CHART WATCH

Beyonce loses the No.1 mantle on the ARIA albums chart as a music legend takes over. Pharrell’s still pretty ‘Happy’ atop the ARIA singles chart, however, and that’s where we kick off this week’s Chart Watch.

SINGLES
It’s week No.4 in the top spot for Pharrell’s global smash ‘Happy’ this week, but the pressure seems to be increasing behind him from Joel Fletcher and Savage’s ‘Swing’, which improved another place to No.2.
Rudimental’s ‘Free’ moves back up to No.5, John Legend is now triple platinum with his former No.1 single ‘All Of Me’, while London Grammar’s ‘Strong’ now sports a platinum sheen.
Tiesto’s ‘Red Lights’ and A Great Big World’s ‘Say Something’ then make big respective splashes in the ARIA top 50 – up to Nos.8 and 9 respectively, with the A Great Big World track bulleting from No.50 to No.9 and achieving a gold sales accreditation.
Avicii’s ‘Addicted To You’ is on the move with the superstar DJ now in Australia as part of his national tour; up from No.21 to No.13. Lily Allen’s ‘Hard Out Here’ pops its head back into the top 20 at No.20.
Beyoncé’s ‘XO’ is gold (No.21), Aloe Blacc’s ‘The Man’ is the week’s highest debut at No.23 and the new 360/Daniel Johns collaboration ‘Impossible’ debuts strongly… at No.25.
There’s a second week improvement for Miley’s ‘Adore You’ (No.33 to No.26), along with Shakira and Rihanna’s ‘Can’t Remember To Forget You’ (No.51 to No.27), plus the Bliss N Eso track ‘My Life’ hits No.30; its highest peak thus far.
But the James Blunt single ‘Heart To Heart’ stalls this week, falling from No.26 to No.43. Ellie Goulding’s ‘Goodness Gracious’ is headed in the opposite direction (up from a No.100 debut last week to No.44 this week); ditto Nicky Romero vs Krewella’s ‘Legacy’, which improves 18 places from its No.68 debut last week.
Outside the top 50, it’s a No.52 debut for Cash Cash ftg. Bebe Rexha’s ‘Take Me Home’, a 20 place drop for Will.I.Am’s ‘Feelin’ Myself’ and a No.56 debut for American Authors’ ‘Best Day Of My Life’.
More than 25 years after its initial release, the INXS classic ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ is benefiting from its use in the promos for Channel 7’s upcoming series of the same name, edging ever higher… it’s up to No.57 this week, seven spots higher than last week.
The new Foster The People track ‘Coming Of Age’ splashes into the countdown at No.64, Kid Ink’s ‘Main Chick’ is in at No.86 and Enrique Iglesias’ new single ‘I’m A Freak’ premieres at No.87.
Two more top 100 debuts come courtesy of The McClymonts (‘Going Under’ at No.91) and Violent Soho (‘Covered In Chrome’ at No.94).
Afrojack’s ‘The Spark’ and Jess Mauboy’s ‘Beautiful’ are gone from the top 100.

ALBUMS
The result was never in doubt… Bruce Springsteen has followed No.1 debuts in the US and UK with a No.1 album here in Australia too. ‘High Hopes’ nabs the top spot, and is staggeringly the first ‘Boss’ studio album in 30 years to hold the top spot down under.
The ‘Frozen’ soundtrack continues to impress and edges higher this week to No.2, while Beyoncé’s self-titled set falls to No.3. The INXS best-of is into the top ten for the first time at No.7.
Troy Cassar-Daley and Adam Harvey’s ‘The Great Country Songbook’ bullets from No.88 to No.16 this week and OneRepublic’s ‘Native’ pops up four places to No.17.
McAlister Kemp score the second highest debut this week, though it’s a long way back from Bruce… No.18.
Fleetwood Mac’s ’25 Years : The Chain’ drops four; The 12th Man’s ‘Willy Nilly’ is down eight and Bruno Mars’ ‘Unorthodox Jukebox’ drops six.
There’s a jump for Arcade Fire’s ‘Reflektor’ thanks to their local visit (No.55 to No.32), but a drop for ‘The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty’ soundtrack (No.19 to No.33) and a debut for Warpaint’s cleverly titled ‘Warpaint’ (No.35).
Also dropping this week… P!nk’s ‘Greatest Hits… So Far’ (No.18 to No.37) and Kid Ink’s ‘My Own Lane’ (No.25 to No.38), but Keith Urban’s ‘Fuse’ is up (No.50 to No.39) and Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Greatest Hits’ piggy-backs off the success of his new album, up 31 places to No.41.
Three more top 50 debut come courtesy of A Great Big World (‘Is There Anybody Out There?’ – No.45), The Angels (‘Talk The Talk’ – No.46) and Switchfoot (‘Fading West’ – No.50).
Further down on the list, Jess Mauboy’s ‘Beautiful’ stumbles from No.37 to No.55, Violent Soho’s ‘Hungry Ghost’ improves from No.94 to No.70, but ‘The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac’ is lower, falling from No.39 to No.72.
A debut for the ‘Inside Llewyn David’ soundtrack (No.73), drops for Bastille and Foo Fighters (‘Bad Blood’ from No.59 to No.74 and ‘Greatest Hits’ from No.40 to No.75 respectively), but perhaps the biggest drop this week is suffered by James Vincent McMorrow’s album ‘Post Tropical’, which slumps 50 places from No.33 to No.83.
Mogwai’s ‘Rave Tapes’ is in at No.88, The Angels’ ‘Greatest Hits’ pops in at No.91, the ‘Austin & Ally : Turn It Up’ soundtrack debuts at No.94 and Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings’ ‘Give The People What They Want’ rounds out the top 100 debuts at No.99.
Lady Gaga’s ‘Artpop’ is seemingly gone from the record buying public’s shopping lists; down 16 to No.100 this week, presumably gone next week.
Michael Jackson’s ‘#1s’ and Paramore’s ‘Paramore’, which were both within the top 50 last week (Nos.38 and 46 respectively) have both fallen out of the top 100.

For a full run down of the ARIA top 50s, head over to the new-look ARIA CHARTS WEBSITE, now each and every Saturday from 7:00pm AEST.