Wednesday, September 28, 2016

The Year Without A Summer (SNS weeks of 9/11 and 9/18/2016)

Did we have a summer this year?    OK, sure, Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day did come.   Many people flocked to the beach.   We had our share of warm and hot weather once again this year; and the global warming mongers once again said that the Summer of 2016 was the warmest ever.    And yes, it seemed to come and go so quickly as we are now feeling the effects of autumn.  But that's not what I was talking about.

From a musical standpoint, yes, this was the year without a summer.    Well, if you follow the pop charts and Billboard, of course there was music.    In fact, Billboard, as they do every year, tabulates its "Song of the Summer" as they have every year since the 1980's.   And the winner this year?  That would be "One Dance", by Drake, featuring WizKid and Kyla.

What?  You never heard of it?    Okay, how about the #2 song on Billboard's summer survey,  "Can't Stop the Feeling", by Justin Timberlake?  Not a clue, either?  

Well, you're not alone if you haven't.  I haven't either.   Of course, I do look towards the pop chart to find some current place-holders for the season, to mix in with my alternative and country-flavored current music that I am listening to, but the question is, nobody that I know of has even mentioned those songs, or rallied around them this summer, unlike summers past.

Last year, we had both "Uptown Funk", Billboard's big summer song of 2015, and for me, "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran.   Both songs were those that friends talked about not just for the summer, but for the entire year.   And, in recent years, there was "Happy" by Pharrell Williams, "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke, and "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen, just to name three.   You couldn't go anywhere or scroll on social media without anyone talking about the song or posting it.

But, nobody seemed to care about those top two songs, and not even me, as I didn't even add the songs.   The remainder of Billboard's Top 10 does have some more familiarity to it, however.   The number ten song, Adele's "Send My Love (To Your New Lover", landed at #16 on my list, and The Chainsmokers, Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna, Twenty-One Pilots and Sia, which made the top echelon on Billboard, I did add, albeit in most of those cases a little too late, some of them are just starting to climb my charts.    But again, with the possible exception of Adele, none of them are even household songs.

So, what gives?   Was I living under a rock and didn't pay any attention to what was out there?    Did a friend hum a song out loud or quote some lyrics, but went over my head because I never heard them before?   I guess that's quite possible, but not probable by a long shot.    Much of the people around me instead focused on the songs of the past, with one notable exception:   DNCE's "Cake By The Ocean", but that was more of a spring song; it landed at #73 on my list for the summer season.   Expanding the analysis to Billboard's top 20 Summer Songs, only Pink's "Just Like Fire" hit my weekly top 20; it landed at #12 Billboard and #26 on my summer list.

Now, whether it was about losing interest in current music for me (which, I admit, happens every few weeks, as I revert to listening to oldies of the 1960's through 1980's, mostly), or new music being shunned by my friends, there really isn't one song that I could identify with the summer of 2016.

Of course, I didn't go blank at all, as I maintained my SNS 100 list throughout the summer, and I did tabulate my top 100.    However, past the top ten, really wasn't too influential, thus I will just list my top ten favorites of the Summer of 2016, a season doing a lot of things with friends, but lacking in the current music category.    So, without further adieu, here is my top 10 summer songs of this year.


1.  "Dark Necessities", Red Hot Chili Peppers

This seemed to be a logical pick; the band has been one of my favorites for a quarter of a century, and this song seemed to keep in line to what they've been doing more recently.  The Getaway is their latest album, but nobody seemed to talk and refer to it this year, so it was up to me to get my share of listens to it.     For me, it was a definite choice for the top spot, at least.

2. "Way Down We Go", Kaleo

This one just missed the top spot by six points, and was just as deserving.  This band from Iceland impressed with their sophomore effort A/B, and this song hung out not just at the top of my list, but also Billboard's alternative chart.  I'm not sure if Billboard had a "summer songs" chart for Alternative Rock but if there was, these would probably be the top two songs on that list as well.

3. "HandClap", Fitz & the Tantrums

You know that it was a slow summer, when Fitz & the Tantrums, often the talk of many of my friends in years past, was pretty much ignored this year even with their third, self-titled album, released early this summer.    But this infectious poppish ditty, nonetheless caught on with me, and it's no surprise that it wound up in my top three.

4. "That Old New Jersey", Paul Czekaj

Okay, now here's one that was referred to this summer.  Of course that was mostly due to the video, which shows places around our Garden State that are no longer around.  Paul even performed it this summer at the WNTI Summer Stage, and many friends commented on it.     Czekaj is no stranger to being on summer lists, of course; his "At the Beach" topped my 2013 list.

