Ed. note: Chris “dennisobell” Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week’s Billboard charts:
As predicted last week, Lil Wayne, supported by the late Static Major, has hit the top of Billboard‘s Hot 100 with “Lollipop.” For longtime Weezy fans, it’s a bit of a Pyrrhic victory–the first great rapper of the Web 2.0 era hemming in his flow to score a big hit. But nine years after his emergence on the Juvenile classic “Back That Azz Up,” it’s still a bit of a thrill to see Wayne’s name gracing the top of the charts.
It’s not only Weezy’s first No. 1 but also his first Top 10 as a lead artist and, amazingly, his first trip to the top slot in 20 chart entries (21 if you include the Hot Boys’ 2000 single “I Need a Hot Girl”). Prior to this, he’d never ascended any higher than No. 3 with his supporting performance on Destiny’s Child’s “Soldier.”
How long he stays at No. 1 will depend on whether “Lollipop” settles in as a viral hit a la “Crank That” or “Low”–and on the competition percolating below him. The Top 10 is as fluid as it’s been since last summer, which makes things fun for your humble chart columnist.
Ed. note: Chris “dennisobell” Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week’s Billboard charts:
Forget that sleepy winter we just endured. We’ve got a horse race.
The top slot on Billboard‘s Hot 100 has turned into a revolving door, as Mariah Carey succumbs to the gal she replaced just two weeks ago.
Boosted by the U.S. release of her debut album, Leona Lewis rides her biggest week of digital sales yet (223,000 downloads) to recapture the top slot on the chart with “Bleeding Love.” Back in March, when the song first rose to No. 1, we snarked about the power of Oprah to make this British reality-show ingénue an American pop star. But at this point, it’s only fair to say that Lewis’ song is pretty much doing the heavy lifting on its own.
Lewis shouldn’t get too comfortable, however: Almost every other song in the Top Five could plausibly replace her next week, including “Touch My Body,” the Carey song she replaced.
Ed. note: Chris “dennisobell” Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week’s Billboard charts:
For all their popularity the world over, songs by Radiohead haven’t exactly set the charts alight. (Even in their homeland: they’ve never scored a U.K. No. 1.) In part that’s due to their status as a top-tier album act; fans would sooner buy the full-length than an individual track.
But it’s also a function of Radiohead’s erratic approach to singles. Sometimes they pack singles with invaluable B-sides for collectors; sometimes songs are only serviced to radio–and that includes some of the band’s catchiest tunes (“Let Down,” “Bodysnatchers”).
This week, we have evidence that Radiohead should release singles more often–or at least, release them in pieces. They score only the second U.S. Top 40 hit of their career, with one of the least catchy songs on the catchier-than-usual In Rainbows.
“Nude” debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 37, instantly becoming their biggest hit since “Creep” made No. 34 in 1993. Honestly, though, the two hits aren’t remotely comparable in terms of popularity. “Nude” achieves this high chart placement thanks to Radiohead releasing the song as a remix project, and asking rabid fans to pay 99 cents for each piece of the mix. Which they dutifully did.
Ed. note: Chris “dennisobell” Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week’s Billboard charts:
So momentous was the news of Mariah Carey’s triumph on the Hot 100 with “Touch My Body” that Billboard leaked it on Wednesday, a day early. Chart freaks talk about acts beating small records all the time. But it’s not every day that someone beats a mark on the all-time list that involves something as iconic as career No. 1 hits. And it’s even rarer when that record is four decades old and involves the King of Rock & Roll.
And hey, Elvis was only ranked second on the list for total No. 1 hits. (He was, until this week, first place among solo acts.) Even sadder for Presley fans, this same week, another lady bests a record he had all to himself–this time, for most Top 10 hits. As “4 Minutes” makes a 65-point leap to No. 3, Madonna pulls out of a tie with the King, leaving him all shook up with 17 No. 1’s and 36 Top 10s, to Carey’s 18 chart-toppers and Madge’s 37 smashes.
There’s no joy in Graceland today. And if you’re near Abbey Road right now, don’t be surprised if folks there look a bit twitchy, too.
