Goodbye & Good Luck!

This is my final entry to this blog. Too few people read it any more, and I am getting so sick of referrer spam. Be sure to look for my chart updates on the Pulse Music Boards.  Thanks to those who have supported me in the past, and good luck in all you do!!

February 27, 2011 Hot AC Chart: Pink’s chart feat, lots of upward motion this week

Katy Perry holds at the top of the Hot AC chart for a third week with “Firework”.  She’s about 800 spins ahead of her next competitor, so Katy should hang on for another week or two. That competitor is the act who Katy knocked out of the #1 spot, Pink. Pink’s “F**kin’ Perfect (Perfect)” jumps 5 notches to #3 this week. With “Glass” still at #2, that gives Pink 2 songs in the top 3. This is the first time in the nearly 17 year history that an act has had 2 songs in the top 3. Other acts have had 2 songs in the top 5, including Elton John, Rob Thomas, Matchbox Twenty, and Daughtry.

Pink isn’t the only artist with 2 songs in the top 10 though. This week “Grenade” by Bruno Mars moves up to #10. “Just the Way You Are” slips to #4. The other new top 10 entry is The Script’s “For the First Time”.

There is a lot of upward motion on the chart this week. In fact, only 2 songs actually move down the chart. This is due in part to 4 songs being removed to recurrent status, including 2 that were in the top 10 last week (“Animal” by Neon Trees and “Rhythm of Love” by Plain White T’s). Three songs tie for biggest mover: “Tonight” by Enrique Iglesias (26-20), Andy Grammer’s “Keep Your Head Up” (32-26), and “Rocketeer” by Far East Movement (35-29).

Other songs move up 5 spots this week: “F**k You (Forget You)” (16-11), “Never Gonna Leave This Bed” (24-19), “Stuck Like Glue” (27-22), “Sing” (28-23), “I Do” (29-24), “Yeah 3x” (38-33), and “Hesitate” (40-35).

Finally, Britney Spears gets a new all time peak on Hot AC as “Hold It Against Me” moves up to #21.

All chart data © Mediabase Research.

February 20, 2011 Hot AC Chart: Lady GaGa’s big move, lots of backward bullets

Katy Perry’s “Firework” holds at the top of the chart for a second week, but it continues to lose triple digit spins. The next song with a spin increase is Christina Perri’s “Jar of Hearts” at #5. That song is nearly a thousand spins behind #1, so it looks like Katy will hang on top for a while. Pink’s former #1, “Raise Your Glass”, has more audience impressions than Katy though.  Pink is getting closer to having 2 songs in the top 5. “Glass” holds at #2, while “Perfect” climbs 2 to #8.

No songs enter or exit the top 10 this week. The only song to enter the top 20 this week is the song that makes a big move up the chart: “Born This Way” by Lady GaGa. That song vaults up 13 notches to #17 in its second week on the chart. The song has a spin increase of over 1000 spins! It’s still shy of the record spin increase though, which is held by “The Game of Love” by Santana f/ Michelle Branch. Their song had a bullet of over 1100 spins. Lady GaGa has some tough competition in the top 15, so don’t look for a giant move next week. On the Pop chart, “Born This Way” reaches #6 in its 2nd week on that chart. The song debuts on the Hot 100 chart at #1.

There are a lot of songs this week that move down the chart despite having spin increases (backward bullets).  There are 8 songs that do this, and some move down more than a couple of notches. Here are a sampling of them: “Marry Me” (5-6), “What the Hell” (16-18), “Little Lion Man” (17-20), and “Stuck Like Glue” (24-27).

The only song to enter the top 30 is Colbie Caillat’s “I Do”, up 3 to #29.

Debuting this week are: “Something to Believe in” – Parachute, “1901″ – Phoenix, “Yeah 3x” – Chris Brown, and “Hesitate” by Stone Sour. Stone Sour return after about 4 years away from the chart.

All chart data © Mediabase Research.

February 13, 2011 Hot AC Chart: Females rule…Katy’s #1 feat, Lady GaGa returns, Britney’s new peak

We have a new song at the pole position at the chart this week, “Firework” by Katy Perry. Katy is now the only solo woman to have 3 number ones from a single album, and she has the most number ones for any solo woman with 4. Interestingly she moves into the top spot without a bullet, losing over 100 spins from last week. Unfortunately, I do not keep track of the bullets of songs that reach #1, so I don’t know if this is a record or not.