5. "The Hot Spot", Us Commoners

This was the summer that I started paying more attention to some local up-and-comers as opposed to those who have had record deals and stardom.    The mid-Hudson valley duo, which had the biggest holiday song for me in 2015 ("Christmas and Hanukkah"), came close to doing summer honors with this catchy alt-song.

6. "My Mistake", Smash Palace

Another Jersey band that almost made it big---in 1985, but through various reasons didn't do another record until twelve years later, which is an eternity in the music business.   This one came from their late 2015 endeavor Some Kind of Magic, which did pick up some college radio airplay in the Philadelphia area, and this was the latter of two singles released.    Its great throwback rock sound got me through the early part of the summer.

7. "Falling", Trent Harmon

Harmon is, for those sleeping last May (or those who gave up watching the show years before, like myself), was the fifteenth and final winner of American Idol, and this bluesy song (unusual in that this guy supposedly is a country artist), captivated me and an unlikely entry into my top ten.

8. "Hey No Pressure", Ray Lamontagne

Artists like this prove that rock music still has its say.   At some point during the summer, this rock & blues song just gripped my mind with its long, extended blues jam.   One of the current shining lights of rock these days.  I would just like to mention here two other songs that had jams to them:   Golden Void's 'The Beacon (#71), and The Joy Formidible's "The Last Thing On My Mind" (#45).  Rock is down, but never out.

9. "Wish I Knew You", The Revivalists

Another catching but not-too commercial song that graced my iPod during the summer, as well as on some alt-rock outlets.   Well done.

10. "Trouble", Cage the Elephant

Alt-rock perennials have their entry onto my summer playlist.


MORE BLUES:   Santana garners their first SNS #1 as "Blues Magic", a track from the original line-up's reunion album IV, ascends to the top spot.   It's the first time a pre-1980 band has hit the top of my SNS playlist.   The song has really gone through my head a lot over the past two weeks.   I've always loved Santana, with Carlos and its various incarnations of the band, but with the original band that played Woodstock in 1969, there is a certain kind of magic to it.    Many have compared this song to the early incarnation of Fleetwood Mac during the Peter Green era.    Regardless, the band successfully captured, literally its magic.   Although commercial success had waned--even from the landmark Supernatural album in 1999, Carlos and the band continue to prove why they belong in the annals of rock history.

M83's "Go", which spent a couple weeks at pole position, drop to #2, and the chart topper before that, "Complicated" by Fitz and the Tantrums switches positions with the Billy Spanton Band's "Shake Your Soul".  The big movers, however are The Hounds of Winter's "Oh Paige", moving from 19-7 in its third week, and Michael Kiwaunka's 'One More Night, 28-12.

The supply of country songs has, once again dropped on my SNS 100, with only the venerable Zac Brown Band's "Castaway" making any noise, but it's joined by Jake Owen's "If He Ain't Gonna Love You", a track from the Florida native's fifth album American Love.  It has a country-soul feel, not unlike Thomas Rhett's "Crash and Burn".   It is the top debut at #77.   Also debuting are the fourth single from Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweat's debut album, "Wasting Time", a much slower turn than the first three singles, all top 20 here.   Bon Jovi comes back with their 13th studio album, This House is Not For Sale, with the title track the first single, getting Adult Top 40 airplay.   It is what you pretty much expect from the Jersey boys.


WHAT'S AHEAD:   Given the lack of interesting in much oft the new music that is out there, I am thinking of changing the focus back to my musical experiences in listening to older music, as well as perhaps adding new songs by older acts (such as Santana, The Monkees and Bon Jovi on the current list.   I will try to latch onto what has been talked about on various Facebook pages as well as those posted by my friends.      Look for some possible changes moving forward as I contemplate whether to continue this blog moving ahead.



Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100

September 11 & 18, 2016


This Week Last Week ARTIST-Title Weeks on List
1 2 NUMBER ONE:



"Blues Magic"
Album: Santana IV
7
2 1 M83  - Go 10
3 4 Billy Spanton Band  - Shake Your Soul 9
4 3 Fitz and the Tantrums - Complicated 9
5 5 Phoebe Ryan - Chronic 10
6 6 Finish Ticket - Color 11
7 19 The Hounds of Winter - Oh Paige 3
8 8 City and Colour - Wasted Love 13
9 11 The Avalanches - Frankie Sinatra 11
10 7 Nada Surf - Believe You're Mine 19
11 18 Young the Giant - Something to Believe In 9
12 28 TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:


"One More Night"
Album: Love and Hate
5
13 13 Charles Kelley- Lonely Girl 17
14 12 Kaleo - Way Down We Go 24
15 9 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dark Necessities 15
16 10 Mayer Hawthorne - Cosmic Love 17
17 22 Barns Courtney - Fire 9
18 20 The Strokes - Oblivius 9
19 16 The Revivalists - Wish I Knew You 15
20 27 The Blossoms - At Most A Kiss 10


