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.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Week of December 26
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!
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!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Week of December 19
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."
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."
Thursday, December 9, 2010
End of the year chart for 2010
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).
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
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."
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."
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Week of December 5
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.
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.
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