Adele - Week of February 25, 2012

This is probably the most excited I’ve ever been to recap a week on the countdown, as the de-terriblizing of the top 10 continues.  We also got a very shocking and incredibly pleasant DTHNOBbing of one of the previous regime’s chief offenders.  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.

• Bruno Mars – It Will Rain (!!!!)
• Foster the People – Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls) (DTHNOBx2)
• Breathe Carolina – Blackout
• Sean Kingston – Party All Night

The Countdown: (Source: Wikipedia)


1. Adele- Set Fire to the Rain (#2) [New #1]
2. Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris- We Found Love (#5)
3. One Direction- What Makes You Beautiful (#12)
4. Gym Class Heroes feat. Adam Levine- Stereo Hearts (#9)
5. Kelly Clarkson- Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) (#16)
6. David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj- Turn Me On (#7)
7. Jessie J- Domino (#4)
8. Gavin DeGraw- Not Over You (#11)
9. Flo Rida- Good Feeling (#1)
10. Outasight- Tonight Is the Night (#10)
11. Pitbull feat. Chris Brown- International Love (#21)
12. Katy Perry- Part of Me (#32) 
13. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#18)
14. Big Time Rush feat. Mann- Music Sounds Better With U (#14)
15. LMFAO- Sexy and I Know It (#3)
16. Skrillex feat. Sirah- Bangarang (#28)
17. Childish Gambino- Heartbeat (#15)
18. The All-American Rejects- Beekeeper's Daughter (#26)
19. Lucas Prata feat. Lenny B- First Night of My Life (#36)
20. The Black Keys- Lonely Boy (#13)
21. Flo Rida feat. Sia- Wild Ones (#31)
22. Hot Chelle Rae feat. New Boyz- I Like It Like That (#6)
23. Mac Miller- Knock Knock (#25)
24. Train- Drive By (#24)
25. The Wanted- Glad You Came (#17)
26. Gotye feat. Kimbra- Somebody That I Used to Know (#39)
27. Chiddy Bang- Ray Charles (#19)
28. The Cab- La La (#30)
29. Coldplay & Rihanna- Princess of China (#27)
30. Selena Gomez & the Scene- Love You Like a Love Song (#38)
31. Gym Class Heroes feat. Neon Hitch- Ass Back Home (#40)
32. Adele- Someone Like You (#37)
33. LMFAO- Sorry for Party Rocking (#34)
34. Grouplove- Tongue Tied (DEBUT)
35. Cobra Starship feat. Sabi- You Make Me Feel... (#29)
36. Katy Perry- The One That Got Away (#8)
37. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (DEBUT)
38. David Guetta feat. Usher- Without You (#23)
39. M83- Midnight City (DEBUT)
40. Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera- Moves Like Jagger (#20)
41. Matt & Kim feat. Soulja Boy & Andrew W.K.- I'm a Goner (#43)
42. K'naan feat. Nelly Furtado- Is Anybody Out There? (DEBUT)
43. Toby Keith- Red Solo Cup (#33)
44. Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa feat. Bruno Mars- Young, Wild & Free (#44)
45. The Fray- Heartbeat (#45)



Biggest DDDDRRRRROOOOPPP!!!!!!!!!......of the week: Katy Perry – The One That Got Away (-28)
Biggest Jump of the Week: Katy Perry – Part of Me (+20)

I will gladly stomach the (admittedly, overdue) loss of dearly beloved Blackout to get rid of It Will Rain and make room for this week’s class of new entrants, which marks the 4th consecutive week that no bad songs have entered the countdown.  That’s how you get improvement, baby.  To wit, long-time Hit-Bound veteran Grouplove – Tongue Tied, better known as “that song from the iPod Touch commercial” is probably the worst song to enter the countdown during February, and it’s actually decent-ish.  Going straight from high school to the NBA this week is Neon Trees – Everybody Talks, their best entry since Animal.  K’Naan Ft. Nelly Furtado – Is Anybody Out There features a pretty solid performance from Nelly Furtado.  The verses done by K’Naan are less good, but not bad.  From that song pattern/quality perspective, it kind of reminds me a lot of Gym Class Heroes Ft. Neon Hitch – Ass Back Home.  And finally, the big victory this week is the debut of M83 – Midnight City, which is probably the best song to debut so far this year.  It definitely doesn’t project as a #1, but I urge anyone who hasn’t heard this song before to give it a spin.

