is hot makes sense here, they’ve had a massive number one hit around the world so why not follow it up with their new single and well it definitely sounds eerily similar to “Jump” but hot damn this duo can rap, their flows are really quite incredible, I kind of enjoyed this a lot but Kriss Kross are going to want to change it up a little soon because there’s only so long I can tolerate “Jump” sound alikes.

 

26. “Rhythm is a Dancer” by Snap

Just what 1992 needs more of…Eurodance…this time it comes from a German group Snap who had a number 13 hit in 1990 with “The Power”, a song that is actually a lot better than you’d remember It so that’s why it’s a shame that “Rhythm is a dancer” falls flat? I don’t know, it just lacks that edge that made “The Power” a really fantastic song, it may well be the vocal delivery that doesn’t quite work here especially when the lyrics mention “rhythm being a passion. Ehh, this doesn’t work all that well for me. Next!

 

11. “Jam” by Michael Jackson

A song written for the movie “Space Jam” and wow…could they have buried Michael Jackson further back in the mix here at all? Why would you bury the guy whose charisma can elevate a middling song to something great? I don’t get it because “Jam” really is at best a middling song and not helped by some really strange production decisions…I’ll pass, thanks.


That was our week, a long one at that but for the best...I'm giving that to "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" by TLC with honourable mention going to "Everything 's Alright" by John Farnham, Kate Ceberano and Jon Stevens.

As for the worst, nothing too atrocious here but "Jam" by Michael Jackson is getting it for some really weird production decisions with honourable mention going to "Rhythm is a Dancer" by Snap.


Saturday 24 July 2021

ARIA Top 50 Singles Top Ten/ Chart Review: July 26th. Woo Baby's Demeanor Tells The Vision

 Well this was the week the top ten slowed down to a near crawl and the only new entries we got were from the second posthumous album from Pop Smoke.place there were some impacts from that Tones and I album but you'll see when we get to all that but let's begin with the least interesting portion of the chart this week which is the top ten where "Stay" by The Kid Laroi feat Justin Bieber remaining at number one for a second week, its got a good stranglehold on streaming and that will only increase thanks to the release of Kid Laroi's album.

Stuck at number two is "Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran mostly because it's not able to bridge the streaming gap to "Stay" just yet while it's the same for "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo which is just bleeding in the margins now. 

Staying right where they are are "Beggin" by Maneskin at number four and "Kiss Me More" by Doja Cat feat. SZA. 

Rebounding three places somehow is "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals thanks to an odd resurgence on streaming of late.

Another two songs that remained steady this week are "Levitating" by Dua Lipa feat DaBaby (I am pretty much ready for "Love Again" to become a thing here) at number seven and "Save Your Tears" by The Weeknd at number eight.

Then there's "Without You" by The Kid Laroi which rebounded one spot to number nine and will likely get a third wind next week. 

Returning to the top ten this week is "Traitor" by Olivia Rodrigo which climbed two places to rejoin the top ten at number ten because it got a streaming surge which I'm okay with, I kind of like the song!


Gains

The big story in the gains this week is the sudden nine place gain of "Missing Piece" by Vance Joy to 14, I know this song is doing well on sales but I didn't think it was doing this well to be number 14!

Not really happy that "Motley Crew" by Post Malone also broke into the top twenty rising three spots to 19 or that "Little Bit of Love" by Tom Grennan rose four places to 16.

"Holiday" by KSI rose six places to number 41...this should get a boost next week thanks to the album. 

However the biggest gain of the week belongs to "Cloudy Day" by Tones and I which rose thirteen places to number 31 but I'll pin that to the release of Tones and I's album "Welcome to the Madhouse"


Re Entries

Two returns this week with "Need to Know" by Doja Cat back at 32 while the other impact from that Tones and I album saw "Fly Away" back at 50.


Losses

Unsurprisingly the biggest loser this week was unfortunately "NDA" by Billie Eilish which fell 22 places to number 38. 

'Head & Heart" by Joel Corry feat. MNEK slipped seven places to 49 as it seems to be heading out of the top 50...as much as I love the song, it is time for it to leave.

Sadly "Leave the Door Open" by Silk Sonic slumped five spots to 46...it just hasn't had the performance I would have liked...hopefully we get a new single and an album from Silk Sonic soon.

