This week's chart action

Week of May 29

2011-05-26T09:52:00.000-07:00

As Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, the charts for this weekend heat up, with six debuts and a brand new No. 1.

At the top is Thompson Square's "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not?" That duo's debut hit marks the first No. 1 song by a newcomer since "Animal" by Neon Trees hit the top in December-January. It's also one of three country crossover hits in the top five, with Blake Shelton's "Honey Bee" at No. 4 and last week's No. 1, Christian Kane's "Thinking of You," falling to No. 5.

A couple of country songs enter the survey this week, too, as Darius Rucker matches the four chart hits of his country debut with a fourth hit from the CD "Charleston, SC 1966." "Come Back Song" and "This" both went to the Top 10, and "Southern State of Mind" hit No. 1 the first week of April. "Things I'd Never Do" enters at No. 32.

At No. 40 are two artists whose biggest hits each went to No. 2. Country singer James Otto made his chart debut in the summer of 2008 with "Just Got Started Loving You," which spent three weeks in the runner-up spot. Now he's teamed up with country-pop legend Ronnie Milsap on "Good Thing's Gone Bad." The duet's entry this week marks Milsap's first time in the Top 40 since "Stranger in My House" in 1983. His biggest hit came in the spring of 1981, when "Smoky Mountain Rain" stayed at No. 2 for two weeks.

The week's highest debut belongs to Pitbull, an artist who has been featured in Top 40 hits by Enrique Iglesias ("I Like It"), Usher ("DJ Got Us Falling in Love") and Jennifer Lopez ("On the Floor") over the past 12 months. This time, it's the Miami rapper's turn to be the lead artist as "Give Me Everything" features appearances by Ne-You, Afrojack and Nayer. It enters at No. 30.

While veteran artists such as Stevie Nicks, Richard Marx and Sade all make strong moves in this week's survey, Lady GaGa earns the biggest mover award as "The Edge of Glory" sprints 39-26. Will it be one of the summer songs of 2011? We'll see in the next few weeks.

Week of May 22

2011-05-19T07:36:00.000-07:00

Four songs entered the Top 40 the week of December 12, 2010. All four turned out to make significant chart impact. Neon Trees' "Wish List" hit the Top 10. Natasha Bedingfield's "Weightless" stayed on the chart for 16 weeks, including four weeks at No. 11. And Cee-Lo Green's "Fool for You" is currently the leading candidate for the top song of 2011, spending four weeks at No. 1 in February. But Green has serious competition now from another song that debuted that same week -- a song that hits the top this week.

Christian Kane's country ballad "Thinking of You" completes its run to a peak by moving 2-1 in its 24th chart week. By doing so, Kane moves into second place for the longest drive to the top in the history of my charts. Back in 1986-87, Genesis took 26 weeks to hit No. 1 with "In Too Deep." The slow move for that song came as a result of its initially hitting the chart as an album track and a song from the soundtrack of the movie "Mona Lisa," and then remaining in the Top 25 (as the survey existed at that time) long enough to earn renewed strength as the fifth single from Genesis' "Invisible Touch" LP. By contrast, Kane's song has flown under the radar as a country album track from his EP "The House Rules" that hasn't caught fire nationally. That lack of heavy rotation ironically has helped the song's longevity as it's gained a bit of strength week by week (after being stuck at No. 12 throughout the month of March).

Here are the songs that rank as the five slowest movers to No. 1 since the weekly charts began in 1981:

1) Genesis, "In Too Deep," 26 weeks, 1986-87
2) Christian Kane, "Thinking of You," 24 weeks, 2010-11
3) TIE Darius Rucker, "It Won't Be Like This for Long," 19 weeks, 2009
Jason Mraz/Colbie Caillat, "Lucky," 19 weeks, 2008
4) Nickelback, "If Today Was Your Last Day," 18 weeks, 2009
5) TIE Owl City, "Fireflies,' 17 weeks, 2009
Sara Bareilles, "Love on the Rocks," 17 weeks, 2007-08

It's probably no coincidence that six of these songs have been on the charts in the past three and a half years. First, the chart now is a Top 40 survey, switching from a Top 30 survey in 2006 and a Top 25 survey in 2002. The addition of 15 positions gives songs more room for chart placement and longer stays. Secondly, since the charts resumed in 2006 (after a break from 2003 through mid-'06), the influence of iTunes has been significant. The ability to listen to and purchase individual tracks on albums, as well as iTunes' "free single of the week" feature spotlighting unfamiliar artists, has encouraged a broader variety of songs to chart than a strict radio-reflective survey would.

Christian Kane has the biggest chart story this week, but not the only one. Two of the week's three biggest movers are comeback hits for artists with long chart pedigrees. Moving 16-9 is "She's Got Nothing On (But the Radio)" from Roxette. The Swedish duo first entered the surveys in 1989 with the No. 3 "(She's Got) The Look," the first of 10 hits over a four-year span. Their current hit is the first since "Almost Unreal" hit No. 19 in 1993.

And moving 25-18 is "Secret Love," the latest hit for Stevie Nicks. The singer-songwriter's success as a member of supergroup Fleetwood Mac shouldn't overshadow the fact that she has had quite a solo career. "Secret Love" is her 11th chart hit since 1981 when her duet with Don Henley, "Leather and Lace," went to No. 2. Her last solo hit came in 2001 when "Bombay Sapphires" went to No. 10.

The week's biggest mover belongs to Adele. "Someone Like You" rockets 29-20, on track to follow "Rolling in the Deep" to No. 1. That song hangs on at No. 35 for a second week, in its 23rd week on the chart.

Two debut songs this week: "The Edge of Glory" marks Lady GaGa's third release from her upcoming album (and she's already released a fourth ... obviously, she's never heard of the word "burnout"). This song, at No. 39, features saxophone work from Clarence Clemons (of E Street Band fame). And "Gravity Happens," at No. 40, is the second chart hit for Kate Voegele. The singer and actress (TV's "One Tree Hill") went to No. 1 two summers back with her debut hit, "99 Times." This song is the title track from her new album.

Week of May 15

2011-05-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

Two songs debut this week -- Elton John, with a track from the soundtrack of "Gnomeo and Juliet," and James Blunt, with his second hit from his latest CD. But the strongest chart moves this week are for songs that look likely to compete for the top over the summer:

* Country singer Blake Shelton makes another strong move with "Honey Bee," leaping 17-7. The song, Shelton's first Top 40 hit, becomes his first Top 10.

* But Shelton, last week's biggest mover, isn't this week's. That honor goes to the Canadian country trio High Valley, whose debut hit, "A Father's Love (The Only Way He Knew How)," sprints 12 positions to No. 17. The group, brothers Brad, Bryan and Curtis Rempel, has opened shows for Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, LeAnn Rimes and Reba McEntire. The Rempels grew up in Alberta in the rural community of La Crete. "A Father's Love" is from the trio's eponymous CD, released last fall.

* Six more songs move up at least five positions: Mary Mary's "Something Big" (10-5); Sade's "Still in Love With You" (39-34); Chris Medina's "What Are Words" (12-6); Jennifer Hudson's "Why Is It So Hard?" (21-14); Alyssa Reid and P. Reign's "Alone Again" (27-19); and Roxette's "She's Got Nothing On (But the Radio)" (25-16). In addition, another six songs push up four positions in a tight area of the chart (positions 33-28). Those songs -- from Richard Marx, Lady Antebellum, Easton Corbin, Kid Rock featuring Sheryl Crow, Adele and NKOTBSB -- are likely to vie with the preceding tunes for Top 10 supremacy as the spring turns to summer.

Week of May 8

2011-05-05T16:56:00.000-07:00

Country songs have had a good run on this chart in the past year; since the beginning of 2010, 10 No. 1 hits have been in the country-pop genre. Even so, this week country songs have done something that hasn't happened for more than five years: taking 3 of the top 5 positions this week.

The duo Thompson Square makes a strong bid for a future No. 1 as its debut hit, "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not," sprints 9-4. Meanwhile, Christian Kane pushes his ballad "Thinking of You" 4-3 in its 21st chart week, and Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson mark the fifth month for "Don't You Wanna Stay" by holding at No. 2. By locking down positions 4 through 2, country artists dominate the Top 5 for the first time since March 18, 2006. That's when Keith Urban was No. 3 with "Stupid Boy," Alan Jackson was No. 5 with "A Woman's Love," and Alison Krauss teamed up with John Waite to put a country-pop spin on his 1984 hit "Missing You" at No. 4.

Country doesn't limit itself to the upper reaches either, as the top three debut songs also fall within the genre. Lady Antebellum debuts at No. 36 with "Just a Kiss," replacing the group's collaboration with Maroon 5, "Out of Goodbyes." Easton Corbin, who was in the Top 10 a year ago with his debut hit "A Little More Country Than That," returns at No. 35 with "I Can't Love You Back." And the duo of Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow represent the pop-rock side of country with "Collide," entering at No. 34.

Those songs join Darius Rucker's former No. 1 "Southern State of Mind," the Canadian country vocal group High Valley's "A Father's Love (The Only Way He Knew How)" and the week's biggest mover -- Blake Shelton's "Honey Bee" (moving 29-17) -- as country crossovers to this week's Top 40.

Despite all of this country action, the No. 1 song is a pop song, Bruno Mars' "Talking to the Moon." It rockets 8-1 to become his second No. 1 in the past six months. "Just the Way You Are" went to the top last November.

Week of May 1

2011-04-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

Two debuts and a new No. 1 frame a week of solid chart moves. Among the week's biggest movers are Bruno Mars' "Talking to the Moon" (17-8) and Roxette's "She's Got Nothing On (But the Radio)" (35-27). The former is not only on Mars' "Doo-Wops & Hooligans" CD but also on the fund-raising collection "Songs for Japan" in an acoustic version. The latter, still not commercially available in the U.S., has made big waves in Europe. Perhaps the same sort of lightning that originally struck Roxette with its worldwide smash "(She's Got) The Look" in 1989 will occur with this comeback hit.

Of the debuts, Adele follows up her former No. 1 hit "Rolling in the Deep," still in the Top 10, with the ballad "Someone Like You." Debuting at No. 39, it's also from the CD "21." Meanwhile, Matthew Morrison of TV's "Glee" joins a long line of actors-turned-singers including John Travolta, David Soul and two artists this year -- Gwyneth Paltrow and Christian Kane -- by debuting at No. 40 with "Still Got Tonight." (Kane, meanwhile, pushes 5-4 in his 20th week on the chart with "Thinking of You.")

And at No. 1, Pink returns with "Perfect." It's her first chart-topper since "Sober" a few years back. Pink becomes the fourth solo female to hit the top in 2011, following Melanie Fiona ("Gone and Never Coming Back"), Adele ("Rolling in the Deep") and the artist she knocked to No. 6 this week, Katy Perry ("Not Like the Movies").

Week of April 24

2011-04-21T07:31:00.000-07:00

Lots of stories behind the six new entries in this week's countdown. At No. 40 is the first chart collaboration for two "boy bands" of different eras. New Kids on the Block were a late '80s/early '90s juggernaut that never quite caught on with me; despite their massive international success, only two of their singles hit my charts, with "Tonight" from 1990 peaking the highest (No. 13). On the other hand, the Backstreet Boys about a decade later not only were enormous successes worldwide, but they also caught on with me more -- I found several of their songs much less "teen idol" bubblegum and more mainstream vocal pop than NKOTB. The Boys earned three Top 5 hits on my charts, with two -- "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" and "All I Have to Give" -- going to No. 1. This week, an amalgamation of the two groups called NKOTBSB enters the countdown with "Don't Turn Out the Lights." In the weeks to come, we'll see whether its chart run is more similar to New Kids' or Backstreet Boys'.

These days, I find out about new music from a variety of sources (other than the too-restrictive Top 40 and adult pop radio in my market). That's clear from this week's debuts. Two come courtesy of an article I read online in Billboard. Both "Alone Again" and "A Father's Love (The Only Way He Knew How)" are Canadian hits spotlighted in this report.

Roxette's comeback hit, "She's Got Nothing On (But the Radio)," is a song I had seen charted on several personal surveys, which prompted me to find and listen to the song online. Stevie Nicks' "Secret Love" is a song that a reader of this chart drew to my attention via e-mail. And Weird Al Yankovic's "Perform This Way" came via a Billboard news report Wednesday about a conflict between Yankovic and Lady GaGa, the artist he spoofs. (This isn't the first time Yankovic has been spurned by an artist. His last song to make my charts, "You're Pitiful" in 2006, was put online after the management for James Blunt refused to allow Yankovic to commercially release the parody of "You're Beautiful.")

Week of April 17

2011-04-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

Big stories at the top and bottom of this week's chart, but also a lot of action in the middle:

* At No. 1, Katy Perry earns her fourth charttopper in the past three years, as "Not Like the Movies" moves up one final place. She's gone to the top with "Hot 'N' Cold," "California Gurls" featuring Snoop Dogg and "Teenage Dream." In that three-year period, the only other artist to hit the top that often is Darius Rucker ("Don't Think I Don't Think About It," "History in the Making," "It Won't Be Like This for Long" and "Southern State of Mind," the song that hit the top two weeks back). Right behind them are Uncle Kracker ("Smile," "Another Love Song" and "Good to Be Me," the last with Kid Rock) and Cee-Lo Green ("Forget You," "The Thrill Is Gone" with Fantasia and "Fool for You"). Green is pushing to join Perry and Rucker as his latest, "Bright Lights, Bigger City," moves 8-7.

* At No. 40, legendary singer-songwriter Paul Simon earns his first chart hit in a decade with the title track from his new release, "So Beautiful or So What?" Simon hit No. 15 in 2001 with "Old" from the CD "You're the One."

* Fifteen songs move up four or more positions this week. The biggest mover is Mary Mary's aptly titled "Something Big," which sprints 29-15. Near the top of the charts, Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson's "Don't You Wanna Stay?" gains steam after 17 weeks on the survey, pushing 7-3.

Week of April 10

2011-04-08T18:02:00.000-07:00

It took four months to get there, but Adele notches her first No. 1 hit, as "Rolling in the Deep" moves 2-1 this week. (Her previous best came with her debut, "Chasing Pavements," a No. 6 hit in 2009.) Meanwhile, another sleeper hit enters the Top 10 in its 17th chart week. Christian Kane's "Thinking of You" moves 11-10. Other songs taking their sweet time moving up are "Our Generation" from John Legend and the Roots (20-19 in its 10 chart week), "Don't You Wanna Stay" from Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson (9-7 in its 16th week) and the aptly named "Never Make It on Time" from Nikki Yanofsky (4-3 in its 13th week).

At the bottom of the Top 40, the three debuts make for interesting chart bedfellows. The "Country Road Version" remix of Lady GaGa's Billboard smash "Born This Way" enters at No. 38. The song, with the most gay-affirmative lyrics since Jody Watley's "Affection" more than 15 years ago, ranks just above hits from two artists whose previous statements have earned negative press for potentially homophobic content. Former "American Idol" competitor Mandisa lands a second Top 40 hit (after 2007's "(Never Gonna) Steal My Joy") with "What If We Were Real" at No. 39, while country singer Blake Shelton makes his pop debut with "Honey Bee" at No. 40.

Week of April 3

2011-03-31T20:18:00.000-07:00

Between 1994 and 1996, Darius Rucker hit the top of the charts four times as lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish -- with "Hold My Hand," "Let Her Cry," "Only Wanna Be With You" and "Hannah Jane," all from the band's breakthrough CD, "Cracked Rear View." This week, he matches that feat as a solo artist. "Southern State of Mind," his third hit from his second country album, moves 2-1. By doing so, it joins three No. 1 hits from "Learn to Live" -- "Don't Think I Don't Think About It," "History in the Making" and "It Won't Be Like This for Long."

Cee-Lo Green makes it 4-for-4 in the Top 10 over the past six months, as "Bright Lights Bigger City" jumps 18-10. The previous hits -- "Forget You," "The Thrill Is Gone" (on which he guested with Fantasia) and "Fool for You" -- all went to No. 1.

In 2000, the gospel duo Mary Mary just missed the Top 10 when "Shackles (Praise You)" hit No. 11. This week, the duo has the top debut, as "Something Big" enters at No. 33. It's the title track of Mary Mary's latest CD.

Also debuting, at No. 40, is Santana's cover of the Cream classic "Sunshine of Your Love." This track features Rob Thomas on vocals, making Thomas the third Santana collaborator to earn two chart hits with the guitar legend. Michelle Branch was the first with "The Game of Love" in 2002 and "I'm Feeling You" in 2005. Nickelback lead singer Chad Kroeger came next, with "Why Don't You and I?" in 2003 and "Into the Night" in 2007. Thomas first hit the Top 40 with Santana on the 1999 smash "Smooth." That single went to No. 1 and spent 19 weeks in the Top 40. This is the second remake of "Sunshine of Your Love" to chart; the rock group Living Colour took theirs to No. 14 in 1994.

Week of March 27

2011-03-25T15:03:00.000-07:00

Six debuts this week, with a mix of relative newcomers, popular artists of the past decade and one of the classic pop/rock groups of the 1970s and '80s.

Bruno Mars follows "Grenade" and his No. 1 "Just the Way You Are" with "Talking to the Moon," the week's highest debut at No. 35. All three songs are from his debut CD, "Doo-Wops and Hooligans." Meanwhile, Owl City (a k a Adam Young) earns his fourth Top 40 hit (and third in the past six months) with "Alligator Sky" at No. 39. This single is a bit of a departure for Owl City -- more rhythmic, with a guest rap from Shawn Chrystopher.

Panic at the Disco scores its second chart hit (after 2008's "Nine in the Afternoon") with No. 40, "Ready to Go (Get Me Out of My Mind)." That's from the group's new set, "Vices and Virtues." And Jennifer Hudson enters at No. 38 with "Why Is It So Hard?" It's her sixth chart hit overall, her third post-"Dreamgirls." Last time out, in 2009, she went to No. 1 with "We Gon' Fight."

That leaves the two debut songs with the most veteran performers. "Feel Good" at No. 37 reteams Eric Benet and Faith Evans. This new song, with a background that will remind older listeners of Cheryl Lynn's "Got to Be Real" or the Emotions' "Best of My Love," is the second hit from Benet's "Love and Life" CD; he went to No. 10 a couple of months back with "Never Want to Life Without You." Benet and Evans hit No. 22 in 1999 with a remake of Toto's "Georgy Porgy."

Benet and Evans started their chart runs in the 1990s. The artist at No. 36 goes back two decades before them. The Cars -- Ric Ocasek, Benjamin Orr, Elliot Easton, Greg Hawkes and David Robinson -- splashed onto the national charts in 1978 with the singles "Just What I Needed" and "My Best Friend's Girl" from their debut album. The group scored nationally and on my charts throughout the late '70s and 1980s with songs such as "Let's Go!" "You Might Think," "Magic" and "Drive." Their last appearance on my surveys came in 1986 when "I'm Not the One" hit No. 24. Ocasek and Orr spun off solo careers, and Orr passed away in 2000. The remaining four members reunited this year for a new project, and the first single from it is "Sad Song" at No. 36.

