A Special Hits-1 Post -- The Top 45 Songs of 2012 as Ranked by Yours Truly

As promised, here's my Top 45 songs of this past year.  It's been a solid year of music on the Hits-1 Weekend Countdown, and I had much more difficult decisions to make this year than I did in 2011.  Those expecting to see a "Who's Who" of my "Editor's Picks" lists here probably could have guessed most of the songs on this list already, but there's a good deal of divergence from those weekly rankings.  The "Editor's Picks" list isn't really meant to be the songs that I think are the 5 best, but the songs that I most would like to hear played on Hits-1 at a given time.  Now that we're at year-end and most of these songs have lost their initial luster, it's a bit easier to get an accurate picture of things and separate the flavor-of-the-month songs from the keepers.

Before diving into it, I want to establish some of the "rules" of these rankings.  

• First, I am only considering songs that appeared on the Sirius XM Hits-1 Weekend Countdown.  No songs were considered that never aired on Hits-1.  If a song appeared on HitBound or Hits and Misses with Pete Wentz, but not the countdown, it was not considered.
• Second, no songs that appeared on last year's Top 45 were considered for this list.  I think I did a pretty good job of deferring good songs that came out in late 2011 until this year's rankings (it helps that music in late 2011 was so terrible), but there is one song that would have made this year's list that is ineligible due to being ranked last year: One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful.  I did not foresee its widespread popularity, and certainly not 5-time #1 song honors (that song was largely unknown in the U.S. until around February).
• Third, songs that came out late in the year (December, basically) are being deferred for consideration until 2013.  The following songs may have had a shot at this list (a few certainly would have made it), but are not being considered.
• One Direction - Little Things
• Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child
• The Script Ft. will.i.am - Hall of Fame
• Phil Phillips - Home
• Kelly Clarkson - Catch My Breath
• Pink - Try
• The reasons for deferring songs into the next year are obvious and twofold.  First, the "shiny new toy" aspect of the recent new entrants makes it tough to really evaluate them.  Second, some songs will be "bigger" in the following year than they were in the year that they debuted.  What Makes You Beautiful is an excellent example.  Although it debuted in 2011, it was on the countdown for almost 10 months in 2012 and was #1 5 times.

Without further ado, let's dive right in.

45) Big Time Rush - Music Sounds Better With U - Just sneaking onto the Top 45 is one of the only good debuts from the month of January.  In a sea of Disney Channel-spawned stars, this Nickelodeon-born pop group has succeeded in making the Bottom 5 of my Top 45 two years in a row.

44) Gavin DeGraw - Not Over You - This one actually got dinged big time in my year-end look-back.  Not Over You uses the piano pretty well and is pretty good at delivering the message of how difficult it can be to move on from someone (relative to say, Cher Lloyd - Want U Back)

43) Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Yeah.  That song.  It's got a hook that outweighs just how dumb that spoken interlude is.

42) Cobra Starship - Fool Like Me - Lost in a sea of far inferior, but more popular Cobra Starship songs, this is the most enjoyable one they've produced.

41) Nicki Minaj - Pound the Alarm - These Bottom 5 songs should serve as a pretty accurate indicator of how many guilty pleasures will appear on this ranking.  It's just that most such guilty pleasure songs in 2012 had a pretty strong hook, and Pound the Alarm is no exception

40) Hot Chelle Rae - Honestly - After putting up with the annoying Tonight Tonight and I Like It Like That, I wrote off Hot Chelle Rae as a pretty sub-par, one-trick pony, but I Honestly had to reconsider that.

39) Bridgit Mendler - Ready or Not - It's all about the pacing.  Not a bad first-ever single for Bridgit Mendler

38) September - Party In My Head - This song is one party that I wasn't able to get out of my head for weeks this past summer.  It had a short countdown tenure, and given the repetitiveness, I'm thinking that's probably for the best.

37) Lucas Prata Ft. Lenny B - First Night of My Life - An exciting, upbeat song that's pretty good for getting excited for a night out.

36) David Guetta Ft. Nicki Minaj - Turn Me On - David Guetta has a propensity to work with a lot of artists that I don't like and turn the final product into something that I want to listen to.  As far as club-type songs go, this was one of the year's best.

35) The Cab - Intoxicated - The first song I ever heard by The Cab was, well, Bad.  By contrast, everything I've heard from them since has been not bad, and the main difference is that the pace of Bad just put me to sleep.  The pitch and pacing of Intoxicated perfectly match the song's theme.

34) Adele - Skyfall - Despite Adele winning the AP award for 2012 Entertainer of the Year, this is the only song that she actually came out with during 2012.  It was a good countdown song and a better James Bond theme.

33) Ellie Goulding - Anything Could Happen - Lights may have gotten all the glory for Ellie Goulding, but it's Anything Could Happen that's the better song.

32) Matchbox Twenty - She's So Mean - I enjoyed these guys resurfacing.  It was a fun and very unexpected throwback to the late-90's/early 00's.

31) Lumineers - Ho Hey - This is a catchy little melody about a guy wondering where he went wrong as he laments the loss of the woman of his dreams to another man.  It's a bit sad, but pretty well-written.

30) Maroon 5 - Daylight - Maroon 5 has been around a long time, and only recently have they begun to do things a little bit differently (and for the better).  Daylight represents the best utilization of Adam Levine's voice that I've heard.

29) One Direction - One Thing - Just a quick plug here....I feel that One Direction was the MVP artist of the 2012 countdown.  They had 5 different songs appear on the countdown, all of them were at least average, and one of them was #1 5 times.  What Makes You Beautiful was on last year's Top 45, Little Things debuted too late, and Kiss You and Live While We're Young weren't good enough, so that leaves One Thing as the lone One Direction entry on this list, despite the MVP claim.

28) Train - Drive By - Train has a knack for delivering catchy melodies.  When Drive By debuted in January, I mashed that repeat button on YouTube like crazy.

27) The Cab - La La - My comment for this song basically matches that of Intoxicated.  I was pleasantly surprised when The Cab produced more up-tempo music.

26) Kelly Clarkson - Dark Side - Can you love a person for their faults?  Kelly Clarkson sure hopes so.

25) BoysLikeGirls - Be Your Everything - Haven't heard from BoysLikeGirls in awhile, but their lone entry onto the countdown this year was a successful one.  Love the vocals during the chorus.

24) fun. - Some Nights - People seem to interpret this song's lyrics a bajillion (really, spell-check?  You should understand that one) different ways, but it certainly seems that most people find something they like about it.  Opening is pretty Queen-esque

23) Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe - I strongly suspect this song will be at the top or near the top of most year-end song rankings, but there was plenty of better music out there.  That said, this was certainly the "song of the summer", and most people I know succumbed to its appeal.

22) David Guetta Ft. Usher - Without You - I will forever love and appreciate this song for being #1 3 times on the countdown in early 2012.  Why?  Because it kept the likes of Bruno Mars - It Will Rain, Flo Rida - Good Feeling, Rihanna Ft. Calvin Harris - We Found Love, Katy Perry - The One That Got Away and all the rest of the crapfest of rotating songs in the Top-5 back then from getting their grubby paws on the spot.  David Guetta can make bad artists look good.  When he teams up with Usher, you're going to get greatness.

