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?)
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Week of Feb. 21
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.
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.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Week of Feb. 14
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).
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).
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Week of Feb. 7
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.
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.
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