My own personal Hot AC "sample hours"

[musicfanpete]

With the invasion of pop crossover music onto the Hot AC chart in recent years, I'm just wondering if the Hot AC format has lost it's way a bit. Well, maybe it hasn't literally lost its way, but it is merely filling a gap created by the rhythmic leaning CHR's that are not playing the proper balance of hits that a mainstream CHR is supposed to, particularly in the larger markets. So while many Hot AC's in the larger markets are filling in the gap, at the same time they are cloning other existing stations with many of the same songs that are played on six or seven other stations in a given market. And if any format strays away from their core of exclusive artists, that's never really a good thing for the format.

With that in mind, I give you my five "sample hours" of what I would be playing on my own hypethetical Hot AC station. Keep in mind that I am not a program director and have never been associated with radio. I just play one on here. More importantly, my playlist focuses on songs that are exclusive to this format only. While I have not completely eliminated pop crossovers from my playlist, I have eliminated ones that really have no business being played here, as some of the large market Hot AC's are playing. But again, most importantly are the songs garnering airplay that are exclusive to the Hot AC format, the songs that strengthen the base of any format and keeps the format strong for years to come.

With that, and assuming roughly 12 to 13 songs per hour, here is my list:

Hour #1:

1. "Shadow Of The Day" - Linkin Park
2. "Breakeven" - The Script
3. "Broken" - Seether f/Amy Lee
4. "Pony" - Erin McCarley
5. "I Gotta Feeling" - Black Eyed Peas
6. "Already Gone" - Kelly Clarkson
7. "Live Like You're Dying" - Kris Allen
8. "Alive And Kicking" - Simple Minds
9. "Second Chance" - Shinedown
10. "You And I Both" - Jason Mraz
11. "Like You Do" - Angel Taylor
12. "Possession" - Sarah McLachlan


Hour #2

1. "Pocketful Of Sunshine" - Natasha Bedingfield
2. "Halfway Gone" - Lifehouse
3. "Crash Into Me" - Dave Matthews Band
4. "1, 2, 3, 4" - Plain White T's
5. "Sex On Fire - Kings Of Leon
6. "Unsent" - Alanis Morrisette
7. "Closer To Love" - Mat Kearney
8. "Mexican Radio" - Wall Of Voodoo
9. "All I Ever Wanted" - Kelly Clarkson
10. "Run" - Collective Soul
11. "Poker Face" - Lady Gaga
12. "Breathe" - Ryan Star


Hour #3

1. "Maybe" - Ingrid Michaelson
2. "Do You Sleep?" - Lisa Loeb
3. "All The Right Moves" - OneRepublic
4. "Get To Me" - Train
5. "I Never Told You" - Colbie Caillat
6. "Time For Letting Go" - The Bravery
7. "According To You" - Orianthi
8. "She Drives Me Crazy" - Fine Young Cannibals
9. "Free To Be Me" - Francesca Battistelli
10. "Not Enough Time" - INXS
11. "Today Is A Fairytale" - Taylor Swift
12. "Keeps Gettin' Better" - Christina Aguilera
13. "This Town" - O.A.R.


Hour #4:

1. "You Found Me" - The Fray
2. "Try" - Nelly Furtado
3. "Need You Now" - Lady Antebellum
4. "Lovers In Japan" - Coldplay
5. "Uprising" - Muse
6. "In This Life" - Delta Goodrem
7. "Bad Romance" - Lady Gaga
8. "Rush Hour" - Jane Wiedlin
9. "Paralyzer" - Finger Eleven
10. "Lucky" - Jason Mraz f/Colbie Caillat
11. "Whataya Want From Me" - Adam Lambert
12. "Battlefield" - Jordin Sparks


Hour #5:

1. "Broken" - Lifehouse
2. "Shoe Box" - Barenaked Ladies
3. "Hey, Soul Sister" - Train
4. "Say Hey (I Love You)" - Michael Franti & Spearhead
5. "Savior" - Lights
6. "My Favorite Mistake" - Sheryl Crow
7. "Breakeven" - The Script
8. "Too Much Passion" - The Smithereens
9. "I Do Not Hook Up" - Kelly Clarkson
10. "She Is Love" - Parachute
11. "Shut Up And Kiss Me"- Orianthi
12. "4 In The Morning"- Gwen Stefani


You'll notice one or two Triple A exclusive hits, and some very ecclectic 80's and 90's tracks for some additional flavor. Again, the key here is playing songs that other stations aren't playing, but that are still good songs that people should like. And the only "research" I would even consider is polling listeners for their opinions of the songs via the internet, and even after that I would still go on gut instinct. Speaking of which, I edited this post to add a fifth hour of songs that my gut told me would work well.

Anyway, any thoughts or comments would be appreciated. :)

[MostInterestingManInTheWorld]

I think you mean JANE Wiedlin, but otherwise ok. Don't make her go-go get mad at you!

I might try to find a 'breakout' or two, unless that's the purpose of Francesca Battistelli (can't wait to hear Rick Dees say that name). Honestly, I have no idea who that is.

[musicfanpete]

May 3, 2010 23:38:24 GMT -5 MostInterestingManInTheWorld said:

I think you mean JANE Wiedlin, but otherwise ok. Don't make her go-go get mad at you!

I might try to find a 'breakout' or two, unless that's the purpose of Francesca Battistelli (can't wait to hear Rick Dees say that name). Honestly, I have no idea who that is.

Thanks for the correction tim. I keep getting her confused with the girl from "The Love Boat", Jill Whelan (who has a talk show in Philadelphia these days). I know, useless trivia for another day!

To answer your question, Francesca Battistelli is a Christian singer who released this song to mainstream radio last year. One of the few stations who played this song was Hot AC station KSTP in Minneapolis, which is one of the few Modern AC leaning Hot AC stations in the country. This was actually one of their top 10 most played hits of 2009. But it just did not show up on too many other stations and was a big time dud outside of Christian radio, which is a shame because it is a great song. Check it out on Youtube.

FYI, I added a fifth hour of songs just because I forgot to include some that I wanted to earlier. Again, I'm hoping this type of station returns the Hot AC format to a more unique sounding format, and a format that actually lives up to the promise of playing music that you don't always hear on other stations. I think this type of station could actually give the more CHR leaning Hot AC's a run for their money.

[Deleted]

What would you put together for AAA?

[musicfanpete]

May 4, 2010 9:29:38 GMT -5 @reidlos20 said:

What would you put together for AAA?

I don't know. I'm not as well versed when it comes to the Triple A chart. Too many deeper cuts that I'm not familiar with, though I know "Pony" by Erin McCarley was a Triple A hit. I would have to spend some time going through the archives to familiarize myself with their music.

[WotUNeed]

I tend to be more of an AAA listener now, but I would keep an HAC like this around as an alternate, mainly for the cool golds like "Rush Hour" and "Do You Sleep" that are pretty much homeless when it comes to radio.

[Deleted]

To all the AAA listeners:

If you'd be working for a label and had to find the best/greatest songs ever played on TripleA and put them on a box set what songs would you choose or consider?

[MostInterestingManInTheWorld]

May 4, 2010 16:02:38 GMT -5 @reidlos20 said:

To all the AAA listeners:

If you'd be working for a label and had to find the best/greatest songs ever played on TripleA and put them on a box set what songs would you choose or consider?

Core artists include, but are not limited to, the likes of Santana, Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Pearl Jam, U2, Tori Amos, etc. Think "Too mature for Hot AC, not heavy enough for Alternative". Put another way - Hot AC/Alt that doesn't pander to the under 30 market.

Songs I'd include (just a start)

Jack Johnson - Bubble Toes
John Mayer - No Such Thing
U2 - Electrical Storm
Tori Amos - Bliss
Santana/Rob Thomas - Smooth (this song could really show up almost anywhere)
something from Lyle Lovett
recent material from Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, or any 60's act still active.

I'll have more when my head clears.