Pink’s “Raise Your Glass” falls to #2, but don’t worry about her. She moves into the top 10 at #10 with “F**kin’ Perfect (Perfect)”. (Katy Perry had 2 songs in the top 10 just last December. )

There are 13 songs in the top 40 by solo women this week. One of them is Britney Spears, whose “Hold It Against Me” moves up to #23 this week. This makes “Hold” Britney’s biggest hit to date on the Hot AC chart. Another of the songs is this week’s highest debut, “Born This Way” by Lady GaGa at #30. It’s Lady GaGa’s 8th Hot AC chart hit. This debut is just from the first week’s worth of plays, and it has a spin increase of over 600 spins. Look for a big move by the song next week as it continues to gain spins quickly. Other debuts this week are Colbie Caillat’s “I Do” at #32 and Taio Cruz’s “Higher” at #40. “Higher” features Travie McCoy, who peaked #34 in 2010 with “Billionaire”.

The week’s biggest mover is Maroon 5′s “Never Gonna Leave This Bed”, up 11 to #28.

All chart data ©  Mediabase Research.

February 6, 2011 Hot AC Chart: Pink barely hangs onto #1, Maroon 5 rack up another hit

Pink puts up a good fight and keeps Katy Perry out of the top spot again this week, giving “Raise Your Glass” an 8th week at #1. Interestingly this is the longest running #1 song since Katy Perry spent 9 weeks at #1 last year with “California Gurls”. Last year, 2 other songs spent 8 weeks at #1: “Already Gone” by Kelly Clarkson and “Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum. It seems that songs sung by women have staying power on the chart. Katy’s “Firework” holds at #2 with a bullet of over 200 spins, so it looks like she will take over #1 next week.

The rest of the top 10 is slow. “Secrets” by OneRepublic returns to its peak position of #3 in its 29th week on the chart.  Six out of the top 10 songs remain in the same positions as last week, and no songs enter or exit the top 10 this week. The only other upward moving song in the top 10 is Train’s “Marry Me”, up 1 to #6.

Pink’s “F**kin’ Perfect (Perfect)” looks to be another eventual contender for #1 as it has the biggest spin increase of any song in the top 40 again this week. Even with it’s increase of over 400 spins, it holds at #14 this week. Bruno Mars’ “Grenade” also has a sizable increase, but he too holds steady, at #13. The only songs making decent moves up the chart in the 11-20 range are Taylor Swift’s “Back to December” (19-16) and Avril Lavigne’s “What the Hell” (23-19).  The week’s biggest mover once again this week is Cee Lo Green’s “F**k You (Forget You)”, which moves up 5 to #25. [See, those 'naughty' titled songs continue to do well. ]

One of the 3 debuts this week is by Maroon 5. Their “Never Gonna Leave This Bed” enters at #39. It’s the 11th Hot AC hit for the band, who first charted in March of 2003 with “Harder to Breathe”. Their previous hit, “Give a Little More” continues to plummet down the chart, down 7 notches this week to #35.

Returning to the chart after nearly 4 years away is Thirty Seconds to Mars. They have the highest debut at #37 with “Closer to the Edge”. Their only other charting song was “The Kill”, which topped out at #27 in 2007. The third debut of the week is by newcomer Andy Grammer, who enters at #38 with “Keep Your Head Up”.

Some of Mediabase’s “Last Week” positions are incorrect. All chart data © Mediabase Research.

January 30, 2011 Hot AC Chart: Pink hangs tough at #1, a few big movers this week

“Raise Your Glass” remains at the top of the chart for a seventh big week, holding Katy Perry’s “Firework” at #2.  Katy’s bullet has slowed down and there are a few hundred spins between the songs. However, bullets change quickly at Hot AC so Katy could still overtake Pink for #1 at any time.

The top 8 songs remain in the same positions as last week. The only entry into the top 10 is The Sick Puppies’ “Maybe”, their first top 10 hit.

