Beyonce Goes Country; Elle King's Country Faux Pas; Mariah's Attempt to Equal The Beatles 'Record; "Murmurs" list Debuts (SNS week of 2/18/2024)

 A FEW THINGS TO TALK ABOUT this week, so let's get right into it.   

Country seems to be the topic this time, with Beyonce making her first entry into the genre and topping that chart, to another songstress who has had trouble breaking into that genre and may have ruined her chances totally with an incident that happened in January.

Beyonce debuts at #1 on the Country Songs chart on Billboard, and #2 on the Hot 100; as well as Top Debut on SNS with "TEXAS HOLD 'EM", from her Act II album.

Let's start with Beyonce, whose new single "TEXAS HOLD 'EM" debuts at #2 on the Hot 100, just behind Jack Harlow's long-running (6 weeks) "Lovin' On Me".  While "Queen Bey" is no stranger to that portion of the big chart, her presence on the Billboard Hot Country Songs is.... she debuted at #1 on that genre chart which includes all the methodology that is used to compile the Hot 100.    It is different from the Country Airplay chart which takes into account just radio stations that play country.    But even there, Beyonce makes a strong debut there, at #54. It also topped the iTunes download chart with only four days of action.   The former Destiny's Child singer becomes the first black female artist to top the Hot Country Songs chart.

On the Scenes 'n' Soundwaves 100, the song nabs Top Debut honors, entering the blog chart at #67.  As for the Billboard chart, many are predicting that the song will advance to #1 there next week.  More on the song below.

While Beyonce seems to have made a successful foray from pop and R&B to country (at least for this release), another female singer-songwriter is having trouble getting country cred, despite hosting some country specials and tributes, and even more so due to an unfortunate incident last month.

Elle King made a big debut splash back in 2015 when her pop/rock-oriented "Ex's and Oh's" reached #10 on the Hot 100, and #2 on SNS, both weekly and year-end.    It earned her a Grammy nomination in the Best Rock Song category.  The daughter of comedian Rob Schneider continued with rock-oriented songs like "Under the Influence", 'Shame" and "Baby Outlaw", all of which reached #1 on my chart, but aside from reaching Billboard's Hot Rock and Alternative songs tally, failed to hit the Hot 100.    

She got nominated for a Grammy in a duet with country singer Dierks Bentley, with "Different For Girls" which got her back on the Hot 100.   The song also picked up a CMA award, and perhaps it was the success of that song which influenced her decision to go country.

But, aside from another duet, this time with Miranda Lambert, "Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)", which went to #1 country, her solo material has yet to hit a country chart.    Last year, her "Jersey Giant" made inroads on the SNS 100 as well as Triple-A, but the bluegrass-influenced country song didn't hit the country chart at all.

Elle has made inroads there, however, by co-hosting several country-themed events, including a New Year's Eve television special in Nashville, and a special from the legendary Grand Ole Opry.   

But in January it was another Grand Ole Opry event, a 78th birthday tribute to Dolly Parton, that raised controversy.   As she started singing Dolly's "Marry Me", she appeared to be intoxicated, often slurring the words, or forgetting them entirely, to the song, while stumbling around the stage.  She often substituted the lyrics with obscenities such as "I don't know the lyrics to these things in this fuckin' town. Don't tell Dolly 'cause it's her birthday".    The audience, infuriated, was responded to by Ms. King, "You ain't getting your money back", and "Hi, I'm Elle King, and I'm fucking hammered!".   The Opry had to apologize for Ms. King's performance.

A few weeks later, Dolly came out with a statement, forgiving Elle, and extending support for her as well.   Ms. Parton defended Elle's character, calling her a "doll", and saying that "everyone makes mistakes", offering empathy, kindness and understanding towards her.  Always a class act, Dolly had urged country music fans to focus on Elle's artistic abilities and not one single isolated event.   Dolly also stressed that Elle might be going through some personal issues and not to judge her.

We've seen what being inebriated can do.  It almost cost Morgan Wallen a career, with being caught on video, drunk shouting a racial slur.    Radio stations dropped playing his music for a while, but Wallen had made amends, and he came back strongly.     But in Elle's case, she really hasn't been established in the country music community, so will she come back and be accepted?   I guess we shall see.

Personally, I prefer her rock-oriented music to country, but with country very popular and rock, no-so-much, it'll be interesting what Elle King will do next.