21) Olly Murs - Dance With Me Tonight - Though it was only on the countdown for an unfortunate one week, Olly Murs deserves recognition for making it there at all for putting out a unique song that sounds like it was made in the 1950s.  Seriously, it's close between this and the fact that the Rolling Stones appeared on the countdown for most unlikely countdown event of the year.

20) Usher - Scream - Though Usher was only a little less subtle than Flo Rida was in writing Whistle regarding the song meaning, this was an excellent jam.  The song reaches a climax of its own at the final "Yeeaaahhhhh" before the last chorus.

19) Usher - Numb - I've done something the Hits-1 Weekend Countdown could never let itself accomplish: put two songs by the same artist adjacent to one-another.  Why it has such a goofy "rule" makes its weekly song rankings rigged, at least to a degree.

18) Taylor Swift - Eyes Open - I was a pretty big fan of The Hunger Games, and this was a perfect fit for the soundtrack, in addition to being pretty damn good in its own right.

17) Rita Ora - How We Do (Party) - If I didn't allow myself to like some songs like this, there's no way in hell I could do this week in and week out.  This tune was one of the catchiest of the summer, so I'm going to reward it by doing something the Hits-1 Weekend Countdown never did: rank it in the Top 20.

16) Jessie J - Domino Karmin - Brokenhearted - Gimme a break.  They're the same freaking song.  I just checked back to 2011's rankings as I typed this, and Domino was #16 on that list.  Weeeeeeeird.  I'm nothing if not consistent.

15) Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up - I think this song takes the crown for being more undervalued by the Wutchuwant Crew than any other in 2012.  Jason Mraz, your prize is in the mail.  I Won't Give Up didn't spend much time on the countdown and never rose higher than #35, but it's excellent.  Shame on you, voters.

14) Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams - Finally Found You - I'm as surprised as you are to see something produced by Enrique Iglesias ranked this highly.  Although I consider this Enrique Iglesias's best work, it's Sammy Adams who steals the show with that excellent, excellent interlude.

13) Childish Gambino - Heartbeat - I think that other than Ed Sheeran - The A Team, this was probably the song I did the biggest about-face on during 2012.  I didn't much care for Heartbeat at first, but the longer it was on the countdown, the more I liked it.  This is very rare.  We're talking about pop music.

12) Ke$ha - Die Young - Ke$ha has reportedly significantly reduced her use of Auto-Tune from her previously T-Pain-like levels.  Die Young is here to announce that there has been no subsequent dip in quality.

11) Pink - Blow Me (One Last Kiss) - Pink's break-up anthem helped carry the countdown through an rough period of deadweight new music in the middle of the summer.  Much appreciated.

Now we come to the Top 10.  I spent a lot of time listening to all of these songs as I completed these rankings.  It's kind of funny how the Top 10 played out.  Songs 6-10 are major flavor-of-the-month pop songs.  Songs 1-5 are truly excellent, and will be carried forward in memory as the best of the best of 2012.


10) Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G - Oath - Of all the guilty pleasures on this list, I think Oath is the one about which I'd be most sheepish about screaming "THIS.  IS.  EXCELLEEENNNNTTT!!!T!!!T!!!" from a mountaintop.  Lucky me, I don't have a mountaintop.  Just a blog.  So let me just say, OATH IS A FANTASTIC SONG!  Heh....come to think of it, a lot of people see the interwebs.  A mountaintop would have been far more private.

9) Pitbull Ft. Chris Brown - International Love - Tragically undervalued by countdown voters far and wide, International Love never became the Top-5 mainstay that I thought it would be.  It can have its redemption here, instead.  Think what you will about Chris Brown's character, but the dude can carry a tune.

8) Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time - It's a struggle to not feel good while listening to this song.  I've heard criticisms of how simplistic it is, and I addressed those concerns earlier in the year, here.

7) Maroon 5 - Payphone - This was pretty damn infectious and represents a complete divergence away from the very old and very "meh" Maroon 5 ways.  I fully congratulate Maroon 5 for trying a newer and much more interesting sound this far into their career.

6) Outasight - Tonight Is the Night - This was weird.  I never really fully appreciated Tonight Is the Night, one of the best songs to debut in late 2011 until it had been gone for months.  The beat is excellent, and it always makes me think of New Years Eve 2011 for some reason.  Actually, nevermind.  That's because it was the song in the trailer for that gawdawful New Years Eve movie last year.  Oh well.  Still a sick song.

5) Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks - I wanted to defer this song until 2013, because it debuted in late November and I don't think I really had given it enough reps to fully appreciate it.  Originally ranked significantly lower on this list, I put it on repeat for awhile and found it slowly creeping up the rankings until it wound up here.  This song is fantastic, blending a catchy melody with a beautiful, yet haunting tale of moving on from the death of a loved one.

4) Ed Sheeran - The A Team - I think one commentor on the YouTube video for this song said something to the extent of, "Only Ed Sheeran could make a song about cocaine and prostitution sound this beautiful."  I didn't look upon this song closely enough at first, but when I eventually did, the fantastic songwriting ability of Ed Sheeran shone through.  The blithe, almost playful melody disguises a sad tale of a young woman's drug addiction and subsequent prostitution to fuel that drug addiction, all told with a series of creative metaphors.  The A Team is up for Song of the Year at the Grammys, and deservedly so.  Given the competition, it would be the rightful winner.

3) Gotye Ft. Kimbra - Somebody That I Used to Know - This song took the world by storm, and the bizarre music video has racked up a staggering 360 million+ hits to this day.  When I first heard this song debut on the countdown, it was a weird "WTF was that?" moment.  Further repetitions unleashed its weird addiction power, and the rest is history.  Somebody That I Used to Know is excellent, and I am sad to say that it never achieved that elusive #1 ranking on the Hits-1 Weekend Countdown.  Fortunately for Gotye, Billboard disagrees with the Wutchuwant Crew's failures.

2) Imagine Dragons - It's Time - Lead singer Dan Reynolds wrote this empowering song, and it was a big factor in propelling him out of depression.  Like a lot of other well-written songs, this song can mean a lot of different things for a lot of different people.  Me?  I like to think it's just saying to be proud of who you are and embrace that, rather than attempting to compromise that due to the pressures/expectations of others.

1) M83 - Midnight City - For the longest time, I've been targeting Midnight City as the best countdown song of 2012, yet hoping that something better would come along to bounce it.  Didn't happen.  Midnight City has been #1 with a bullet pretty much since its debut in February.  Like I mentioned in the 'Year in Review" post, this song would not have cracked my Top 3 from last year.  Anyway, now that we're here, I suppose I should actually say something positive about the best of the best from the year, yes?  At its most obvious, Midnight City is likable for that simple, repeating, and damn addicting melody.  But having listened to it as many times as I have, there's plenty of layering of instrumentals (I include synthesized sounds in that category for ease) to appreciate, and all of them mesh together exceptionally well.  There's nothing incredibly deep about Midnight City, just some pretty good imagery and a great tune.  I can highly recommend the music video, which takes a little bit of a sci-fi take on the song.  Midnight City was the gateway for me to discover a few other excellent songs by M83, so I appreciate it for that as well (though this is irrelevant to its ranking).

