Ed. note: Chris “dennisobell” Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week’s Billboard charts:
Last week I poured cold water on the chart comeback of New Kids on the Block, who appeared on Billboard‘s less-heralded Pop 100 chart but remained M.I.A. on the all-genre Hot 100.
But I snarked too soon. This week, Danny, Donny Joey, Jon and Jordan have the week’s highest Hot 100 debut with “Summertime,” their un-Jazzy Jeff-related bid for postmillennial Top 40 radio. By debuting at No. 57, “Summertime” breaks a 14-year drought for NKOTB, who last made the middle rungs on the big chart with 1994’s “Dirty Dawg.”
It’s poetic that the ur-boy band of the modern-pop era resurfaces the very same week boy-band impresario Lou Pearlman gets thrown in the clink. After all, 1994 was pretty much the moment when Pearlman began dreaming of rejiggering the five-boy New Kids template, launching the Backstreet-*N Sync era that entrenched the boy band in pop lore.
It’s like a passing-back of the baton, from one pop era to its forbear. Not that I’d accept anything baton-shaped from Lou Pearlman…
Ed. note: Chris “dennisobell” Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week’s Billboard charts. This week he takes a look at the long, fan-aggravating history of belated “bonus track” re-releases, and how the music industry turned these anomalies into a premeditated punishment for making an album popular:
Ed. note: Chris “dennisobell” Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week’s Billboard charts:
The upper reaches of this week’s Billboard Hot 100 are a little sleepy–two songs sneak into the bottom rungs of the Top 10, and every song above them either holds position or moves at most a spot or two.
But one of the Top 10 entrants boasts an unusual pair of credits: he has his first Top 10 hit as a recording act in the same week that he’s enjoying his first chart-topper as a songwriter. Making it somewhat more unusual, at least among multi-hyphenate types: he just turned 21 about a month ago.
We’re talking about former boy bander, former small-screen star, and TRL mainstay Jesse McCartney. The song he co-wrote–Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love,” penned with OneRepublic schlock-meister Ryan Tedder–is actually in its fourth nonconsecutive week at No. 1. The newer hit is his own: “Leavin’,” which leaps four spots to No. 10 after a huge, iTunes-fueled debut last week.
Throw in the fact that he did a voice for the March blockbuster Horton Hears A Who! and this kid’s having an awfully good spring.
Chris “dennisobell” Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week’s Billboard charts:
You can’t kill Leona Lewis, you can only make her stronger. For the first time in 30 years, a song returns to the No. 1 spot on Billboard‘s Hot 100 after being evicted twice. Love her or hate her, Ol’ Dead Eyes is back.
As unusual as Leona’s threepeat is, the more interesting moves this week are made below the No. 1 spot, in part because it looks like the songs we may be hearing during car-radio season are hitting the charts now. That includes big debuts by the unsinkable Chris Brown and heartthrob Jesse McCartney, a first-time appearance by new British “It” girl Duffy, and a huge move on Modern Rock by a certain gang of veteran geek-rockers trying to regain their cred.
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.
chrism: She actually did it: No. 1: “Bleeding Love,” Leona Lewismauraidolator: wow!chrism: I can’t believe Sony BMG pulled that shit offmauraidolator: oprah manchrism: I know right?!!mauraidolator: hahachrism: I mean, wow — what was I saying about “military efficiency”? More »