"Goosebumps" by HVME feat. Travis Scott fell six places to 37 while "You Right" by Doja Cat feat. The Weeknd slumped nine places to 30.

Again BTS couldn't hold on to their big top ten debut as "Permission to Dance" slumped 16 spots to 22. Strong sales aren't enough, BTS fans...


Drop Outs

Couple of big ones in the drop outs this week with "Butter" by BTS, "Brutal" by Olivia Rodrigo and "Hold On" by Justin Bieber are gone.

Also leaving are "You Broke Me First" by Tate McRae and "Heartbreak Anthem" by Galantis, David Guetta and Little Mix exits.


New Entries

Three new entries, all of them from the Pop Smoke album so I am going make this pretty quick...


***BEST OF THE WEEK***

47. "Tell The Vision" by Pop Smoke feat. Kanye West and Pusha T

So I have issues with posthumous albums especially if the songs on the album are just fragments but I got to be honest here, I don't mind this as it's got this creaky gospel vibe even if the verses really ain't much as Pop Smoke, Kanye and Pusha T celebrate becoming popular and enjoying their time at the top of the rap and how their lifestyles have changed. Ehh I'll take this.


43. "Demeanor" by Pop Smoke feat. Dua Lipa

So what the hell is Dua Lipa doing on here? She doesn't need to be doing this, she's likely got one of the most iconic albums of the 2020s and yet she's on here on a fragment where none of the elements fit together at all including that bass groove which comes in over Pop Smoke's verse, it just doesn't work at all but it's better than...


*** WORST OF THE WEEK***

24. "Woo Baby" by Chris Brown

Geezus christ, I thought we'd kicked Chris Brown's worthless ass to the curb in 2020 but anyway this is the highest new entry of the week...and it sucks...the production smothers out Pop Smoke's voice and makes Chris Brown sound even weedier than usual and it's nothing even vaguely close to what the producers or Chris Brown think is sexy. YUCK


That wraps up the week, next.week...A Kid Laroi album bomb...sigh...oh well, we'll find out when the chart updates at 5pm on Friday.



Thursday 22 July 2021

Oh Not That Song Again..."From a Distance" by Bette Midler (1991)

Don't think I've made any secret of the fact that I don't like religion and all the problems that especially organised religion brings with it so when I started this series I really wasn't keen on starting with a song that cakes itself in a religious bent but none the less here we are starting with Bette Midler's 1991 hit "From a Distance" mainly because I have been wanting to express the pain that this song gives me every time I hear it.

However let's do a little background before we dig into why "From a Distance" sucks, Bette Midler, at the time, of this song was an ultra successful recording artist and actress, this song was released off the back of the massive success of  the song "Wind Beneath My Wings" and the film "Beaches" and she then decided to record "From a Distance" in 1990 which was a cover of a Nanci Griffith country song written by songwriter Julie Gold released in 1988 and became a number nine hit in Ireland, it was released in late 1990 and peaked at number two on the ARIA singles chart in 1991. It's also important to note that this song came out at the time of the Gulf War. 

Anyway enough of that...now, let's get stuck into the actual song and yeah, the nice opening organs and then Bette Midler opens her mouth and sings the opening verse.

"From a distance
The world looks blue and green
And the snow capped mountains white"

Well yeah but from that same kind of distance the earth is also shades of brown, red and gray, the earth isn't just green grass, blue oceans and white snow capped mountains. Did the writer forget about arid deserts, droughts and grey clouds in the sky too.

We continue

"From a distance
The ocean meets the stream
And the eagle takes to flight"

Unless the eagle is flying toward outer space and swooping back down, you aren't going to see an eagle from the kind of distance you are thinking of. Also oceans meet rivers not quaint little streams!

Then we get to the chorus and this is where this song takes a turn from being factually inaccurate to really creepy.

"From a distance
There is harmony
And it echoes through the land
It's the voice of hope
It's the voice of peace
It's the voice of every man"

So I get that this mantra is supposed to rally people and make them feel good but even from that distance Midler has sung of...what harmony echoes through the land? We've always had some kind of war or trouble in the world since humans inhabited it, Also the world isn't just one big land mass either. It's just feel good wishy washy made to make the listener feel good and not see the song for the ridiculous rot it is.

