sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Sept 27, 2014 15:57:58 GMT -5
Interesting Lyric Video if you like smoothies, snow cones, and slush puppie type drinks.
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bamafan2102
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Post by bamafan2102 on Sept 30, 2014 0:47:39 GMT -5
Good song but there are much better songs on the album. Just Let Me Fall In Love With You and Baby You're In Love With Me are great songs. I know they won't but they could go 6 deep. This is one of my favorite albums of the past few years.
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dm2081
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Post by dm2081 on Nov 8, 2014 0:32:44 GMT -5
I was kind of hoping this song would take off once the first purge of songs went down on the chart, but it hasn't been the case yet. I knew this was going to be a long run for Joe, presumably longer than "Yeah", but I'm definitely a little concerned now radio could forget about Joe with all the big names on the chart and Joe having already achieved 2 #1's so far. i thin his label should put all their resources into this one, because I'm not so sure a 4th single will hold up well. I hope they can push this up to top 5, wait a few months, then come back with something fresh for a new single. I know there are a lot of good songs still left on the album, but I think 4 singles could just be pushing it. I'm waiting for this song to have a good weekly update that gives me more confidence.
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someguy
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Post by someguy on Nov 8, 2014 0:39:07 GMT -5
I hate to say it, but I think that top 5 is a little unrealistic at this point. I do really like the song, but I think that with the slow start that we've seen so far, top 20 would be a more realistic goal for "Hard To Be Cool".
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Nov 15, 2014 14:26:10 GMT -5
It's gotten to the point where I think that Red Bow would take a top 20 peak like someguy mentioned above me. "Hard To Be Cool" has lost 4 spins and 0.050 in audience on MB since Sunday. Over the past two weeks and six days, its accumulated just 50 spins and 160k in audience. Also just 3 total adds on MB since November 3rd's chart issue. "Hard To Be Cool" is only 12 weeks old, so Red Bow I'm sure is going to be pumping the gas pedal often with it, and perhaps it can gain a second wind come the new year. First things first though, it must be able to weather the storm this holiday season. If this is another decent sized hit for Joe, it's going to be another slow climb.
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onebuffalo
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Post by onebuffalo on Nov 15, 2014 14:59:27 GMT -5
It's gotten to the point where I think that Red Bow would take a top 20 peak like someguy mentioned above me. "Hard To Be Cool" has lost 4 spins and 0.050 in audience on MB since Sunday. Over the past two weeks and six days, its accumulated just 50 spins and 160k in audience. Also just 3 total adds on MB since November 3rd's chart issue. "Hard To Be Cool" is only 12 weeks old, so Red Bow I'm sure is going to be pumping the gas pedal often with it, and perhaps it can gain a second wind come the new year. First things first though, it must be able to weather the storm this holiday season. If this is another decent sized hit for Joe, it's going to be another slow climb. Sunny And 75 took 31 weeks to reach the top, so if Hard To Be Cool lasts that long, you're looking at late March-early April for it to peak.
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.indulgecountry
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Post by .indulgecountry on Nov 15, 2014 15:25:55 GMT -5
Sunny And 75 took 31 weeks to reach the top, so if Hard To Be Cool lasts that long, you're looking at late March-early April for it to peak. At the rate it's going now (assuming it doesn't speed up a lot), it'd probably be just below Top 25 by that time. This one is definitely moving quite a bit slower than his last two, which is a shame because it's every bit as radio-friendly and it's just a good song, imo. Plus I would've thought he had more momentum going into this release, though I know that two back-to-back No. 1's doesn't suddenly make Joe Nichols an A-lister by any means. I hope this can catch on with radio soon.
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austin
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Post by austin on Nov 16, 2014 0:18:29 GMT -5
This is pretty good. I heard it on the radio and thought it was actually underratedly clever. Hopefully it's a big hit for Joe.
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Ten Pound Hammer
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Post by Ten Pound Hammer on Dec 14, 2014 17:14:23 GMT -5
So why is this one flatlining after two #1's?
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Dec 14, 2014 17:25:13 GMT -5
So why is this one flatlining after two #1's? I think it's just getting lost in the shuffle. There's a bunch of songs from the 30's to the 40's that are having similar troubles as "Hard To Be Cool" and Joe's last single isn't helping with it's recurrent play. Plus it's not even in the top 1000 on iTunes right now. I don't blame Red Bow though. I've seen them promote this one pretty good and the selection of this as a single was a safe and unsurprising one. The one's I would have rather seen released were "Baby You're In Love With Me" and "Smile On Mine" (I've said before that "Better Than Beautiful" and "Old School Country Song" have next to no shot getting released and those are my two favorites). It is unfortunate that "Hard To Be Cool" is having a whale of a time reaching the top 30.
