ADD LIB — Brace For (CHR) Impact (May 30, 2017)

Welcome to Add Lib, your Tuesday report on POP! Goes The Charts that’s mad about CHR/Top 40 adds, based on the station data provided by Mediabase 24/7 and Add Board. This week: Camila Cabello renews her membership at the CHR “club”, while Clean Bandit and Zara Larsson clean up a portion of the panel before their impact date. Everybody is back to work today, and even I’ll be working on my terrible jokes and punchlines for future editions of my radio reports. Meanwhile, it’s time to work out some adds and what songs got them this week, so let’s talk Top 40 tabulations:

WHO’S “CRYING” NOW: As pop quartet Fifth Harmony gets closer to the Friday release of “Down”, their first to not include one of their original members, Camila Cabello, the 20-year-old won’t be shedding any tears… unless they’re Top 40 tears. At the top of this week’s Most Added list is her “Crying In The Club”, which ranked in the runner-up position last week. It grabs 63 adds in its second frame. Her highly-anticipated album, The Hurting. The Healing. The Loving., is due later this year. “Club” outpaces this week’s #2 single, “Strip That Down” by Liam Payne featuring Quavo, by 19 stations. However, with the response that Payne’s hit has received in the last two weeks, it looks like “Down” will continue to go up. Expect both songs to appear on the report next week!

I HEAR A “SYMPHONY”: When it comes to the international hit by Clean Bandit and Zara Larsson, a few CHR conductors have begun the piece early this week, with 17 stations raising the curtain on a marvelous musical spectacle. “Symphony” has already been a top ten smash across Europe, with #1 peaks in countries like Norway, Scotland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. It’s been a good year so far for the British trio, who spent two weeks at #4 with “Rockabye” (featuring Anne-Marie and Sean Paul) in April. Larsson has struggled at the format over the last year, with her most recent single, the Ty Dolla $ign-assisted “So Good”, stalling out at #34 in March. Ooh, the drama of the string section! How will this rhapsody of a record end? Stay tuned!

MOST ADDED — THIS WEEK’S TOP TEN (ELEVEN)
1. CAMILA CABELLO, “Crying In The Club” (Epic)
2. LIAM PAYNE featuring QUAVO, “Strip That Down” (Republic)
3. KATY PERRY featuring NICKI MINAJ, “Swish Swish” (Capitol)
4. SELENA GOMEZ, “Bad Liar” (Interscope)
5. LUIS FONSI & DADDY YANKEE featuring JUSTIN BIEBER, “Despacito (Remix)” (UMLE/RBMG/Def Jam/Republic)
6-T. CHILDISH GAMBINO, “Redbone” (Glassnote)
6-T. CLEAN BANDIT featuring ZARA LARSSON, “Symphony” (Big Beat/RRP)
8. LOGIC featuring ALESSA CARA and KHALID, “1-800-273-8255” (Def Jam)
9. IGGY AZALEA featuring ANITTA, “Switch” (Def Jam)
10-T. CHARLIE PUTH, “Attention” (Artist Partner/Atlantic)
10-T. HAILEE STEINFELD, “Most Girls” (Republic)

Check out our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages for more adds coverage and commentary.

RADIO ACTIVE — A Weekly Chart CHRonicle (May 28, 2017)

Welcome to Radio Active, a Sunday evening report from POP! Goes The Charts that gets to the chart of the matter: all the highlights from the CHR/Top 40 chart, as published by Mediabase 24/7 and Mediabase Research. Hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday weekend, whether you’re relaxing at the beach or just chilling at home. However, even with the break, those airplay charts don’t rest a minute. So, someone has to put away the sunblock and the shades for a moment to deliver you all those breezy chart stats, blowing faster than the wind on the water. (It’s okay, a vampire like me doesn’t tan.) Dig into all of this massive Memorial Day music:

HERE TO “STAY”: After just a week at the top, “Something Just Like This” by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay says goodbye to that coveted #1 status, and taking its place is another EDM song that combines that talents of two performers. Zedd and Alessia Cara bolt from 4-1 with “Stay”, giving the DJ/producer his first chart-topper on the Top 40 survey, while the Canadian singer grabs her third #1 at the format since last year. Notably, this song hits the top in its 13th week on the chart, which far outpaces the runs for Cara’s two previous #1 entries: “Here” (1/24/16 MB, 26th week) and “Scars To Your Beautiful” (1/22/17 MB, 24th week). Given that the rest of the top five is falling in airplay at the moment, we could be in for an extended “stay” at the top next month. I’ll update you as the weeks go on!

This collaboration is the second single called “Stay” to hit #1 this decade. In 2013, another “Stay”, performed by Rihanna featuring Mikky Ekko, spent two weeks (4/21-28/13 MB) at the top spot. This type of occurrence only happened once in the last decade, as a pair of “With You” titles reached #1 for Jessica Simpson (2/27-3/5/04 R&R) and Chris Brown (3/16-30/08 MB). (Two big hits titled “Shake It Off” also climbed to #1 in the 2000s, but not during the same decade, sung by Mariah Carey (9/16-10/14/05 R&R) and Taylor Swift (10/12 and 10/26/14 MB).)

A WORD IN SPANISH: I’m not sure that the word Elton John was looking for was “despacito”, but when his song reached #24 (11/4/88 R&R) on the pop chart, we never did find out the answer. However, one of the answers to the Song Of The Summer contest for this year is definitely the remix of “Despacito”, the Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee hit that features Justin Bieber. It’s up 16-10 this week, as it also reaches the top 40 on the Hot AC format for this published chart. The song has already hit #1 in several dozen countries, including our U.S.-based Billboard 100, and it’s still growing rapidly across the globe. ¡Qué chévere, señores!

“Despacito” is the first Spanglish remix of a hit to reach the top ten on the CHR/Top 40 chart since the fall of 2014, when “Bailando” (#9, 9/14/14 MB) reached the region for Enrique Iglesias, with featured performers Sean Paul, Descemer Bueno and Gente De Zona. Prior to that hit, the Bayside Boys remix of Los Del Rio‘s “Macarena”, a Spanglish version of a song that bubbled under the pop radio chart in its first run during the fall of 1995, danced its way into the top ten (#10, 7/12 and 8/16-23/96 R&R) and into a few political and sporting events, which is perfectly okay to forget at this point.

“CRYING IN” PAYNE: A number of songs debuted at radio last week, so there’s a bit of debut action on this week’s list, and that’s nothing to sob about. Camila Cabello has the highest new entry at #31 with “Crying In The Club”. It’s her third chart hit outside of Fifth Harmony. It’s also the first “club” title to appear on the survey since “Club Can’t Handle Me”, the #7 song (10/10 and 10/31-11/7/10 MB) for Flo Rida featuring David Guetta. Meanwhile, Liam Payne‘s “Strip That Down”, featuring rapper Quavo, leaps in at #36. It’s his first solo hit outside of One Direction. Earlier this decade, two “strip” titles spent time in the top 50, but couldn’t quite reach the top 40: “Strip Me” (#42, 10/17/10 MB) by Natasha Bedingfield and “Strip” (#49, 1/29/12 MB) by Chris Brown featuring Kevin McCall.

Also joining the top 40 this week is “Swish Swish” by Katy Perry featuring Nicki Minaj, which enters at #38. It is the third release to chart from her forthcoming album Witness, due June 9. This era is the definition of a hot mess, with the emphasis on mess, which makes it all the more intriguing to watch. The summer is still young, and I’ve got my popcorn and tea at the ready…

THE LOGICAL SONG: When I was young, it seemed that charts were so wonderful… and things are pretty wonderful this week at #50 for the 27-year-old rapper named Logic. “1-800-273-8255”, from the recent #1 album Everybody, becomes his second entry at format, following his inclusion on the multi-artist collaboration “Sucker For Pain” (#20, 10/30-11/6/16 MB) from the soundtrack to Suicide Squad. His new one features Khalid and Alessia Cara. Last week, Khalid made his chart debut with a recent #1 on the Urban chart, “Location”, which advances from 49-44 this week. As Supertramp might say, their success so far is bloody well right, and I’ll be looking forward to watching all three acts and their progress in the coming weeks.

In the history of the CHR chart, only two other songs containing a phone number in their titles have dialed their way into the top 40: Tommy Tutone‘s “867-5309/Jenny” (#7, 5/7-14/82 R&R) and Squeeze‘s “853-5937” (#27, 2/5/88 R&R). Ironically, both singles were the last top 40 hits for both bands. Well, Logic, it’s been nice to know yo– I mean, uh, it’s been nice to know that this is the first time in nearly three decades that a title like this has appeared at the format. Nothing potentially bad about that, right? Right?

Check out our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages for more chart coverage and commentary.

RECORD REWIND: PGTC Picks, 5/21 – 5/27/17

Sunday afternoon means it’s time for the Record Rewind, highlighting the top new tracks that you might’ve missed during the work week, all from my favorite independent acts out there. If it’s on the site, it’s something that you need to check out!

