ONCE AGAIN, IT'S THE Billboard Hot 100 making the news, in part for again staying the same week after week. I realize I'm beating a dead horse, but with the song a couple weeks away from breaking the chart-topping longevity record, as well as the upcoming holiday song action, it's worth the mention.
So, yes, Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" logs an 18th week atop the big chart. That puts it one away from the record of nineteen set in 2019 of "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus. I have been speculating that the best the song can do this year is tie the record, as December usually brings the onslaught of Christmas records for the ensuing five weeks. As this chart is dated November 23, that would leave the November 30 as a possible last week to do it. Of course, the way things are going, it could pop up to the top come January.
However, a look down the chart shows one holiday song debut--and it's neither "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey, nor "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee. The one song is another top five perennial, "Last Christmas" by Wham! which topped out at #4 the last couple of years. It was this week last year that Mariah re-entered at #17, but surprisingly hasn't entered yet (although it IS making its usual moves on the streaming charts). A possible reason is that Thanksgiving is late this year (November 28), thus the heavy airplay and streaming is a bit delayed. But, with the top 10 (or 15) songs still residing in virtually the same places week after week, denying any new music from entering there, are these songs actually strong to withhold the onslaught of holiday fare? Could Shaboozey actually withstand Mariah and/or Brenda? The Country Music Association Awards (CMAs) were held last night (November 20, as I write this), and Shaboozey performed the song. (I haven't seen the show as I don't get regular broadcast TV, just streaming, in which I will see this tonight, although the results were scattered all over my news feed on Facebook today). Much of the streaming action in the wake of the CMAs would evolve over the next several days and would show up on the December 7 chart, thus he could break the record. Regardless, it's a chart to watch over the next few weeks. And, with Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars' 'Die WIth a Smile" still in the runner-up spot, don't discount that finally moving to the top to really screw things up. To be continued.
 |
| Gracie Abrams breaks into an otherwise stagnant Billboard Top 10 with "That's So True" |
CHART-BUSTER: The top five remain the same, but finally, we have an artist moving into the top ten after a few weeks on the chart. Moving into the #6 position is "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams. It's refreshing to see a song make its way into the top part of the chart, rather than instantly debuting there. Its path has been 44-25-13-6. The placement moves all of the rest of the top 10 down one notch each, thus if it wasn't for "That's So True", the entire top ten would remain exactly the same.
So, who is Gracie Abrams? She is a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, 25 years old, and has been performing since she was a child. Professionally, she's been releasing music since 2018, has opened up for Taylor Swift on her Eras tour, and has released two albums thus far: 2023's Good Riddance, and this year's The Secret of Us. She started making the Hot 100 in 2023 with "Everything Everywhere" (featuring Noah Kahan) peaking at #79; subsequent releases gradually improved upon that position. She seems to have been absorbed into music's pop elite (as opposed to an aspiring singer-songwriter making inroads), she has made her political views public.
As for "That's So True", upon first listen, it seems like a cool, down to earth, semi acoustic effort, but subsequent listens, you see more contemporary pop aspects of it, similar to the Taylor Swifts and Ariana Grandes. Still, it's good to see a relatively new artist in the top 10. The song debuts on my SNS 100 at #84.
SNS 100: Actually, my chart is looking more like Billboard's, at least with songs sticking around the top. The top 9 songs on my chart have been there for 11 weeks or more. Last week there were no new entries in the top ten, this week there's two: Thee Sacred Souls' "Live For You" moves 12-9, while Teddy Swims' "Bad Dreams", goes 13-10 for his third blog top ten song this year.
Shaboozey logs a 3rd week atop my chart, while "Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, still #2 on the Hot 100, stays at the same position here. Pip Millett's "Hard Life" moves 8-4, to replace her song with Gotts Street Park which drops to #15.
