January 31, 2010 Hot AC Chart: Tight Race for #1, Barenaked Ladies return to the chart

Rob Thomas holds at the top of the chart for a second week. However, coming up right behind Rob is Train. “Hey, Soul Sister” moves up to #2 this week, and the song is less than a hundred spins from overtaking Rob.  Train also have a much bigger bullet, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Train overtakes Rob next week.

This week also sees some big losses in the top 10. “Fireflies” slips from #2 to #4, but the song has the biggest spin loss of any song in the top 40 this week. “Smile”, which was at #6 last week, falls to #11 this week. That song is the week’s biggest dropper.

Earning his 9th top 10 this week is John Mayer. “Heartbreak Warfare” moves up to #10, and it’s John’s first top 10 in about a couple of years. This week’s biggest mover is “According to You” by Orianthi, which jumps 6 notches to #16. Also entering the top 20 this week at #18 is Boys Like Girls with “Two Is Better than One”. The song becomes the group’s biggest hit on Hot AC, outdoing the #20 peak of “The Great Escape”. Ke$ha also makes it to the top 20 with “TiK ToK” at #20. Ke$ha is at #1 on the Pop chart and #2 on the Rhythmic chart.  Six songs on Hot AC are also on the Rhythmic chart.

Returning to the Hot AC chart after nearly 6 years away are the Barenaked Ladies. They debut at #33 with “You Run Away”. They were last on Hot AC with “Testing 1, 2, 3″ in early 2004. Also debuting this week are “Superman Tonight” by Bon Jovi and “Satisfy” by Vedera.

All chart data © Mediabase Research.

Most Consecutive Top 10s on the Hot AC Chart

With this week’s chart, Daughtry has had 7 consecutive top 10 hits, from “It’s Not Over” to “Life After You”. The group joins an elite list of only 4 other acts to achieve this feat:

Maroon 5: from “This Love” to “If I Never See Your Face Again” (7 in a row)

Matchbox Twenty: from “Push” to “Mad Season” (7 in a row)

Nickelback: from “Photograph” to “Never Gonna Be Alone” (8 in a row)

Rob Thomas:  from “Lonely No More” to “Someday” (7 in a row). **If you count “Smooth” by Santana/Rob Thomas, it’s 8 in  a row

On the flip side, who has had the most Hot AC hits without reaching the top 10?

Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears with 9.  Britney has never reached the top 20 either.

January 24, 2010 Hot AC chart: Rob Thomas extends his lead…

Owl City exits the top spot after only 1 week there as Rob Thomas pushes his way to #1. “Someday” moves from #3 to #1 in its 19th week on the chart. This gives Rob a total of 8 number ones on the Hot AC chart, more than any other act. This total combines 4 #1s with Matchbox Twenty, 1 #1 with Santana, and 3 solo #1s.  Who’s next in line? Chad Kroeger is with a total of 6 #1s: 5 with Nickelback (the most by a single entity) and 1 with Santana.  Rob will have to watch out though, as the next contender, Train, is less than 300 spins behind with a sizable bullet.

Racking up their 7th top 10 in a row is Daughtry, whose “Life After You” moves to #9. All of the group’s 6 other top 10s have reached the top 5. John Mayer is poised to earn other top 10 as “Heartbreak Warfare” moves up to #11 this week.  The biggest spin gainer of the week is by Lady GaGa, whose “Bad Romance” moves up to #14. However the biggest mover of the week is by Lady Antebellum: “Need You Now” jumps 8 notches to #26.  Last week’s biggest mover by Ke$ha moves up 3 to #25, and the song has the second biggest spin gain on the chart.

Debuting this week are David Guetta f/ Akon with “Sexy Chick” and Cascada’s “Evacuate the Dancefloor”. Akon charted before, once solo and once as a featured act on a Gwen Stefani song.  Otherwise the new songs are by acts new to the HAC chart.

23 songs on this week’s chart are also on the Pop chart.

Idol Watch: Kris Allen holds at #10, Carrie Underwood holds at #23, and Adam Lambert moves up to #34.

All chart data © Mediabase Research.

January 17, 2010 Hot AC Chart: Fireflies lights up the top of the chart

Owl City overtakes Kelly Clarkson at the top of the chart this week as “Fireflies” moves from #2 to #1.  Owl City continues the recent trend of acts hitting #1 with their first Hot AC hit, following Shinedown’s “Second Chance” and Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody”. Owl City will have to watch out for Rob Thomas’ “Someday”, which holds at #3 this week. “Someday” is about 200 spins behind “Fireflies”, but both songs have a similar bullet.