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someguy
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Post by someguy on Dec 14, 2014 17:34:31 GMT -5
It's disappointing to see this one struggle. It's really radio friendly and Joe seemed to be on such a roll lately. I'm hoping it will pick up the pace and become a hit, but time is running out.
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dm2081
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Post by dm2081 on Dec 14, 2014 22:12:38 GMT -5
The poor sales have surprised me on this one. This sounds much like his other stuff, and his past two singles were able to sell well. I feel as if radio is saying "Ok Joe, you had your two comeback hits already, let's not get too greedy going for 3". This song is just so darn radio friendly, it's a shame.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2014 16:45:37 GMT -5
I think this sounds a bit more traditional than Joe's two previous singles, which explains the low sales. As for the slow climb, new artists and B-listers tend to have slower climbs as they progress deeper into an album. "Yeah" was the "tent pole" single for this Joe Nichols album and so it was unlikely he would replicate the success of that with a third single. It's also true that country radio is becoming more like top 40 radio in that most artists just get one or two big hits per album which get a lot of heavy recurrent airplay and then it's tough to sustain momentum and get radio programmers interested in later singles. "Yeah" is still among the 20 most played recurrent country songs according to the BDS tracking system, meaning a lot of radio stations probably held off on adding this new single because they have still been giving Joe's three-week #1 heavy rotation. However, this is doing just fine on the charts and I'm expecting a top 10 run about as slow as "Like a Cowboy." I imagine this will peak around #5 in May, leaving Joe Nichols with a decent amount of upward momentum to get a lead single from his next album up the charts next summer.
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.indulgecountry
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Post by .indulgecountry on Dec 18, 2014 17:32:49 GMT -5
However, this is doing just fine on the charts and I'm expecting a top 10 run about as slow as "Like a Cowboy." I imagine this will peak around #5 in May, leaving Joe Nichols with a decent amount of upward momentum to get a lead single from his next album up the charts next summer. I wouldn't say it's doing fine though. It's not struggling per se, but it's not really going anywhere either. I'm starting to think that the best this one will be able to do is Top 20, and that's only if it starts to pick up the pace a little. To make the Top 20, it'll need about 5x the audience it currently has.
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Dec 18, 2014 18:07:34 GMT -5
"Like A Cowboy" had nearly 6 million in audience after 16 Billboard weeks while "Hard To Be Cool" has 4.2 million in audience after 16 Billboard weeks - along with Randy's song having 440 more spins. Now I'm not saying that "Hard To Be Cool" will not turn into a top 10 hit but "Like A Cowboy" was moving considerably faster than "Hard To Be Cool".
Actually the past couple weeks leaves me with some promising optimism. "Hard To Be Cool" has increased over 300k in audience the past two chart weeks, after what seemed like an impossible feat for Joe to get those audience gains the previous three weeks, including losing audience on the December 1st MB chart. Plus, "Hard To Be Cool" is already up 320k in audience on MB since Sunday with a couple more days to go.
It's still early to call whether this can crack the top 10 or even top 15 but I think Red Bow can fight for some success here, as this label and label group has proven they can be in it for the long haul. I do agree that this will be the final single from Crickets no matter where this peaks which is a bit disappointing since I would have loved seeing "Baby You're In Love With Me" or the slower "Better Than Beautiful" get a shot at radio.
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jferstler
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Post by jferstler on Dec 19, 2014 13:24:11 GMT -5
This has wasted way to much time already. I think it's unrealistic to see a rope 5 peak for this or even a top 15. I'll go ahead and predict a peak around the top 20. However I do believe that they won't waste much time with Joe after this peaks. A lead single should be out soon after this one peaks and I do believe Joe can have a few more number 1s in his career and if the follow up to Crickets is anything near the quality of its predecessor I can see Joe garnering success at the award shows in the coming couple years. It's really amazing how Red Bow has been able to revive Joe's career.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2014 14:07:41 GMT -5
I agree with all of you that currently this song is showing no "signs" of being a hit, but I look at chart runs of "Everything I Shouldn't Be Thinking About," "Close Your Eyes," and the multi-week #1 "Carolina" which was even sent recurrent in the 30s and think that a much more consistent hit-maker like Joe Nichols should certainly have no trouble replicating that sort of chart run considering he hasn't had to use up much of his good will from radio yet this album. So I'm still pretty confident that this will see a top 10 peak when it's all said and done, even if that means spending another half a year on the chart. This could wind up like "Kiss You Tonight" and fizzle out in the teens after 40 weeks, but I'm confident that Red Bow has what it takes to keep this alive for quite some time and eventually get the single a few weeks in heavy rotation.