Across the PGTC SoundCloud page and my playlists on Spotify, these stuck out as my favorite independent songs of the week…

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COLYER – “Lost In Your Love” (iTunes/Spotify – not available)
Just under two years ago, Steven Colyer made his debut with a lovely song titled “Out For You”, which was all over my SoundCloud feed and playlists at the time. Yes, it’s been a minute, but the Los Angeles singer is back with a quality track that has radio potential.

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GREAT GOOD FINE OK & BEFORE YOU EXIT – “Find Yourself” (iTunes) (Spotify)
What happens when you combine two friends from Brooklyn and three brothers from Orlando? Well, you get quite the quintet. It’s an unusual collaboration on paper, but surprisingly, their song is an earworm. We’ll see if we get any more songs from the two acts.

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KNGDAVD – “Shame” (iTunes) (Spotify)
When I need bold pop bop realness, I always turn to this New York City duo to give me that fresh sound and energy. With a total of four singles uploaded to date, “Medicine” marking their last Rewind feature in January, they keep delivering some amazing results.

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MARK ELLIOTT – “Good Way” (iTunes) (Spotify)
Elliott’s had some solid momentum since I first discovered his tunes last year, including the clever “Drink To Thunk”, which is still a favorite of mine. His latest upload combines elements from the worlds of piano-pop and electronic music to make one great sound.

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VHS COLLECTION – “So I Met Someone” (iTunes/Spotify – not available)
This New York City group has been on my radar for some time. I really enjoyed “Ghost” and “The Longest Drive” from their last EP titled Stereo Hype. Between rewinding VHS tapes and my Record Rewind, I think I can rewind and repeat this retro new wave gem.

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VIOLET DAYS – “I’m A Dreamer” (iTunes) (Spotify)
Sweden’s produced some great female pop singers over the years, and this performer is certainly one to look out for. Both “Suck At Love” and “Your Girl” saw some repost action, and the pleasant production and lush vocals on this one makes it worth a few listens.

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For more great new music, these tunes are worth a listen…
Billy Cullum – “YLMW” (SoundCloud)
Emmit Fenn – “Woman” (SoundCloud)
George Taylor – “The Youth” (SoundCloud)
Kiah Victoria – “Treat Me” (SoundCloud)
Lostboycrow – “Nobody Knows” (SoundCloud)

Want to be featured on this weekly wrap-up? Submit your music to adamfsoybel@gmail.com and I’ll check our your tunes. Thanks!

Highlights from Adam’s Top 40: May 28, 2017

Not Gone yet.

DEBUTS
39. Chord Overstreet – Hold On
38. Jasmine Thompson – Old Friends
37. Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness – So Close | HIGHEST DEBUT

TOP GAINERS
33. Katy Perry – Swish Swish (40)
27. Tom Walker – Just You And I (33)
26. Liam Payne – Strip That Down (37) | BIGGEST MOVER
22. Miley Cyrus – Malibu (28)
12. Niall Horan – Slow Hands (20)

THIS WEEK’S TOP TEN
10. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl (11) | PEAK: #10
09. DNCE – Kissing Strangers (10) | PEAK: #09
08. Noah Kahan – Young Blood (05) | PEAK: #05
07. Lorde – Green Light (06) | PEAK: #01 for two weeks
06. James TW – Ex (03) | PEAK: #03
05. New Politics – One Of Us (07) | PEAK: #05
04. Scott Helman – Kinda Complicated (08) | PEAK: #04
03. Shawn Mendes – There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back (04) | PEAK: #03
02. Harry Styles – Sign Of The Times (02) | PEAK: #02
01. Bleachers – Don’t Take The Money (01) | PEAK: #01 for four weeks

Top 10 Next In Line:
1. LANY – ILYSB (1)
2. John Mayer – In The Blood (6)
3. Rag’N’Bone Man – Skin (5)
4. Ingrid Michaelson – Celebrate (9)
5. TLC – Way Back (3)
6. Carly Rae Jepsen – Cut To The Feeling (-)
7. Mondo Cozmo – Automatic (-)
8. Hanson – I Was Born (-)
9. Picture This – Never Change (-)
10. Billy Raffoul – Driver (-)