As alluded to above, the Top 10 got a bit of a welcome makeover this week.  Gone are losers Hot Chelle Rae - I Like It Like That and LMFAO - Sexy And I Know It along with overrated mediocrity Katy Perry - The One That Got Away.  Enter Gavin DeGraw - Not Over You, Kelly Clarkson – Stronger, and most delightfully and surprisingly of all, One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful.  I never pegged this for being a Top-5 song, as it’s floated around in the low teens for awhile.  It possibly got a boost from finally making itself available on iTunes in the past couple of weeks.

It’s no secret that I’ve been very dissatisfied by the pretty bad (by comparison) rotating cast of #1s that have inherited the top spot on the countdown lately.  The fact that Stereo Hearts was somehow able to top the countdown a record-tying 7 times is pretty indicative of the weakness of the competition.  True, Flo Rida – Good Feeling, Rihanna Ft. Calvin Harris – We Found Love, David Guetta Ft. Usher – Turn Me On, Katy Perry – The One That Got Away, Selena Gomez – Love You Like a Love Song and Adele – Someone Like You aren’t all bad songs, and a couple of them are downright decent.  But none of them hold a candle to songs like Tik Tok, Dynamite, Break Your Heart, Last Friday Night, Firework, Rolling in the Deep, Love the Way You Lie, etc, which not only held on to the top spot for at least about a month or so, but are all pretty damned good.  At the very least, the next class of #1s (Kelly Clarkson – Stronger, Katy Perry – Part of Me, Pitbull Ft. Chris Brown – International Love, and possibly David Guetta Ft. Nicki Minaj – Turn Me On [I might have to back off my prior prediction on that one simply because better competition has emerged in recent weeks]) should be an upgrade, and hopefully a sign of better things to come.

I used to have to struggle to find 5 songs that I like enough to put in my “Editor’s Picks”, but I’m happy to say that the new problem is narrowing it down.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs
M83 – Midnight City
Gotye – Somebody I Used to Know
Snoop Dogg Ft. Wiz Khalifa & Bruno Mars – Young Wild & Free
Pitbull Ft. Chris Brown – International Love
One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful

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Flo Rida (2) - Week of February 18, 2012

Just two weeks after I was starting to completely lose all hope in this countdown, we're looking like we might be on the verge of another golden age.  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:

• Lady Gaga - You and I (DTHNOBx2)
• Kdrew - Body and Soul
• Kelly Clarkson - Mr. Know It All

The Countdown: (Source: Wikipedia)


1. Flo Rida- Good Feeling (#1) [Second Week at #1]
2. Adele- Set Fire to the Rain (#2)
3. LMFAO- Sexy and I Know It (#3)
4. Jessie J- Domino (#8)
5. Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris- We Found Love (#5)
6. Hot Chelle Rae feat. New Boyz- I Like It Like That (#9)
7. David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj- Turn Me On (#7)
8. Katy Perry- The One That Got Away (#4)
9. Gym Class Heroes feat. Adam Levine- Stereo Hearts (#15)
10. Outasight- Tonight Is the Night (#10)
11. Gavin DeGraw- Not Over You (#13)
12. One Direction- What Makes You Beautiful (#14)
13. The Black Keys- Lonely Boy (#20)
14. Big Time Rush feat. Mann- Music Sounds Better With U (#16)
15. Childish Gambino- Heartbeat (#19)
16. Kelly Clarkson- Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) (#22)
17. The Wanted- Glad You Came (#21)
18. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#38)
19. Chiddy Bang- Ray Charles (#25)
20. Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera- Moves Like Jagger (#6)
21. Pitbull feat. Chris Brown- International Love (#33)
22. Bruno Mars- It Will Rain (#12)
23. David Guetta feat. Usher- Without You (#17)
24. Train- Drive By (#26)
25. Mac Miller- Knock Knock (#39)
26. All-American Rejects- Beekeeper's Daughter (#42)
27. Coldplay & Rihanna- Princess of China (#31)
28. Skrillex feat. Sirah- Bangarang (#37)
29. Cobra Starship feat. Sabi- You Make Me Feel... (#11)
30. The Cab- La La (#44)
31. Flo Rida feat. Sia- Wild Ones (#29)
32. Katy Perry- Part of Me (DEBUT)
33. Toby Keith- Red Solo Cup (#28)
34. LMFAO- Sorry for Party Rocking (#35)
35. Foster the People- Don't Stop (Color on the Walls) (#32)
36. Lucas Prata feat. Lenny B- First Night of My Life (DEBUT)
37. Adele- Someone Like You (#18)
38. Selena Gomez & the Scene- Love You Like a Love Song (#34)
39. Gotye feat. Kimbra- Somebody That I Used to Know (DEBUT)
40. Gym Class Heroes feat. Neon Hitch- Ass Back Home (#27)
41. Breathe Carolina- Blackout (#36)
42. Sean Kingston- Party All Night (Sleep All Day) (#23)
43. Matt & Kim feat. Soulja Boy & Andrew W.K.- I'm a Goner (#30)
44. Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa feat. Bruno Mars- Young, Wild & Free (#43)
45. The Fray- Heartbeat (#24)


Biggest DDDDRRRRRROOOOOOPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!........of the week: The Fray - Heartbeat (-21)
Biggest Jump of the Week: f.u.n. Ft. Janelle Monae - We Are Young (+20)

Totally undeservedly, we see Body and Soul tie the record for most hysterically short tenure on the countdown, at one week.  That was worth the eight or so weeks that it occupied a coveted spot on Hit-Bound, right?  We'll see if it never comes back, a la Kid Cudi - Erase Me, or has an extended-stay resurrection similar to Foster the People - Don't Stop.  

Checking out the new entrants, starting with the most ubiquitous.  Katy Perry's fairly uncomfortable-to-watch revenge on Russell Brand at the Grammys in the form of Part of Me had about as much subtlety to it as the Emergency Alert System siren.  Since it's a Katy Perry song, I'm obligated to inform you that the song definitely has #1 potential, whether it's #1 quality or not.  Meh.  At least it's better than The One That Got Away.  Lucas Prata - First Night of My Life is an energetic, decent song that fits in nicely with the solid debuts we've had lately, not really in a standout fashion in any way.  Finally, Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know jumped on, and it's a real winner in my book.  Kind of an unconventional, weirdly catchy tune, a la Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks.  The trippy music video has become quite popular on YouTube.

So Flo Rida was able to hold off Adele - Set Fire to the Rain for another week.  Nothing outstandingly interesting really went on besides our entrants and exits.  The most notable development was Jessie J - Domino leaping into the top 5 for the first time, and deservedly so.  With the exception of the dearly departed Body and Soul most of last week's new entrants got the traditional second-week boost and had solid jumps.  Here's hoping their predecessors are ushered out quickly and the solid talents lurking on Hit-Bound join them soon.

I've been a little too upbeat lately, so here are names of songs that suck, in no particular order:
1) Rihanna Ft. Calvin Harris - We Found Love
2) LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It
3) Bruno Mars - It Will Rain
4) Mac Miller - Knock Knock
5) LMFAO - Sorry for Party Rocking

Ahhhhhhhhhh that felt good.


Editor's Picks: Top 5 Songs
Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa Ft. Bruno Mars - Young, Wild & Free
Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know
Skrillex - Bangarang
Pitbull Ft. Chris Brown - International Love
Flo Rida Ft. Sia - Wild Ones

Flo Rida - Week of February 11, 2012

Purge time!  A few of these were overdue for a swift DTHNOB to the face, so let's clean some house.  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.

• Nicki Minaj - Super Bass
• Cobra Starship - Fool Like Me
• Young the Giant - Cough Syrup
• Nicole Scherzinger - Don't Hold Your Breath (DTHNOBx2)
• The Downtown Fiction - Thanks for Nothing
• The Cab - Bad
• Kelly Rowland Ft. Big Sean - Lay It on Me

The Countdown: (Source: Wikipedia)

1. Flo Rida- Good Feeling (#7) [New #1] 

2. Adele- Set Fire to the Rain (#20) 

3. LMFAO- Sexy and I Know It (#3) 

4. Katy Perry- The One That Got Away (#12) 

5. Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris- We Found Love (#9) 

6. Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera- Moves Like Jagger (#2) 