We'll see what 2013 holds, but there's already a solid crop of songs (the 2013 deferrals listed above the rankings) to pick from heading into the year.  With 2011 being so damn disappointing, it's nice to see the countdown have such a strong rebound in 2012.  Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the new year.

A Special Hits-1 Post - 2012: A Year in Review

This is my first annual installment of a high-level recap of a year of exciting Sirius XM Hits-1 Weekend Countdown activity.  It won't be long before I reveal the Top 45 Songs of 2012, which will be posted here in the not-too distant future.  I'm pretty sure I heard Spyder Harrison say that Hits-1 will be reinstating their own Top-45 list of the year (which is flawed for reasons that I will explain when I post the list here), so you'll get two such rankings here in the coming weeks.  I trust everyone will know which of the two rankings to believe.

2012 was much, much different than 2011 in terms of quality of music.  For one thing, there were far fewer truly awful awful songs, due in no small part because artists like Bruno Mars, LMFAO, and Bad Rihanna made themselves much more scarce.  On the other hand, we had a bit of a drought of out-of-the-park fantastic songs.  My #1 song of the year would not have cracked last year's Top 3.  So, music quality was a lot less polarized in 2012 than 2011.  However, the average quality of the countdown was significantly better this year.  Last year, I struggled to come up with 45 songs that I liked enough to rank.  This year, a whopping 70 songs were up for consideration, and I had to painfully eliminate plenty of tunes that I enjoyed.

The year wasn't without its problems.  January was mired in the same pile of feces as October -> December 2011.  Things didn't really pick up until February and March, which spawned a wave of good music that made the countdown (through early May) as good as it's ever been.  The second half of the year was not as strong, as my #1 "Editor's Pick" of the week was Owl City Ft Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time and Ke$ha - Die Young for far too many weeks (despite both being pretty excellent tunes in their own right), simply because no new songs popped up to bounce them.

As I mentioned above, the bottom-of-the-barrel songs in 2012 could not touch the immeasurable suckitude of 2011's nadir.  However, there were several that were pretty damn bad, and I'd like to give them recognition as such.  Without further ado, here's a list of songs that should be swallowed up by the earth, never to be heard from again: the Bottom 5 Songs of 2012 (#1 being the worst, naturally)

Bottom 5 Songs of 2012*

5) will.i.am - This Is Love

4) B.O.B. Ft. Taylor Swift - Both of Us

3) Mac Miller - Knock Knock

2) Justin Bieber - Boyfriend

1) Marina & the Diamonds - Primadonna

*will.i.am Ft. Britney Spears - Scream and Shout was not considered for this list because it debuted very late in the year and will be deferred for consideration in 2013.

Next, I'd like to honor the songs that were able to grab the #1 spot on the countdown during one of the 52 weeks of 2012, for better or for worse.  Here is your #1 Parade for the year:

• Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe (9) (All-time record)
• Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time (6)
• fun. - Some Nights (6) 
• One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful (5)
• fun. Ft. Janelle Monae - We Are Young (5)
• Katy Perry - Wide Awake (4)
• David Guetta Ft. Usher - Without You (3)
• Kelly Clarkson - Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) (3)
• Maroon 5 - Payphone (3)
• Maroon 5 - One More Night (3)
• Flo Rida - Good Feeling (2)
• Selena Gomez & the Scene - Love You Like a Love Song (1)
• Gym Class Heroes Ft. Adam Levine - Stereo Hearts (1) (7 total)
• Adele - Set Fire to the Rain (1)

We were further fortunate in 2012 in that there was a dearth of good songs that made it to Hit-Bound, but were not allowed to graduate to the countdown.  Pretty much all songs worth listening to from Hit-Bound graced the Top 45.  However, I'd like to honor the best song played on Hits-1 during 2012 that did NOT have the honor of being called out by Spyder Harrison on Saturday.  I'm naming this award the Lights Over Paris Hit-Bound Hero award, in honor of Lights Over Paris, a truly awful band that came out with a truly awful song called Turn Off the Lights a couple years ago.  The song made it to Hit-Bound and strangely (I suspect ballot-stuffing) was miles and miles ahead of other Hit-Bound songs in the polls on the Hits-1 homepage each week.  Despite that ostensible (and possibly robotic) support, it never graduated.  So without further ado.......

2012 Lights Over Paris Hit-Bound Hero Award Winner: Goldhouse - The Moment

Tenure Trophies

Two songs tied the record this year for Most Hysterically Short Countdown Tenure Ever, at (obviously) one week.

• KDrew - Body & Soul (She Got Control)
• Olly Murs - Dance With Me Tonight

The more honorable "trophy" in this category is that for the longest tenure.  Honestly, before I looked it up, I thought for sure that the song that was on the countdown for the most weeks during 2012 was Neon Trees - Everybody Talks.  However, I was wrong, as that song lost out by two weeks to.....

2012 Longest Tenured Song: fun. Ft. Janelle Monae - We Are Young (debut on Feb 11, still on the countdown)

It was an enjoyable year of music, to be sure.  Thanks to all for reading.  Hopefully we will have a similarly successful year in 2013!

Maroon 5 (3) - Week of December 22, 2012

Merry Christmas from all one of us here at Sirius XM Hits-1 Weekend Countdown Review!  I hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday.  Per usual on the holiday weekend, we were treated to 4 days of the countdown.  I got a little bit unlucky, because each long car trip I took, I flipped on the countdown during songs #3, #2, or #1, so I wasn’t able to hear most of it, and had an overexposure of Hit-Bound, which isn’t particularly good at the moment.  Before we get on to this week’s Fresh 45, here’s a list of all the songs we’re saying good-bye to this week.