In The Mix:
Dagny – Wearing Nothing (new)
Hailee Steinfeld – Most Girls
Jennifer Hudson – Remember Me (new)
Lauv – I Like Me Better (new)
LeAnn Rimes – Love Is Love Is Love
Loote – High Without Your Love
Milky Chance – Blossom
Rachel Crow – Dime (new)
Saint Motel – Destroyer
The Score – Legend
Welshly Arms – Legendary

Chart Notes:

• This week’s Highest Debut is the fourth top 40 single from Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness, “So Close”. It comes in at #37 on the countdown. “Close” is the follow-up to “Fire Escape”, which reached #4 for two weeks in November of 2016. Both songs can be found on his album Zombies On Broadway, which was released earlier this year. Of course, McMahon has another four top 40 entries on my chart from his days as the leader of Jack’s Mannequin, so he has a little history here. It impacts at Alternative radio on June 6.
• The only newcomer to make my chart this week is 16-year-old English singer Jasmine Thompson. In the summer of 2015, she just missed the top 50 on the Top 40 chart with DJ/producer Felix Jaehn‘s remix of one of her popular remakes, “Ain’t Nobody (Loves Me Better)”. (The original, of course, was done by Rufus and Chaka Khan.) Thompson debuts at #38 with an original song, “Old Friends”, from her Wonderland EP. Watch out for it at the Hot AC format this summer!
• Lastly, at #39, is a singer who returns to my chart after a six-year absence. 28-year-old Chord Overstreet first reached the countdown in 2011 with the cast of Glee on “Loser Like Me”, which held at #18 for two weeks. It also gained a bit of airplay at the Hot AC (#33) and Top 40 (#42) formats. Now, Overstreet is back with “Hold On”, which jumps in at #39. It heads to Top 40 radio, via a remix by Deepend, on June 6.

(See my full chart on Crownnote)

ADAM’S TOP 40 FLASHBACK: May 30, 2004

“Me” and my chart in 2004.

It’s the start of another weekend, which means it’s time for another trip back into the archives on Adam’s Top 40 Flashback! Every Saturday, the day before my latest top 40 goes up for the week, I feature the highlights of a past countdown. They’re all here — the hit songs, the songs that flopped, and the songs that may be a little embarrassing to reflect on.

This week, we stroll back four years and find out what was topping my chart for the week of May 30, 2004…

Debuts:
39. TRAIN, “Ordinary”
38. MARIA MENA, “You’re The Only One”
34. RICHARD MARX, “When You’re Gone”
24. BLACK EYED PEAS, “Let’s Get It Started”

Biggest Mover(s):
HILARY & HAYLIE DUFF, “Our Lips Are Sealed” (28-21, seven spots)

10. MIS-TEEQ, “Scandalous” (up 2)
Album: Mis-Teeq (2004, Reprise Records)
Peak: #5

09. LOS LONELY BOYS, “Heaven” (up 1)
Album: Los Lonely Boys (2004, OR/Epic Records)
Peak: #4 for five weeks

08. JESSICA SIMPSON, “Take My Breath Away” (down 2)
Album: In This Skin: Collector’s Edition (2004, Columbia Records)
Peak: #6 for two weeks

07. JOJO, “Leave (Get Out)” (up 2)
Album: JoJo (2004, BlackGround/Universal Records)
Peak: #2 for two weeks

06. ASHLEE SIMPSON, “Pieces Of Me” (up 1)
Album: Autobiography (2004, Geffen Records)
Peak: #2 for two weeks

05. AVRIL LAVIGNE, “Don’t Tell Me” (down 1)
Album: Under My Skin (2004, Arista/RMG Records)
Peak: #2 for three weeks

04. RYAN CABRERA, “On The Way Down” (up 1)
Album: Take It All Away (2004, E.V.L.A./Atlantic Records)
Peak: #1 for six weeks

03. CHERIE, “I’m Ready” (steady, second week)
Album: Cherie (2004, Lava/Atlantic Records)
Peak: #3 for two weeks

02. ALANIS MORISSETTE, “Everything” (steady, second week)
Album: So-Called Chaos (2004, Maverick/Reprise Records)
Peak: #2 for four weeks

01. HOOBASTANK, “The Reason” (steady, fourth week)
Album: The Reason (2003, Island/IDJMG Records)
Peak: #1 for four weeks

Check back next Saturday for another Adam’s Top 40 Flashback countdown and don’t forget to follow the blog by using the tab below or find PGTC on social media by clicking the “Get Social!” tab at the top of the page.

NEW MUSIC FRIDAY: Releases For The Week of May 26, 2017

Cruisin’ into chart waters.