Train inches up to #4 with “Hey, Soul Sister”, and Nickelback get their 9th top 5 hit as “Never Gonna Be Alone” moves up to #5.  Entering the top 10 is last season’s American Idol winner Kris Allen with “Live Like We’re Dying”. He follows fellow Idol alumni such as Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, and David Cook in reaching the top 10 of the Hot AC chart.

This week’s biggest mover is Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok”, which leaps 10 notches to #28. This is yet another example of how the Hot AC chart is looking more like the Pop chart each week.  Other big movers this week include Lady GaGa’s “Bad Romance” (#25-#18) and Orianthi’s “According to You” (#33-#26).

Debuting this week on the chart is Lady Antebellum with “Need You Now”. This joins the other country crossover “Cowboy Casanova” (#23) on the chart this week. Also debuting is Pearl Jam with “Just Breathe”. “Breathe” is Pearl Jam’s second Hot AC hit. Their only other one was “Last Kiss”, which peaked at #7 in 1999. The other debut of the week is Fray’s “Syndicate”.

All chart data © Mediabase Research.

January 10, 2010 Hot AC Chart: Gaga has the biggest move, another Idol debuts

Holding at the top of the chart for an 8th week is “Already Gone” by the first American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson. After having the biggest spin increase last week, she loses over 100 spins this week. Meanwhile, “Fireflies” at #2 continues to gain spins, closing the gap between the two. Also, Rob Thomas’ “Someday” at #3 had the biggest spin increase of the week, so watch out for him as well.

No songs enter the top 10 this week. Two Idols get closer to the top 10 though. Last year’s winner Kris Allen climbs to #11 with “Live Like We’re Dying”. Just below, Daughtry rebounds to #12 with “No Surprise”. Let’s continue the Idol talk with Carrie Underwood, who holds at #24 this week.  To round out the topic, last year’s runner up Adam Lambert debuts at #40 with “Whataya Want from Me”.  His is the only debut this week. Exiting to recurrent status is “We Weren’t Born to Follow” by Bon Jovi.

This week’s biggest mover is by Lada Gaga. “Bad Romance” jumps 4 to #25 in its 5th week on the chart. Her other song on this week’s chart, “Paparazzi” holds at #18. “Paparazzi” is at #25 on this week’s AC chart, while “Bad Romance” is #1 on this week’s Pop chart.

All chart data © Mediabase Research.

Jan 3, 2010 Hot AC chart: The chart is nearly frozen…

Kelly Clarkson remains at the top of the chart this week for a total of 7 weeks on top. Due to stations starting to return their playlists to normal, “Already Gone”  is also the song with the biggest spin increase this week. About 300 spins separate her from #2, “Fireflies”.

Due to the holiday slowdown and the slow recovery, 21 songs hold their positions from last week. No songs enter or exit the top 10, top 20, or top 30. Train, however, does manage to sneak into the top 5 with “Hey Soul Sister”. The song moves up 1 to #5. It’s the group’s first top 5 since their #1 “Calling All Angels” in 2003.

Another example of how slow the chart is moving is by the biggest mover. Climbing 2 spots to #24 is “Cowboy Casanova” by Carrie Underwood. There is only 1 debut this week, “According to You” by Orianthi. Britney Spears rises to a new peak of #35 with “3″, and the song also has the biggest loss of spins this week, losing about a whopping 30 spins.

Last week I reported that Mediabase wasn’t counting last week toward a song’s “weeks on chart”. However, it appears they fixed this, and “Chances” by Five for Fighting was removed as it should have been. Thanks Mediabase.

Idol Update: Kris Allen holds at #12 and Daughtry slips 1 to #14 (but still has a bullet).

All chart data © Mediabase Research.

12/27/09 Hot AC Chart: Holiday Doldrums Rule

The Holiday doldrums have set in on the chart this week, with most songs losing spins as radio stations alter their regular programming. Before we get into this week’s chart, please note that Mediabase has apparently chosen not to count this week toward a song’s “weeks on chart” total, so songs will be removed to recurrent later than one would expect. I however, choose to count this week as Billboard does with its charts. With computers tracking  songs 365 days a year, why not count this week?