7. David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj- Turn Me On (#21) 

8. Jessie J- Domino (#8) 

9. Hot Chelle Rae feat. New Boyz- I Like It Like That (#13) 

10. Outasight- Tonight Is the Night (#10) 

11. Cobra Starship feat. Sabi- You Make Me Feel... (#5) 

12. Bruno Mars- It Will Rain (#6) 

13. Gavin DeGraw- Not Over You (#17) 

14. One Direction- What Makes You Beautiful (#15) 

15. Gym Class Heroes feat. Adam Levine- Stereo Hearts (#14) 

16. Big Time Rush feat. Mann- Music Sounds Better With U (#32) 

17. David Guetta feat. Usher- Without You (#1) 

18. Adele- Someone Like You (#4) 

19. Childish Gambino- Heartbeat (#23) 

20. The Black Keys- Lonely Boy (#22) 

21. The Wanted- Glad You Came (#18) 

22. Kelly Clarkson- Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) (#25) 

23. Sean Kingston- Party All Night (Sleep All Day) (#16) 

24. The Fray- Heartbeat (#28) 

25. Chiddy Bang- Ray Charles (#27) 

26. Train- Drive By (#33) 

27. Gym Class Heroes feat. Neon Hitch- Ass Back Home (#42) 

28. Toby Keith- Red Solo Cup (#30) 

29. Flo Rida feat. Sia- Wild Ones (DEBUT) 

30. Matt & Kim feat. Soulja Boy & Andrew W.K.- I'm a Goner (#24) 

31. Coldplay & Rihanna- Princess of China (#31) 

32. Foster the People- Don't Stop (Color on the Walls) (#26) 

33. Pitbull feat. Chris Brown- International Love (DEBUT) 

34. Selena Gomez & the Scene- Love You Like a Love Song (#19) 

35. LMFAO- Sorry for Party Rocking (#36) 

36. Breathe Carolina- Blackout (#11)

37. Skrillex feat. Sirah- Bangarang (DEBUT) 

38. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (DEBUT) 

39. Mac Miller- Knock Knock (#34) 

40. Lady Gaga- You and I (#40) 

41. KDrew- Body & Soul (She Got Control) (DEBUT) 

42. All-American Rejects- Beekeeper's Daughter (DEBUT) 

43. Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa feat. Bruno Mars- Young, Wild & Free (#43) 

44. The Cab- La La (DEBUT) 

45. Kelly Clarkson- Mr. Know It All (#44) 

Biggest DDDDDRRRROOOOOPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!..........of the week: Breathe Carolina - Blackout (-25)

Biggest Jump of the week: Adele - Set Fire to the Rain (+18)

I haven't done an "obituaries" section in awhile, but I have some parting words for these songs.  Super Bass, you were awesome.  I have no idea how you found yourself in this position when you were #3 just two weeks ago.  Fool Like Me, you never got your due, and you are doomed to forever be lost in the shuffle of significantly inferior Cobra Starship songs.  Bad, you should have had a bullet point next to your name two months ago instead of a single digit.  And finally, Lay It on Me, you were every bit as unworthy of a spot on the countdown as this quick exit suggests.  

With 7 debuts this week, I'm a busy man.  Let's get started with the rundown.  The highest debut was Flo Rida Ft. Sia - Wild Ones, clocking in at #29.  Personally I think this song trumps Good Feeling in pretty much every respect, but I'm probably not going to be in the majority there.  Sia is pretty good in this song, and Flo Rida turns in his best performance since Club Can't Handle Me.  Pitbull Ft. Chris Brown - International Love is the second song to enter the countdown in 2 weeks with strong #1 potential, and is the more deserving of the two.  Pitbull is a little better than his usual self, while Chris Brown steals the show and makes the song really worth listening to.