Have a very musical Memorial Day Weekend with these top releases, including a lot of great new singles, remixes and acoustic takes. Let’s serve up all the action from this week’s schedule:

LIL YACHTY – Teenage Emotions (iTunes)
Next week’s top debut should come from this 19-year-old Georgia rapper, who has a nice online following and big streaming stats. A single from this set, “Peak A Boo”, featuring labelmates Migos, is in the lower rungs of both the Rhythmic and Urban radio surveys. Stream and track-equivalent units will be notable for this one, but will they be enough to carry the album to #1? Stay tuned.

More albums out this week: Bryson Tiller‘s True To Self (iTunes), Gucci Mane‘s Droptopwop (iTunes), James Vincent McMorrow‘s True Care (iTunes), Josh Baldwin‘s The War Is Over (iTunes), Shakira‘s El Dorado (iTunes), The Beatles‘s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Deluxe Edition) (iTunes)

More EPs out this week: Axwell ^ Ingrosso‘s More Than You Know (iTunes), Kyle Lionhart‘s Eleven & Two (iTunes), Mabel‘s Bedroom (iTunes), River Matthews‘s Sunshine (iTunes), Serena Ryder‘s Electric Love (iTunes)

New digital-only singles that you can buy this week include:
“All I Can Do”, Bad Royale featuring Silver (iTunes)
“Another Week”, Eric Saade (iTunes)
“Break A Little (Hector Fonseca & Eduardo Lujan Remix)”, Kirstin (iTunes)
“Cali God”, Grace Mitchell (iTunes)
“Call Me”, NEIKED featuring MIMI (iTunes)
“Can I Be Him (Live Acoustic Version)”, James Arthur (iTunes)
“Cannonball”, ZZ Ward featuring Fantastic Negrito (iTunes)
“Cover My Own”, Old Sea Brigade (iTunes)
“Cringe (Stripped Version)”, Matt Maeson (iTunes)
“Cut To The Feeling”, Carly Rae Jepsen (iTunes)
“Dive”, Coast Modern (iTunes)
“Every Little Thing”, Deepend featuring Deb’s Daughter (iTunes)
“Feel It Still (Flatbush Zombies Remix)”, Portugal. The Man (iTunes)
“Fight For You”, Pluto featuring MAX (iTunes)
“Find Yourself”, Great Good Fine OK & Before You Exit (iTunes)
“FUNGSHWAY”, BIA (iTunes)
“Good Way”, Mark Elliott (iTunes)
“Gravity (White Sands Remix)”, Leo Stannard featuring Frances (iTunes)
“Heebiejeebies”, Aminé featuring Kehlani (iTunes)
“High Without Your Love (Acoustic)”, Loote (iTunes)
“Hit The Ceiling”, LION BABE (iTunes)
“I Know A Place (Brian Robert Jones Remix)”, MUNA (iTunes)
“I Miss Those Days”, Bleachers (iTunes)
“I Was Born”, Hanson (iTunes)
“I’m A Dreamer”, Violet Days (iTunes)
“I’m A Fan”, Pia Mia featuring Jeremih (iTunes)
“Liar”, Frans (iTunes)
“Lost In Your Love”, Colyer (iTunes)
“Loved By You”, Mali Music featuring Jazmine Sullivan (iTunes)
“Middle Fingers (Glades Remix)”, MISSIO (iTunes)
“Middle Of The Night (Felon Remix)”, The Vamps featuring Martin Jensen (iTunes)
“Need You”, Allie X featuring Valley Girl (iTunes)
“No Vacancy (French Version)”, OneRepublic featuring Amir (iTunes)
“Power”, Little Mix featuring Stormzy (iTunes)
“Remember I Told You”, Nick Jonas featuring Anne-Marie and Mike Posner (iTunes)
“Rooftops (Aber)”, Tobtok featuring Sorana (iTunes)
“Shame”, KNGDAVD (iTunes)
“Stay With You”, Cheat Codes featuring CADE (iTunes)
“Strangers”, Halsey featuring Lauren Jauregui (iTunes)
“Sure Thing”, Klyne (iTunes)
“Symphony (Cash Cash Remix)”, Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson (iTunes)
“The Youth”, George Taylor (iTunes)
“There For You”, Martin Garrix & Troye Sivan (iTunes)
“To Be Human”, Sia featuring Labrinth (iTunes)
“Treat Me”, Kiah Victoria (iTunes)
“Undercover (Coucheron Remix)”, Kehlani (iTunes)
“Ultra Love”, Marlon Roudette (iTunes)
“Wearing Nothing”, Dagny (iTunes)
“Woman”, Emmit Fenn (iTunes)
“Your Song”, Rita Ora (iTunes)

We’ll see you next week for new albums from Bleachers, Halsey and more. Listen to the PGTC Friday Faves list on Spotify!

