NEW MUSIC FRIDAY: Releases For The Week of June 29, 2018

Sting when you’re winning.

There’s a scorpion on the loose this week, as we enter the jungle of jams we call New Music Friday. Who else is joining the song safari? These are the notable digital and physical releases headed into the market this Friday:

DRAKE – Scorpion (iTunes)
Drake’s double album set, a total of 25 tracks, will storm the top of the Billboard 200 chart next week. Of course, the release features a pair of monster hits in “God’s Plan” and “Nice For What”, and plenty of future hits too. How giant will its first week be? Whatever it is, we’ll be watching.

FLORENCE + THE MACHINE – High As Hope (iTunes)
Led by the single “Hunger”, which leads the current Triple A chart and is just inside the top ten on Alternative radio, there’s certainly a hope that this album will enter the top five next week. Should it happen, the album will become their second to reach the region.

Notable albums out this week: Blair St. Clair‘s Call My Life (iTunes), Bullet For My Valentine‘s Gravity (iTunes), Gorillaz‘s The Now Now (iTunes), Guns N’ Roses‘s Appetite For Destruction: Locked N’ Loaded (iTunes), Leo Stannard‘s Maratea (iTunes), Sean Paul‘s Mad Love: The Prequel (iTunes)

Notable EPs out this week: Gavin James‘s Always (iTunes), Ina Wroldsen‘s Hex (iTunes), Mondo Cozmo‘s Your Motherf*cker (iTunes), Riley Green‘s In A Truck Right Now (iTunes)

New digital singles that you can buy this week include:
“About Time” and “Stutter”, EDEN (iTunes)
“All For You”, Years & Years (iTunes)
“Alone Time”, Lovelytheband (iTunes)
“American Summer”, Giiants (iTunes)
“Be Alright”, Dean Lewis (iTunes)
“Careless Man”, Matthew Perryman Jones featuring Young Summer (iTunes)
“Connection”, OneRepublic (iTunes)
“Dinero (CADE Remix)”, Jennifer Lopez featuring DJ Khaled & Cardi B (iTunes)
“Don’t Panic”, XYLØ (iTunes)
“Ego”, NONONO (iTunes)
“Eve”, KNGDAVD (iTunes)
“Everybody Needs A Kiss”, Benny Benassi & Sofi Tukker (iTunes)
“Fallible Creatures”, Scott Quinn (iTunes)
“Focus” and “No Angel”, Charli XCX (iTunes)
“Gimme Gimme”, Johnny Stimson (iTunes)
“Girls”, AJ Mitchell (iTunes)
“Glory”, The Score (iTunes)
“Have It All (Easy Star All-Stars & Michael Goldwasser Reggae Mix)”, Jason Mraz (iTunes)
“I Only Need One”, Bearson featuring MNDR (iTunes)
“I See Love”, Jonas Blue featuring Joe Jonas (iTunes)
“Jambalaya (On The Bayou)” and “The Way I See It”, Mason Ramsey (iTunes)
“Jump (Acoustic)”, Julia Michaels (iTunes)
“La La Love”, Mono Mind (iTunes)
“Low (DIMMI Remix)”, Lenny Kravitz (iTunes)
“Miss You”, Jacob & Fanny (iTunes)
“Monogamy”, Christopher (iTunes)
“My Love”, Martin Solveig (iTunes)
“Not The Boy” and “Verified”, A$AP Ferg (iTunes)
“Not Too Late (Acoustic)”, Moon Taxi (iTunes)
“Numb”, Benjamin Francis Leftwich (iTunes)
“Only Love”, Jordan Smith (iTunes)
“Pirate Song”, Kenny Chesney (iTunes)
“Pyro Ting”, Rak-Su x Banx & Ranx (iTunes)
“R.I.P.”, Olivia O’Brien featuring G-Eazy & Drew Love (iTunes)
“Rooftop”, Nico Santos & Samantha Harvey (iTunes)
“Runaway”, Passenger (iTunes)
“Same Team”, Labrinth + Stefflon Don (iTunes)
“Shades”, The Knocks (iTunes)
“So Far Under”, Alice In Chains (iTunes)
“Solo (M-22 Remix)”, Clean Bandit featuring Demi Lovato (iTunes)
“Stay Woke”, Meek Mill featuring Miguel (iTunes)
“Still New York”, MAX featuring Joey Bada$$ (iTunes)
“Strange Magic”, Seramic (iTunes)
“The Last Of The Real Ones”, Fall Out Boy featuring MadeinTYO & bülow (iTunes)
“Warriors”, Allen Stone (iTunes)
“Way Way Back”, Matt Nathanson (iTunes)
“When All The Stars Have Died”, Kris Allen (iTunes)
“White Flag”, Daughtry (iTunes)
“Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You”, Sheryl Crow featuring Annie Clark (iTunes)
“You Deserve Better (Acoustic)”, James Arthur (iTunes)
“You Don’t Know About Me (ACLU Remix)”, Ella Vos, Vérité, Icona Pop & Mija (iTunes)
“You Got Me Wrong (Aleksander Galoski Remix)”, Efraim Leo featuring Juliette Claire (iTunes)
“Youngblood (R3HAB Remix)”, 5 Seconds Of Summer (iTunes)
“Younger (Acoustic)”, A Great Big World (iTunes)

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

Home “Sweet” Home: A Collection Of Chart Candy

This sweet talkin’ woman won’t slow down.