21 15 Paul Czekaj - That Old New Jersey 13
22 26 Foals - What Went Down 9
23 14 Bishop Briggs- River 15
24 30 Coldplay - Hymn For the Weekend 10
25 29 Coin - Talk Too Much 8
26 40 DMA's -  Too Soon 8
27 24 Pop Etc. - What Am I Becoming 15
28 33 Two Door Cinema Club - Are We Ready (Wreck) 7
29 41 Rachel Allyn - For What It's Worth 4
30 36 Zac Brown Band - Castaway 6
31 37 Leon Bridges - Better Man 7
32 25 Amos Lee - Vaporize 8
33 17 Adele - Send My Love (To Your New Lover) 13
34 21 Cage the Elephant - Trouble 14
35 23 Us Commoners - The Hot Spot 13
36 38 Death Cab for Cutie - Good Help 11
37 45 Halo Circus with Allison Ireheta - Nothing At All 5
38 50 Paul Czekaj - A Place I Once Called Home 4
39 52 Ray Lamontagne - The Changing Man 4
40 46 St. Paul and the Broken Bones - All I Ever Wonder 5
41 31 Beck - Wow 12
42 47 Disturbed - The Sound of Silence 10
43 32 Twenty-One Pilots - Ride 16
44 54 The Hunna - You and Me 6
45 59 Dinosaur Jr - Tiny 3
46 49 Elle King - Good Girls 4
47 81 MOVER OF THE WEEK:

"Fallin'"
(Single Only)
2
48 39 Fitz and the Tantrums - HandClap 20
49 35 Trent Harmon - Falling 17
50 34 The Dreamers - Drugs 16
51 42 Flume f Andrew Wyatt- Some Minds 12
52 56 The Doughboys - For Your Love 7
53 58 Eagulls - Velvet 6
54 60 Passenger - Somebody's Love 6
55 44 Langhorn Slim and the Law - Spirit Moves 12
56 48 The Monkees - She Makes Me Laugh 11
57 43 Pink - Just Like Fire 12
58 65 Deerhunter - Snakeskin 6
59 66 Trails and Ways - My Things 5
60 51 Collective Soul - Contagious 18
61 53 Hozier - Better Love 10
62 73 Green Day - Bang Bang 3
63 69 Glass Animals - Life Itself 7
64 55 Ray Lamontagne - Hey No Pressure 23
65 70 Wilco - If I Ever Was A Child 4
66 57 Smash Palace - My Mistake 22
67 72 Band of Skulls - Bodies 3
68 80 Meghan Trainor - Me Too 3
69 68 Grouplove - Welcome to Your Life 5
70 77 Sia f Sean Paul - Cheap Thrills 3
71 64 The Grip Weeds - Rainbow Quartz 7
72 62 Phantogram- You Don't Get Me High Anymore 8
73 83 The Head and the Heart - All We Ever Knew 3
74 61 Awolnation - Woman Woman 17
75 76 DNCE - Cake By the Ocean 28
76 63 Blink 182 - Bored to Death 12
77  --- TOP DEBUT:


"If He Ain't Gonna Love You"
Album: American Love
1
78 91 Jeff the Brotherhood - Punishment 2
79 87 Mass Gothic - Every Night You've Got to Save Me 3
80 94 The Wombats - Be Your Shadow 2
81 88 Bell X1 - Out of Love 5
82 90 Demi Lovato - Stone Cold 3
83 89 Bleached - Wednesday Night Melody 3
84 95 Shovels and Rope - I Know 2
85  --- Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats - Wasting Time 1
86 67 Calvin Harris f Rhianna - This Is What You Came For 11
87 92 Leagues - Dance With Me 3
88  --- Flume f Kai - Never Be Like You 1
89 93 Bastille - Good Grief 4
90 102 The Chainsmokers f. Daya - Don't Let Me Down 1
91  --- Bon Jovi  This House is Not For Sale 1
92 71 Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats - I Need Never Get Old 17
93 74 Goo Goo Dolls - So Alive 10
94 79 The Parlor - The Surgeon's Knife 23
95 82 Rachel Allyn - Next Year's Girl 18
96 98 The Unlikely Candidates - Your Love Could Start a War 2
97 104 The 1975 -Somebody Else 1
98  --- Ellie Goulding- Still Falling For You 1
99 75 Kongos - Take It From Me 13
100 84 Avid Dancer - I Feel It 27


 
Tremors:


101 101 Nothing But Thieves - Wake Up Call
102 105 Twenty-One Pilots - Heathens
103  --- The Lumineers - Cleopatra


 
 

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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