Maroon 5 (2) - Week of October 27, 2012

Today we send a fond farewell to a song that lasted on the countdown for almost exactly 11 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.

• One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful
• Nicki Minaj - Pound the Alarm

The Countdown:

1. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#2) [Second Week at #1]

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

3. fun. - Some Nights (#4)

4. Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (#3)

5. Ellie Goulding- Lights (#8)

6. PSY - Gangnam Style (#7)

7. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#13)

8. Flo Rida - I Cry (#43)

9. Pink - Blow Me (One Last Kiss) (#15)

10. Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams - Finally Found You (#9)

11. Imagine Dragons - It's Time (#10)

12. Usher - Numb (#14)

13. One Direction - Live While We're Young (#11)

14. Rihanna - Diamonds (#34)

15. Ke$ha - Die Young (#19)

16. Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven (#18)

17. Bridgit Mendler - Ready or Not (#32)

18. Taio Cruz - Fast Car (#22)

19. Train - 50 Ways to Say Goodbye (#6)

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

21. OneRepublic - Feel Again (#23)

22. Rudimental Ft. John Newman - Feel the Love (#12)

23. The Cab - Intoxicated (#31)

24. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#26)

25. BoysLikeGirls - Be Your Everything (#42)

26. Timomatic - Set It Off (#20)

27. Adele - Skyfall (#28)

28. Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G - Oath (#37)

29. Linkin Park- Burn It Down (#17)

30. Martin Solveig - The Night Out (#27)

31. Lumineers - Ho Hey (#36)

32. Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe (#35)

33. Alex Clare - Too Close (RE-ENTRY)

34. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (#39)

35. Allstar Weekend - Life As We Know It (#44)

36. Kelly Clarkson - Dark Side (#21)

37. Sam and the Womp - Bom Bom (#38)

38. Emeli Sande - Next to Me (#40)

39. Katy Perry- Wide Awake (#45)

40. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#33)

41. Cher Lloyd - Want U Back (#5)

42. Matchbox Twenty - She's So Mean (#25)

43. Flo Rida - Let It Roll (#30)

44. Ed Sheeran - The A Team (RE-ENTRY)

45. Karmin - Hello (#41)

Biggest DDDDRRRRROOOOPPPPP!!!!....of the week: Cher Lloyd – Want U Back (-36)

Biggest Jump of the Week: Flo Rida – I Cry (+35)

What Makes You Beautiful debuted on the countdown last year in the last week of November.  It was a song I liked very much, and it spent 5 weeks in the top spot.  I can’t say for sure whether it’s the longest tenured song in the history of the countdown (Ke$ha – Tik Tok was pretty close to this duration a couple years back…but I didn’t keep track of such things back then), but one would think it’s damn close.  Kudos to Hits-1 for playing this song before it totally blew up in the U.S….I think it’s safe to say they were this continent’s One Direction pioneers.

No new music this week.  Rather, the voters resurrected Alex Clare – Too Close for some reason.  I can’t be the only person that sees zero appeal in that song, can I?  Also back on the countdown, in a much more welcome fashion, is Ed Sheeran – The A Team.  I can’t imagine this one’s back for long, sadly.

Blurbs & Ends

- I Cry pulled off the Biggest Jump for a countdown song since February.

- Similarly, Want U Back experienced the Biggest DDDDRRRRROOOOPPPPP!!!!....for a countdown song since February.

- In Spyder Harrison’s blurb leading into the song Intoxicated, he said that the lead singer of The Cab, Alexander DeLeon, said that he looks up to and respects Bruno Mars……BECAUSE OF HOW HUMBLE HE IS.  I damn near crashed my car upon hearing that.

- Had I made that post on the Hits-1 Facebook page last week, I would have donated $13 to charity

- Maroon 5 – One More Night has hung around the top of the countdown long enough for me to be irritated by it.  In a way, I’m glad these things happen….it helps me to prevent serious mistakes in my year-end rankings.  However, it’s getting to be about time for this one to go away.  Lesson already learned.

- The two DTHNOBs came from unusually high prior-week-spots on the countdown….#24 and #29.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1. Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G – Oath

2. Ke$ha – Die Young

3. Adele – Skyfall

4. Imagine Dragons – It’s Time

5. Ed Sheeran – The A Team

Owl City (2) - Week of October 20, 2012

Kind of dreading this week’s update….the last time I had this much to do, I was far too stingy with the detail.  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.