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Post by Daryl the Beryl on Jan 27, 2015 7:13:47 GMT -5
32 34 JOE NICHOLS Hard To Be Cool 1273 1349 -76 7.308
Since this has spent more than 20 weeks on BB, be prepared for this to be sent recurrent next week.
EDIT: IT WAS A FALSE ALARM
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Jan 27, 2015 10:34:24 GMT -5
32 34 JOE NICHOLS Hard To Be Cool 1273 1349 -76 7.308 Since this has spent more than 20 weeks on BB, be prepared for this to be sent recurrent next week. Uh Joe's update today has him at a +149 bullet (+73 on the rolling chart, which can always be misleading) with an increase of 78 spins and 220k in audience. Perhaps that was yesterday's bullet. "Hard To Be Cool" will not be sent recurrent on Billboard next week. Yes its +20 weeks old but Red Bow is still putting major promotion into this song and they expect a +30 week chart run, at least. Granted the sales have just not been there yet with its slow climb but it will likely pick up its sales if this continues to climb, albeit slow as molasses. The sales are the most alarming number for "Hard To Be Cool" but today was a good update.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2015 12:32:00 GMT -5
32 34 JOE NICHOLS Hard To Be Cool 1273 1349 -76 7.308 Since this has spent more than 20 weeks on BB, be prepared for this to be sent recurrent next week. As sabre14 said, this definitely isn't done yet. This is yesterday's update that you posted here, but the bullet swung up 149 spins in the course of a day (from -76 yesterday to +73 today). The song also gained 0.222 million in audience this morning. (Just for the record, I rarely pay attention to the spins bullet. It's pretty much irrelevant when it comes to Billboard). Joe's real problem is that he hasn't distinguished himself from "the pack" as I've been calling it. Several songs are all caught up in the same audience range...if one of them could have a week where they pull out an 800k or 1 mil gain, then they'd be looking pretty good. But as it stands now, Joe's right in there with Kelsea Ballerini, Canaan Smith, Josh Turner, and Gloriana, and they've all been jostling for position for the last several weeks. Joe was at the front of the pack last week (#31 BB), but this week Kelsea jumped to the front of the pack with a nice 36-30 move. Problem is, there's no way she's gonna be able to make that stick, as Little Big Town will move on past this week, possibly the Keith/Eric duet too. And judging by today's MB update, there's a chance for Joe to re-pass Kelsea as well. Joe is definitely coming off 2 pretty big hits and "Hard To Be Cool" is super radio-friendly, but the fact is that Joe is a mid-level star and he always has been. That's not a knock on him at all - it's just the truth. So even though this is radio-friendly and following those 2 big hits (as zack97 alluded to), we shouldn't expect Joe to be an automatic top 10 every time out. His track record just doesn't suggest that it's very likely at all. First charted in 2002, taking "The Impossible" all the way to #3. Then came the #1 hit "Brokenheartsville". Then he had a #17 and a #18. His 2nd album only produced a pair of singles, the #10-peaking "If Nobody Believed In You" and the #4 hit "What's A Guy Gotta Do". His 3rd album produced 3 top 10 hits, including what is probably his signature hit, the #1 "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off"...that was followed by the #9-peaking "Size Matters" and then the #7 hit "I'll Wait For You". Then his next 3 singles all missed the top 10, peaking at #17, #16, and #26, respectively. Then he had a comeback hit with "Gimmie That Girl" hitting #1 in May 2010, but then his next 2 singles once again missed the top 10; "The Shape I'm In" stopped at #17, and "Take It Off" only made it to #25. After that of course we get to "Sunny And 75" and "Yeah". Joe has had years where he hasn't even released a single (2008 and 2012), and he's never released more than 2 singles in a calendar year. The point here is that his radio success throughout his entire career has been incredibly inconsistent, so despite the radio-friendliness of "Hard To Be Cool" and much of the Crickets album, I never expected Joe to suddenly start reeling off a bunch of smash hits a la Keith Urban or Carrie Underwood. He's just never been on that level and he's probably too far along in his career to suddenly ascend to that level. Was I hoping this song could go top 10? Sure...but I wouldn't say I was exactly expecting it, just based off of Joe's track record. Anyway...HTBC isn't done yet, but at this point a peak in the 20's looks to be as high as it'll get.