"From a distance
We all have enough
And no one is in need
And there are no guns,
No bombs, and no disease
No hungry mouths to feed"

Again this is wishy washy feel good nonsense,this is somebody living in a dream world where no guns, bombs or disease exist and nobody is going hungry, it's this false distant utopia that doesn't ring true or connect at all and even if it is meant to sell this ideal utopia why is the production so fucking miserable and why does this song get even cornier?

"From a distance
We are instruments
Marching in a common band
Playing songs of hope
Playing songs of peace
They are the songs of every man"

Actually depends on the person, the songs that the writers of this song were singing are likely not the songs the every man are singing or connect to because while yes. we are all human, we are all different and look at a piece of music differently. This is the writer of this song living in some dream world that everybody is dancing around a fire singing "Kumbaya" and "The Land of Hope and Glory" at the top of their voices...then we get to the whole creepy point of this song...

"God is watching us
God is watching us
God is watching us
From a distance"

Holy shit, all that shit about us marching in a common band and how the world is just shades of blue, green and white just to tell us that some God is a Big Brother type fixture watching from a distance...that is just really creepy, even as somebody who is agnostic, this is really creepy in some of th worst ways possible and its matched by how miserable and lifeless the production is but we get a brief break from this creepy God watching us for an anti war epithet.

"From a distance
You look like my friend
Even though we are at war
From a distance
I just cannot comprehend
What all this fighting's for"


So this person looks like your friend and yet you are at war with them? If you are at war with somebody, they aren't your friend, they are your enemy!. Also of course you can't comprehend what the fighting is for if you stand at a distance from it...geezus, doesn't take much to read a newspaper or something instead of pretending you aren't on this planet.

And from there we're back to the main hook about harmony, voices and how some predator called "God" is watching us all from a distance...this song when it's not being creepy, doesn't make a lot of sense and has a lot of vague platitudes. 


Monday 19 July 2021

Good 1992 Vibrations. 19th July. This Used to Be My Sexy MF so I Don't Care

Ughh...fair warning folks, this week was not a good one in a lot of ways and there are two new entries that pissed me off, one I didn't expect to do that either and when I look at our top ten...it moved in ways that are somewhat depressing because we got a new number one this week..."Save the best for Last" by Vanessa Williams, yep, we now have a gaping hole of a bland sweet nothing of a song at number one even if its not a strong number as it got to the top mostly because it got enough sales

However right behind it is "Hazard" by Richard Marx which moved up to number two and looks set to take the number one next week if "Save the Best for Last" falters.

This pushed last week's number one "Jump" by Kriss Kross down two places to number three as its sales fell away but it remained ahead of "Too Funky" by George Michael and "Cry" by Lisa Edwards (I'm seriously shocked at how well this song is doing right now).

However all three songs are facing a challenge from...and I cannot believe this is happening..."Please Don't Go" by K.W.S which jumped nine places to slot into the top ten at number six, folks, we don't need anymore shitty covers of great songs on the year end list....JUST STOP already.

Hell, I'd even take "Clunk (EP)" by Frente doing better but it slipped one spot to number seven this week.

In better news, the beautiful "Heaven Knows" by Rick Price climbed four places to number eight pushing back "I Can Feel It" by Radio Freedom to number nine.

Finally the biggest loser of all the frantic shuffling was "Take It from Me" by Girlfriend as the former number one slipped from number seven to number ten.


Gains

So what else gained big this week outside of "Please Don't Go" by K.W.S?. Well, "Abba Esque" by Erasure jumped five places to 15 which is good however it brought "Beauty and the Beast" by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson with it as broke into the top twenty surging from 23 to 18...why?

Then there's the questionable gains for "God Gave Rock n Roll to You II" by KISS which jumped ten places to 22...that's not a good sign. At least "Make Love Like A Man" by Def Leppard jumped from 39 to 24 this week.

"Just Take My heart" by Mr Big surged ten places to 27 bringing "She's Got that Vibe" by R.Kelly and Public Announcement up twelve places to 28 with it and I'm fine with the latter...the song is still pretty good.

Then we have songs rising off their debuts last week with "Love Is Holy" by Kim Wilde surging up from 45 to 29 and "I'll be There" by Mariah Carey rising eighteen to 30.


Losers

So there's good news here because "James Brown is Dead" slumped down from 34 to 49 and seems to be finally on the way out...good! See ya on the worst list.

Unfortunately "Fathers Day" by Weddings Parties Anything slumped six places to 47 while "Smells like Nirvana" by Weird Al Yankovic tumbled ten places to 44.

