Hello, boys and girls, I am back after a week's hiatus with one of my patented "double issues". I am fine, alive and well, but busy as we are continuing our house transformation. In January we converted from oil to gas (great move, considering the state of oil prices now!) and now some new furniture and painting walls. But a few storylines this time around with a record slow-rise to the top of Billboard, a new blog #1 ending a seven-week domination, a high debut by one of my favorite blog-era bands, and finally several adds (and re-adds) by a Carolina Beach Music songstress in anticipation of her new single. So let's get right into it.
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| British indie-rockers Glass Animals hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 taking a record-setting 59 weeks to get there. They are the first band to top both the Hot 100 and Alternative airplay charts since fun. did it with "We Are Young" in 2012. |
"Heat Waves" by alt-rock band Glass Animals hits #1 on this week's Billboard Hot 100, ending a five-week run by "We Don't Talk About Bruno" from the cast of the Disney movie Encanto. In doing so, "Heat Waves" sets a record for the longest run to #1, taking a whopping 59 weeks to do so, burying the prior record of 36 set a little over two years ago by Mariah Carey's perennial holiday classic "All I Want for Christmas Is You", which, thanks to yearly visits up the chart every December, racked up enough weeks to finally hit the top. The previous non-holiday record holder was "Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)" by Los Del Rio. The wedding line-dance staple took 33 weeks to hit the top in 1996.
It was about a year ago that the British indie rockers topped Billboard's alternative chart. I had added the song to my playlist and it got up to #32 last spring. The relatively low position on my list (and the probably reason for topping the Hot 100)? The song has pop and hip-hop overtones which probably made it palatable for those kids buying and streaming pop music these days. On the Billboard chart it slowly made its way up the list, hanging out in the teens forever before hitting the top ten late last year, at which time I re-added the song even though the follow-up hit my top 10 (more on that later). It's been there since, surviving the holiday blitz, then making a run at the top five in recent weeks, then to #2 for a couple of weeks. What a long strange trip it's been.
Two thoughts here: The first, why does it take a song so long to move to the top and stay there for months, especially since it's been heard and played to death? "Stay" by The Kid LAROI has done the same thing. Back in the day, you would get tired of a song after about a month and move on to the next one. For one thing, we now have streaming. As I discussed a few months back, every time you stream a song, it counts towards chart position, as opposed to purchasing a song which only counts once, no matter how many times you play it. And while it was an alternative hit last spring, while those listeners moved on, some pop stations, because of the flavor of the record, started playing it, then the streaming took place. It used to be that the longest run of a hit record on the Hot 100 would be 15-20 weeks with 30 -40 weeks an extreme event, but you can throw that out the window. Recently, "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd set the all-time longevity record on the big chart, lasting for 90 total weeks.
While I would never hold onto a song for that long (although several songs have been on my blog playlist for over a year, the record being 71 weeks), some songs on my current list have been on there in excess of 30 weeks; that includes "Heat Waves" which rebounds 84-66 in its 32nd non-consecutive chart week.
My second thought is that it's nice to see a primarily rock band top the list, it's still perceived as a novelty in a sea of hip-hop and banal, sparse pop records which have dominated over the past decade. Every year or so, one such song seeps into the Billboard top 10 as a "crossover". In recent years, bands like AJR, Panic! at the Disco, Portugal. The Man and Capital Cities have hit the upper echelon of the chart but fell short of the top spot. "Heat Waves" makes Glass Animals the first predominantly rock band (and I'm not counting Coldplay's "My Universe" as it was a duet with K-Pop sensation BTS), in exactly ten years, going back to fun.'s "We Are Young" to top the Hot 100 and Alternative, which it did in March 2012.
While it is great to see a rock-oriented band accomplish this, the problem I have is with the reception to follow-ups. It used to be that when an artist had a hit song, the next song released would at least make a dent in the charts. But not since fun.'s follow-up, "Some Nights" which hit #3, have any of these bands remotely returned to the top 10, many not even charting. AJR's follow-up to the #8 "Bang", "Way Less Sad", only hit #54; their current "The Good Part" hasn't even hit the chart. Panic!'s follow to the #4 "High Hopes", "Hey Look Ma I Made It" was a hit at #18, but subsequent singles didn't make the list at all. None of Portugal. The Man's songs after "Feel It Still" (#4) have made the Hot 100, nor has any of Capital Cities' songs since "Safe and Sound"(#8). And while bands like Twenty One Pilots and Imagine Dragons have had a few top 10's, and are still red hot on alternative radio, I can't really consider them pure rock, and their most recent songs have been ignored at pop radio anyway.
