David Bowie catalogue dominates the ARIA charts

January 25, 2016

SINGLES

Holding for a sixth straight week at the top of the ARIA Singles Chart is Justin Bieber and "Love Yourself", which also notches up 2xPlatinum in sales this week too.

Like this time last year when Mark & Bruno straddled the two years with a six week run for "Uptown Funk" (3 weeks in 2014, 3 in 2015), there has only been two songs during the past year that has also notched up six weeks at No.1, "See You Again" for Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth (April-May 2015) and more recently Adele with "Hello" (Nov 2015). Plus Justin moves up into the Top 10 on the list for 'Most Weeks at No.1: Singles, 2010's' having now racked up ten weeks at the top of the Australian Singles chart; as he is now equal ninth alongside Bruno Mars who has also spent ten weeks at the top, albeit with three No.1's this decade (so far).

After re-peaking last week at No.4, this week Jonas Blue and Dakota jump up two places to a new peak of No.2 with their tropical house version of "Fast Car", which also picks up a Gold sales certification too, plus this new version beats the peak of the original by Tracy Chapman, as it too reached No.4 in 1988, whilst there is a third version charting just outside of the Top 20. Also scoring Gold this week are Snakehips with Tinashe and Chance the Rapper, as their collaboration "All My Friends" jumps up three places to land a new chart height of No.3.

Justin Bieber also achieves 2xPlatinum with his other Top 5 single this week "Sorry" which is down one place to No.4 this week, whilst his label-mate (both on Def Jam) Shawn Mendes is at No.5 again with his former No.4 (for four weeks) single "Stitches". Tumbling down to its lowest chart position so far is Adele with "Hello", which drops four spots to No.6 after which there are two more new peaks in the Top 10. Elle King and her "Ex's & Oh's" are up one spot to No.7 and landing her second entry to the Top 10 is Zara Larsson, as her second release here "Lush Life" leaps up seven places to land a new peak of No.8. DJ Snake and Bipolar Sunshine drop two places to No.9 with "Middle", which is now Gold in sales, and holding for fourth week at No.10 is "IN2" by WSTRN, which is now the third song to spend that long at the ten position after "La La" (2004) by Ashlee Simpson and then "Don't You Wanna Feel" (Oct 2007) for the Rogue Traders with both tracks debuting and staying at the #10 spot for its first four weeks on the chart. (The pre-ARIA #10-hold winner goes to "Tell Laura I Love Her" by Ray Peterson {peaked all through August 1960} which stayed at No.10 for five broken weeks, but a further record has been set my the Eminem track "Not Afraid" which racked up eight broken weeks at No.10, but prior to that it had notched up two weeks at a peak of No.4).

UP

Alessia Cara jumps up seven places to land a new peak at No.12 with "Here" which Rachel Platten leaps back into the Top 20, up ten spots to No.16 with "Stand by You" (HP-14) and Troye Sivan scores his second ever Top 20 hit this week as "Youth" is up five places to No.18 ("Happy Little Pill" in late August 2014 made it to #10). Helped by their recent Falls Festival shows, The Hilltop Hoods climb back up five spots to No.19 with "Higher" (HP-9), plus the track achieves Gold in sales this week, after which the pop version of "Fast Car" by Sweden's Tobtok and River and the new Charlie Puth song "One Call Away" both jump up twelve places each to new peaks of No.21 and No.23 respectively, whilst Taylor Swift and her "Out of the Woods" (HP-19) track are up a couple of spots to No.27 and newly certified Gold. "Reality" (HP-35) for Lost Frequencies climbs back up four spots to No.37 and a couple of weeks ago "Keeping Score" by L D R U snuck into the Top 50 at No.49, but this week the song returns and is back in at a new peak of No.45, whilst also returning to the fifty is Diplo with "Be Right There" (#49).

DOWN

The only song leaving the Top 10 this week is the long running "What Do You Mean?" (HP-1x4, WI10-19) by Justin Bieber down two to No.11, which makes it the equal fifth longest running Top 10 in ARIA history with the most recent 19 weeks in the Top 10 being achieved by "Moves Like Jagger" for Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera back in 2011. Only down a single place to No.13 is "Ocean Drive" for Duke Dumont which is newly crowned 2xPlatinum in sales this week and down three to No.14 is Marcus Marr & Chet Faker with "The Trouble With us". "Flip it" for Charlotte Devaney and Snoop Dogg falls four to No.20 and is now Gold in sales, whilst "Sweet Lovin" for Sigala is down seven to No.24, the same amount of drops also for "Perfect" by One Direction, down to No.29 but now a Platinum selling hit, but tumbling twelve to No.30 is Drake with his "Hotline Bling". The Weeknd and his three chart entries are all in the 31-40 region of the chart, as "The Hills" falls five to No.32; "In the Night" drops a massive fourteen spots to No.34 (and is now Gold) and "Can't Feel My Face" sags eight spots to No.39. "Uptown Funk" for Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson drops twelve to No.44 and down eleven to No.47 is LunchMoney Lewis and "Whip it!", whilst dropping six to No.50 is Guy Sebastian and "Black & Blue", which is now Gold in sales.