• One Direction - Kiss You
• Megan and Liz - Bad for Me
• One Direction - Live While We're Young

The Countdown:

1. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#3) [Third Week at #1]

2. Ke$ha - Die Young (#2)

3. fun. - Some Nights (#1)

4. Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven (#8)

5. Lumineers - Ho Hey (#7)

6. Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble (#4)

7. Imagine Dragons - It's Time (#5)

8. Flo Rida - I Cry (#6)

9. JTX - Seven Day Weekend (#21)

10. Ne-Yo - Let Me Love You (#10)

11. Bridgit Mendler - Ready or Not (#11)

12. Pitbull - Don't Stop The Party (#12)

13. OneRepublic - Feel Again (#13)

14. Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child (#14)

15. Maroon 5 - Daylight (#19)

16. Sam and the Womp - Bom Bom (#16)

17. Carly Rae Jepsen - This Kiss (#26)

18. Rihanna - Diamonds (#20)

19. Olly Murs - Troublemaker (#17)

20. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#38)

21. Josh Baze - She's Gold (#22)

22. Pink - Try (DEBUT)

23. Rolling Stones - Doom and Gloom (#23)

24. Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G - Oath (#24)

25. Phil Phillips - Home (#27)

26. Nicki Minaj - Va Va Voom (#18)

27. Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks (#25)

28. The Script Ft. will.i.am - Hall of Fame (#29)

29. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#30)

30. One Direction - Little Things (#32)

31. will.i.am Ft Britney Spears - Scream and Shout (DEBUT)

32. Kelly Clarkson - Catch My Breath (DEBUT)

33. Alex Clare - Too Close (#31)

34. Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe (#39)

35. Ellie Goulding - Anything Could Happen (#42)

36. Timomatic - Set It Off (#35)

37. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (#34)

38. Emeli Sande - Next to Me (#33)

39. Rudimental Ft. John Newman - Feel the Love (#41)

40. Pink - Blow Me (One Last Kiss) (#37)

41. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#36)

42. Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams - Finally Found You (#45)

43. Ed Sheeran - The A Team (#44)

44. Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time (#15)

45. Adele - Skyfall (#40)

Biggest DDDRRRROOOOPPPPP!!!!!.....of the week: Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen – Good Time (-29)

Biggest Jump of the Week: Neon Trees – Everybody Talks (+18)

Three newbies this week.  We’ll kick it off (saving the worst for first, I guess) with will.i.am Ft. Britney Spears – Scream and Shout, which is a completely horrid song.  Anyone else shocked that this duo of artists didn’t produce a winner?  This guy isn’t.  It’s tough to take a song with these lyrics seriously, but I’ll try.  Scream and Shout makes me want to neither scream, nor shout.  The reasonably exciting song title belies the lazy beat and lethargic, monotone singing.  Repetition never sounded quite so…..repetitive.  This song would get a long look for my Bottom 5 Songs of 2012 (to be released later this week), except given the timing of its debut weekend, I probably won’t be fully exposed to this song’s awfulness until around February, so it’ll be deferred for consideration until 2013.

Kelly Clarkson continues her relatively strong year with Catch My Breath, which is now my favorite song she’s ever made (I’ve never been that big of a fan).  She stretches herself vocally more than usual, and the melody is upbeat and well-paced.  The end product is winding up on my Editor’s Picks list.  Well done, Ms. Clarkson.  And hey, she’s engaged now too!  Finally we come to Pink – Try.  Where Blow Me (One Last Kiss) was about the act of breaking up with someone, Try is about recovering from a breakup.  I’m reserving judgment on this one and will probably comment on it in a later installment.

Merry Blurbmas

- Not a good week for One Direction.  It’s bad enough for them that two of their songs were DTHNOBbed, but Kiss You was ranked all the way up at #9 last week.  That’s a hard fall.

- Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen – Good Time looks like it’s taking a PSY – Gangnam Style-level quick exit.  Current path is #4 -> #15 -> #44.  We’ll see next week, I guess.

- I made an above reference to the poor quality of Hit-Bound.  However, there’s still 2 songs (now that Catch My Breath has graduated) for me to pull for: Muse – Madness and Paper Route – You and I

- This is getting ridiculous already with Neon Trees – Everybody Talks. 

- Hits-1 will be counting down the Top 45 Songs of 2012, probably using the usual dumb criteria.  I’ll post the list and explain what I mean next week.  As this will be taking place this upcoming weekend, this was the last regular countdown of the year.  Stay tuned for a couple special year-end installments.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) The Script Ft. will.i.am – Hall of Fame

2) Swedish House Mafia – Don’t You Worry Child

3) Kelly Clarkson – Catch My Breath

4) Maroon 5 – Daylight

5) Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks

fun. (5) - Week of December 15, 2012

I’m in major crunch mode for all the upcoming year-end activity for this blog, but I suppose this doesn’t relieve me of my weekly duties.  Before we get on to this week's Fresh 45, here’s a list of all the songs we’re saying good-bye to this week.

• PSY - Gangnam Style

The Countdown:

1. fun. - Some Nights (#1) [Fifth Week at #1]

2. Ke$ha - Die Young (#2)

3. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#3)

4. Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble (#7)

5. Imagine Dragons - It's Time (#5)

6. Flo Rida - I Cry (#6)

7. Lumineers - Ho Hey (#11)

8. Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven (#8)

9. One Direction - Kiss You (#15)

10. Ne-Yo - Let Me Love You (#16)

11. Bridgit Mendler - Ready or Not (#13)

12. Pitbull - Don't Stop The Party (#10)

13. OneRepublic - Feel Again (#9)

14. Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child (#36)

15. Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time (#4)

16. Sam and the Womp - Bom Bom (#12)

17. Olly Murs - Troublemaker (DEBUT)

18. Nicki Minaj - Va Va Voom (#14)

19. Maroon 5 - Daylight (#25)

20. Rihanna - Diamonds (#22)

21. JTX - Seven Day Weekend (#21)

22. Josh Baze - She's Gold (#20)

23. Rolling Stones - Doom and Gloom (#19)

24. Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G - Oath (#24)

25. Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks (#23)

26. Carly Rae Jepsen - This Kiss (#30)

27. Phil Phillips - Home (#39)

28. Megan & Liz - Bad for Me (#26)

29. The Script Ft. will.i.am - Hall of Fame (#37)

30. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#32)

31. Alex Clare - Too Close (#41)

32. One Direction - Little Things (#28)

33. Emeli Sande - Next to Me (#31)

34. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (#40)

35. Timomatic - Set It Off (#34)

36. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#33)

37. Pink - Blow Me (One Last Kiss) (#17)

38. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#35)

39. Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe (#44)

40. Adele - Skyfall (#43)

41. Rudimental Ft. John Newman - Feel the Love (#38)

42. Ellie Goulding - Anything Could Happen (#29)

43. One Direction - Live While We're Young (#42)

44. Ed Sheeran - The A Team (#45)

45. Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams - Finally Found You (#27)

Biggest DDDDDRRRROOOOPPPP!!!!....of the week: Pink – Blow Me (One Last Kiss) (-20)

Biggest Jump of the Week: Swedish House Mafia – Don’t You Worry Child (+22)

Our only new song this week comes courtesy of Olly Murs, who is apparently a bigger deal than I previously thought.  After all, this is his 3^rd countdown song of the year, and he collaborated on it with Flo Rida.  The song, Troublemaker, is nothing to write home about (though its debut rank of #17 indicates that there are people who disagree).  It’s best asset is its catchy pacing, but I can’t get the thought out of my head that it sounds like a lesser Maroon 5 song.  It’s very easy for me to imagine Adam Levine singing this song instead.  Maybe a weird comparison, but I think a sound one.

Stray Blurbservations

- Nice little exit path for PSY – Gangnam Style.  #6 -> #18 -> DTHNOB.

- On the other hand, Taylor Swift – I Knew You Were Trouble has a chance at fastest ever ascent to #1, taking the #33 -> #7 -> #4 path.  When someone finds out what’s worthwhile about that song, could you please let me know what it is?