• Flo Rida - Whistle
• Nicki Minaj - Starships
• Olly Murs Ft. Chiddy Bang - Heart Skips a Beat
• David Guetta Ft. Sia - Titanium
• Conor Maynard - Vegas Girl
• Alex Clare - Too Close (DTHNOBx2)

The Countdown:

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

2. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#3)

3. Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (#8)

4. fun. - Some Nights (#1)

5. Cher Lloyd - Want U Back (#10)

6. Train - 50 Ways to Say Goodbye (#9)

7. PSY - Gangnam Style (#4)

8. Ellie Goulding- Lights (#7)

9. Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams - Finally Found You (#25)

10. Imagine Dragons - It's Time (#18)

11. One Direction - Live While We're Young (#14)

12. Rudimental Ft. John Newman - Feel the Love (#15)

13. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#11)

14. Usher - Numb (#21)

15. Pink - Blow Me (One Last Kiss) (#5)

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

17. Linkin Park- Burn It Down (#13)

18. Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven (#29)

19. Ke$ha - Die Young (#22)

20. Timomatic - Set It Off (#19)

21. Kelly Clarkson - Dark Side (#20)

22. Taio Cruz - Fast Car (#27)

23. OneRepublic - Feel Again (#24)

24. Nicki Minaj - Pound the Alarm (#17)

25. Matchbox Twenty - She's So Mean (#16)

26. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#12)

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

28. Adele - Skyfall (#43)

29. One Direction- What Makes You Beautiful (#26)

30. Flo Rida - Let It Roll (#23)

31. The Cab - Intoxicated (#37)

32. Bridgit Mendler - Ready or Not (DEBUT)

33. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#41)

34. Rihanna - Diamonds (DEBUT)

35. Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe (#38)

36. Lumineers - Ho Hey (DEBUT)

37. Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G - Oath (#28)

38. Sam and the Womp - Bom Bom (DEBUT)

39. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (#32)

40. Emeli Sande - Next to Me (DEBUT)

41. Karmin - Hello (#30)

42. BoysLikeGirls - Be Your Everything (#34)

43. Flo Rida - I Cry (DEBUT)

44. Allstar Weekend - Life As We Know It (#39)

45. Katy Perry- Wide Awake (#35)

Biggest DDDDDRRRROOOPPP!!!!!.....of the week: Karmin – Brokenhearted (-14)

Biggest Jump of the Week: Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams – Finally Found You (+16)

They emptied out a huge chunk of Hit-Bound this week, as six Hit-Bound veterans were sent to the countdown.  Because it would be such a shame for Flo Rida to have fewer than two songs on the countdown, it was inevitable that we’d see a debut from I Cry this week.  I mentioned this one last week briefly…..I mostly just appreciate it for the bit plagiarized from Bingo Players (thanks to Alex Kimble for the refrerence).  The song from Flo Rida’s perspective is supposed to be an emotional journey into his past, and to his credit, there’s significantly more to the lyrics than typical, but there’s still too many random (well, probably not for him) pop-culture references scattered about for me to really take it all that seriously.  Plus there’s the fact that the verses in all of his songs sound the same.  Oops.

Emeli Sande – Next to Me has been on Hit-Bound since before you were born.  Here’s a few songs that were on the same installment of Hit-Bound as Next to Me: Cobra Starship - #1Nite, Ed Sheeran – The A Team, Marina and the Diamonds – Primadonna, Rihanna – Where Have You Been (all of which have had a full stint on the countdown and have been kicked off already), fun – Some Nights, and Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen – Good Time (both of which have been #1 twice).  This is sadly the most interesting thing I have to say about Next to Me.

Of the 6 new entrants, the one that has grown on me the most since I first heard it is Bridgit Mendler – Ready or Not.  I don’t love it or anything….it’s just another example of catchy song-pacing luring me in.  This is Bridgit Mendler’s first single off of her first ever album.  Rihanna is back with Diamonds.  It’s currently in the “don’t hate” category, which (hey!) puts Diamonds firmly in the top 50% of Rihanna’s countdown songs.  However, a song this repetitive has reasonable chances to fall out of my good graces hard and fast.  Stay tuned!