Pete Wentz declared Skrillex to be the breakthrough artist of 2011.  I'm not sure about that, and I'm sure there's going to be some seriously polarized opinions of his debuting countdown song, Bangarang.  I don't think I could compare it to any song I've ever heard before.  I'm in the camp that likes it a good deal, but man, is it weird.  Guess this is the new direction of electronic dance music.  f.u.n. Ft. Janelle Monae - We Are Young is a nice song with a particularly good chorus.  Been on Hit-Bound for a little while, and happy to see it finally made the jump.  Longtime Hit-Bound veteran KDrew - Body and Soul finally debuted this week.  At first I wasn't the biggest fan of this song, but it's definitely grown on me.  KDrew sounds a bit like a Michael Jackson wannabe more than once.  Despite overall being a fan of the All-American Rejects, I have to rank Beekeeper's Daughter last in this class of new entrants.  However it's a surprisingly strong class, so that's not really much of an insult.  The final new entrant is The Cab - La La.  I was definitely turned off by Bad, but this song has much better pacing and energy, and it works.

Whew.

This week Flo Rida - Good Feeling continued the trend of a rotating cast of not-really-deserving #1 songs simply because there's not a great alternative out there.  As I predicted/alluded to last week, Adele - Set Fire to the Rain made the big jump to the top 5 this week, and that's my pick for next week's likely #1 song.  Also, my prediction regarding David Guetta Ft. Nicki Minaj - Turn Me On as a potential #1 gained a lot of momentum this week, as it jumped 14 spots to #7.

A couple of decent talents waiting in the wings on Hit-Bound, most notably M83 - Midnight City and second-most-notably Demi Lovato - Give Your Heart a Break.  I'm pulling very hard for Midnight City to make the countdown just so it becomes eligible for my Top 45 of 2012, because if it does, it already has a pretty good spot locked up on that list.

Based on listening during the week, I expect a decent amount of turnover on next week's countdown.  Look for Katy Perry - Part of Me to go straight from high school to the NBA next week, while Lucas Prada - First Night of My Life and Andy Grammer - Fine By Me are likely Hit-Bound graduates.  Those three songs are listed in order of debut likelihood, with the first being a lock.

Editor's Picks - Top 5 Songs

Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa Ft. Bruno Mars - Young, Wild & Free

Skrillex - Bangarang

Jessie J - Domino

Pitbull Ft. Chris Brown - International Love

One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful

David Guetta (3) - Week of February 4, 2012

There were a lot of facepalms surrounding this week's Top 5.  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:

• Bush - The Sound of Winter
• Lady Gaga - Marry the Night

The Countdown: (Source: Wikipedia)

1. David Guetta feat. Usher- Without You (#7) [Third Week at #1]

2. Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera- Moves Like Jagger (#13)

3. LMFAO- Sexy and I Know It (#41) 

4. Adele- Someone Like You (#8)

5. Cobra Starship feat. Sabi- You Make Me Feel... (#43)

6. Bruno Mars- It Will Rain (#2)

7. Flo Rida- Good Feeling (#23)

8. Jessie J- Domino (#11)

9. Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris- We Found Love (#5)

10. Outasight- Tonight Is the Night (#17)

11. Breathe Carolina- Blackout (#6)

12. Katy Perry- The One That Got Away (#4)

13. Hot Chelle Rae feat. New Boyz- I Like It Like That (#12)

14. Gym Class Heroes feat. Adam Levine- Stereo Hearts (#1)

15. One Direction- What Makes You Beautiful (#15)

16. Sean Kingston- Party All Night (Sleep All Day) (#14)

17. Gavin DeGraw- Not Over You (#10)

18. The Wanted- Glad You Came (#19)

19. Selena Gomez & the Scene- Love You Like a Love Song (#9)

20. Adele- Set Fire to the Rain (#18)

21. David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj- Turn Me On (#29)

22. The Black Keys- Lonely Boy (#20)

23. Childish Gambino- Heartbeat (#21)

24. Matt & Kim feat. Soulja Boy & Andrew W.K.- I'm a Goner (#26)

25. Kelly Clarkson- Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) (DEBUT)

26. Foster the People- Don't Stop (Color on the Walls) (#22)

27. Chiddy Bang- Ray Charles (#25)

28. The Fray- Heartbeat (#16)

29. Kelly Rowland feat. Big Sean- Lay It on Me (#36)

30. Toby Keith- Red Solo Cup (#28)

31. Coldplay & Rihanna- Princess of China (#34)

32. Big Time Rush feat. Mann- Music Sounds Better With U (#38)

33. Train- Drive By (#24)

34. Mac Miller- Knock Knock (#31)

35. The Cab- Bad (#33)

36. LMFAO- Sorry for Party Rocking (#27)

37. The Downtown Fiction- Thanks for Nothing (#35)

38. Nicole Scherzinger- Don't Hold Your Breath (#30)

39. Young the Giant- Cough Syrup (#44)

40. Lady Gaga- You and I (#32)

41. Gym Class Heroes feat. Neon Hitch- Ass Back Home (DEBUT)

42. Cobra Starship feat. Plastiscines- Fool Like Me (#37)

43. Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa feat. Bruno Mars- Young, Wild & Free (#39)