From this week's Top 10, the week's biggest mover shows the power of a good edit. I did not care for Pink's latest single in its original album version. I think the use of the explicit adjective that she has in the song's title is juvenile and undercuts the message of a powerful song. The radio version completely strips that word and makes all the difference. The single edit, simply called "Perfect," leaps 18-8 and is a solid contender for No. 1. If it does go to the top, it will be the sixth for Pink; her other five are "Get the Party Started," "Don't Let Me Get Me," "Who Knew?" "Dear Mr. President" (featuring the Indigo Girls) and "Sober."

Week of March 20

2011-03-17T18:03:00.000-07:00

Melodic pop/rock seems to be the sound of the week, as two of the most proficient groups of that genre enter the chart this week and singer James Blunt returns to No. 1 with his latest slice of it.

With such hits as the No. 1's "Everybody Hurts" (1993) and "Strange Currencies" (1995) and the No. 2's "Losing My Religion" (1991) and "Drive" (1992), R.E.M. was one of the top artists of the 1990s. The group hasn't been quite as active in the past decade, but it returns to the charts with "It Happened Today" at No. 40. That's from the band's latest CD, "Collapse Into Now." It's the first chart hit for R.E.M. in about three years, since "Supernatural Superserious" went to No. 21.

As active as R.E.M. was in the '90s, the group at No. 39 was the past decade. Lifehouse didn't connect on my charts with the song that ruled Billboard's Hot 100 in 2001, "Hanging by a Moment." But the band made up for that with a strong run the past five years, including three No. 1's: "First Time" in 2007, "Whatever It Takes" in 2008 and "It Is What It Is" last year. "Falling In," which debuts this week, is the latest Lifehouse hit co-written by another strong pop/rock act of the 1990s, Jude Cole. As a solo singer, Cole hit the Top 10 five times in a row between 1990 and 1993, including No. 1 in 1990 with "Time for Letting Go" and in 1993 with "Tell the Truth."

At the top of the charts, James Blunt earns his second No. 1 hit with "There She Goes Again." (His first on my charts was "1973"; "You're Beautiful" was a hit before the charts restarted in mid-2006.)

Week of March 13

2011-03-10T14:52:00.000-08:00

Here are the highlights of a tight chart week:

Her first No. 1: Canadian soul singer Melanie Fiona earns the first charttopper of her career as "Gone and Never Coming Back" moves 3-1. She made her chart debut last year as a guest artist on John Legend's remake of "Wake Up Everybody." Fiona is the fourth artist in 2011 to earn that first No. 1, following Neon Trees, Ricky Martin and Joss Stone.

Trying for four in a row: Fiona is also a guest artist on the remix of Cee-Lo Green's "Fool for You" (which falls 5-10 this week in its original album version). Green has had a heck of a year, and he shows no signs of stopping as "Bright Lights Bigger City" is the week's biggest mover. It's up 33-26. Since last autumn, the soul singer has gone to No. 1 with "Fool for You," "Forget You" and his duet with Fantasia, "The Thrill Is Gone."

Other contenders: These artists show signs of having future Top 10 hits: pop-rockers Runner Runner, up 30-25 with "Hey Alli," country duo Thompson Square, moving 34-30 with "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not?" and the duo of Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull, with the week's only debut, "On the Floor," at No. 39. It's Pitbull's third guest appearance in six months, following concurrent hits with Enrique Iglesias and Usher. Lopez marks her first appearance in the Top 40 since "Do It Well" hit No. 28 in 2007.

Week of March 6

2011-03-04T18:46:00.000-08:00

As is often the case, a week light on debuts (this past week, with one new song) is followed by a week heavy on debuts. Seven songs enter the Top 40 -- the most in one week since Nov. 7 of last year. (Interestingly, two of the songs that entered that week, "The Best Thing About Me Is You" from Ricky Martin and Joss Stone and "Just the One (I've Been Looking For)" from Huey Lewis and the News, just dropped out this week.) The seven span a variety of genres, from the R&B of Cee-Lo Green and Marsha Ambrosius to the country of Thompson Square to the alternative rock of Florence + The Machine to the straight-up pop of Christina Perri, Chris Medina and Beady Eye.

While he ends his four-week No. 1 run with "Fool for You," now No. 5, Green looks to follow it up with the week's highest debut, "Bright Lights Bigger City" at No. 33. It's his third hit from the CD "The Lady Killer." Right above "Lights" is Green's Grammy duet partner, Gwyneth Paltrow, moving 38-32 with "Me and Tennessee" from the soundtrack of "Country Strong."

Speaking of country, debuting at No. 34 is the country crossover hit "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not?" It's the first chart hit for husband and wife Keifer and Shawna Thompson, known as Thompson Square. The duo has been the opening act for Jason Aldean, the artist who is earning his own chart success with his duet with Kelly Clarkson, "Don't You Wanna Stay?" (up 16-13 this week).

Thompson Square is one of six artists debuting for the first time in the Top 40 this week. Recent "American Idol" castoff Chris Medina enters at No. 36 with "What Are Words," singer-songwriter Christina Perri enters at No. 38 with "Jar of Hearts" and Grammy nominee Florence + The Machine debuts at No. 39 with "Hardest of Hearts."

Beady Eye, the group at No. 37 with "The Beat Goes On," is made up of several former members of the British rock group Oasis. And Marsha Ambrosius, originally from Liverpool, England, was half of the R&B duo Floetry. Her solo debut, "Hope She Cheats on You (With a Basketball Player)," enters at No. 40.

Week of February 27

2011-02-25T15:35:00.000-08:00

After a few weeks of hot chart action, this week's chart cools down a bit, with only one debut, giving a chance to take a look at some potentially overlooked stories on the chart.

Slow climber: The only new song in the Top 10 this week is Sunshine Anderson's "A Warning for the Heart," moving 11-10 in its 16th week on the survey. That's the slowest climb into the Top 10 since the weekly charts resumed in 2006. Tim McGraw's "Southern Voice" and Moby's "Disco Lies" each hit the Top 10 in 14 weeks. Anderson earns her third Top 10 hit with this song; her debut hit, "Heard It All Before," went to No. 1 in 2001, and later that year, she followed up with a guest appearance on Macy Gray's "Don't Come Around" (No. 5, two weeks).

Biggest "Fool": Cee-Lo Green has his biggest chart hit yet with "Fool for You," which hangs in at the top for a fourth straight week. His previous best came in 2000, when his collaboration with Lauryn Hill and Santana, "Do You Like the Way?" went to No. 1 for three weeks. Here's a look at the 10 biggest "Fools" in this chart's history:

1) "Fool for You," Cee-Lo Green (No. 1, four weeks to date, 2011).
2) "Fool If You Think It's Over," Chris Rea (No. 1, three weeks, 1978).
3) "Maybe I'm a Fool," Eddie Money (No. 1, one week, 1979).
4) "Who'll Be the Fool Tonight?" Larsen-Feiten Band (No. 2, 1980).
5) "What a Fool Believes," Doobie Brothers (No. 3, 1979).
6) "Everybody Plays the Fool," Aaron Neville (No. 5, three weeks, 1991).
7) "Only the Fools Survive," Donna Summer/Mickey Thomas (No. 5, one week, 1988).
8) "What Kind of Fool?" Barbra Streisand/Barry Gibb (No. 8, three weeks, 1981).
9) "What Kind of Fool Am I?" Rick Springfield (No. 10, two weeks, 1982).
10) "Fool for You Anyway," Foreigner (No. 11, two weeks, 2010).

Quite a collaborative week: Superstar collaborations make up more than a quarter of this week's Top 40, from Dave Koz and Herb Alpert at No. 3 to Elton John and Leon Russell at No. 40. Particularly adept are Ricky Martin and the late Michael Jackson. Each has two collaborations in the survey -- Martin teams with Wisín & Yandel for "Frio" (No. 36) and Joss Stone on "The Best Thing About Me Is You" (No. 37), while Jackson partners with Akon on "Hold My Hand" (No. 34) and Lenny Kravitz on "(I Can't Make It) Another Day" (No. 14).

Caliente, in any language: With separate Spanish-language and English-language hits on the chart, Ricky Martin becomes the first artist to have concurrent Top 40 hits in different languages. The last artist to earn a Top 40 hit in Spanish was Nelly Furtado; she went to No. 11 in 2009 with "Más." Though she had an English hit earlier in the year with James Morrison on "Broken Strings," and later in the year with Timbaland and SoShy on "Morning After Dark," neither of those songs crossed over the chart run of "Más."

Perry's streak: This week, Katy Perry tops her previous best of consecutive Top 20 hits. In 2008-09, she scored three Top 20 songs from "One of the Boys." This week, "Teenage Dream" spins off its fourth consecutive Top 20 hit as "Not Like the Movies" moves 30-18. That joins "California Gurls," "Teenage Dream" and "Firework" as Top 20 hits for Perry.

Week of February 20

2011-02-18T20:12:00.000-08:00

Lots of dramatic action this week, with three songs falling out of the Top 10 and plunging 20 positions or more, and two of their successors leaping from outside the Top 20. Meanwhile, Ricky Martin and Tim McGraw double up on this week's chart with debut follow-ups to recent smashes.

Martin's first all-Spanish hit to chart, the radio remix of "Frio" featuring Wisin & Yandel, enters at No. 39. Checking in a couple of notches higher is his recent No. 1 duet with Joss Stone, "The Best Thing About Me Is You."

McGraw also has a hit duet, as his soundtrack contribution to the movie "Country Strong," "Me and Tennessee," enters at No. 40. McGraw's co-star, Gwyneth Paltrow, is his duet partner. His former No. 2 hit, "Felt Good on My Lips," drops 11-29 in its 16th chart week.

Though the top three songs hold this week (and Cee-Lo Green's "Fool for You" earns its third week at No. 1), look for a big chart fight in the weeks to come, as five songs in this week's Top 10 move at least five positions up the survey: Melanie Fiona's "Gone and Never Coming Back" (9-4), James Blunt's "There She Goes Again" (10-5), Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" (15-7), Darius Rucker's "Southern State of Mind" (24-8) and Nikki Yanofsky's live version of "Never Make It on Time" (23-9). Not far from the Top 10 is another big mover, Michael Jackson and Lenny Kravitz's "(I Can't Make It) Another Day," up 30-15.

Week of February 13

2011-02-11T16:07:00.000-08:00

Although the No. 1 song stays the same this week, lots of chart action in lower positions suggests a strong battle for the top in the near future. Moving more than five positions up this week's chart are the Zac Brown Band's "Colder Weather" (8-2), Melanie Fiona's "Gone and Never Coming Back" (21-9), James Blunt's "There She Goes Again" (26-10), Darius Rucker's "Southern State of Mind" (35-24) and Michael Jackson/Lenny Kravitz's "(I Can't Make It) Another Day" (36-30).

Among the debuts this week is "When You're Young," the first Top 40 hit for 3 Doors Down since "It's Not My Time" went to No. 23 in 2008. The group, originally from Mississippi, bubbled under with "Kryptonite" in 2000 but broke through the next year with "Be Like That" (No. 13 for three weeks in 2001).

Colbie Caillat enters one notch above 3 Doors Down, with "I Do" at No. 39. It's the first single from her third album; we'll see whether it follows the No. 1 trails of "Bubbly" and "Fallin' for You," the debut singles from Caillat's first two albums.

And Katy Perry has the final of this week's new entries. "Not Like the Movies" at No. 38 marks her first ballad hit after a string of midtempo and uptempo hits.

Week of February 6

2011-02-03T13:52:00.000-08:00

Songs make their way up the chart in a variety of ways. Take the two songs entering this week's Top 10. Jazmine Sullivan's "10 Seconds" has been a chart "sleeper," taking 10 weeks of mostly one- or two-notch moves before breaking through this week and sprinting 16-9. That becomes her first Top 10 since her No. 1 debut hit, "Bust Your Windows." Meanwhile, the Zac Brown Band's "Colder Weather" leaps 27-8 in its third chart week, making it all the likelier to become the group's third consecutive No. 1 hit. "Free" and "As She's Walking Away" (the latter with Alan Jackson) topped the chart last year.

Another of the big chart movers this week is the new No. 1 song. Cee-Lo Green's "Fool for You" jumps 7-1, the biggest leap to the top since Rie Sinclair and Friends' "My Confession" moved 9-1 a little more than a year ago. This makes Green's third consecutive chart-topper, following "Forget You" and "The Thrill Is Gone," his guest spot with Fantasia.

Sullivan and Green are part of a wave of adult R&B songs storming the chart. Joining that wave is Melanie Fiona's "Gone and Never Coming Back," moving 26-21. Fiona's former collaborators on last year's remake of "Wake Up Everybody," John Legend and the Roots, enter at No. 39 with "Our Generation (The Hope of the World)" from their iTunes Live release.

Also debuting are Darius Rucker's "Southern State of Mind" at No. 35, the third hit from his "Charleston SC 1966" album, and Michael Jackson with his second consecutive duet hit. "(I Can't Make It) Another Day," featuring Lenny Kravitz, is from "Michael," the same album that yielded his recent No. 1 duet with Akon, "Hold My Hand." This marks the first chart appearance for Kravitz since "I'll Be Waiting" went to No. 2 in 2007.

Week of January 30

2011-01-27T14:30:00.000-08:00

Two debuts this week. "Mine Is Yours" at No. 39 is the first chart hit for the group Cold War Kids. And Peter Bjorn and John notch their third Top 40 single with "Second Chance" at No. 40, a song that shares the title of the 1989 hit for .38 Special and the hit in late 2009 for Shinedown.

Meanwhile, the week's new No. 1 also has a recycled title. "Hold My Hand" was the title of the breakthrough hit for Hootie and the Blowfish, a No. 1 single in 1994-95. Michael Jackson and Akon take a different composition with the same title to the top this week, Jackson's second posthumous No. 1. ("This Is It" was the first in late 2009.)

Songs to watch for future No. 1 contenders: Cee-Lo Green's "Fool for You" (14-7), Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" (26-19), Melanie Fiona's "Gone and Never Coming Back" (30-26), the Zac Brown Band's "Colder Weather" (35-27).

Week of January 23

2011-01-20T17:31:00.000-08:00

Five debuts this week, anchored by contemporary Christian artist Brandon Heath at No. 40 with his first chart hit, "Leaving Eden." A much more veteran Christian singer-songwriter, Michael W. Smith, debuts two notches higher with "Wonder (Not Far Away)." That's his 15th song to hit the charts, including collaborations with Jim Brickman and with Stephen Curtis Chapman. ("I Will Be Your Friend" hit two separate times, in 2000 and last year.) "I Will Be Your Friend" is one of his two biggest hits on my charts, going to the top last spring; his other No. 1 was "Love Me Good" in 1998.

James Blunt notches his fourth chart hit with "There She Goes Again" while The Script follows "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" with "Walk Away." But the top debut belongs to the Zac Brown Band at No. 35. "Colder Weather" is the band's bid for a third consecutive No. 1 after the success of "Free" last summer and "As She's Walking Away," featuring Alan Jackson, in the fall.

Country artists did well this week, not only with the week's top new entry but also with the No. 1 and 2 songs. Rascal Flatts earns its first No. 1 pop hit with "I Won't Let Go," while Tim McGraw moves 3-2 with "Felt Good on My Lips." He first went to the top with "Please Remember Me" in 1999 and most recently in 2007 with "If You're Reading This."

Week of January 16

2011-01-14T18:16:00.000-08:00

Last week, the Top 10 was where the action was. This week, the action is from No. 11 down, with 4 debuts and 14 songs moving up at least four positions.

Of the debuts, the most "veteran" artist is Raphael Saadiq. Although his track record is only back to 2008 as a solo artist, his chart history with Tony! Toni! Tone! goes back to the early 1990s with such hits as the 1993 No. 1 "If I Had No Loot." "Radio," at No. 40, follows three hits from his "The Way I See It" CD.

The remaining debuts come from artists who made their first chart splash last year. Brendan James replaces himself, as "Your Beating Heart" at No. 39 comes in while the former No. 1 "The Lucky Ones" falls out. Nikki Yanofsky, who went to the top with "Cool My Heels," takes the live version of "Never Make It on Time" to No. 35 this week. And R&B singer Melanie Fiona, who sang background on John Legend's remake of "Wake Up Everybody," hits solo with "Gone and Never Coming Back," the week's highest debut at No. 34.

Leaping 22-11 is Dave Koz with his remake of "This Guy's in Love With You," featuring the artist who originally scored a hit with it, Herb Alpert. Should it rise another notch next week, it will become Koz's first Top 10 hit.

And at the top of the charts, "The Best Thing About Me Is You" holds for a second week. It's the biggest hit for either singer, Ricky Martin or Joss Stone. Martin went to No. 10 in 1999 with "Livin' la Vida Loca." Stone hit No. 12 last year with "Free Me."

Week of January 9

2011-01-08T18:26:00.001-08:00

Only one newcomer to the Top 40 this week, but it's an interesting collaboration between two hot groups: country-pop trio Lady Antebellum and pop/rock combo Maroon 5. "Out of Goodbyes," at No. 40, is Maroon 5's follow-up to "Misery," a No. 1 from last year, while Lady Antebellum is coming off back-to-back No. 1 hits in "Need You Now" and "Our Kind of Love."

Though the bottom of the chart is moving slowly this week, that's not the case with the Top 10. Five songs leap into the upper reaches of the charts, led by Huey Lewis and the News' "Just the One (I've Been Looking For)," moving 13-6 to become the group's first Top 10 hit since 1991. That's when "It Hit Me Like a Hammer" went to No. 10. Huey Lewis and the News went to No. 1 five times in the 1980s, with the biggest hit being their first, "Do You Believe in Love?" (No. 1 for four weeks in 1982).

By moving 11-7 with "Never Too Old (To Hold Somebody)," Elton John adds Leon Russell to his long streak of hit duet partners. Elton has gone to the Top 10 in collaborations with George Michael, P.M. Dawn, Bruce Roberts, Collective Soul, Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Kiki Dee, Nik Kershaw and Lady GaGa. (He's also gone Top 20 with Eric Clapton, Jennifer Rush and LeAnn Rimes.)

Bruce Springsteen's "Spanish Eyes," moving 12-8, becomes his second ocular Top 10. "Sad Eyes" went to No. 4 in 1999.

"Teenage Dream" is the first Top 10 hit for the Glee Cast, moving 14-9. Katy Perry's original spent nine weeks in the Top 10 from August through October, with three of those weeks at No. 1.

And Neon Trees puts two songs in the Top 10, with "Wish List" moving 20-10 to join the former No. 1 "Animal," now at No. 2. The last artist to score concurrent Top 10 hits was Cee-Lo Green, with "Forget You" and his collaboration with Fantasia, "The Thrill Is Gone," in November.

Week of January 2

2010-12-31T16:31:00.000-08:00

A couple of debuts for the first weekly chart of 2011. Bruno Mars follows his No. 1 hit, "Just the Way You Are" (still in the countdown) with "Grenade" at No. 38. The song has already gone to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100. And Duffy debuts at No. 39 with "Well, Well, Well," her first hit on these surveys since "Warwick Avenue" went to No. 1 in early 2009.