- SPOILER ALERT – How far has JTX fallen since Love In America?  I was quite excited during my first 10 or so listens of Seven Day Weekend (which came during its long, long Hit-Bound tenure), but let me tell you, friends.  The staying power….it is not there.  It’s telling that I pulled 70 songs from the year for consideration in my year-end rankings and Seven Day Weekend was not among them.

- Lumineers – Ho Hey in the Top 10….I could live with this situation.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) The Script Ft. will.i.am – Hall of Fame

2) Swedish House Mafia – Don’t You Worry Child

3) Maroon 5 – Daylight

4) Ke$ha – Die Young

5) Lumineers – Ho Hey

fun. (4) - Week of December 8, 2012

As we sprint towards year-end, we find ourselves with a solid infusion of new songs.  So I actually get to be excited about this again.  Hooray for that!  Before we get on to this week’s Fresh 45, here’s a list of all the songs we’re saying good-bye to this week.

• Ellie Goulding - Lights
• Cher Lloyd - Want U Back (DTHNOBx2)
• Usher - Numb
• Martin Solveig - The Night Out
• Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

The Countdown:

1. fun. - Some Nights (#2) [Fourth Week at #1]

2. Ke$ha - Die Young (#3)

3. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#4)

4. Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time (#1)

5. Imagine Dragons - It's Time (#8)

6. Flo Rida - I Cry (#9)

7. Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble (#33)

8. Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven (#11)

9. OneRepublic - Feel Again (#12)

10. Pitbull - Don't Stop The Party (#21)

11. Lumineers - Ho Hey (#14)

12. Sam and the Womp - Bom Bom (#19)

13. Bridgit Mendler - Ready or Not (#10)

14. Nicki Minaj - Va Va Voom (#15)

15. One Direction - Kiss You (#7)

16. Ne-Yo - Let Me Love You (#29)

17. Pink - Blow Me (One Last Kiss) (#5)

18. PSY - Gangnam Style (#6)

19. Rolling Stones - Doom and Gloom (#25)

20. Josh Baze - She's Gold (#27)

21. JTX - Seven Day Weekend (#18)

22. Rihanna - Diamonds (#32)

23. Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks (#16)

24. Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G - Oath (#24)

25. Maroon 5 - Daylight (#22)

26. Megan & Liz - Bad for Me (#30)

27. Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams - Finally Found You (#13)

28. One Direction - Little Things (DEBUT)

29. Ellie Goulding - Anything Could Happen (#31)

30. Carly Rae Jepsen - This Kiss (DEBUT)

31. Emeli Sande - Next to Me (#35)

32. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#26)

33. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#37)

34. Timomatic - Set It Off (#17)

35. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#39)

36. Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child (DEBUT)

37. The Script Ft. will.i.am - Hall of Fame (DEBUT)

38. Rudimental Ft. John Newman - Feel the Love (#23)

39. Phil Phillips - Home (DEBUT)

40. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (#34)

41. Alex Clare - Too Close (#45)

42. One Direction - Live While We're Young (#28)

43. Adele - Skyfall (#41)

44. Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe (#36)

45. Ed Sheeran - The A Team (#43)

Biggest DDDRROOOPPPPPPP!!!....of the week: Timomatic – Set It Off (-17)

Biggest Jump of the week: Taylor Swift – I Knew You Were Trouble (+26)

Whew.  Glad that crap’s over.  Now onto the good stuff: this week’s new entrants.  Sirius XM Hits-1 wins the award for being the last radio station to the party regarding Phil(lipp) Phillips – Home.  The American Idol winner’s first appearance onto the countdown scene is a good one, especially for those who are apprehensive as life changes (such as myself). 

I’ve been waiting a long time for the countdown debut of The Script Ft. will.i.am (yes, he was a part of something useful) – Hall of Fame.  Hits-1 was a little late to the party on this one as well, though I don’t feel like Hall of Fame has the same fame (hee) as Home.  I love pretty much everything about Hall of Fame, from Danny Donoghue’s singing, the uplifting lyrics (hey, I guess The Script is capable of making music that isn’t about a failed/failing relationship!), and most of all, the piano.  Somehow, will.i.am was used pretty effectively, too, which has made me question the very fabric of our universe.  When The Script first burst onto the scene with Breakeven, I was not impressed, but every song they’ve put out there since has been increasingly more excellent.  They remain the only group that frequents the countdown that I would willingly see in concert.

When Swedish House Mafia debuted for the first time on the countdown with Save the World, I deemed it one of the least interesting pieces of trash I’ve ever had the displeasure of hearing.  Fortunately, their new song, Don’t You Worry Child, is much better than that.  Actually, it’s downright good.  It probably helps that way back in high school, I had a thing for techno music (geez, does this even fall under this category anymore?  I feel like I never hear anything called “techno” these days).  Don’t You Worry Child succeeds in coming across as a soothing song despite the fast-paced electronica beat, and it’s a thoroughly pleasurable listen.

The only real let-down this week from the new entrants is long-time Hit-Bound veteran Carly Rae Jepsen – This Kiss.  I confess to have listened to more of Carly Rae Jepsen’s songs than just Call Me Maybe (and of course, Good Time).  There would have been far better choices for her next countdown song than This Kiss.  However, what happened, happened, and we’re stuck.  This Kiss feels like something of an 80’s throwback, and while it’s not a terrible song, it certainly falls short of expectations.  Being ranked last in this group is no insult.

For weeks, people have been clamoring for One Direction – Little Things to hit the countdown, and it’s pretty easy to see why.  I was a big fan of the theme of What Makes You Beautiful, and they recaptured the magic from a lyrical standpoint here (the song was written by Ed Sheeran, so I suppose there’s little coincidence in that department).  It’s far from the first song about loving someone despite, nay, because of(!) their faults, but it’s a nice message, and dammit, let’s just face it, these kids can sing.

Tidblurbs

- A couple of those DTHNOBs were pretty random.  Lights was kicked out from the #20 spot, and We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together was #10 just 2 weeks ago.  Talk about making a quick exit…..

- It was a pretty active week in general, but something disastrous is going on in spots #7 - #10.  Those are definitely my 4 least favorite songs on the countdown.  There’s no way that they all merged together like this on accident….in the Top 10 no less!  Freakin’ Mayans…..

-  Expounding on that, Taylor Swift – I Knew You Were Trouble is in the Top 10 in just its second week on the countdown.  Are there seriously people out there who are that obsessed with this song? 

- Hot Chelle Rae guest-hosted the countdown this week, which, blech.  Stop “taking the weekend off”, Spyder!

