NEW MUSIC FRIDAY: Releases For The Week of June 1, 2018

Just West of the land of charts.

From the Equality State to the state of music today, it’s another interesting Friday for fresh singles and albums. What will you be listening to for the first day of June? These are the notable digital and physical releases headed into the market this Friday:

KANYE WEST – ye (iTunes)
Does anybody really know what these seven tracks will sound like? Probably not. Still, West’s name should carry this set toward the top of the charts, unless his outspoken political stance affects things severely. We hear sales in Wyoming will be through the roof!

Notable albums out this week: Albin Lee Meldau‘s About You (iTunes), Ben Howard‘s Noonday Dream (iTunes), Father John Misty‘s God’s Favorite Customer (iTunes), Ghost‘s Prequelle (iTunes), Luke Combs‘s This One’s For You Too (iTunes), Michael Ray‘s Amos (iTunes), Nicole Millar‘s Excuse Me (iTunes), Owl City‘s Cinematic (iTunes), Roger Daltrey‘s As Long As I Have You (iTunes), Ruen Brothers‘s All My Shades Of Blue (iTunes), Thompson Square‘s Masterpiece (iTunes)

Notable EPs out this week: Josie Dunne‘s To Be The Little Fish (iTunes), Olivia Noelle‘s If Boys Could Cry (iTunes)

New digital singles that you can buy this week include:
“5 In The Morning”, Charli XCX (iTunes)
“Africa”, Weezer (iTunes)
“Again And Again”, Dave Matthews Band (iTunes)
“All The Feels”, Fly By Midnight (iTunes)
“All Things”, Betty Who (iTunes)
“At My Weakest” / “You Deserve Better”, James Arthur (iTunes)
“Blindsided”, The New Coast (iTunes)
“Boys Like You (Pop Mix)”, Anna Clendening (iTunes)
“Colour”, MNEK featuring Hailee Steinfeld (iTunes)
“Come Over”, The Internet (iTunes)
“Dilemma”, Liv Miraldi (iTunes)
“Drive” / “Duo”, Ben Rector (iTunes)
“Enemies” / “Never Not”, Lauv (iTunes)
“Fast Slow Disco”, St. Vincent (iTunes)
“Focus”, Allie X (iTunes)
“Girls Like You (Remix)”, Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B (iTunes)
“Give Yourself A Try”, The 1975 (iTunes)
“Grateful”, Better Than Ezra (iTunes)
“Happier (Tiësto’s AFTR:HRS Remix)”, Ed Sheeran (iTunes)
“Harlem Anthem”, A$AP Ferg (iTunes)
“Heaven Only Knows”, Bob Moses (iTunes)
“Hometown”, Sheppard (iTunes)
“How You’ve Been”, R3HAB x Quinn Lewis (iTunes)
“Humility”, Gorillaz featuring George Benson (iTunes)
“I Wish I Missed My Ex”, Mahalia (iTunes)
“Lost My Mind”, Lily Allen (iTunes)
“IDWK”, DVBBS x Blackbear (iTunes)
“Love Lasts Forever”, All Saints (iTunes)
“Lying To Myself” / “Waterbed”, Hearts & Colors (iTunes)
“Make It Happen”, John Splithoff (iTunes)
“Paranoid”, Emily Warren (iTunes)
“Remember Me”, VINCINT (iTunes)
“SAD AND BORED”, bülow featuring Duckwrth (iTunes)
“Someone Else”, Chelsea Cutler (iTunes)
“SUMMERTIME”, Ne-Yo (iTunes)
“Tension”, Pretty Sister featuring White Gold (iTunes)
“Youngblood (Acoustic)”, 5 Seconds Of Summer (iTunes)

Next week: look out for new albums from the Dave Matthews Band, Kids See Ghost, Sugarland and more. For Adam’s personal picks of the week, listen to the PGTC Friday Faves list on Spotify!

ADD LIB — Brace For (CHR) Impact (May 29, 2018)

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: how slow can you go? Following the Memorial Day break, quite slow. That doesn’t mean there aren’t a few winners in the bunch, however. Let’s add ’em up:

READY, SET, “GO”: As the format crawls ahead following the holiday weekend, numbers are, expectedly, smaller for this week’s update. That being said, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” by the Backstreet Boys leads the list for the second time with a nice total of 37 new stations, down from 51 last week, when it was tied with two other tracks for the Most Added title. That sum puts it nearly 20 stations ahead of two songs tied for second place, one of which (BTS‘s “Fake Love”) doesn’t impact until the middle of June.

