Now, there are many unlikely bands that contribute a freak hit here and there but in the case of P.TM, it was a band I followed from the beginning when nobody knew who they were. They actually pre-date this blog, releasing their debut back in 2006, but it wasn't until 2009 when "People Say" from their second album, The Satanic Satanist started making a splash on alternative rock stations. It really wasn't until late 2010 that I added "People Say" and it sat well with me, hitting #12 in early 2011, and #16 on the Billboard Alternative chart.
Later that year, their third album, In the Mountain In the Cloud was released. "Got It All", reached #13 here and #36 alternative. Both "Got It All" and "People Say" made my year-end top 100 list for 2011.
Evil Friends came next in 2013. and both the title track and "Purple Yellow Red and Blue" both hit #8 on SNS. The former didn't chart anywhere else, but the latter did make it to #15 on the Alternative list. A third single, "Modern Jesus" reached the top 30 both here on SNS and the Alternative chart.
But there was no pop success as of yet. Album number five, Woodstock came out this year, and although I had prematurely added "Noise Pollution" (#65), the first single, it went nowhere, and it was obvious that the second single, "Feel It Still" was the one to take off. And take off it did.
Billboard listed it at #4 on the Hot 100 at its peak two weeks ago, but that doesn't tell the whole story. It was...and still is...the #1 song on the Pop Radio Airplay chart as well as the combined all-format radio songs chart.. In addition, this week, it returned to the top of the Alternative chart for its 18th week, third on the all time list for that chart. It racked up eleven weeks at the top on the Triple-A list as well. It's also currently #1 on the Adult Top 40 list, and the Rock Songs chart. Even stranger, it topped the Dance Club Play chart as well. It's also rising on the Adult Contemporary Chart where it bullets at #18. Oh, and let's not forget the recent five week run here on SNS, where it currently sits at #11 in its 28th week, making it the third oldest song on my chart this week.
According to Billboard, this is the biggest rock crossover song since Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" topped all the above charts back in 2012. Strangely enough, that song only peaked on SNS at #2, but I held it at that position for a record twelve weeks...and it still managed to be my #1 song of that year.
So, what does the band think of this unlikely achievement? Billboard's Gary Trust and Trevor Anderson interviewed guitarist Eric Howk, one of the newer members of the band, who joined in 2015 in time for the latest album. Says Howk, "Hearing the song on pop radio is weird. If I hear it between Spoon and Kings of Leon, on Alternative radio, it's cool. But, when it's between Chance the Rapper and Arianna Grande, or Jay-Z and Demi Lovato...those are the weird ones. We're sort of grinning like the character in a (Quintin) Tarantino film that got away with it".
The band has had changing personnel for much of its life, with lead singer John Gourley and bassist Zachary Carothers the constants. Drummer Jason Sechrist has been in and out of the band a few times during the course of its history, but is also an original member. Howk and keyboardist Kyle O'Quin round out the current lineup.
The song is still active on radio and is still a peak or near peak on the charts. And while it's unlikely the follow-up, "Live In the Moment" will duplicate that success, the song is climbing the rock charts at least, and also moves 12 to 6 here on SNS, shooting for their second #1.
In a business that has become all too predicable, it's nice to see an unlikely success story, and one for a rock band that has paid its dues for over ten years.
NO COLD WAR HERE: While Portugal. The Man is getting their just rewards on many formats, another similar band, Cold War Kids, has some good and bad news on SNS. The band gets its second SNS #1 as "So Tied Up", featuring Bishop Briggs takes the crown. Like Portugal. The Man, Cold War Kids also originated form the West Coast (Long Beach, CA), and started in 2006. They started having alt-rock hits the next year. "Hang Me Up to Dry" reached that chart in 2007 from their debut, Robbers & Cowards. Their second, Loyalty to Loyalty yielded 'Something Is Not Right With Me". "Audience" from their EP Behave Yourself in 2009 made it three chart songs, but none hitting the top 20 there.
Mine Is Yours, released in 2010 had another minor chart song, "Louder Than Ever", but that one took off on my blog, reaching the top spot in early 2011. Their breakthrough really came in 2015, when "First" topped the Alternative Chart for several weeks (but only hitting #48 here).
