SINGLES
Robin Thicke holds the top spot again this week with, Blurred Lines. The next four positions have also remained unchanged, which means it is the first time the top five have remained in the same order this year. The last time it happened was back in December last year. This week has also been a big week for The Voice, with Luke Kennedy becoming the first contestant to crack the top ten with Time To Say Goodbye coming in at No.8. Before this week, Harrison Craig had been the only contestant to crack the top 20. Along with Craig and Kennedy, jazz veteran Emma Pask becomes the third contestant to crack the top 20 with Mas Que Nada.
WATCH the #1 song and rather cheeky 'Blurred Lines' clip from Robin Thicke!
No.8 TIME TO SAY GOODBYE – Luke Kennedy. The Voice contestant Luke Kennedy achieves his highest debut with the Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli song Time To Say Goodbye. Kennedy vastly improves on his last charting single, Un Giorno Per Noi / A Time For Us (No.65 Apr. ’13).
No.15 MAS QUE NADA – Emma Pask. This is the first time seasoned jazz performer Emma Pask has had a Top 100 single. The thirty-five year old The Voice contestant did so by singing the Sergio Mendes song Mas Que Nada, which was not a hit for Mendes. Pask’s independently released album Some Other Spring is No.32 on the ARIA Albums chart this week.
No.28 IF I WERE A BOY – Caterina Torres. Twenty-two year old The Voice contestant Caterina Torres, scores her first ever Top 100 single with the Beyonce song If I Were A Boy. The original was a massive hit for Beyonce, reaching No.3 in November 2008.
No.29 WOODSTOCK – Celia Pavey. This is the third top 30 single for folk songstress Celia Pavey. The Voice contestant scored two others earlier in the year with Scarborough Fair/Canticle (No.27 Apr. ’13) and A Thousand Years which reached No.23 two weeks ago.
No.31 HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS – Bliss N Eso. Despite what the name suggests, Bliss N Eso are actually a trio made up of MC Bliss, MC Eso and DJ Izm. The Australian hip-hop crew scores their ninth Top 100 single with their latest release, which is also their highest charting single of their career. Bliss N Eso were last in the charts earlier this year with House Of Dreams (No.45 Mar. ’13).
Check out The Wanted's special acoustic performance of 'Walks Like Rihanna'!
No.33 WALKS LIKE RIHANNA – The Wanted. UK boy band, The Wanted has achieved two top 20 hits previously with Glad You Came (No.20 Sep. ’11) and Chasing The Sun (No.18 Aug. ’12). Walks Like Rihanna marks their fifth Top 100 single. They were last in the charts with I Found You (No.63 Dec. ’12).
No.41 HOME – Michael Stangel. 45 year old The Voice contestant Michael Stangel scores his first Top 100 single with the song Home. Home was originally sung by 2012 American Idol winner, Phillip Phillips. The original reached No.56 earlier this year in January and is Phillips’ only Top 100 single.
No.51 LET’S STAY TOGETHER – Lyric McFarland. The Voice contestant Lyric McFarland makes her ARIA Chart debut this week with the song Let’s Stay Together by Al Green. The original never charted in Australia, but managed to reach No.7 on the UK chart back in 1972. It was also sung by Tina Turner, which reached No.19 on the ARIA Singles chart in March 1984.
No.62 THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE – Armin van Buuren Feat. Trevor Guthrie. Dutch electronic music producer and DJ, Armin van Buuren makes his ARIA Singles chart debut this week with This Is What It Feels Like. It reached No.2 in his homeland and No.6 in the UK Singles chart earlier this month.
No.77 HAUNTED HOUSE – Knife Party. Knife Party is the project of Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen from the now defunct band, Pendulum,. They entered the charts for the first time with the 100% No Modern Talking EP (No.31 Mar. ’12), which has been their best performance so far. It also beat their best charting single as Pendulum which was Watercolour (No.37 May ’10). They were last in the charts with the single Bonfire (No.80 Aug. ’12). Haunted House is their third EP.
No.81 REALLY DON’T CARE – Demi Lovato Feat. Cher Lloyd. Really Don’t Care is the fourth Top 100 single for twenty year old US pop singer Demi Lovato and features UK singer, Cher Lloyd. The American X-Factor judge made her ARIA Singles chart debut with La La Land (No.76 May ’09). Lovato’s best performance so far was with her last charting single, Heart Attack (No.41 Apr. ’13) which currently sits at No.61 this week.
No.84 LIVE IT UP – Jennifer Lopez Feat. Pitbull. Jennifer Lopez was last in the charts with Dance Again (No.28 June ’12), a single that also featured rapper Pitbull. It is a collaboration that obviously works, because her most recent No.1 On The Floor (No.1 Mar. ’11) was again with Pitbull. Live It Up is their third charting single together.
No.88 THE LETTER – Mitchell Anderson. Joe Cocker had a hit with The Letter back in the early ‘70s when it reached No.37. By covering it, The Voice contestant Mitchell Anderson manages to score his second Top 100 single. He made his debut on the chart earlier in the month with Walking In Memphis, which peaked at No.62.
No.92 LUKA – Jac Stone. Although she has been releasing music independently for a few years now, this is the first time that 22 year old The Voice contestant Jac Stone has scored herself a Top 100 single. She does so with the song Luka, originally sung by Suzanne Vega. It reached No.21 in Aug. ’87.
No.93 ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER – Danny Ross. Thirty year old The Voice contestant Danny Ross, is the last of this week’s contestants making their ARIA chart debut. All Along The Watchtower was originally sung by Bob Dylan (it failed to chart) and then famously covered by guitar virtuoso Jimi Hendrix which reached No.6 in 1968.
