This weeks ARIA Charts fall on a very special date, the 29th of February, which has only occurred twice before in Australian chart history, 1988 and pre-ARIA in 1964; when the dates lined up perfectly within a leap year that the chart came out on a very unique date in our calendar cycle.
“7 Years” by Danish act Lukas Graham spends its second week at the top of the ARIA Singles Chart (third straight week in the UK too), achieving Gold (●) in sales in its third week on the chart, the song also holding for a second week atop the Digital download chart and leaping from 10 to #1 over on the streaming chart, giving it this week outright #1 on the charts. “7 Years” also becomes the first (new) No.1 song this year to spend two weeks at the top, as the prior three number one songs this year have all spent a single week at the top.
This is the first time on this particular date (29th Feb.) that we’ve had the No.1’s in both Australia and England be the same (it’s ‘Work’ in the US this week), as back in 1988 here it was “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” from Dirty Dancing, the US had George Michael with “Father Figure” and the UK had “I Should Be So Lucky” by Kylie Minogue (a few prior to it hitting the top here). Back in 1964 we almost got close, as The Beatles were at the top here and in the USA, but here it was with “I Saw Her Standing There” and stateside it was “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, whilst label-mate Cilla Black scored her first No.1 with “Anyone Who Had a Heart” in the UK that week.
The top four songs all remain stable this week, and the top three are all current or former No.1 singles, with Flume at No.2 for a fourth non-consecutive week with “Never Be Like You”, followed by “Pillowtalk” by Zayn (both now ▲Platinum in sales) at No.3 and twenty one pilots are at No.4 with “Stressed Out”, which is newly certified Gold (●), but leaping up eight places and returning to the Top 10 for a second week and also to a new peak of No.5 are The Chainsmokers with “Roses”, giving them their second Top 5 hit in Australia, as “#SELFIE” made it to No.3 previously.
The new Hilltop Hoods restrung album has taken the top spot on the ARIA Albums Chart this week, and the second single from the album “1955” is up three places to a new peak of No.6, giving the boys their equal second highest charting song alongside “I Love it” (peaked early 2012), whilst their highest is “Cosby Sweater” (HP-4 from 2014). Flo Rida holds at No.7 for a second week with “My House” and dropping three places each are “One Call Away” by Charlie Puth and “Gold” by Kiiara to No.8 and No.9 respectively. Returning to its entry position of No.10 is the current US No.1 single “Work” by Rihanna and Drake, which rises five places to return at No.10 for a second week, helped by the recent Grammy performance and video clip for the track being released.
UP: Sia has been doing worldwide promotion for her new album “This is Acting” (TW-4), singing several of the singles from the album on many TV shows, with the latest “Cheap Thrills” this week rising seven places to No.12, whilst making its first appearance within the Top 20 is G-Eazy along with Bebe Rexha on “Me, Myself & I” which is up three spots to No.19 and scores its first certification by going Gold (●) this week. Conrad Sewell is up six to a new peak of No.22 with “Remind Me” and after debuting at No.33 last week, Daya is up nine to No.24 with “Hide Away”, whilst One Direction again climb two spots to a new chart height of No.25 with “History” which also claims Gold (●). Shawn Mendes’ second Top 40 hit “I Know What You Did Last Summer” climbs six to a new peak of No.33 and Sia returns to the Top 50 at No.43 (up from #66) with “Alive”.
DOWN: The two songs leaving the Top 10 this week are both former No.1 singles’, firstly “Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber (HP-1×7, WI10-14) is down three to No.11 and also down three to No.13 is Jonas Blue with Dakota and “Fast Car” (HP-1×1, WI10-9), which also notches up 2x▲Platinum in sales, as too do Snakehips with “All My Friends” which is down two to No.16. Last weeks highest entry for Tim Minchin “Come Home (Cardinal Pell)” plummets twenty-one spots to No.32 this week and down five to No.37 is Zara Larsson’s first hit here “Never Forget You”, and the other “Fast Car” by Tobtok is down four to No.45. Falling into the lower fifty this week is “My Sunshine” by Mashd N’ Kutcher (38 to 52) and another of last weeks entries; “Keep Talking” by Cyrus (44 to 92).
The second album for The 1975 was released on Friday entitled “I Like it When You Sleep, for you are so Beautiful Yet Unaware of it” and the third chart entry from the album debuts at No.34 called “Somebody Else”, which by coming in so high beats the No.35 peak that the albums first single “Love Me” achieved in late October of 2015, after which we saw “The Sound” debut and peak at No.73 in late January.
The second and final Top 50 debut this week comes in at No.46, Missy Higgins with “Oh Canada”, becoming her 14th Top 100 entry and ninth into the Top 50. The song was inspired by Alan Kurdi, a drowned Syrian refugee boy who passed in September of last year whilst trying to escape his war-torn country, he and his family were eventually trying to get to Canada (where his sister lived), thus the title of the song.
Lower 50: Vance Joy bounds up thirty-four places to a new peak of No.56 with “Straight into Your Arms” and up ten to No.70 are Little Mix and Jason DeRulo with “Secret Love Song”. Rufus achieve ▲Platinum in sales for “You Were Right” which is down five to No.66 this week and Major Lazer with Nyla and Fuse ODG are up to near their entry spot (#74) by jumping back up eight to a new peak of No.73 with “Light it Up”. Sia re-enters with two of her older songs this week; “Chandelier” at No.67 and “Elastic Heart” at No.74 giving her five songs within the Top 100 this week, as her appearance on the David Guetta track “Bang My Head” is down one to No.64 this week. The third and final returning track this week is James Bay with “Let it Go” at No.77 whilst climbing three places to a new height of No.85 is Joel Adams with “Please Don’t Go” and Gwen Stefani is up two spots to No.97 with “Make Me Like You”.
DJ and a member of the local group The Janoskians is James Yammouni, who has teamed up with X-Factor contestant from Sydney, three piece teenagers In Stereo to give both acts their first chart entry this week at No.51 with the song “Honest”. A few places lower at No.54 is “Faded” by English born and Norway based DJ and producer Alan Walker, whose former No.1 song in Austria, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland becomes his first chart entry here, the vocals done by Iselin Solheim are uncredited.
Mike Posner returns to the Australian Charts with his sixth Top 100 entry at No.87 entitled “I Took a Pill in Ibiza”, with his last entry being back in August 2013 with “The Way is Used to Be” (HP-73), his big hit here of course was his first entry “Cooler Than Me” (HP-4, peaked October 2010). The final new entry is new at No.91, “Hold Me Back” by The Rubens, which becomes their third Top 100 entry and the second from the current album “Hoops” (TW-43), with the title track sitting at No.30 this week.
Written, Compiled and Researched by Gavin Ryan.
