Imagine Dragons (7) - Week of August 24, 2013

Though the top of the countdown largely remained intact, there was quite a bit of moving and shaking this week, in addition to a reasonably interesting crop of new music.  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:

• Nikki Williams - Glowing
• Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child
• Avril Lavigne - Here's to Never Growing Up
• Hot Chelle Rae - Hung Up

The Countdown:

1. Imagine Dragons - Radioactive (#2) [Seventh Week at #1]

2. Robin Thicke ft. Pharrell and T.I. - Blurred Lines (#5)

3. Maroon 5 - Love Somebody (#1)

4. Zedd Ft. Foxes - Clarity (#3)

5. Fall Out Boy - My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark (Light 'em Up) (#4)

6. Calvin Harris Ft. Ellie Goulding - I Need Your Love (#7)

7. Florida Georgia Line - Cruise (#6)

8. Macklemore Ft. Ryan Lewis - Can't Hold Us (#9)

9. Katy Perry - Roar (#17)

10. Capital Cities - Safe and Sound (#12)

11. Lady Gaga - Applause (#25)

12. Paramore - Still Into You (#10)

13. Karmin - Acapella (#13)

14. Labrinth Ft. Emeli Sande - Beneath Your Beautiful (#14)

15. One Direction - Best Song Ever (#26)

16. The 1975 - Chocolate (#16)

17. Taylor Swift Ft. Ed Sheeran - Everything Has Changed (DEBUT)

18. Icona Pop - All Night (#33)

19. MKTO - Classic (#32)

20. Twenty One Pilots - Holding On To You (#24)

21. Mika Ft. Ariana Grande - Popular Song (#21)

22. Train Ft. Ashley Monroe - Bruises (#22)

23. Sammy Adams Ft. Mike Posner - LA Story (#11)

24. Pink - True Love (#19)

25. John Newman - Love Me Again (#41)

26. Cody Simpson - Pretty Brown Eyes (#34)

27. Macklemore Ft. Ryan Lewis - Same Love (DEBUT)

28. Demi Lovato - Heart Attack (#36)

29. Daft Punk - Get Lucky (#31)

30. Emblem 3 - Chloe (#15)

31. Krewella - Live for the Night (#39)

32. JTX - Summer Lover (#18)

33. Tegan & Sara - Closer (#35)

34. fun. - Some Nights (#43)

35. Selena Gomez - Come & Get It (#42)

36. Avicii Ft. Aloe Blacc - Wake Me Up (DEBUT)

37. Bonnie McKee - American Girl (DEBUT)

38. Macklemore Ft. Ryan Lewis - Thrift Shop (#37)

39. Anna Kendrick - Cups (#45)

40. Icona Pop - I Love It (#44)

41. Awolnation - Sail (#40)

42. Ke$ha Ft. will.i.am - Crazy Kids (#28)

43. Bruno Mars - Treasure (#27)

44. Pink Ft. Nate Reuss - Just Give Me a Reason (#8)

45. Jason Derulo - The Other Side (#20)

Biggest DDDRRROOOPPPPPP!!!!!!....of the week: Pink Ft. Nate Reuss – Just Give Me a Reason (-36)

Biggest Jump of the Week: John Newman – Love Me Again (+16)

When we last encountered Aloe Blacc, he was having some financial problems.  Apparently that’s all behind him now and he’s teamed up with Avicii to produce Wake Me Up, a very interesting song that blends a folksy melody with the electronica stylings of Avicii.  Both elements are very catchy.  All in all, this is a well-constructed piece of music that I’m hoping makes some noise on the countdown in the coming months.  In the department of “songs making their countdown debut that have been around for awhile”, Same Love, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s song about the DOMA ruling, joined the countdown ranks this week.  Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran have supposedly been romantically involved in the past year, thus ensuring a future breakup anthem being written in Ed’s honor.  For the time being, the two are collaborating, but if Everything Has Changed is any indication, they’re not creating anything particularly interesting.  The song is pretty dull from pretty much from pretty much every perspective, including lyrically, which is shocking considering Sheeran’s involvement.  Bonnie McKee – American Girl is somewhat trashy if you are trying to evaluate it from a serious perspective, but I do not care one bit about that because it’s tons of fun.  Great energy, great hook.  I’ve never heard of Bonnie McKee before now, but this song makes me think that she’s the female equivalent of JTX.

Blurbs are Thicker Than Water

- There were a lot of big demotions this week.  The Bottom 4 songs on the countdown each fell from no lower than #28.  The last two weeks have been pretty fruitful in terms of turning over the countdown for new music.

- Spyder Harrison made a point to note that Roar was the high-water mark for a Katy Perry debut last week at #17.  It’s already in the Top 10.  The other songs might be looking up at it sooner than I thought.

- There has been quite a bit of turnover on HitBound lately, both due to graduations and removal of songs from the rotation.  There’s plenty of interesting ones floating around on HitBound that could keep the countdown’s recent resurgence going.

- I am happy to say that I once again will have difficult choices on my Editor’s Picks list over the next few weeks.

Editor’s Picks – Top 5 Songs

1) Train Ft. Ashley Monroe – Bruises

2) Avicii Ft. Aloe Blacc – Wake Me Up

3) MKTO – Classic

4) Bonnie McKee – American Girl

5) Twenty One Pilots – Holding On to You