Pop Sweep: October 4, 2014...


I'm ready to kick off the first of today's five "chart sweeps", checking out the songs making their debut on the various singles charts in Billboard magazine. As usual, I'll start off on the pop side of the house, and then later on in the day bring you the latest on rock, R&B, country, and dance radio.. And away we go...

On the "big" chart, Billboard's Hot 100, which combines tallies from sales, internet streaming (like YouTube and Spotify) and radio airplay from all formats, Meghan Trainor holds tight at #1 for a third week with "All About That Bass"....

Rocketing on to the chart at #18 is a song from Jennifer Lopez, who's been having a rough go with her latest album A.K.A. The first two singles from the project, the shitty faux-street-level "I Luh Ya Papi" and the surprisingly enjoyable "First Love", both stalled on the bottom quarter of the chart. Well, add a soft-porn music video with homoerotic overtones to goose up your numbers and this is the result. The new non-album remix of "Booty" features "hot girl of the moment" Iggy Azalea traipsing around in a dirty white swimsuit over a cookie-cutter Arabic riff that is just as inane as Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" without even the sample to remind you of a better song. Hopefully as boys grow tired soon of choking their chickens to this, this will fade rather quickly.


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The fourth preview track from country star Jason Aldean's upcoming Old Boots, New Dirt album, "Gonna Know We Were Here", arrives at #63. The official radio single, "Burnin' It Down", drops a notch to #21 with a bullet. It peaked at #12 a couple months back. By the numbers bro-country. Absolutely nothing but branding and guitars here, but at least Jason sings with passion and makes it listenable.



New Orleans-born singer/songwriter August Alsina, who now lives in Atlanta, scores his second Hot 100 hit with "No Love" at #73. Last year his debut single "I Luv This Shit" with Trinidad James climbed to #48. A little sing-songy and Auto-Tuned for my tastes, but at least its a sung hip-hop song on the R&B chart, where it moves to #45...


The second preview single from crossover country duo Florida Georgia Line's upcoming second album, "Sun Daze", drops in at #83. The official radio single, "Dirt", currently holds at #28 on the Hot 100. It seems a little late for this beachtime-sounding ditty that name-checks Haggard, Jagger, and hip-hop in the same line, but with global warming and all I guess it's still hot enough down south...


Irish rockers the Script return at #88 with the first single from their upcoming fourth album, "Superheroes". The song is currently up to #15 on the Adult Top-40 radio chart. The band's high so far is their "Breakeven" which peaked at #13. They've evolved into a kind of a Coldplay-lite with the vague inspirational lyrics and chants that are pleasant but not as heartfelt as their earlier work...


The title track to Chris Brown's just-released X album, which got beat out by Barbra Streisand's Partners album for the #1 spot this week, shuffles in at #98. The current radio single from the project, "New Flame", the fourth top-40 hit from the set, also leaps up to #27. This new one, produced by Diplo and with Sevyn Streeter as one of the co-writers, fits in the trap-music modulated R&B that they have been successful with. It sounds like two or three songs mashed up together...


The final new entry on the Hot 100 is from a rapper that in the news this week more from his impending divorce, Wiz Khalifa, as "You And Your Friends" is in at #99. The track is up to #37 on the R&B/HipHop Airplay chart. The record, featuring cameos from Snoop Dogg and Ty Dolla $ign, is the second from his Blacc Hollywood album to make the pop chart; "We Dem Boys" made it to #43...


...and now on to the pop radio format charts

On the Mainstream Top-40 radio panel, "All About That Bass" climbs to the top position...

"Out" lesbian singer/songwriter Mary Lambert, who was the featured artist on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' marriage equality anthem "Same Love", which went to #5 on this format, makes her debut at #34 with her "Secrets". The song also inches closer to the top of the Adult Top-40 chart at #13...


Childish Gambino, the rap alter-ego of actor Donald Glover, crosses over to the pop radio list at #39 with his jam "V.3005". The track was at #42 on the R&B list a couple weeks ago..


As Swedish DJ (and former third of the Swedish House Mafia) Alesso climbs the dance club chart with his "Tear The Roof Up", another record of his, "Heroes (We Could Be)" (not to be confused with the David Bowie classic), lands at #40. It's a rather non-distinct EDM piece of product, despite vocals from Tove Lo in the mix.


Meanwhile, on the older-skewing Adult Top-40 format, Maroon 5 reign for a third week with "Maps"...

Irish singer/songwriter Hozier comes in at #39 with his top-10 rock hit "Take Me To Church"....


Australian boy-band 5 Seconds of Summer score their first hit on the "adult" chart with "Amnesia" at #40. Do their tween fanbase know what they're singing about with the first line "getting wasted"? Of course the video keeps the girls way in the background, to propagate the "they can be yours" trope...


Lastly, on the Adult Contemporary, of "easy-listening" radio chart, Nico & Vinz take a second week on top with "Am I Wrong"...

Canadian rocker and 80s/90s hitmaker Bryan Adams is back with a song from his new album Tracks Of My Years, "She Knows Me", at #27. It's his first on this chart since 2008's "I Thought I'd Seen Everything", and the welcome return is my "Pop Pick of the Week"...


That's it for the start of today's trip...I'll be back in 90 minutes with the latest on rock radio...

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