The only impacting song of note this week is a release that just moved into the top 40 at the format: “I Like It”, a collaboration that includes Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin, which lands an additional 15 stations and a (tied) fifth place finish. This is the latest hit from the female performer’s recent #1 effort, Invasion Of Privacy, which continues to perform well in the U.S., especially in the streaming world. Look for her collaboration with Maroon 5, a remix of the act’s “Girls Like You”, to appear toward the top of next week’s report.

MOST ADDED — THIS WEEK’S TOP TEN
1-T. BACKSTREET BOYS, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” (RCA)
2-T. BTS, “Fake Love” (Columbia)
2-T. JENNIFER LOPEZ featuring DJ KHALED & CARDI B, “Dinero” (Epic)
4. DENNIS LLOYD, “Nevermind” (Warner Bros.)
5-T. 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER, “Youngblood” (Capitol)
5-T. CARDI B, BAD BUNNY & J BALVIN, “I Like It” (KSR Group/Atlantic)
7. JULIA MICHAELS featuring TRIPPIE REDD, “Jump” (Republic)
8. DRAKE, “Nice For What” (YMCMB/Republic)
9-T. SAM SMITH featuring LOGIC, “Pray” (Capitol)
9-T. ZAYN, “Let Me” (RCA)

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

RADIO REPORT: What’s Popping At Top 40 Radio This Week (May 28-29, 2018)

It’s time once again to analyze the airwaves and find out if your favorite new releases will be lighting up your local station’s playlist this week. Which tunes will climb to the top and which ones will hit a stop? Here’s the one track impacting this week at the Top 40 format before the holiday weekend:

CARDI B, BAD BUNNY & J BALVIN – “I Like It” (Atlantic)
Album: Invasion Of Privacy (2018)
Past T40 History: Now in the top 40 here, Cardi B’s fourth chart song looks to follow “Finesse” (with Bruno Mars) to the top spot.

Next week: Pharrell Williams and Camila Cabello make it official with the juicy “Sangria Wine”, but newcomer Sofia Reyes is prepared to count “1, 2, 3” dozen adds for her collaboration with Jason Derulo and De La Ghetto. Who wins? Stay tuned.

Which of these new songs would you like to see top the charts? Let me know!

Check out our Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Spotify and Twitter pages!

RADIO ACTIVE — A Weekly Chart CHRonicle (May 27, 2018)

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. Enjoy all the Memorial Day festivities! The charts don’t sleep for a holiday, so let’s check out all the action:

RETURN TO “NEVER” LAND: Camila Cabello‘s “Never Be The Same” holds at #1 for the fourth week on the Top 40 list, but a tight battle ensued between it and former chart-topper “The Middle”, from Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey, as a number of bigger hits continued to decline over the holiday weekend. As the result, the two tracks landed less than 100 spins from one another. A new #1 is likely in the next week or two, with “Psycho” (up 8-4) by Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign currently in the lead. “Never” is still making moves on the Hot AC list, rising 5-3 this week, though most observers will now be focused on her duet with Pharrell Williams, “Sangria Wine”, which sports a solid gain below the top 50 at the Top 40 format (and could enter as early as next week.)

HOW LO CAN THEY GO?: Four new titles reach the top 40 this week, led by the comeback single “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” by Backstreet Boys, up 48-33 to become their 19th top 40 entry at this format since 1995. (You’ll find additional chart data on the other entries from Cardi B, Logan Henderson and Bryce Vine on our socials!) Meanwhile, three songs come into the top 50 on the newest update, led by “Dinero” from Jennifer Lopez at #43. The collaboration, which features DJ Khaled and the previously mentioned Cardi B, is now Lopez’s highest-charting song since 2014. Five spots lower, K-pop sensations BTS score their second top 50 hit with “Fake Love”. The seven man band’s #48 entry comes two weeks before their single’s official impact date at the format. In at #49 is the week’s final new song, “Jump” by singer and songwriter Julia Michaels. She has three top 40 tunes to date. The track features chart newcomer Trippie Redd, who is known for a handful of collaborations and features in the rap field.