44. Kelly Clarkson- Mr. Know It All (#42)

45. Nicki Minaj- Super Bass (#3)

Biggest DDDDDRRRROOOOOPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!.........of the week: Nicki Minaj - Super Bass (-42)

Biggest Jump of the week: Tie between Cobra Starship - You Make Me Feel and LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It (+38)

I'll briefly discuss the new entrants first, but that's only out of habit and not because it's the real meat of what happened this week.  Gym Class Heroes Ft. Neon Hitch - Ass Back Home debuted.  Similar to Stereo Hearts, it's a catchy chorus sung by a non-member of Gym Class Heroes intermixed with significantly worse verses, courtesy of Travie McCoy's standard flavor.  Only the gap between the two is even more severe than Stereo Hearts, and not in a good way.  Kelly Clarkson - Stronger may indeed be the sure-fire #1-potential new entrant the countdown hasn't seen in a long time, debuting all the way up at #25.  Originally known for being lip-synched by Chris Berman to sell Toyotas, it's almost certainly overrated, but the countdown has seen far worse songs hit the top spot.

Alright, now for the elephant in the room.  It was interesting to listen to this week's countdown.  I started listening somewhere around #20 (and was aware of the bottom 5 songs as well), and by the time Bruno Mars - It Will Rain played at #6, all 5 of last week's Top 5 had been accounted for.  This made me excited for some new blood at the top of the countdown, because other than David Guetta Ft. Usher - Without You, Maroon 5 Ft. Christina Aguilera - Moves Like Jagger, and Adele - Someone Like You, all of the usual suspects had already been accounted for.  Even Adele - Set Fire to the Rain, the song apparently most on the cusp of making the jump to the countdown's elite, had already been played at #20.  So just imagine my delight when I discovered that the two "mystery songs" were a totally random comeback from the decisively mediocre Cobra Starship - You Make Me Feel and the never-even-been-in-the-top-5-before-and-never-should-have-been LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It, each jumping 38 spots on the countdown.  In addition to that making no sense, it did a successful job at making me very, very angry.  What a great week.

Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa Ft. Bruno Mars - Young, Wild & Free was listed as the #4 most downloaded song in that mini-segment last week, so here's hoping that it's just going to be a late bloomer.

Oh yeah, and really?  I was plenty aware that Nicki Minaj - Super Bass didn't really need to be in the Top 5 anymore, but why did it get blasted all the way down to the bottom spot on the countdown so quickly?

Editor's Picks - Top 5 Songs

Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa Ft. Bruno Mars - Young, Wild & Free 

Jessie J - Domino 

One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful

Cobra Starship- Fool Like Me 

Big Time Rush Ft. Mann - Music Sounds Better With U

Gym Class Heroes (7) - Week of January 28, 2012

Wow.  I guess the countdown was so desperate to keep Bruno Mars - It Will Rain out of the top spot that it yanked a past-it's-prime song all the way up from the low-20's to block it.  Before we get on to this week's miraculous Fresh-45, here's a list of all the songs we're saying good-bye to this week.

• Lenny Kravitz - Stand
• The Script - Nothing

The Countdown: (Source: Wikipedia)