ALBUMS
Michael Buble remains at the top spot for his fifth consecutive week with To Be Loved. Buble now equals P!nk’s Truth About Love, which was the last album to have a run of five weeks at No.1 last Spring. To Be Loved is Buble’s fourth album to last at least five weeks at No.1, but it is only his second to do so in one unbroken run. The other was Christmas which achieved this feat in its first run at poll position towards the end of 2011. Next up, moving to No.2 this week is Ricky Martin’s Greatest Hits, making it his third top 2 album following his debut Vuelve (No.2 June ’98) and Ricky Martin (No.1 May ’99). Finally, we see three top ten debuts coming from Agnetha Faltskog (No.3), The Great Gatsby Soundtrack (No.4) and Vampire Weekend (No.7).
No.3 A – Agnetha Faltskog. Agnetha Faltskog makes up one A of Swedish megastars ABBA. With ABBA, Faltskog scored four No.1 albums - ABBA (No.1 Dec. ’75), Best of ABBA (No.1 Apr. ’76), Arrival (No.1 Nov. ’76) and ABBA Gold (No.1 Dec. ’92). A is her new solo album and it marks her first ever top ten album as a solo artist. Faltskog’s previous solo albums that have charted include Wrap Your Arms Around Me (No. 49 Oct. ’83), I Stand Alone (No. 96 June ’88) and My Colouring Book (No.50 May ’04). As expected, all of these albums have done very well in her homeland, with all of them, but A reaching No.1, however, it did come close at No.2.
WATCH the red carpet premiere of The Great Gatsby in Sydney!
No.4 THE GREAT GATSBY – Soundtrack. Although there have been film adaptations of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic, The Great Gatsby, this is the first to be given the Baz Luhrmann treatment. This being Luhrmann’s fifth high profile movie, it manages to score a fourth top ten soundtrack. This began in the early ‘90s with the soundtrack for Strictly Ballroom (No.6 Sep. ’92), followed by Romeo & Juliet (No.1 Jan. ’97) and the most recent, Moulin Rouge (No.1 May ‘01). Australia was the only soundtrack that was not a hit. The Great Gatsby features music by contemporary musicians such as Jay Z, Beyonce and Gotye.
No.7 MODERN VAMPIRES OF THE CITY – Vampire Weekend. US indie band Vampire Weekend made their ARIA Albums chart debut a few years ago with their first record, Vampire Weekend (No.37 Aug. ’08). Modern Vampires Of The City is their third album and marks their second top ten album. Their best so far has come from their most recent charting release, Contra which debuted at its peak of No.2 in January 2010.
No.14 DEMI – Demi Lovato. Demi Lovato is back with her fourth album, Demi. Lovato was last in the charts with her album Unbroken (No. 20 Oct. ’11), which was her best performing release up until now. The singer has improved upon each release, as she made her ARIA Albums chart debut with Here We Go Again (No.40 Aug. ’09). However, none of her releases have ever improved upon their debut position, so if Lovato moves higher next week, it will be the first.
No.22 SECONDHAND RAPTURE – Ms Mr. Ms Mr are an indie pop duo from New York, made up of vocalist Lizzy Plapinger and producer Max Hershenow. They made their ARIA Chart debut earlier this year with the single Fantasy (No.77 Mar. ’13). Secondhand Rapture is the duo’s debut album making it their first ever Top 100 album.
No.32 SOME OTHER SPRING – Emma Pask. Before she entered The Voice this year, Emma Pask had been singing with Australian jazz great James Morrison, who discovered her singing at a high school performance when she was just sixteen. Since then, Pask’s vocals have featured in the various incarnations of Morrison’s jazz bands. Although Some Other Spring is her fourth album, it marks her ARIA Albums chart debut as a solo artist. Pask was however heavily featured on the James Morrison triple album Three Minds, which reached No.86 in November 1998.
No.35 DIDN’T IT RAIN – Hugh Laurie. One generation might remember him as Stephen Fry’s sidekick in comedy, while the other might know him as the disgruntled doctor on the television show House, but not many would know that actor Hugh Laurie is a singer and musician. Didn’t It Rain is his second album, with his first being Let Them Talk (No.37 May ’11). Both albums display Laurie’s love of blues and on top of singing he also plays piano, guitar, drums, harmonica and saxophone.
No.50 MOTHER – Natalie Maines. Natalie Maines is best known as the lead vocalist for all-girl country group, Dixie Chicks. Forming in 1995, the band earned thirteen Grammy Awards for their work between 1998 and 2007. With the Dixie Chicks, Maines scored five Top 100 albums, with two of those entering the top five with Home (No.4 May ’03) and Taking The Long Way (No.2 May ’06). Mother is the first solo album from Maines, marking her ARIA Albums chart debut as a solo artist
No.62 HEART OF NOWHERE – Noah And The Whale. Heart Of Nowhere is the fourth album from UK indie folk band Noah And The Whale. Their last album, Last Night On Earth appeared on the chart for one week at No.86 in April 2011. The album fared a lot better in their homeland, reaching No.8. While their debut album Peaceful, The World Lays Down failed to chart here, it managed to reach No.5 in the UK in 2008.
No.76 KISS MY APOCALYPSE – Abbe May. Perth rocker Abbe May, made quite an entrance on the music scene two years ago with her 70’s rock fueled debut album, Design Desire (No.66 July ’11). It debuted at No.78, similar to her new album Kiss My Apocalypse does this week. It also marks a change in style for May from guitars and rock to gloomy R&B synth pop.
No.84 ANNIE UP – Pistol Annies. Annie Up is the first album to crack the Top 100 for US all-girl country trio, Pistol Annies. Their debut album Hell On Heels failed to crack the Top 100, but managed to top the US Country chart in 2011. It also did well on the ARIA Country Albums chart coming in at No.16 in October 2011. Annie Up debuts at No.8 on the ARIA Country chart this week.