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

RECORD REWIND: PGTC Picks, May 20-26, 2018

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 small label and 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…

_____

CHELSEA CUTLER – “Water On The Bridge” (Spotify)
Previously on the Rewind: Three previous appearances, most recently “The Reason” (May 2018)
Notes: Long time no see! Cutler appeared here with “The Reason” last Sunday. Now, she slows the pace a taste with this lush ballad.

_____

EMILY BURNS – “Cheat” (Spotify)
Previously on the Rewind: One previous appearance, “Girlfriend At The Time” (March 2018)
Notes: Ahead of Seven Scenes From The Same Summer, out on July 20, Burns releases one of the catchiest pop singles of the week.

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LAUV – “Bracelet” (Spotify)
Previously on the Rewind: Nine previous appearances, most recently “Chasing Fire” (April 2018)
Notes: This piece of pop jewelry is one of four Lauv tracks to admire over the next couple of weeks, and they’ll all glitter effortlessly.

_____

SPAZZ CARDIGAN – “Medicine” (Spotify)
Previously on the Rewind: One previous appearance, “Episode” (March 2018)
Notes: Nashville performer Cardigan might need a lighter article of clothing; his in-your-face pop bops continue to deliver the heat!

_____

For more great new music, these songs are worth a listen…
JC STEWART – “Medicine”

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 27, 2018

“One” is the one.

DEBUTS
38. Maddie Poppe – Going Going Gone
36. Passenger – Hell Or High Water | HIGHEST DEBUT

TOP GAINERS
33. Christina Aguilera featuring Demi Lovato – Fall In Line (40)
24. Backstreet Boys – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (36) | BIGGEST MOVER (tie)
18. Bastille – Quarter Past Midnight (28)
13. Jason Mraz – Have It All (18)
12. A Great Big World – Younger (24) | BIGGEST MOVER (tie) — two weeks

THIS WEEK’S TOP TEN
10. Jukebox The Ghost – Everybody’s Lonely (07) | PEAK: #02
09. Bleachers – Alfie’s Song (Not So Typical Love Song) (11) | PEAK: #09
08. Taylor Swift – Delicate (09) | PEAK: #08
07. Niall Horan – On The Loose (03) | PEAK: #01 for three weeks
06. Echosmith – Over My Head (04) | PEAK: #04
05. James TW – Say Love (06) | PEAK: #05
04. Ariana Grande – No Tears Left To Cry (08) | PEAK: #04
03. George Ezra – Paradise (02) | PEAK: #01 for three weeks
02. Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (01) | PEAK: #01 for two weeks
01. Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa – One Kiss (03) | PEAK: #01 for one week | NEW #1

Top 10 Next In Line:
1. The Knocks featuring Foster The People – Ride Or Die (1)
2. Celine Dion – Ashes (2)
3. Kacey Musgraves – High Horse (4)
4. Julia Michaels – Jump (6)
5. NOTD featuring Bea Miller – I Wanna Know (5)
6. Years & Years – If You’re Over Me (8)
7. Maroon 5 – Girls Like You (7)
8. Rex Orange County featuring Benny Sings – Loving Is Easy (10)
9. Grace VanderWaal – Clearly (9)
10. Noah Cyrus & MAX – Team (-)

In The Mix:
American Authors – Deep Water (new)
Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness – Ohio (new)
Clean Bandit featuring Demi Lovato – Solo
Ed Sheeran – Happier
Florence + The Machine – Hunger
King Princess – 1950
Lenny Kravitz – Low (new)
Serena Ryder featuring Simon Ward – Famous
Train featuring Cam – Call Me Sir (new)
Troye Sivan – Bloom

Chart Notes:

• On this Memorial Day Weekend, there’s a new song at the top from Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa! “One Kiss” marks the first collaboration for the two soloists, soaring from 3-1 this week. It’s Harris’s first #1 on my chart and Lipa’s second, following her smash “New Rules”, which spent two weeks at the top in November. The current songs from A Great Big World (“Younger”) and the Backstreet Boys (“Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”) share the title of Biggest Mover this week, moving up a massive 12 notches to #12 and #24, respectively. (Expect both chart hits to vie for my own Song Of The Summer in the next few weeks.) A pair of new tracks enter the top 40 this week, led by Passenger‘s “Hell Or High Water” at #36. The single, which was recently serviced to the Triple A format, is the ninth chart entry for the singer, five of which have hit #1. Could this become his sixth? It may have a chance later this summer, especially as his upcoming set Runaway approaches. Two spots lower, at #38, the latest American Idol champ makes her chart debut: 20-year-old Maddie Poppe with “Going Going Gone”. It’s the third coronation song from the music competition show to make my survey since the start of the decade, following a pair of tracks from Phillip Phillips (“Home”, 2012) and Nick Fradiani (“Beautiful Life”, 2015).

