NEWS WRAP

• Plenty of new tunes out at radioland this week, including the new single from Brisbane outfit Hungry Kids Of Hungary. ‘Scattered Diamonds’ is the latest single to be lifted from the band’s debut album ‘Escapades’, released last year.
• Rihanna’s new single ‘S&M’ is out there this week, so too Example’s ‘Won’t Go Quietly’, Diddy’s ‘Coming Home’ and Chase & Status’s latest tune ‘Blind Faith’.
• From Sony this week comes a re-service of the single ‘Shout’ from their hot new local rock outfit Syndicate and a remix of MGMT’s ‘Congratulations’, while EMI has gone out with the very cleverly titled new LCD Soundsystem single ‘You Wanted A Hit’.
• EMI has announced that the new album for The Kills will drop in Australia in early April. ‘Blood Pressures’ is the band’s third LP and was recorded in Michigan in the US and mixed in London. It’ll be released locally on Friday April 08.
• Take That has announced that the second single from their very pop new album ‘Progress’ will be the Robbie-vocalled track ‘Kidz’ – a track that certainly wouldn’t sound out of place on Australian radio.
• Aussie bands like The Getaway Plan and Miami Horror now have a new home, with Staple Management and Boomtown Records announcing that they’ve combined to create the dynamic new company ‘UNFD’. The company describes itself as “a collective of forward thinking music lovers that share a simple goal: to simplify the lives of their artists. It exists as a full service music solution company, offering an ‘a la carte’ service, giving choice and freedom back to the artist with the belief system that the combination of good people coming together over good music is where the future of the ‘business’ is heading.”
• Serial hitwriter Diane Warren has yet another accolade on her mantlepiece today – a Golden Globe Award. She picked up the gong at this weekend’s awards ceremony for her track ‘You Haven’t Seen The Last Of Me’, performed by Cher in the current hit movie ‘Burlesque’.
• In the UK, Bruno Mars has followed the lead from Australia, with his new single ‘Grenade’ hitting No.1 on the British singles chart. And it hit with a vengeance, blasting into the No.1 position first week in after sales of almost 150,000 copies. Jessie J’s ‘Do It Like A Dude’ came close, hitting the No.2 spot, while Adele moved into the top ten with her new single ‘Make You Feel My Love’. JLS also debuted.
• On the British albums chart this week, Rihanna clocked up week No.3 in the top spot with her album ‘Loud’. Given she’s just been confirmed to perform at this year’s Brit Awards, expect it to hang around there too. Adele’s LP ’19’ races back into the top ten, while Take That’s album ‘Progress’ drops seven spots to No.10.
• Meanwhile back here at home, we’re still waiting patiently (like you, no doubt) for our Chart Watch to return for 2010. As soon as we begin receiving the information again in 2011, the segment will return. Our apologies for the delay, but we too are in the same boat.

 Australia's first stop for pop!