CHASING RECORDS: The main story continues to be Adele, as her "Hello" stays at the top of SNS, Billboard Hot 100 and several other charts around the country and world. It's her fourth week on Billboard's chart and third on mine. But she continues to be the talk of the town and the world, for that matter. Her new 25 set shattered all sales records for an opening week, and the most in any week since they started keeping track of that stuff back in 1991. 25, when all the tallies were counted, racked up 3.3 million units, eclipsing the 2.4 million from 'N Sync's No Strings, back in 2001. Adele performed on Saturday Night Live on November 21, for the first time since 2008, and essentially picked up right where she left off back then when she was an unknown. Although she, candidly, in interviews says she is sometimes "scared" to get up there and perform, thinking she'll "screw up", she delivered admirably. And yes, there was that gesture at the end of "Hello", but even that, it just seemed she was enjoying herself. Then two days later, she was back at 30 Rock on Jimmy Fallon's show performing, and there was a sketch with both of them, as well as the house band The Roots, playing "Hello" with school instruments. Adding to that, the SNL sketch where the dysfunctional family were going at it at the Thanksgiving table, until the daughter calms everyone down as she plays "Hello", causing all to be in tears, we have a performer who doesn't take herself seriously. Her fame is well-deserved.
I know I've said a lot about her in the last several blogs, but that is the type of impact she has had. There were a couple of my friends who are tired of her, or never cared for her in the first place, but they are truly in the minority.
Adele's fellow Britoner, Florence Welch, and her band Florence + the Machine, try to keep pace at the runner-up spot with "Queen of Peace", which title is apropos, as there is no buzz at all on this song, her third from How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, in spite of the first two singles becoming hits. And there is a connection between Flo and Adele; they get along very well, and Adele had nothing but good things to say about Flo's album; in an interview, Adele mentioned it was one of the albums she looked forward to listening to, come Friday, release day.
THE AMA'S: Women account for the top 3 as pop star Selena Gomez moves into the third spot on my list, with "Same Old Love". The American Music Awards aired on the 22nd, and she performed that song on that show. As for the show itself, I've always thought of this as a poor man's Grammys. Obviously, the difference is that the Grammys reward artistry, while the AMA's are popularity driven. Thus, if you love the current pop music, it was your night, as, aside from Gomez, her ex, Justin Bieber, as well as Ariana Grande, One Direction, Demi Lovato, and 5 Seconds of Summer, among others, was pop heaven (or hell, depending on your musical tastes). Host Jennifer Lopez danced to a medley of recent pop hits at an opening. A cappella group Pentatonix, which usually surfaces around the holidays, although their new set isn't holiday-themed, did their unique take on Star Wars Themes.
And yes, there were rockers on the show, Gwen Stefani and Coldplay, both of whom have award status this week on my SNS 100, impressed. As for the actual winners, they were the usual pop, hip-hop suspects. I never understood why they always combined Pop and Rock in one category, since those two styles seem to be so apart from each other (even back in the 1970's as well as today), but the winner, Maroon 5, does embody those two genres. Luckily they had a alternative artist category, but the winners of that one were Fall Out Boy, winning over Hozier and Walk the Moon. Now, I have nothing against FOB; they had two top 20 songs on my list this year, but I thought Hozier was more deserving. I did like the choice for the male "pop/rock" artist of the year, Ed Sheeran. The female winner, however, Ariana Grande, she of the dissing of America and licking donuts at a Dunkin' Donuts earlier this year, just goes to prove that, if you're a pop artist, you can get away with all that crap and your fans will still support you in droves. One can look at Beiber's three songs in Billboard's Top 5 and the much talked about performance on the awards show, as further evidence of that.
NOT SO COLD: For me, the stand out performance on the show was Coldplay's new single, "Adventure of a Lifetime". Coldplay was a favorite of mine during the 2000's, but I pretty much forgot about them over the last few years. Their most recent set, Ghost Stories, although yielding two top 20 pop singles, could only muster "Magic" getting to #78 on my list. So, when their new single came out and saw it on the charts, I was skeptical. But after seeing their performance of the song on the show, I was blown away. I wasn't sure what the people dancing around in ape costumes were about (it is the theme of the video, so I guess that's it), but the song is a pleasant breath from fresh air. The song debuts at #74, higher than their last album. It is rhythm oriented, very surreal-sounding and gives you the chills. A nice new direction, that probably won't get pop airplaym (it IS an established rock band, after all), but will win away modern rock outlets. I like this a lot, and it should be a surefire top 20 song on my list for sure. I also have to give kudos to Chris Martin, the mastermind frontman of the band, who, if nothing else, is the only established artist to ever tweet a blog of mine; he did that three years ago. Great song, Chris!!
CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE: Debuting next are the first three holiday entries on the SNS 100. Train leads things off with "Merry Christmas Everybody". They are no stranger to the holiday wars; "Shake Up Christmas" landed in the top 25 of my blog back in 2010. This time around, they are releasing a holiday effort Christmas In Tahoe, which contains both of the above songs, and some great remakes including Joni Mitchell's "River" (more on that one below), Chrissie Hynde's "2000 Miles", and John & Yoko's "Happy Christmas (War is Over'". Although this band has tried to stay relevant in today's pop world, trying to compete with Maroon 5, it appears their pop days are over, but the band is still awesome. The vocals on the new single are very forceful and rock-oriented but the message is very clear. A nice additional to the holiday arsenal.
Right behind Train is "The Season's Upon Us", by Boston rockers Dropkick Murphys. Normally, I don't re-add holiday songs which have made my currents playlists in prior years, but I was compelled to bring this one back. In 2012 when it was released, it reached #75. As I stated last week, it is part of my friend Alan Corso's playlist he uses for this get-togethers and tailgates, even playing it during the year. Since many of his songs I discovered went on into my top twenty, it is worth another look. As per their usual style, this is Irish-rock at its best, encouraging you to drink your drink of choice and toast to the holidays.
For me, the biggest local release is the new album by The Hounds of Winter, the studio outfit headed by my friend Tom Corea, who runs his Babyfishmouth studio at his East Hanover NJ home. Many of our fellow Roselle Park friends were lauding the songs that he posted and anticipating the new set, to be released the day after Thanksgiving, and yesterday I finally got a chance to preview a couple of songs from Band In A Box, which serves as an "all-star" album of sorts, not unlike what Phil Spector did with this landmark "A Christmas Gift for You" set in 1963. The Hounds are no stranger to my blog; their last song, "Amy's World" reached #2 in the summer of 2014, and two of their holiday entries, "Come on Christmas" (#21) and a cover of Tom Petty's "Christmas All Over Again" (#35), made my list back in 2012. Both of those songs are included on this box set of sorts; hence the package's title. There are some new tracks in there as well, and I will be listening to more of this set over the next several days. But for me, it was a chance to listen to a new effort by Sarah Jean, who made my list with "Hometown" and "At Last in 2011 and 2012. When I saw Tom at an event back in September, I asked him if she'll be featured at all, and he said yes. "River", the Joni Mitchell cover mentioned above, is the result and it was a late add to my list. She does a fabulous job with the long. I usually listen to another Sarah---McLachlan---version that came out in the mid-2000's, which is my favorite, but I have to say Sarah Jean, accompanied by the Hounds, is better. She put her heart and soul into the recording. There are some other gems I will explore in the coming weeks.
SMITH....SAM SMITH: One more debut of note is Sam Smith's "Writing's on the Wall", the latest theme in the James Bond franchise, from the new movie SPECTRE. It's the first theme since Adele took "Skyfall" to #2 three years ago. With Ed Sheeran burning up my list this year, it's time to give Sam another look. He wrote it, and although he is too young to remember the classic themes from the likes of Shirley Bassey and others, he hits the nail on the head with this one, capturing the essence of past themes, while at the same time making it his own. There are style traces of Skyfall in there, as well as elements of other themes throughout the fifth-plus years. The strings may be a bit too much for pop radio, but Smith's soulfulness takes charts of this, and in a way, exceeds many of the artists in the past tackling a Bond them. A great effort from Sam here.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
November 22,
2015
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 1 | NUMBER ONE:
"Hello"
Album: 25
(3 weeks at #1)
|
5 |
| 2 | 2 | Florence + the Machine - Queen of Peace | 6 |
| 3 | 7 | Selena Gomez - Same Old Love | 6 |
| 4 | 6 | Palma Violets - Danger in the Club | 11 |
| 5 | 3 | Ed Sheeran - Photograph | 18 |
| 6 | 13 | St. Paul & the Broken Bones - Broken Bones & Pocket Change | 10 |
| 7 | 9 | X Ambassadors - Renegades | 22 |
| 8 | 4 | Hozier - Someone New | 16 |
| 9 | 11 | Best Coast - Feeling OK | 9 |
| 10 | 5 | Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats - S.O.B. | 10 |
| 11 | 10 | Foals - Mountain At My Gates | 15 |
| 12 | 17 | Thomas Rhett - Crash and Burn | 7 |
| 13 | 15 | Django Django - Shake & Tremble | 10 |
| 14 | 12 | Fitz and the Tantrums - Last Raindrop | 19 |
| 15 | 30 | TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
"Maybe If We
Try"
(Single Only)
|
3 |
| 16 | 8 | Brandon Flowers - I Can Change | 12 |
| 17 | 14 | Matt Weiss - Black Magic | 17 |
| 18 | 20 | The Decemberists - Philomena | 6 |
| 19 | 16 | Elle King - Ex's and Oh's● | 26 |
| 20 | 19 | Soak - Sea Creatures | 12 |
Tremors:
| 101 | 104 | Imagine Dragons - Roots |
| 102 | --- | Jana Kramer - I Got the Boy |
| 103 | 101 | JR JR - Gone |
| 104 | --- | Good Charlotte - Makeshift Love |
|
|
Songs
with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.
● Songs
with 25 or more plays on my iPod.
▲ Songs with 50 or more plays on my iPod. 
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