Former number one "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers slipped from 27 to 43 while "Remedy" by The Black Crows needs a cure for its twenty place slide to 41.

"In the Closet" by Michel Jackson is heading further back into the closet on the charts as it fell ten to 40 while "Djapana (Sunset Dreaming)" by Yothu Yindi slipped twelve spots to 38.

"Midlife Crisis" by Faith No More is experiencing a mid charts crisis as it fell six to 37. "Even Flow" by Pearl Jam slumped from 29 to 36 and "Mistadobolina" by Del tha Funkee Homosapien slipped from 28 to 35

Euphoria took a ten place hit with their former number one "One in a Million" to 34 while "Man Alive" by Diesel slipped eight places to 33. 

Finally Mr Big's former number one "To Be With You" skidded from 16 to 23...hopefully a sign that the song is on the way out







New Entries

Five new entries this week and unfortunately...we start with...


50. “This Used to be My Playground” by Madonna

So the queen of pop returns and I was curious about this what evolution Madonna would have in store this time after the smash she had in 1990 with “Vogue’ with “This Used to be my Playground” being the theme song for a comedy film called “A League of their Own” and well, if this song is a sign of what Madonna has planned for her fifth studio album than can I politely suggest that this is not it because this song is just painfully dull and not anything like the Madonna that was making some of the best pop music in mid to late 1980s and in 1990, the production is slow and flat and Madonna singing in a flat monotone that doesn’t suit her at all, this is dreary sludge in a year that’s already had way too much dreary sludge on the charts. NEXT!


42. “I Can’t Help Myself” by Teen Queens

After the inexplicable success of their still pretty terrible cover of “Be My Baby”, Teen Queens return with a cover of The Four Tops massive 1960s hit “I Can’t Help Myself” which is a Motown classic and beloved by so many so what do we get from Teen Queens cover? Well we certainly don’t get smooth happy vibes that the production gave the original, instead we get this jerky weird electro dance vibe that Teen Queens just don’t have the voices to match the energy of the song or the charisma to match the passion in the delivery, if you can’t help yourself than where’s the fucking desperation, Teen Queens? When Four Tops recorded this originally, there was passion and desperation when they sang they couldn’t help themselves but love this girl. Yeah this is get in the bin…NEXT!


31. “Perfect Place” by Voice of the Beehive

Alright so after the success of their cover of “I Think I Love You” earlier in the year, Voice of the Beehive are back with a new single and you know what? This is pretty good, yeah the vocals could afford to be a little louder but compared to the previous two songs this is really good and doesn’t blow absolute ass. I like the melody here and even if the lyrics play into this naïve idealism where they just want to try to make the world a better place even if at times it feels hopeless, yeah this is good, check it out!


25. “Sexy MF” by Prince and The New Power Generation

Prince has underwhelmed me so far in 1992 so with this song being the latest single from the album “Love Symbol” I was curious to see if the pace had stepped up a bit from “Diamonds & Pearls” and again I’m not all that impressed, yeah it’s got a solid groove but the rapping sounds really nasal and not at all fitting with the vibe the song going for especially when Prince croons “Sexy MF” (okay, mother f***er is not at all a sexy term but still) and all in all the track feels slow and plodding in a way that I cannot describe…this just doesn’t work for me…that’s all.


20. “I Don’t Care” by Shakespears Sister

So here’s the third single from “Hormonally Yours” and given the kind of week it is this week, I’m kind of hoping that this is good? Yeah I think it might be, it’s a fast paced pop/rock song anchored heavily in guitar even if I think the high pitched vocal delivery of “I don’t Care” doesn’t work as well as they might have hoped but hey I’ll still take this because it’s a damn solid song. Check it out if you are curious. 


That wraps up an ordinary week on a better note, I’m going to give Voice of the Beehive best of the week for “Perfect Place” just ahead of “I Don’t Care” by Shakespears Sister. Neither song is great but they are still good enough.


As for the worst…I’m giving that to “This Used to be My Playground” by Madonna for being one hell of an unexpectedly dreary song coming from somebody like Madonna…there’s no excuse for that shlock but “I Can’t Help Myself” by Teen Queens is right behind me and is a song that I can see getting even worse.