ADD LIB — Brace For (CHR) Impact (May 23, 2017)

Welcome to Add Lib, your Tuesday report on POP! Goes The Charts that’s mad about CHR/Top 40 adds, based on the station data provided by Mediabase 24/7 and Add Board. This week: Selena Gomez finds that “Bad” is good, Camila Cabello brings a flavor of the weep, Liam Payne proves that “Down” is up and Katy Perry swishes upon a musical star. We extend our condolences and prayers to those affected by the tragedy in Manchester last night, and hope that a speedy recovery is on the way. Concert halls need to be a safe space for everyone; music heals all of us. Now, if it’s okay to have a few laughs after such a dark day yesterday, let’s take some stats and some shade and mix it all together into one ridiculous report:

“BAD” OF THE CHART: I don’t think anyone is looking for a George Lamond and Selena Gomez collaboration at this point in time, but you never know what’ll happen in the pop world. Her “Bad Liar” is, truthfully, the Most Added tune at pop radio, with a total of 133 stations on board in its first week. Gomez has a total of seven top ten songs at the format since 2011, four of which have climbed to #1, with three of those coming from her last set, Revival. Gomez also appears as the vocalist on Kygo‘s hit “It Ain’t Me”, which was #3 (and bulleted) on last Sunday’s official update. Now is certainly a super time to be a Selenator. (By the way, Lamond’s “Bad Of The Heart” reached #26 on Radio & Records in July 1990. It was his only CHR hit.)

TWO AND A FIFTH: Former Fifth Harmony member Camila Cabello has her eye on some Top 40 tears, so grab a tissue or two before you press play. “Crying In The Club” is a part of the Most Added Club this week, a very exclusive society, scoring 81 adds on impact in the runner-up slot. Earlier this year, Cabello spent two weeks at the top as a part of a duet with Machine Gun Kelly, “Bad Things”. That single is based around an interpolation of “Out Of My Head” by Fastball, a #8 hit from August 1999. Her latest hit samples another smash from the same time period, Christina Aguilera‘s “Genie In A Bottle”, a four-week #1 from September of that year. Wanna guess who feels old right about now? Cabello’s solo debut, The Hurting. The Healing. The Loving., is due later this year.

JOY AND PAYNE: The final member of One Direction to reach the CHR/Top 40 format as a soloist is Liam Payne, and he is making quite the impact with his impacting single, “Strip That Down”. It takes the third Most Added spot this week, starting with 55 stations. Payne’s first single from his forthcoming album features rapper Quavo of the trio Migos, who’s been putting in the extra hours lately as the rent-a-rapper of choice for those pop songs with barren middle eight sections. (Do I need to start a campaign for saving the middle eight? #SaveTheM8) “Down” spent some time at #1 on the U.S.-based iTunes chart upon its release, though it no longer appears there.

FROM “SWISH” TO “SWITCH”: Just a few weeks after “Bon Appétit” ranked on the Most Added list, Katy Perry returns to a familiar spot with “Swish Swish”, the third single from her upcoming album Witness. With 51 stations on impact, it slips into fourth place this week. The new track features Nicki Minaj, who also appears as a featured artist on two other top 40 tracks on the chart: “Kissing Strangers” (#26) by DNCE and “Swalla” (#19) by Jason Derulo featuring Ty Dolla $ign. A little further down, we find “Switch”, a new collaboration from Iggy Azalea and featured artist Anitta. It’s in the eighth Most Added spot, receiving a total of 25 adds. Anitta is a Brazilian singer who is unknown to the U.S. pop audience, but we’ll see if this single provides a new opportunity for her to launch a career here.

MOST ADDED — THIS WEEK’S TOP TEN
1. SELENA GOMEZ, “Bad Liar” (Interscope)
2. CAMILA CABELLO, “Crying In The Club” (Epic)
3. LIAM PAYNE featuring QUAVO, “Strip That Down” (Republic)
4. KATY PERRY featuring NICKI MINAJ, “Swish Swish” (Capitol)
5. MILEY CYRUS, “Malibu” (RCA)
6. NIALL HORAN, “Slow Hands” (Capitol)
7. LUIS FONSI & DADDY YANKEE featuring JUSTIN BIEBER, “Despacito (Remix)” (UMLE/RBMG/Def Jam/Republic)
8. IGGY AZALEA featuring ANITTA, “Switch” (Def Jam)
9. KYGO & ELLIE GOULDING, “First Time” (Interscope/RCA)
10. CHILDISH GAMBINO, “Redbone” (Glassnote)

Check out our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages for more adds coverage and commentary.

