Billboard Hot 100: 3/17/2018

[Deleted]

Bobby Tarantino II is great, hope majority of the songs on that can chart
Lil Boat 2, on the other hand, is f**king awful and I hope it flops just like Teenage Emotions did.. Let's hope no more than 2 songs chart :(

[Au$tin]

Mar 10, 2018 10:44:36 GMT -5 forg said:

Mar 10, 2018 9:39:45 GMT -5 Gary said:

We don’t get a lot of hit remakes anymore. Would be nice for one to click

Without looking it up, I couldn't even remember the last time there was a cover that charted well on Hot 100. On top of my head are Glee songs but mostly are just one week wonders, maybe Lady Marmalade was the last #1 that was a remake?

Disturbed's cover of "The Sound of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel.

Peaked at #42, which may seem low, but that's generally due to its low streaming. Sales were fairly high and airplay was great for a track with its sound. It also never had a typical run due to it taking so long to find different audiences, much like a crossover track like "Before He Cheats" or "Sail" without the wide success of crossing over. Not to mention I believe that's Disturbed's best performing song on the Hot 100. This was early-mid 2016 when the song had the bulk of its run. It just recently saw a huge resurgence after its use in several different mediums close together: an Olympic figure skating performance, NASA viral video, etc. With over 200 million Spotify streams, 350 million YouTube views, and 1.5 million copies sold in digital sales, I'd say that's probably the most recent successful cover.

[Gary]

Although other songs like Uptown Funk and Blurred Lines, gave writing credit to writers of older hits because of excessive copying

Yes, Lady Marmalade was the last #1 that was a pure remake and also the last #1 remake of a #1 song

[85la]

^ That's sampling, not covers, which is a big difference. I strongly believe the sampling though is often (but not always of course) unintentional and not due to "excessive copying," as thousands of songs have hit the charts over the years, and songwriters are bound to come up with songs that show similarities to others, especially if it's just a few note sequence, and especially since popular and mainstream songs that hit the charts tend to be simple and use repetitive melodies anyway. Sometimes even if the similarity is very brief and vague and might not even count as sampling by music experts, settlements are often quickly made to just give those songwriters credit in order to avoid lawsuits. I would imagine that very few to no major artists would knowingly come out with songs with uncredited sampling and willingly subject themselves to copyright infringement.

As for hit covers though, yeah, that definitely seems to be a thing of the past. Other than The Sound of Silence, the last one I can think of is D.H.T.'s version of Roxette's Listen to Your Heart back in 2005. It just doesn't seem to be a thing anymore, people don't want to hear and labels aren't interested in putting out rehashes of old songs. It's interesting because if you look at the entire history of recorded music, starting way back in the very late 19th/early 20th century, covers seem to have become less and less popular over time. Like, recorded music was born out of the whole sheet music mentality where hit songs would be performed at homes and in public spaces by many different artists all over the place, in a sense being "covers," because of course the original songwriter couldn't perform it everywhere.

[Gary]

Splitting hairs on words. Sampling and excessive copying can lead to the same outcome and tends to remind the listener of a Prior song

That is also why I used “pure cover” in my post. I get the difference. But thanks for clarifying

Whereas a pure cover is a direct copy

[Mayman]

Another is You Don’t Own Me by Grace and G-Eazy. It peaked at 57 on the Hot 100 and 22 on Top 40 radio and went platinum as well.

[Sherane Lamar]

Mar 10, 2018 11:37:28 GMT -5 Golden Bluebird said:

All songs from Logic's latest mixtape Bobby Tarantino II are in the US Spotify Top 25 right now, so we can expect some songs from the mixtape to debut on the Hot 100 next week.

We should be able to expect at least 11 songs. I don't think any song that has been on Spotify's daily Top 20 and didn't end up on the Hot 100.

[Sherane Lamar]

There's been dozens of covers charted in the last few years from The Voice.

There's probably been just as many Voice songs on the charts as their has been Glee songs.

In 2016, there was like 4 charting versions of Hallelujah.

Last year, there was also Ariana Grande's "Beauty And The Beast"

[renaboss]

I'm confused, what is a mixtape these days? The Logic one has 13 tracks, apparently - doesn't that constitute an album? What's the difference?

[mako]

So is Bobby Tarantino II will be nwxt weeks charting week?