Saturday 17 July 2021

ARIA Singles Top 50 Top Ten/Chart Review: 19th July. Motley Crew needs Permission to Stay for an NDA

 So this week turned out exactly as I suspected it would with the big story being our new entries and everything else shuffling up or down to fill in space to a degree but anyway let's dig right in with our top ten where we have a new number one..."Stay" by The Kid Laroi feat Justin Bieber, now I'll say more about this song later but it got to the top because streaming is lapping this song up and while it's got sales...those streaming numbers might see this number one for awhile.

It pushed past "Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran which fell back to number two because while it's strong on sales, it just could not match the streaming of "Stay". The same goes for "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo which just doesn't have the strength anymore to fight for number one. 

Then there's "Beggin" by Maneskin which slipped one place for much of similar reasons to the two before it, this song doesn't have the streaming to overtake it.

"Kiss Me More" by Doja Cat feat. SZA slipped back to number five on fading streaming.

There's a new entry at number six courtesy of "Permission to Dance" by BTS. I'll write about this song in detail later but this is here on massive sales of the original and instrumental because while this song is in the top 50 on Spotify, it's streaming numbers there aren't all that impressive so much like every other BTS song before it, I expect it to fall back next week.

All of this pushed back "Levitating" by Dua Lipa feat. DaBaby back two spots to number seven and likewise for "Save Your Tears" by The Weeknd back two to number eight and "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals slipping two to number nine.

Finally returning to the top ten is "Without You" by The Kid Laroi as it rose three places to number ten mostly because of the new number one and people wanting to check out what else The Kid Laroi has recorded.


Gains

Our only major gain was "Butter" by BTS which climbed 11 places to 26 thanks to the release of physical copies and likely because this song was attached to the single version of "Permission to Dance" on Spotify so a small boost in streams for this song happened as result. This song has faded on me a A LOT lately.

The other much smaller gain was a five place rise for "Thot Shit" by Megan Thee Stallion to 38.


Re Entries

Somehow "You Broke Me First" by Tate McRae is back at 50...sigh


Losers

So the four new arrivals had the weird impact of shunting mostly everything else down but let's begin with the Olivia Rodrigo album tracks that are somehow still here like "Brutal" discovering it really is brutal on the charts down 11 to 43, "Jealousy Jealousy" down seven to 40, "Happier" down eight places to 34 and "Favourite Crime" down six to 28 while her hits "Drivers License" dropped five places to 24 and "Deja Vu" dropped four places to 14

As for album tracks still on the chart, "You Right" by Doja Cat feat. The Weeknd slipped nine spots to 21

Then there are songs that have had their momentum shortened like "Missing Piece" by Vance Joy down five to 23 and "Leave Before You Love Me" by Marshmello and Jonas Brothers down five spots to 32.

Some likely year end list making songs also took a hit like "Hold On" by Justin Bieber which slipped seven places to 48 and "Leave the Door Open" by Silk Sonic down five to 41 (a new single from Silk Sonic is welcome any time now, guys)

Finally "Holiday" by KSI stumbled 12 places to 47.


Drop outs

The drop outs are to be expected with yet another exit from the top 50 for "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I (Might be back next week thanks to the release of her debut album) and "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran also gone.

We also lost "Need to Know" by Doja Car and thankfully, "Build A Bitch" by Bella Poarch (that song's moment came and went pretty quickly). The other exit was for 'Wusyaname" by Tyler, the Creator and to say I am disappointed about that one is an understatement especially when it's considered what turned up new in the top 50 this week.


New Entries

Four new entries beginning with...


***WORST OF THE WEEK***

22. "Motley Crew" by Post Malone

So when I heard that we were getting new music from Post Malone, I got pretty darn excited mostly because Post Malone's last album "Hollywood's Bleeding" showed he had made some genuine improvement and "Circles" is still one of the best songs he has ever made so imagine my shock, disappointment and dismay when I heard this song...a trap inflected snooze where Post Malone tries to impersonate both Lil Baby and Juice WRLD and manages to sound terrible. The lyrics are basically Post bragging about his wealth, success and gangs...yeah no, this is one hell of a major disappointment for me. Post, I'm not mad...just incredibly disappointed... NEXT.


