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

Welp.  Spyder Harrison got over K’Naan – Hurt Me Tomorrow.  His new favorite song is PSY – Gangnam Style.  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.

• Cobra Starship - #1Nite
• Katy Perry - Part of Me (DTHNOBx2)
• One Direction - One Thing
• Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know
• We Are the In Crowd ft. Alex Gaskarth - Kiss Me Again

The Countdown: 

1. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (#3) [Third Week at #1]

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

3. fun. - Some Nights (#12)

4. Katy Perry- Wide Awake (#2)

5. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#5)

6. Demi Lovato- Give Your Heart a Break (#4)

7. Matchbox Twenty - She's So Mean (#7)

8. Flo Rida- Whistle (#8)

9. Ellie Goulding- Lights (#9)

10. Nicki Minaj - Pound the Alarm (#13)

11. Linkin Park- Burn It Down (#10)

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

13. Timomatic - Set It Off (#20)

14. Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe (#15)

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

16. Kelly Clarkson - Dark Side (#11)

17. Olly Murs Ft. Chiddy Bang - Heart Skips a Beat (#24)

18. Train - 50 Ways to Say Goodbye (#14)

19. Rudimental Ft. John Newman - Feel the Love (#19)

20. Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (#17)

21. will.i.am - This Is Love (#22)

22. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#19)

23. David Guetta feat. Sia- Titanium (#33)

24. The Cab - Intoxicated (#23)

25. Karmin - Hello (#27)

26. Allstar Weekend - Life As We Know It (#28)

27. PSY - Gangnam Style (#38)

28. One Direction- What Makes You Beautiful (#30)

29. Martin Solveig - The Night Out (#29)

30. OneRepublic - Feel Again (#25)

31. Conor Maynard - Vegas Girl (#21)

32. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#39)

33. Cher Lloyd- Want U Back (#34)

34. Flo Rida feat. Sia- Wild Ones (#42)

35. Ed Sheeran - The A Team (#32)

36. Nicki Minaj- Starships (#31)

37. Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up (#35)

38. Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams - Finally Found You (DEBUT)

39. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#40)

40. Usher - Numb (DEBUT)

41. One Direction - Live While We're Young (DEBUT)

42. Alex Clare- Too Close (#43)

43. Gym Class Heroes feat. Ryan Tedder- The Fighter (RE-ENTRY)

44. Imagine Dragons - It's Time (#41)

45. The Wanted- Chasing the Sun (RE-ENTRY)

Biggest DDDDRRRROOPPPP!!!!!....of the week: Conor Maynard – Vegas Girl (-10)

Biggest Jump of the Week: PSY – Gangnam Style (+11)

We’re limited to three new entrants, as we’re welcoming back The Wanted – Chasing the Sun and Gym Class Heroes Ft. Ryan Tedder – The Fighter.  Luckily, they’re quality new entrants, beginning with Usher – Numb.  This is the type of Usher song that I like best.  Usher has considerable vocal talent, and a song like Numb really puts that on showcase, as opposed to songs like the significantly weaker DJ Got Us Falling In Love.  Combining this song and Scream, Usher has done his part to boost the quality of the countdown this year.

One Direction lost one countdown song this week, but picked up another in Live While We’re Young.  It’s significantly less awesome than What Makes You Beautiful, and slightly less so than One Thing, making it a decent addition, but nothing to write home about.  I am typically not a fan of Enrique Iglesias’s recent music.  I was lukewarm on I Like It and most certainly did not care for Tonight I’m Loving You or Dirty Dancer.  However, Finally Found You (ft. Sammy Adams) has put him in my good graces a bit.  It’s certainly the best he’s put out there in recent memory.  There’s nothing genius about Enrique Iglesias…..my appreciation of the song is purely melody-driven.

As evidenced by the size of this week’s Biggest DDDDRRRROOPPPP!!!!! and Biggest Jump, there wasn’t a whole lot of moving and shaking on the countdown this week.  fun. – Some Nights rebounded back up to #3, making me wonder once again whether it has a shot at the top spot.  Pink – Blow Me (One Last Kiss) fell out of the Top 10.  Neon Trees – Everybody Talks held on to its random post-peak #5 ranking for some reason.  Besides that, not a whole lot notable went down.  Sorry.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1. Usher – Numb

2) Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen – Good Time

3) Imagine Dragons – It’s Time

4) Jason Mraz – I Won’t Give Up

5) Ed Sheeran – The A Team

Owl City - Week of September 15, 2012

Today dies a true disaster of a song.  I am surely hopeful that everyone is able to decipher for themselves which of the two below I am referring 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.