[Deleted]

Mar 10, 2018 17:39:45 GMT -5 renaboss said:

I'm confused, what is a mixtape these days? The Logic one has 13 tracks, apparently - doesn't that constitute an album? What's the difference?

The artist determines if it's a mixtape or a studio album.  Generally, if it's made for - of fits - a central theme in mind it's an album.  A mixtape may be recorded at various times with various people for different reasons and doesn't even require the artist to be on it. It's not necessarily meant to be cohesive at all like an album. It comes from a literal "mixtape", back when we'd splice all our favorite tracks onto one tape. 

As for length, Drake's last mixtape was like, 20-some tracks.  Mixtapes can be any length.

[Gary]

Mar 10, 2018 17:24:18 GMT -5 Sherane Lamar said:

There's been dozens of covers charted in the last few years from The Voice.

There's probably been just as many Voice songs on the charts as their has been Glee songs.

In 2016, there was like 4 charting versions of Hallelujah.

Last year, there was also Ariana Grande's "Beauty And The Beast"

Yep

Pitch perfect put in a couple

Assorted live tracks bubbles under I think

[Sherane Lamar]

Mar 10, 2018 18:46:42 GMT -5 Gary said:

Mar 10, 2018 17:24:18 GMT -5 Sherane Lamar said:

There's been dozens of covers charted in the last few years from The Voice.

There's probably been just as many Voice songs on the charts as their has been Glee songs.

In 2016, there was like 4 charting versions of Hallelujah.

Last year, there was also Ariana Grande's "Beauty And The Beast"

Yep

Pitch perfect put in a couple

Assorted live tracks bubbles under I think

I had no idea "live tracks" bubble under. 

Because I don't think any have debuted this decade.

[Sherane Lamar]

Mar 10, 2018 18:04:34 GMT -5 mako said:

So is Bobby Tarantino II will be nwxt weeks charting week?

They'll chart on the 20th. 

Except for "Everyday". That should chart this week.

[Sherane Lamar]

Mar 10, 2018 17:39:45 GMT -5 renaboss said:

I'm confused, what is a mixtape these days? The Logic one has 13 tracks, apparently - doesn't that constitute an album? What's the difference?

There is no tangible or concrete difference, to be honest. It is mostly a publicity thing. Been that way since IYRTITL.

Albums are generally better promoted I suppose. Albums are more likely to have lead singles I guess. 

Mixtapes are more likely to be surprise drops filled with throwaway tracks. But not really. 

[annoymous1]

Oh God..... God's Plan is now Number 3 on Radio what do people find in this song that people go out there way to buy and stream this song I don't understand it at all .

[Gary]

Mar 10, 2018 19:12:47 GMT -5 Sherane Lamar said:

Mar 10, 2018 18:46:42 GMT -5 Gary said:

Yep

Pitch perfect put in a couple

Assorted live tracks bubbles under I think

I had no idea "live tracks" bubble under. 

Because I don't think any have debuted this decade.

Live track this decade (a couple of these are not "remakes" per se but live versions of the artists own songs)

Halo (Live), Beyonce

Can't You See (Live), Zac Brown Band Featuring Kid Rock

Drops Of Jupiter (Live), Taylor Swift

Home (Live From Healing In The Heartland), Blake Shelton & Usher

[Gary]

#92 this decade


My City Of Ruins (Live From The Kennedy Center Honors), Eddie Vedder

[Gary]

There are songs where the melody is the same but the lyrics change(parodies)

Weird Al has a bunch of them, for example

Others not necessarily for comedic intent

'Messin' Around' from Pitbull
'I'll Be Missing You' Puff Daddy

[Golden Bluebird]

Mar 10, 2018 19:52:45 GMT -5 Gary said:

There are songs where the melody is the same but the lyrics change(parodies)

Weird Al has a bunch of them, for example

Others not necessarily for comedic intent

'Messin' Around' from Pitbull
'I'll Be Missing You' Puff Daddy

Yeah. Those are called interpolations.

[Gary]

Mar 10, 2018 19:57:50 GMT -5 Golden Bluebird said:

Mar 10, 2018 19:52:45 GMT -5 Gary said:

There are songs where the melody is the same but the lyrics change(parodies)

Weird Al has a bunch of them, for example

Others not necessarily for comedic intent

'Messin' Around' from Pitbull
'I'll Be Missing You' Puff Daddy

Yeah. Those are called interpolations.

