Ke$ha (3) - Week of January 19, 2013

This is the beginning of a (hopefully) prolonged effort to get these out earlier in the week so that you all can have the most up-to-date information that you so desperately crave.  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.

• Cher Lloyd Ft. Becky G - Oath
• Rihanna - Diamonds
• Enrique Iglesias Ft. Sammy Adams - Finally Found You
• Ellie Goulding - Anything Could Happen

Collectively, the loss of these four songs is not a good thing.

The Countdown:

1. Ke$ha - Die Young (#1) [Third Week at #1]

2. fun. - Some Nights (#4)

3. Kelly Clarkson - Catch My Breath (#8)

4. Maroon 5 - Daylight (#2)

5. Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble (#3)

6. Lumineers - Ho Hey (#6)

7. Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven (#5)

8. The Script Ft. will.i.am - Hall of Fame (#10)

9. Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child (#7)

10. Olly Murs - Troublemaker (#11)

11. Pitbull - Don't Stop The Party (#9)

12. JTX - Seven Day Weekend (#12)

13. Pink - Try (#16)

14. Sam and the Womp - Bom Bom (#15)

15. One Direction - Little Things (#18)

16. Maroon 5 - One More Night (#14)

17. Calvin Harris Ft. Florence Welch - Sweet Nothing (#29)

18. Carly Rae Jepsen - This Kiss (#21)

19. will.i.am Ft Britney Spears - Scream and Shout (#17)

20. Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks (#20)

21. Josh Baze - She's Gold (#19)

22. Ke$ha - C'mon (#34)

23. Macklemore Ft. Ryan Lewis - Thrift Shop (#33)

24. Neon Trees Ft. Kaskade - Lessons In Love (#28)

25. Justin Bieber Ft. Nicki Minaj - Beauty and a Beat (#36)

26. Phil Phillips - Home (#26)

27. Bridgit Mendler - Ready or Not (#13)

28. Alicia Keys - Girl on Fire (#38)

29. The Ready Set - Give Me Your Hand (#42)

30. Flo Rida - I Cry (#40)

31. Karmin- Brokenhearted (#30)

32. Redfoo - Bring Out the Bottles (DEBUT)

33. Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe (#39)

34. Conor Maynard Ft. Ne-Yo - Turn Around (DEBUT)

35. Imagine Dragons - It's Time (#22)

36. Justin Timberlake Ft. Jay-Z - Suit and Tie (DEBUT)

37. Passion Pit - Take a Walk (DEBUT)

38. Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa- Payphone (#37)

39. Emeli Sande - Next to Me (#35)

40. One Direction - Live While We're Young (#45)

41. OneRepublic - Feel Again (#24)

42. Nicki Minaj - Va Va Voom (#44)

43. Ed Sheeran - The A Team (#43)

44. Ne-Yo - Let Me Love You (#27)

45. Owl City Ft. Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time (#32)

Biggest DDDDDRRRROOOOPPPPP!!!!!....of the week: Tie between OneRepublic – Feel Again and Ne-Yo - Let Me Love You (-17)

Biggest Jump of the Week: The Ready Set – Give Me Your Hand (+14)

Considerably fewer turnover than I originally expected this week, but we do still have plenty of new stuff to discuss.  Redfoo (of LMFAO fame….I admittedly like this stage name) is apparently doing stuff on his own now.  Apparently his nephew and musical-duo-mate SkyBlu was holding him back a bit, because Bring Out the Bottles is the best thing I’ve ever heard that family produce.  LMFAO was something of a punching bag for me in 2011 and early 2012, but Bring Out the Bottles does a good enough job with the AutoTune and synth stuff to the point where there’s almost some semblance of a melody here.  It’s far from what you’d call a “good song”, but if we’re grading Redfoo on a curve here, he gets a B+.  He (or should I say the AutoTune machine) even gets a spot on my Editor’s Picks list this week.

Conor Maynard debuted this week featuring Ne-Yo with Turn Around.  This song is 12 kinds of annoying (okay, maybe realistically only one kind).  The YouTube-borne star has little singing ability and it’s painfully on display here, whereas in his previous countdown entry, Vegas Girl, his lack of talent was a little better-hidden.  I can only hope a song this obnoxious and repetitive has a short lifespan here.  Speaking of obnoxious, we were unpleasantly greeted with a debut from Justin Timberlake Ft. Jay-Z – Suit and Tie.  I should probably qualify something here.  I’ve never been a fan of Justin Timberlake’s music as a solo act.  I associate him with the worst era of music history (2004-2008…..I picked a pretty poor time to be in college, kids).  The best thing he’s ever done in my opinion post-‘N Sync is **** in a Box.  However I’ve spoken with a few Timberlake fans since this song actually debuted and there’s widespread agreement that there’s not much here.  I don’t appreciate his take on the age-old art of “singing” that’s used in this song.  It’s too bad we’re likely to be exposed to it for months.

I feel like Hits-1 was really late to the party on this one, but our fourth debut is Passion Pit – Take a Walk.  Refreshingly, this one’s actually good.  It’s a catchy tune about immigration to the US in the 20s and 30s.  It actually reminds me a good deal of Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks for some reason.  I’m not head-over heels in love with Take a Walk yet, but this is one of those “more to it than meets the eye (ear?)” songs, so I figure time will tell.

Sublurbs

- Kelly Clarkson – Catch My Breath shot up to #3 this week….do I sense some #1 potential here?

- It looks like Paper Route – You and I has been removed from the HitBound lineup.  I’m sorry that it couldn’t get more recognition, but as of right now, it gets to be the frontrunner for the 2013 Lights Over Paris HitBound Hero Award.  So that’s something, right?

- I again must comment on how shocking it is that Ed Sheeran – The A Team is still here.  On January 5^th, I would have called you nuts if you would have told me it would survive 11 new debuts.  Maybe they’re letting this one cling to life until the Grammys.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) Ke$ha – C’mon

2) Kelly Clarkson – Catch My Breath

3) Macklemore Ft. Ryan Lewis – Thrift Shop

4) Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks

5) Redfoo – Bring Out the Bottles