As for "Heat Waves", the pattern seems to be continuing. The follow-up to that song, the more rock-oriented "I Don't Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance)", another #1 alternative hit and peaking at #9 on my blog, is nowhere to be found on the Hot 100. And that's the big beef I have.
If it's any consolation, the last few number one songs on the Billboard Hot 100 are not standard pop fare for these times. "We Don't Talk About Bruno" is basically a show tune. Before that was "Easy on Me" by Adele, a piano and vocal ballad. Of course, Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" is a holiday standard. You have to go back to October 23 and Lil Nas X's "Industry Baby" for a standard hip-hop oriented pop tune. So, maybe there's hope? We can dream, right?
SORRY, ZAC: Speaking of long climbs to the top, I had to make a correction to what I had said when Zac Brown Band's "Same Boat" tied Christina Alessi's "The Truth's Upon Us" when both took 18 weeks to reach my top 20 late last year. I left out Toms River NJ band Brick+Mortar's "Locked in a Cage", which back in 2014 took 28 weeks to reach my top twenty. It also hit the top 10 (peaking at #9), taking 30 weeks to do so, far longer than the 23 weeks it took "Same Boat" to reach that region. Incidentally the longest run to the top of my blog chart is "Keep You" by Wild Belle, taking 26 weeks to do so.
BACK TO MY LIST: Another significant change to the top spot on my blog as well, as Tim Izzard garners his first blog #1 as "Empty My Head" ends Anna Lavigne's seven week run with two different songs. The song, a nice, fresh mix of 60's British pop, 70's glam and 80's new wave reaches the top. The song is from his recently released EP 21st Century Expose. Independent artists have now ruled the top spot here for ten weeks straight: Ms. Lavigne's "This Time", which drops to #2 after a three week run; her "Dance the Last Goodbye" had four weeks at the top, and ScreenAge's "Like Fine Wine" ruled for two weeks before that. The last established artist to head my list was Adele's "Easy on Me" back on November 28. However, one streak is broken by Izzard's achievement. He is the first male artist (or male-fronted band) to hit the top spot since Maneskin's "Beggin"(which does have a female member, bassist Victoria De Angelis) all the way back on October 31. Since then, the top spot has been dominated by females: Halsey, Adele, ScreenAge (fronted by Emily MacMahon) and Anna Lavigne. Lavigne, by the way, still has two of the top three as "Mindblown" keeps its bullet at #3.
Izzard has been getting notice on some U.K. playlists. Another track from his album, "Glam Rock Star (Tribute)" has topped some lists, and I plan on making that the follow-up to "Empty My Head" in a couple weeks or so.
Look for "Empty My Head" to maintain the top for a second week at least, but some heavyweights are lurking down the road, like Portugal. The Man's What, Me Worry?" (22-9, Impact award); Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Black Summer" (15-10); LP's "Angels", and Papercut's "Dull Boy" (19-12). And don't rule out Einstein's Dad at #4, Hegazy at #5, Babeheaven at #7 or even SadGirl at #8, as all are still making good moves.
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| The Black Keys have the Top Debut with ""Wild Child", from their forthcoming album, Dropout Boogie |
HOT OFF THE PRESSES: The Top Debut this week is the new one from one of my favorite blog-era bands, The Black Keys, with "Wild Child", entering at a lofty #37. The song is from the Akron duo's forthcoming album Dropout Boogie, due in May. It's a surprisingly quick follow-up to their 2021 experimental project Delta Kream. It's a return to the catchy, stripped-down alternative rock that they've been known for and most recently done on their 2019 return after a hiatus, 'Let's Rock', which yielded two blog #1's "Lo/Hi" and "Go", both of which made my top five year-end list. "Wild Child" is in the same vein, with the band having a good time, and an awesome video to boot.