(See my full chart on Crownnote)

ADAM’S TOP 40 FLASHBACK: May 25, 2014

“Already” four years ago.

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 25, 2014…

Debuts:
39. AMERICAN AUTHORS, “Believer”
38. MILKY CHANCE, “Stolen Dance”
35. JAMIE SCOTT, “My Hurricane”

Biggest Movers:
COLDPLAY, “A Sky Full Of Stars” (26-18, eight spots)

10. OH HONEY, “Be Okay” (up 1)
Album: With Love (EP) (2014, Atlantic Records)
Peak: #10

09. GRAFFITI6, “The Bridge” (steady, second week)
Album: The Bridge (2014, Independent)
Peak: #2 for two weeks

08. FOSTER THE PEOPLE, “Best Friend” (steady, second week)
Album: Supermodel (2014, Columbia Records)
Peak: #6 for three weeks

07. COLDPLAY, “A Sky Full Of Stars” (down 3)
Album: Ghost Stories (2014, Parlophone/Atlantic Records)
Peak: #1 for three weeks

06. BLEACHERS, “I Wanna Get Better” (down 1)
Album: Strange Desire (2014, RCA Records)
Peak: #1 for one week

05. CLEAN BANDIT featuring JESS GLYNNE, “Rather Be” (up 2)
Album: New Eyes (2014, Big Beat/Atlantic Records)
Peak: #3

04. PASSENGER, “Scare Away The Dark” (up 2)
Album: Whispers (2014, Nettwerk Records)
Peak: #1 for two weeks

03. ED SHEERAN, “Sing” (steady, second week)
Album: x (2014, Atlantic Records)
Peak: #2 for two weeks

02. RIXTON, “Me And My Broken Heart” (steady, second week)
Album: Let The Road (2015, Interscope Records)
Peak: #2 for three weeks

01. A GREAT BIG WORLD, “Already Home” (steady, third week)
Album: Is There Anybody Out There? (2014, Epic Records)
Peak: #1 for seven 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 25, 2018

When you’re ready, bop away.

Memorial Day calls for some music that reaches the beaches, and you can’t go wrong with a number of the selections below. These are the notable digital and physical releases headed into the market this Friday:

SHAWN MENDES – Shawn Mendes (iTunes)
The self-titled release from this Canadian singer and songwriter shall make all the young girls scream and stream with joy. The first single off it, “In My Blood”, is still gaining nicely at several U.S. radio formats, and a handful of other instant grat tracks have reacted well across the many digital services, including the Khalid-assisted “Youth”. Unless Post Malone‘s recent album decides to challenge it, you should expect Mendes’s set to be a strong contender to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200.

A$AP ROCKY – Testing (iTunes)
After two #1 solo albums in 2013 and 2015, respectively, this Harlem performer is hoping to score his third with a set that features several interesting collaborations, including artists like Lauryn Hill and Moby. With a streaming advantage, could it blow past Mendes’s album to become the top release in the land, or will it fall just short of the prize? Stay tuned.

Notable albums out this week: CHVRCHES‘s Love Is Dead (iTunes), J Balvin‘s Vibras (iTunes), Janine‘s 99 (iTunes), Jessie J‘s R.O.S.E. (iTunes), Jonathan Davis‘s Black Labyrinth (iTunes), Juice WRLD‘s Goodbye & Good Riddance (iTunes), Pusha T‘s Daytona (iTunes), Snow Patrol‘s Wildness (iTunes), Thunderpussy‘s Thunderpussy (iTunes), Welshly Arms‘s No Place Is Home (iTunes)

