BEFORE I GET INTO THIS WEEK'S BLOG, my prayers go out to those in the path of Hurricane Milton which trekked through Florida causing extensive damage and at least ten deaths of this writing. Many of my friends live there, and thus far, many have reported safe, although its not known what has happened to their property. You are all in my thoughts.
YOU COULD BE EXCUSED if you look at this week's Billboard Hot 100 and be "ho hum" about it. While there is a debut at #3, that being "Timeless" by The Weeknd and Playboi Carti, that is pretty much part of the problem. While there's nothing wrong with the song (I actually haven't heard it yet), it seems that the trend is that, unless the song debuts in the top 10, it will never get there. And those that have stay in there constantly. In fact, most of the current top 15 were top ten debuts, and they've sat stagnant in that area of the chart it seems like forever. Ten of the top fifteen have been on the chart for 20 weeks or more (60 for Teddy Swims "Lose Control", and those that have been there for less than that, nonetheless debuted there and stayed there.
 |
| The Billboard Hot 100 has had lack of action during the past several weeks, with songs debuting in the top 10 and staying there for weeks. |
This enables Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" to remain at #1 for a 13th week, and the way things are going, it could stay there for some time to come. It's six weeks short of the record of 19 set by "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, in 2019.
It's a far cry from the days where there was constant movement up and down the chart. Songs would debut low and work their way up the charts into the top 10, stay there for a few weeks before descending. Now, I realize that the current way the chart is tabulated is a lot more accurate than in the days of yore. There are three components that make up the Hot 100 each week: Radio station airplay, which is pretty much the old-fashioned way of determining any song popularity, as radio stations gradually increase the number of times a song is played each week. But the other two components: digital downloads and streaming, can fluctuate from week to week as the listener isn't going to "increase" or "decrease" buying or streaming in a proportionate basis. And these days, airplay isn't that significant, and streaming is what drives this chart now.
But that brings up another issue. Since the chart is mostly controlled by streaming, why are people listening to the same songs over and over again? A case in point is the aforementioned Teddy Swims song "Lose Control". It's still #8 on the Hot 100, despite two official follow-ups: The equally awesome "The Door" and the latest single "Bad Dreams". While "The Door" moves to a new peak this week, at #24, it's unlikely it will reach the top ten for the reasons explained above. And "Bad Dreams" has been out a few weeks now, and, while it's the Mover of the Week on the SNS 100 this week, it still hasn't appeared on the Billboard chart. Not only are worthy artists are being ignored, but follow-ups to those who have these hits don't seem to be heard, either. While new artists like Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan are listed on here (Sabrina has three songs still in the top 10), and Billie Eilish has had a couple songs high on this portion of the chart, there are many other artists that should get a shot. And why THESE artists? I know that previewing a song on Tik-Tok is a great way for exposure nowadays, but many others are being denied. Having the exact same artists and songs on a major chart like the Hot 100 week after week is pretty much a disservice to breaking new artists and to the recording industry as well.
And anything short of an "album bomb" (when a popular artist drops a new album and the individual tracks debut high and scour out the top ten, something that hasn't happened in a while), we may never see any new and worthwhile music in the top ten (until the holiday season, when the usual seasonal songs take the top of the chart again....and that in itself is another problem, a discussion for another time).
TURNING TO THE SNS 100, "Got To Be Good" by Gotts Street Park featuring Pip Millett, stays at #1 for a fourth non-consecutive week. However, it now has formidable competition as "Takes One to Know One" by The Beaches moves 4-2 and is in striking distance of the top. While "A Bar Song" racks up a 13th week on the Hot 100, the song drops 2-3 after one week at the top here. Jitwam's "Opendoors" advances 5-4, while Cage the Elephant's "Rainbows" drops from 3 to 5. And, perhaps, echoing the Billboard chart, the top 11 positions on my blog chart are the same aside from minor jostling of position as there are no new entries in the top 10 (or 11).
In fact, the only entry in the SNS top 20 is beabadoobee's "Beaches" moving from 29 to 20. As mentioned above, Teddy Swims' "Bad Dreams", last week's Top Debut, is the Mover of the Week, going from 62 to 38.
MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES: A look at the SNS 100 shows many artists who appear more than once but under different billings, be it solo or with various bands. Case in point: Daniele Silvestri, a drummer from Italy appears SIX times on this week's chart, with FOUR different bands. Silvestri drums twice with Orbis Max on "Take That Ride" (#78) and "Fields" (#90), as well as twice with the other Internet band Einsteins Dad: "After the Rain" (#47), and "It's Just America" which debuts at #97. But he also appears with SupaPurple on "Heaven" (#65), and The Wheelgunners' "Devil's Train" (#100).
But Daniele isn't the only one billed in more than one way on the SNS 100. Jim Richey also appears with Orbis Max on "Learning To Love" (#27), and with his own band The Pozers on "Missing You (Missing Me)" at #19. Pip Millett, aside from being featuring on the #1 song "Got To Be Good" with Gotts Street Park, moves up the chart with her solo "Hard Life" (#22). Mike Taylor is at #25 with "I Don't Wanna Cry" while the group he fronts, The Holiday Band sits at #44 with "I Got It Bad For You". Moving to the North of the border, Richard Bradley is part of Northern Tracks, with "Deceiving Minds" at #61, along with the two aforementioned Einsteins Dad songs.
Other artists who have recently appeared in more than one configuration include Seth Storer who sang lead on Einsteins Dad's "To the Moon" and is still on the chart with Whiskey-Chitto Ramblers; Tim Izzard with both Orbis Max and Sir Prize and the Twomorrow Knightz (not to mention several other billings over the past couple of years), and Ryan Chatelain solo and currently with The Dust-Ups. There are many other examples over the history of my blog chart as well.
DEBUTS: Leading the debuts this week is the latest from Gary Lowder and Smokin' Hot, with "Driving Me Out of Her Mind". The beach music band's newest single is definitely in the bouncy, shag mode and should be another hit for the contingent. The sound is very fresh and different enough in that genre to score here as well. I have to also point out that the song was written by Charlie Sattenfield, one of the notable writers in that genre; he also wrote "Beacha' Didn't Know" by Calypso Joe and the Coconuts, which I believe he is a member of. He has also teamed up with Sylvia Johns Ritchie on several songs.
I mentioned above that one of this year's breakthrough artists is Chappell Roan, who along with Sabrina Carpenter are among the new artists to hit it big this year. She makes her blog debut with "Good Luck, Babe" which has peaked at #4 and is still in the top ten on the Billboard chart. Don't let the pop success fool you. While the intro is reminiscent of Wham!'s "Last Christmas", Ms. Roan makes this song her own; the song is excellently produced, and she sings with emotion and soul. While I have gripes about songs staying at the top for enormously long times, I am happy that most of the big hits lately are well sung and produced, and not the "sparse pop" of most recent years. I'm a little late to the party with Chappell, but I'm sure I will make up for lost time. And the end is very interesting as it sounds like a vinyl record slowing down. This will be a hit here.
Rock--classic or otherwise--still works on the SNS 100 as the latest by Linkin Park enter the chart. Despite missing Chester Bennington for quite a while now, the band's latest, "The Emptiness Machine", in just three weeks, has ascended to the top of the alternative chart. It's also peaked at #21 on the Hot 100 where it now sits at #58. The band has definitely reinvented itself as much of the lead vocal is by Emily Armstrong who is from the band Dead Sara. The song is from the upcoming eighth album from the band, From Zero, the first without Bennington, who died in 2017. As such, it has a fresh sound to it, much like a new band, although the trademark production, vocals (Ms. Armstong's style is similar to Bennington's) and guitar work is still intact. To be honest, I wasn't sure about adding this song, but one listen has me thinking otherwise. Linkin Park was one of the last traditional rock bands to be among the best sellers, so it was nice to see this one on the Billboard charts. Could it lead a rock renaissance? We shall see. It enters at #87.
Making his blog debut is English singer-songwriter Artemas, with "dirty little secret", sort of an eighties-style song that moves along nicely; Next is "Worthy" by Mavis Staples, which is an unlikely Triple-A hit. If the name sounds familiar, it's because she was part of the vintage family group The Staple Singers, of "Respect Yourself" and "I'll Take You There" fame. You may also remember Mavis singing the theme from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. "Worthy" is reminiscent of her early work with the Staples, plus with a rock edge, very innovative.