Several songs make decent moves up the chart this week. The biggest is by Cee Lo Green, whose “F**k You (Forget You)” jumps 10 notches to #30. Other decent moves include: “Back to December” (24-19), “Hold It Against Me” (31-25), “Tonight” (37-31), and “Sing” (38-33). Moving the opposite direction is Maroon 5′s “Give a Little More”, down 9 notches to #28. Not moving at all is Ke$ha with “We R Who We R”, which holds at #21 for a 4th week.

Debuting this week is Sara Bareillis with “Uncharted” at #37. It’s her 4th Hot AC hit. The other entry is “Rocketeer” by the Far East Movement. It’s the Movement’s 2nd song to chart at Hot AC.

All chart data © Mediabase Research.

January 23, 2011 Hot AC Chart: “Naughty” titles abound on the chart

Pink holds atop of the Hot AC chart for a sixth week. Katy Perry is getting close to knocking her out of the top though as “Firework” moves from #4 to #2. Katy is about 300 spins behind Pink, and her bullet is approaching 300 spins, so Katy could take over at any time. No songs enter or exit the top 10 this week.

Now let’s take a look at those “naughty” words on this week’s chart. Pink’s “F**kin’ Perfect (Perfect)” moves up 4 to #16 in only its 3rd week on the chart. Debuting at #40 is Cee Lo Green’s “F**k You (Forget You)”. While the f*** word is not actually heard on the radio, this is the first time it’s appeared twice on song titles in the top 40. What used to be a naughty word, “hell”, is in Avril Lavigne’s latest song. “What the Hell” jumps 7 notches to #26. While not even in the title of the clean version, the original version of another debut song has the f-word in it. Enrique Iglesias enters the chart with “Tonight”, but the title of the original version is “Tonight (I’m F***ing You)”. Where’s that bar of soap when you need it?

This week’s biggest mover is by Britney Spears. Her “Hold It Against Me” jumps 9 notches to #31. The week’s biggest dropper is Bon Jovi’s “What Do You Got”, which slips 7 to #34. However, that song does not have the biggest loss of spins. That dubious honor goes to Maroon 5′s “Give a Little More”, which loses nearly 800 spins as it falls 6 spots to #19.

As mentioned above, Enrique enters with “Tonight”. The song features rapper Ludacris. Ludacris appeared on Taio Cruz’s hit “Break Your Heart” last year. “Tonight” is Enrique’s 6th hit to chart at Hot AC, and he first appeared on the chart back in 1999.

The third debut this week is the return of My Chemical Romance to the chart. They come in at #38 with “Sing”. Their only other hit, “Welcome to the Black Parade”, debuted in December of 2006 and went on to peak at #23.

All chart data © Mediabase Research.

January 16, 2011 Hot AC Chart: Pink’s big move, 2 female acts return to the chart

Pink holds at the top of the chart for a 5th week, extending “Raise Your Glass”‘s lead as Pink’s biggest hit on the Hot AC chart. The song still has a large lead over its nearest competitor, Katy Perry’s “Firework” at #4.  However, Katy is growing at a good clip, so she could take over for Pink in a couple of weeks if trends continue.

Speaking of Pink, she vaults up 12 notches this week to #20 with “F**kin’ Perfect (Perfect)”. This is the biggest mover since Maroon 5′s “Give a Little More” jumped 15 spots back in October.   Pink is one of 11 solo women this week on the chart. Two of this week’s debuts are by solo women as well. Avril Lavigne returns to the top 40 after over 3 years away with “What the Hell”. It’s Avril’s 12th Hot AC hit. Britney Spears returns to score her 10th Hot AC hit with “Hold It Against Me” at #40. That song also enters at #22 on the Pop chart this week. Britney has never reached the top 20 on Hot AC, will she do it with this one?

This week’s other debut is by James Blunt, who has been away for 3 years too. He enters at #38 with his 6th hit, “Stay the Night”. Can you name other songs titled “Stay the Night” that charted on the Pop chart? Benjamin Orr reached #14 on the Pop chart with his song titled “Stay the Night”, and Chicago peaked at #11 in 1984 with their “Stay the Night”. All 3 songs are different…there’s no remakes here.