RADIO ACTIVE — A Weekly Chart CHRonicle (May 21, 2017)

Welcome to Radio Active, a Sunday evening report from POP! Goes The Charts that gets to the chart of the matter: all the highlights from the CHR/Top 40 chart, as published by Mediabase 24/7 and Mediabase Research. After a fun fifth-year reunion this weekend, I’m back from my alma mater and ready to teach my favorite students of pop about the current affairs of current songs. So, get your pencils ready, because here comes this week’s lesson:

HOUSE OF CHAIN: Jump up, jump up and get down to business… there is a new #1 on the pop radio chart this week, “Something Just Like This” by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay, up 2-1. It becomes the third #1 for the EDM duo at this format, but the first for the rock band that’s been charting since 2001. If you think that’s insane, it is. The single is taken from the duo’s former #1 album, Memories…Do Not Open, while it also appears on the quartet’s forthcoming EP, Kaleidoscope, due June 30. “Something” grabs the top spot in its 12th week in the top 40, which is faster than the run for “Don’t Let Me Down” (featuring Daya) (15 weeks), but slower than the one for “Closer” (featuring Halsey) (8 weeks).

The Chainsmokers is the first duo to amass three #1 singles on the CHR radio chart since Australia’s Savage Garden, who placed “I Want You” (1997), “Truly Madly Deeply” (1998) and “I Knew I Loved You” (2000) at the top of the list. Of course, duos such as Hall & Oates, Roxette and Wham! also have three to their credit from their Radio & Records era. Needless to say, it’s going to be very hard to stop Alex Pall and Andrew Taggart now, so expect them to continue jumping around the charts in 2017.

THAT’S MY “BAD”: In a week full of so many pop priorities launching at radio, Selena Gomez serves the truth with a “Liar”. At #31 this week, the strong entrance for “Bad Liar” is, in large part, due to hourly airplay on iHeartMedia stations upon its release last Thursday. This is the 15th top 40 single at the format for the young performer, who previously charted with the band The Scene. I don’t think the members of the group have been scene since 2012, unless they’re taking your order at the local fast food joint. “Liar” is expected on her next studio album, due sometime later this year. The song was co-written with Julia Michaels, who holds at #7 with “Issues” in its 17th week in the top 40.

Gomez’s latest song is one of six new entries to hit the top 40 this week, with a number of quick top ten hits and mid-charters exiting the region. Just below her track, Kendrick Lamar‘s “Humble.” (#35), Hey Violet‘s “Break My Heart” (#37), Dua Lipa‘s “Be The One” (#38), Hailee Steinfeld‘s “Most Girls” (#39) and Post Malone featuring Quavo‘s “Congratulations” (#40) all take a seat in the endless game of musical chairs that we call the pop chart. With the Memorial Day holiday approaching, this section of the survey should be less active (at least, in terms of debuts) next week, due to alternative programming from a number of CHR stations.

IT’S ALL ABOUT “LOCATION”: Location, location, location! That’s what chart newcomer Khalid is thinking and singing about these days, especially coming off a week at a prime spot on the Urban survey. “Location” is, well, located at #49 on the CHR chart. It can be found on the album American Teen, which debuted in the top ten on the Billboard 200 earlier this year. The 19-year-old may find himself with another top 50 song next week, as Logic‘s “1-800-273-8255” (which features he and Alessia Cara) saw some nice gains during the week, putting it just below the chart. However, that collaboration will be competing with potential entries from acts like Camila Cabello, Katy Perry and Liam Payne, so come back next week to see the results of that.

My trusty GPS (the Gaining Pop Songs system, of course) recalculates this Sunday to find four new hits making the top 50, with Jon Bellion‘s “Overwhelming” (#46), Paramore‘s “Hard Times” (#48) and Childish Gambino‘s “Redbone” (#50) joining Khalid for their first appearances on the published chart. How will they do this summer? We’ll find out together real soon.

Check out our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages for more chart coverage and commentary.

RECORD REWIND: PGTC Picks, 5/14 – 5/20/17

Sunday afternoon means it’s time for the Record Rewind, highlighting the top new tracks that you might’ve missed during the work week, all from my favorite independent acts out there. If it’s on the site, it’s something that you need to check out!