- I’m a little torn about having an infusion of music this good on December 8^th, because I don’t know if I’ll be able to rank these as 2012 or 2013 songs with respect to my annual Top-45.  They will all likely have more significant tenures in the next calendar year, and I usually like to have more than a month with a song to be sure I don’t overrate something that might not be able to withstand the test of time.  Stay tuned for more regarding this earth-shattering dilemma.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) The Script Ft. will.i.am – Hall of Fame

2) Maroon 5 – Daylight

3) Ke$ha – Die Young

4) Swedish House Mafia – Don’t You Worry Child

5) One Direction – Little Things

Owl City (6) - Week of December 1, 2012

Things are mostly status quo around these parts, but the show must go on.  Before we get on to this week’s Fresh 45, here’s a list of all the songs we’re saying good-bye to this week.

• Rita Ora - R.I.P.

The Countdown:

1. Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time (#4) [Sixth Week at #1]

2. fun. - Some Nights (#1)

3. Ke$ha - Die Young (#2)

4. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#3)

5. Pink - Blow Me (One Last Kiss) (#6)

6. PSY - Gangnam Style (#7)

7. One Direction - Kiss You (#16)

8. Imagine Dragons - It's Time (#5)

9. Flo Rida - I Cry (#9)

10. Bridgit Mendler - Ready or Not (#12)

11. Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven (#13)

12. OneRepublic - Feel Again (#14)

13. Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams - Finally Found You (#11)

14. Lumineers - Ho Hey (#22)

15. Nicki Minaj - Va Va Voom (#17)

16. Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks (#37)

17. Timomatic - Set It Off (#19)

18. JTX - Seven Day Weekend (#18)

19. Sam and the Womp - Bom Bom (#21)

20. Ellie Goulding- Lights (#8)

21. Pitbull - Don't Stop The Party (#15)

22. Maroon 5 - Daylight (#35)

23. Rudimental Ft. John Newman - Feel the Love (#28)

24. Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G - Oath (#24)

25. Rolling Stones - Doom and Gloom (#39)

26. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#27)

27. Josh Baze - She's Gold (#38)

28. One Direction - Live While We're Young (#40)

29. Ne-Yo - Let Me Love You (#23)

30. Megan & Liz - Bad for Me (#30)

31. Ellie Goulding - Anything Could Happen (#41)

32. Rihanna - Diamonds (#26)

33. Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble (DEBUT)

34. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (#20)

35. Emeli Sande - Next to Me (#31)

36. Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe (#32)

37. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#29)

38. Cher Lloyd - Want U Back (#36)

39. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#33)

40. Usher - Numb (#42)

41. Adele - Skyfall (#45)

42. Martin Solveig - The Night Out (#44)

43. Ed Sheeran - The A Team (#43)

44. Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (#10)

45. Alex Clare - Too Close (#25)

Biggest DDDDRRRROOOOPPPP…..of the week: Taylor Swift – We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (-33)

Biggest Jump of the Week: Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks (+20)

Our only new song this week comes courtesy of Ms. Biggest DDDDRRRROOOOPPPP herself, Taylor Swift.  I flew in the face of music critics everywhere (to the extent that everyone is a critic….) by giving a seal of approval to We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.  I give no such approval to I Knew You Were Trouble.  This one’s fresh out of the “waste of space” department.

Blurbisms

- Quite the short tenure for R.I.P., though I suppose not surprisingly so.

- Kudos to the voters this week.  After getting their first sniff of Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks on the countdown, they properly launched it up 20 spots the following week.  All goes according to plan.

- Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen – Good Time has now been #1 six times, which is not a record.  However, it has now had 4 separate non-consecutive stints at #1, which is a record.

- It’s a long shot, but One Direction – Kiss You has a chance to break the record for fewest weeks on the countdown before hitting #1.

- Hooray for Ellie Goulding – Anything Could Happen breaking out of the bottom 5!

- I know, I know….I’m much fewer fascinating than usual this week.  Sorry.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) Ke$ha – Die Young

2) Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks

3) Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G – Oath

4) Ellie Goulding – Anything Could Happen

5) Josh Baze – She’s Gold

fun. (3) - Week of November 24th, 2012

I hope that everyone had a happy holiday!  Spyder Harrison had the weekend off, and it was none other than Ke$ha herself hosting the Thanksgiving weekend countdown.  Before we get on to this week’s Fresh 45, here’s a list of all the songs we’re saying good-bye to this week.

• Taio Cruz - Fast Car
• BoysLikeGirls - Be Your Everything
• Karmin - Hello

The Countdown:

1. fun. - Some Nights (#4) [Third Week at #1]

2. Ke$ha - Die Young (#3)

3. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#2)

4. Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time (#1)

5. Imagine Dragons - It's Time (#6)

6. Pink - Blow Me (One Last Kiss) (#8)

7. PSY - Gangnam Style (#34)

8. Ellie Goulding- Lights (#10)

9. Flo Rida - I Cry (#7)

10. Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (#5)

11. Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams - Finally Found You (#9)

12. Bridgit Mendler - Ready or Not (#24)

13. Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven (#11)

14. OneRepublic - Feel Again (#15)

15. Pitbull - Don't Stop The Party (#31)

16. One Direction - Kiss You (#40)

17. Nicki Minaj - Va Va Voom (#18)

18. JTX - Seven Day Weekend (#35)

19. Timomatic - Set It Off (#23)

20. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (#19)

21. Sam and the Womp - Bom Bom (#16)

22. Lumineers - Ho Hey (#21)

23. Ne-Yo - Let Me Love You (#13)

24. Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G - Oath (#22)

25. Alex Clare - Too Close (#12)

26. Rihanna - Diamonds (#20)

27. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#28)

28. Rudimental Ft. John Newman - Feel the Love (#27)

29. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#26)

30. Megan & Liz - Bad for Me (#32)

31. Emeli Sande - Next to Me (#39)

32. Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe (#30)

33. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#17)

34. Rita Ora - R.I.P. (#25)

35. Maroon 5 - Daylight (#33)

36. Cher Lloyd - Want U Back (#36)

37. Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks (DEBUT)

38. Josh Baze - She's Gold (DEBUT)

39. Rolling Stones - Doom and Gloom (DEBUT)

40. One Direction - Live While We're Young (#14)

41. Ellie Goulding - Anything Could Happen (#41)

42. Usher - Numb (#38)

43. Ed Sheeran - The A Team (#45)

44. Martin Solveig - The Night Out (#44)

45. Adele - Skyfall (#37)

Biggest DDDDDDRRRROOOOPPP!!!!!!....of the week: One Direction – Live While We’re Young (-26)

Biggest Jump of the Week: PSY – Gangnam Style (+27)

Our new music this week kicks off with the Rolling Stones.  No joke.  The Rolling freakin’ Stones.  Far be it from me to bad mouth the Rolling Stones, but your daddy’s Rolling Stones, these are not.  Their song, Doom and Gloom, is just so out of place on a Top 45 countdown in the year 2012 that I don’t even know what to make of it.  I like it OK, but let’s be honest…..it has to be one of the best songs ever put out there with a 69-year-old vocalist.  The very fact that Doom and Gloom is something a large amount of people want to hear is impressive.  Rock on, Mick Jagger.  Rock on.

