Pop Sweep: November 17, 2012...

Hey gang, it's time to kick off today's five-part "chart sweeps" where I peruse the latest song making their way on to the weekly music charts in Billboard magazine. This time out it's the "pop" side of the house, along with the big chart, the Hot 100....

On Billboard's Hot 100 this week, Maroon 5 spend an astonishing eighth week at #1 with "One More Night"...

The top debut this week belongs to country sibling group The Band Perry, who are at #53 with the first single from their upcoming sophomore album, "Better Dig Two". On the big chart, they have made the top-40 twice, with the crossover hit "If I Die Young" peaking at #14. The new song, produced by Rick Rubin, is a dark, brooding rockin' yet traditional song that bodes very well for the set...

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New York rapper A$AP Rocky jumps in at #73 with "F**kin' Problems", featuring Drake, 2 Chainz, and Kendrick Lamar on backup. His last single, "Goldie", made it up to #55 earlier this year. THis is a foul-mouthed tirade with just a touch of swaggering (MAJOR NSFW natch)...

  Two singles of the four from Chris Brown's latest album, Fortune, went to the pop top-10 - "Don't Wake Me Up" and "Turn Up The Music", both dance-pop tracks.The latest, "Don't Judge Me" at #95, is scary in the fact that he clearly has no idea what he has done in the past, and kind of sours the album. If you didn't know his history, this would have the sombre allure of an Usher ballad, but it's hard to separate the man from the song. And the video doesn't help.

Canadian indie-soul singer the Weeknd scores his first pop hit at #96 with "Wicked Games", from his debut album Trilogy. The subtly-processed soulful vocals coupled with its rock edge make the song a winner for the crowd into Frank Ocean and the like.. (NSFW for the F word)

Kelly Clarkson's second new track from her upcoming Greatest Hits set, "Don't Rush", enters at #97. (The first, "Catch My Breath", made it to #54). It features country singer Vince Gill, who has made the Hot 100 six times before, the highest with wife Amy Grant on the #37 "House Of Love" in 1994. Kelly's album contains all ten of her top-10 pop singles. Gill is a great choice, because nobody can do blue-eyed soul infused country like him...

Another country duet, this time by the husband/wife act Thompson Square, debut at #98 with "If I Didn't Have You". They made the top-40 here two years ago with their country charttopper "Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not". This time out it's one of those country power-ballads in the "Don't You Wanna Stay" vein...

The final entry this week is by another country artist, Dierks Bentley, who has made the Hot 100 top-40 six times, the highest with his debut single, "What Was I Thinkin'", which peaked at #22.His latest, "Tip It On Back", the fourth from his excellent Home CD, is a midtempo rocker that is normally about celebrating the weekend, but with a video that is much more serious, but still really sweet at the end...

Meanwhile, on the Adult-top-40 radio format chart, the aforementioned "One More Night" spends a third non-consecutive week at the top.

The top entry here is by Matchbox Twenty, who have gone to #1 four times on this chart, the last being "Unwell" in 2003. They're back at #36 with the second single from their latest album, North, "Overjoyed", a midtempo ballad that harkens back to their post-grunge days just a tad, and it's nice to have a song that doesn't have to rely on dance-pop nuances...

 The other new song at #40 is by country newcomer Hunter Hayes, with his breakthrough hit "Wanted" which topped the country chart earlier this year. With this new Country Songs chart change, which allows crossover airplay to count toward the ranking, more and more pseudo-twangy songs like this will try to "bridge the divide". Whether that's good or bad is another question altogether, but I admit I do like Hayes on this sweet song...

Finally, over on the Adult-Contemporary radio chart, Gotye and Kimbra's "Somebody That I Used To Know" hangs on for a fourteenth week at #1...

The solitary debut on the list is the dubstep-esque "Too Close" by Alex Clare at #36, which has already reached the top-10 on both the Adult-top-40 and Hot 100 charts. I guess now even this genre has permeated the "old folks'" radio. But seriously, this is one of the best vocal performances of the year...

That's it for this installment...I'll be back in 90 minutes with the latest on rock radio...