RADIO ACTIVE — A Weekly Chart CHRonicle (February 3, 2019)

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. In the Super Bowl of pop, only one song can win the top spot each week. Who scores a Top 40 touchdown this time around? Let’s see what’s popping this Sunday:

IT’S “ME” AGAIN:  Halsey‘s “Without Me” easily secures a second week at #1 on the Top 40 chart, with little competition behind her. It’s her 14th career week atop the survey at the format. The smash should hold there for a third week, as it looks as though she’ll eventually replace herself at the top later this month: “Eastside”, performed by Benny Blanco, herself and Khalid, is slowly rising up the top 40 and is the highest-charting song that’s bulleted this week. The collaboration remains at #4 and continues to gain spins in its 28th (!) week in the top 40.

Larger top 40 action this week comes from Dua Lipa‘s “Swan Song”, which climbs from 49-33 in its second week in the top 50, and Sabrina Carpenter‘s “Sue Me”, which climbs from 42-37 after about a month in the top 50. It’s the eighth top 40 song for Lipa, as well as the fourth for Carpenter. The latter artist’s three previous chart entries all reached the top 30, but could never quite ease into the top 20. We’ll see if this tune can make it happen. Meanwhile, the former artist is searching for her second #1 single at the format with this soundtrack cut from Alita: Battle Angel, out in just over a week.

FLETCHER earns her first top 50 entry at the format with the song that checks in at #45 this week, “Undrunk”. It’s the first of four debuts in this region of the chart, which also includes the new single from Alessia Cara, “Out Of Love”, landing at #47. A few spots lower, two collaborations round out the new tracks: “Woke Up Late” by the Drax Project featuring Hailee Steinfeld bows at #49 and “Body Talks” by The Struts featuring Kesha comes in at #50. The latter title just missed the top ten on the Alternative list last fall, while the former was a sizable hit in New Zealand (in its original form without Steinfeld) last year.

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

NEW MUSIC FRIDAY: Releases For The Week of October 26, 2018

“Someone” has a new release…

Tricks and treats and plenty of ear candy is on the schedule this week, as we enter the last Friday before Halloween. Who’s going to spook the top spot? These are the notable digital and physical releases hitting the market today:

LUKAS GRAHAM – 3 (The Purple Album) (iTunes)
Best known for the international smash “7 Years”, which topped the Hot AC and Top 40 radio charts here in the U.S., the Danish band is back with their newest album. It features the radio single “Love Someone”, which is currently climbing through top 20 at the former format and impacting at the latter this coming Tuesday.

THE STRUTS – Young & Dangerous (iTunes)
Featuring the Alternative radio hit “Body Talks”, which sits just below the top ten at the format, these rockers are turning up the volume on the chart with their new set. It should easily surpass the peak of their last album, which barely cracked the top 100.

TORY LANEZ – Love Me Now? (iTunes)
With “Talk To Me”, a collaboration with Rich The Kid, now in the top ten at Urban radio, Canadian performer Lanez will likely have a good opening week for his second album of 2018. Will it continue his top five streak on the Billboard 200?

Notable albums out this week: Andrea Bocelli‘s Sì (iTunes), Boy George & Culture Club‘s Life (iTunes), Causes‘s Wake Me Up So I Can Dream (iTunes), Chris Tomlin‘s Holy Roar (iTunes), Dillon Carmichael‘s Hell On An Angel (iTunes), Eagle-Eye Cherry‘s Streets Of You (iTunes), Francesca Battistelli‘s Own It (iTunes), Gavin James‘s Only Ticket Home (iTunes), Joji‘s Ballads 1 (iTunes), Monsta X‘s Take.1 Are You There? (iTunes), Robyn‘s Honey (iTunes), Tom Odell‘s Jubilee Road (iTunes), Zayde Wølf‘s Modern Alchemy (Deluxe) (iTunes)

Notable holiday albums out this week: Brett Eldredge‘s Glow (Deluxe) (iTunes), Gwen Stefani‘s You Make It Feel Like Christmas (Deluxe) (iTunes), Jessie J‘s This Christmas Day (iTunes), Jessie James Decker‘s On This Holiday (iTunes), John Legend‘s A Legendary Christmas (iTunes), Pentatonix‘s Christmas Is Here! (iTunes)