The countdown debut of Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks was long overdue.  Little Talks is a fantastic song that blends a catchy melody with a story of a widow’s struggles after the death of her husband.  It’s the rare countdown song in which there’s much more to it than meets the eye (ear?).  Josh Baze doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page (what a loser!!!).  The lyrics to his song, She’s Gold, can’t even be found easily online (I’ve been trying to find them most of this week, so if anyone has them, step right up).  I heard of him for the first time this past weekend, and I have to say that I’m impressed thus far.  Usually I am not a fan of relative unknown hip hop artists that burst onto the countdown out of nowhere, but this one is doing it for me.  From reading I’ve been doing, MTV seems to think Josh Baze is due for some sort of huge breakout, so maybe this isn’t the last we’ll hear of him either.

Blurbnostics

- The countdown voters echoed my disappointment in Taio Cruz – Fast Car.  It didn’t have the longest of tenures and never really made any waves above the high teens / low twenties.  The next time we hear from Taio Cruz, I hope he has better for us.

- PSY – Gangnam Style has gone schizophrenic on us, being the Biggest Jump of the Week following last week’s titleholder of the Biggest DDDDDRRRROOOPPP!!!!!.....of the week.

- Signs point to Ke$ha – Die Young at #1 at some point in the near future, since everything else in the Top 8 is either stale by now or doesn’t really have that mass appeal “it” factor.

- Hey!  A new high watermark for Imagine Dragons – It’s Time!  The countdown’s “#6 Glass Ceiling” is soooooooo 2010, anyway.

- Three of last week’s four new entrants jumped into the teens this week.  Shockingly, Maroon 5 – Daylight was the straggler.  My money would have been on JTX – Seven Day Weekend.

- Seriously, is Ellie Goulding – Anything Could Happen planning on breaking out of the bottom 10 slots of the countdown anytime?  I’m growing fearful of this one’s underratedness.  It’s a good thing that Hits-1 gave me sole control of the REAL “Top 45 of the Year” rankings*, else songs like this would never get the recognition they deserve.

- No sleep lost over the DTHNOBbing of Karmin – Hello.  That one turned out to be pretty awful.  I was far too lenient on it when it first debuted.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) Ke$ha – Die Young

2) Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks

3) Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G. – Oath

4) Ellie Goulding – Anything Could Happen

5) Josh Baze – She’s Gold

*This is pretty much mostly fake

Owl City (5) - Week of November 17, 2012

Not a ton of moving and shaking going on within the countdown this week, but at least we’ve got a crop of new stuff to attend to.  Before we get on to this week’s Fresh 45, here’s a list of all the songs we’re saying good-bye to this week.

• Katy Perry - Wide Awake
• The Cab - Intoxicated
• Linkin Park - Burn It Down
• Train - 50 Ways to Say Goodbye

The Countdown:

1. Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time (#1) [Fifth Week at #1]

2. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#2)

3. Ke$ha - Die Young (#3)

4. fun. - Some Nights (#4)

5. Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (#7)

6. Imagine Dragons - It's Time (#13)

7. Flo Rida - I Cry (#6)

8. Pink - Blow Me (One Last Kiss) (#5)

9. Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams - Finally Found You (#8)

10. Ellie Goulding- Lights (#9)

11. Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven (#20)

12. Alex Clare - Too Close (#15)

13. Ne-Yo - Let Me Love You (#22)

14. One Direction - Live While We're Young (#12)

15. OneRepublic - Feel Again (#17)

16. Sam and the Womp - Bom Bom (#27)

17. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#11)

18. Nicki Minaj - Va Va Voom (#29)

19. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (#26)

20. Rihanna - Diamonds (#10)

21. Lumineers - Ho Hey (#23)

22. Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G - Oath (#19)

23. Timomatic - Set It Off (#18)

24. Bridgit Mendler - Ready or Not (#21)

25. Rita Ora - R.I.P. (#32)

26. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#37)

27. Rudimental Ft. John Newman - Feel the Love (#25)

28. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#24)

29. Taio Cruz - Fast Car (#16)

30. Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe (#36)

31. Pitbull - Don't Stop The Party (DEBUT)

32. Megan & Liz - Bad for Me (#40)

33. Maroon 5 - Daylight (DEBUT)

34. PSY - Gangnam Style (#14)

35. JTX - Seven Day Weekend (DEBUT)

36. Cher Lloyd - Want U Back (#38)

37. Adele - Skyfall (#28)

38. Usher - Numb (#34)

39. Emeli Sande - Next to Me (#35)

40. One Direction - Kiss You (DEBUT)

41. Ellie Goulding - Anything Could Happen (#39)

42. Karmin - Hello (#42)

43. BoysLikeGirls - Be Your Everything (#30)

44. Martin Solveig - The Night Out (#44)

45. Ed Sheeran - The A Team (#45)

Biggest DDDDDDRRRROOOPPPP!!!!...of the week: PSY – Gangnam Style (-20)

Biggest Jump of the Week: Yikes….tie between Sam and the Womp – Bom Bom, Nicki Minaj – Va Va Voom, and fun. feat Janelle Monae – We Are Young (+11)

We’ll kick off the new entrants with Pitbull – Don’t Stop the Party.  This song made waves for its music video that has been deemed too risqué for the U.K., and has been banned in said nation.  The only redeeming quality of this song is that it’s reasonably catchy the first couple of times you hear it.  Aside from that, it’s unmitigated crap that doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the other new entrants.  Long-time HitBound veteran JTX – Seven Day Weekend hopped onto the countdown this week.  Fans expecting another Love in America are going to be disappointed, but Seven Day Weekend is generally of the same energetic and fun vein.  I expect it’ll be widely liked, provided you can tolerate lyrics like “Life’s a radio, turn it up to ten”.  That said, I’m nowhere near as much of a fan of it now as when I first heard it on HitBound.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my history with Maroon 5, it’s that most of their songs don’t withstand the test of a large number of repeated listens.  There are, of course, exceptions, but generally Maroon 5’s inner mediocrity will generally shine through after one of their songs has been given airtime for a couple months.  It makes their music particularly difficult to review at the start, because admittedly, I can’t remember reacting too negatively initially to most of their music.  It’s gotten even more complex as they’ve ostensibly changed their style a bit over the past year (Moves Like Jagger and Payphone come to mind…with One More Night being more of a lookback to the “old” Maroon 5 sound).  Their new entrant, Daylight, muddles the picture even further.  Like Moves Like Jagger and Payphone, it represents a significant (and positive) divergence from the “hits” that they put out there back in the early-mid aughties.  Recently, Adam Levine’s voice has been used significantly more effectively, and Daylight is no exception.  I’m cautiously stating that I’m a fan of this one for now, with caution stemming from the all-too-possible scenario in which I look back on these words two months from now and say “what the hell was I thinking?”

And finally, we come to One Direction’s fourth countdown song, Kiss You.  After three follow-ups to What Makes You Beautiful, I’m not sure that they’ll ever achieve that height again.  That doesn’t mean that Kiss You isn’t good…in fact my first instinct is that it’s right around the same quality as Live While We’re Young.  It’s likely (but not certain) to get shut out of this year’s Top 45, but fortunately, unlike 2011, we are in the midst of a year where a song on this station can still have its merits while not making that list.