Neon Trees has another good week on the charts. In addition to holding at No. 1 with debut hit "Animal," the group moves 29-20 with "Wish List," the seasonal follow-up.

Meanwhile, Ricky Martin and Joss Stone make a strong bid to unseat "Animal" next week, as "The Best Thing About Me Is You" moves 9-2. If they succeed, that will mark the first No. 1 on my charts for each artist. We'll see in the weeks to come.

Week of December 26

2010-12-23T07:05:00.000-08:00

The final week of 2010 brings the 34th No. 1 song of the year, Neon Trees' "Animal." It's the 11th charttopper this year from a group; duos accounted for seven, while the remaining 16 belonged to solo performers. Of the groups to hit No. 1 in 2010, two country acts were the hottest: Lady Antebellum took "Need You Now" and "Our Kind of Love" to the top, while the Zac Brown Band went to No. 1 with "Free" and its collaboration with Alan Jackson, "As She's Walking Away." Neon Trees could join this clique of hot groups if "Wish List" continues its chart climb; that song moves 33-29.

Country singer Jason Aldean has not had a Top 40 crossover until this week, as a team-up with the first American Idol, Kelly Clarkson, enters at No. 39. "Don't You Wanna Stay" marks Clarkson's first appearance since "I Do Not Hook Up" went to No. 13 last year.

Meanwhile, Enrique Iglesias notches his third Top 40 hit this year with "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" at No. 40. Like his other two hits, this one is a collaboration -- this time, with Ludacris and DJ Frank E. "I Like It" featured Pitbull, while "One Day at a Time" featured Akon. (A fourth track, "Heartbeat" featuring Nicole Scherzinger, was chartbound for six weeks but never cracked the Top 40.)

So ends another chart year. Enjoy the Top 100 of 2010 and we'll see you in 2011. Happy New Year!

Week of December 19

2010-12-16T17:48:00.000-08:00

At the top of the charts this week, one former "American Idol" participant replaces another, as season eight's Danny Gokey makes way for season three's Fantasia. "The Thrill Is Gone," by Fantasia featuring Cee-Lo Green, moves 2-1, making the first official No. 1 hit on my charts for Fantasia ("I Believe" came during the chart hiatus of the middle part of the 2000s) and the fourth for Cee-Lo Green (following his collaboration with Santana and Lauryn Hill in 2000, Gnarls Barkley in 2006 and "Forget You" just five weeks ago).

Meanwhile, season nine "Idol" runner-up Crystal Bowersox makes her chart debut this week. "Speak Now" enters at No. 39 from her major-label debut CD, "Farmer's Daughter."

Debuting at No. 38 with the throwback R&B ballad "How Do I Tell Her?" R. Kelly joins a run of adult R&B artists in this week's countdown, including El DeBarge, Jazmine Sullivan, Sunshine Anderson, Eric Benet, Fantasia and Cee-Lo Green. That list is almost as long as the list of country crossovers that amassed the past month and a half: Danny Gokey, Darius Rucker, Trace Adkins, Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, Reba McEntire, Keith Urban and Christian Kane.

Still, the highest of this week's debuts, at No. 37, belongs to neither country nor R&B, but smooth jazz/AC. Saxophonist Dave Koz earns his first Top 40 chart hit with a remake of "This Guy's in Love With You." The artist who originally scored nationally with the song in 1968, Herb Alpert, is a guest on Koz's remake. (You'll hear his distinctive trumpet near the end of the Koz version.) This marks Alpert's first time in the Top 40 since 1987, when he and Janet Jackson went to No. 1 with "Diamonds."

End of the year chart for 2010

2010-12-09T18:32:00.000-08:00

Ladies' night (times 365): For the first time in my chart's history, women or women-led acts lock down the top five songs of the year. Katy Perry leads the charge, with "Teenage Dream" at No. 5 and her collaboration with Snoop Dogg, "California Gurls," the year's top hit. The last act to put two songs in the Top 5 for the year was Darius Rucker in 2008 ("Don't Think I Don't Think About It" and "History in the Making").

Newcomer magic: Six of the Top 20 songs of the year are from artists with their first chart hit: V.V. Brown, the Zac Brown Band, Rie Sinclair and Friends, the Bird and the Bee, Nikki Yanofsky and Taio Cruz featuring Ludacris. All six of those songs went to No. 1 on the weekly charts.

The power of longevity: Though there were 33 songs to rise to the top in the 2010 chart year (mid-December 2009 to mid-December 2010), songs didn't have to go to No. 1 to rank high in the year-end countdown. The two strongest non-No. 1 hits were Daughtry's "Life After You" (No. 29) and Daniel Merriweather's "Not Giving Up" (No. 30). "Life After You" hit No. 2 in March; "Not Giving Up" hit No. 3 in May and June, but spent 20 weeks in the Top 40.

A comeback year: In addition to Snoop Dogg having his best year ever (besting his No. 5 appearance with Angie Stone on "I Wanna Thank Ya" in 2004), several artists returned to the charts for the first time in a decade, including the Steve Miller Band ("Sweet Soul Vibe," No. 59), the Doobie Brothers ("A Brighter Day," No. 84) and Michael Bolton ("Murder My Heart," No. 91).

Week of December 12

2010-12-09T10:26:00.000-08:00

In the final week of the 2010 chart year (mid-December 2009 to mid-December 2010), lots of action this week to talk about -- much of it due to two acts: Neon Trees and Cee-Lo Green.

Neon Trees not only makes another strong move, 9-3, with its debut hit "Animal," but also follows up with a debut at No. 39. "Wish List" was promoted a few weeks ago on iTunes as a free holiday download, but the song really isn't so much a holiday tune as a strong follow-up to "Animal" that happens to use holiday imagery. We'll see how it does in the weeks to come, especially after Dec. 25.

And Cee-Lo Green now has three of the top 40 songs of the week. As his former No. 1, "Forget You," slides to No. 30, he makes a bid for a chart-topping follow-up via his guest appearance on Fantasia's "The Thrill Is Gone," up 5-2. Meanwhile, he has the highest debut of the week with "Fool for You," a track from his CD "The Lady Killer" that features backing vocals from Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire. "Fool for You" begins at No. 36.

Eleven artists move up five or more positions this week, the strongest total in a few months. That includes the new No. 1 hit, Danny Gokey's "I Will Not Say Goodbye," which leaps from No. 6. Gokey's hit takes the top in its 16th chart week -- tying it with Robbie Williams' "The Last Days of Disco" and Barenaked Ladies' "Summertime" for the year's slowest rise to the top. (The Bird and the Bee's "Heard It on the Radio" was No. 1 in its 17th week, but that was the song's second time at No. 1; it first hit the top in its 10th week.)

The week's biggest mover? Michael Jackson, whose duet with Akon, "Hold My Hand," sprints 33-22. If it keeps at this pace, it could become the singer's second posthumous No. 1 after last year's "This Is It."

Week of December 5

2010-12-02T13:27:00.001-08:00

Other than the strong chart move for Neon Trees' "Animal" (18-9) and a return to No. 1 of Brendan James' "The Lucky Ones," not too much chart action this week, so let's concentrate on the two debuts. Both are by R&B/pop male solo singers who have been away from the charts for a while.

El Debarge's last appearance on the survey was 20 years ago, when he was part of the collaboration that took "The Secret Garden" to No. 4. This week, he enters at No. 39 with "Heaven," a track from his new collection, "Second Chance."

And at No. 35, Eric Benet returns to the charts with "Never Want to Live Without You." The Stylistics-sounding tune is from his new album, "Back in Time," a collection mostly of new songs that sound very much like soul/R&B classics from the 1970s. Benet was last in the countdown with "Spend My Life With You," a duet with Tamia that went to No. 13 at the beginning of 2000.

Week of November 28

2010-11-24T07:40:00.001-08:00

The new charts are up a bit early because of the holidays (Happy Thanksgiving!), so here are the highlights for this week:

A year ago, he topped the charts with his posthumous hit "This Is It"; now, Michael Jackson is back with a collaboration with Akon, "Hold My Hand," at No. 35, this week's top debut. "Hold My Hand" is the introductory single from the legendary singer's collection of unreleased material, "Michael."

Cher hasn't been in the survey since 2002, when "(This Is) A Song for the Lonely" went to No. 1. She's back this week at No. 36 with the aptly named "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," a ballad from the soundtrack of her new movie "Burlesque," starring Christina Aguilera.

Michael Buble earns his first Top 10 hit as "Hollywood" moves 11-9. Buble's biggest hit previously was "Everything," which hit No. 11 in 2007.

Bruce Springsteen's vintage track "Spanish Eyes" is off to a good start, up nine to No. 31. It's the week's biggest mover.

Country singer Trace Adkins ties his highest chart position to date, as "Between the Rainbows and the Rain" moves 6-3. He went to No. 3 in 2007 with "I Wanna Feel Something."

By moving 2-1 with "Just the Way You Are," Bruno Mars becomes the ninth artist this year to reach the top spot with his first chart hit. The other eight? Rie Sinclair & Friends, V.V. Brown, Lady Antebellum, Taio Cruz, The Bird and the Bee, Zac Brown Band, Nikki Yanofsky, and last week's charttopping artist, Brendan James.

Week of November 21

2010-11-18T11:30:00.000-08:00

It was only two weeks back that Katy Perry dropped out of the Top 40 with her original version of "Teenage Dream," but the cast of the TV series "Glee" puts the song back on the charts this week at No. 36. It's the second "Glee" remake to hit my charts, following "What It Feels Like for a Girl" (No. 28 in May).

Another debut song, at No. 40, was originally recorded in 1978 but unreleased until last week when Bruce Springsteen released the CD "The Promise." It's a collection of tracks recorded between his albums "Born to Run" and "Darkness on the Edge of Town." "Spanish Eyes" becomes Springsteen's first Top 40 hit since his live remake of "Expressway to Your Heart" hit No. 13 last year.

At the top of the charts, Brendan James moves 4-1 with his first hit, "The Lucky Ones," while Bruno Mars breathes down his neck, as his debut hit, "Just the Way You Are," moves 5-2.

The Scissor Sisters took the title of their hit track "Skin Tight" seriously. It and Daughtry's "One Last Chance" have been adjacent for 17 of their 19 weeks on the survey. This week, the two songs slide to positions 33 and 34, respectively.

Week of November 14

2010-11-11T13:04:00.000-08:00

The action on this week's survey is pretty much limited to the Top 15 and the bottom two, as most songs between positions 16 and 38 move no more than two places from last week.

Of the week's two debuts, "A Warning for the Heart" at No. 40 is the fifth Top 40 hit for Sunshine Anderson. The R&B singer's debut hit in 2001, "Heard It All Before," is still her biggest, having hit No. 1.

Keith Urban's latest, "Without You," is the week's other debut at No. 39. It's the fourth different Top 40 song to share that title since 1980, with Tina Turner and Mariah Carey (covering the classic Nilsson hit) sharing the distinction. The last was the No. 1 Franke and the Knockouts hit from 1982, which was subtitled "(Not Another Lonely Night)." In addition, Billy Ocean spent one week chartbound in 1986 with his own "Without You," a track from the album "Love Zone." (Ocean was the king of songs with those two words, having originally hit in the United States with "Love Really Hurts Without You" and having finished his hit streak on my charts in 1993 with "Everything's So Different Without You.")

At the top of the charts this week, Cee-Lo Green has a strong week with his solo hit, "Forget You," moving 4-1, and his duet with Fantasia, "The Thrill Is Gone," moving 13-8. Songwriters Brendan James and Bruno Mars are vying for a future No. 1 spot, as their respective hits, "The Lucky Ones" and "Just the Way You Are," move 10-4 and 13-5. And the Scissor Sisters plummet 2-14 with "Skin Tight," a bigger drop from the top five than the two leading candidates from earlier this year, Barenaked Ladies' "Summertime" (which fell 1-11) and Enrique Iglesias featuring Pitbull's "I Like It" (which fell 3-13).

Week of November 7

2010-11-04T08:42:00.000-07:00

After last week's debut-light survey, this week makes up for lost time, with seven new songs between positions 40 and 34. A couple of names long away from the Top 40 return this week. Ricky Martin, last seen in 1999 with the No. 11 "She's All I Ever Had," enters at No. 39 with "The Best Thing About Me Is You," a duet with Joss Stone. And one position below Ricky and Joss are Huey Lewis and the News. The veteran pop/rockers debut at No. 40 with "Just the One (I've Been Looking For)," a track from their new release "Soulsville." "Soulsville" is a collection of bluesy covers of Memphis-spawned hits; "Just the One (I've Been Looking For)" was originally recorded by Johnnie Taylor for the Stax label. Huey and the boys were last in the survey in 1991 with "Hit Me Like a Hammer." That was the last of their string of 13 Top 10 hits, which began in 1982 with "Do You Believe in Love?"

Two other debut songs are records that have earned considerable airplay on adult Top 40 and adult alternative radio this year. "Animal" is the very 1980s-sounding hit by Neon Trees, a group out of Utah. It debuts at No. 35. One notch below it is "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" by the Script, the Irish trio of Danny O'Donoghue, Mark Sheehan and Glen Power; this single sounds like the best late '80s and early '90s singles from Sting.

At No. 34, this week's highest debut is Tim McGraw's latest, "Felt Good on My Lips." This is definitely the poppiest song he's charted with, but it's part of a strong chart week for country songs and artists crossing over to the Top 40. Elsewhere, there are hits from Darius Rucker, Danny Gokey and three hits in the Top 10 including the new No. 1, Lady Antebellum's "Our Kind of Love."

Week of October 31

2010-10-28T08:01:00.000-07:00

Only one debut this week, but it has an interesting back story. "Wake Up, Everybody" was originally a No. 1 R&B and Top 20 pop hit nationally for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes in 1976. More recently, the song was covered by John Legend & The Roots, along with Common and Melanie Fiona. That version hit No. 33 back in September. A few weeks ago, I saw the documentary "Waiting for Superman," which features the Legend version over the closing credits. It reminded me not only how much I like the song, but also how underwhelming I thought the remake was. As much as I like John Legend, his smooth sounds didn't fit the urgency of the lyrics the way Teddy Pendergrass' gritty vocals did. So this week, the original "Wake Up" storms back onto the survey at No. 34, one notch lower than the peak of the remake. We'll see where it goes from here.

Elsewhere, Nelly notches a No. 1 hit with "Just a Dream" moving 6-1. Other hits making a splash this week include Seal's "Weight of My Mistakes" (35-26), Darius Rucker's "This" (36-27) and Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are" (27-16, the week's biggest mover).

Week of October 24

2010-10-21T20:01:00.001-07:00

This week is a big week of chart movement, with five new songs in the Top 40 and five new songs in the Top 10.

Of the new entries to the Top 10, Nelly places highest with "Just a Dream" moving 12-6. The St. Louis native most recently appeared on the chart with Janet Jackson on "Call on Me" (No. 17, 2006), but his two biggest hits fell during the period when my weekly charts were on hiatus. Both "My Place" featuring Jaheim and "Over and Over" featuring Tim McGraw were hits in 2004; though I didn't post weekly charts at the time, I did create year-end surveys, and both songs placed in the year-end top 15. "My Place" was No. 11, while "Over and Over" was the year's top song.

The country crossover ratio in the Top 10 continues at the same pace as last week as new Top 10 crossovers from Reba McEntire ("Turn on the Radio," 13-9) and Trace Adkins ("Between the Rainbows and the Rain," 14-10) replace descending hits from Darius Rucker and the team of the Zac Brown Band and Alan Jackson.

By moving 16-8 with their take on the George Harrison composition "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," Yo-Yo Ma notches his first Top 10 hit, India.Arie her sixth, and Santana his/their seventh (that total includes credits for the group and for leader Carlos Santana). One of those was the No. 1 collaboration "Do You Like the Way?" in 2000, which also featured the artist who moves 15-7 with "Forget You," Cee-Lo Green.

Five debuts this week feature artists familiar to the survey: Shakira, Seal and Darius Rucker as well as the duo of Elton John and Leon Russell and former Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page. "Never Too Old (to Hold Somebody)" at No. 39 comes from the new CD "The Union," the first album collaboration between the veteran musicians who had commercial peaks in 1975 -- Russell with the Top 20 hit "Lady Blue," and John with No. 1 hits in "Philadelphia Freedom," "Island Girl" and "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" as well as a Top 5 hit in "Someone Saved My Life Tonight." Page, meanwhile, has his first solo Top 40 hit, coming only a couple of month after BNL had their first non-Page No. 1 song, "Summertime."

Week of October 17

2010-10-15T06:39:00.001-07:00

Not much movement at the top of the chart -- the only big mover in the top 20 is Brendan James' "The Lucky Ones" (26-20) -- so we'll concentrate on the songs in the lower portion of the chart this week.

Four debut songs are topped by Bruno Mars' first hit on my charts. "Just the Way You Are" enters at No. 35. The song is already the No. 1 hit on Billboard's Hot 100, where Mars has had success in collaborations with other artists this year. Another act doing well on the Hot 100 is the group the Far East Movement, right behind Mars with "Like a G6" at No. 2. On my charts, the group's collaboration with singer Keri Hilson, "Don't Look Now," enters at No. 40.

Rihanna, who just slipped out of the countdown two weeks ago with her collaboration with Eminem, "Love the Way You Lie," is back with a solo hit. "Only Girl (in the World)" debuts at No. 38. It's her fourth chart appearance this year; besides the Eminem duet, she's hit with "Russian Roulette" (No. 14 in January) and "Redemption Song (for Haiti Relief)" (No. 11 in April).

The last of the new songs this week is "What Do You Got?" at No. 39. It's Bon Jovi's follow-up to the Top 20 "Superman Tonight." The group's appearances on my chart go back to 1986, when "You Give Love a Bad Name" hit No. 11. I remember seeing the band open for .38 Special in 1986 and reviewing the show as "the stuff of which homeroom conversations are made." They've come a long way since then ...

Week of October 10

2010-10-07T17:27:00.000-07:00

Three debuts this week, capped by the chart return of the late John Lennon. The slain singer-songwriter would have turned 70 this year, and to mark his birthday, his solo catalog is being re-released in remastered and reworked versions. From the "stripped down" version of his 1980 CD "Double Fantasy" comes the 2010 remix of "Watching the Wheels" at No. 34. The studio single version hit No. 8 in 1981. Lennon's last solo appearance was in 1984 when "Nobody Told Me" also hit No. 8; with The Beatles, he most recently appeared in 2007 when three of the group's compositions -- "Drive My Car," "The Word" and "What You're Doing" -- were remixed into a medley for the Cirque du Soleil show "Love." That medley hit No. 13.

At No. 37 with "Shame" are two former members of another successful British export, though not nearly as popular as the Fab Four. Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow both got their start in Take That, a vocal group that only had one U.S. hit -- "Back for Good," which hit No. 2 in 1995-96. Since then, neither artist has had massive success in the U.S., although both have done well in the U.K. Barlow made minor waves with "So Help Me Girl" in 1997; Williams has been more successful with dance and pop fans, with his biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit being the 2000 ballad "Angels." On my charts, he's done considerably better; "Angels" is but one of three No. 1 songs. The most recent came earlier this year -- "The Last Days of Disco."