It’s still gaining on the radio even if it’s fallen back a bit on the Hot 100, but the single between producer Calvin Harris and singer Florence Welch is a hit, “Sweet Nothing”. It peaked at #1 in the United Kingdom back in October, but we’re always late when it comes to these kind of songs from overseas. In fact, “Nothing” peaked at #10 on the Hot 100 just last week. Today, we’ll be taking a look at some pretty sweet facts when it comes to these pop confections. Although we had some “sweet” singles in the 60’s like Brenda Lee‘s similarly titled “Sweet Nothin’s” (#4, 1960) and Neil Diamond‘s “Sweet Caroline” (#6, 1969), this list will be focused on those songs that hit the charts since 1970. The Harris/Welch collaboration marks the 25th song to pull off the feat since then. Get ready to sink your teeth into this.

(Information is based on the Hot 100 from 1970-1989. The Radio & Records airplay chart is used after 1990.)

THE 70’s
The 70’s were the sweetest of the decades of the list with eleven different top ten singles. Of them, only one went to the #1, the very first of them: “My Sweet Lord”, the 1970 single by George Harrison. It held down the top for three official charts and a one-week holiday break for a combined amount of four weeks. Another went as high as #3: Tony Orlando and Dawn‘s “Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose?” from 1973. Four top ten titles from 1971 featured the word “sweet” in them, the most of any year regardless of the decade on this list. They were “Sweet Hitch-Hiker” by Creedence Clearwater Revival (#6), “Sweet And Innocent” by Donny Osmond (#7), “Sweet Mary” by Wadsworth Mansion (#7) and “Sweet City Woman” by The Stampeders (#8). The latter two acts are generally considered one-hit wonders, though The Stampeders would find their way back to the top 40 for a grand total of one week in 1975 with a cover of “Hit The Road Jack”.

Of the other five, three were by groups: Commodores (“Sweet Love” – #5 in 1976), Lynyrd Skynyrd (“Sweet Home Alabama” – #8 in 1974) and Rufus with Chaka Khan (“Sweet Thing” – #5 in 1976). Two singer-songwriters finish our look at the decade: Carole King, who went to #9 in 1972 with “Sweet Seasons”, and James Taylor, who in 1975 went to #5 with his remake of “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)”. The original version by Marvin Gaye went to #6 ten years prior. A third version by Jr. Walker & the All Stars just missed the top ten in 1966.

THE 80’s
The sugar lingered into the electronic 80’s with another eight “sweet” top tens, including two #1 songs in “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” by Eurythmics (1983) and “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses (1988). Another two besides those chart-toppers were the debut top-40 singles on the Hot 100 for the respective two acts. In 1981, Franke and the Knockouts scored a #10 hit called “Sweetheart” and in 1986, Anita Baker rose to #8 with her soulful “Sweet Love”. On the other hand, one was also the last top-40 single for a solo male singer, Michael McDonald, with his #7 “Sweet Freedom” from 1986. McDonald continued to make the Adult Contemporary survey from several more decades.

Rounding out the pack are two #5 singles by Air Supply (“Sweet Dreams”, 1982) and Sade (“The Sweetest Taboo”, 1985) and a #7 charter from Juice Newton, 1982’s “The Sweetest Thing (I’ve Ever Known)”. “Taboo” was the second of two number-one singles for the band on the Adult Contemporary chart; “Thing” was the first of four number-one Country hits for Newton.

THE 90’s
Here’s where things cut off sharply. Despite a lot of close calls by acts like Mary J. Blige, Mötley Crüe and Sarah McLachlan, only two songs made it to the top ten during the 90’s and both within a few months of each other. In late 1995, Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men created a massive duet in “One Sweet Day”. It officially spent eight frames at the top between 1995 and 1996, though a two-week holiday freeze in-between technically lifts that total to ten weeks. It fell pretty sharply after it peaked, but understandably so. The other song to pull off the trick was “Sweet Dreams” by La Bouche, their second hit on the pop chart. It peaked at #5.

THE 00’s
For eleven years, not a single “sweet” song could break the top ten. How sour! That curse was broken in 2007 by a gal named Gwen and her Harajuku girls. That, of course, is Gwen Stefani, and she just missed the coveted top spot in 2007 with “The Sweet Escape”, featuring Akon. It was the highest ranking #2 single on that year’s end of the year chart. Returning as a featured artist the next year, Akon, along with rapper Lil Wayne and singer Niia were all included on Wyclef Jean‘s #10 single, “Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)”. Lastly, before “Sweet Nothing” came along, the most recent top ten title that brought the “sweet” factor was “Sweet Dreams” from the multi-talented Beyoncé. It reached #5 in 2009.