***BEST OF THE WEEK***

16. "NDA" by Billie Eilish

So with sophomore album only a couple of weeks away, we get yet another taste of "Happier than Ever" and yeah, this is more like it from Billie, this song taps into what made "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go" so compelling, the song is about how Billie is dealing with her rise to prominence in the pop music world and fame so much so that any guy she dated would have to sign a non disclosure agreement and as the track progresses she's wishing that life could have less of the obstacles she's facing now. This is actually probably the second best track I've heard from "Happier than Ever" so far. Still looking forward to the album!


6. "Permission to Dance" by BTS

So given the controversial success of "Butter" on the US Billboard Hot 100, BTS have released this as their follow up single and...I'm not impressed at all, for one thing the song feels so sterile for pop song all about asking for permission to have a dance with someone and yet the song has no real groove and feels really kind of flat...almost kind of like what One Direction did when they first started out...their music painfully bland and sterile ("What Makes You Beautiful" is still a BAAAD song) and doesn't really do the members of BTS many favours in terms of showing off their personalities. It's not really bad but it is pretty forgettable.


1. "Stay" by The Kid Laroi feat. Justin Bieber

Well this was a team up I just should have known was coming, mediocre rapper teaming up with Mr No Personality popstar turned wannabe R'n'B star so when this song was announced I was dreading it however what did we get? Look, I am not going to say this song is great or anything like that especially when Kid Laroi is still trying way too hard to impersonate Juice WRLD and he sounds somewhat off key on his verse where he pleads for his lovers forgiveness and begs her to stay in spite of whatever it is he has done because he can't find anyone else and Bieber is still goo goo ga ga over his wife with his somewhat over the top vows of admiration for her but that 80s style groove in the production really works here even if Bieber sounds better than Kid Laroi on it. It's fine enough. Not anything great but I can tolerate this

So that completes this week, next week likely some impact from that new Tones and I album plus that new single from Normani who brought Cardi B along with her...anyway we'll find out when the chart updates at 5pm on Friday 

Monday 12 July 2021

Good 1992 Vibrations. 12th July. Workaholic Living In England is Better than the Real Thing

 Oh finally, it's a much calmer week after the weeks of chaos we had but there's more chaos looming on the horizon especially as the contest for number one is pretty close however "Jump" by Kriss Kross held onto the top spot thanks to sales being slightly ahead of  "Save the Best For Last" by Vanessa Williams which remained at number two but it's tightening those margins and looks set to make a strong case to go to number one in spite of how mind numblingly boring and bland it is.

Rising three places to number three is "Hazard" by Richard Marx as it shapes as a challenger to the top two along with "Too Funky" by George Michael up one to number four. 

However the big surprise this week is the four place rise to number five of  "Cry" by Lisa Edwards. This blew me away a bit to be quite honest. Didn't expect people to like this cover of Godley & Creme so much so much so it helped to push Frente's "Clunk (EP)" down two places to number six, "Take it From Me" by Girlfriend down four places to number seven and even "I Can Feel it" by Radio Freedom down one to number eight.

Ignoring my pleas from last week, somehow "As Ugly as They Wanna Be" by Ugly Kid Joe jumped one spot to number nine.

While "That Word (L.O.V.E)" by The Rockmelons feat. Cutty Ranks, Nardo Ranks and Deni Hines slipped two places to number ten and looks to be headed out of the top ten.


Gains

So looks like Australia is indulging the awful cover of KC & The Sunshine Band because KWS's cover of "Please Don't Go" jumped twenty places to 15...yikes.

In  better news from last week, "Heaven Knows" by Rick Price climbed five places to number 12 and "Abba esque" by Erasure jumped eleven places to break into the top twenty at number 20.

"Remedy" by The Black Crows jumped from 36 to 21 this week and "Midlife Crisis" by Faith No More climbed six places to 31. 

"The Disappointed" by XTC climbed from 42 to 35 and "Make Love Like A Man" climbed from 44 to 39 while "Always the Last to Know" by Del Amitri jumping nine places to 40. 


Losers

As per usual, let's start at the bottom of the chart and work our way up, we begin with "Simply The Best" by Tina Turner and Jimmy Barnes which slumped from 32 to 47 while "Kickin' To the Undersound" by Sound Unlimited Posse kicked down from 39 to 46.

Former top ten hit "Stay" by Shakespears Sister plunged from 34 to 42 while "Father's Day" by Weddings Parties Anything dropped from 33 to 41. 

"This Road" by James Blundell is going the wrong way down the wrong road as it dropped down eight places to number 38 while people are ignoring Mr Big's begging to "Just Take My Heart" as it slipped from 28 to 37 (Not surprising considering the song is BAD).