Another collaboration produces the debut at No. 40. "Picture Window (Pop Version)" is from singer-songwriter and pianist Ben Folds, working with author and screenwriter Nick Hornby ("High Fidelity"). Hornby wrote the lyrics and Folds wrote the music for 11 tracks on the new collection "Lonely Avenue." "Picture Window" marks Folds' first time in the top 40 since his team-up with Regina Spektor on "You Don't Know Me" hit No. 6 in early 2009.

Elsewhere: MercyMe hits No. 1 with "Back to You," the group's first official charttopper (the breakthrough hit "I Can Only Imagine" was released in 2003 during my chart's hiatus). ... David Gray is trying for his seventh No. 1 as "A Moment Changes Everything" moves 6-2 ... One-third of the top 15 songs this week are country crossovers, with Trace Adkins, Reba McEntire, Darius Rucker and Lady Antebellum joining the former No. 1 hit from the Zac Brown Band featuring Alan Jackson.

Week of October 3

2010-09-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

All three of this week's debut songs feature artists who haven't been on the charts in years. At No. 40, "Somebody to Love Me" is the first hit for Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. Ronson is best known in the United States as producer of Amy Winehouse's breakthrough hit, "You Know I'm No Good." "Somebody to Love Me" features lead vocals from Boy George, making it his first appearance on the charts in almost 15 years; in early 1996, the title track from his CD "Cheapness and Beauty" hit No. 24.

One notch above Ronson is Phil Collins, whose "Going Back" is his first Top 40 appearance since "You'll Be in My Heart" hit No. 25 in 1999. ("Can't Stop Loving You" in 2003 fell during the chart's inactive period.) "Going Back" is the title track of Collins' recently released collection of mostly Motown remakes.

And at No. 35 is "A Brighter Day," the first track from the Doobie Brothers to hit the surveys since 1989. That's when the group had its last Top 10 hit, "The Doctor," which went to No. 2. Like that hit, this one features lead vocals from original Doobie lead singer Tom Johnston; of the songs on their new CD, "World Gone Crazy," only one features vocals from later lead singer Michael McDonald (and that appearance is more of a guest vocal).

At the top of the charts, the Zac Brown Band and guest Alan Jackson move 2-1 with "As She's Walking Away." This marks Jackson's first trip to the top since "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" in 2002. He came close in 2007 when "A Woman's Love" went to No. 2 for three weeks. The band is hot this week, with their latest CD debuting at the top of the Billboard 200 album charts.

Week of September 26

2010-09-24T06:56:00.000-07:00

Katy Perry bounces back for a third nonconsecutive week at No. 1 with "Teenage Dream." Her song is the fourth charttopper in 2010 to come back for another go-around; the previous three were V.V. Brown's "Shark in the Water," The Bird and the Bee's "Heard It on the Radio" and the Zac Brown Band's "Free." Zac and his band, meanwhile, move 3-2, trying to unseat Katy with "As She's Walking Away," a collaboration with Alan Jackson.

Other chart news this week from superstar collaborations: The biggest mover is "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" from Santana, India.Arie and Yo-Yo Ma, 40-29. Meanwhile, both Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull score concurrent Top 10 hits. Both artists are featured on "I Like It" at No. 5, while Pitbull teams up with Usher on No. 6, "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love," and Iglesias pairs with Akon on No. 10, "One Day at a Time."

As a collaborator and as a solo artist, Cee-Lo Green has a strong week. With Fantasia, he moves 31-26 with "The Thrill Is Gone." Solo, he sprints 27-21 with "Forget You."

Of this week's four new entries, the highest is by a newcomer, Brendan James, a New Hampshire native and UNC-Chapel Hill graduate. "The Lucky Ones" enters at No. 37. On the other end is an artist who began national popularity in the late 1950s with his brothers on what has become a wedding-reception classic, "Shout!" Ronald Isley debuts at No. 39 with "No More." It's his first solo hit; outside the Isley Brothers, he went to No. 1 in collaborations with Rod Stewart ("This Old Heart of Mine," 1990) and R. Kelly ("Down Low (Nobody Has to Know), 1996).

Week of September 19

2010-09-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

A year ago this week, Uncle Kracker was finishing up his run at the top with the song that eventually became the No. 1 song of 2009, "Smile." This week, he lands his third chart-topper in 12 months, as his duet with Kid Rock, "Good to Be Me," moves 2-1. ("Another Love Song" hit the top in the spring.) "Smile" is on its way out of Billboard's Hot 100, falling out of the Top 40 this week after a No. 31 peak on its second chart go-around. (This second Hot 100 run was fueled by a Top 10 country peak and a No. 1 run at Adult Contemporary.)

But the artist who is making the biggest splash this week is Cee Lo Green. As his duet with Fantasia, "The Thrill is Gone," moves 36-31, he leapfrogs in at No. 27 with "Forget You." It's the clean version of a hilariously vulgar song with a fabulous neo-soul groove that earned 3 million views on YouTube in its first week. Billboard calls "Forget You" the inferior edit but I actually think it works just fine. It should become a monster radio hit along the lines of Cee Lo's 2006 work as part of Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy."

The other debut, at No. 40, is also intriguing, but moreso for the odd combination of artists. Carlos Santana, who has hit the Top 40 with more collaborators than just about anyone in the past dozen years, is back, remaking the George Harrison composition "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Santana is joined by neo-soul singer India.Arie and classical cellist Yo Yo Ma. It'll be interesting to see whether this Santana combination does as well as No. 1 collaborations with Rob Thomas, Michelle Branch and ... Cee Lo Green, who joined Santana and Lauryn Hill in 2000 on "Do You Like the Way?"

Week of September 12

2010-09-09T14:46:00.000-07:00

Let's take a look at this week's new No. 1 song, biggest movers and debut songs.

The new chart-topper is "Misery" by Maroon 5. It's the band's third official No. 1 hit, following "Makes Me Wonder" in 2007 and "If I Never See Your Face Again" (featuring Rihanna) in 2008. The band had several hits from its debut album that came out during my chart's dormant period -- songs such as "Harder to Breathe," "This Love" and "She Will Be Loved." "Misery" is the first hit from the group's forthcoming album "Hands All Over."

Three of the week's biggest movers are from artists coming off recent Top 10 hits. MercyMe follows "All of Creation" with "Back to You," which leaps 22-12. David Gray's follow-up to his No. 1 duet with Annie Lennox, "Full Steam," is "A Moment Changes Everything" (23-14). And the Zac Brown Band is trying for back to back No. 1's, following "Free," as the group's collaboration with Alan Jackson, "As She's Walking Away," sprints 10-4. Meanwhile, jumping from 40 to 30 is "Not Broken," the latest from the Goo Goo Dolls. That group is making a bid for its first Top 10 hit since "Here Is Gone" went to No. 7 in 2002.

Of the three debuts this week, the most noteworthy is "Hey You," the first Top 40 hit in 20 years for Heart. In 1990, the group hit No. 24 with "Stranded." The group, led by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, was a top album-rock act in the 1970s, but they had a comeback as a power-pop band in the 1980s, when they scored a No. 1 hit in 1985 with "Never." "Hey You" is from their new CD "Red Velvet Car."

Natasha Bedingfield is back at No. 38 with "Touch," her first hit in about a year and a half, when "Soulmate" hit the Top 10. And Sara Bareilles isn't letting much time pass; while her former No. 1 "King of Anything" is still in the Top 10, she debuts with another cut from the CD "Kaleidoscope Heart." The nostalgic-sounding "Gonna Get Over You" enters at No. 39.

Week of September 5

2010-09-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

For the past decade, featured artists have been a dominant force on Billboard's Hot 100. The main contributor to the phenomenon is the rise of rap and hip-hop, which frequently exposed new artists to listeners through guest appearances on releases by more established artists. Today, that formula isn't quite so typical, as guest artists are just as likely to be as famous as the artists they're supporting. In addition, the practice has spread beyond rap and hip-hop to traditional R&B, pop/rock and even country.

This week on my charts, featured artists make up almost 25 percent, with seven of the nine songs that include featured artists placing in the Top 12. The songs span a wide range of styles: dance with rap (Pitbull featured on songs by Enrique Iglesias and Usher), R&B/rock (Velvet Revolver featured on Macy Gray's "Kissed It") and even country/rock (Kid Rock featured on Uncle Kracker's "Good to Be Me" and Alan Jackson featured on the Zac Brown Band's "As She's Walking Away").

A featured artist also appears among this week's three debuts. Cee-Lo, who previously has been part of the No. 1 act Gnarls Barkley ("Crazy," 2006) and a featured artist on Santana's "Do You Like the Way?" (No. 1, 2000), is back as a featured artist on Fantasia's "The Thrill Is Gone" at No. 38.

Of the other two new entries, Owl City avoids being a one-hit wonder, with "To the Sky" at No. 39; a year ago this week, debut hit "Fireflies" entered the Top 20. And the Goo Goo Dolls enter at No. 40 with "Not Broken," making the charts for the first time in four years. That's when "Stay With You" hit No. 19.

Week of August 29

2010-08-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

This week's chart activity is dominated by two rap artists. Rapper Pitbull pulls off the feat of earning his first two Top 10 hits in the same week, with his guest appearances on Enrique Iglesias' "I Like It" (14-9) and Usher's "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" (15-10).

Meanwhile, Eminem earns his first Top 40 hit on my charts, as his duet with Rihanna, "Love the Way You Lie," debuts at No. 36 in its clean version (explicit language edited out). I've struggled with charting this song because the first time I heard it a couple of months ago I wondered whether it was exploitative, given Rihanna's personal history with domestic violence. But over time, as I've listened to the lyrics, the song has resonated with me as an honest portrayal of the emotional tinderbox of an abusive relationship. It's certainly caught on with U.S. buyers and listeners, as it's reigned at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 for a month and a half.

Elsewhere on the charts: Donna Summer earns her sixth Top 40 hit of the 21st century with "To Paris With Love" at No. 40. Her biggest, "Stamp Your Feet," was the No. 1 song of 2008; John Mellencamp returns with "Save Some Time to Dream" at No. 39. He's placed 32 songs in the Top 40 in the past three decades, with his most recent No. 1 being 1997's "Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)." And Michael W. Smith enters with "Save Me From Myself" at No. 37, his first hit since the rebound "I Will Be Your Friend" went to the top earlier this year.

At the top of the charts, Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" caps its five-week sprint by moving 2-1. That rise was almost as fast as her chart activity with "California Gurls"; the Snoop Dogg duet (which falls out of the Top 40 this week) went to No. 1 in four weeks.

Week of August 22

2010-08-19T11:33:00.000-07:00

At the top of the charts, an interesting battle between two of the top female pop/rock singers of the past couple of years. Sara Bareilles moves 2-1 with "King of Anything," scoring her third No. 1 (after "Love Song" and "Love on the Rocks") in the past three years. But right behind her is Katy Perry, hoping to earn her third No. 1 in the past three years with "Teenage Dream." This week, the follow-up to "California Gurls" sprints 11-2.

Of this week's three debuts, country singer Trace Adkins has the highest, with "Between the Rainbows and the Rain" at No. 36. It's a track from his new release, "Cowboy's Back in Town," and it becomes his first Top 40 crossover since 2007. That's when "I Wanna Feel Something" went to No. 3 for two weeks.

Nelly enters at No. 37 with his latest, "Just a Dream." With hits such as "Dilemma" (featuring Kelly Rowland), "My Place" (featuring Jaheim) and "Over and Over" (featuring Tim McGraw) all falling during the period when my charts were inactive, this marks only his second Top 40 appearance. In late 2006, shortly after the charts restarted, his collaboration with Janet Jackson, "Call on Me," went to No. 17.

"Wake Up Everybody," a classic from Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, with Teddy Pendergrass on lead, still sounds fresh 34 years later. Nevertheless, it's spawned a remake by John Legend and The Roots, with guest appearances by Melanie Fiona and Common. The remake debuts at No. 38.

Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull both have two songs in the Top 15 this week. Their collaboration, "I Like It," moves 16-14. Sandwiching it are Iglesias' collaboration with Akon on "One Day at a Time" (14-13) and Pitbull's teamup with Usher, "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" (17-15).

Week of August 15

2010-08-12T07:12:00.000-07:00

With a tight Top 10 this week (songs moving up one or two positions), the song just below it is making the most chart noise. Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" zooms 29-11, undoubtedly heading to become her fourth Top 10 hit in the past two years, following "Hot 'N Cold," "Waking Up in Vegas" and "California Gurls" (with Snoop Dogg). Perry's first chart hit, "I Kissed a Girl," peaked at No. 20; her collaboration with Timbaland, "If We Ever Meet Again," hit No. 15 last month.

Four debuts this week, including follow-ups to recent No. 1 hits for the Zac Brown Band and David Gray. The Zac Brown Band team up with country chart-topper Alan Jackson on "As She's Walking Away" at No. 33; the song marks Jackson's seventh Top 40 appearance. His biggest hit is 2002's "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)?" which stayed at No. 1 for three weeks. Meanwhile, Gray's "A Moment Changes Everything" at No. 38 is his ninth Top 40 hit; his list of No. 1 songs includes "Babylon," "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" and his recent duet with Annie Lennox, "Full Steam."

Another debut comes from Seal. "Secret," at No. 35, is Seal's first appearance since his remake of "A Change is Gonna Come" hit No. 28 in 2008. Seal has hit the top twice, with his debut hit "Seal" in 1991 and "A Prayer for the Dying" in 1994.

Week of August 8

2010-08-05T06:47:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back, I reflected about how cool it is that the Internet gives music lovers far more sources for learning about new artists than were available in past decades. I've learned about Janelle Monáe through a friend's Facebook posting, the Zac Brown Band through another's music blog and charting, and Nikki Yanofsky, Larsen B and others through iTunes' "Free Single of the Week" feature.

Well, this week you can add "forgotten artists" to "new artists," as this week's top entry is a 36-year-old recording I learned about through the music blog of disc jockey and music lover Jim Bartlett. His blog, The Hits Just Keep On Comin', regularly introduces me to facets of the industry I've never known, and this week -- in his look at one-hit-wonders that peaked at No. 92 on the Hot 100 -- he introduced me to Lea Roberts. Through his blog, I heard her version of Neil Sedaka's "Laughter in the Rain." Recorded in 1974, the song still sounds fresh today. And it's fresh enough for me to chart it; it's No. 32 this week.

My local radio stations may not where I learn about new music any more, but radio still has its own powers. (My current local radio faves are two new AM stations that focus on country music of the '60s. '70s and early '80s and pop-Top 40 music of the '50s-'80s.) Reba McEntire's latest, "Turn on the Radio" at No. 36, is but the latest of several chart songs to extol the powers of radio; it joins the 20-week-charting "Heard It on the Radio" by The Bird and the Bee in this week's survey. "Heard It..." became the biggest "radio" song on my charts, surpassing such Top 10 hits as Bruce Springsteen's "Radio Nowhere," Everclear's "AM Radio" and Queen's "Radio Ga-Ga."

One sign of how swiftly new music is moving is seeing how many songs in the Top 10 have been on the charts for less than 10 weeks. This week, only two of the Top 10 songs are older than 10 weeks, making for the "newest" Top 10 in all of 2010. Only the former No. 1 song "Free" from the Zac Brown Band and the new No. 1, "Cool My Heels" by Nikki Yanofsky, are in double-digit chart runs. It'll be interesting to see which of the young turks arise victorious in the weeks to come.

Week of August 1

2010-07-29T07:02:00.001-07:00

Lots of hot movers this week including songs from Sheryl Crow ("Summer Day," 21-12), Macy Gray featuring Velvet Revolver ("Kissed It," 19-13), Gaslight Anthem ("American Slang," 20-14), Enrique Iglesias featuring Akon ("One Day at a Time," 23-18) and Scissor Sisters ("Skin Tight," 37-31) and three new songs in the Top 10. But to make room for all this movement, some songs had to fall -- and no song had a more dramatic fall this week than last week's No. 1. "Summertime" from Barenaked Ladies slipped all the way to No. 11. It's the first time that's happened since my weekly charts resumed in 2006. (Before that, it had only happened once -- when Billy Joel's "Pressure" dropped 1-12 the week of December 19, 1982.) This drop is a combination of pressure (no pun intended) from new songs rising into the chart's upper reaches and the Barenaked Ladies' song losing steam after taking 16 weeks to rise to the top.

At No. 1 this week with "Free," The Zac Brown Band become the second act to rebound to the top this summer; The Bird and the Bee's "Heard It on the Radio" did the trick a few weeks back.

Of the three debuts this week, two are follow-ups to No. 1 hits: Katy Perry goes solo this time with "Teenage Dream" at No. 36 while Lady Antebellum returns with "Our Kind of Love" at No. 39. The third debut is "Marilyn" from chart newcomers Larsen B. The band, from Hertfordshire, England, is named after a former Arctic ice shelf. The song is this week's iTunes free download, and it joins four former iTunes free downloads on the survey: Nikki Yanofsky's "Cool My Heels" at No. 2, Two Door Cinema Club's "Something Good Can Work" at No. 4, Gaslight Anthem's "American Slang" at No. 14 and Erik Hassle's "Hurtful" at No. 27.

Week of July 25

2010-07-22T08:20:00.000-07:00

This week, with their ascension to No. 1, Barenaked Ladies have one of the 10 biggest "summer" songs in the roughly three-decade span of my charts. Here's how "Summertime" ranks as of this week, with "summer" songs defined as songs with the actual season in the title:

1. Endless Summer Nights – Richard Marx, 1988
2. Sausalito Summernight – Diesel, 1981
3. ’Til Summer Comes Around – Keith Urban, 2010
4. All Summer Long – Kid Rock, 2008
5. The Boys of Summer – Don Henley, 1985
6. Summertime – Barenaked Ladies, 2010
7. Hot Summer Nights – Night, 1979
8. Suddenly Last Summer – The Motels, 1983
9. Summer Son – Texas, 2000
10. Blame It on the Summer – Basia, 2009

Oddly enough, several of these songs (e.g., "The Boys of Summer," "Sausalito Summernight") were not hits in the actual summertime, but that didn't stop them from becoming successful. It looks like Sheryl Crow could join that club in the next few weeks as her "Summer Day" moves 27-21 this week.

Elsewhere, Pitbull enters the Top 40 for the second time in three weeks as a guest artist. While "I Like It," his collaboration with Enrique Iglesias, moves 31-28, his team-up with Usher leapfrogs his earlier hit by debuting at No. 27. "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" is Usher's third Top 40 hit in 2010, following "Papers" (No. 20 in January) and "Making Love (Into the Night)" (No. 23, last month).

Brandon Flowers debuts at No. 39 with "Crossfire." It's the first solo single for the lead singer of The Killers, who have hit the Top 40 four times, with their biggest single being "Read My Mind" (No. 2 in 2007).