I am wondering whether the quick follow-up to Delta Kream, which were covers of songs in the Mississippi "Hill Country Blues" genre, a way to re-establish them at alternative and Triple-A. While the first single "Crawling Kingsnake" did hit #1 Triple-A (and #2 on my blog), it did not do well on the more contemporary alternative list. We will find out as early as next week. Here, it has a chance to be their seventh blog topper; only Fitz and the Tantrums, with 12, have more.
There are several other debuts this week. Avril Lavigne netted a top ten blog hit last time out with her return to alternative-oriented music with "Bite Me". Another from her latest album, Love Sux, "I Love It When You Hate Me", is on the Hot AC chart, thus am adding it this week. Featuring Machine Gun Kelly, it's more pop flavored along the lines of her late 2000's/early 2010's material but still has the alt-rock edge of "Bite Me". England's Alexander James O'Connor, better known as Rex Orange County, is back with "Keep It Up". This is a rather sentimental-sounding, string and drum-machine punctuated emotional song. His "Loving is Easy" hit blog top 10 in 2018, this one has a shot at equaling it.
New York City band Parquet Courts enter with "Watching Strangers Smile", a rather synth-driven upbeat, rocking song that is infectious. A nice slice of pop-alt-rock that should get better with each listen. Should easily top the recent "Walking at a Downtown Pace". Michael Bublé has always been one of my favorite neo-standards singers; fresh off his recent holiday album, he is back with "I'll Never Not Love You". Recommended by a friend, it's a more contemporary approach than his past work, a bit mid-tempo, but still the Bublé stamp is there.
Babeheaven has been one of the hottest bands on my blog the last several months. With two top ten songs this calendar year already, their latest, "Make Me Wanna" enters. This is the "official" single from Sink Into Me. It's the same, dreamy pop approach as recent material, and as it stands, another winner. However, interjected in the middle of the song is a rap by Navy Blue. While there have been many pop songs featuring rap interludes, with this one, is it really necessary? It really takes away from the nature of the song, although the rap is over the still dreamy beat. I'm not sure how long I will stay with this one (take out the rap, and it's another surefire top tenner), but the duo has just released a new single "Heartbeat" which I will add in the next few weeks.
Without a doubt, Ed Sheeran's "=" album has done very well, with "Bad Habits" and "Shivers" becoming big hits. Although I went with "Overpass Graffiti" as the blog follow-up, the official song is "The Joker and the Queen", a duet with Taylor Swift. This one is a nice ballad, well-orchestrated, and even chills the spines a bit. Both singers trade excellent vocals. It probably won't be a pop hit, but should be a hit on Adult Contemporary radio. With a few listens, this should go well up my SNS 100 playlist.
New Jerseyan Charlie Puth gets an add with his latest, "Light Switch". It's rather standard pop fare, although his primary instrument, the piano is missing here. It's typical pop but at least it's produced well and not sparse. The video is far more interesting, and that alone may guarantee it several weeks on the playlist.