In the second ten, there are three new entries: The Impact award goes to Gary Lowder and Smokin' Hot's "Driving Me Out of Her Mind" (21-17), also entering are The Dust-Ups' "What Getting Over You Looks Like" (21-19), giving lead singer Ryan Chatelain his second song in that region; he went to #10 solo a couple years back with "Static". "You Don't Know What Love Is" by The Mighty Saints of Soul is the other new entry there (23-20).
For the second week in a row, "Feel" by The Heavy Heavy garners Mover of the Week honors (40-29). Last week's debut, Deb Browning's "Christmas In a South" moves 41-33. Also making good moves are Christina Taylor's "Pretty Like You" (51-38), and Pepper Creek's "We Cruis'n" (60-49).
DEBUTS: Nine new entries on the SNS 100. It is led off by "Private Pile" by Moto Bandit. The band, hailing from Cincinnati and the style being called "punk soul", was recommended by Spotify; music from their prior 2022 effort "Daylight Doom" but found out they recently released two new songs. It was this one that instantly blew me away. It's a rather understated vocal, but accompanied by a bone-chilling, moving, steady beat that persists all thru the song. Very few songs send chills up my spine; the last to do it was The Beaches' "Takes One to Know One" and you know where that wound up. Assuming there's no burnout factor, this should wind up near the top.
Speaking of The Beaches, that female foursome from Canada releases the follow-up to "Takes...", "Jocelyn". Containing much of the same raw, alternative vibe as the prior song, while not quite as immediate, this one with several listens, puts the band back into very cool vibe territory. The vocals are persistent, and the instrumental back-up accompany this nicely as well. "Takes..." wasn't the national alternative hit that "Blame Brett" was (although it spent a few weeks on Sirius XM's "Alt 18" on the Alt-Nation channel. "Jocelyn" might have a better fate there.
Another Spotify recommendation, "Sage Motel" by Monophonics, as yet another great example of this retro-soul vibe that has worked for Thee Sacred Souls, Michael Kiwanuka, Jalen Ngonda and several others.
Again, thanks to Spotify, more recommendations result in debuts by Hajej, "High No More" which is more in the retro-soul department combined with a dash of Jitwam and Arc De Soleil.
David F. Porfirio enters with his latest, "Ballad of the Outlaw/Logan Landacuda". The exceptional Queens, New York guitar virtuoso releases his most accessible composition in quite a while. A bit different from prior releases, there's less of the recent exotica; this has a driving, almost "western" theme (hence the title), think "Ghost Riders in the Sky", but with also some rockabilly hints as well. How to describe it? Maybe Les Paul meets Eric Johnson. Again, and I've said this before, this is a very unique guitarist, just waiting to be discovered. You need to check him out.
Another talented artist debuts, Sarah Kinsley with "Sublime". Rather ambiance-like in nature, the song is nicely-dressed-up singer-songwriter mode. This should do well in Triple-A circles, or even Hot AC. Great effort.
Finally, two more Christmas songs enter: Kelly Clarkson who seems to release one every year, debuts with "You For Christmas". A contemporary effort but with a throwback to the Phil Spector-era as well, this should hold up well with her other new classics. Lastly but not least, Sarah Reeves enters with her cover of "Holly Jolly Christmas", a nice fresh take, rather a light jazzy fair to it, different enough from the Burl Ives classic. Should have a good holiday run.
FINALLY: As I mentioned above, the CMA awards were held last night, and I got to see them via Hulu the day after. Having known the winners (thank you Facebook News Feed) I tuned in for the performances and they definitely didn't disappoint. Co-host Lainey Wilson won for Female Vocalist; Chris Stapleton garnered the Male Vocalist nod. Brooks & Dunn won for best duo, and Old Dominion won for Group of the Year. Best New Artist went for Megan Moroney. Stapleton's "White Horse" won for both Single of the Year,, and Song of the Year. Ms. Wilson also won for Video of the Year with "Wildflowers and Wild Horses".