"So Tied Up", currently #15 on the alternative chart, is the second #1 on my list, and their first in six years. The bad news is that another track from that album, "Invincible", drops from #3 to #4, thus denying them the top two spots that I possibly mentioned could happen last week. But with three songs from their latest album that had made my top 10 ("Love is Mystical", the lead single, reached #9 here, #2 on Billboard), it has to be a success for another band that is long time coming for success.
Will Cold War Kids have a big crossover success like P.TM someday? They've yet to hit the Hot 100, "bubbling under" with both "First" and "Hang Me Up to Dry", but if you thought P.TM would have a monster hit six months ago, you'd be shocked, too!
TO THE CHART: As mentioned, Cold War Kids get their second chart topper here with "So Tied Up", but it's a close race, as Offguard's "Strawberry Moon" and The Palms' "Levitate" take spots 2 and 3. "Invincible" drops to #4, and last week's #1, Beck's "Up All Night" drops to #5, with Portugal's follow-up at #6. Pink gets her sixth top 10 on my chart as "What About Us" advances 13-8, and Pageants, its fourth, with "Chai". In the next 10, it's all Hegazy, as the sister act jumps from 42-14 in their second week with "Alive". St. Vincent and Weezer also enter the top 20.
Outside the top 20, the big mover is Ed Sheeran's "Perfect" (56-26), thanks to a Gail Bradley post and some other buzz. Matthew Koma has the Top Debut this week with "Suitcase"; his last, "Hard to Love", peaked at #11 a few weeks back. The Dreamers, J. Roddy Walston & the Business, Paramore, Royal Blood, and The Neighbourhood also debut. All have been on SNS before, but only Paramore has made it into the top twenty in the past, with the others having mid-charters at best. But there's a first time for everybody.
R.I.P. As of this writing, we had recently lost two more rock and roll icons: Fats Domino, one of the founders of the genre, passed October 24 at the age of 89. He had many successes, with his biggest hit being "Blueberry Hill", #2 in 1956. Also, Malcolm Young, guitarist for one of the top heavy metal bands of all time, AC/DC, died at age 64 on November 18. He had left the band in 2014 due to the onset of dementia, and retired permanently short thereafter.
And finally, as I am writing this, David Cassidy, a former teen idol in the early 1970's and a part of The Partridge Family (both the group and the TV sitcom) has been in a medically-induced coma since November 18.. Prayers to his family and friends.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
November 12,
2017
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 2 | NUMBER ONE:
"So Tied Up"
Album: L.A.Divine
|
9 |
| 2 | 4 | Øffguard - Strawberry Moon | 6 |
| 3 | 6 | The Palms - Levitate | 6 |
| 4 | 3 | Cold War Kids - Invincible | 11 |
| 5 | 1 | Beck - Up All Night | 9 |
| 6 | 12 | Portugal. The Man - Live In the Moment | 4 |
| 7 | 7 | The National - The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness | 15 |
| 8 | 13 | Pink - What About Us | 10 |
| 9 | 5 | Beth Ditto - I Wrote the Book | 12 |
| 10 | 14 | Pageants - Chai ('n) | 6 |
| 11 | 9 | Portugal. The Man - Feel It Still● | 28 |
| 12 | 15 | George Ezra - Don't Matter Now | 12 |
| 13 | 17 | The War on Drugs - Holding On | 9 |
| 14 | 42 | TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
"Alive"
Album: Young (EP)
|
2 |
| 15 | 18 | BØRNS - Faded Heart | 9 |
| 16 | 11 | Joywave - It's A Trip | 12 |
| 17 | 10 | Christina Taylor - That Girl | 14 |
| 18 | 8 | Iration - Borderlines | 12 |
| 19 | 24 | St. Vincent - New York | 11 |
| 20 | 32 | Weezer - Happy Hour | 5 |
Tremors:
101. The National, "Day I Die"
102. Blake
Shelton, “She’s Got a Way With Words”
|
|
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.
The “Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100” is a list
of current and recent song playlist which I am listening to.
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