MARIAH MADNESS:   Mariah Carey is in the news again.  Aside from her recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination, she is being added to a remix of an existing hit song.      While this has been done numerous times before in pop music, often to strengthen perhaps fading songs on the chart in order to keep a song at a top position, this time it may result in Mariah tying what many believe to be a sacred record: 20 number one songs on the Hot 100, which is held by The Beatles and has been held for 54 years and counting.

Ariana Grande's current single, "Yes, And?", which debuted at #1 on the Hot 100 a few weeks ago, is now being remixed with Mariah Carey's vocal to make it a duet.    The new version was released on February 16, and thus would be eligible to chart with the next Billboard chart dated March 2, the result of which will be released on February 26.      Billboard chart rules state that the remix version has to sell, download, or stream more than the original for Mariah to be listed on the chart.      If it causes the song to jump back to #1, then Mariah will be credited with her 20th #1 song, which will tie The Beatles' record.   

To me, it's a rather cheap attempt to claim part of a "sacred" record, coat tailing on someone else's record.   For all of Ms. Carey's accomplishments, most of her 19 chart-toppers, 15 to be exact, came in the 1990's, 3 others hit in the 2000's, and of course, "All I Want For Christmas is You" became her 19th in 2019 (and has topped the charts the last five holiday seasons).   

While the song is a contender for #1 next week, such a feat is unlikely.    The original song by Ms. Grande has dropped all the way to #31, and the song is way down the iTunes download chart, so the Beatles record is probably safe for now, since the current Billboard top 5 is very strong.    I will check back next week for the results.

SNS 100:   One of those top five songs, namely Teddy Swims, which backtracked to #5 on the big chart from #2, does reach the pinnacle on my blog chart.   "Lose Control" advances 4-1 to earn Swims' first blog chart-topper.   However, right on his tail is Charlotte Sessions' "I've Fallen for A Dragon" advancing from #9 to #2.  Anna Lavigne's "Edge of the World", which headed the top the last two weeks, falls to #3, but the top three are separated by just two points.    The only other notable chart activity is The Black Keys' 14th blog top ten, "Beautiful People (Stay High)" (14-9), while Varsity's "Runaway" inches 11-10. 

Three Carolina beach music songs enter the top 20, led by Rick Strickland's "Joined at the Heart", garnering Impact honors (22-17), followed quickly by Rev. Bubba D. Liverance and the Cornhole Prophets' "Something in the Water", and the Karen Clayton/Mike Taylor remake of "I'm Your Puppet". 

Other big movers further down include Cage the Elephant's "Neon Pill" (35-22), Juliet Callahan's "She Was Me" (46-33), and last week's Top Debut, Suki Waterhouse's "OMG", attaining Mover honors in a 65-42 advance.

DEBUTS:  As mentioned above, Beyonce has the top debut with "Texas Hold 'Em" at #67.   Beyonce has a great resume, but it was only two years ago that she finally cracked the SNS 100 with the #22 "Break My Soul".   Beginning with a banjo intro, Beyonce's voice here is very suited for country.   It's one heck of a hoedown jam.   Some great harmonies as well.   It took a couple listens, but I can groove along to it.    While I'm not sure if this is a permanent direction for the pop legend, let's enjoy this.  Square dancing, anyone?   

I saw Jaime Wyatt perform on The Kelly Clarkson Show this past week (that weekday show is fast becoming a great showcase for up-and-coming artists), and her latest, "Feel Good" follows up her blog top 20 "World Worth Keeping".  On the show, she was billed as a country artist, and although the song has some traces of that genre, it's more squarely in the singer-songwriter wheelhouse.     Regardless of that, this has an awesome vibe that should put her back into the upper echelon of the chart.    The song is currently on the Triple-A chart.

Female artists make it three-for-three with the blog debut of Sadie Leigh and her song "Finger Wave".  It's got another great vibe to it.    This goes very well with the slew of women singer-songwriters that invaded my chart last year.    It has a feel-good tone to it and the song should stick around for quite a while.

Next is 'Thought You Knew" by The Six Piece Suits.   While this Florida-based sextet is more well known for its duets with Deb Browning, they are a force to be reckoned with on their own.   While the band dented the charts on its own last year with "That Groove" which peaked at #73, the new song is much better.  It rises much higher, has that 1970's pop vibe to it, and is very upbeat.    While it's debatable if it's considered "beach music" (it does have elements of it), it doesn't really matter.   The band should move out of Deb's shadow with this one.    Could a #1 on their own be on the table?    Why not?

