Pop Sweep: June 8, 2013....
Hey gang, it's time to kick off today's five-part "chart sweeps" sampling the songs making the weekly singles charts in Billboard magazine, and as usual I'll start out with the pop side of things...
On the big chart, Billboard's Hot 100, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis along with Ray Dalton hang on for a fourth week at #1 with "Can't Hold Us"...
On Sunday's "Brit Sweep", I featured a track by a Minnesota teen singer/songwriter whose fight with bone cancer sadly ended on May 20th at the age of 18. After his diagnosis, Zach Sobiech recorded "Clouds" to illustrate his struggle with the disease, but instead of a sad remembrance, this song transcends to become a cheerful legacy to who he's left behind. In commemoration, a bunch of singers/musicians/actors came together to lipdub his song, which went viral on YouTube, and sales of "Clouds", originally released in December of last year with his band A Firm Handshake, exploded, landing his record at #7 on the digital sales chart, and also on the big chart up at #26.
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"Disgruntled" Voice judge Adam Levine lost two of his team's contestants on the show (partly because of Blake Shelton's maniacal fanbase, partly because of horrible song choices), but he can take solace in his band Maroon 5 leaping on the chart at #54 with the fourth single from their Overexposed album, "Love Somebody"....
The sixth movie in the vapid car film franchise Fast & Furious 6 beat The Hangover III to be the biggest moneymaker of the Memorial Day weekend, and the lead single from the soundtrack, "We Own It (Fast & Furious)" by rappers 2 Chainz and Wiz Khalifa enters the chart at #61...
French DJ/producer David Guetta scores his eighth Hot 100 single from his Nothing But The Beat collection (well including the re-release) as "Play Hard" featuring R&B singers Ne-Yo and Akon arrives at #76...
A former #1 hit in his native Britain, singer/rapper Labrinth gets his first hit in the States at #88 with the sublime "Beneath Your Beautiful", my "Pop Pick of the Week". It features supporting vocals by Emeli Sande', who has her own top-40 hit now with "Next To Me"...
The second performance from this season's The Voice makes it on to the big chart, and again its by Blake Shelton's underage waif Danielle Bradbery, who debuts at #92 with her version of the Jo Dee Messina classic "Heads Carolina, Tails California". The 1996 original didn't make the big chart, but did "bubble under" at #111 and hit #2 on the Billboard country chart....
Rapper and recent reality show shill T.I. is back at #93 with "Wit Me" featuring Lil' Wayne....(NSFW)
Country singer Brett Eldredge, from Paris, Illinois, gets his first Hot 100 hit at #95 with "Don't Ya". The slow-climbing country hit finally reaches the top-20 on the country chart in its 32nd week...
The final debut on the big chart at #100 is the second member of the A$AP Mob to have a hit, following A$AP Rocky of top-10 "Fuckin' Problems" fame. Now A$AP Ferg is in with "Work"...(NSFW)
...and now for the pop radio format charts...
On the Mainstream Top-40 Pop radio chart, Justin Timberlake's "Mirrors" stays a second week at #1...
The top debut at #38 is the top-5 rock hit "Safe And Sound" by Capital Cities....
The other entry at #40 is by the X Factor boyband that's not One Direction, newcomers from the US version Emblem3, with their first single "Chloe (You're The One I Want)"....
Meanwhile, over on the older-skewing Adult Top-40 chart, Pink's "Just Give Me A Reason" sticks around for a fifth week on top...
The sole debut here is the #1 Hot 100 hit "Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with singer Ray Dalton at #38, as their "Thrift Shop" also holds at #40...
Lastly, on the Adult Contemporary, or "Easy Listening" radio format, the Lumineers' "Ho Hey" reigns for a sixth week.
Justin Timberlake's Mainstream #1 "Mirrors" crosses over to this format at #27...
Mexican-born singer Margo Rey gets her fourth AC hit at #28 with a cover of Squeeze's 1981 classic "Tempted". The wife of comedian Ron White ("Tater Salad"), she went to #17 in 2011 with "Let It Rain" with John Oates...
That's it for the first part of our journey...I'll be back in 90 minutes with the latest on rock radio...
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