Notable EPs out this week: LOVA‘s Scripted Reality (iTunes), Matthew Young‘s Fruit (iTunes), Sj‘s Calabasas (iTunes), Taylor Phillips‘s Six Strings Attached (iTunes), YUNGBLUD‘s 21st Century Liability (iTunes)

New digital singles that you can buy this week include:
“Actual Pain”, Good Charlotte (iTunes)
“Against The Wall (Acoustic Version)”, Seether (iTunes)
“American Nights”, The Night Game (iTunes)
“Bracelet” and “Paranoid”, Lauv (iTunes)
“Broken Love”, The Him featuring Parson James (iTunes)
“Call Me Sir”, Train featuring Cam and Travie McCoy (iTunes)
“Castles”, Brother Oliver (iTunes)
“Cheat”, Emily Burns (iTunes)
“Come This Far”, Chloe Kohanski (iTunes)
“Deep Down Below”, Andreas Moss featuring Yacht Money (iTunes)
“Deep End”, KREAM (iTunes)
“Do You Feel This Way”, Kailee Morgue featuring Whethan (iTunes)
“Drink About (MOTi Remix)”, Seeb & Dagny (iTunes)
“Entertainer”, Zayn (iTunes)
“Fallingwater”, Maggie Rogers (iTunes)
“February 3rd”, Jorja Smith (iTunes)
“Feeling You”, Harrison Storm (iTunes)
“Forget To Forget”, SHY Martin (iTunes)
“Girl”, Donna Missal (iTunes)
“Happier (Acoustic)”, Ed Sheeran (iTunes)
“Have It All (Acoustic)”, Jason Mraz (iTunes)
“High Hopes”, Panic! At The Disco (iTunes)
“I Could Be Wrong”, Lucas & Steve x Brandy (iTunes)
“Icon (Remix)”, Jaden Smith featuring Nicky Jam (iTunes)
“Let Me Down Slowly”, Alec Benjamin (iTunes)
“Like I Love U”, The Moffatts (iTunes)
“Live It Up (Official Song 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia)”, Nicky Jam featuring Will Smith & Era Istrefi (iTunes)
“Longer Than I Thought”, Loote featuring Joe Jonas (iTunes)
“Love Alone”, Mokita (iTunes)
“Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way”, U2 x Cheat Codes (iTunes)
“Love The Lie”, Call Me Loop (iTunes)
“Low”, Lenny Kravitz (iTunes)
“Medicine”, Spazz Cardigan (iTunes)
“New Compassion”, HAERTS (iTunes)
“Not About You”, Glades (iTunes)
“Only Can Get Better”, Silk City featuring Daniel Merriweather (iTunes)
“Rise”, Jonas Blue featuring Jack & Jack (iTunes)
“Rosanna”, Weezer (iTunes)
“Run Into You”, Leland (iTunes)
“Screws”, DREAMERS (iTunes)
“Sleepwalking”, Elderbrook (iTunes)
“Solo (Wideboys Remix)”, Clean Bandit featuring Demi Lovato (iTunes)
“Streets Of You”, Eagle-Eye Cherry (iTunes)
“Take This Ride”, Vigiland (iTunes)
“Tearing Down The Walls”, Elias (iTunes)
“Time Of Our Lives”, Brynn Elliott (iTunes)
“Toast To Our Differences”, Rudimental featuring Shungudzo, Protoje & Hak Baker (iTunes)
“Us”, James Bay & Alicia Keys (iTunes)
“Wasted Time”, CLOVES (iTunes)
“Water On The Bridge”, Chelsea Cutler (iTunes)
“What You Want”, Belly featuring The Weeknd (iTunes)

Next week: look out for new albums from the Ben Howard, Kanye West and more. For Adam’s personal picks of the week, listen to the PGTC Friday Faves list on Spotify!

ADD LIB — Brace For (CHR) Impact (May 22, 2018)

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: it’s a miracle that we’ve haven’t lost our minds, as at least eight fresh titles (and probably more) impact at the format, giving the Top 40 panel some mighty tough decisions for a musical Memorial Day. Let’s take a breather (phew) and get back to adding ’em up:

“BACK” TO BACKSTREET: With all the excitement on this week’s report, the top three singles at the format this Tuesday came down to last week’s Most Added song, “Back To You” by Selena Gomez, and two releases from acts who found their biggest chart success in the late 90’s and early 00’s: “Dinero” by singer and actress Jennifer Lopez, which also features labelmate DJ Khaled and Cardi B, and “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” from top boy band Backstreet Boys. Yes, it was a nail-biter for most of the day, but when the dust settled, all three songs finished with 51 stations each, a rare three-way tie for the Most Added spot.