Week of July 18

2010-07-15T06:50:00.000-07:00

In 25+ years of personal charting, only a handful of songs have proved strong enough to hit No. 1, bide their time for three weeks or more, and then return to the top. This week, The Bird and the Bee joins that club, as "Heard It on the Radio" is back at No. 1, returning after six weeks. That ties the record for the longest time between No. 1 appearances for a song in one chart run. Here are the other songs that have waited out chart fortunes several weeks for a second shot at the top:

* 1983: "I Won't Hold You Back," Toto -- three weeks
* 1995: "I Can Love You Like That," All-4-One -- three weeks
* 1998: "Crush," Jennifer Paige -- three weeks
* 1999-2000: "When the Heartache Is Over," Tina Turner -- six weeks
* 2007: "When She Loves You," Emerson Hart -- five weeks
* 2008: "Stamp Your Feet," Donna Summer -- five weeks
* 2009: "I Look to You," Whitney Houston -- three weeks

With its return to the top, The Bird and the Bee vaults into the top five of 2010 (so far).

Elsewhere, Sara Bareilles lands her fourth Top 10 hit in five tries as "King of Anything" moves 16-10. Uncle Kracker makes a bid for a third consecutive No. 1 hit as his collaboration with Kid Rock, "Good to Be Me" leaps 23-15. Right behind is Maroon 5's latest hit, "Misery," up 24-16.

Among this week's debuts, Darius Rucker has the highest at No. 37 with "Come Back Song," the first release from his new album. His first country album spun off three consecutive No. 1 hits. And Daughtry notches a ninth Top 40 hit with "One Last Chance" at No. 38 from the EP "Leave This Town, the B-Sides." The group has put together an impressive run in the past four years, with six of its first eight hits going to the Top 10.

Week of July 11

2010-07-08T06:39:00.000-07:00

At the top of the charts, Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg's "California Gurls" finally yields to the Zac Brown Band's "Free" after a five-week run, the longest of any song so far in 2010. Elsewhere, the large chart logjam of last week breaks in a big way, with songs from MercyMe, Adam Lambert and Lady GaGa plummeting and strong moves for Erik Hassle (16-12), Janelle Monae and Big Boi (17-13), the Steve Miller Band (18-14) and One Eskimo (24-17).

A mini logjam in positions 5 through 9 means Nikki Yanofsky is living up to the title of her first hit. "Cool My Heels" has now been No. 7 for a month, joining chartmates Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (No. 6) and the Rolling Stones (No. 5) for four consecutive weeks in their respective positions.

Two down, 48 to go: Melissa Etheridge debuts this week at No. 36 with the "Fearless Love" album track "Indiana." This isn't her first time in the Top 40 with a title referencing a state. "California" went to No. 39 in 2007. (Wonder what "Rhode Island" or "Oregon" might sound like?)

Enrique Iglesias storms the charts this week, with two tracks from his new release "Euphoria" entering the Top 40 and another chartbound. All three feature guest performers. At No. 32, he has the week's highest debut with "One Day at a Time" featuring Akon. At No. 39, "I Like It" marks the first Top 40 appearance on my charts for rapper Pitbull. And Pussycat Dolls lead singer and "Dancing With the Stars" champion Nicole Scherzinger is chartbound on Iglesias' "Heartbeat." These collaborations aren't the first ones to score for Iglesias. Last year, he and Ciara hit No. 13 with "Takin' Back My Love." And a decade ago, he and Whitney Houston teamed up on "Could I Have This Kiss Forever?" which went to No. 7.

At No. 34, Ed Kowalczyk, the former lead singer of the group Live, debuts with his first solo hit, "Drink (Everlasting Love)." And at No. 33, "Don't Wake Me When It's Over" marks Lifehouse replacing itself in the countdown as the band's former No. 1, "It Is What It Is," drops out this week.

Week of July 4

2010-07-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

When summertime rolls around, the heat either gets people moving quickly or slowing substantially. Summertime music charts have a way of doing the same thing.

This week, my charts slow down in a way they haven't since their 2006 resumption, as the top 17 songs hold position from the previous week. (Technically, the week of June 22, 2008, had an even greater slowdown as all 40 songs held position from the week before. But that was a fluke, as I was on vacation out of the country and did not post chart updates, so the survey locked down.) Prior to this week, the longest non-vacation chart slowdown occurred the week of Oct. 14, 2007, when the top nine songs held position, anchored by James Blunt's "1973" at No. 1. When combined with the fact that last week's top seven held position, this makes for a tightly packed set of songs atop the summer 2010 charts. My guess is that the pressure cooker will blow next week.

Whenever it does, several big movers in the lower positions this week are poised to take advantage. Moving six places or more up the survey are the Steve Miller Band's "Sweet Soul Vibe" (24-18), Sara Bareilles' "King of Anything" (25-19), Kylie Minogue's "All the Lovers" (29-23), One Eskimo's "Kandi" (30-24), Uncle Kracker featuring Kid Rock's "Good to Be Me" (34-25), Maroon 5's "Misery" (35-26) and Macy Gray featuring Velvet Revolver's "Kissed It" (36-30).

Among this week's debuts: Secondhand Serenade avoids being a one-hit wonder as "Something More" enters at No. 40. (The act's "Fall for You" hit No. 12 in December 2008.) And Sheryl Crow continues her seasonal streak with "Summer Day" entering at No. 38. Her first No. 1 hit, "All I Wanna Do," broke through in the summer of 1994, and one of her other charttoppers, "Soak Up the Sun," was a huge hit in summer 2002. This marks her first Top 40 solo appearance in about two years, when "Love Is Free" went to No. 14.

Week of June 27

2010-06-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

By holding at No. 1 for a fourth consecutive week, Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg are making a serious run for the top hit of 2010 with "California Gurls." The current leader is "Put It in a Love Song" by Alicia Keys and Beyonce, the only other song to spend four weeks at the top so far this year. Perry and Snoop can pass them with a longer run at the top or a longer chart run overall. We'll see how things go in the weeks to come.

Meanwhile, five new songs this week, including some artists who haven't been around in a little while. Maroon 5 return at No. 35 with "Misery." It's the group's first chart appearance in about a year and a half, since their collaboration with Mary J. Blige on the remix of "Wake Up Call" hit No. 12. A much longer chart drought ends for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. "I Should Have Known It" enters at No. 38, making it the first chart appearance in eight years for the group; "The Last D.J." hit No. 15 back in 2002. Their latest is from their new release, "Mojo."

Uncle Kracker is trying for three in a row with "Good to Be Me," his collaboration with Kid Rock from his new EP, "Happy Hour: The South River Road Sessions." Kracker's last two songs -- "Smile" and "Another Love Song" -- both went to No. 1.

An interesting chart oddity this week: Three songs with very similar titles are within a few positions of one another. Sister Hazel holds at No. 31 with "All the Love" from the group's EP "Threeve." A couple of positions higher, Kylie Minogue moves up four with her latest single, "All the Lovers." And one notch above that is Bettye Lavette with her remake of Led Zeppelin's 1979 track "All My Love."

Last note for the week: MercyMe's "All of Creation" is showing unusual staying power by moving back into the Top 10, this week up 13-10, after having peaked at No. 6 and fallen out of the Top 10 a few weeks back. The group's most popular songs, "I Can Only Imagine" and "Here With Me," came during the period when my charts were inactive, but this one looks to rival them in popularity.

Week of June 20

2010-06-18T07:33:00.000-07:00

It could be hard to tell from a look at the top of the chart, but this week is one of the busiest chart weeks of 2010 to date: Ten songs move up at least 5 positions from last week and two others debut at positions 30 and 33. As spring becomes summer, it's not unusual for the charts to heat up, too. It'll be interesting to see which of this week's big movers triumph in the chart battles of future weeks.

Of all the sprints, the biggest belongs to Hanson, moving 37-18 with "Waiting for This." The track from the "Shout It Out" CD becomes the trio of brothers' sixth Top 20 hit. On my charts, their biggest is not their Billboard chart-topping debut "Mmm-Bop"; that hit No. 2 on my surveys in 1997. Rather, "This Time Around," the title track of their 2000 album, is their biggest on my charts, going to No. 1 for two weeks. That same album spun off three more chart hits -- "If Only" (No. 10, 2000), "A Song to Sing" (No. 22, 2000) and "I Wish That I Was There" (No. 7, 2001).

Kylie Minogue returns to the charts this week with "All the Lovers" at No. 33. On my charts, her biggest hit remains 1989's "It's No Secret," which went to No. 8.

While Minogue's chart presence goes back 21 years, the highest debut belongs to an act with an even longer streak. The Steve Miller Band was a mainstay of Top 40 radio in the 1970s, predating my charts. Their last appearance on my surveys came with "Abracadabra" in 1982, which went to No. 12. "Sweet Soul Vibe," entering this week at No. 30, comes from their latest set, "Bingo!"

One last note: This week's repeat win-place-show is the first since Feb. 21. The three repeats from Feb. 14 were Reba McEntire's "Consider Me Gone" at No. 3, Robbie Williams' "Last Days of Disco" at No. 2 and Alicia Keys and Beyonce's "Put It in a Love Song" at No. 1.

Week of June 13

2010-06-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

For the second time in a month, the No. 1 song on my charts is a song that has also topped Billboard's Hot 100. But unlike "Break Your Heart," the Taio Cruz-Ludacris collaboration that went to No. 1 in Billboard several weeks before topping my charts, "California Gurls" by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg ascends to Billboard's No. 1 this week, a week after topping my charts.

By staying atop my charts this week, "California Gurls" stops the revolving door that has gone on since mid-March, when V.V. Brown's "Shark in the Water" spent two consecutive weeks at No. 1. In that streak, 10 songs spent a week at the top (including a nonconsecutive one-week return for "Shark"). On the subject of nonconsecutive No. 1 runs, it's possible that The Bird and the Bee's "Heard It on the Radio" could join that club. This week, it rebounds 5-3.

Some significant drops from the Top 10 and in the lower part of the chart as well, provide momentum for several hits, including Nikki Yanofsky's "Cool My Heels" (21-10), Erik Hassle's "Hurtful" (35-28) and "Stop for a Minute" from Keane featuring K'naan (28-21).

Just two debuts this week. "King of Anything" at No. 36 is Sara Bareilles' fifth Top 40 hit, following three solo releases and her No. 2 collaboration with OneRepublic, "Come Home." And Hanson returns to the Top 40 for the first time in three and a half years, with "Waiting for This" at No. 37. Last time out, they took "Great Divide" to No. 21 in 2006-07.

Week of June 6

2010-06-04T15:15:00.001-07:00

Four new songs on the chart this week, but let's start at the top, with the second-fastest-rising No. 1 hit of the year. "California Gurls," by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg, moves 5-1 to hit the top in its fourth chart week. Only "My Confession," from Rie Sinclair and Friends, has moved faster, hitting No. 1 in January in its third chart week. It's the second No. 1 hit for Perry following "Hot 'n' Cold" in 2008; Snoop Dogg had a 2004 hit duet with Angie Stone, "I Wanna Thank Ya," that fell during the period my weekly charts were dormant.

Two newcomers enter the Top 40 this week. "Tightrope," at No. 37, is the first hit for Janelle Monáe, a singer-songwriter originally from Brooklyn, N.Y. This single is from her new release "The ArchAndroid," and it features Big Boi of OutKast, who also was a co-executive producer. I heard about Monáe through friends on Facebook and decided to check out some of her songs on iTunes. (Love the myriad ways we learn about new music these days!)

Meanwhile, at No. 40, is "Will You Be There" by Jaicko, an 18-year-old from Barbados born Jaicko Lawrence who goes professionally by his first name only. His sound reminds me a bit of Craig David from the United Kingdom -- a mix of contemporary R&B and pop with a dance groove, too.

Speaking of dance, Lady GaGa's latest, "Alejandro," enters at No. 38. Every time I hear this song, I think of Ace of Base's "Don't Turn Around." And Sister Hazel's "All the Love" at No. 39 is their seventh Top 40 hit on my charts. It follows up "Better Way" from last fall, their first hit not to go to No. 1. (It peaked at No. 20.) The other five? "All for You," "Change Your Mind," "Champagne High," "Meet Me in the Memory" and "This Kind of Love."

Week of May 30

2010-05-27T06:09:00.000-07:00

Three debuts this week, capped by the Swell Season, led by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. "High Horses," at No. 38, is the follow-up to the Top 10 "Low Rising." I saw the group in concert last week and it was uniformly excellent. I wasn't familiar with the group's music beyond "Low Rising" and the Oscar-nominated "Falling Slowly" from "Once" (credited to Hansard and Irglova, that hit the Top 10 on my charts a few years back). I definitely recommend seeing them if you get a chance.

Soul/R&B veteran Bettye Lavette is back at No. 40 with "All My Love," her take on a Led Zeppelin track from their "In Through the Out Door" album from 1979. (This must be the year for Led Zep R&B remakes, as Mary J. Blige has covered "Whole Lotta Love" and "Stairway to Heaven.") Lavette's last time in the Top 40 was in 2007, when "I Guess We Shouldn't Talk About That Now" hit No. 21. "All My Love" is from her latest collection, "Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook."

The last of the debuts comes from Erik Hassle. "Hurtful," at No. 39, was selected last week as iTunes' free download of the week. Hassle is a 21-year-old singer-songwriter from Sweden, and "Hurtful" comes from his debut release in the U.S., "Pieces."

At the top of the charts this week, The Bird and the Bee conclude their chart rise with "Heard It on the Radio" moving 2-1. But two songs take big leaps into the Top 10 to challenge it in weeks to come. "Free," by the Zac Brown Band, moves 21-9, a 12-notch jump, while coming on even stronger is "California Gurls" from Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg, bounding 17 positions, 22-5. Can either one of them slow down what's become a revolving door at No. 1? We'll see.

Week of May 23

2010-05-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

Two debuts this week. The new entry at No. 39 is actually the first Top 40 hit on my charts for Tonic. The late '90s band earned national attention with songs such as "If You Could Only See" and "You Wanted More." "Nothing Is Everything" is from the group's first effort since the solo success of singer/songwriter Emerson Hart. Hart went to No. 1 on my charts a few years back with three successive hits, "If You're Gonna Leave," "When She Loves You" and "I Wish the Best for You."

Meanwhile, Katy Perry makes it two weeks in a row for debut collaborations. "If We Ever Meet Again," her team-up with Timbaland, enters at No. 40. Last week's debut, "California Gurls" featuring Snoop Dogg, leaps 32-22 this week. It ties with the Zac Brown Band's "Free" for the week's top mover (that song moves 31-21).

At the top of the chart, Lifehouse rebounds from the No. 16 peak for "Halfway Gone" with the follow-up as "It Is What It Is" moves up 2-1. That's the group's third chart-topper, following "First Time" in 2007 and "Whatever It Takes" in 2008.

Week of May 16

2010-05-13T06:56:00.000-07:00

Up at the top of the charts this week is "Break Your Heart" by Taio Cruz featuring Ludacris. It's a former No. 1 hit on Billboard's Hot 100, which is a rarity these days. In years and decades past, Billboard chart-toppers were regularly No. 1 songs on my charts, but these days the urban-Top 40-leaning Hot 100 and my AAA-Adult Top 40-leaning charts don't have as much overlap. "Break Your Heart" is the first Hot 100 No. 1 in 2010 on my chart; last year, there were two -- Lady GaGa/Colby O'Donis' "Just Dance" and "Fireflies" by Owl City.

Five debuts this week including a couple of interesting collaborations. Pop singer Katy Perry teams up with veteran rapper Snoop Dogg on "California Gurls" at No. 32. The English rock band Keane debut at No. 38 with "Stop for a Minute," a collaboration with Somali-Canadian rapper K'naan. And Michael Bolton makes a comeback at No. 40 with "Murder My Heart," a song that features backing vocals by co-writer Lady GaGa. It's a more subdued vocal from longtime belter Bolton, who hasn't been on the charts since "Steel Bars" went to No. 6 in 1992. (That one was an unusual collaboration, too, co-written by Bob Dylan.)

The week's highest debut is "Free" by the Zac Brown Band at No. 31. The group has caught fire on country radio in the past year, but this song came to my attention courtesy of my friends at UU-BRU Internet Radio. (If you haven't listened to "the electric eclectic Top 40," give it a shot.) This track reminds of songs I've liked by George Strait, Tim McGraw and even James Taylor. An interesting blend; we'll see how it does in future weeks.

Week of May 9

2010-05-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

This week, there are five remakes in the Top 40, not including Usher's "Making Love (Into the Night)," an original that incorporates Benny Mardones' "Into the Night." The latest is an interesting collaboration by two artists who each have had hits with the song. "You've Got a Friend," a Carole King composition, became popular concurrently as an album track on her legendary "Tapestry" and as a Billboard chart-topping single by James Taylor. King and Taylor debut this week at No. 37 with their duet on a live version of "Friend," recorded in late 2007 at L.A.'s Troubadour. The song is on "Live at the Troubadour," an album of King and Taylor concert duets.

Nikki Yanofsky received attention at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics with her performance of the song "I Believe." Yanofsky, a Montreal-born singer in the Norah Jones vein, debuts at No. 39 with "Cool My Heels," her first chart hit.

The final debut is from Joss Stone. "Could Have Been You," at No. 38, is her second song from "Colour Me Free" to chart (the first being "Free Me" at the beginning of the year).

At the top of the charts, Uncle Kracker earns back-to-back No. 1's with "Another Love Song." It follows "Smile," which went to No. 1 for four nonconsecutive weeks and became the top song of 2009. We'll see whether this one has similar staying power.

Week of May 2

2010-04-29T04:15:00.001-07:00

Lots of steady chart movement this week, but few big movers (Adam Lambert's "Voodoo" being the exception, up eight to No. 31), so let's concentrate on the debuts.

The week's top debut is a medley of two very popular songs that haven't done as well on my charts as they have elsewhere. Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" is the longest-running Hot 100 hit in Billboard history (76 weeks), but it never caught on with me, while Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's Hawaiian take on "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" has been a standard in movies and TV shows in the years since the musician's death in 1997. This week, the two songs debut at No. 36 as a medley by the vocal group Straight No Chaser. The 10-man a cappella group originally from Bloomington, Ind., (shout-out to my alma mater, Indiana University!) caught fire the past couple of years on the adult contemporary charts with renditions of Christmas classics. This medley is from their new release "With a Twist."

At No. 37 is a song that also has an IU connection. Alumnus Ryan Murphy created the hit show "Glee," which has spawned more than two dozen Billboard Hot 100 remakes in the past year. The first to chart on my surveys is the all-male remake of "What It Feels Like for a Girl," from last week's all-Madonna episode. The original went to No. 1 in 2000-01. (A medley of two other Madonna hits, "Borderline" and "Open Your Heart" is bubbling under the Top 40 this week.)

The Rolling Stones are back with their first hit in years, "Plundered My Soul," at No. 38. It's a newly unearthed track from the "Exile On Main Street" sessions, with some production updates. Most of the Stones' biggest hits came long before my charts, so their biggest hit here is the ballad "Out of Tears," which hit No. 2 for three weeks in 1994-95.

Christina Aguilera rounds up the debuts with "Not Myself Tonight" at No. 40. We'll see how far this goes; I like the groove a lot but it's a tough song to listen to repeatedly, with a lead-in to the chorus that contains the f-word. (Guess I should see if there's a "clean" version available on iTunes!)