Notable EPs out this week: Bronze Radio Return‘s Check One (iTunes), FERGUS‘s Purple Road (iTunes), Kimbra‘s Songs From Primal Heart: Reimagined (iTunes), Louis The Child‘s Kids At Play (iTunes), RAY BLK‘s Empress (iTunes), Royal Wood‘s Love Will Linger (iTunes)

New digital singles that you can buy this week include:
“1%” and “L*** Is A Bad Word”, Kiiara (iTunes)
“A Million Dollars A Day” and “I Count On Me”, Aloe Blacc (iTunes)
“A Million Dreams”, P!nk (iTunes)
“Armor”, Sara Bareilles (iTunes)
“Arms Around You”, XXXTentacion x Lil Pump featuring Maluma & Swae Lee (iTunes)
“Bamboo”, Far East Movement featuring Jason Zhang & Kina Grannis (iTunes)
“Below The Ceiling”, nicopop. featuring Tyler Mann (iTunes)
“Checklist” and “Slow Down”, Normani x Calvin Harris (iTunes)
“Close To Me”, Ellie Goulding x Diplo featuring Swae Lee (iTunes)
“Cool With It (Acoustic)”, Josie Dunne (iTunes)
“Come Again”, Swizz Beatz featuring Giggs (iTunes)
“Death Of Me”, David Cook (iTunes)
“Don’t Know You”, Justin Caruso featuring Jake Miller (iTunes)
“Dream”, Birthday (iTunes)
“Electricity (Black Madonna Remix)”, Silk City & Dua Lipa (iTunes)
“Empty Space (Digital Farm Animals & Franklin Remix)”, James Arthur (iTunes)
“Expectations”, Lauren Jauregui (iTunes)
“Faded/2AM”, Lila Drew featuring GoldLink (iTunes)
“Freak”, Black Caviar (iTunes)
“Girl”, BRUNS (iTunes)
“Girl Of The Year”, Allie X (iTunes)
“Good And Lasting”, Trent Dabbs (iTunes)
“Goodbyes (Yung Bae Remix)”, The Knocks featuring Method Man (iTunes)
“Got Love”, The Revivalists (iTunes)
“Grapevine”, Tiësto (iTunes)
“Happy Now”, Kygo featuring Sandro Cavazza (iTunes)
“Headlights”, Hellberg & Leona Lewis (iTunes)
“Heaven”, The Shantics (iTunes)
“Human”, Maggie Lindemann (iTunes)
“If I Say”, Mumford & Sons (iTunes)
“In Case I Don’t Feel”, Kevin Garrett (iTunes)
“JT”, Jon Bellion (iTunes)
“Killer Queen”, 5 Seconds Of Summer (iTunes)
“Lady Liberty”, Barbra Streisand (iTunes)
“Lay Your Worry Down”, Milow featuring Matt Simons (iTunes)
“Llegaste Tú”, CNCO & Prince Royce (iTunes)
“Made For Now (Benny Benassi x Canova Remix)”, Janet Jackson featuring Daddy Yankee (iTunes)
“Make Up”, Vice & Jason Derulo featuring Ava Max (iTunes)
“Medicine (Acoustic)”, Robinson (iTunes)
“Money”, Cardi B (iTunes)
“Nervous”, L Devine (iTunes)
“No Drama”, Alex Aiono (iTunes)
“On The Way Up”, Apollo LTD (iTunes)
“One Last Time”, Tyron Hapi & Lucas Marx (iTunes)
“Paris”, Sabrina Carpenter (iTunes)
“Remember”, Gryffin with ZOHARA (iTunes)
“Rhythm In My Blood”, Icona Pop (iTunes)
“Runaway”, Hailey Knox (iTunes)
“Savior”, Elley Duhé (iTunes)
“Siren”, The Chainsmokers & AAZAR (iTunes)
“Song About You (Digital Farm Animals & Franklin Remix)”, Mike Posner (iTunes)
“Survivor”, Daniel Powter & Kelly Yu (iTunes)
“Take Your Love”, Olly Murs (iTunes)
“The Fear”, The Score (iTunes)
“The First Noel”, Tyler Farr (iTunes)
“Up All Night”, R3HAB x MOTi featuring Fiora (iTunes)
“Walk Alone”, Rudimental featuring Tom Walker (iTunes)
“Waste It On Me”, Steve Aoki featuring BTS (iTunes)
“Werewolf”, Quinn XCII featuring Yoshi Flower (iTunes)
“What If This Is All The Love You Ever Get? (Mike Crossley Mix)”, Snow Patrol (iTunes)
“Wildest Dreams”, Marc Scibilia (iTunes)
“You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch”, Tyler, The Creator (iTunes)