Kelly Clarkson holds at the top of the chart for a sixth week, making “Already Gone” her biggest hit on Hot AC to date. Kelly first charted 7 years ago when “A Moment Like This” peaked at #24. Little movement is seen in the top 10 this week, with songs by Train and Nickelback inching up a notch each. One song does sneak into the top 10 though, “Halfway Gone” by Lifehouse. “Gone” is Lifehouse’s 6th top 10 on the Hot AC chart. Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me” exits the top 10 this week.

No songs enter or exit the top 20. The biggest move up the chart this week is 2 notches, which is reached by several songs. The biggest move down the chart is made by Bon Jovi, whose “We Weren’t Born to Follow” falls 4 to #18. The song also has the biggest spin loss of any song this week.

Debuting on the chart this week is Kesha’s “Tik Tok” at #39, and “Belle of the Boulevard” by Dashboard Confessional. “Belle” is Dashboard’s second song to chart on Hot AC.

Idol Watch: Kris Allen holds at #12, Daughtry moves up to #13, and Carrie Underwood holds at #26.

Useless fact: 12 hits are by acts with one word names. Happy New Year Everyone!

All chart data © Mediabase Research.

12/20/09 Hot AC Chart: Holiday slowdown sets in

As is usual for this time of year, the chart experiences a slowdown as stations begin to freeze their playlists for Christmastime.   This helps Kelly Clarkson hold at the top of the chart for a fifth week, with about 300 spins between her and Owl City at #2. Both songs have bullets less than 100, so it looks like Kelly could very well spend the final week of 2009 at #1. Right now “Already Gone” is tied for her biggest hit ever on Hot AC, and if she makes it to 6 weeks “Gone” will be her biggest hit.

Rob Thomas moves up to #3 and Train move to #7. No songs enter/exit the top 10.  The week’s biggest movers all move up 4 spots this week: “Heartbreak Warfare” (23-19), “Fifteen” (34-30), and “Bad Romance” (35-31). The biggest dropper for the 2nd week in a row is “Chances”, which this week moves down 6 to #32.

“Haven’t Met You Yet”, currently top 5 on AC, moves up to #20, giving Michael Bublé his first top 20 on Hot AC. The only debut this week is “Uprising” by Muse at #40.

Idol Watch: “Live Like We’re Dying” rises to #12, “Life After You” moves up to #15,  and “Cowboy Casanova” inches up to #26.

Happy Holidays to all of my readers!

All chart data © Mediabase Research.

12/13/09 Hot AC Chart: Rob Thomas’ top 5 record

Kelly Clarkson holds at the top of the for a fourth week with “Already Gone”.  It’s only 1 week away from tying her 5 week run at #1 with “Behind These Hazel Eyes”. At the moment it appears that she might eclipse that 5 week run and spend the remainder of December at #1. Coming up strong behind at #2 is “Fireflies”. “Fireflies” is a few hundred spins behind “Gone”, but it still has a strong bullet. The holidays’ effect on the chart and “Gone” ‘ s stability will determine if she can hang on ’til 2010.

Rob Thomas’ “Someday” moves up 3 to #4 this week. “Someday” is Rob’s 7th consecutive top 5 hit on the Hot AC chart. No other act has done this before.  If you count Rob’s appearance on Santana’s “Smooth”, then his record is extended to 8 consecutive top 5 hits. Of course keep in mind that Rob hit with Matchbox Twenty in between his solo hits, and one of these did not make the top 5. However, these are treated as another act’s chart stats, so Rob gets to keep his title.

Nickelback return to the top 10 with “Never Gonna Be Alone”. Moving into the top 15 is Kris Allen, who moves to #15 with “Live Like We’re Dying”. Shinedown’s “If You Only Knew” reaches top 20 territory this week.

The biggest mover for the 2nd week in a row is “Heartbreak Warfare”  by John Mayer. It moves up 5 to #23.

Debuting this week are the latest from Lady Gaga and Iyaz.

Idol Watch: “No Surprise” is removed to recurrent this week. “Life After You” moves up to #17. “Cowboy Casanova” moves up 4 to #27.

All chart data  © Mediabase Research.

Hot AC Top 100 of the 2000s

Here are unofficial the top 100 songs of the 2000s on the Hot AC chart, based on peak positions. Ties were broken by an inverse point system. All chart data ©  Mediabase Research, but again these are not official rankings from them.