One last note: Keith Urban keeps his unusual chart streak this week with the new No. 1 song, " 'Til Summer Comes Around." What's unusual about it? Every time a song of his has gone to the Top 10, it has gone to No. 1. Otherwise, he misses the Top 10 entirely. This is now his fourth chart-topper, following "Once in a Lifetime," "Stupid Boy" and "Standing Right in Front of You."

Week of April 25

2010-04-22T06:02:00.000-07:00

After the chart slowness of the past few weeks, this week's chart speeds up, with 15 songs moving 4 or more positions up the survey. A revitalized Top 10 with four new entries leads the pack, with first-time Top 10 hits for The Bird and the Bee ("Heard It on the Radio," 17-7), Goldfrapp ("Dreaming," 18-8) and Daniel Merriweather ("Not Giving Up," 15-9).

Annie Lennox is nothing if not consistent. Fifteen years ago this week, she was in the Top 10 with "No More 'I Love You's," and a year ago this week, "Shining Light" resided in the Top 10. This week, she moves to No. 1 as duet partner of David Gray on "Full Steam." It's her sixth number one as a solo artist (including her duet with Al Green on "Put a Little Love in Your Heart"). In addition, she's gone to the top four times with Eurythmics: "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," "Here Comes the Rain Again," "Would I Lie to You?" and "17 Again" were those chart-toppers.

This is a good week for electronic dance pop. In addition to the healthy moves for Goldfrapp and The Bird and the Bee, both debuts fall into that category. "Voodoo" at No. 39 marks Adam Lambert's fourth Top 40 hit in the past year. And at No. 40 "Something Good Can Work" becomes the first chart hit for Two Door Cinema Club. The band's MySpace page refers to them as a three-man indie/electronica group -- Alex Trimble, Kev Baird and Sam Halliday -- out of Bangor, Northern Ireland. This song was selected as iTunes free single download last week.

Week of April 18

2010-04-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

Four debuts this week, and three have a link to the 1980s. At No. 40, singer Cary Brothers debuts with "Something About You." It's a remake of the 1986 hit by Level 42, which hit No. 2 for three weeks. Meanwhile, Usher's latest at No. 39, "Making Love (Into the Night)," incorporates part of the melody and lyrics from the two-time hit from Benny Mardones. "Into the Night" went to No. 1 in 1980 and, upon re-release, No. 3 in 1989.

The third 1980s link is a little less literal. Murs & 9th Wonder debut at No. 37 with "I Used to Love Her (Again)," a song that uses the metaphor of a romance to talk about the artists' relationship with hip-hop. In theme and approach, it's reminiscent of early hip-hop artists. Hip-hop is not my favorite genre of popular music, but sometimes particular songs catch my attention. (It definitely helped that I was familiar with 9th Wonder, a North Carolina-born producer, from local media.)

Last week, the logjam was in the top 10; this week, it's affecting positions 11 through 21, which probably portends a good deal of midchart action next week. Meanwhile, probably in its final Top 10 week is Michael W. Smith's "I Will Be Your Friend," down 1-6. This would be a fitting bow for the song as 10 years ago this week it entered the Top 10 for its first run. (It came back in January in tribute to my then-ailing cat Dr. Gray, who now seems to be getting along well, thank goodness.)

Week of April 11

2010-04-08T03:33:00.000-07:00

Three new songs to the Top 40 this week. Shinedown tries for three No. 1 hits in a row, as the iTunes Session version of "Call Me" enters at No. 35. The band went to the top last year with "Second Chance" (three weeks in May) and "If You Only Knew" (two weeks in December).

Barenaked Ladies debut at No. 39 with "Summertime," their first Top 40 hit since "Too Little, Too Late" went to No. 15 in 2001. (Two songs -- "Another Postcard (Chimpanzees)" in 2003 and "Easy" in 2006 -- fell during the chart's hiatus.) The group's biggest hit on my charts is "It's All Been Done," a No. 1 hit in 1999.

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings have earned quite a reputation among critics and fans by touring cross-country the past decade. Their version of "This Land Is Your Land," heard over the opening credits of the George Clooney movie "Up in the Air," earned mainstream attention, and now their first Top 40 hit comes with the title track of their new album, "I Learned the Hard Way." It enters this week at No. 40.

At the top of the charts, Michael W. Smith's "I Will Be Your Friend" improves on its first chart run about a decade ago by moving 5-1 this week. Look for some upper-chart action next week as the songs in spots 6-10 are being held back this week by a top five largely dominated by former No. 1 songs.

Week of April 4

2010-04-02T07:17:00.000-07:00

Guess it's fitting for the weekend that Christians celebrate as the Easter Triduum that the highest debut is from one of the pioneer Christian crossover acts on the pop charts, Amy Grant. Twenty-five years ago, she went to No. 1 with "(Love Will) Find a Way," her first crossover hit. She's had almost 20 chart appearances since then, and her latest, "Better Than a Hallelujah," enters at No. 34 from her "Somewhere Down the Road" collection.

Of the three other debuts this week, two add to impressive chart totals for their acts. By entering at No. 39 with "Soul Sick," Rob Thomas matches his solo output of 10 chart hits (including his guest shot on Santana's "Smooth") to the 10 times he's appeared with Matchbox Twenty. Meanwhile, Janet Jackson's "Nothing" at No. 37 marks her 45th chart hit including collaborations with Shaggy, Luther Vandross/BBD/Ralph Tresvant, Carly Simon and her brother Michael. "Nothing" comes from the soundtrack of "Why Did I Get Married Too?" a Tyler Perry movie in which she stars.

The newcomers to the survey are the members of the group Paper Tongues, entering at No. 40 with "Trinity." The seven-member band out of Charlotte, N.C. -- Aswan North, Devin Forbes, Cody Blackler, Joey Signa, Clayton Simon, Jordan Hardee and Danny Santell -- have said they're trying to blend elements of rock and hip-hop/R&B in their work. This song was selected as iTunes' free single of the week this week.

Up in the Top 10, lots of movement as three songs make healthy moves from lower in the chart. "Another Love Song," Uncle Kracker's follow-up to last year's No. 1 hit, "Smile," moves 14-8. Even bigger moves come from Taio Cruz and Ludacris with the former Billboard chart-topper "Break Your Heart" (22-9) and Lifehouse with their latest album cut, "It Is What It Is" (26-10). Finally, the new No. 1 song, "Each Tear," is the eighth chart-topper for Mary J. Blige including duets with George Michael and Elton John (her duet with Sting, "Whenever I Say Your Name," fell during my chart hiatus but it would've been a No. 1 hit -- as it was, it was the No. 1 hit of 2003 in my year-end surveys, which continued even during the hiatus).

Week of March 28

2010-03-25T06:37:00.000-07:00

After a light week for debuts last week, six new songs pop on the charts this week, half of which come from chart newcomers.

She & Him are singer-actress Zooey Deschanel and singer-songwriter M. Ward. Their first album, "Volume One," was a critical hit. The song at No. 40, "Gonna Get Along Without You Now," comes from the follow-up, "Volume Two." Its their first hit on my charts.

Another duo scoring their first hit on my charts are The Bird and the Bee, aka Inara George and Greg Kurstin. Their album "Interpreting the Masters Volume 1" is billed as a tribute to the work of Daryl Hall and John Oates, and it features covers of such songs as "Maneater," "One on One," "She's Gone" and "I Can't Go for That." But my favorite track is a Kurstin-George original, "Heard It on the Radio." The music definitely reflects the "Voices"/"Private Eyes" era of Hall and Oates. The song is this week's highest debut, at No. 35.

Colbie Caillat's "I Never Told You" at No. 36 is her third hit from "Breakthrough," following "Fallin' for You" (No. 1) and "Out of My Mind" (No. 13). Bon Jovi re-enters for the first time since 2007 as "Superman Tonight" comes in at No. 38. But the real chart comeback this week belongs to country singer Mindy McCready. She's only had one hit on my chart, "Guys Do It All the Time" in 1996, which went to No. 22. She's back this week as "I'm Still Here" enters at No. 39.

Two songs enter the Top 10 this week by two of the hottest male artists of the past decade. At first blush, country singer Keith Urban might not seem to fit that designation. He's only had three Top 10 hits on my chart. But so far, when he hits the Top 10, he goes all the way to the top: "Once in a Lifetime," "Stupid Boy" and "Standing Right in Front of You" each went to the summit. This week, " 'Til Summer Comes Around" moves 15-10. Will his streak continue?

Meantime, "Full Steam" by David Gray featuring Annie Lennox moves 11-9. Gray has had five "official" No. 1s on my chart ("Babylon," "Please Forgive Me," "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye," "Sail Away" and "The World to Me"), while "The One I Love" was a hit during my charts' hiatus period (but still became the No. 1 song of 2005, so it's likely it would've been a No. 1 hit). Can this duet return him to the top?

Week of March 21

2010-03-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

Only one debut this week, and a holdover at No. 1, but lots of midchart action. It'll be interesting to see which of these songs will advance to the Top 10 and No. 1 in the weeks to come.

Fantasia has this week's sole debut: "Even Angels," at No. 39. The "American Idol" victor has had three previous chart hits ("I Believe" was a hit during a time when my charts were on hiatus). "Hood Boy" and "Uneligible" each peaked at No. 16, while her collaboration with Aretha Franklin, "Put You Up on Game," hit No. 26.

Week of March 14

2010-03-11T07:53:00.001-08:00

Chart newcomers dominate this week's debuts, with the only debut from a veteran coming from John Mayer. "Heartbreak Warfare," at No. 37, is Mayer's 10th hit since 2002, when he went to No. 1 with "No Such Thing." He's gone back to the top two more times -- with "Your Body Is a Wonderland" (four weeks in 2002) and "Waiting on the World to Change" (one week in 2006).

Musician/actor Christian Kane has actually been around as long as Mayer -- recording as part of the country/rock act Kane in the early part of last decade -- though he's probably best known in the mainstream as the actor who played the lawyer Lindsey on the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" spinoff "Angel" for three seasons. He's recording solo as a country/rock artist these days, and "The House Rules" (at No. 39) is from his new, self-titled EP.

The No. 1 song this week in Billboard, "Break Your Heart," by Taio Cruz featuring Ludacris, enters at No. 35, the first entry on my charts for either act (though rapper Ludacris has had a few dozen hits nationally in the past decade). The rap/hip-hop act Kidz in the Hall enters at No. 40 with its first hit, "Jukebox." "American Idol" contestant from last season Danny Gokey comes in at No. 36 with "My Best Days Are Ahead of Me," while singer Diane Birch remakes Haddaway's No. 1 hit from 1993, "What Is Love?" as a piano-driven ballad, at No. 38.

Week of March 7

2010-03-04T08:09:00.000-08:00

Artists from the British Isles or Australia have the week's four biggest movers. Leaping 27-18 is "Full Steam," a duet from Cheshire-born David Gray and Scotland's Annie Lennox. Close behind, moving 26-19, is "'Til Summer Comes Around," the latest from Queensland-raised, New Zealand-born Keith Urban. Up six to No. 29 is the remake of "Everybody Hurts" by the mostly British collaborative Helping Haiti. And making a serious play for No. 1 is Northampton's V.V. Brown, whose "Shark in the Water" moves 10-2.

Amid all the Commonwealth conquering of the charts this week, American Alicia Keys continues to carve out a strong presence with her second No. 1 hit in three weeks from "The Element of Freedom," dethroning Brit Robbie Williams. "Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart" pushes 3-1, even as her former charttopping duet with Beyonce, "Put It in a Love Song," slides 2-10. The album's first hit, "Doesn't Mean Anything," went to No. 10 in November.

Of the Haiti relief effort songs, while the superstar collaborations are dominating attention, Rihanna's solo remake of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" has proved the most staying power so far, up to No. 15 this week. The Sheryl Crow/Kid Rock/Keith Urban remake of "Lean on Me" is right behind at No. 16. Lagging are the aforementioned "Everybody Hurts," as well as the remake of "We Are the World" from Artists for Haiti, dropping 25-37 in its third week.

Week of Feb. 28

2010-02-25T07:55:00.000-08:00

Six new entries this week and a new No. 1 song. First, let's look at No. 1 -- Robbie Williams moves 2-1 with "Last Days of Disco" in its 16th chart week. That's the slowest trip since Owl City's "Fireflies" hit the summit in November in its 17th week. "Disco" becomes Williams' third number one, following "Angels" in 2000 and "Lovelight" in 2007.

One-third of the debuts feature vocals by Mariah Carey. She debuts with a remix of her album track "Angels Cry," featuring Ne-Yo, at No. 37. And at No. 35, she's one of dozens of performers contributing to the remake of R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts," a British fund-raiser single for Haiti relief, coordinated by Simon Cowell. The original went to No. 1 in 1993. This version by Helping Haiti is now the fourth Haiti relief song in the countdown, joining Rihanna's "Redemption Song" remake (No. 16), the cover of "Lean on Me" by Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock and Keith Urban (No. 19) and Artists for Haiti's update of "We Are the World" (No. 25).

Other than the Helping Haiti collective, two artists enter the countdown with their first chart hits. Florida-raised country singer Easton Corbin debuts at No. 38 with "A Little More Country Than That," one of seven country crossover songs in this week's countdown (not including the "Lean on Me" remake featuring Keith Urban). One notch below him is Australian native Daniel Merriweather with "Not Giving Up," a nuevo-R&B/pop tune of the Amy Winehouse/Joss Stone/V.V. Brown/James Morrison camp. Actually, Merriweather reminds me of another Daniel from last decade -- Daniel Bedingfield. (Whatever happened to him, anyhow?)

Week of Feb. 21

2010-02-18T19:00:00.001-08:00

As predicted last week, a bunch of songs sprint up the charts this week, as songs by Paul McCartney, Norah Jones and Lady GaGa, among others, that had held them back tumble as many as 20 positions this week. Don't feel too bad for GaGa, as she has one of the nine songs that move up 5 or more positions, with her duet with Elton John -- the medley of "Poker Face," "Speechless" and "Your Song" from the Grammy Awards -- leaping 17-10.

While Elton makes chart waves, it's a newcomer from Britain that has the week's biggest mover. V.V. Brown released "Shark in the Water" last summer in her homeland, but iTunes named it its free download of the week just a couple of weeks back. That song leaps 36-14 in its second week, a good indicator that it could hit No. 1 in a few weeks.

Another big chart mover is the remake of "We Are the World," this time a relief effort for Haiti. It debuts at No. 25. The original "We Are the World" crashed onto the survey (then a Top 25) at No. 11 back the week of March 17, 1985. It eventually went to No. 1 for four weeks and became the No. 1 song of 1985. We'll have to wait and see whether this version does as well. Meanwhile, the current No. 1 song -- "Put It in a Love Song" by Alicia Keys and Beyonce -- spends its fourth week at the top, which gives it an early bid for 2010's top record.

"We Are the World 25" isn't the only Haiti relief song in the countdown, nor the only big mover. Rihanna's remake of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" strides 24-18, while the remake of "Lean on Me" by Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock and Keith Urban jumps 32-21.

Week of Feb. 14

2010-02-11T06:31:00.000-08:00

It's extremely unusual to see a logjam on the charts like the one this week in positions 22 through 32. Blame it on a number of sleeper songs above it that continue to push up one or two positions without losing popularity, as well as three older songs -- "Paparazzi" by Lady GaGa, "Chasing Pirates" by Norah Jones and "Wild Horses" by Susan Boyle -- that only now are starting to descend more rapidly. This should mean a lot of chart movement next week as songs that were constrained this week break free.

Meanwhile, one of the few songs to make a significant move is "Each Tear," Mary J. Blige's quasi-title track from her latest CD "Stronger with Each Tear." By moving 18-8, it leapfrogs her single "I Am," which moves 14-12. Blige and Alicia Keys are vying for the hottest act on the charts; Keys holds at No. 1 with Beyonce on "Put It in a Love Song" and moves 9-6 with "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart."

Fifteen years ago this week, Melissa Etheridge moved to No. 1 with "I Take You With Me" from the "Boys on the Side" soundtrack. This week, she's back in the countdown with "Fearless Love" entering at No. 37. With four weeks at No. 1, "I Take You With Me" is Etheridge's biggest hit on my chart, but she's also gone to the top with "Come to My Window" (one week), "I Want to Come Over" (one week), "Nowhere to Go" (one week) and "I Need to Wake Up" from the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" (two weeks).

Week of Feb. 7

2010-02-04T08:08:00.000-08:00

Judging from this week's top two debuts and biggest mover, you could easily surmise I was one of the roughly 26 million people who watched the Grammy Awards this past Sunday. That's actually not the case: I've fallen out of the Grammy-watching habit the past several years. But I did hear good things from Facebook friends about the Lady GaGa/Elton John and Pink performances. So when iTunes made the GaGa/Elton duet available, I listened to enough to realize I'd like it, and then after hearing the audio version, I knew I'd have to download the video, too. That duet, more than anything else, has persuaded me to give GaGa more credit than I have been. I've thought of her as more of a Katy Perry combination of modest talent and a flair for hype and flash. It could be that Madonna is more of a model for GaGa. We'll see in the years to come.

Meantime, this week the medley of "Poker Face/Speechless/Your Song," coming in at No. 20, is the highest debut since December 2006 when "Dear Mr. President," by Pink featuring the Indigo Girls, entered at that spot. Of course, at that time, the chart was a Top 30 rather than Top 40 so GaGa/Elton's achievement is even more significant comparatively.

Speaking of Pink, she enters at No. 25 with "Glitter in the Air." That's still good for a third-place tie for highest debut in the past two years; only the GaGa/Elton duet and Susan Boyle's No. 23 debut for "I Dreamed a Dream" performed better. With its No. 25 debut, Pink's song ties "4 Minutes" by Madonna, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland. "Glitter in the Air" is the fourth song from Pink's latest CD to make my charts, following "So What," "Sober" and "Please Don't Leave Me."

Finally, Grammy performing artists Lady Antebellum take their crossover hit "Need You Now" from its debut last week at No. 36 to No. 23 this week. With that kind of momentum, they could well be joining country crossovers from Reba McEntire and Tim McGraw in the Top 10 in the next few weeks.

Week of Jan. 31

2010-01-28T07:11:00.000-08:00

Two songs return to the Top 40 this week in at least their third hit versions. The Lenny Welch standard "Since I Fell for You" is back at No. 39 in a version by Gladys Knight featured in the movie "It's Complicated." "Since I Fell for You" hit the Top 10 in 1987 in a remake by Al Jarreau, Bob James and David Sanborn from the soundtrack of the TV series "Moonlighting." (Another version by Michael Bolton missed the chart, but was listed as chartbound for one week, in 1992.)

Meanwhile, Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock and Keith Urban enter at No. 38 with their version of "Lean on Me" from the Haiti relief effort "Hope for Haiti Now." The Bill Withers classic was remade in 1987 by the group Club Nouveau, hitting No. 2.

Keith Urban has two new songs in the countdown this week, as "Lean on Me" debuts two places above his latest solo hit, the bluesy " 'Til Summer Comes Around." It's one of two country-crossover debuts this week, with Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" the other, at No. 36.