Lake Street Dive has been on my chart several times; most notably with their first entry, "Call Off Your Dogs" which peaked at #8 in 2016. The outfit's new one is "Dance with a Stranger" which they recently performed on the Kelly Clarkson Show. A nice, unique sound on this one, the contingent seems to be enjoying themselves doing this one. Has definite possibilities. Finally, the latest from Einsteins Dad is "It's Just America". From one listen, based on the title, I'm not sure if this is some sort of social comment (I'll have to listen closely to the lyrics in the future), but for the Internet band, it's another cohesive effort. The regulars Steve Shouse, Richard Bradley, Mario Licata and Daniele Silvestri are joined this time by Steve Gottwals, who handles the vocals and co-wrote the song. Has sort of a folk-rock slant to this one.
SYMBOLISM: You may have noticed over the years on my chart that some song titles have a dot or triangle next to them. Similar to some classic Billboard charts, they are "gold" or "platinum" songs of sorts. They were originally awarded to songs that I had played 25 times on iTunes for gold, and 50 times for platinum, based on the number of plays on iTunes or my iPod.
But beginning in 2023, as I moved the SNS playlists to Spotify, I changed the criteria. Since Spotify doesn't track (or at least show you) the number of times you played the song, I awarded "gold" and "platinum" status to a rank list by plays by Spotify. The most played song over a given month is awarded "platinum" status; if a song was among the top five, it would be awarded "gold". If a song ranked among the top five for two straight months, it would also be "platinum".
The problem with doing this is that many "new" songs on my playlist often rank among the top five, mostly because I play bits of them a few times to see if they are worthy of adding them or moving up. I then had to put a rule that they had to at least the top 40 to qualify. Still, the whole thing is objective.
I came across the website last.fm which is a great way to discover new music. You can find artists across many genres, and it's tied in with Spotify as well. One feature that it has is to track the number of plays on a song. Called "scrobbling", it will track listens on both last.fm and Spotify. In the future, I will use this as a criterion for gold and platinum status, once I get a feel for the average number of plays on a song during a typical chart run.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist
October 6, 2024
|
This Week |
Last Week |
ARTIST-Title |
Weeks on List |
|
1 |
1 |
NUMBER ONE:  GOTTS STREET PARK featuring PIP MILLETT Album: On The Inside (4 Weeks at #1) |
8 |
|
2 |
4 |
7 |
|
|
3 |
2 |
10 |
|
|
4 |
5 |
7 |
|
|
5 |
3 |
10 |
|
|
6 |
6 |
10 |
|
|
7 |
7 |
9 |
|
|
8 |
9 |
9 |
|
|
9 |
8 |
10 |
|
|
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
|
11 |
11 |
14 |
|
|
12 |
14 |
7 |
|
|
13 |
16 |
6 |
|
|
14 |
15 |
12 |
|
|
15 |
17 |
6 |
|
|
16 |
13 |
15 |
|
|
17 |
12 |
11 |
|
|
18 |
19 |
6 |
|
|
19 |
20 |
5 |
|
|
20 |
29 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:  "Beaches" Album: This Is How Tomorrow Moves |
4 |
|
21 |
24 |
5 |
|
|
22 |
25 |
5 |
|
|
23 |
21 |
9 |
|
|
24 |
26 |
6 |
|
|
25 |
28 |
7 |
|
|
26 |
35 |
5 |
|
|
27 |
30 |
11 |
|
|
28 |
31 |
8 |
|
|
29 |
33 |
8 |
|
|
30 |
34 |
6 |
|
|
31 |
18 |
15 |
|
|
32 |
38 |
6 |
|
|
33 |
36 |
Rev. Bubba D. Liverance and the