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Post by Daryl the Beryl on Jan 27, 2015 19:56:17 GMT -5
Yep it re-bulleted
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Post by josephmorgan on Feb 9, 2015 23:39:39 GMT -5
Bumping this up to tell you that this song has made top 30 on Mediabase, so it will get the ACC & C&C Countdown spins this weekend.
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Post by Daryl the Beryl on Feb 10, 2015 0:58:41 GMT -5
Hopefully this continues to move up.
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Mar 27, 2015 16:34:56 GMT -5
I think Red Bow will push this one for only two or three more weeks here. "Hard To Be Cool" has actually lost nearly 300k in audience this week and 5 spins (down 104K today). It's 31 weeks old and I do think they want a top 20 peak, but Joe was passed by FGL and Canaan on the rolling chart and only Jason will be going recurrent on MB this Sunday, so at best, I see him landing at #24 this week.
What's important to note, is Red Bow is launching Chase Bryant's latest on Monday (30th) and I have some knowledge that Craig Campbell is preparing for his first single release for the label next month, so I think the end of the line is very near for "Hard To Be Cool" as the label probably wants to switch up some priorities.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2015 16:47:09 GMT -5
BBR never stops pushing stuff until the bottom has clearly caved in, and even in some of those cases they still keep pushing quite foolishly (see "Close Your Eyes"). I'd be surprised to see Red Bow pull this anytime too soon actually. This is clearly having a way tougher time than the songs around it on the chart (due to considerably low sales and being a third single from an artist who's a B-lister at best), but I could see it lasting another 8-10 weeks and coming very close to top 10 or top 15. Broken Bow chart runs are usually very tiresome and I don't expect this is going to go out without a top 20 peak.
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Mar 27, 2015 16:54:26 GMT -5
BBR never stops pushing stuff until the bottom has clearly caved in, and even in some of those cases they still keep pushing quite foolishly (see "Close Your Eyes"). I'd be surprised to see Red Bow pull this anytime too soon actually. This is clearly having a way tougher time than the songs around it on the chart (due to considerably low sales and being a third single from an artist who's a B-lister at best), but I could see it lasting another 8-10 weeks and coming very close to top 10 or top 15. Broken Bow chart runs are usually very tiresome and I don't expect this is going to go out without a top 20 peak. Assuming David Fanning's song can hang on by next month (which who knows, lol), I think it's pretty rare for all four of Red Bow's artists having songs out at the same time, assuming Craig's comes before May, which I'm certain it will. 8 more weeks I could sort of see since this label's track record indicates that they're pretty liberal with their promotion money, but even they see that the best thing here is to walk away. "Hard To Be Cool's" sales have gotten better lately, but it's still well behind the songs surrounding it on the iTunes chart. I'm not saying this will sputter out soon, but I'm certainly leaning that way right now. If it does last 8-10 more weeks, then sadly I wouldn't be shocked. Personally I hope my logic gets to Red Bow executives since I really am getting tired of songs being pushed well, and I mean well past their natural peak.
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dajire4
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Post by dajire4 on Apr 7, 2015 3:33:08 GMT -5
I'm hoping Red Bow sees the writing on the wall and gives up on Hard To Be Cool already. I don't think this song can do much more than it has done up until now and the difference in momentum between this being a top 20 or a top 25 hit is not big at all. Giving up on it graciously and preparing his next lead single seems the best course of action to me, also providing some well needed space for songs lower down the chart. Cool has always been just kinda there for me, but I'm quite confident that Joe will be able to get back into the top 10 with his next album.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2015 15:11:50 GMT -5
I am grateful Broken Bow just couldn't "finagle" a manufactured 40+ week top 10 run for a song that just isn't a hit this time around. It seems like just about every Broken Bow single has a way more successful chart run than it deserves (barring a few Jason Aldean singles a few years ago that ran into poor timing and missed #1).
I will say that the Broken Bow Label Group is really having a tough time right now. The new Thompson Square and Chase Bryant singles are showing early signs of majorly flopping on the charts. Once the bottom completely caves in on this Joe Nichols song, which could happen any day, Red Bow will be entirely off the Mediabase chart. Stoney Creek only has Parmalee's "Already Callin' You Mine" left on the chart, which is struggling just to crack the top 40. Broken Bow has only two records, Jason Aldean's "Tonight Looks Good on You" and Dustin Lynch's "Hell of a Night," which is really squandering Dustin's momentum and not looking like a clear top 10 right now even coming off the heels of iHeartRadio On the Verge treatment and a two-week #1. Even superstar Jason Aldean's most recent two singles don't really seem to be making much of an impact and I doubt Jason's "Tonight Looks Good on You" gets more than a single week at #1.