• Marina and the Diamonds - Primadonna
• Gym Class Heroes Ft. Ryan Tedder - The Fighter

The Countdown:

1. Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time (#2) [First Week at #1]

2. Katy Perry- Wide Awake (#7)

3. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (#1)

4. Demi Lovato- Give Your Heart a Break (#5)

5. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#23)

6. Pink - Blow Me (One Last Kiss) (#3)

7. Matchbox Twenty - She's So Mean (#12)

8. Flo Rida- Whistle (#8)

9. Ellie Goulding- Lights (#15)

10. Linkin Park- Burn It Down (#6)

11. Kelly Clarkson - Dark Side (#9)

12. fun. - Some Nights (#4)

13. Nicki Minaj - Pound the Alarm (#14)

14. Train - 50 Ways to Say Goodbye (#10)

15. Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe (#11)

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

17. Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (#19)

18. Rudimental Ft. John Newman - Feel the Love (#24)

19. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#21)

20. Timomatic - Set It Off (#20)

21. Conor Maynard - Vegas Girl (#25)

22. will.i.am - This Is Love (#26)

23. The Cab - Intoxicated (#34)

24. Olly Murs Ft. Chiddy Bang - Heart Skips a Beat (#18)

25. OneRepublic - Feel Again (#32)

26. Cobra Starship - #1Nite (#22)

27. Karmin - Hello (#37)

28. Allstar Weekend - Life As We Know It (#40)

29. Martin Solveig - The Night Out (#29)

30. One Direction- What Makes You Beautiful (#27)

31. Nicki Minaj- Starships (#35)

32. Ed Sheeran - The A Team (#30)

33. David Guetta feat. Sia- Titanium (#31)

34. Cher Lloyd- Want U Back (#13)

35. Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up (#42)

36. Katy Perry - Part of Me (#41)

37. Gotye feat. Kimbra- Somebody That I Used to Know (#38)

38. PSY - Gangnam Style (DEBUT)

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

40. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#17)

41. Imagine Dragons - It's Time (RE-ENTRY)

42. Flo Rida feat. Sia- Wild Ones (#39)

43. Alex Clare- Too Close (#44)

44. One Direction- One Thing (#43)

45. We Are the In Crowd feat. Alex Gaskarth- Kiss Me Again (#28)

Biggest DDDDRRRROOOPPPP!!!!!!....of the week: Karmin – Brokenhearted (-23)

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

Yeah.  You read the Biggest Jump of the Week correctly.  This countdown can be really random with regards to its treatment of over-the-hill songs.  Everybody Talks is at #5.  What?

A warm welcome back to Imgaine Dragons – It’s Time.  Stay as long as you like, old friend.  I wonder how much of its resurrection had to do with its appearance on the season premiere of Glee.  My guess is that a lot of mainstreamers were previously unaware of this song.

Though we got rid of one total catastrophe, we may have another on our hands in the form of PSY – Gangnam Style.  The South Korean satire is fast becoming ubiquitous.  I was pretty repulsed by it at first listen.  It had a weird, addictive quality for the next couple, but I can safely say that after 5 listens, I’m finished with it.  It might help if I was fluent in Korean (and yes, I have googled the song meaning), but I’m not, and so all that’s left is an intermittently catchy trainwreck of gibberish that’s bailed out somewhat by an entertaining music video.

I’ve read a few scathing criticisms (not directed at me or my personal rating) of this week’s new #1 song, Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen – Good Time.  The best criticism you can make is “dumb lyrics blah blah blah”.  I guess my only reply to why I don’t let that stifle my appreciation for Good Time is…well….look at this list of 45 songs.  Find me 5 that you appreciate because of genius songwriting.  Go ahead.  I’ll wait.  I’ll even give you the first two.  Ed Sheeran – The A Team and fun. – Some Nights.  Bottom line is, this isn’t my favorite genre of music….but since I’m here, I’ll appreciate it for why it’s typically even useful in the first place, and that’s sound first, meaning second.  Few songs will put me in as good a mood as Good Time.  It’s the same reason I loved Fireflies and the reason everyone else loves Call Me Maybe.

I’m anxious for the Hit-Bound bubble to burst.  We need an infusion of new good songs, and for the first time in months, Hit-Bound is waiting and ready to oblige.  Let’s hope the correct songs are picked to graduate.

Edtior’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen – Good Time

2) Ed Sheeran – The A Team

3) Imagine Dragons – It’s Time

4) Jason Mraz – I Won’t Give Up

5) Pink – Blow Me (One Last Kiss)

Maroon 5 (2) - Week of September 8, 2012

I’m thinking next week is when we’ll finally get some much needed winners in the “DEBUT” department.  However, for now, it is what it is.  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.

• K'Naan - Hurt Me Tomorrow *
• Stefano - I'm On a Roll
• The Wanted - Chasing the Sun
• Grouplove - Tongue Tied
• Usher - Scream

*Spyder Harrison was notably sad at announcing the DTHNOBbing of this song….saying it was his “favorite song” while getting fake-choked-up about it.  He then wished that it would be voted back on next week.  I found this interesting because it was the first time I’ve heard him voice any sort of preference for a given song on the countdown.  Come to think of it, he gets subjected to this stuff probably more than I do.  He must really hate some of these songs without ever being able to say so on the air.