Sam and the Womp – Bom Bom is one of the weirdest things that I’ve ever heard.  You’re either going to completely loathe it, or find it weirdly (but mildly) addicting.  Oddly, I’m in neither category….but I have a feeling middle ground is going to be hard to come by amongst this song’s evaluators.  Carrying the flag as “best new entrant” amongst this weak class is Lumineers – Ho Hey.  I feel like I could go into detail for awhile about this one, but to be brief, it’s a well-written song with varied pacing that accompanies the lyrics well.

Blurbology

- Cher Lloyd – Want You Back entered the Top 5 and Imagine Dragons – It’s Time entered the Top 10.  Both are new all-time high watermarks for these resurrected songs.

- Also hitting the Top 5 for the first time is Taylor Swift – We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.  I mentioned last week that PSY – Gangnam Style was the favorite for a new #1 to unseat fun. – Some Nights, with We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together being the dark horse.  Looks like the tables may have turned.

- I nearly posted on the Hits-1 Facebook page that I would donate a dollar to charity for every spot that Train – 50 Ways to Say Goodbye dropped this upcoming weekend.  I liked that song OK at first, but due to it getting beat to death, nothing makes me want to change the station faster than hearing those opening mariachi trumpets.  How is this still #6???

- Speaking of wearing out welcomes, Neon Trees – Everybody Talks debuted on February 25^th and is still hanging around the Top 15.  That one’s significantly less annoying, however.

- My Editor’s Picks are unchanged this week due to me not hearing much countdown music over the past week and the unremarkable class of new entrants.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G - Oath

2) Adele – Skyfall

3) Ke$ha – Die Young

4) Imagine Dragons – It’s Time

5) Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams – Finally Found You

fun. (2) - Week of October 13, 2012

My happiness over Flo Rida – Whistle dropping all the way down to #45 seemed to be a bit premature….it seems that there might be some sort of prolonged resurgence in store.  Meh.  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.

• Flo Rida Ft. Sia - Wild Ones
• Ed Sheeran - The A Team
• Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up (DTHNOBx2)

The Countdown:

1. fun. - Some Nights (#1) [Second Week at #1]

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

3. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#3)

4. PSY - Gangnam Style (#5)

5. Pink - Blow Me (One Last Kiss) (#4)

6. Ne-Yo - Let Me Love You (#24)

7. Ellie Goulding- Lights (#6)

8. Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (#9)

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

10. Cher Lloyd - Want U Back (RE-ENTRY)

11. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#8)

12. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#11)

13. Linkin Park- Burn It Down (#21)

14. One Direction - Live While We're Young (#13)

15. Rudimental Ft. John Newman - Feel the Love (#10)

16. Matchbox Twenty - She's So Mean (#17)

17. Nicki Minaj - Pound the Alarm (#7)

18. Imagine Dragons - It's Time (#12)

19. Timomatic - Set It Off (#16)

20. Kelly Clarkson - Dark Side (#33)

21. Usher - Numb (#18)

22. Ke$ha - Die Young (#19)

23. Flo Rida - Let It Roll (#20)

24. OneRepublic - Feel Again (#30)

25. Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams - Finally Found You (#22)

26. One Direction- What Makes You Beautiful (#25)

27. Taio Cruz - Fast Car (#36)

28. Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G - Oath (#39)

29. Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven (DEBUT)

30. Karmin - Hello (#26)

31. Martin Solveig - The Night Out (#27)

32. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (#35)

33. Flo Rida- Whistle (#45)

34. BoysLikeGirls - Be Your Everything (#28)

35. Katy Perry- Wide Awake (#37)

36. Nicki Minaj- Starships (#41)

37. The Cab - Intoxicated (#34)

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

39. Allstar Weekend - Life As We Know It (#42)

40. Olly Murs Ft. Chiddy Bang - Heart Skips a Beat (#29)

41. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#23)

42. David Guetta feat. Sia- Titanium (#43)

43. Adele - Skyfall (DEBUT)

44. Conor Maynard - Vegas Girl (#31)

45. Alex Clare - Too Close (#40)

Biggest DDDRRRRROOOPPP!!!!!....of the week: Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe (-23)

Biggest Jump of the Week: Ne-Yo – Let Me Love You (+18)

Cher Lloyd – Want U Back is back on the countdown after a one week hiatus, leaving us with two new entrants.  We’ve had almost a 7-month long reprieve.  I sincerely hope everyone has enjoyed it.  I am, of course, talking about the duration of time since we last had to put up with Bruno Mars.  That break might have to last us awhile, because he debuted this week with Locked Out of Heaven.  My gut reaction to this one isn’t as strongly negative as others (The Lazy Song and It Will Rain come to mind), probably due to the quicker pace.  I’ll probably have to comment on this in a few weeks, but the fact that I initially also didn’t think Grenade was a total travesty is giving me plenty of caution.