Channel 10 have been using the Fleur East song "Sax" in their 'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here' promos for a few weeks now, and this week this song leaps into the Top 50 to land in the Top 30 at No.25. Australian EDM duo Mashd N' Kutcher land their second Top 50 entry this week as their latest track "My Sunshine" is the highest new Top 100 entry at No.26. The song samples the late 1999/early 2000 hit "Steal My Sunshine" by Len (HP-3x3, peaked 24-Jan-2000), which in turn sampled the Andrea True Connection song "More, More, More" (pre-ARIA HP-19x2, peaked late Sept 1976). The duo's first entry was "Do it Now" which peaked at No.33 in late February of 2015. The new Selena Gomez track "Hands to Myself" bullets into the Top 50 at No.41 this week becoming her eighth Top 50 entry and fifth highest charting also.

BOWIE

The passing last Saturday of music legend David Bowie has created a heap of entries for his older tracks into the Top 100 this week, eight in total and three of those land within the Top 50 this week. His first Top 10 single in Australia (and second to chart here) was the No.9 song "Space Oddity" which spent two weeks at that peak in late June 1973) and the classic song returns at No.31 this week. Five places lower at No.36 is "Heroes" (HP-11x2, peaked late January 1978) his twelfth singles chart entry in Australia, whilst his first charted collaboration for him was with Queen, entitled "Under Pressure" (HP-6x2, peaked mid-Dec 1981) it returns to the Top 50 at No.42 this week. We also see entries in the lower fifty including his first chart entry here "Starman" (HP-37, peaked November 1972) and then his first entry for 1983 and the title track from his 15th studio album "Let's Dance" (HP-2x3, peaked April 1983, it was held off the top spot by "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson at the time). David's latest album features the single "Lazarus" is a new entry and becomes his 39th Top 100 entry since his first in mid-August 1972, and from his first charted album comes his 40th entry to the charts, plus the return of his 37th entry. "Changes" was released originally in late 1971 and taken from the 'Hunky Dory' album, but it did not chart here in Australia, so this becomes a new entry this week, whilst another track from the same album in "Life on Mars?" (HP-65, peaked Feb 2009) returns too (it originally charted here helped by the US version of the same-titled series screening on our TV's).

ALBUMS

Last Friday the 8th of January was the 69th Birthday of music legend David Bowie and also the day that he released his 25th studio album entitled "Blackstar", then two days later on the Sunday he passed away from his struggle with cancer, and as his album was already on track to take over the No.1 spot from Adele, it was then cemented to the top of the retail and digital sales charts and lands at No.1 on the ARIA Albums Chart this week.

"Blackstar" becomes the 603rd No.1 album for ARIA (1983 to 2016), plus the first new No.1 set for 2016 and also the 399th Album to debut at the top of the Australian Albums chart. This album was also his fourth for the Columbia/Sony label, and now becomes the labels 38th No.1 album in Australia, but first since September 2014's "Partners" for Barbra Streisand. This is also the third No.1 album in Australia for David Bowie, but his first on the ARIA Charts, as his two previous chart-topping sets were "Scary Monsters" (6-Oct, 1980 for 5 weeks), and then the second ever album to debut at No.1, "Let's Dance" (25-April, 1983, 1 week), both of which return to the albums chart this week. David becomes the equal third English Solo Male Act with the most No.1 albums here, behind Elton John and Rod Stewart (7 each), then Robbie Williams (4 #1's) and then also with three No.1's in Oz are John Lennon and Michael Crawford.

Adele and her seven week running No.1 album "25" drops down a place this week to No.2, but is newly certified 8xPlatinum in sales after which David Bowie leaps up seventy places from last weeks position for his most recent compilation album "Nothing Has Changed: The Best of" which is spending its first weeks in the Top 10 at No.3 having previously peaked at No.13 in late July of 2015 when his costume exhibition was on display in Melbourne for several months. But David also returns to the Top 10 with his 2002 compilation "Best of Bowie" which comes back in at No.9 this week, and it also scores his first week in the Top 50 and Top 10 for that album, as it previously peaked at No.53 in March of 2004 and is one of the thirteen albums within the Top 50 this week from David Bowie, equalling the thirteen that Michael Jackson achieved in July 2009 after his passing, but David outdoes Michael by having seventeen albums within the Top 100, a feat which previously had seen fourteen albums in 2009 in the Top 100 at once for both The Beatles and M.J.