Blurbet Points

- Check out the list of countdown songs.  Anything missing?  You sure?  There’s a certain artist missing whom we haven’t had a countdown without for a long time.  This marks the first week since early May of 2010 that we haven’t had a song by Katy Perry on the countdown.  What a run.

- Imagine Dragons – It’s Time has a new high water mark at #6.  I don’t think we’ll see it ascend any higher, but considering it was off the countdown completely, this is a pleasant development.

- The top 4 songs all stayed the same for the first time in who-knows-how-long.

- A month ago, Train – 50 Ways to Say Goodbye was ranked #6, and I let out a plea for that song to get the hell out of here, fast.  4 weeks later, it’s gone completely as its stock fell faster than Facebook’s after its IPO (topical!).

- I don’t think Adele – Skyfall will be on the countdown very much longer.  I saw the movie last night and was, as expected, perfectly happy with the opening credits video.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) Ke$ha – Die Young

2) Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G – Oath

3) Ellie Goulding – Anything Could Happen

4) Maroon 5 – Daylight

5) Imagine Dragons – It’s Time

Owl City (4) - Week of November 10, 2012

Just in the nick of time…….before we get on to this week’s Fresh 45, here’s a list of all the songs we’re saying good-bye to this week.

• Allstar Weekend - Life As We Know It
• Kelly Clarkson - Dark Side
• Flo Rida - Let It Roll
• Matchbox Twenty - She's So Mean

The Countdown:

1. Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time (#1) [Fourth Week at #1]

2. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#2) 

3. Ke$ha - Die Young (#14)

4. fun. - Some Nights (#4)

5. Pink - Blow Me (One Last Kiss) (#7)

6. Flo Rida - I Cry (#8)

7. Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (#5)

8. Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams - Finally Found You (#10)

9. Ellie Goulding- Lights (#9)

10. Rihanna - Diamonds (#16)

11. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#6)

12. One Direction - Live While We're Young (#11)

13. Imagine Dragons - It's Time (#17)

14. PSY - Gangnam Style (#3)

15. Alex Clare - Too Close (#13)

16. Taio Cruz - Fast Car (#18)

17. OneRepublic - Feel Again (#15)

18. Timomatic - Set It Off (#20)

19. Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G - Oath (#23)

20. Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven (#24)

21. Bridgit Mendler - Ready or Not (#19)

22. Ne-Yo - Let Me Love You (#22)

23. Lumineers - Ho Hey (#30)

24. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#24)

25. Rudimental Ft. John Newman - Feel the Love (#26)

26. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (#33)

27. Sam and the Womp - Bom Bom (#35)

28. Adele - Skyfall (#27)

29. Nicki Minaj - Va Va Voom (DEBUT)

30. BoysLikeGirls - Be Your Everything (#32)

31. Katy Perry- Wide Awake (#31)

32. Rita Ora - R.I.P. (DEBUT)

33. The Cab - Intoxicated (#21)

34. Usher - Numb (#12)

35. Emeli Sande - Next to Me (#34)

36. Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe (#29)

37. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#41)

38. Cher Lloyd - Want U Back (#38)

39. Ellie Goulding - Anything Could Happen (DEBUT)

40. Megan & Liz - Bad for Me (DEBUT)

41. Linkin Park- Burn It Down (#37)

42. Karmin - Hello (#42)

43. Train - 50 Ways to Say Goodbye (#39)

44. Martin Solveig - The Night Out (#40)

45. Ed Sheeran - The A Team (#43)

Biggest DDDDDRRRRROOOOPPPP!!!...of the week: Usher – Numb (-22)

Biggest Jump of the Week: Ke$ha – Die Young (+11)

Sometimes this job can be really difficult (woe is me) in that I have to review songs with less than a week’s notice.  A lot of songs wind up bunched in the middle because I haven’t given them enough spins for Judgement Day to really take place.  This week was particularly tough, as four female artists debuted with a song this week, and at first they were really close in quality….I couldn’t separate them.  The fortunate thing about not getting this recap together until Friday is that I’ve had a lot of time to mash the repeat button to fully form my opinions.  So, I present this countdown’s much-needed new blood that it hasn’t seen in a couple weeks now in ascending order of quality.

Think what you will about Nicki Minaj, she has the ability to produce some songs that are truly infectious.  My favorite, of course, is Super Bass.  However, when she falls short of greatness, it’s typically easy to move on from, and that’s what Va Va Voom is.  It’s interesting enough at first, but there’s not enough there to keep you wanting to hear it for months.  We’ll lump this one into the Starships category and move on.  Cool?  Cool.

I had never heard of Rita Ora before this summer, but I was truly delighted when she came out with the incredibly stupid How We Do.  The fun thing about spending this much time recapping pop music is that you are allowed to love songs that are hysterically terribly written, and that’s exactly my feelings on How We Do.  R.I.P., Rita Ora’s new single, kept the terrible lyrics but isn’t anywhere near as hooking.  That said, I don’t really dislike listening to it that much.  There’s worse stuff out there.

Long-time Hit-Bound veteran Megan & Liz – Bad For Me finally made its countdown debut.  Bad for Me furthers the theme of most countdown songs that I like in the 2^nd half of 2012 being guilty-pleasure types.  It’s a delightful little melody that doesn’t wow anyone, but has a good enough chorus to stick as an above-average countdown song.

The more I listened to these four songs, however, the more I realized that the clear flag-carrier was Ellie Goulding – Anything Could Happen.  Maybe it’s because the other three songs are completely terribly written, maybe it’s because my wife and I agree on a song we like for a change, or maybe it’s just because this tune is best at withstanding the tests of time of repetition (which I assure you I have put it through), but I’m calling it the best debut of the week, and superior to the infinitely more popular Lights

Bluuuuuuuuuuuuurbs

- Apparently HitBound just wasn’t able to let Megan & Liz – Bad for Me go.  Despite its countdown debut, it aired on Hit-Bound anyway (and not during one of the three moments in which Hit-Bound STOPS!....to play this moment’s most wutchuwanted song).  As far as I can tell, this is a first.

- Ke$ha – Die Young finally made its big move this week, jumping up to #3 after waiting in the weeds in the teens for about a month.

- Interestingly, Die Young swapped places with the song I thought would hit #1 this week, PSY – Gangnam Style.  Gangnam Style is out of the Top 10, down to #14.

- Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen – Good Time is doing a fantastic job of illustrating the countdown’s propensity to keep songs at #1 long after I’m done with them.  But don’t get me wrong, I’m not going back on my assessment of Good Time, like I did on One More Night.

- Rihanna – Diamonds in the top 10?  Already?  For realz?

- Sam and the Womp – Bom Bom ascended into the Top 30 for the first time, which will surely piss off a lot of people.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) Ke$ha – Die Young

2) Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G – Oath

3) Imagine Dragons – It’s Time

4) Ellie Goulding – Anything Could Happen

5) BoysLikeGirls – Be Your Everything