fun. (2) - Week of April 21, 2012

We’ve got loads of craziness to attend to, so let’s jump right in.  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:

•          The All American Rejects – Beekeeper's Daughter
•          David Guetta Ft. Usher – Without You
•          Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa Ft. Bruno Mars – Young, Wild & Free (DTHNOBx2)
•          Pitbull Ft. Chris Brown – International Love
•          Childish Gambino – Heartbeat
•          Coldplay Ft. Rihanna – Princess of China (DTHNOBx2)

The Countdown:

1. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#2)

2. One Direction- What Makes You Beautiful (#3)

3. Train- Drive By (#4)

4. The Wanted- Glad You Came (#11)

5. Kelly Clarkson- Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) (#1)

6. Flo Rida Ft. Sia - Wild Ones (#5)

7. Adele - Set Fire to the Rain (#8)

8. B.O.B. - So Good (#21)

9. Katy Perry - Part of Me (#6)

10. Gotye feat. Kimbra- Somebody That I Used to Know (#16)

11. September- Party in My Head (#23)

12. The Cab- La La (#22)

13. Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe (DEBUT)

14. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#18)

15. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#20)

16. Chris Rene- Young Homie (#29)

17. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (DEBUT)

18. Nicki Minaj- Starships (#13)

19. Andy Grammer- Fine By Me (#32)

20. Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull- Dance Again (#17)

21. Adele- Rumour Has It (#30)

22. Calvin Harris- Feel So Close (#19)

23. Hot Chelle Rae- Honestly (#26)

24. Taylor Swift- Eyes Open (#28)

25. K'naan feat. Nelly Furtado- Is Anybody Out There? (#27)

26. The All-American Rejects- Walk Over Me (DEBUT)

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

28. Cher Lloyd feat. Astro- Want U Back (DEBUT)

29. Gym Class Heroes feat. Ryan Tedder- The Fighter (DEBUT)

30. Gavin DeGraw- Not Over You (#36)

31. Justin Bieber- Boyfriend (#15)

32. Jessie J- Domino (#40)

33. Lucas Prata feat. Lenny B- First Night of My Life (#25)

34. Outasight- Tonight Is the Night (#12)

35. Flo Rida- Good Feeling (#31)

36. Hot Chelle Rae feat. New Boyz- I Like It Like That (#44)

37. Skrillex feat. Sirah- Bangarang (#14)

38. Adele- Someone Like You (#42)

39. David Guetta feat. Sia- Titanium (DEBUT)

40. The Black Keys- Lonely Boy (#38)

41. Gym Class Heroes feat. Neon Hitch- Ass Back Home (#9)

42. M83- Midnight City (#10)

43. Chiddy Bang- Ray Charles (#39)

44. Grouplove- Tongue Tied (#24)

45. Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris- We Found Love (#33)

Biggest DDDRRROOOOOOPPP!!!!.....of the week: Tie between Gym Class Heroes Ft. Neon Hitch – Ass Back Home and M83 – Midnight City (-32)

Biggest Jump of the Week: Tie between B.O.B. – So Good, Chris Rene – Young Homie, and Andy Grammer – Fine By Me (+13)

After reading all of the above, I know what you’re thinking.  This week sucked pretty bad.  After all, those exits are collectively pretty good, and Midnight City dropped to the Bottom 5 the week right after first cracking the Top 10.

This puts a lot of pressure on the new entrants, and they did not disappoint.  On average, the 6 newbies are pretty strong, including 2 absolute powerhouses, both of which are deserving of their own paragraph.  Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe debuted after spending a week or two too long on Hit-Bound.  That’s not the shocking part.  The shocking part is that it’s #13.  Wow.  That’s probably a record for highest debut ever on the countdown.  I haven’t progressed to “addict” status regarding to this song like some that I’ve talked to about it, but it’s good, and the hype is justified.  Popularity gets a boost from the video made by Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez to this song.

Welp, there it is.  Maroon 5 can no longer be dismissed as mediocre and uninteresting.  After their breakout hit, Moves Like Jagger, they teamed up with Wiz Khalifa to produce Payphone, which is every bit as good, if not better.  Similar to Call Me Maybe, it debuted insanely high on the countdown, up at #17.  Adam Levine deserves all the credit in the world for taking this formerly stale band, who very recently produced average-y hits like Misery, and Give a Little More, and turning their music into something that you actually can justify listening to on repeat.  

I am probably higher than the average person on Cher Lloyd – Want You Back, but I can’t help it….the pacing of that song is too perfect for it to not be catchy.  Adele - Rolling In the Deep is the only song made in the past few years surpassing it in the general rhythm/pacing department.  The All-American Rejects – Walk Over Me is stylistically different from their recent DTHNOB, Beekeeper’s Daughter, but unfortunately, it’s not really any better.  I feel like this is a band that is losing their edge a little bit.  Lead singer Tyson Ritter has never really had that great of a voice, but the group has been able to produce melodies where it could be tolerable, or even effective (Swing, Swing, Gives You Hell).  Lately, that has not been the case.

Gym Class Heroes Ft. Ryan Tedder – The Fighter is probably the 2^nd worst new entrant, but it’s a significant step up from Walk Over Me.  I feel like this one is going to be easy-ish to get sick of, and it’s ceiling isn’t really that high, but for now, it’s OK.  Finally, we have David Guetta Ft. Sia – Titanium, which could be considered the best new entrant most weeks, but this week it’s a clear 3^rd or 4^th.  Sia’s voice sounds great in the chorus.

Train – Drive By is getting pretty close to that #1 slot, eh?   It might break through, but more likely, it’ll stick around in limbo between the 2-5 slots for a bit, similar to its predecessor, Hey, Soul Sister.

Gonna cut it off here, as I’ve already passed the nonexistent word limit for this installment.

Editor’s Picks: Top 5 Songs

1) Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know

2) Taylor Swift – Eyes Open

3) M83 – Midnight City

4) Maroon 5 Ft. Wiz Khalifa – Payphone

5) Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe