Vance Joy’s Riptide breaks Lady Gaga’s incredible record on the Australian charts

42 minutes ago May 11, 2015 7:09AM

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Joy for Vance with Riptide

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VANCE Joy’sdebut single is now the longest-charting song in ARIA history.

This weekend Riptide clocked up 107 consecutive weeks in the ARIA Top 100, leapfrogging Lady Gaga’s Poker Face at 106 unbroken weeks in the Top 100 and pushing Black Eyed Peas’ I Gotta Feeling to No. 3 with 105 weeks.
Riptide has not left the Top 100 since its release in April 2013, peaking at No. 6 and selling more than 350,000 copies nationwide.
The ukelele-led song was written by the Melbourne singer (real name James Keogh) and recorded for just $700.
“It’s so nice to think you have longevity in your music,” Joy said of Riptide’s record-breaking feat.
“One-hundred-and-seven weeks is a long time, not in the scheme of things but it is in the music industry. Things can come and go real quickly. It’s cool to have something that’s has stuck around. You want your songs to last the test of time. No one knew about me before I put Riptide out so I have a lot to thank that song for.”

World domination ... Vance Joy plays the Astor Theatre in Perth in March. Picture: Daniel Wilkins Source: News Corp Australia

The song has sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide, including two million copies in America, where it peaked at No. 30.
Riptide’s longevity in Australia has been aided by being used in an insurance advertising campaign for the last 18 months.
“When you’re deciding to put your song on an ad, or renew an agreement to use it in an ad, a lot of things go through your head,” Joy said.
“You think ‘Am I just selling this song out? Are people getting too saturated with this song? Is it better to just call it a day?’ But that could explain why it’s been in the chart so long, it’s always been in people’s faces. I thought that ad looked pretty good and obviously in music these days that’s where you make your money. It’s hard to say no to those things.”

Vance Joy covers Taylor Swift

Joy will perform Riptide on the American Idol grand final this week, which will air in Australia on Eleven on Friday.
Contestant Quentin Alexander will perform Riptide with Joy on the grand final, which is seen by millions around the world.
“I’ve never sung it as a duet before,” Joy said. ``That will be cool. I like the idea of doing a big show like Idol, with the big TV production. It’s good experience.
“I get a full-on band to play with, I get to get dressed up. I need to up my selfie game and hopefully get a picture with (judges) J-Lo or Keith Urban. I need to put any nervousness out the window and take some selfies. Or ask at least for some.”
Last week Riptide also took out the grand prize of the International Songwriting Competition, the first song ever to achieve perfect scores from the judges, which include fellow musicians Avicii, London Grammar, Sarah McLachlan and Bastille as well as members of the music industry. The prize is $25,000 cash and $45,000 in merchandise and services.
“Kate Miller-Heidke and Gotye have won it before,” Joy said. “It’s a competition run by people who love music so it’s a great idea.”
Next week Joy joins Taylor Swift’s 1989 tour - he’ll play before the music superstar at almost every concert through the US, Europe and Canada before ending in Australia in December, putting him in front of hundreds of thousands of fans at sold out shows across the globe.
“I’m really looking forward to the tour, I’m so grateful to be in it,” Joy said.

There have been so many amazing covers of 1989 songs... I'm going to be bold enough to say this one is my favorite. http://t.co/JiJhpvpRup
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) May 5, 2015

After Swift covered Riptide last year, last week Joy posted his cover of the 1989 track I Know Places online.
Swift said it was her favorite of the litany of 1989 covers, her Tweet helping his version to 500,000 views in five days.
“I tried really hard with that song, I’m happy with the way it came out. I wanted to do the song justice. She did an incredible cover of Riptide. I liked that song from the first time I heard it, I just had to work out how to arrange it. She said a really nice thing on Twitter, that made me feel so good. I was stoked; on cloud nine.”
Riptide by numbers
No. 1 - place it landed on Triple J Hottest 100 in 2014
No. 6 - peak of Riptide on ARIA chart
No. 10 - peak on UK chart
No. 30 - peak on US chart
$700 - the amount it cost to record
350,000 sold in Australia
2,000,000 sold in the US
3,500,000 sold worldwide so far