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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