Given all the prominent songs impacting on the Top 40 airwaves this week, it would be quite the challenge to cover everything that scored any sort of action today. That being said, the latest single from Australian quartet 5 Seconds Of Summer (“Youngblood”) and the first song at the format for Israel’s Dennis Lloyd (“Nevermind”) each secured enough stations to rank well in the top ten, the former with 21 in fifth place and the latter with 24 in fourth place. (There’s much more music below, so check it out!) Enjoy the long holiday weekend ahead!

MOST ADDED — THIS WEEK’S TOP TEN
1-T. BACKSTREET BOYS, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” (RCA)
1-T. JENNIFER LOPEZ featuring DJ KHALED & CARDI B, “Dinero” (Epic)
1-T. SELENA GOMEZ, “Back To You” (Interscope)
4. DENNIS LLOYD, “Nevermind” (Warner Bros.)
5. 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER, “Youngblood” (Capitol)
6-T. ENRIQUE IGLESIAS featuring PITBULL, “Move To Miami” (RCA)
6-T. NF, “Lie” (Caroline)
8. CASH CASH featuring ABIR, “Finest Hour” (Big Beat/RRP)
9. PHARRELL WILLIAMS & CAMILA CABELLO, “Sangria Wine” (Columbia)
10-T. DIPLO, FRENCH MONTANA & LIL PUMP featuring ZHAVIA, “Welcome To The Party” (Columbia)
10-T. SAM SMITH featuring LOGIC, “Pray” (Capitol)

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

RADIO REPORT: What’s Popping At Top 40 Radio This Week (May 21-22, 2018)

It’s time once again to analyze the airwaves and find out if your favorite new releases will be lighting up your local station’s playlist this week. Which tunes will climb to the top and which ones will hit a stop? Here are eight (!) fresh releases impacting this week at the Top 40 format before the holiday weekend:

5 SECONDS OF SUMMER – “Youngblood” (Capitol)
Album: Youngblood (2018)
Past T40 History: The Aussie group is coming off “Want You Back”, which stalled halfway up the top 40. How will this track fare?

BACKSTREET BOYS – “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” (RCA)
Album: TBA (2018)
Past T40 History: One of the top boy bands of the late 90’s and early 00’s, these guys last went top 40 with 2007’s “Inconsolable”.

CASH CASH featuring ABIR – “Finest Hour” (Big Beat/RRP)
Album: TBA (2018)
Past T40 History: The EDM trio has two top 40 titles to date, one of which just missed the top ten. Abir impacts for the first time.

DENNIS LLOYD – “Nevermind” (Warner Bros.)
Album: TBA (2018)
Past T40 History: This is the Israeli newcomer’s first song to impact at this format. It was a part of a Spotify campaign worldwide.

DIPLO, FRENCH MONTANA & LIL PUMP featuring ZHAVIA – “Welcome To The Party” (Columbia)
Album: Deadpool 2 (Soundtrack) (2018)
Past T40 History: This is the first time all four acts have worked together. Newcomer Zhavia was a contestant on FOX’s The Four.

JENNIFER LOPEZ featuring DJ KHALED & CARDI B – “Dinero” (Epic)
Album: TBA (2018)
Past T40 History: Lopez’s success at this format has dwindled in recent years, though she has a sizeable 21 top 40 hits since 1999.

MIGOS featuring DRAKE – “Walk It Talk It” (Quality Control/Motown/Capitol)
Album: Culture II (2018)
Past T40 History: The darlings of the Rhythmic and Urban formats are coming off “Stir Fry”, which reached #35 here last month.

RITA ORA featuring CARDI B, CHARLI XCX & RITA ORA – “Girls” (Atlantic/RRP)
Album: TBA (2018)
Past T40 History: Despite some initial controversy over its lyrics, this single has charted modestly in several European territories.

Next week: There are no impacting titles due to the long weekend following Memorial Day. Summer is here!

Which of these new songs would you like to see top the charts? Let me know!

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