The Countdown:

1. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (#1) [Second Week at #1]

2. Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time (#3)

3. Pink - Blow Me (One Last Kiss) (#2)

4. fun. - Some Nights (#8)

5. Demi Lovato- Give Your Heart a Break (#11)

6. Linkin Park- Burn It Down (#6)

7. Katy Perry- Wide Awake (#7)

8. Flo Rida- Whistle (#12)

9. Kelly Clarkson - Dark Side (#13)

10. Train - 50 Ways to Say Goodbye (#17)

11. Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe (#21)

12. Matchbox Twenty - She's So Mean (#15)

13. Cher Lloyd- Want U Back (#9)

14. Nicki Minaj - Pound the Alarm (#18)

15. Ellie Goulding- Lights (#4)

16. Ne-Yo - Let Me Love You (#35)

17. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#5)

18. Olly Murs Ft. Chiddy Bang - Heart Skips a Beat (#14)

19. Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (#19)

20. Timomatic - Set It Off (#33)

21. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#22)

22. Cobra Starship - #1Nite (#16)

23. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#30)

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

25. Conor Maynard - Vegas Girl (#29)

26. will.i.am - This Is Love (#43)

27. One Direction- What Makes You Beautiful (#32)

28. We Are the In Crowd feat. Alex Gaskarth- Kiss Me Again (#24)

29. Martin Solveig - The Night Out (#31)

30. Ed Sheeran - The A Team (#26)

31. David Guetta feat. Sia- Titanium (#10)

32. OneRepublic - Feel Again (DEBUT)

33. Marina & the Diamonds - Primadonna (#25)

34. The Cab - Intoxicated (DEBUT)

35. Nicki Minaj- Starships (#39)

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

37. Karmin - Hello (DEBUT)

38. Gotye feat. Kimbra- Somebody That I Used to Know (#34)

39. Flo Rida feat. Sia- Wild Ones (#41)

40. Allstar Weekend - Life As We Know It (DEBUT)

41. Katy Perry - Part of Me (#38)

42. Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up (DEBUT)

43. One Direction- One Thing (#44)

44. Alex Clare- Too Close (#42)

45. Gym Class Heroes feat. Ryan Tedder- The Fighter (#28)

Biggest DDDRRRROOOOPPPP!!!!....of the week: David Guetta Ft. Sia – Titanium (-21)

Biggest Jump of the Week: Ne-Yo – Let Me Love You (+19)

Alright, let’s get this over with.  Would it kill OneRepublic to produce something interesting one of these days?  Somebody clearly likes them, because they appear frequently on this countdown, and their songs typically have an extended stay in the Top 5.  I just don’t get what the fuss is about.  While not as typically lethargic as your run-of-the-mill OneRepublic song, Feel Again is pretty disinteresting aside from the more energetic pace.  I don’t mind Ryan Tedder’s voice.  I think he’s downright excellent in Gym Class Heroes – The Fighter and Far East Movement – Rocketeer.  I just don’t care for OneRepublic’s general brand of song production.  Elevator music.

The Cab refused to quit while they were ahead after La La, so they decided to release Intoxicated.  Sometimes when you’re ahead, though, you keep winning, and they did.  My biggest scare upon seeing a song from The Cab on Hit-Bound was that it would emulate the lazy pacing of Bad, but fortunately, it’s energetic, like La La, and the melody works well with the lyrics behind it.  At first I was pretty weirded out by Amy Heidemann’s rapping in Karmin – Hello, but after a couple listens I changed my tune and decided I liked it.  I’ll admit that my desire to listen to Hello far exceeds the song’s quality.

Allstar Weekend – Life As We Know It is one of the most generic, boring songs that I’ve ever had the displeasure of being subjected to.  Melodically, vocally, and lyrically (outside from a few “meh” pop culture references), it’s a pure snoozer.  The only thing that might prevent it from attaining Bottom-5-of-the-Year status is that it’s not particularly offensive in any way aside from being a waste of time.  Given his fame level, it’s a little surprising that this is the first time I’ve seen Jason Mraz on this countdown since I started following it several years ago.  His song, I Won’t Give Up, is a refreshing divergence from your standard countdown song, as it takes up its post as the resident slow song on the countdown.  I think it’s probably the best of the new entrants, though certainly not the catchiest.

fun. – Some Nights appears to be making a play for a future #1 bid, while Kelly Clarkson – Dark Side enters the Top 10 for the first time.  Other than that, not a lot of significant moving and shaking this week.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen – Good Time

2) Ed Sheeran – The A Team

3) Pink – Blow Me (One Last Kiss)

4) Maroon 5 – One More Night

5) Jason Mraz – I Won’t Give Up

Maroon 5 - Week of September 1, 2012

Heh.  Um…so….maybe that window wasn’t slammed shut after all.  Some sort of shenanigans must have happened, since I’m never wrong.  But in any case, congratulations to Maroon 5 – Payphone for finally attaining that #1 bid that it’s deserved for months.  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.

