Pop Sweep: November 15, 2014...

Hey gang, it's time to kick off the first of today's "chart sweeps", checking out the songs making the various music charts in Billboard magazine this week. As usual, I'll start out with the pop side of things, then later in the day move on to the newest in rock, R&B, country, and dance music....

On the "big" chart, Billboard's Hot 100, which combines tallies of sales, internet streaming (like YouTube and Spotify) and radio airplay from all genres, Taylor Swift climbs back to #1 after spending eight weeks at #2 with "Shake It Off"...

As Taylor's 1989 album was released, four more of its tracks rack up enough "points" to make the Hot 100 ("Out Of The Woods" and "Welcome To New York" had already appeared as promo singles). Landing at #18 is what will be her next radio single, "Blank Space". Besides being the top-selling "song" of the week, the track also makes the mainstream top-40 and adult top-40 radio charts as well...(there's no official video up, and her "people" take anything down on YouTube, so I'll be skipping this...

Also, as an addendum, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" re-enters the chart at #35 due to its annual Halloween resurgence.

Las Vegas alternative rock band Imagine Dragons return at #53 with "I Bet My Life". It's the first single from their long-awaited second album. Their debut spun off four singles on the Hot 100, with the #3 "Radioactive" becoming one of the biggest hits of last year (#3 on Billboard's year-end chart)...

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The third single from rapper Nicki Minaj's upcoming Pinkprint album, "Only" lands at #54. The track features Drake, Lil' Wayne, and Chris Brown (did Drake and Brown know they'd be on the same record?). It follows "Anaconda", which climbed to #2 earlier this year...

(Another Swift track, "Style", pops in at #60)...

Music video wizards OK Go land at #71 with their single "I Won't Let You Down", my "Pop Pick of the Week". Now with this new "adding YouTube views" business, I'm kind of shocked that this enters so low (with a total of 11 million views to date). Perhaps the mag didn't get their, ahem, advertising payment...

British singer and former X Factor UK contestant Ella Henderson debuts at #75 with "Ghost". The song spent a couple weeks at #1 in England, and now sits at #23 on the Adult Top-40 radio list...

(Another two tracks of Taylor's, "Wildest Dreams" and "Bad Blood", come in at #76 and #80)...

Sneaking in at #100 is country singer Kenny Chesney with "Til It's Gone", the second single from his The Big Revival album. The first, "American Kids", climbed to #23 on the Hot 100 earlier this summer...

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

On the Mainstream Top-40 radio panel, Tove Lo jumps from #5 to #1 with her first chart-topper, "Habit (Stay High)", while the aforementioned Taylor Swift track "Blank Space" comes in at #29...

Meghan Trainor's "Lips Are Movin'" enters this chart at #30...

...and Chris Brown's former #1 R&B radio single "New Flame"  with Usher and rapper Rick Ross lands on the pop radio list at #39..

Meanwhile, on the older-skewing Adult Top-40 format, Taylor's "Shake It Off" is on top for a sixth week, while her "Blank Space" is the top new entry at #36...

One Direction are back at #37 with "Steal My Girl", from their upcoming fourth album. They went all the way to #1 on this format with "Story Of My Life" last year. I guess Harry Styles' transformation to be drag Mick Jagger is complete...

A teen idol from a slightly older set, Nick Jonas, comes in at #40 with "Jealous", a former "Pop Pick" that's already in the Hot 100 top-40..

Lastly, on the Adult Contemporary, or "easy-listening" radio chart, Magic!'s lite-reggae "Rude" reigns for a third week...

The sole debut at #26 is Maroon 5 with their top-5 Hot 100 hit "Animals". Their "Maps" is still up high at #5 on this chart...

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