It is indeed the Ides of March, and I hope they bear good tidings on us for the rest of 2021. The year has started off well with music, and for the first time since 2014, this chart has had two number ones in a row that clocked up one appearance at the top each – the last to do this were the back-to-back #1’s “Latch” by Disclosure and Sam Smith, and “Proxy” by Martin Garrix.
So the successive one-two punch given by NOTD and Catello’s “Nobody” and “Like Gold” by Loud Luxury, Frank Walker and Stephen Puth yields to this chart’s new topper, “Synthesizer” by Faithless and vocalist Nathan Ball, which climbs 4-1. The veteran dance group would have had a #1 on this chart in 1997, had it existed when their classic “Insomnia” was released. That song became my #7 song of 1997. Not only are the music and arrangement in “Synthesizer” brilliant, but its wry lyrics catch you off guard and will make you smile while you’re singing.
“Lucid” by Rina Sawayama has been beaten to #1 by “Synthesizer”, but it moves up 3-2 anyway. Good luck to Rina at the Brit Awards – they recently got past some awkwardness and deemed her “British enough” to be included!
Illenium, Dabin and Lights have one of the biggest electronic dance songs in North America with “Hearts On Fire” (above), as it climbs 10-6. Illenium quickly included red hot “Mood” guy Iann Dior for his newest alt.rock flavoured release “First Time”, below.
The three latest arrivals to the Top 10 are “Jealous” (above) by French producer Wizzay climbing 11-8; Mahalo’s dance radio hit “Not Watching Anymore” (also above), up 12-9; and Brandyn Burnette’s “Airplane Mode” (below) which moves up 13-10. You can find Brandyn’s voice now at many Canadian Top 40 radio stations thanks to his appearance and co-write on “All Time”, with my fellow Canadians, producer Takis and Juno Awards nominated singer/songwriter Jamie Fine, also below.
Eyes are on the Top 10 in two weeks for electronic dance producer Jay Bird and vocalist Chrxstal Sarah with “Escape” (above), which jumps 17-11, as well as the Fastest Riser on the chart, which is the delightful ballad “Stories” (below) by Victor Perry with German producers Cal1 and L’essay, which soars 19-12. Watch for more new music on Friday from Victor with “Ready For Love”!
If you’re looking for a feel good, catchy dance pop song then “By Heart” by India’s DJ Shaan and vocalist/songwriter Londin Thompson is for you. It climbs 20-15.
While the rest of the chart is brimming with activity by some songs rising five or six places, I’ll catch up with them in two weeks in favour of the four newcomers to the chart.
Leading the new arrivals to the chart are two songs that I wrote about in a post about 90’s house music being in comeback mode. With the Highest Debut at #25 it’s dynamic pairing of actor/producer Idris Elba and early 90’s house legends Inner City with the powerful and slick “No More Looking Back” (above), featuring a potent vocal by Steffanie Christi’an, whose voice is also heard throughout Inner City’s most recent album We All Move Together. And then at #26 is a song that has already become a surprise UK Top 5 hit for British producer Riton with the super fun “Friday” (below), featuring that classic sample from Nightcrawlers’ “Push The Feeling On” and additional vocals by Mufasa and Hypeman.
At #27 is the first chart appearance for Norwegian dance producer Dunisco with “When I Lost You”. The song is sung and co-written by “American Idol” Top 16 finalist Robbie Rosen, who recently appeared on the chart with “Fantasy” with Saxity and Victor Perry. This one is a banger with destination firmly targeted for the dance clubs when they resume.
Rounding out the chart at #28 is the first entry by Irish pop/rock artist Four Nights, which is actually the one person project by Tommy Buckley, called “Want You Always”. Its minimal production, keen vocal and 80’s pop flair are all winners in my book.
A reminder that the music from my chart and blog are featured regularly on the online radio station The New Radio GTA. You can hear their Big 20 on Wednesday evenings with ‘The Musicman’ James Rogers and listen for songs from the chart too 🙂Scroll down the station’s main page to listen to lots of variety from across the decades! I’m the new music consultant for the station so you can expect even more 🙂 You can start by joining Radio GTA’s new interactive Facebook group too!!
View the full BILLCS Top 30 right here! Click on the hyperlink on the song titles to hear the songs or watch the videos!
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