1. Gym Class Heroes feat. Adam Levine- Stereo Hearts (#22) [Seventh Week at #1]
2. Bruno Mars- It Will Rain (#2)
3. Nicki Minaj- Super Bass (#8)
4. Katy Perry- The One That Got Away (#9)
5. Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris- We Found Love (#5)
6. Breathe Carolina- Blackout (#21)
7. David Guetta feat. Usher- Without You (#1)
8. Adele- Someone Like You (#33)
9. Selena Gomez & the Scene- Love You Like a Love Song (#7)
10. Gavin DeGraw- Not Over You (#14)
11. Jessie J- Domino (#11)
12. Hot Chelle Rae - I Like It Like That (#6)
13. Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera- Moves Like Jagger (#4)
14. Sean Kingston- Party All Night (Sleep All Day) (#24)
15. One Direction- What Makes You Beautiful (#13)
16. The Fray- Heartbeat (#12)
17. Outasight- Tonight Is the Night (#18)
18. Adele- Set Fire to the Rain (#16)
19. The Wanted- Glad You Came (#17)
20. The Black Keys- Lonely Boy (#41)
21. Childish Gambino- Heartbeat (#34)
22. Foster the People feat. Cee Lo Green - Don't Stop (Color on the Walls) (#31)
23. Flo Rida feat. David Guetta and Adele - Good Feeling (#3)
24. Train- Drive By (#19)
25. Chiddy Bang- Ray Charles (#20)
26. Matt & Kim feat. Soulja Boy & Andrew W.K.- I'm a Goner (#25)
27. LMFAO- Sorry for Party Rocking (#28)
28. Toby Keith- Red Solo Cup (#39)
29. David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj- Turn Me On (#36)
30. Nicole Scherzinger- Don't Hold Your Breath (#15)
31. Mac Miller- Knock Knock (#42)
32. Lady Gaga- You and I (#45)
33. The Cab- Bad (#10)
34. Coldplay & Rihanna- Princess of China (#32)
35. The Downtown Fiction- Thanks for Nothing (#23)
36. Kelly Rowland - Lay It on Me (DEBUT)
37. Cobra Starship feat. Plastiscines- Fool Like Me (#29)
38. Big Time Rush - Music Sounds Better With U (DEBUT)
39. Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa feat. Bruno Mars- Young, Wild & Free (#38)
40. Bush- The Sound of Winter (#35)
41. LMFAO- Sexy and I Know It (#40)
42. Kelly Clarkson- Mr. Know It All (#30)
43. Cobra Starship - You Make Me Feel... (#44)
44. Young the Giant- Cough Syrup (#27)
45. Lady Gaga- Marry the Night (#26)


#1 song, 1 year ago this week: Katy Perry - Firework  (glad to see this previously discontinued tradition is back!)
Biggest DDDDDRRRRROOOOOPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!.......of the week: The Cab - Bad (-23)
Biggest Jump of the week: Adele - Someone Like You (+25) (side note: Seriously….again??? What is going on here?)

Kicking it off with our new entrants….Kelly Rowland - Lay It On Me isn't bad the first couple of times you hear it, but there's really not a lot of hidden value there.  I'm already sick of it, and it's only been about 5 days since it really entered the Hits-1 regular playlist.  Very similar song to Nicole Scherzinger - Right There.  The other new entrant, Big Time Rush - Music Sounds Better With U is much better.  The lyrics sound like they were written by a 16 year-old (which I guess makes sense), but whatever, it sounds good.

So Stereo Hearts randomly hits #1 for the 7th time over a month after it was last in the top spot.  It obviously doesn't belong there anymore, but I'll take it.  Here's hoping It Will Rain drops a spot or two next week so that we don't have to keep sweating this out.

And in other news….Nicki Minaj - Super Bass is up to #3 now???  What in the world is going on here?  It topped out at #6 a long time ago, the week of November 12th.  What is it doing up here?  It was in my Top 10 of 2011, so I can't say I'm disappointed.  Just a little confused.

Given the alternatives, I'll happily welcome back Breathe Carolina - Blackout into the top 10.  Gavin DeGraw - Not Over You is a welcome addition as well.  As of now the countdown is still waiting for a new entrant that's a sure-fire future #1 song.  There really isn't anything around that looks like it'll just take the world by storm.  Next week I'm near-positive we'll see Kelly Clarkson - Stronger make it's debut on the countdown, as it's been played quite a bit this week.  Maybe that will fill the void, for better or for worse.

I'm starting to come around on Childish Gambino - Heartbeat.  Originally I didn't like it much, but I feel like I didn't really give it that much of a chance.  I'm now pulling for it to move on up the charts.

Editor's Picks - Top 5 songs
Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa Ft. Bruno Mars - Young, Wild & Free
Jessie J - Domino
Bush - The Sound of Winter
One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful
Cobra Starship- Fool Like Me