"James Brown Is Dead" by L.A. Style is slowly dying down from 29 to 34 while "Smells Like Nirvana" by Weird Al Yankovic is starting to drift a bit as it dropped from 26 to 33. 

"God Gave Rock n Roll to You Part 11" by KISS handed back their gains to stop at 32 while "In the Closet" by Michael Jackson slipped six places to 30. 

"Even Flow" by Pearl Jam dipped from 22 to 29 while "Mistadobolina" by Del Tha Funkee Homosapien fell nine to 28 and "One in a Million" by Euphoria fell ten places to 24 and "Nothing Else Matters"  by Metallica got hit with a dip from 16 to 22 .

Finally "Twilight Zone" by 2 Unlimited took a seven place plunge to 18. More about a new song from 2 Unlimited in a moment.


New Entries


50. "Workaholic" by 2 Unlimited

Oh boy, the last time I talked about this act, it didn't go well and I still stand by my comments about "Twilight Zone" being a wall of migraine inducing noise so maybe "Workaholic" is better? It slightly even though that squawking noise is really fucking irritating to the year and only punctuated by the rap verses, the chorus and a voice saying "Workaholic". All the song is is declaring themselves workaholics on the dancefloor. Yeah, this is pretty annoying...NEXT.


45. "Love Is Holy' by Kim Wilde

Last week it was XTC, this week it's Kim Wilde being the 80s holdover with a new single on the charts, this being the first single for her album "Love Is" and well, it's not bad! Yeah it's a pop song very much rooted in the early 1990s but Wilde sounds great here and even if the lyrics are just your basic platitudes about nothing taking love away and love being holy when dude is laying with her so yeah if you are expecting Bible quotes based on the title...you might be disappointed. Still it's catchy and has a tightness to it that makes the song work...check it out if you are curious.


44. "Fly Like An Eagle" by The Neville Brothers

This week's cover comes from an American R'n'B, soul and funk group that formed in New Orleans in 1977, this is a cover of "Fly Like An Eagle" by the Steve Miller Band and actually has Steve Miller playing guitar in some parts and well...this cover might be alright? Certainly it's got a fair bit of groove and energy about it and the Neville Brothers are certainly selling the song with some passion in their delivery. The only thing I am not wild about is that odd noise in the mix that makes the song sound like it's being recorded in a factory but otherwise yeah this is pretty good.


19. "Living in England" by The Screaming Jets

Rock courtesy of the title track of the Screaming Jet's EP "Living in England" and of course this track features fast drums, wild guitars and Dave Gleeson actually sounding oddly restrained against production that reminds me a lot of the Baby Animals sound on their debut album but let tell you when that guitar unleashes for a short solo in the middle of the song it's glorious!. It's a short sharp song about having fun living in England, if you just want something to rock out to, this might be worth a listen!


11. "Even Better Than the Real Thing" by U2

About time we got a second single from "Achitung Baby" and yeah this song works around that one central Edge guitar riff while the lyrics play to a sense of irony given the times in 1992 where people would look for instant gratification rather than seeking out the truth (arguable that people seeking instant gratification has always been a thing). I also got to be honest here, I love this sound for U2, Bono sounds great here and the song just pops off. I'd like to see this become a hit if that is possible. Check this out.

Pretty shockingly solid week but I'm giving best of the week to "Even Better than The Real Thing" by U2.

Twilight Zone run away with the worst of the week for "Workaholic"...it's the song that works the least of the five songs here.

Saturday 10 July 2021

ARIA Singles top 50 Top Ten/Chart Review. 12th July. Thot's Heartbreak Anthem S***

We got a cool down week here, folks, even for allowing for a surprise or two in the re entries and even a new entry's arrival that shocked me however on to the top ten and the shock of nobody "Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran retained the top spot for the second week in a row, it's got sales and is slowly working its way to the top on streaming, this might have some weeks left to run at the top yet, folks. 

It held up easily over "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo which remained at number but is starting to bleed in the margins on both sales and streaming, it's not as strong as it once was so I can see this coming under pressure from "Beggin" by Maneskin which has a whole heap of momentum thanks to both sales and streaming, there's potential for this song to go to number one down the track.