• Calvin Harris Ft. Ne-Yo - Let's Go
• Havana Brown Ft. Pitbull - We Run the Night
• Imagine Dragons - It's Time

The Countdown:

1. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (#6) [First Week at #1]

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

3. Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time (#2)

4. Ellie Goulding- Lights (#3)

5. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#4)

6. Linkin Park- Burn It Down (#7)

7. Katy Perry- Wide Awake (#1)

8. fun. - Some Nights (#14)

9. Cher Lloyd- Want U Back (#10)

10. David Guetta feat. Sia- Titanium (#9)

11. Demi Lovato- Give Your Heart a Break (#18)

12. Flo Rida- Whistle (#5)

13. Kelly Clarkson - Dark Side (#22)

14. Olly Murs Ft. Chiddy Bang - Heart Skips a Beat (#17)

15. Matchbox Twenty - She's So Mean (#20)

16. Cobra Starship - #1Nite (#11)

17. Train - 50 Ways to Say Goodbye (#12)

18. Nicki Minaj - Pound the Alarm (#15)

19. Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (#34)

20. K'Naan - Hurt Me Tomorrow (#21)

21. Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe (#13)

22. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#16)

23. Rudimental Ft. John Newman - Feel the Love (#35)

24. We Are the In Crowd feat. Alex Gaskarth- Kiss Me Again (#24)

25. Marina & the Diamonds - Primadonna (#30)

26. Ed Sheeran - The A Team (#26)

27. Stefano - I'm on a Roll (#25)

28. Gym Class Heroes feat. Ryan Tedder- The Fighter (#33)

29. Conor Maynard - Vegas Girl (#32)

30. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#31)

31. Martin Solveig - The Night Out (#39)

32. One Direction- What Makes You Beautiful (#40)

33. Timomatic - Set It Off (DEBUT)

34. Gotye feat. Kimbra- Somebody That I Used to Know (#38)

35. Ne-Yo - Let Me Love You (DEBUT)

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

37. The Wanted- Chasing the Sun (#21)

38. Katy Perry - Part of Me (#36)

39. Nicki Minaj- Starships (#42)

40. Grouplove- Tongue Tied (#41)

41. Flo Rida feat. Sia- Wild Ones (#37)

42. Alex Clare- Too Close (#43)

43. will.i.am - This Is Love (DEBUT)

44. One Direction- One Thing (#28)

45. Usher- Scream (#27)

Biggest DDDDRROOOPPPP!!!!!!....of the week: Usher – Scream (-18)

Biggest Jump of the Week: Taylor Swift – We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (+15)

Let’s Go got DTHNOBbed from the #23 slot.  A reminder that few songs are ever really safe from getting banished.

Three new entrants to speak about this week, though I sadly don’t have anything terribly interesting to contribute on this subject, in no small part because the songs didn’t exactly meet me halfway.  It should shock no one that will.i.am – This Is Love is pretty much on par with a Black Eyed Peas song in every respect.  There’s some decent (synthesized) instrumentals in a couple parts of the song, but other than that, it’s pretty worthless.  At first I hated Ne-Yo – Let Me Love You, but it grew on me a little bit.  However, it’s still not all that interesting.  Girl’s never been loved before, so please let this guy love you, save you from not loving yourself, etc etc etc.  Average singing, average melody.  That someone whose name is Tim would make his stage name “Timomatic” raises red flags about said artist’s creativity.  Unfortunately, Set It Off lends credence to those red flags.  It’s not that there’s anything particularly wrong with it….it’s a perfectly okay dance song.  The problem is that songs like Set It Off are a dime a dozen in pop music, and there’s nothing that really separates it from the pack.  Maybe I need to give it more time, but this isn’t the type of song that takes more than 2 listens to fully appreciate.

Despite the continuing disappointment from the new entrants week-in and week-out, this is one hell of a Top 5.  In addition to Payphone re-joining, Pink – Blow Me (One Last Kiss) jumped in as well to contest Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen – Good Time for a future #1 bid.  No matter who wins, we all win.

There’s a couple good tunes on Hit-Bound right now, so maybe the blahhhhh new music will take a turn for the better one of these weeks.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen – Good Time

2) Ed Sheeran – The A Team

3) Pink – Blow Me (One Last Kiss)

4) Maroon 5 – One More Night

5) Kelly Clarkson – Dark Side (the winner of this week’s random decent song contest)