Looking at the particular case of Joe Nichols, I think he and his label just didn't find enough strong material for the Crickets record. The music is just far too traditional and only the first two singles off a 16-track CD stand out enough to make it on today's mainstream country radio. Getting two #1's is nothing to scoff at especially in today's tough radio climate, and "Yeah" seems to have had some real staying power, but I'm still getting the sense that Joe Nichols is quickly running out of momentum and I'm just not sure he's going to last much longer on the charts with such a traditional style that doesn't yield particularly impressive sales or research. I could see his next album tanking and leaving him back in the same position he was in before signing with Red Bow.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2015 15:24:24 GMT -5
I agree 100% with your great analysis of the label situation.
What I disagree with is the fact that there wasn't enough material off of Crickets. Joe is very careful not to record anything that could be too far astray from a traditional sound, so he isn't going to sell his soul to the Nashville devil for a couple bucks. This record was obviously a little more "modern" than his past attempts, leading to more radio and digital success.
It's really a great album and I just think "Hard to be Cool" was far too similar in style to "Yeah". He could have released something a little more moderately paced that could really showcase his voice. There are plenty of options on this CD and I'm curious to see what his next record will sound like.
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Apr 7, 2015 15:29:05 GMT -5
I am grateful Broken Bow just couldn't "finagle" a manufactured 40+ week top 10 run for a song that just isn't a hit this time around. It seems like just about every Broken Bow single has a way more successful chart run than it deserves (barring a few Jason Aldean singles a few years ago that ran into poor timing and missed #1). I will say that the Broken Bow Label Group is really having a tough time right now. The new Thompson Square and Chase Bryant singles are showing early signs of majorly flopping on the charts. Once the bottom completely caves in on this Joe Nichols song, which could happen any day, Red Bow will be entirely off the Mediabase chart. Stoney Creek only has Parmalee's "Already Callin' You Mine" left on the chart, which is struggling just to crack the top 40. Broken Bow has only two records, Jason Aldean's "Tonight Looks Good on You" and Dustin Lynch's "Hell of a Night," which is really squandering Dustin's momentum and not looking like a clear top 10 right now even coming off the heels of iHeartRadio On the Verge treatment and a two-week #1. Even superstar Jason Aldean's past two singles don't really seem to be making much of an impact and I doubt Jason's "Tonight Looks Good on You" gets more than a single week at #1. Looking at the particular case of Joe Nichols, I think he and his label just didn't find enough strong material for the Crickets record. The music is just far too traditional and only the first two singles off a 16-track CD stand out enough to make it on today's mainstream country radio. Getting two #1's is nothing to scoff at especially in today's tough radio climate, and "Yeah" seems to have had some real staying power, but I'm still getting the sense that Joe Nichols is quickly running out of momentum and I'm just not sure he's going to last much longer on the charts with such a traditional style that doesn't yield particularly impressive sales or research. I could see his next album tanking and leaving him back in the same position he was in before signing with Red Bow. I agree about this one being at the end of its rope, which I saw a couple weeks back. This one just took far too long in the 30's and its sales have been pretty lackluster for pretty much all of its chart run. I sort of agree about the Broken Bow Music Group being in a "lull" right now, but I do think it's way top early to call that Chase Bryant's single will flop, as well as Thompson Square's (my goodness it hasn't even gone for adds yet). Granted, I don't have an optimistic feeling for T2's single, but I still would like to see how it turns out after a couple weeks after the impact date. As for "Already Callin' You Mine", it actually has 600k more audience at this point in it's chart run (9 weeks) than "Close You Eyes" did back in April of 2014. Now I'm not saying that "Already Callin' You Mine" will match "Close Your Eyes'" success, but I think a top 20 peak is still a good possibility. I still contend that "Hell Of A Night" was a wrong single choice, and while it hasn't flopped, I don't see it cracking the top 10, and it has cost Dustin some momentum, even though I understand he's not an A-lister. Personally I felt that this album had plenty of modern feel to it, while still having some traditional tones. I probably would have gone for "Just Let Me Fall In Love With You" or "Baby You're In Love With Me" third, but this choice didn't surprise me. This will most definitely be the final single off Crickets which is unfortunate since I was a fan of this album, but it's clearly the right choice once "Hard To Be Cool" loses its grip on the charts.
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