DEB BROWNING BLITZ: There is one more add, and a re-entry on the chart this week. A couple weeks ago, Carolina Beach Music singer Deb Browning released a new song, backed with Florida contingent The Six Piece Band, called "Take Me By the Hand" which is invading several beach music lists already. As it is not yet available for download purchases and with Deb becoming a Facebook friend, all of her prior singles are on my playlist. "Stop Messin' With My Man", which hit #7 here last summer and which I re-added a few weeks ago, is back up to #58. Her 2020 single, "In My Dreams", which I used as a follow-up to "Stop.." and which originally peaked at #43 here last fall, is re-added at #88. Finally, her debut single, "Dancin'", from 2019 gets a first-time add here at #79. I've always been a fan of beach music and Ms. Browning has a fresh take on the long-time genre. Once "Take Me by the Hand" is available commercially, look for a strong debut as well as a blog devoted to her.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist
February 27 & March 6, 2022
|
This Week |
Feb 20 |
ARTIST-Title |
Wks
on List |
|
1 |
2 |
NUMBER ONE:  Album: 21st Century Exposé (EP) |
6 |
|
2 |
1 |
14 |
|
|
3 |
3 |
6 |
|
|
4 |
5 |
7 |
|
|
5 |
6 |
5 |
|
|
6 |
4 |
14 |
|
|
7 |
7 |
6 |
|
|
8 |
11 |
7 |
|
|
9 |
22 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:  "What, Me Worry?": (Single Only) |
3 |
|
10 |
15 |
4 |
|
|
11 |
17 |
7 |
|
|
12 |
19 |
4 |
|
|
13 |
10 |
13 |
|
|
14 |
14 |
13 |
|
|
15 |
8 |
17 |
|
|
16 |
9 |
11 |
|
|
17 |
12 |
13 |
|
|
18 |
13 |
13 |
|
|
19 |
16 |
19 |
|
|
20 |
27 |
9 |
|
|
21 |
28 |
7 |
|
|
22 |
29 |
14 |
|
|
23 |
25 |
22 |
|
|
24 |
33 |
5 |
|
|
25 |
23 |
12 |
|
|
26 |
20 |
13 |
|
|
27 |
21 |
15 |
|
|
28 |
36 |
5 |
|
|
29 |
24 |
Courtney Barnett - Write A Listing of Things to Look Forward To |
11 |
|
30 |
26 |
15 |
|
|
31 |
35 |
7 |
|
|
32 |
18 |
14 |
|
|
33 |
37 |
6 |
|
|
34 |
39 |
5 |
|
|
35 |
30 |
19 |
|
|
36 |
46 |
3 |
|
|
37 |
--- |
TOP DEBUT:  Album: Dropout Boogie |
1 |
|
38 |
72 |
MOVER OF THE WEEK:  Album: Laurel Hell |
2 |
|
39 |
40 |
5 |
|
|
40 |
32 |
22 |
|
|
41 |
44 |
21 |
|
|
42 |
77 |
2 |
|
|
43 |
75 |
2 |
|
|
44 |
34 |
21 |
|
|
45 |
45 |
6 |
|
|
46 |
78 |
2 |
|
|
47 |
31 |
11 |
|
|
48 |
56 |
3 |
|
|
49 |
49 |
4 |
|
|
50 |
38 |
9 |
|
|
51 |
52 |
5 |
|
|
52 |
53 |
4 |
|
|
53 |
55 |
4 |
|
|
54 |
48 |
20 |
|
|
55 |
62 |
3 |
|
|
56 |
80 |
2 |
|
|
57 |
59 |
4 |
|
|
58 |
71 |
27 |
|
|
59 |
61 |
9 |
|
|
60 |
68 |
4 |
|
|
61 |
74 |
3 |
|
|
62 |
50 |
39 |
|
|
63 |
41 |
14 |
|
|
64 |
54 |
29 |
|
|
65 |
67 |
3 |
|
|
66 |
84 |
32 |
|
|
67 |
70 |
5 |
|
|
68 |
43 |
11 |
|
|
69 |
42 |
11 |
|
|
70 |
82 |
2 |
|
|
71 |
47 |
15 |
|
|
72 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
73 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
74 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
75 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
76 |
83 |
4 |
|
|
77 |
66 |
30 |
|
|
78 |
73 |
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats - Face Down in the Moment |
10 |
|
79 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
80 |
51 |
12 |
|
|
81 |
57 |
30 |
|
|
82 |
60 |
28 |
|
|
83 |
64 |
5 |
|
|
84 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
85 |
63 |
17 |
|
|
86 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
87 |
86 |
2 |
|
|
88 |
RE ENTRY |
10 |
|
|
89 |
58 |
8 |
|
|
90 |
65 |
17 |
|
|
91 |
81 |
15 |
|
|
92 |
87 |
14 |
|
|
93 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
94 |
79 |
6 |
|
|
95 |
69 |
20 |
|
|
96 |
85 |
35 |
|
|
97 |
76 |
7 |
|
|
98 |
90 |
37 |
|
|
99 |
88 |
10 |
|
|
100 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
Songs with the greatest increase in
favorite points over the prior week. ●
Songs with
25 or more plays on iTunes/iPods ▲ Songs with 50 or more plays.
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