1. Wherever You Will Go – The Calling
2. Unwell – Matchbox Twenty
3. Bubbly – Colbie Caillat
4. Complicated – Avril Lavigne
5. Smooth – Santana/Rob Thomas (using only weeks at #1 in 2000)
6. Here without You – 3 Doors Down
7. Everything You Want – Vertical Horizon
8. Bad Day – Daniel Powter
9. Bent – Matchbox Twenty
10. This Love – Maroon 5
11. Photograph – Nickelback
12. How to Save a Life – Fray
13. You Found Me – Fray
14. She Will Be Loved – Maroon 5
15. I’m Yours – Jason Mraz
16. The Reason – Hoobastank
17. Game of Love, Santana f/ Michelle Branch
18. Use Somebody, Kings of Leon
19. Home – Daughtry
20. Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me) – Train
21. You and Me – Lifehouse
22. If You’re Gone – Matchbox Twenty
23. Love Song – Sarah Bareilles
24. Boulevard of Broken Dreams – Green Day
25. Lonely No More – Rob Thomas
26. I’m with You – Avril Lavigne
27. Bleeding Love – Leona Lewis
28. Why Don’t You & I? – Santana f/ Chad Kroeger (Alex Band)
29. With Arms Wide Open – Creed
30. Soak Up the Sun – Sheryl Crow
31. It’s Not Over – Daughtry
32. Big Girls Don’t Cry (Personal) – Fergie
33. Second Chance – Shinedown
34. Give a Little Bit – Goo Goo Dolls
35. Thankyou – Dido
36. Viva La Vida, Coldplay
37. Gotta Be Somebody – Nickelback
38. Hanging by a Moment – Lifehouse
39. Far Away – Nickelback
40. Black Horse & the Cherry Tree – KT Tunstall
41. If Everyone Cared – Nickelback
42. Already Gone – Kelly Clarkson (assuming Kelly remains at #1 for the remainder of 2009)
43. You’re Beautiful – James Blunt
44. Follow Me – Uncle Kracker
45. Behind These Hazel Eyes – Kelly Clarkson
46. Chasing Cars – Snow Patrol
47. Superman (It’s Not Easy) – Five for Fighting
48. Only Time – Enya
49. Calling All Angels – Train
50. Feels Light Tonight – Daughtry
51. Savin’ Me – Nickelback
52. Crazy – Gnarls Barkley
53. Sober – Pink
54. No Surprise – Daughtry
55. Again – Lenny Kravitz
56. My Immortal – Evanescence
57. It’s Not My Time – 3 Doors Down
58. Hot N cold – Katy Perry
59. When It’s Over – Sugar Ray
60. Wake Me Up When September Ends – Green Day
61. Breathe – Faith Hill
62. Hey There Delilah – Plain White T’s
63. Please Don’t Leave Me – Pink
64. Apologize – Timbaland f/ OneRepublic
65. Daughters – John Mayer
66. Her Diamonds – Rob Thomas
67. How You Remind Me – Nickelback
68. Who Knew – Pink
69. Makes Me Wonder – Maroon 5
70. Then the Morning Comes – Smash Mouth
71. Drift Away – Uncle Kracker f/ Dobie Gray
72. One Thing – Finger Eleven
73. The First Cut Is the Deepest – Sheryl Crow
74. Landslide – Dixie Chicks
75. Unwritten – Natasha Bedingfield
76. I Try – Macy Gray
77. Absolutely (Story of a Girl) – Nine Days
78. Heaven – Los Lonely Boys
79. Pinch Me – Barenaked Ladies
80. Underneath It All – No Doubt f/ Lady Saw
81. Because of You – Kelly Clarkson
82. If Today Was Your Last Day – Nickelback
83. A Thousand Miles – Vanessa Carlton
84. Waiting for the World to Change – John Mayer
85. Shattered (Turn the Car Around) – O.A.R.
86. One Last Breath – Creed,
87. Breakaway – Kelly Clarkson
88. Picture – Kid Rock f/ Sheryl Crow
89. You Belong with Me – Taylor Swift
90. Love Remains the Same – Gavin Rossdale
91. Sorry – Buckcherry
92. Ever the Same – Rob Thomas
93. The Sweet Escape – Gwen Stefani f/ Akon
94. So What – Pink
95. All Summer Long – Kid Rock
96. Meet Virginia – Train
97. The Middle – Jimmy Eat World
98. Where Are You Going – Dave Matthews Band
99. Gives You Hell – All-American Rejects
100. Since U Been Gone – Kelly Clarkson