The last of this week's debuts is "When It Comes to Love," the second hit for Foreigner with its Lou Gramm soundalike, Kelly Hansen. The reconstituted group, which added Hansen to its lineup a few years back when Gramm decided to focus on a solo career, hit No. 2 in 2008 with "Too Late." "Too Late" and "When It Comes to Love" are both featured on the group's latest CD, "Can't Slow Down."

Week of Jan. 24

2010-01-22T09:09:00.000-08:00

This week's new entries include individual debuts from Chris Brown and Rihanna. The singers were romantically involved before breaking up early last year, and Brown was sentenced in August to five years probation and more than 1,400 hours in community service on charges of assaulting Rihanna. This week marks the first time since then that both artists have hits on my chart: Brown enters with "Crawl" at No. 38, while Rihanna's take on Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" (a benefit for Haiti relief efforts) comes in at No. 37, replacing her Top 20 hit "Russian Roulette."

In the Top 10, country singer Reba McEntire is going for a new personal best as "Consider Me Gone" moves 14-8. Her biggest hit on my charts came in 1992, when "The Greatest Man I Never Knew" peaked at No. 6. McEntire looks likely to top that if this week's chart move is any indication.

Although Rie Sinclair & Friends have been able to hold atop the chart for three weeks, that stay could well end if this week's strong move to No. 2 proves foreshadowing for Alicia Keys and Beyonce. Their duet, "Put It in a Love Song," jumps from No. 6. Each artist has been active on national charts in other duets: Keys, with Jay-Z on "Empire State of Mind," and Beyonce, with Lady GaGa on "Telephone." (Speaking of Lady GaGa, looks like she'll have to settle for a No. 2 peak with "Paparazzi" as it slides two notches to No. 4 this week.)

Week of Jan. 17

2010-01-14T10:55:00.000-08:00

Five debuts this week, anchored by actor/singer Jeff Bridges ("The Fabulous Baker Boys," etc.) at No. 40. "Hold on You" is a track from the soundtrack of the new film "Crazy Heart," for which Bridges is receiving Oscar buzz in his role of a Kristofferson-style country rocker down on his luck. The song joins fellow country-crossover records by Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, Reba McEntire and a debut from Alan Jackson ("It's Just That Way") at No. 38.

The highest of the five debuts comes in at No. 30, and it's a re-entry. Michael W. Smith's "I Will Be Your Friend" first peaked at No. 5 back in May 2000 as a track from his "This Is Your Time" CD. It's back in the countdown strictly due to the nature of personal charting. I became interested in it this past week as I was dealing with the near-death experience of my 10.5-year-old cat Dr. Gray (you can find a picture of him with me here). Thanks to the wonderful work of the folks at N.C. State University's veterinary school, he's right here with me. But during the frantic 24-hour period in which I thought I'd have to say goodbye through a video of pictures of Doc, I landed on the Smith track as the perfect song for our relationship. Fortunately, now I can just listen to the song, without having to worry about such a video (at least for now). We'll see how far the song makes it in this chart run.

Week of Jan. 10

2010-01-10T05:56:00.000-08:00

This week, Rie Sinclair & Friends complete their meteoric run to the top of the charts, as "My Confession" jumps 9-1 in its third chart week. The last song to move that fast to No. 1 was "American Skin (41 Shots)" by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which moved 15-9-1 in April 2001.

At the bottom of the survey, the sole debut this week is "According to You" by chart newcomer Orianthi. She's a singer-guitarist who was slated to play a key role on Michael Jackson's ill-fated "This Is It" tour. She appears in the film based on the rehearsals for that tour, performing her take on Eddie Van Halen's solo in "Beat It." As the title song from that movie slides 34-37, Orianthi makes her debut at No. 40.

As is typical for a chart week at the start of the year, there are a lot of chart hangovers near the bottom of the chart, with seven songs between positions 29 and 39 on their way down. Look for a strong number of debuts next week.

Week of Jan. 3, 2010

2009-12-31T06:53:00.000-08:00

The first chart of a new year sees a new No. 1 from a singer who hasn't been there before. "Britain's Got Talent" and YouTube phenomenon Susan Boyle moves 2-1 with "Wild Horses" from her debut CD, "I Dreamed a Dream." The live version of the title track went to No. 2 last spring. Boyle's debut album has already sold more than 2 million copies in five weeks in the U.S.

Last week's highest debut is this week's biggest mover. Even as Kyle and Fish heat up on TV's "One Life to Live" (check out YouTube for more on that), their love song, "My Confession" by Rie Sinclair & Friends, does the same here, moving 29-9. It's one of the three biggest movers of the week, all packed together this week in spots 9, 10 and 11. Robbie Williams' "Last Days of Disco" jumps 19-10, while the Alicia Keys/Beyonce duet "Put It in a Love Song" sprints 22-11.

Only one new song in the Top 40 this week, but it makes for an interesting chart coincidence. Ringo Starr's "Walk With You" enters at No. 40, just a few weeks after a different song with that title by Edwin McCain dropped off the countdown. This song features backing vocals by Paul McCartney, and it marks the first time the two surviving former Beatles have been in the Top 40 on my weekly charts. Starr's solo success occurred in the 1970s prior to the establishment of my surveys; his sole '80s chart hit, 1981's "Wrack My Brain," fell during a period when McCartney wasn't active. But this week, Starr joins both McCartney and their late bandmate's older son, Julian Lennon, in the Top 40. Starr is at No. 40, McCartney at No. 28 with "(I Want to) Come Home" and Lennon at No. 32 with James Scott Cook on "Lucy."

Final weekly chart of 2009

2009-12-25T10:39:00.000-08:00

Soap operas have spurred on several chart hits, both on the national charts and on my own charts, over the past couple of decades. Probably the best known is "Baby, Come to Me," the Patti Austin/James Ingram duet from 1983 that went to No. 1 in Billboard and on my charts after becoming popular on ABC's "General Hospital."

This week's highest debut comes from another ABC soap, "One Life to Live." "My Confession," by Rie Sinclair & Friends at No. 29, was the background music for a key scene a couple of weeks back between the characters of Oliver Fish and Kyle Lewis (or, as they're known in the soap fan world, "Kish"). It became available this week on iTunes.

It's not the first chart hit linked to "OLTL." Back in 1994, the show released a soundtrack of cover songs and original compositions, and three songs from that CD -- "Teach Me How to Dream" by Chris Walker, "Here We Are, My Friend" by Billy Dean, and "All I Know" by Michael McDonald and Amy Holland -- performed well enough to make the year-end Top 100. Most recently, Mary J. Blige earned a Top 10 hit in spring '08 with "Hurt Again," a track from her "Growing Pains" album that she performed on "OLTL."

Speaking of Ms. Mary ... the most popular artist of this decade on my decade-end top 1000 is back with not one, but two, tracks from her new CD, "Stronger With Each Tear." "I Am" enters at No. 35, while "Each Tear" debuts at No. 37. The concurrent chart action echoes her chart heat with "Growing Pains," when the tracks "Work That" and "Just Fine" moved up at the same time.

Insights from the top 1,000

2009-12-22T14:59:00.000-08:00

‘Wonderful’ decade? Some would argue that the “aughts” were anything but wonderful. But in terms of the charts, the most popular title for hits was indeed “Wonderful,” with four different songs sharing that title: Everclear at No. 226, Gary Go at No. 649, India.Arie at No. 732 and Annie Lennox at No. 934. (Other shared titles in the countdown: “Bad Day,” “Better Days,” “Broken,” “Change,” “Crazy,” “Drive,” “Everyday,” “Feel,” “Here With Me,” “I Believe in Love,” “I’ve Got You,” “Love Song,” “Shine,” “Smile,” “Sober,” “Sunrise,” “The Real Thing,” “Unbreakable,” “What If?” and “With You.”)

There’s something about Mary: The act with the most songs in the top 1,000 (solo or collaborations) is R&B singer Mary J. Blige, with 16; rock legend Bruce Springsteen is second with 15, and R&B singer-songwriter Alicia Keys is third with 14. Among women, the top five are Blige, Keys, Kelly Clarkson (12), a tie between Pink, India.Arie and Macy Gray (11) and Angie Stone (10). Among men, the top five are Springsteen, Tim McGraw (13), Elton John (12), David Gray (10) and a four-way tie between Keith Urban, John Mayer, Luther Vandross and Alan Jackson (8). Train is the decade’s top group or duo with 10 hits in the top 1,000, followed closely by Coldplay (9), a tie between U2 and Maroon 5 (8), Lonestar (7) and a tie between Nickelback, Daughtry, and Brooks and Dunn (6).

Other configurations: Among siblings, the Jacksons (Janet, Michael and Jermaine) beat the Bedingfields (Daniel and Natasha) and the Simpsons (Jessica and Ashlee), with 12 hits – eight from Janet, three from Michael and one from Jermaine – to the Bedingfields’ 8 and the Simpsons’ 4. Lisa-Marie Presley edged out father Elvis, 3-2, while Springsteen handily outranked his wife (and E Street bandmate) Patti Scialfa, 15-1.

Title trivia: The decade’s top musical question was “Why Don’t You and I?” (Santana and Chad Kroeger at No. 10) followed by “Who Knew?” “Do You Like the Way?” “Are You Ready for Love?” and “Did You See Me Coming?” Among days of the week, only Sunday made an appearance, in Amanda Marshall’s “Sunday Morning After” (No. 420). Twice as many “summer” songs as “winter” songs made the decade-end chart, but “Seasons of Love” at No. 74 from the movie version of “Rent” beat them all. Four hits referred to an angel and four hits referenced God, while only one did the opposite – Madonna’s “Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You” (No. 644). Twice as many songs about days as nights (12 to 6), but tonight trumped today 5-1. Of the 71 songs about love, David Gray’s “The One I Love” scored the highest at No. 5 for the decade.

‘Idol’ influence: I still have yet to see a regular episode of Fox’s “American Idol” (though the addition of Ellen DeGeneres might sway me to check out an episode), but the charts still reflect the power of the series on the pop charts. The top artists who made their debut on the series and their number of hits in the decade-end survey are Kelly Clarkson (12), (Chris) Daughtry (6), Jennifer Hudson (4) and a three-way tie between Fantasia, Kimberley Locke and Jordin Sparks with 3 each. Interestingly, only Clarkson, Fantasia and Sparks won their respective seasons.

The top 100 of 2009

2009-12-17T09:26:00.000-08:00

With the chart year complete (mid-December 2008 to mid-December 2009), it's time to rank the year's 100 biggest hits. At the top is Uncle Kracker's "Smile," a song that spent more weeks at No. 1 -- four -- than any other this year. It's by far his biggest hit on my charts. (Had the charts been active when his remake of Dobie Gray's "Drift Away" was popular, that would've come close.)

Long chart runs can propel a song toward the top even if the song spends one week -- or no weeks -- at No. 1. Four of the year's Top 10 are songs that spent one week each at the top but more than 20 weeks on the survey: Darius Rucker's "It Won't Be Like This for Long," Nickelback's "If Today Was Your Last Day," Sister Hazel's "This Kind of Love" and the most recent, Owl City's "Fireflies." (That song is still in the survey, in its 23rd week.) Among the songs that did not hit No. 1, the biggest is No. 29, Carolina Liar's "Show Me What I'm Looking For." An 11-week run in the Top 10, with five weeks at No. 2, gave that song its year-end chart power.

No one artist dominated the charts this year, but several placed two songs in the year-end survey: David Cook, Whitney Houston, Keith Urban, James Morrison, Nelly Furtado, John Legend, Bruce Springsteen, The Fray, Solange, Mariah Carey and India.Arie.

Week of Dec. 20

2009-12-17T09:24:00.000-08:00

Twenty five years ago this week, Julian Lennon was in the top 10 with his first hit song, "Valotte." He's back this week at No. 40 with "Lucy," a collaboration with singer-songwriter James Scott Cook. This song is a fundraiser for lupus research. From now through March 15, 2010, 100 percent of the proceeds from each download of it from iTunes will be donated to lupus research. Both artists talk of their personal connection to lupus: James’ 92-year-old grandmother, Lucy Cook, has lived with it for years, and Julian’s childhood friend (and reported inspiration for the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds") Lucy Vodden recently died at age 46 after a long battle with it.

Meanwhile, the other two new songs this week are from Alicia Keys' latest album, "The Element of Freedom." Her official second single, "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart," enters at No. 39, but it's outpaced by her album track duet with Beyonce, "Put It in a Love Song." The upbeat number, which is similar thematically though not melodically to Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," is the highest new entry of the week at No. 33.

While most songs between positions 30 and 11 move up the chart modestly (if they move up at all), Raphael Saadiq's "Staying in Love" leapfrogs 22-10. That gives the former Tony! Toni! Tone! frontman his second Top 10 solo hit after "Never Give You Up" from late 2008.

At the top of the charts, look for an interesting chart battle over the next several weeks between three disparate female singers: Norah Jones, Susan Boyle and Lady GaGa. Jones takes the top spot this week with "Chasing Pirates" moving 3-1, but Boyle is fast approaching with "Wild Horses" sprinting 7-2, and GaGa's "Paparazzi" jumps 9-4.

Week of Dec. 13

2009-12-10T10:28:00.000-08:00

Lots of work this week on the year-end Top 100 and the decade-end Top 1000. They'll be popping up here within the next few weeks. The year-end Top 100 will be posted here next week. This week's chart (Dec. 13) was the last one for the 2009 chart year, and it made a difference. A song leapt into the year-end Top 10 as a result of this week's survey. Next week, you'll know which one that was.

Meanwhile, this week's chart news belongs to Susan Boyle and Reba McEntire. Boyle looks like she's going to take a third week at the top of Billboard's album charts with her debut release, and she's gunning for the top of my charts with "Wild Horses." This week, she's up another 10, moving 17-7.

McEntire has the week's highest debut with "Consider Me Gone" at No. 36. It's her first chart hit since her duet with Justin Timberlake, "The Only Promise That Remains," a year and a half back, and her first solo hit since 1996.

Also back in the Top 40 is Paul McCartney with "(I Want to) Come Home" at No. 38. It's from the much-panned new Robert DeNiro movie "Everybody's Fine." It's the first McCartney hit to make the 40 since "Ever Present Past" a couple of years back.

Week of Dec. 6

2009-12-07T14:54:00.000-08:00

Catching up after having been away over the weekend. Looks like Michael Jackson's stay turned out to be brief with "This Is It," as it slides 1-2 this week. (Hint to Epic Records: This song would've made a larger dent nationally if it had been commercially available as a single ... Forcing fans to buy an album full of songs they already have to get one new song is the kind of '90s-style greed that prompted lots of folks to illegally download. I wasn't one of them, but I can sympathize with the sentiment. Off the soapbox.)

Norah Jones' "Chasing Pirates" continues to make healthy moves, this week rising 9-5. But the big movers on this week's chart are two other women who couldn't be more different: Lady GaGa and Susan Boyle.

Lady GaGa's "Paparazzi" jumps 29-16. I find her music full of hooks, but some I like (e.g. "Just Dance" and this single) and some drive me nuts ("Poker Face," "LoveGame" and, now, "Bad Romance").

But Susan Boyle's "Wild Horses" has the week's biggest move, shooting from 38 to 17. That kind of chart action usually portends a No. 1 hit. We'll see if that can happen; "I Dreamed a Dream" blasted on to the charts at No. 23 earlier this year but only went to No. 2.

As 2009 is winding down, it'll be time in the next few weeks not only for the top 100 of the year but the top 1,000 of the decade. Look for the top 100 of 2009 before Christmas and the top 1,000 of the decade before New Year's.

Week of Nov. 29

2009-11-26T18:25:00.000-08:00

This week, Michael Jackson concludes his chart sprint with "This Is It," which has leapt nine or 10 positions each week since its debut at No. 40 five weeks ago. This becomes his seventh No. 1 solo hit since 1980 on my charts, with the other six being "Rock With You" (1980), "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" (1983), "Man in the Mirror" (1987), "Black or White" (1991) and "Who Is It?" (1993). In addition, he was co-author of USA for Africa's "We Are the World," the No. 1 song of 1985.

Another artist making a comeback this week, though not quite as dramatic, is Toni Braxton. She hasn't had a hit in nine years, since "He Wasn't Man Enough" in 2000. This week, she's back with "Yesterday," not the Lennon-McCartney standard but an original R&B collaboration with Trey Songz that enters the countdown at No. 39. Braxton has had a few No. 1 hits nationally, but on my chart, only her debut collaboration with Babyface, 1992's "Give You My Heart," has gone all the way to the top. Can this latest collaboration follow?

Several songs make strong moves up the chart this week, with three songs jumping 10 notches. Norah Jones' latest, "Chasing Pirates," moves into the Top 10 with a 19-9 leap, while "Paparazzi" by Lady GaGa moves 39-29 and "Staying in Love" from Raphael Saadiq keeps pace, 40-30.

Week of Nov. 22

2009-11-19T21:47:00.000-08:00

The dance music act Cascada, with lead singer Natalie Horler, notches its first No. 1 with "Evacuate the Dancefloor." The group had hit previously with remakes of "Truly Madly Deeply" and "Because the Night," but this original hit surpassed both of those to move 4-1 this week.

Michael Jackson continues his 10-notch-a-week pace, moving 40-30-20-10 the past month with "This Is It." Could this mean he's headed for the top next week?

Creed stalled out at No. 40 with "Overcome," the first single from the group's comeback/reunion album, "Full Circle." But the second single, "Rain," is doing much better, up 32-25 this week. In 2000, the group had back-to-back No. 1's with "Higher" (one week) and "With Arms Wide Open" (two weeks).

This week's three debut songs are led by Rihanna's No. 29 bow for "Russian Roulette," the first single from her new release "Rated R." Only five songs this year have debuted as high or higher, with four of those entering the week of April 11: Susan Boyle's "I Dreamed a Dream" (No. 23), Shinedown's "Second Chance" (No. 27), Keith Urban's "Standing Right in Front of You" (No. 28) and Chrisette Michele's "Epiphany (I'm Leaving)" (No. 29). The most recent was Jermaine Jackson's "Smile" from his brother's memorial service (No. 29, July 12). Interestingly, despite those high debuts, most of those songs did not go to No. 1. (Only the Shinedown and Urban tracks did.) We'll see how Rihanna fares in the weeks to come.

Week of Nov. 15

2009-11-12T08:48:00.000-08:00

Five debuts this week from a diverse crowd: adult/pop singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat, country/pop group Rascal Flatts, R&B crooner Jaheim, Brit-pop/dance singer Robbie Williams and "American Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert. Caillat, debuting at No. 33, replaces herself in the survey, as the former No. 1 "Fallin' for You" slides out after a 19-week run.

Michael Jackson's "This Is It" continues to make healthy moves, following last week's 40-30 leap with another 10-point leap to No. 20. Meanwhile, sister Janet's "Make Me" (borrowing a bit from MJ's "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough") is picking up steam, up seven to No. 12.

Tied with "This Is It" for the week's biggest move is Norah Jones' "Chasing Pirates." In its second week on the chart, it sprints 10 from 38-28.