Next week: look out for new albums from Barbra Streisand, the Pistol Annies, Takeoff and more. For Adam’s personal picks of the week, listen to the PGTC Friday Faves list on Spotify!

RADIO REPORT: POP! Goes The Picks (July 2016)

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 during the month. Which tunes will climb to the top and which ones will hit a stop? Here’s a selection of new singles being serviced in July in this month’s Radio Report:

KUNGS vs. COOKIN’ ON 3 BURNERS – “This Girl” (July 5) (Alternative)
Label: Casablanca/Republic
What happens when a French DJ/producer remixes a 2009 album cut by an Australian soul trio? Well, you may just get a global hit out of it. 19-year-old Valentin Brunel has been creating remixes for several years, but this his been his biggest mix by far. Now, that international smash is coming to the U.S., where it’s gaining airplay at several formats. Will “Girl” become the queen of the charts?

ADAM FRIEDMAN featuring MIKE POSNER – “Lemonade” (July 11) (Triple A)
Label: Backtrack Music/INgrooves
Last month, Friedman performed this single on the TODAY Show as a part of Elvis Duran’s Artist Of The Month program. After the airing, it soared all the way into the top 200 on iTunes. Both this single and prior release “Pretty Things”, another Posner co-write, managed to score major Spotify playlists. The sweet sound of summer pop is ready to burst, so keep an eye out for Friedman’s rise.

ROB THOMAS – “Pieces” (July 11) (Hot AC)
Label: Atlantic
After two top 20 singles from his latest album, The Great Unknown, Thomas is looking for more chart success with the third. For a change of pace, this single is available in its original form, a radio mix and a remix by Dutch DJ/producer Sam Feldt. So, if you’re in the club and turnt up, or in the car and turning up the stereo, you’ve got options. The format truly needs his voice to stay on the air.

TINIE TEMPAH featuring ZARA LARSSON – “Girls Like” (July 12) (CHR/Top 40)
Label: Warner Bros.
Though he’s had eight top ten singles on the U.K. Singles Chart as a main-credited artist, and plenty of other hit songs in a featured role, only one of them managed to hit the CHR top ten here. It was “Written In The Stars”, which went to #7 in 2011. Larsson is one of this year’s top breakouts at the format, after a few misfires in 2015. Together, these two could deliver one of the fall’s top tracks.

WEATHERS – “Happy Pills” (July 12) (Alternative)
Label: RCA
Fresh off an early add in Los Angeles, the L.A.-based quartet has some great early buzz heading into their impact date. The group is quickly picking up some streaming support for both “Happy” and their previous single, “I Don’t Wanna Know”, while also prepping for a handful of U.S. dates in July and August. I think a hit doctor could easily prescribe them a massive run in the next few months.

GROUPLOVE – “Welcome To Your Life” (July 19) (Alternative)
Label: Canvasback/Atlantic
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from this group, who scored three top tens in a row on the Alternative chart in 2012 and 2013. Is “Welcome” ready to bring them back to a region? After a few smaller chart singles, it’ll certainly be a welcome sight. The track leads their upcoming album Big Mess, produced by Captain Cuts and Phil Ek. It is due at retailers and streaming outlets on September 9.

NATHAN SYKES featuring G-EAZY – “Give It Up” (July 19) (CHR/Top 40)
Label: Global Entertainment
Former boy-bander Sykes is still looking for his first big U.S. hit as a solo artist. “Give” comes after “Kiss Me Quick” and “Over And Over Again” made a small splash at pop radio, with the latter song currently in the top 20 on the AC chart. With 2.5 million streams in three months on Spotify, the two guys certainly have some numbers to prove their case at radio. Will that momentum continue?

THE STRUTS – “Put Your Money On Me” (July 19) (Alternative)
Label: FreeSolo/Interscope
The four English rockers have really been rockin’ on the Alternative chart, where their first two singles, “Could Have Been Me” and “Kiss This”, both reached the top ten. “Money” is from their album Everybody Wants, which was reissued earlier this year. Should the quartet film a new music video for it, I’m expecting cash cubes and dollar bills with “United Struts of America” printed on them.

Which of these new songs would you like to see atop the charts? Let me know! Comment below or click the “Get Social!” tab above to find PGTC on social media.

NEW MUSIC FRIDAY: Releases For The Week of March 4, 2016

Everybody Wants new music.

March brings some madness to the music biz, and there are many emerging acts, as well as old favorites, to grab your attention in our latest new releases recap. Here are this week’s album and single releases:

• GRANGER SMITH — Remington (iTunes)
  • Smith recently topped the Country radio chart with “Backroad Song”, a single that was aided by iHeartMedia’s On The Verge program. “If The Boot Fits” was recently named the next single, and it heads for adds on March 14. Will the set named after a firearm company hit the top ten with a bullet? Stay tuned.
• MIIKE SNOW — III (iTunes)
  • The Swedish trio’s first album in four years features the single “Genghis Khan”, which is very close to reaching the top ten on the Alternative radio survey. Though the act formed nearly a decade ago, this is their biggest U.S. hit to date.
• THE KNOCKS — 55 (iTunes)
  • New York’s B-Roc and J-Patt have been remixing for other artists for years now, and the duo’s first full-length set sees them collaborating with acts like Carly Rae Jepsen and Walk The Moon, making for some great tunes.
• THE STRUTS — Everybody Wants (iTunes)
  • Originally released in 2014, then pulled because of a new U.S. record deal, this reissue of the English band’s debut album features five new songs and the radio singles “Could Have Been Me” and “Kiss This”.
• More albums out this week: Kendrick Lamar‘s untitled unmastered. (iTunes), Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz‘s Collegrove (iTunes), Loretta Lynn‘s Full Circle (iTunes), Nick Bean‘s L.O.V.E. (iTunes), Ninja Sex Party‘s Under The Covers (iTunes), Omi‘s Me 4 U: The Remixes (iTunes), The Rubens‘s Hoops (iTunes), The Saint Johns‘s Dead Of Night (iTunes), Tonight Alive‘s Limitless (iTunes), Violent Femmes‘s We Can Do Anything (iTunes)
• More EPs out this week: Day Wave‘s Hard To Read (iTunes), Frank Turner‘s Mittens (iTunes)

New digital-only singles that you can buy this week include:

• “American Country Love Song”, Jake Owen (iTunes)
• “Bourbon”, Gallant (iTunes)
• “Chronic”, Phoebe Ryan (iTunes)
• “Desire”, Years & Years featuring Tove Lo (iTunes)
• “Do It, Try It”, M83 (iTunes)
• “Down”, Marian Hill (iTunes)
• “Get Out”, Frightened Rabbit (iTunes)
• “Lips”, Oyster Kids (iTunes)
• “Love Yourself”, Jasmine Thompson (iTunes)
• “No”, Meghan Trainor (iTunes)
• “Painkillers”, Brian Fallon (iTunes)
• “Shovels & Dirt”, The Stumbellas (iTunes)
• “Sleep Like A Baby”, K. Michelle (iTunes)
• “When I Wake Up Tomorrow”, Cheap Trick (iTunes)
• “You’re Not There”, Lukas Graham (iTunes)

We’ll see you next week for new releases from 3 Doors Down, Jeff Buckley, Randy Houser and more.