What song do you think is the sweetest of the sweet? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter: @AdamFSoybel.

What “Child” Is This? Youngsters In The Top Ten

Burning down the House.

Swedish House Mafia finally have their first big hit in the States as “Don’t You Worry Child”, featuring vocalist John Martin, sits at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week. Though this may be the only time the group charts together (they’re currently on a farewell tour), they’ve it done with a song that becomes the first top ten title since the 90’s to feature the word “child” in it.

In total, 59 song titles with the word “child” (or some variation like “children”) in them have made the Hot 100 since it began in 1958, 27 of those making the top 40. The first of them, in early 1959, was “The Children’s Marching Song (Nick Nack Paddy Whack)” by Cyril Stapleton and His Orchestra, which was quickly followed by a version from Mitch Miller and his “Sing Along With Mitch” Chorus. The Stapleton version rose to #13 and the Miller version got to #16.

Just eleven of those nearly sixty top-40 hits made it into the top ten. Here are the other ten besides “Worry”:

“Little Children”, Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas (#7, 1964)
This English band came to the States as a part of the British Invasion in 1964 and launched four songs into the top 40, this one being the biggest. After two additional Hot 100 singles in 1965, the group experienced several membership changes and ultimately folded several years later. They’ve reunited since, but haven’t charted again.

“Love Child”, Diana Ross & The Supremes (#1, 1968)
Girl groups don’t come bigger than this. In just about five years, they accumulated twelve #1 singles on the Hot 100, this two-week topper being the eleventh of them. Ross departed the group roughly a year after this single and they had several years of top-40 hits without her, including two top tens. Ross, of course, did quite a bit better, with six additional #1 hits on her own. Dance group Sweet Sensation took their version onto the charts in 1990, just missing the top ten with a peak of #13.

“Runaway Child, Running Wild”, The Temptations (#6, 1969)
Another of Motown’s biggest acts makes the list with this single, which also spent two weeks at #1 on the R&B chart in March. All five members sang lead on the song. The quintet scored Hot 100 and R&B hits for several decades to come, including songs like the #1 “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone”.

“O-O-H Child”, The Five Stairsteps (#8, 1970)
After years of top-40 misses, this song from the Chicago group featuring the Burke siblings cracked the top ten during the summertime. They made the Hot 100 several other times after this song hit, but nothing placed within the top 40. A remake by Dino in 1993 hit the top ten in CHR airplay, but managed a lower #27 on the Hot 100. One other cover, done by Daryl Hall and John Oates, became a minor adult contemporary hit in 2005.

“Mother And Child Reunion”, Paul Simon (#4, 1972)
After his partnership with Art Garfunkel dissolved in 1970, Simon began his string of solo successes with this first hit, which also made the top 5 in countries like Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. Simon would soon eclipse this solo peak with bigger entries like his only #1, 1976’s “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover”.

“Hot Child In The City”, Nick Gilder (#1, 1978)
English-born, Canadian-raised Gilder only made the top-40 once in the States with this #1 hit. He scored several other big singles in Canada, including a #1 with his former group Sweeney Todd, “Roxy Roller”, in 1976.

“Sweet Child O’ Mine”, Guns N’ Roses (#1, 1988)
Axl Rose and the boys garnered their first and only chart-topper with their first single to make the Hot 100, spending two weeks at #1 in September. The Los Angeles band took five other songs into the top ten through 1992. Their long-awaited Chinese Democracy album was finally released in 2008 and they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame just last year.

“When The Children Cry”, White Lion (#3, 1989)
This ballad was the second and final top-40 hit for this rock band from Denmark, placing just behind songs from Paula Abdul and Sheriff. The first, “Wait”, hit the top ten the previous year. They continued to make the Billboard 200 album chart in the U.S. until 1991.

“This One’s For The Children”, New Kids On The Block (#7, 1989)
In 1989, one of the biggest bands out of Boston managed to place six songs in the top 40, all within that one chart year. This was the last of them, from the album Merry, Merry Christmas, and appropriately peaked during the week of Christmas. NKOTB managed two other top ten hits after this, then broke up in 1994 and experienced a successful reunion in 2008. They release a new studio album, 10, in April.

“Jesus To A Child”, George Michael (#7, 1996)
From his album Older, the single marked a major comeback for Michael, his first top ten hit in four years on the Hot 100. Followup single “Fastlove” would be his last single to make the Hot 100, peaking at #8, though he’s had a top-40 single in the United Kingdom as recent as last year.

For the young at heart and on the charts, make sure to click the follow button to get updates from POP! Goes The Charts and follow me on Twitter: @AdamFSoybel.