The decision to give Adele the keys to the theme song for the new Bond movie by the same title was a brilliant one.  Her voice and style is perfect for the opening credits of a Bond movie, and the song, Skyfall, should meet the expectations of almost every Bond fan.  Even independent of the Bond style, it’s a pleasurable listen that builds on itself with additional instrumentals (and actually, singers too) as the song progresses.  That latter quality isn’t a sure-fire formula for success (see Rihanna – Where Have You Been for a spectacular counterexample), but it works pretty well, and I’m happy to see Skyfall on the Top 45.

Teh Blurbles

--  So yeah, Cher Lloyd – Want U Back was resurrected…….all the way up at #10.  This is the highest ranking ever for a song on its Re-Entry week. 

-- I was thinking that fun. – Some Nights could find itself entrenched in the top spot for quite some time.  Scanning the Top 10, the only real threat is PSY – Gangnam Style and a very outside chance for Taylor Swift – We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

-- I thoroughly expected Ke$ha – Die Young to have ascended higher by now.  Maybe people aren’t loving this one so much?

-- Ed Sheeran – The A Team lasted on the countdown for just north of 2 months, never cracking the Top 25.

-- I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, but Flo Rida is quickly becoming one of my least favorite artists to see on the countdown.  It seems like whenever his songs are good (Wild Ones, Club Can’t Handle Me), he’s got someone backing him up who makes the song good.  When he rides solo, bad things like Whistle and Let it Roll happen.  He’s got another one on HitBound, I Cry, that I only like for the uncredited woman backing up Flo Rida on the chorus (couldn’t figure out the name easily via Google, so if anyone knows, step right up).

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G – Oath

2) Adele – Skyfall

3) Ke$ha – Die Young

4) Imagine Dragons – It’s Time

5) Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams – Finally Found You

fun. - Week of October 6, 2012

Cher Lloyd guest-hosted the countdown this weekend.  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.

• will.i.am - This Is Love
• Demi Lovato - Give Your Heart a Break
• Gym Class Heroes Ft. Ryan Tedder - The Fighter (DTHNOBx2)
• Cher Lloyd - Want U Back

The Countdown:

1. fun. - Some Nights (#3) [First Week at #1]

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

3. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#1)

4. Pink - Blow Me (One Last Kiss) (#4)

5. PSY - Gangnam Style (#8)

6. Ellie Goulding- Lights (#9)

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

8. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#5)

9. Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (#6)

10. Rudimental Ft. John Newman - Feel the Love (#12)

11. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#44)

12. Imagine Dragons - It's Time (#23)

13. One Direction - Live While We're Young (#17)

14. Train - 50 Ways to Say Goodbye (#13)

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

16. Timomatic - Set It Off (#22)

17. Matchbox Twenty - She's So Mean (#11)

18. Usher - Numb (#24)

19. Ke$ha - Die Young (#31)

20. Flo Rida - Let It Roll (#32)

21. Linkin Park- Burn It Down (#7)

22. Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams - Finally Found You (#28)

23. fun. feat. Janelle Monáe- We Are Young (#15)

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

25. One Direction- What Makes You Beautiful (#37)

26. Karmin - Hello (#18)

27. Martin Solveig - The Night Out (#34)

28. BoysLikeGirls - Be Your Everything (#42)

29. Olly Murs Ft. Chiddy Bang - Heart Skips a Beat (#26)

30. OneRepublic - Feel Again (#25)

31. Conor Maynard - Vegas Girl (#29)

32. Flo Rida feat. Sia- Wild Ones (#45)

33. Kelly Clarkson - Dark Side (#33)

34. The Cab - Intoxicated (#21)

35. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (#19)