But the biggest award, Entertainer of the Year, went to Morgan Wallen. However, Wallen wasn't at the event. Was this because of that incident of a few years ago when he was drunk and yelled out that racial slur? I remember him not being invited to any awards night at that time, and radio dropped playing his songs. However, all seemed forgiven, his songs are huge streaming and radio hits. "Last Night" was #1 for 16 weeks last year, and his current "Love Somebody" interrupted Shaboozey's current number one run. Plus, he's still in the top 10 with his Post Malone duet. If all was forgiven, he should have been there. Then again, there was no sign of Blake Shelton either, even though he wasn't nominated for anything.
Anyway, the performances were top notch. Two of the hosts, Luke Bryan and Lainey Wilson (the other host was Peyton Manning), were awesome. My favorite was a duet between Thomas Rhett and Teddy Swims on the song "Somethin' About a Woman". Swims also performed his monster hit "Lose Control". If you recall, this is the same combo that won the "National/Shag Song" on the Beach Music awards earlier this month with "Broke". Jelly Roll's new single, "Liar" was also well-done. Shaboozey, of course, performed his massive hit "A Bar Song". Other cool performances were done by Luke Combs and Eric Church. Finally, there was a moving tribute to Toby Keith, who passed away earlier this year, including a toast with many of the artists holding up red solo cups, in reference to Toby's hit, "Red Solo Cup". The Oak Ridge Boys did a similar tribute to Kris Kristofferson.
For a full recap of the CMA's, click here: 2024 CMA Awards
ONE LAST THING: Last month I mentioned that I was changing my "gold and platinum" awards for song plays. I had used Spotify's ranking of songs I played the most during a given month; with the most-played getting "platinum" status, and among the top five songs getting "gold". Beginning this month, I switched back to the number of actual plays, as determined by my last.fm page which counts the number of plays, or "scrobbles". I will award "gold" to those with 25 or more plays (similar to what I did with iTunes), and "platinum" for fifty or more. The first song to reach that 25 level was The Beaches' 'Takes One to Know One". It will be awarded with a blue dot.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist
November 17, 2024
|
This Week |
Last Week |
ARTIST-Title |
Weeks on List |
|
1 |
1 |
NUMBER ONE:  Album: Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going (3 Weeks at #1) |
16 |
|
2 |
2 |
12 |
|
|
3 |
3 |
13 |
|
|
4 |
8 |
11 |
|
|
5 |
4 |
13 |
|
|
6 |
6 |
11 |
|
|
7 |
5 |
13 |
|
|
8 |
9 |
11 |
|
|
9 |
12 |
12 |
|
|
10 |
13 |
8 |
|
|
11 |
15 |
9 |
|
|
12 |
11 |
11 |
|
|
13 |
10 |
15 |
|
|
14 |
17 |
8 |
|
|
15 |
7 |
14 |
|
|
16 |
16 |
12 |
|
|
17 |
21 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:  (Single Release) |
7 |
|
18 |
14 |
10 |
|
|
19 |
22 |
10 |
|
|
20 |
26 |
5 |
|
|
21 |
35 |
5 |
|
|
22 |
20 |
12 |
|
|
23 |
25 |
10 |
|
|
24 |
33 |
4 |
|
|
25 |
23 |
12 |
|
|
26 |
28 |
6 |
|
|
27 |
24 |
10 |
|
|
28 |
32 |
Sylvia Johns Ritchie -I Don't
Care Who Knows ( I Love My Baby) |
8 |
|
29 |