Thanks couldn't think of the word on the Pitbull song

Didn't want to get in trouble for calling it a "remake" - LOL

[Sherane Lamar]

Mar 10, 2018 19:43:15 GMT -5 annoymous1 said:

Oh God..... God's Plan is now Number 3 on Radio what do people find in this song that people go out there way to buy and stream this song I don't understand it at all .

She said do you love me. I told her only partly. 

I only love my bed and my momma I'm sorrry. 

[Gary]

Basically, I think we can conclude direct remakes/cover versions of prior hits that have become "big hits" themselves are pretty scarce these days. I say "big" so we can exclude Glee, The Voice, American Idol and random digital tracks.

Nothing really in the last decade that stands out (yes, Sound of Silence peaked at #42 but I talking bigger than that)


There were times when there were 3 or 4 cover songs in the top 40 at the same time, not anymore.

[jenglisbe]

In terms of recent hit covers I think Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” should be mentioned. It hit #20 on the Hot 100, and more so it has hung around for awhile and sold a lot of downloads (currently #65 on iTunes). Stapleton had a cover song on his next album, too.

It wasn’t a hit (or a single?) in the U.S. but in 2009 Adele had a top 10 hit in the UK and other European countries with her cover of “Make You Feel My Love.” She then had a cover of “Lovesong” on 21. I bring those examples up because she then didn’t have a cover on 25, which could be a product of official covers disappearing in general.

Having said that there are plenty of cover versions both in concerts (most performers do at least one cover during their set) and in studio shows (iTunes, Live Lounge, etc sessions) by major artists. In particular Ed Sheeran and Kelly Clarkson have done tons of covers in the last few years, they’re just all in performances.

It is interesting, though, because it used to be obligatory to do cover songs. In the 60s and 70s artists often did the same song within just a year or two (see multiple versions of “Proud Mary,” “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” etc). In the 80s and 90s many major acts would have at least one cover on their albums (Whitney, Mariah, and Celine often turned them into hits). It could be that sampling has changed things because now people can sample the hook or an instrumental part but still write around it and nab a writing credit and royalties. And as has been said, we get a plethora of cover songs on singing competition shows so the novelty has definitely worn off.

[Choco]

Grace's "You Don't Own Me" is a cover of the 1963 classic by Lesley Gore. The new version is certified Platinum and spent 20 weeks on the Hot 100, yet it sadly never went higher than #57. It was bigger in other countries.

"Make You Feel My Love" wasn't a single in the US (I think from that album only Hometown Glory and Chasing Pavements got any kind of push stateside).

In the US, it's been a while... the UK in particular seems to be very receptive of covers (even stuff like Britney's version of "My Prerogative" went top 10 there)

[Gary]

I was referring to Hot 100 "big" hit versions of prior "big" Hot 100 hits.

If you cross genres then the list gets bigger of course.

(Pop covers of country hits and country covers of pop hits or whatever)

[House Lannister]

Mar 9, 2018 16:54:48 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Mar 9, 2018 16:29:46 GMT -5 Sherane Lamar said:

I'd say you're average Sam Hunt and FGL song sounds a hell of a lot more similar to 90's Country than Migos does to 90's Hip-Hop. Country has changed a lot less in the last 20-25 years than Hip-Hop or Pop. 

It's way more than "the basic aspects of what makes up the genre". The average Country song these days is like... only marginally different than what's been popular in Country for the last two decades. 

IDK why people single out Country like that. Maybe it's because they expect Country to only sound like incredibly twangy hillbilly music? IDK. 

From Charlie Rich to Dolly Parton to Shania Twain to present day, Country music has always had artists who are accessible to a variety of people. 

There's a difference in an artist being accessible to a variety of people and an artist making music that sounds like a lot of things. The original versions of most Shania songs (i.e. not pop radio mixes) still heavily featured traditional country instruments (like the album version of "You're Still the One" utilizing steel guitar). There were some pop/rock elements to her production and melodies, and those appealed to a pop audience, but the instrumentation (and even a lot of her lyrics) belonged to country. Look at "Love Get Me Every Time" with its fiddle hook and use of "gol' darn gone and done it." Twain also sent pop versions of those songs to radio to get a crossover audience, so the broad appeal of the songs wasn't necessarily about the country versions.