Justin Bieber and his "Purpose" album drop two places to No.4 this week, but it also picks up a 2xPlatinum sales certification, and holding at No.5 is Elvis with "If I Can Dream". The fourth entry to the Top 10 this week and the second highest NEW entry is the new album for Adam Brand entitled "Adam Brand & The Outlaws", which comes in at No.6 this week and is the eleventh studio album for Adam Brand and by entering so high the set becomes his fourth Top 10 album and Top 10 debut in the same week. Dropping four places each are "1989" by Taylor Swift and "x" by Ed Sheeran to No.7 and No.8 respectively, whilst the TV Soundtrack for the soon-to-be-screened mini-series "Molly" (in Feb on Ch.7) is down a place to No.10, but is now Gold in sales.

UP

With an upsurge in Bowie product flooding the chart, the first album to rise outside of the Top 10 is the self-titled 1988 album for Tracy Chapman, up six to No.29, plus her "Greatest Hits" set is back up to No.33 also. The recent sideshows (after the Falls Festival) for Halsey helps her "Badlands" album back up to No.31 and another FF act to benefit this week are Disclosure as "Caracal" jumps fourteen spots to land at No.44.

DOWN

The four albums leaving the Top 10 this week are lead by Coldplay and "A Head Full of Dreams" (HP-2, WI10-5) which is down four to No.11, spending its first week outside of the Top 10, and is now Platinum in sales. After a single week back in the ten, Sam Smith drops back down six to No.12 with "In the Lonely Hour" (HP-1x2, WI10-52) and right behind him is The Weeknd with "Beauty Behind the Madness" (HP-1x1, WI10-12) which is down five to No.13 and finally falling seven to No.17 is One Direction and their fifth album "Made in the A.M." (HP-2, WI10-5). "Dark Sky Island for Enya is down seven to No.24 and halving its position from last week is the Twelfth Man album "The Very Best of Richie" which is down thirteen to No.26, but now Platinum selling. The self-titled X-Factor 2015 winners album for Cyrus drops twelve to No.28 and Chris Brown with "Royalty" plus the "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" soundtrack are both down ten to No.32 and No.34 respectively. Last weeks highest entry for Rachel Platten, "Wildfire", is this week down twenty-six places to No.38 and falling fifteen to No.40 are Tame Impala with "Currents", whilst XF #2 act Louise Adams sees her self-titled set fall twenty places to No.43, and lastly James Blunt and his "I'll Take Everything" falls seventeen spots to No.48.

BOWIE

As I mentioned previously, David Bowie has thirteen albums in the Top 50 and seventeen within the Top 100, so after the three within the Top 10 comes the new entry at No.14 of "The Best of 1969 -- 1974", and the two other albums in that series also debut this week, with "The Best of 1980 -- 1987" in at No.30 and "The Best of 1974 -- 1979" is new at No.49, making it five compilation albums within the Top 50. Now his returning albums are lead by the No.21 return of his classic fifth studio album "The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars" which peaked at No.11 in late 1972 and is back in at No.21 this week, followed a few places lower at No.23 by his 24th and last charting studio album "The Next Day" (HP-2, peaked late March 2013). Most of the returning albums are from his 70's & 80's period and the next returning for David is his sixth album "Aladdin Sane" (HP-7, peaked June 1973) at No.35 followed by his last chart-topping album in Australia, his 15th album "Let's Dance" (HP-1x1, April 1983) back in at No.37. Another few places lower is his eighth set "Diamond Dogs" (HP-3x2, peaked June 1974) at No.41, his twelfth album "Heroes" (HP-6, peaked Jan 1978) returns at No.42 and his first charting album here and his fourth studio album "Hunky Dory" (HP-38, March 1972) is back at No.45. Bowie also has returning albums in the lower fifty start with his first #1 set in Australia, "Scary Monsters" (HP-1x5, peaked Oct 1980), whilst the 1989 box-set of his earlier material entitled "Sound + Vision", after which he has two more returning albums in "Low" (HP-10, peaked March 1977, LP#11) and also back in is "Station to Station" (HP-8, peaked March 1976, LP#10).

The film "Straight Outta Compton" has just been released on DVD and Blu-Ray and the soundtrack to the film was also issued last week, which this week debuts amongst the many Bowie albums at No.15, and is the seventh album title to chart for the former L.A. super-rap-group.