40 |
MOVER OF THE WEEK:  "Feel" Album: One of a Kind |
3 |
|
30 |
18 |
15 |
|
|
31 |
19 |
16 |
|
|
32 |
31 |
7 |
|
|
33 |
41 |
2 |
|
|
34 |
36 |
8 |
|
|
35 |
37 |
6 |
|
|
36 |
30 |
12 |
|
|
37 |
27 |
16 |
|
|
38 |
51 |
2 |
|
|
39 |
45 |
6 |
|
|
40 |
49 |
5 |
|
|
41 |
29 |
13 |
|
|
42 |
46 |
8 |
|
|
43 |
52 |
4 |
|
|
44 |
34 |
14 |
|
|
45 |
56 |
3 |
|
|
46 |
47 |
6 |
|
|
47 |
38 |
16 |
|
|
48 |
54 |
5 |
|
|
49 |
60 |
3 |
|
|
50 |
39 |
21 |
|
|
51 |
53 |
7 |
|
|
52 |
50 |
8 |
|
|
53 |
57 |
5 |
|
|
54 |
58 |
4 |
|
|
55 |
59 |
4 |
|
|
56 |
--- |
TOP DEBUT:  Album:Pile of Garbage (EP) |
1 |
|
57 |
42 |
20 |
|
|
58 |
61 |
3 |
|
|
59 |
44 |
18 |
|
|
60 |
78 |
2 |
|
|
61 |
43 |
16 |
|
|
62 |
63 |
4 |
|
|
63 |
62 |
5 |
|
|
64 |
67 |
3 |
|
|
65 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
66 |
48 |
7 |
|
|
67 |
65 |
5 |
|
|
68 |
73 |
6 |
|
|
69 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
70 |
85 |
2 |
|
|
71 |
71 |
4 |
|
|
72 |
80 |
2 |
|
|
73 |
74 |
5 |
|
|
74 |
93 |
2 |
|
|
75 |
55 |
8 |
|
|
76 |
77 |
Deb Browning and Marlisa Kay
Small -Sunshine and Summertime● |
30 |
|
77 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
78 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
79 |
72 |
7 |
|
|
80 |
82 |
3 |
|
|
81 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
82 |
66 |
4 |
|
|
83 |
87 |
2 |
|
|
84 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
85 |
97 |
2 |
|
|
86 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
87 |
68 |
17 |
|
|
88 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
89 |
91 |
2 |
|
|
90 |
64 |
8 |
|
|
91 |
89 |
3 |
|
|
92 |
90 |
3 |
|
|
93 |
81 |
28 |
|
|
94 |
84 |
4 |
|
|
95 |
86 |
6 |
|
|
96 |
69 |
18 |
|
|
97 |
REENTRY |
5 |
|
|
98 |
79 |
10 |
|
|
99 |
70 |
13 |
|
|
100 |
75 |
17 |
Murmurs:
Sir Prize and the Twomorrow Knightz - Temptress
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats - Call Me
Dexter and the Moonrocks - Sad in Carolina
Lady Gaga - Disease
Melinda Lindner - Come On a Sleigh Ride
Blake Shelton - Texas
The Pozers - And You Love
The Palms - Ghost
The Wombats - Sorry I'm Late
The Struts - Can't Stop Talking
Harper Grace - Santa Baby
Thomas Rhett ft. Teddy Swims - Somethin' 'About a Woman
Jimmy Fallon ft Jonas Brothers - Holiday
Don West - Small Change
Menehan Street Band - Queens Highway
Hermanos Cutierrez - Circa De Ti
Vacations - Over You
Moon Soul - I Really Do
The Cure - A Fragile Thing
Billy Strings - Gild the Lilly
Sharon Van Etten - Afterlife
Rivermist and Sylvia Johns Ritchie - TBA (11/29)
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
|
|
Holiday
Songs
▲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. (Until September 2024)
●Songs garnering 25 plays
on Spotify (“Scrobbles”) according to Last.Fm (effective October 2024)
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 From 41-100 that are moving up the
chart that have not reached the top 40
Scenes
Down and Going: Song formerly in the top 40 that are
descending but still on the SNS 100.
Scenes
Recurrents: Songs which had been in
the top 20 and/or songs on the chart 25 weeks or more, that have dropped off
the SNS 100.
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