One Direction (3) - Week of March 31, 2012

Sorry about that post from Sunday......someone must have hacked my account.

Been waiting for awhile for one of these.  It’s…….PURGE TIME.  With apologies to Selena Gomez for lumping her song into this group, we’re clearing out a fair amount of crap.  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 (DTHNOBx2)
•          Katy Perry – The One That Got Away
•          Selena Gomez & the Scene – Love You Like a Love Song
•          Foster the People – Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls) (DTHNOBx3)
•          Mac Miller – Knock Knock
•          LMFAO – Sorry for Party Rocking

The Countdown: (Source: Wikipedia)

1. One Direction- What Makes You Beautiful (#1) [Third Week at #1]

2. David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj- Turn Me On (#11)

3. Kelly Clarkson- Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) (#3)

4. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#6)

5. Adele- Set Fire to the Rain (#5)

6. Flo Rida feat. Sia- Wild Ones (#15)

7. Gavin DeGraw- Not Over You (#8)

8. The Wanted- Glad You Came (#9)

9. Katy Perry- Part of Me (#7)

10. Gym Class Heroes feat. Neon Hitch- Ass Back Home (#13)

11. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#16)

12. Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris- We Found Love (#4)

13. Skrillex feat. Sirah- Bangarang (#20)

14. Lucas Prata feat. Lenny B- First Night of My Life (#23)

15. The Cab- La La (#12)

16. B.o.B- So Good (#29)

17. The All-American Rejects- Beekeeper's Daughter (#24)

18. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#25)

19. Flo Rida- Good Feeling (#2)

20. Train- Drive By (#30)

21. September- Party in My Head (#41) 

22. Grouplove- Tongue Tied (#14)

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

24. Gotye feat. Kimbra- Somebody That I Used to Know (#22)

25. K'naan feat. Nelly Furtado- Is Anybody Out There? (#31)

26. M83- Midnight City (#26)

27. Nicki Minaj- Starships (#21)

28. Hot Chelle Rae- Honestly (#28)

29. Chiddy Bang- Ray Charles (#27)

30. The Black Keys- Lonely Boy (#18)

31. Childish Gambino- Heartbeat (#19)

32. Taylor Swift- Eyes Open (DEBUT)

33. Gym Class Heroes feat. Adam Levine- Stereo Hearts (#39)

34. Adele- Someone Like You (#38)

35. Justin Bieber- Boyfriend (DEBUT)

36. Andy Grammer- Fine By Me (DEBUT)

37. David Guetta feat. Usher- Without You (#35)

38. Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa feat. Bruno Mars- Young, Wild & Free (RE-ENTRY)

39. Jessie J- Domino (RE-ENTRY)

40. Chris Rene- Young Homie (DEBUT)

41. Calvin Harris- Feel So Close (#17)

42. Hot Chelle Rae feat. New Boyz- I Like It Like That (#42)

43. Pitbull feat. Chris Brown- International Love (#37)

44. Toby Keith- Red Solo Cup (#44)

45. Coldplay & Rihanna- Princess of China (#33)

Biggest DDDDDDDRRRRROOOOPPPPP!!!!!!!!!.....of the week: Calvin Harris – Feel So Close (-24)

Biggest Jump of the Week: September – Party in My Head (+20)

These DTHNOBs are truly exciting.  It Will Rain and Knock Knock have been two of the very worst songs on the countdown for the last couple of months.  While I’ll miss the beat of Sorry for Party Rocking, everything else about that song is pure essence of “suck”.  We’re talking about the first week since early May 2011 where we don’t have an LMFAO song on the countdown.  Let’s try to keep those celebration parties in the streets under control.

Only 4 new entrants this week because this was probably the best week in history for resurrections, bringing back both Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa Ft. Bruno Mars – Young, Wild & Free and Jessie J – Domino.  Both of these were longtime “Editor’s Picks” on this blog, and while Domino has sort of wore out its luster with an extended stay in the upper half of the countdown, Young, Wild & Free never really got its due, and I’m hoping that this re-entry is more than just a dead cat bounce.  I’m surprised it came back because that song has not really had any regular air time during the week, and the weekend countdown was really the only time it was getting any spins.

Alright, now let’s kick it off with the purely new stuff.  The first time I heard Taylor Swift – Eyes Open was on Hits-1 in the middle of last week.  My original take was to lump it into the same blob of mediocrity that a lot of her songs fall into, but then I learned it was on the soundtrack for The Hunger Games and re-listened to it.  The lyrics go so well with the movie that I can’t help but really like it now.  Justin Bieber – Boyfriend is a bad song.  Definitely his worst one to hit the countdown, and I’m not wasting any more text on it.

Andy Grammer’s music is decidedly mediocre and flavorless.  It’s the kind of stuff you don’t really mind listening to while you’re shopping for groceries or in a waiting room or riding in an elevator, but when it comes on the radio, you just think, “Ugh, it’s gonna be about 4-ish minutes before I can potentially listen to something entertaining again.”  His new song is no exception, and if we never saw him on the countdown again, it’d be Fine By Me.  Probably the best new entrant is Chris Rene – Young Homie.  I feel like there’s a good chance I’m going to be higher on it in the future than I am after the first few listens.

Rihanna Ft. Calvin Harris – We Found Love dropped out of the top 10 for the first time since mid-December, while One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful held down the top spot for the 3^rd week in a row.  Just two more reasons that this week was an excellent one for the countdown.

Two more blurbs.  I’m still getting very concerned about the lack of mid-week spins of M83 – Midnight City, because that’s the best indicator of an imminent countdown exit.  On the flip side, I feel like Flo Rida Ft. Sia – Wild Ones is a pretty good song, as detailed on the week it debuted.  However I’m not sure there’s any song that has been played more frequently on Hits-1 over the past month.  They are literally beating it to death.  I don’t want to hear it anymore.  Must be a Flo Rida thing, because Good Feeling was spun flagrantly often as well 1-2 months ago.  Glad to see that one accompanied We Found Love in its dip out of the top 10.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) M83 – Midnight City

2) Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa Ft. Bruno Mars – Young, Wild & Free

3) Gotye – Somebody I Used to Know

4) Pitbull Ft. Chris Brown – International Love

5) Taylor Swift – Eyes Open