Ed. note: Chris “dennisobell” Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week’s Billboard charts:
As we previewed yesterday, Leona “Limey Mariah” Lewis has fulfilled our prediction from last week and shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with her debut single, “Bleeding Love.”
But she’s not the only newsmaker in the winners’ circle. After one of the most stagnant winters in pop-chart history–just last week, the top seven records were unchanged–music lovers welcome spring by throwing a grenade into the middle of the Top 10, where songs scatter everywhere. The results: Lil Wayne has his first Top 10 hit as a lead artist, Lil Mama has her second, and an exceedingly tacky Ray J song is hurtling toward the top.
He’ll have to wait, however, if he expects to crown the chart. Lewis is going to be replaced at No. 1 next week, but not by him.
Ed. note: Chris “dennisobell” Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week’s Billboard charts:
When the producers of American Idol announced at the start of this season that, for the first time, they would be selling contestants’ performances on iTunes, but that iTunes had agreed not to report those sales publicly or to Billboard, we chart geeks grumbled. How would we know how big an impact the show had on consumers’ instant whims?
We needn’t have worried–we’ve still got plenty of old songs, the ones the contestants sing, to keep an eye on. Long story short–the show is still huge, and it affects music sales like nothing since Ed Sullivan. Idol contestant Jason Castro: the estates of Cohen and Buckley thank you.
Ed. note: Chris “dennisobell” Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week’s Billboard charts:
Forget what I said last week: apparently there was pent-up demand for new Usher material.
Even after three intervening years that saw little more than a flop vanity movie and some wedding-related tabloid embarrassment, Mr. Raymond remains beloved by pop and R&B radio and, most importantly, consumers–198,000 iTunes buyers can’t be wrong.
Ed. note: Chris “dennisobell” Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week’s Billboard charts:
* OK, so one of these acts is, like, president of the United States and the other the president of American Samoa. I’ll get to the White Stripes later…
Yesterday on Idolator, Maura brought up a subject I’ve been downplaying here since 2008 began: mediocre pop-rapper Flo Rida’s depressing death grip on Billboard‘s Hot 100. Mostly, I’ve avoided a deep discussion of his T-Pain-assisted No. 1 smash “Low”–now in its 10th week atop the chart, matching last winter’s run by Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable”–because there’s not much to tell. Its sales have been massive since fall, it has led in radio airplay since mid-January, and no single has seriously challenged it for No. 1 all winter.
But as Maura noted, we’ll have to pay mind to Mr. Rida now that his followup single, the Timbaland-assisted “Elevator,” is making a fast break up the chart. The thought that “Low” would be succeeded by another Flo Rida song is enough to make one swear off Billboard forever.
Don’t despair. There are a lot of ways for this story to play out, and I’d say it’s less than 50-50 that Uncle Flo will succeed himself at the top. Let’s run down some scenarios.
Ed. note: Chris “dennisobell” Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week’s Billboard charts:
You won’t find one of the biggest-selling artists of the past week on the Billboard Hot 100, because chart rules make him and his band ineligible. But one week after Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers brought their unassuming live act to the Super Bowl halftime show, they’re all over the lists that count everything.
As we’ve explained before, Billboard segregates albums and singles that are more than a couple of years old from its flagship charts. But even if songs like “American Girl” aren’t allowed to appear on the Hot 100, Petty had a very big week.
Ed. note: Chris “dennisobell” Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week’s Billboard charts:
“Is this Feist again?” my friends asked at the Super Bowl party I attended last Sunday, as Apple’s latest product-porn ad popped onto the plasma.
“No, no,” I said, confidently. “Apple doesn’t re-use acts in these ads. I think this is Regina Spektor.”
Oops.
I pride myself on being able to nail a song in one or two listens, but I think I can be forgiven for botching that call. The fact is, no one in America had heard of Yael Naïm before her perky, warbly “New Soul” became the soundtrack to the first MacBook Air commercial. But that’s all changed, now that “New Soul” is the top-selling song on iTunes. In fact, in her first week on the Hot 100, the indie-label-backed Israeli native pulls off something that took Feist about a month: Reaching the chart’s Top 10.
