Week of July 4

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.