Across the PGTC SoundCloud page and my playlists on Spotify, these stuck out as my favorite independent songs of the week…

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EZA – “Shape Of You” (iTunes) (Spotify)
You’ve heard this single plenty of times on the radio at this point, but you haven’t heard it quite like this. Nashville’s Ellery Bonham was last on the Rewind in September, when her excellent EP dropped, but her new electronic cover really elevates an average track.

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LAUV – “I Like Me Better” (iTunes) (Spotify)
Former New Yorker turned Angeleno singer/songwriter Ari Leff keeps stacking up the streaming hits! Of course, his biggest release remains “The Other”, which has 85 million streams (combining all versions) on Spotify. His latest jam is a catchy and feel good bop.

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For more great new music, these tunes are worth a listen…
Greer – “Satisfy” (SoundCloud)
Ryan Egan – “Easy To Lose” (SoundCloud)

Want to be featured on this weekly wrap-up? Submit your music to adamfsoybel@gmail.com and I’ll check our your tunes. Thanks!

Highlights from Adam’s Top 40: May 21, 2017

Hot for Bleacher(s).

DEBUTS
40. Katy Perry – Swish Swish
37. Liam Payne – Strip That Down | HIGHEST DEBUT

TOP GAINERS
33. Tom Walker – Just You And I (39)
28. Miley Cyrus – Malibu (37) | BIGGEST MOVER
20. Niall Horan – Slow Hands (27)
(see #10, #8 below)

THIS WEEK’S TOP TEN
10. DNCE – Kissing Strangers (15) | PEAK: #10
09. Imagine Dragons – Believer (05) | PEAK: #03
08. Scott Helman – Kinda Complicated (13) | PEAK: #08
07. New Politics – One Of Us (10) | PEAK: #07
06. Lorde – Green Light (04) | PEAK: #01 for two weeks
05. Noah Kahan – Young Blood (06) | PEAK: #05
04. Shawn Mendes – There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back (07) | PEAK: #04
03. James TW – Ex (03) | PEAK: #03
02. Harry Styles – Sign Of The Times (02) | PEAK: #02
01. Bleachers – Don’t Take The Money (01) | PEAK: #01 for three weeks

Top 10 Next In Line:
1. LANY – ILYSB (1)
2. Jasmine Thompson – Old Friends (7)
3. TLC – Way Back (3)
4. Jukebox The Ghost – Stay The Night (2)
5. Rag’N’Bone Man – Skin (5)
6. John Mayer – In The Blood (8)
7. The 1975 – A Change Of Heart (4)
8. Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness – So Close (-)
9. Ingrid Michaelson – Celebrate (10)
10. Ruth B. – If This Is Love (6)

In The Mix:
Anne-Marie – Ciao Adios
Billy Raffoul – Driver
Chord Overstreet – Hold On (new)
Hailee Steinfeld – Most Girls
LeAnn Rimes – Love Is Love Is Love
Loote – High Without Your Love (new)
Mary Lambert – Know Your Name
Milky Chance – Blossom
Mondo Cozmo – Automatic (new)
Oh Wonder – Ultralife
Saint Motel – Destroyer
The Score – Legend (new)
Welshly Arms – Legendary
ZZ Ward – Help Me Mama

Chart Notes:

• This week’s Highest Debut belongs to the fourth member of One Direction to hit my chart as a soloist. He’s Liam Payne, and he’s new at #37 with “Strip That Down”. The album version of this single features rapper Quavo of the trio Migos. The 23-year-old performer lands on the survey as Niall Horan‘s “Slow Hands” (#20) and Harry Styles‘s “Sign Of The Times” (#2) remain active, which could make for an interesting story later this summer. We’ll see how it goes. For now, Payne is off to a good start!
• Katy Perry has this week’s other debut with “Swish Swish”, landing at #40. It’s the third radio single from her forthcoming album Witness, which you’ll witness in stores on June 9. The album version features rapper Nicki Minaj. This track comes about a month after “Bon Appétit” debuted, which stalled out at multiple formats following mixed research and tepid digital sales and streaming data. Will Perry’s new era get back on track? Stay tuned.
• Next week, new radio songs from Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness and John Mayer, as well as a potential chart newcomer, Jasmine Thompson, should be among the stronger candidates in the running for a top 40 debut. However, as the number of big summer releases continues to grow, will anything pop up before the Memorial Day Weekend? Find out on Sunday!

(See my full chart on Crownnote)