With a lot of 'country' acts now, the production that is brought to the forefront are non-country elements like electric guitars, drum machine, etc. If there is a banjo or some other traditionally country instrument in the song, it's mixed in the background. I actually see Shania Twain as a prime example of the point you made about genres evolving; for the most part her music kept true country music as a base, but she broadened its appeal with pop and rock elements. I don't think much current mainstream 'country' music uses anything traditionally country as a base.

I think the thing is, and a lot of people in the country thread will agree, is that current country music is closer to Top 40 Lite than the Country music of Shania, Garth Brooks, and even Alan Jackson.

It's not just instrumentation either.  The themes of country music today is much more about partying, good looking women (usually), and good times.  Gone largely are the themes of regret, making mistakes, and reflecting on the past.  Which is why we embrace Chris Stapleton and his callback to the Outlaw Country days of the 1970s.  Which is why most (if not all) of us enjoyed the return of Scotty McCreery with Five More MInutes.  And this is why we enjoy artists like Mickey Guyton, Runaway June, and Jon Pardi who in various ways are reminding us that country music that made us fans still exists.

You probably don't have to look any further than the top country song of 2017 to know what's wrong about the genre: Sam Hunt's Body Like a Back Road.  It's got a DJ Mustard-esque beat, handclaps, obnoxious instrumentation, and lyrics that might remind one of TLC's Waterfalls if you squinted at it and ignored the AIDs themes that song had.  Of course comparing any woman to a back road would probably get you slapped and/or dumped on the spot, but it didn't matter.  The song was on the top of the Hot Country Charts for 34 weeks, a record.

Country has of course moved away primarily from the instrumentation that made up its more beloved era: steel guitars, fiddles, banjos.  Instead we have hip hop beats, samples (one thing that really ticked me off about Thomas Rhett's Vacation was that he used War's Low Rider and not even the memorable part of that song), autotune (cough*Wish You Were Here*cough), artificial instruments, and vocal pitch shifters.

And it probably doesn't help that country radio primarily plays men which plays into the hands of radio consultant Keith Hill who infamously compared women to being the tomatoes on the salad.  What that means is that men should primarily get most of the plays with the occasional woman being used largely as decoration.  Which means that outside of Carrie Underwood, Maren Morris, and Kelsey Ballerini, women are mostly ignored (they may push Miranda Lambert, for example, but only so far).  Older artists such as Reba McEntire who are putting out fine work today are left off the rotation except for satellite radio stations.  And wouldn't I be surprised if some stations think that "Hey, we're diverse.  We play Hootie once in a while."

I wouldn't be bothered by Meant to Be and The Middle getting the occasional play if it meant we'd be getting more traditional artists and greater variety.  But no, we mostly get the same 20-30 or so artists and their songs ad nausem.

To be honest, Country has evolved since the days of the 1990s.  But many fans aren't necessarily fans of the direction that it is going.

[SPRΞΞ]

Mar 10, 2018 19:43:15 GMT -5 annoymous1 said:

Oh God..... God's Plan is now Number 3 on Radio what do people find in this song that people go out there way to buy and stream this song I don't understand it at all .

I know. It’s a terrible, monotone mess. No melody at all.

[TakeMe]

What would it take for Remy Ma’s Melanin Magic to debut on the Hot 100?

[Sherane Lamar]

Mar 10, 2018 22:34:04 GMT -5 House Lannister said:

Mar 9, 2018 16:54:48 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

There's a difference in an artist being accessible to a variety of people and an artist making music that sounds like a lot of things. The original versions of most Shania songs (i.e. not pop radio mixes) still heavily featured traditional country instruments (like the album version of "You're Still the One" utilizing steel guitar). There were some pop/rock elements to her production and melodies, and those appealed to a pop audience, but the instrumentation (and even a lot of her lyrics) belonged to country. Look at "Love Get Me Every Time" with its fiddle hook and use of "gol' darn gone and done it." Twain also sent pop versions of those songs to radio to get a crossover audience, so the broad appeal of the songs wasn't necessarily about the country versions.

With a lot of 'country' acts now, the production that is brought to the forefront are non-country elements like electric guitars, drum machine, etc. If there is a banjo or some other traditionally country instrument in the song, it's mixed in the background. I actually see Shania Twain as a prime example of the point you made about genres evolving; for the most part her music kept true country music as a base, but she broadened its appeal with pop and rock elements. I don't think much current mainstream 'country' music uses anything traditionally country as a base.