Stephen Sanchez follows "Caught in a Blue" with "High" which is charting Triple-A.   Still riding a retro-wave reminiscent of a Chris Isaak or a Nick Waterhouse, it's a bit more contemporary than prior outings.    It has a lot more rock-oriented tendencies, with a cool guitar solo in the middle.   It could click.

Finally, we have Gary Clark Jr's "Maktub".    A slice of soul and funk set to a beat reminiscent of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground". Although it takes a few listens to get really into it, it is very possible to do so.   Not as accessible as his #1 "Pearl Cadillac", but it's more topical than that song and it does rock.    We need more artists like Clark.

Debuting also, without a bullet are Green Day's "Dilemma" and beach music artist Susan Trexler's "Whole Lotta Me".

BELOW THE CHART this week is a new feature called "Murmurs".    While I'm not sure if it's going to be a weekly, or occasional part of the blog, it is a list of songs that I plan to add in future weeks    While it's in roughly the order that I plan to add the songs to the chart, it can change from week to week as key blog artists plan to release a new song or something that jumps out at me.    In many cases I had not yet heard the song, but they do get previewed before they are added to the SNS 100.

There are some new releases by artists which are currently charting.   For example, we have new music from Starbuck, Deb Browning, Orbis Max, and Rivermist, plus many others that merit consideration. 

Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist

February 18, 2024

This Week	Last Week	ARTIST-Title	Weeks on List
1	4	NUMBER ONE: TEDDY SWIMS "Lose Control" Album: I've Tried Everything But Therapy, Pt 1	6
2	9	Charlotte Sessions - I've Fallen For A Dragon▲	4
3	1	Anna Lavigne - Edge of the World	10
4	2	Thee Sacred Souls - Easier Said Than Done▲	13
5	3	Gary Alexander - There's Always Beach Music	12
6	5	Richard Swift - Would You●	12
7	6	Rivermist - Everything's Changed●	8
8	7	Gary Lowder and Smokin' Hot - Sitting In the Park	15
9	14	The Black Keys - Beautiful People (Stay High)	5
10	11	Varsity - Runaway	12
11	13	Black Pumas - Sauvignon	9
12	15	Orbis Max with Tim Izzard - Here And Now	6
13	12	Dua Lipa - Houdini	11
14	8	Marlisa Kay Small - No Matter Where You Go	12
15	17	Colorjoy - Cigarettes and Vanilla	7
16	18	Starbuck - Coldest Night of the Year	6
17	22	TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK: RICK STRICKLAND "Joined At the Heart" Album:  Power of Two	5
18	23	Rev. Bubba D. Liverance and the Cornhole Prophets - Something In the Water	6
19	10	Charlotte Sessions - Should I Be The Man●	21
20	31	Karen Clayton and Mike Taylor - I'm Your Puppet	4
21	26	The Vaccines - Heartbreak Kid	11
22	35	Cage the Elephant - Neon Pill	4
23	19	Blur - Barbaric	13
24	16	Mitski - My Love Mine All Mine	14
25	28	Duran Duran - Black Moonlight	7
26	32	Real Estate - Water Underground●	5
27	21	Everybody Loves An Outlaw - I See Red▲	16
28	34	Billy Joel - Turn the Lights Back On	3
29	20	U2 - Atomic City	14
30	24	Jaime Wyatt - World Worth Keeping	12
31	38	Say She She - Never Say Never	3
32	25	Einsteins Dad - Rolling Indie	14
33	46	Juliet Callahan - She Was Me	3
34	27	Sir Prize and the Twomorrow Knightz - Arthurian Rhapsody	16
35	30	Carolina Blue Dots - Under The Moonlight▲	17
36	33	Sia - Gimme Love	13
37	37	The Beatles - Now and Then●	14
38	29	Blonde Redhead - Snowman●	17
39	40	Sheryl Crow - Alarm Clock	5
40	42	Carolina Blue Dots - Coolin' Out	6
41	45	Black Pumas - Ice Cream (Pay Phone)	3
42	65	TOP DEBUT: SUKI WATERHOUSE "OMG" (Single Release)	2
43	50	Molly Lewis and Thee Sacred Souls - Crushed Velvet	3
44	51	Vacations - Next Exit	3
45	52	M83 - Mirror	3
46	56	Sleater-Kinney - Hell	3
47	72	Cayucas - Punch Bowl	2
48	78	Nadia Shutkufski - Top Down	2
49	39	Jenny Lewis - Cherry Baby	13
50	44	King Tappa - Trouble	6
51	36	David Kushner - Daylight	13
52	53	The Palms - Ready or Not	7
53	58	Foo Fighters - The Glass	3
54	43	Christina Cooper Black - I Miss You Babe	18
55	47	SZA - Snooze	28
56	61	Two Door Cinema Club - Sure Enough	4
57	41	Orbis Max - I Think It Was Over	16
58	63	Tracy Chapman - Fast Car	3
59	67	The Struts - Pretty Vicious	3
60	71	Love Fame Tragedy - Don't You Want To	3
61	73	Laura Jane Grace - Hole In My Head	2
62	75	Lainey Wilson - Wildflowers and Wild Horses	2
63	48	The Record Company - Roll With It	11
64	57	Middle Kids - Dramamine	5
65	83	Benson Boone - Beautiful Things	2
66	49	Freecloud - Suit Still Fits	13
67	---	TOP DEBUT: BEYONCE "Texas Hold Em" Album: Act II	1
68	---	Jaime Wyatt - Feel Good	1
69	64	Carly Pearce ft Chris Stapleton - We Don't Fight Anymore	4
70	---	Sadie Leigh - Finger Wave	1
71	54	Starbuck - On the Sand▲	22
72	---	The Six Piece Suits - Thought You Knew	1
73	59	Rivermist - Right Place Right Time	23
74	70	Deb Browning - Think I Found Forever▲	45
75	---	Stephen Sanchez - High	1
76	84	Tate McRae - Greedy	4
77	86	Luke Combs - Fast Car	21
78	62	Beabadoobee - The Way Things Go	19
79	---	Gary Clark Jr - Maktub	1
80	55	Doja Cat - Paint the Town Red	20
81	66	Cannons - Desire	21
82	60	Sylvia Johns Ritchie and Mike Taylor - Goin' Down Swingin'	15
83	89	Arianna Grande -Yes And?	4
84	68	The Front Bottoms - Emotional	16
85	69	Say She She - Astral Plane●	26
86	94	Bush - Nowhere To Go But Everywhere	2
87	80	Winnetka Bowling League - Breakfast For Dinner	15
88	76	The Tonez - Caught Up	36
89	79	Fall Out Boy - We Didn't Start The Fire▲	23
90	---	Green Day - Dilemma	1
91	77	Morgan Wallen - Thinkin' Bout Me	10
92	82	Taylor Swift - Cruel Summer●	30
93	---	Susan Trexler - Whole Lotta Me	1
94	74	Juliet Callahan - Venom	7
95	81	Alvvays - Belinda Says	18
96	88	The Beaches - Blame Brett	19
97	87	The Rolling Stones - Angry	19
98	99	David F. Porfirio - The Morning After	13
99	101	Mirrors on the Moon - Whiskey and Wine	5
100	85	Stephen Sanchez - Caught in a Blue	8

Murmurs:

 

Brittany Howard, "Prove it To You"

Pete Yorn, "Someday Someday"

Starbuck, "Spring Break Shake"

The Castaways, "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me"

Deb Browning, "Chain Breaker"

Cannons, 'Crush"

Orbis Max, "Something About You"

Mumford and Sons ft Pharrell Williams, "Good People"

Fall Out Boy, "So Much (For) Stardust"

The Rolling Stones ft. Lady Gaga, 'Sweet Sounds of Heaven"

Gary Lowder and Smokin' Hot, "It's Over"

The Decemberists, "Burial Ground"

Portugal. The Man, "Grim Generation"

Say Sue Me, "4 AM"

Paramore, "Burning Down the House"

Knox, "Not the 1975

Lucius - Stranger Danger

Dua Lipa - Training Session

Royal Otis, "Murder on the Dancefloor"

X Ambassadors, "No Strings"

Vampire Weekend, "Capricorn"

Rivermist, "Don't Walk Away"

Hot Wax, "Phone Machine"

Yune, "Cake"

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.

 

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 below #40 that are moving up the chart.

Scenes Recurrents: Songs which have dropped below the top 40 but are still on the SNS 100