36. Taio Cruz - Fast Car (DEBUT)

37. Katy Perry- Wide Awake (#35)

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

39. Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G - Oath (DEBUT)

40. Alex Clare - Too Close (RE-ENTRY)

41. Nicki Minaj- Starships (#38)

42. Allstar Weekend - Life As We Know It (#27)

43. David Guetta feat. Sia- Titanium (#43)

44. Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up (RE-ENTRY)

45. Flo Rida- Whistle (#20)

Biggest DDDDRRRRROOOPPPP!!!!....of the week: Flo Rida – Whistle (-25)

Biggest Jump of the Week: Karmin – Brokenhearted (+33)

Only two new entrants this week, as we saw a welcome resurrection of Jason Mraz – I Won’t Give Up and a less welcome resurrection of Alex Clare – Too Close.  The latter is on the top 5 list of “most downloaded songs”, so it might be around for awhile.  The first new entrant, courtesy of our countdown guest-hostess, is Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G – Oath, and it’s excellent.  It’s a total chick song, and I’m forfeiting my man card (if I still even had one) by saying that, but damn, that chorus / interlude is good.  It helps also that I’m fond of the theme of holding on to good friends despite distance and changing lives.  I feel like most people appreciate that to some degree.  In a world where the follow-up song for a countdown artist’s first single is usually comparatively weak, it’s nice to see Oath completely blow Want U Back out of the water.

Remember the guy who gave us gems such as Break Your Heart, Dynamite, and Higher?  Well Taio Cruz is back on the countdown.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that the song in question, Fast Car, is a disappointment compared to those three.  It’s not a bad song by any means, but I was really looking forward to seeing what Taio Cruz would do next, and I feel let down.  I think where the song went wrong would be the first couple of lines of the chorus when the beat slows to a halt.  It doesn’t fit, and it makes the chorus anticlimactic.

Blurbies

-- Imagine Dragons – It’s Time is all the way back up at #12, which is higher than it ever ascended before it first got kicked off the countdown.  I can’t think of any other songs that have pulled this off besides Bruno Mars – Just the Way You Are

-- PSY – Gangnam Style has a shot to tie Kelly Clarkson – Stronger for fastest ever ascent to #1 (from its debut weekend) should it hit #1 next weekend.

-- Rudimental Ft. John Newman – Feel the Love is one of the Top 10 songs on the continent.  Wow.  What a world we live in.  If you want to be a songwriter for a Top 10 song, you only need to write 21 unique words.  Depending on your feelings for the word “gotta”, none of them need to be more than 4 letters long.  Everyone, quit your jobs.

-- I don’t expect Jason Mraz – I Won’t Give Up to last very long post-resurrection.  I haven’t heard it much during non-countdown airtime, and I was pretty shocked to see it brought back on.  But I’m glad it was.

-- I’ve mentioned this before….I really do like fun. Ft. Janelle Monae – We Are Young, but how the Wutchuwant Crew hasn’t determined that this song is played out by now is beyond me.

-- Probably the thing I’m most excited about this week besides the debut of Oath, the surprising post-DTHNOB rise of It’s Time, and the DTHNOBbing of the indisputably terrible will.i.am - This Is Love is the fact that Flo Rida – Whistle got banished all the way down to the bottom of the countdown.  Good riddance.  DTHNOB, please.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G – Oath

2) Ke$ha – Die Young

3) Imagine Dragons – It’s Time

4) Usher – Numb

5) Jason Mraz – I Won’t Give Up

Maroon 5 - Week of September 29, 2012

No, I am not missing a parenthetical number in that title.  A ton goes down in the craziest countdown week in months.  Huge jumps, huge drops, a mistake by the DJ, a couple interesting debuts, and a totally out-of-nowhere new #1 song.  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.

• Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up
• Alex Clare - Too Close
• The Wanted - Chasing the Sun (DTHNOBx2)

The Countdown:

1. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#22) [First Week at #1]

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

3. fun. - Some Nights (#3)

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

5. Neon Trees- Everybody Talks (#5)

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

7. Linkin Park- Burn It Down (#11)

8. PSY - Gangnam Style (#27)

9. Ellie Goulding- Lights (#9)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

18. Karmin - Hello (#25)

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

20. Flo Rida- Whistle (#8)

21. The Cab - Intoxicated (#24)

22. Timomatic - Set It Off (#13)

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

24. Usher - Numb (#40)

25. OneRepublic - Feel Again (#30)

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

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

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

29. Conor Maynard - Vegas Girl (#31)

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

31. Ke$ha - Die Young (DEBUT)

32. Flo Rida - Let It Roll (DEBUT)

33. Kelly Clarkson - Dark Side (#16)

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

35. Katy Perry- Wide Awake (#4)

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

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

38. Nicki Minaj- Starships (#36)

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

40. Gym Class Heroes feat. Ryan Tedder- The Fighter (#43)

41. Cher Lloyd- Want U Back (#33)

42. BoysLikeGirls - Be Your Everything (DEBUT)

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

44. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#39)

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

Biggest DDDDDRRRROOPPP!!!!...of the week: Demi Lovato – Give Your Heart a Break (-33)

Biggest Jump of the Week: One Direction – Live While We’re Young (+24)

More on jumps and drops below in the “Blurbs” section.  First, onto the new entrants.  You may all have been wondering where Ke$ha has been all this time.  Well she’s back with a pretty good song in Die Young (#31).  Ke$ha’s artist image is undoubtedly one of a crazy party girl that comes packing not-so-subtle innuendo.  Most of her previous work, save for Your Love Is My Drug, generally carried with it melodies and sound effects that made the tune sound as trashy as the lyrics, with varying degrees of success (Tik Tok on the high, Blah Blah Blah on the low).  Die Young brings along the trashy lyrics, but the melody is significantly more upbeat.  It’s not Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe in that regard or anything, but consider it a large step in that direction from most of Ke$ha’s previous songs.  Come to think of it, Your Love is My Drug is a reasonably decent comparison.  Whether this is a new style remains to be seen, but so far, it works.

This weekend marks the one year anniversary of the last time we had a countdown without a Flo Rida song.  Sure enough, you’d have to go back to October 1, 2011, the week before Good Feeling debuted.  Let it Roll (#32) is the 4^th song that Flo Rida has brought to the countdown in this stretch, and it’s terrible, if only in the sense that it’s all starting to sound the same, and that guy really needs to go back to the drawing board.  Or he would, if he wasn’t making millions off of crap like this.  Wild Ones remains the only winner of the post-10/1/2011 bunch, and that one got beaten to death so hard that it’s tough to sit through anymore (said me at least 20,324,316 times since May).

The final new entrant comes from BoysLikeGirls, a group that was on the countdown after I started listening, but before I started really recapping it.  I was a huge fan of Love Drunk and a decently big fan of Two Is Better Than One as well.  The first time I heard Be Your Everything (#42), I was a little disappointed, but it has since grown on me.  The lyrics are far from inspired, but the singing and the melody are both pretty good.  I guess they really did have to boot Jason Mraz – I Won’t Give Up off the countdown; Be Your Everything is a slow song.  God forbid there’s two.

Blurbs:

-- If you listened to the countdown last weekend, you may have noticed that they played OneRepublic – Feel Again twice, both at #25 and at #12.  It was a mystery until Spyder Harrison did his recap of songs #11 - #15, when he announced that #12 was Rudimental Ft. John Newman – Feel the Love.  Guess those song titles are sort of close?

-- I really did think PSY – Gangnam Style had a shot to be the first song ever to be the Biggest Jump of the Week for two consecutive weeks.  Just so happens +19 wasn’t good enough.

-- The +21 jump of Maroon 5 – One More Night represents the biggest jump for a #1 song since Katy Perry – Last Friday Night hit #1 for the first time last July (+32).

-- Last week we didn’t see a single song move by more than 11 spots.  This week, 7 songs had a jump of at least 14 spots and 4 dropped at least 17 spots, including two of 30 or more.  Life is always more fun when the countdown gets crazy.

-- 5 of the top 8 songs weren’t in last week’s Top 10.

-- I’m going to miss Jason Mraz – I Won’t Give Up.  This countdown sometimes doesn’t give a fair slice to legitimately good songs.

-- Longevity Watch:  One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful, the countdown’s most tenured song, has just shy of two months left to go make it a full year on the countdown.

Whew.  Did I cover everything?

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) Usher – Numb

2) Ke$ha – Die Young

3) Imagine Dragons – It’s Time

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

5) Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams – Finally Found You