I think the thing is, and a lot of people in the country thread will agree, is that current country music is closer to Top 40 Lite than the Country music of Shania, Garth Brooks, and even Alan Jackson.

It's not just instrumentation either.  The themes of country music today is much more about partying, good looking women (usually), and good times.  Gone largely are the themes of regret, making mistakes, and reflecting on the past.  Which is why we embrace Chris Stapleton and his callback to the Outlaw Country days of the 1970s.  Which is why most (if not all) of us enjoyed the return of Scotty McCreery with Five More MInutes.  And this is why we enjoy artists like Mickey Guyton, Runaway June, and Jon Pardi who in various ways are reminding us that country music that made us fans still exists.

You probably don't have to look any further than the top country song of 2017 to know what's wrong about the genre: Sam Hunt's Body Like a Back Road.  It's got a DJ Mustard-esque beat, handclaps, obnoxious instrumentation, and lyrics that might remind one of TLC's Waterfalls if you squinted at it and ignored the AIDs themes that song had.  Of course comparing any woman to a back road would probably get you slapped and/or dumped on the spot, but it didn't matter.  The song was on the top of the Hot Country Charts for 34 weeks, a record.

Country has of course moved away primarily from the instrumentation that made up its more beloved era: steel guitars, fiddles, banjos.  Instead we have hip hop beats, samples (one thing that really ticked me off about Thomas Rhett's Vacation was that he used War's Low Rider and not even the memorable part of that song), autotune (cough*Wish You Were Here*cough), artificial instruments, and vocal pitch shifters.

And it probably doesn't help that country radio primarily plays men which plays into the hands of radio consultant Keith Hill who infamously compared women to being the tomatoes on the salad.  What that means is that men should primarily get most of the plays with the occasional woman being used largely as decoration.  Which means that outside of Carrie Underwood, Maren Morris, and Kelsey Ballerini, women are mostly ignored (they may push Miranda Lambert, for example, but only so far).  Older artists such as Reba McEntire who are putting out fine work today are left off the rotation except for satellite radio stations.  And wouldn't I be surprised if some stations think that "Hey, we're diverse.  We play Hootie once in a while."

I wouldn't be bothered by Meant to Be and The Middle getting the occasional play if it meant we'd be getting more traditional artists and greater variety.  But no, we mostly get the same 20-30 or so artists and their songs ad nausem.

To be honest, Country has evolved since the days of the 1990s.  But many fans aren't necessarily fans of the direction that it is going.

No. Country has barely changed at all in the last 20 years. Relative to literally every other genre.  Bro-Country is literally the only subgenre of Country to have emerged in this entire century. Could you imagine if Pop, Hip-Hop, or even Alternative were so stylistically stagnant? 



Online Country fans repeat the meme of Country changing for the same reason people repeat the general "bleh, music sucks today" meme is repeated. In reality, they are a stark and sad minority. Country radio remains the top contemporary format for white people who were actually alive in the 1970s. These are stations that absolutely cannot get away with playing "Top 40 lite". 

The 10's of millions of Country fans in the US know damn well there's a huge difference between Country music artists like Thomas Rhett and light Pop like Shawn Mendes. Otherwise, the entire format, genre, and culture would implode and become synonymous with Pop.  



But with the added irony that Country's insular fanbase generally lacks the perspective to realize just how rapidly every other genre changes. 

And also tend to not understand just how insular the culture and genre is compared to every other music genre. Pop, Hip-Hop, R&B, and Dance are constantly collaborating and cross-pollinating with each other. Meanwhile, Country music is the only genre that actually has a major radio format all to themselves. (BTW, so called "Hip-Hop" stations constantly play Urban Pop and R&B, and same can be said for "Pop" stations.)
 

For example "Hip-Hop beats" are virtually unheard of in any era of Country music. A very select few instances of overt Hip-Hop instrumentation in Country music have ever existed on the charts. Maybe something like 20. And they are always a novelty. 

But somebody who has no clue what a Hip-Hop beat actually is might be fooled into believing that anything that even slightly deviates from what was popular 40 years ago must be some sort of Pop or Hip-Hop.