No songs enter the top 10 this week, although Rihanna gets close by moving to #11 with “Only Girl (In the World)”. Rihanna only reached the top 10 once before, with Maroon 5 on “If I Never See Your Face Again”. Besides Pink, no song moves into the top 20. Moving into the top 30 is “Back to December” by Taylor Swift.

19 songs on the Hot AC chart are also currently on the Pop chart, and 15 songs on the Hot AC chart are currently on the AC chart.

All chart data © Mediabase Research.

January 9, 2011 Hot AC Chart: A return to normal…

Pink holds onto the top spot of the Hot AC chart for a fourth week with “Raise Your Glass”.  “Glass” is now Pink’s biggest hit ever on Hot AC. She’s still over a thousand spins ahead of her next real competitor, Katy Perry’s “Firework” at #5. However, Katy has the biggest spin increase of any song on the chart this week, with an increase of over 500 spins. If Katy can keep this rate up, she could overtake Pink in just a few weeks.

Pink shouldn’t fret though, as she has the highest debut of the week with “F**kin’ Perfect (Perfect)” at #32. The song is Pink’s 15th song to chart at Hot AC. Pink has 2 of the 13 songs by solo women this week. Rihanna also has 2 songs on the chart as well: “Only Girl” holds at #13 again this week while “What’s My Name” re-enters the chart at #35.

Christina Perri earns her first top 10 with “Jar of Hearts”, which moves up 2 to #10 in its 20th week on the chart. The song leaps over Maroon 5, who have been in a holding pattern at #11 for several weeks. Their song “Give a Little More” loses spins this week, so it looks like it may not reach the top 10. The only other top 40 Maroon 5 song that never reached the top 10 was their first hit, “Harder to Breathe”.

With the chart returning to normal, several songs make nice moves up the chart this week. The biggest move is made by Taylor Swift, whose “Back to December” jumps 9 notches to #31. “Grenade” by Bruno Mars moves up 5 spots to #19, and Ke$ha’s “We R Who We R” also moves up 5, to #21.

The return to normal means songs are once again being removed to recurrent. Going away this week are “Misery”, 28 weeks on, “If I Had You”, 22 weeks on, and “Mine”, 20 weeks on. 2 of this week’s 3 debuts have already been mentioned above. The third debut is by Edward Maya, and it’s called “Stereo Love”.  That song is at #14 on this week’s Pop chart.

All chart data is ©  Mediabase Research.

January 2, 2011 Hot AC Chart: Holiday Slowdown in Full Effect

Pink remains at the top of the chart for a third week with “Raise Your Glass”.  Pink should remain at the top for a little while at least, but it is kind of hard to tell at the moment. Thirty-eight of the 40 songs on this week’s chart have an increase in spins as the chart begins its recovery from the Holiday slowdown. The week’s biggest gainers in spins are all within the top 7 this week, with the biggest at #3, OneRepublic’s “Secrets”. That song is still a few hundred spins away from Pink, but both songs are gaining spins at nearly the same rate.

The chart is quite slow this week. The top 14 songs remain in the same positions as last week, and the top 6 songs remain the same place for a third week. No songs enter or exit the top 10, and no songs enter or exit the top 20. The only song with an upward movement within the top 20 is “Maybe” by the Sick Puppies, which moves up 2 to #15.

Mediabase continues its reprieve from the recurrent rule this week, which means that Maroon 5′s “Misery” gets a bonus week as the song slides down to #16. It is in its 28th week on the chart, and it would have been removed this week as it fell below #15. Adam Lambert’s “If I Had You” also benefits and racks up a 22nd week on the chart, slipping 1 to #31.

The week’s biggest mover is Bruno Mars’ “Grenade”,  up 4 to #24. The week’s  biggest dropper is “Strip Me” by Natasha Bedingfield, down 4 to #35.  Taylor Swift’s latest, “Back to December”, enters at #40 for the week’s only debut. It’s her 7th Hot AC hit. Can you name the other 3 songs that have hit the Hot AC chart and had “December” in their titles?… “December” by Collective Soul (#16 in 1995), “A Long December” by Counting Crows (#6 in 1997), and “December 1963 (Oh What a Night” by the Four Seasons (#24 in 1994).  Exiting the survey after only 1 week is “Shake Up Christmas” by Train.

All chart data ©  Mediabase Research.