Week of Nov. 8

2009-11-05T11:29:00.000-08:00

The highest of the three new songs in this week's Top 40 is the first release from Norah Jones' latest album, "The Fall." "Chasing Pirates" enters at No. 38.

Lots of action within the Top 40, with 15 songs moving up at least four positions from last week. The biggest mover of the week is "If You Only Knew," Shinedown's follow up to the No. 1 hit "Second Chance," which moves 26-14. Meantime, two songs that entered last week sprint 10 positions: OneRepublic's "All the Right Moves" jumps 38-28 and Michael Jackson's "This Is It" moves 40-30.

Top 40 for Nov. 1

2009-11-02T20:35:00.000-08:00

Since this summer's death of superstar Michael Jackson, his brother Jermaine hit the charts with a tribute from his memorial service ("Smile") and his sister Janet followed with a tribute from the MTV Awards ("Make Me"). This week, Michael himself returns to the top 40 with a posthumous hit, "This Is It." The title track from the No. 1 movie at the U.S. box office this past weekend is No. 40.

Singer-songwriter Will Hoge takes his first chart hit into the top 10 as "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" moves 11-9. The song is one of several sleeper hits in the countdown continuing to push up the charts in its 12th week. Others include "Come Home" by OneRepublic and Sara Bareilles (up 3-2 in its 16th week) and "Fireflies" by Owl City (up 4-3 in its 16th week). "Fireflies" managed to soar to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 this week (no mean feat for an alternative/AAA song).

Week of Oct. 25

2009-10-23T07:17:00.000-07:00

Four new songs in the Top 40, and lots of action in the Top 10 this week.

In the top 10, three of the year's biggest hits -- all former No. 1 songs -- fall out this week: Uncle Kracker's "Smile," Whitney Houston's "I Look to You" and Colbie Caillat's "Fallin' for You." Replacing them are songs by three of the hottest acts of the 1980s. Houston replaces herself as "Million Dollar Bill," the second single from her latest album, jumps 14-8. Madonna's "Celebration," from her recent career retrospective, pushes up one to No. 10. And the late Dan Fogelberg collects his second posthumous hit (last year's "Sometimes a Song" was his first) as "Diamonds to Dust" moves 12-9. (In the 1980s, Houston had eight top 10 hits, Madonna had 10, and Fogelberg had seven.)

Meanwhile, new to the Top 40 are the latest from Bruce Springsteen, Tim McGraw, Beyoncé and 30 Seconds to Mars. The latter act is an alternative rock group made up of Tomo Milicevic on guitars, Shannon Leto on drums and Jared Leto on guitars and vocals (yes, the same Jared Leto known as an actor in such roles as Jordan Catalano on "My So-Called Life" in the 1990s). 30 Seconds to Mars hit No. 11 a few years back with "From Yesterday." We'll see how "Kings and Queens" fares; this week, it kicks off the countdown at No. 40.

Week of Oct. 18

2009-10-15T06:55:00.000-07:00

Four new entries in this week's Top 40 include three acts that have been fairly consistent in popularity this decade: Five for Fighting, Joss Stone and Angie Stone.

Five for Fighting, the act that boils down to singer-songwriter John Ondrasik, had its biggest hit with its debut album "America Town" and its No. 1 singles "Superman (It's Not Easy)" and "Something About You." The act has had lesser success with "100 Years" and "The Riddle." "Chances," which enters at No. 35, is fittingly from the fifth album for Five for Fighting, "Slice."

"I Ain't Hearing U," new at No. 34, is the 13th hit this decade for neo-soul singer Angie Stone. Actually, though her initial successes squarely fit in the neo-soul definition, such as her No. 1 hits from 2000 "No More Rain (in This Cloud)" and "Heaven Help," Angie Stone has had more success in recent years with dance material. "I Ain't Hearing U" is more along the lines of her dance hits.

Joss Stone, no relation to Angie, is a Brit-soul singer who has had success this decade with a bluesier, Southern-soul style. "Free Me," this week's highest entry at No. 32, falls in that vein as well. It's the first single from her new album "Colour Me Free."

The last of the new entries this week is at No. 33. "If You Only Knew" is the rock band Shinedown's follow-up to their smash from earlier this year, "Second Chance."

Up at the top of the charts, it looks like Barbra Streisand is pushing for her first No. 1 hit in almost 30 (!) years with her version of the Sinatra standard "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning." The Diana Krall-produced song from her latest album sprints 9-3. If she does get to the top, it'll mark her first time there since "Guilty" featuring Barry Gibb spent a single week at No. 1 in 1981. The closest she's been since then was in 2000, when "If I Didn't Love You" went to No. 2.

Week of Oct. 11

2009-10-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

Well, for the first time in eight weeks, the song at the top of the chart does not belong to Whitney Houston or Uncle Kracker. The Fray's "Never Say Never" completes its speedy run to No. 1 by moving up three in its fifth week. It's the band's second time at the top, after "How to Save a Life" spent one week at the top in late 2006.

Lots of action in this week's Top 10, with Mika, Cascada and one of the oldest artists on the charts, Barbra Streisand, all moving in with their latest hits. (Streisand is 67; Smokey Robinson, who has the No. 19 song this week, is 69.) Streisand surprised chart watchers at Billboard by keeping Mariah Carey and Paramore out of No. 1 on the album charts this week with her latest, "Love Is the Answer." I'm not at all surprised -- she has a lot of dedicated fans (myself included) who will go out and get her albums in the first week of release. What will be more interesting to see is whether this album has any staying power on the charts. It's a lot more of a standard and less contemporary album than any of her non-Broadway releases in the past two decades, so we'll see.

While Jordin Sparks slides out of the Top 10 with "Battlefield," she enters the Top 40 with its follow-up, "S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)." The parenthetical title tips off listeners that this isn't a remake of Rihanna's hit of a few years back (nor of Abba's 1975 hit) but a new song that borrows heavily from Shannon's Top 40 classic from 1984.

Week of Oct. 4, 2009

2009-10-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

Lots of moves this week as five songs slide out of the Top 20 and make room for some newcomers. Meanwhile, this week's two debuts are from chart veterans. Alicia Keys earns her 13th hit with "Doesn't Mean Anything" at No. 38; she's been in the countdown for the past several weeks as co-writer of Whitney Houston's "Million Dollar Bill." And Janet Jackson enters at No. 39 with "Make Me," the song she sang in tribute to her brother Michael at the VMAs a few weeks back. Its lyrics sample Michael's hit "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough."

At the top of the charts, Whitney Houston returns for a second nonconsecutive week with "I Look to You," displacing Uncle Kracker's "Smile" after three weeks. It looks like the seesaw ride that those two songs have been on the past month and a half is about to end. George Strait's "Living for the Night," at No. 3, has been moving up steadily, but leaping and bounding is The Fray's "Never Say Never." In its fourth chart week, it's up another five to No. 4.

Week of Sept. 27, 2009

2009-09-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

Three new songs in the Top 40 this week, including the first hit for All-4-One since 1996. The four-man vocal group, best known for the No. 1 hits "I Swear" and "I Can Love You Like That," are back at No. 39 with "If Your Heart's Not In It."

Meanwhile, Leona Lewis returns to the countdown with "Happy" at No. 37. It's the second song with that title to chart; Legacy of Sound featuring Meja went to the Top 10 in 1992 with a dance song of the same title.

The Fray's "Never Say Never" is shaping up as a contender for No. 1. After last week's 15-point move, it's also this week's top mover, up 10 from 19 to 9. Meanwhile, the Top 3 keep their stranglehold. These songs -- Uncle Kracker's "Smile," Whitney Houston's "I Look to You" and Colbie Caillat's "Fallin' for You" -- have been the top three in some configuration for six weeks, with this particular configuration four of the six weeks. That's some staying power.

Week of Sept. 20, 2009

2009-09-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

In the days before Mariah and Whitney, Madonna and Janet, gay men might identify by their fondness for either Liza Minnelli or Barbra Streisand. One glance at my charts could tell you which camp I fall in: Ms. Minnelli has had one song hit my chart over the years (and one near-miss with Donna Summer), while Ms. Streisand has had more than 20 (including a hit with Donna Summer). This week, Barbra enters the Top 40 solo for the first time in nine years with "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning." Her take on the Hilliard-Mann standard enters at No. 37 from her new collection, "Love Is the Answer."

Meanwhile, on the other end of the pop spectrum, Weezer enters at No. 40 with "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To." That song title is the longest to hit my chart with the parenthetical portion at the beginning. I'll get back in future weeks with other parenthetical hit titles.

The Fray have the week's biggest mover, with "Never Say Never" rocketing 34-19. Why the group decided to go with this as the song's title rather than "Don't Let Me Go," I don't know. Could be that they thought the latter might sound too emo?

Week of Sept. 13, 2009

2009-09-10T07:27:00.000-07:00

Last year, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova went to No. 3 in May with "Falling Slowly" from the movie "Once." This week, they make their second Top 40 appearance with "Low Rising" at No. 36. It's their first hit credited to their group The Swell Season, from the group's new CD "Strict Joy."

Most of this week's new entries are ballads or midtempo numbers, with one significant exception: Cascada's "Evacuate the Dancefloor" at No. 37. It's the first time Cascada has hit my charts with an original song. The group's previous hits were remakes of Patti Smith's "Because the Night" (No. 10 earlier this year) and Savage Garden's "Truly Madly Deeply" (No. 3 in 2007).

Up at the top of the charts, looks like a battle going on for longevity. Uncle Kracker's "Smile" bounces back to No. 1 after taking a back seat to Whitney Houston last week. Whitney's not far behind, with "I Look to You" at No. 2. Meantime, Colbie Caillat's former No. 1, "Fallin' for You," hangs in at No. 3, and three other former No. 1 songs -- Pet Shop Boys' "Did You See Me Coming?" Sean Kingston's "Fire Burning" and Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody" -- continue to remain in the Top 10. With all of those songs holding forth, what songs in the lower part of the chart will break through that logjam and become number ones this fall?

Week of Sept. 6, 2009

2009-09-04T07:41:00.001-07:00

It's nine years to the week since Whitney Houston has had chart action like this. The week of Sept. 10, 2000, was the last week of her run with two separate hits from her greatest hits collection. "Same Script, Different Cast," a former Top 10 hit with Deborah Cox, dropped 6-13, while her duet with George Michael, "If I Told You That," dropped 20-24. This week is even better, as Houston's two chart hits are on the rise. "Million Dollar Bill," co-written by Alicia Keys, enters at No. 38, while the title track of Whitney's new CD, "I Look to You," moves up 2-1. It's Whitney's first time at the top since "Heartbreak Hotel" with Faith Evans and Kelly Price spent a week there in April 1999.

Elsewhere in the Top 10, we have back to back country crossovers by Tim McGraw and George Strait in positions 8 and 9. The last time two country songs crossed to pop's Top 10 was July 13, 2008, when Darius Rucker was No. 3 with "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" and James Otto was No. 9 with "Just Got Started Lovin' You." That was the final week of a six-week concurrent run for those songs.

Week of Aug. 30, 2009

2009-08-27T06:59:00.001-07:00

The group Collective Soul had the No. 1 song a year ago this week with "All That I Know." This week, the group is back at No. 40 with a new tune, "Heart to Heart," a bonus track from their new self-titled release. This time of year is good for the group; 15 years ago, they were in the Top 10 with their debut hit, "Shine."

Going back 10 years ago this week, we find the first week in the Top 10 for "Smooth," the comeback hit for Carlos Santana. This week, Santana returns the favor on a Top 40 comeback for Smokey Robinson. "Please Don't Take Your Love," a collaboration between Robinson and Santana, debuts at No. 37. It's from Robinson's independent release, "Time Flies When You're Having Fun."

In the Top 20, two country crossovers make strong moves. Tim McGraw's latest, "It's a Business Doing Pleasure With You," sprints 15-9, making it his fifth Top 10 hit. (In addition, a number of McGraw songs were popular during the chart's inactivity including "She's My Kind of Rain," "Real Good Man" and "Live Like You Were Dying.") Meanwhile, George Strait moves 17-12 with "Living for the Night," getting closer to his second Top 10 following 2002's "Run."

Top 40 for Aug. 23

2009-08-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

Of this week's four debuts, one is the second posthumous hit for singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg. "Diamonds to Dust" enters at No. 39, 15 months after Fogelberg went to No. 1 with "Sometimes a Song." Fogelberg, who died of cancer in December 2007, is one of two posthumous acts in this week's Top 40; the other is Wayman Tisdale, the smooth jazz guitarist and former basketball player who died of cancer in May. Tisdale's collaboration with country singer Toby Keith, their remake of Barry White's "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up," slides down two to No. 24 this week.

At the top of the charts, an interesting battle is shaping up for the next few weeks. Colbie Caillat's "Fallin' for You" becomes her fifth consecutive chart-topper, but right behind her are the fast-moving "Smile" by Uncle Kracker and "I Look to You" by Whitney Houston. Both songs have moved into the top three within four weeks on the Top 40.

Colin Hay, the one-time lead singer of the '80s band Men at Work, notches his first solo hit as "Waiting for My Real Life to Begin" enters at No. 40 this week. It's from his new album "American Sunshine."

Week of Aug. 16, 2009

2009-08-13T10:33:00.001-07:00

After a few weeks in which only a few songs made significant moves, this week a logjam gives way in the Top 20, and eight songs move five or more positions up the chart. Last week's runner-up, Whitney Houston's "I Look to You," is this week's biggest mover, sprinting 21-9. Between last week's 17-point jump and this week's 12-point leap into the Top 10, that song is an odds-on favorite for No. 1 in the next few weeks.

Its neighbor, "Smile" from Uncle Kracker at No. 8, is also a good bet for a charttopper. Interestingly, the two songs are in the same key and, when played on an iPod with the five-second overlap feature, blend seamlessly from Houston to Kracker.

Among the debuts this week, two newcomers (Will Hoge at No. 40 and Gary Go at No. 38) are joined by a veteran Midwest band that hasn't had a chart hit in almost two decades. Cheap Trick last hit in 1990 with "Wherever Would I Be?" the No. 14 follow-up to its No. 1 hit "Can't Stop Falling Into Love." The band's latest hit, "Miss Tomorrow," comes in at No. 39.

Week of Aug. 9, 2009

2009-08-06T07:03:00.000-07:00

In a typical week, a 17-position move up the chart would be the top story. But not this week, when Whitney Houston has to settle for second place.

Uncle Kracker takes the top honors this week for biggest chart move, as "Smile" sprints 27 notches from 37-10. That's the biggest single-week jump this year by far; prior to this week, six songs have moved between 13 and 15 spots. Interestingly, five of the six have gone on to No. 1 ("The Wrestler," "Warwick Avenue," "Use Somebody," "Second Chance" and "Fire Burning"). The sixth ("Fallin' for You") is still moving up the charts, this week at No. 7.

By comparison, last year's biggest single-week jump was 26 positions: Daughtry's "Feels Like Tonight" leapt 29-3 on its eventual trip to No. 1.

Speaking of Daughtry, in more ways than one this week's No. 1 is "No Surprise." The group's latest single is its third No. 1 in its past four tries; the only song to break the streak was the remake of Foreigner's "Feels Like the First Time," which bottomed out at No. 40.

If Uncle Kracker's song hadn't been on the chart, Whitney Houston would have the biggest mover of the year so far, as "I Look to You" makes an impressive leap from 38-21. A decade ago this week, Houston was No. 2 with "I Learned from the Best." She returned to the runner-up spot the next year in duets with George Michael ("If I Told You That") and Deborah Cox ("Same Script, Different Cast"). If the trend of big movers this year continues, this will be Houston's first No. 1 this decade.

Finally, Madonna debuts at No. 37 with "Celebration," her 45th Top 40 hit. It's her third hit this decade to share a title with an earlier hit (Kool and the Gang's No. 1 hit from 1981). She also hit with songs titled "Jump" (Van Halen) and "Beat Goes On" (Sonny & Cher).

Top 40 for Aug. 2

2009-07-30T16:56:00.000-07:00

It's unusual to have two different songs with the same title in the Top 40 at the same time. It happens this week, as the latest from Uncle Kracker, "Smile," enters at No. 37 while Jermaine Jackson's "Smile" moves up one to No. 16. The Jackson song is the latest version of a standard, while the Uncle Kracker song is a new composition that only shares the title.

Prior to this week, the "same-title, different-song, same-week" phenomenon happened at least twice. For three weeks beginning Aug. 27, 1988, two songs titled "Don't Be Cruel" charted -- one a remake of the Elvis Presley hit by Cheap Trick, the other an original that marked the solo debut of Bobby Brown.

Then amazingly, the week of Sept. 15, 1996, this happened not once but twice. The title "Missing You" was in the countdown by Tina Turner (a remake of the John Waite hit from '84) at No. 13 while an original collaboration from Brandy, Tamia, Gladys Knight and Chaka Khan was at No. 16. At the same time, two songs debuted with the title "Last Night" -- an R&B ballad by Az Yet at No. 23 and a British soul ballad by Eve Gallagher at No. 24. (The Az Yet song dropped out the next week, keeping this a brief quirk in the record book.)

This week, as Mariah Carey notches her latest Top 10 hit with "Obsessed" moving 12-10, her multioctave rival and one-time collaborator Whitney Houston returns to the charts, with "I Look to You" entering at No. 38. It's the title track from her new album expected to be released in September.

Week of July 26, 2009

2009-07-24T06:44:00.000-07:00

One of the fun parts of personal charting is to see how songs from disparate musical styles play back to back. That's clear from the five songs in spots 35 through 31 this week. At 35 is the former No. 1 modern rock ballad "Second Chance" from Shinedown. Next up is "Más," the first Spanish-language entry for Nelly Furtado. The Portuguese Canadian performer is a musical chameleon, hitting the charts with pop ("I'm Like a Bird," No. 2, 2001), R&B/hip-hop ("Promiscuous," No. 12, 2006; "Say It Right," No. 3, 2007) and duet ballads with country singer Keith Urban ("In God's Hands," No. 20, 2008) and English pop/soul singer James Morrison ("Broken Strings," No. 1, earlier this year).

At 33 is "Losing My Religion," the dance remake of R.E.M.'s No. 1 song of 1991 by Colton Ford. The former adult film star has placed five songs in the Top 40 in the past two years, with his first, "The Way You Love Me," being his biggest. Given that song's No. 32 peak and this week's 39-33 move, it's likely he'll have a new personal best.

Country singer George Strait debuts at No. 32 with "Living for the Night." It's his second hit to cross over, following "Run," which hit No. 1 in 2002. And at No. 31 is the adult top 40 ballad "Come Home," a collaboration between chart-topping newcomers OneRepublic ("Apologize") and Sara Bareilles ("Love Song"). It moves up six this week.

One last note for this week: Artists have had hits with songs titled "One" (Three Dog Night, U2) and songs titled "The One" (Elton John). But how many artists have had hits with both titles? One (of course!). That would be Mary J. Blige, who debuts this week at No. 40 with her duet with Drake, "The One." A few years back, Blige hit No. 3 with her remake of U2's "One," featuring U2 on the track.