Cornhole Prophets - Down With That |
6 |
|
34 |
23 |
16 |
|
|
35 |
27 |
11 |
|
|
36 |
22 |
12 |
|
|
37 |
40 |
12 |
|
|
38 |
62 |
MOVER OF THE WEEK:  Album: I've Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 2) |
2 |
|
39 |
32 |
14 |
|
|
40 |
48 |
6 |
|
|
41 |
57 |
4 |
|
|
42 |
54 |
4 |
|
|
43 |
65 |
3 |
|
|
44 |
37 |
15 |
|
|
45 |
56 |
4 |
|
|
46 |
53 |
4 |
|
|
47 |
41 |
14 |
|
|
48 |
44 |
10 |
|
|
49 |
39 |
11 |
|
|
50 |
43 |
13 |
|
|
51 |
75 |
2 |
|
|
52 |
42 |
12 |
|
|
53 |
49 |
10 |
|
|
54 |
45 |
9 |
|
|
55 |
68 |
5 |
|
|
56 |
50 |
25 |
|
|
57 |
47 |
Deb Browning and Marlisa Kay
Small -Sunshine and Summertime● |
24 |
|
58 |
70 |
33 |
|
|
59 |
78 |
Sylvia Johns Ritchie -I Don't
Care Who Knows ( I Love My Baby) |
2 |
|
60 |
51 |
5 |
|
|
61 |
46 |
15 |
|
|
62 |
60 |
17 |
|
|
63 |
52 |
17 |
|
|
64 |
72 |
22 |
|
|
65 |
55 |
8 |
|
|
66 |
61 |
20 |
|
|
67 |
63 |
19 |
|
|
68 |
81 |
3 |
|
|
69 |
89 |
2 |
|
|
70 |
95 |
2 |
|
|
71 |
86 |
2 |
|
|
72 |
92 |
2 |
|
|
73 |
--- |
TOP DEBUT:  (Single Release) |
1 |
|
74 |
67 |
19 |
|
|
75 |
88 |
2 |
|
|
76 |
71 |
18 |
|
|
77 |
76 |
4 |
|
|
78 |
58 |
9 |
|
|
79 |
85 |
3 |
|
|
80 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
81 |
99 |
2 |
|
|
82 |
80 |
3 |
|
|
83 |
97 |
2 |
|
|
84 |
59 |
Whiskey-Chitto Ramblers - Radio On |
15 |
|
85 |
69 |
7 |
|
|
86 |
94 |
31 |
|
|
87 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
88 |
66 |
17 |
|
|
89 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
90 |
77 |
19 |
|
|
91 |
84 |
29 |
|
|
92 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
93 |
73 |
12 |
|
|
94 |
87 |
44 |
|
|
95 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
96 |
64 |
14 |
|
|
97 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
98 |
74 |
8 |
|
|
99 |
82 |
13 |
|
|
100 |
101 |
1 |
Tremors:
101. C. Lynn Smith - Follow It Down
Tremors: Songs which have steady
or increasing points but not enough to chart on the SNS 100.
Murmurs:
Bon Jovi - Living Proof
Hannah Goodall - Narcissist
Gwen Stefani - Somebody Elses
The Fray - The Well Rated
Franz Ferdinand - Audacious
The Shang Hi Lo's - Morganatic Panic
Michael Des Barres - Fox on the Run
Isabella Pombrio - Cherish Life
Widely Grown - While the Night is Young
Arc De Soleil - Trying to Escape
The Rainy Day Outlaws - I Know
Mt. Joy - Highway Queen
The Last Dinner Party - Nothing Matters
Dollys - Cornerstones
The Beaches - Jocelyn
Murmurs: Songs which are in the
queue for future adds onto the Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist.
|
|
Songs
with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week
▲Song garnered most plays
on Spotify, for the month, with a
superscript following the symbol if most played for multiple months; or if a
song was among the top 5 most plays for two months. ● Song
among top 5 most plays on Spotify.
Awards given during the last blog of each month. To qualify, the song must be currently or
have peaked in the top 40. (Until September 2024)
Songs
on the SNS 100 are included on the following public Spotify playlists
Scenes
‘n’ Soundwaves Top 40: Contains songs in positions 1-40 on the SNS
100
Scenes
Up and Coming: Songs From 41-100 that are moving up the
chart that have not reached the top 40
Scenes
Down and Going: Song formerly in the top 40 that are
descending but still on the SNS 100.
Scenes
Recurrents: Songs which had been in
the top 20 and/or songs on the chart 25 weeks or more, that have dropped off
the SNS 100.
