American top 40 (hot AC) July 26-27 2008

[ericNY2002]

Unusual chart this week, older songs climbing back up on the chart, including the weeks fastest climber

40 37 (24) Three days Grace-Never too Late
39 40 (02) Newton Faulkner-Dream Catch Me
38 34 (37) Linkin Park-Shadow of the Day
37 36 (32) Alicia Keys-No One
36 38 (03) Seether-Rise Above This
35 33 (56) Fergie-Big Girls Don't Cry
34 23 (16) The Last Goodnight-Stay Beautiful
33 32 (39) Timbaland/OneRepublic-Apologize
32 35 (04) Flyleaf-All Around Me
AT40 Extra: Rihanna-Take A Bow
31 --- (01) Matt Nathanson-Come On Get Higher
Optional Extra: Maroon 5-This Love
30 26 (25) matchbox twenty-These Hard Times
29 31 (06) Sara Bareilles-Bottle It Up
28 30 (47) Daughtry-Over You
27 27 (08) Panic At the Disco-Nine In The Afternoon
26 28 (49) Colbie Caillat-Bubbly
25 29 (47) Maroon 5-Wake Up Call
24 25 (54) Pink-Who Knew
23 24 (02) Katy Perry-I Kissed A Girl
22 22 (09) The Spill Canvas-All Over You
AT40 Breakout: Metro Station-Shake It
21 20 (26) John Mayer-Say
Optional Extra: 3 Doors Down-Here Without You
20 19 (48) Finger Eleven-Paralyzer
19 21 (07) Maroon 5/Rihanna-If I Never See Your Face Again
18 18 (29) Maroon 5-Won't Go Home Without You
17 17 (14) Duffy-Mercy
16 13 (12) Jordin Sparks/Chris Brown-No Air
15 14 (36) Buckcherry-Sorry
14 16 (10) Jason Mraz-Im Yours
13 12 (09) Gavin rossDale-Love Remains the Same
12 15 (06) Kid Rock-All Summer Long
11 11 (44) Sara Bareilles-Love Song
Optional Extra: Sugar Ray-Fly
10 10 (05) David Cook-Time of My Life
09 09 (34) Lifehouse-Whatever It Takes
08 08 (24) Colbie Caillat-Realize
07 07 (20) Gavin DeGraw-Im In Love With A Girl
06 04 (26) Daughtry-Feels Like Tonight
05 05 (05) Coldplay-Viva La Vida
04 03 (22) OneRepublic-Stop and Stare
03 06 (10) Natasha Bedingfield-Pocketful of Sunshine
Optional Extra: Santana/Chad Kroeger-Into the Night
02 02 (14) 3 Doors Down-Its Not My Time
01 01 (13) Leona Lewis-Bleeding Love (7 weeks at #1)

Off the chart:
Madonna/Justin Timberlake-4 Minutes (from #39, 10 weeks on chart)

[musicfanpete]

There just has not been a lot of good new music on this format this year, though the ones that have been around are good. It's just a matter of stations not wanting to take chances on good new music, and therefore you end up with too many stations playing it too safe. That results in a stale chart with too many songs that have been around for 9 months or longer, with some even climbing back up now!

I would expect next week to see two or three new songs debut, but after looking at the realtime top 40 chart, beyond the next two weeks, I don't see too many new songs charting anytime soon.

I predict Rihanna and Metro Station will debut next week, followed by Daughtry and O.A.R. the following week. Beyond that though, there's not much that jumps out except for the new Lifehouse song, but that's still about a month by the time AT 40 adds that one.

[Johnser]

Maybe if they went by the actual USA Today chart it wouldn't seem so stale.

[KelownaGuy20]

Here's another cross-border comparison...

4 new entries on the Canadian Top 20 this week!


CANADIAN TOP 20 - JULY 26, 2008
TW LW WK Artist - Title
20 20 (16) Crash Parallel - World We Know
19 NE (01) Lady Gaga featuring Colby O'Donis - Just Dance
18 NE (01) 3 Doors Down - It's Not My Time
17 10 (04) Maroon 5 featuring Rihanna - If I Never See Your Face Again
16 NE (01) Kid Rock - All Summer Long
Canadian Top 20 Timeline (1989): Martika - Toy Soldiers
15 NE (01) Coldplay - Viva La Vida
14 14 (16) Simple Plan - Your Love Is A Lie
13 09 (17) Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake - 4 Minutes
12 18 (02) Jesse McCartney - Leavin'
11 13 (13) Usher - Love In This Club
10 02 (07) Addictiv - Tonite
09 15 (02) Lights - Drive My Soul
Sure Shot: The Pussycat Dolls - When I Grow Up
08 08 (06) Chris Brown - Forever
07 06 (11) Kreesha Turner - Don't Call Me Baby
06 04 (06) Kardinal Offishall featuring Akon - Dangerous
05 05 (12) Hedley - Never Too Late
04 07 (07) Metro Station - Shake It
03 03 (13) Natasha Bedingfield - Pocketful Of Sunshine
02 02 (09) Rihanna - Take A Bow
01 01 (04) Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl 2 weeks @ #1


DROPPERS:

Danity Kane - Damaged (from #19; 4 weeks charted)
Duffy - Mercy (from #17; 6 weeks charted)
Colbie Caillat - Realize (from #16; 3 weeks charted)
Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love (from #11; 15 weeks charted)

[musicfanpete]

Can anyone imagine Danity Kane doing well on the US Hot charts? I think that was a great opportunity missed as it only peaked here at #41 I think.

Canadian Hot AC is much more willing to take chances on newer music and different genres of music than we do. While I do like the texture of music on the US charts, certain genres have a much harder time gaining footing than others. And of course the biggest problem is a chart that moves too darn slow.

Heck, even the Rick Dees chart moves quite a bit faster than the AT 40 chart!

[musicfanpete]

Jul 26, 2008 12:07:11 GMT -5 Johnser said:

Maybe if they went by the actual USA Today chart it wouldn't seem so stale.

True, but they might as well just count down the top 30 songs if they go that route. It's quite obvious that the reason these countdowns (Rick Dees included) leave the recurrents in is that they want to play only songs that their affiliates are familiar with.

The problem with the Hot AC format is that songs move too slowly which makes a recurrent inclusive chart very slow. They would be better off counting down the official recurrentless top 40 chart, but this is problematic when maybe only 10 to 15% of their affiliates play any given song within the bottom quarter of the chart. That does equate into great ratings, but I sure as heck would be more interested!

The great thing about Rick Dees is that his songs (whether accurate or not) tend to peak as high if not higher than the official charts. He then pulls them off quicker (ie: Paralyzer just fell out this week, while AT 40 still has this at #20). This then gives a more "natural" flow to his charts. The problem he has though is that he tends to leave certain songs out, even after adding songs that probably should not even be on there (New Kids On The Block???).

So while the AT 40 chart is much slower and stale looking, it is basically the official charts with recurrents added in, with the only difference being once a long running song falls off it is not eligible to return to the chart. This makes for a much more accurate chart than Rick Dees, but allows for more songs to hang around a lot longer. So either chart has it's flaws, but don't look for the recurrents to be removed anytime soon.