This pushed "Kiss Me More" by Doja Cat feat SZA back to number four,   "Levitating" by Dua Lipa feat. DaBaby back to number five and "Save Your Tears" by The Weeknd at number six.

"Heat Waves" by Glass Animals holds firm or refuses to go away by staying at number seven while that renewed streaming interest in "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" by Lil Nas X helped it to rise a spot to number eight however that might also be because "Astronaut in the Ocean" by Masked Wolf dropped one to number nine (honestly I am hoping the influx of new entries will clean this song and one or two other bad songs in the top ten out)

Finally "Deja Vu" by Olivia Rodrigo held steady at number ten, it's locked in it's year end spot now. 


Gains.

Olivia Rodrigo's album tracks still on the chart actually GAINED back ground with "Traitor" up 3 to 11, "Favourite Crime" up three to 22, "Brutal" up two to 32 and "Jealousy Jealousy" up 5 to 33. These album tracks holding up so remarkably well that I am convinced that both "Traitor" and "Favourite Crime" will make the year ARIA end list for 2021 in particular.

"Leave Before You Love Me" by Marshmello feat. Jonas Brothers jumped six to 27 and "I Wanna Be Your Slave" by Maneskin climbed six to 15 as both songs are going to be hits in the making. 

"Holiday" by KSI regained 11 spots to 35 while "Little Bit of Love" by Tom Grennan climbed four places to 20 because this song is now a radio staple for some ungodly reason. 


Re-Entries

Two returns this week that I cannot explain for the life of me...the first of them being Ed Sheeran's 2018 hit "Perfect" back at 48 (Okay it's probably linked to the current number one) while "Dance Monnkey" by Tones and I  refuses to die as it returns at 50. 


Losers. 

There were two album tracks that fell hard this week with Tyler, the Creator's "Wusyaname" feat. Youngboy NBA and Ty Dolla $ign slipping 18 to 40 (come on, let it rebound next week) while "Need to Know" by Doja Cat plunged 14 to 46 (Okay I know it got a video but the song isn't good and "You Right" with The Weeknd is going to be the actual single) but apart from that most of the rest were smaller not really notable losses.


Drop Outs

Similar story this week goes for the drop outs, nothing too notable here with "Lumberjack" and "Juggernaut" both Tyler, the Creator dropping out along with "Solar Power" by Lorde and "I Don't Do Drugs" by Doja Cat. Okay, Lorde's song dropping out is disappointing but not surprising.


New Emtries

Just the two new entries this week, beginning with...

47. "Heartbreak Anthem" by Galantis, David Guetta and Little Mix

So seeing this group of artists on a song together kind of surprised me but also highlights that Little Mix's success in Australia has been scattered at best and that's being polite ("Heartbreak Anthem" is the first song that's hit the Australian singles top 50 since "Woman Like Me" feat Nicki Minaj in 2018) they are more successful in the UK which is kind of disappointing given "Break Up Song" is pretty darn good and while "Heartbreak Anthem" is fine enough, I have no idea why the production on the bridge attempts to drown out Perrie Edwards multiple times on the bridge but otherwise the song is fine and works well, Little Mix sound good here over that piano as they sing about moving forward from heartbreak. Check it out if you are curious.


43. "Thot Shit" by Megan Thee Stallion

So before Megan Thee Stallion became a charting presence, she had an alter ego called Tina Snow which formed the base of her first EP and helped "Big Ole Freak" to chart on thr USA's Billboard Hot 100 and it seems she's returned to that level of lyrical dexterity that was on that EP because this song is awesome, Megan continues her unapologetic sex positive framing which calls out conservatives for their ridiculous moral panic over "WAP" (I just think most conservatives are lazy parents and can't be bothered to actually be parents so complain when the music industry doesn't self police) and continues to assert herself all the while taking ownership of words like "hoe' and 'thot' because she wants to remind men that those words aren't the drag on women they seem to think they are. Anyway, this song is awesome and if this is the direction Megan is continuing in then hell, let the thot girl summer continue!

No worst of the week this week but "Thot Shit" by Megan Thee Stallion is getting best of the week.

Next week, New Music Friday was LOADED with big releases eg: The Kid Laroi collaborating with Justin Bieber, BTS dropped an Ed Sheeran penned song, Billie Eilish released a new song from her forthcoming second album and Post Malone dropped his lead single for an upcoming album so next week is going to be fun when the chart updates at 5pm AEST on Friday