rockgolf
2x Platinum Member
Pop music fanatic since the days of 7" 45 RPM records.
Joined: August 2018
Posts: 2,126
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Post by rockgolf on Oct 12, 2018 8:51:21 GMT -5
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timmierz
Charting
Joined: January 2013
Posts: 352
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Post by timmierz on Oct 12, 2018 9:50:49 GMT -5
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timmierz
Charting
Joined: January 2013
Posts: 352
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Post by timmierz on Oct 12, 2018 12:53:45 GMT -5
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Gary
Diamond Member
Joined: January 2014
Posts: 45,896
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Post by Gary on Oct 12, 2018 18:37:16 GMT -5
Top 300 Alternative Songs
1 Uprising Muse
2 Savior Rise Against
3 Feel It Still Portugal. The Man
4 Madness Muse
5 The Pretender Foo Fighters
6 Radioactive Imagine Dragons
7 First Cold War Kids
8 Hemorrhage (In My Hands) Fuel
9 Cuts You Up Peter Murphy
10 Drive Incubus
11 Sweater Weather The Neighbourhood
12 Sex And Candy Marcy Playground
13 Do I Wanna Know? Arctic Monkeys
14 When I Come Around Green Day
15 How You Remind Me Nickelback
16 My Own Worst Enemy Lit
17 Lightning Crashes Live
18 Wonderwall Oasis
19 It's Been Awhile Staind
20 Stolen Dance Milky Chance
21 Smells Like Teen Spirit Nirvana
22 Boulevard Of Broken Dreams Green Day
23 Feel Good Inc Gorillaz
24 Come A Little Closer Cage The Elephant
25 So Alive Love And Rockets
26 Mysterious Ways U2
27 Regret New Order
28 Tighten Up The Black Keys
29 Blurry Puddle Of Mudd
30 Pumped Up Kicks Foster The People
31 In The End Linkin Park
32 1901 Phoenix
33 Lay Me Down The Dirty Heads Featuring Rome
34 Fascination Street The Cure
35 Good Better Than Ezra
36 Scar Tissue Red Hot Chili Peppers
37 Believer Imagine Dragons
38 Renegades X Ambassadors
39 Zombie The Cranberries
40 Kryptonite 3 Doors Down
41 Paralyzer Finger Eleven
42 Pompeii Bastille
43 Sex On Fire Kings Of Leon
44 What It's Like Everlast
45 1979 The Smashing Pumpkins
46 All My Life Foo Fighters
47 Safe And Sound Capital Cities
48 Kiss Them For Me Siouxsie & The Banshees
49 Pepper Butthole Surfers
50 Demons Imagine Dragons
51 Numb Linkin Park
52 Inside Out Eve 6
53 By The Way Red Hot Chili Peppers
54 Been Caught Stealing Jane's Addiction
55 Headstrong Trapt
56 Into Your Arms The Lemonheads
57 What I've Done Linkin Park
58 What I Got Sublime
59 Dani California Red Hot Chili Peppers
60 Rush Big Audio
61 Animal Neon Trees
62 Otherside Red Hot Chili Peppers
63 Last Resort Papa Roach
64 Orange Crush R.E.M.
65 Proud To Fall Ian McCulloch
66 Losing My Religion R.E.M.
67 Somebody That I Used To Know Gotye Featuring Kimbra
68 Name Goo Goo Dolls
69 Love And Anger Kate Bush
70 Laid James
71 Seven Nation Army The White Stripes
72 Feel Good Drag Anberlin
73 Stressed Out twenty one pilots
74 Hanging By A Moment Lifehouse
75 Wish I Knew You The Revivalists
76 The Mayor Of Simpleton XTC
77 So Far Away Staind
78 Ho Hey The Lumineers
79 It's Time Imagine Dragons
80 Santa Monica (Watch The World Die) Everclear
81 Best Of You Foo Fighters
82 Faint Linkin Park
83 Fake It Seether
84 You're Gonna Go Far, Kid The Offspring
85 More Sisters Of Mercy
86 Animal I Have Become Three Days Grace
87 I Will Wait Mumford & Sons
88 Down 311
89 Interstate Love Song Stone Temple Pilots
90 The Hand That Feeds Nine Inch Nails
91 Wish You Were Here Incubus
92 Charlotte Anne Julian Cope
93 Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth... Primitive Radio Gods
94 Friday I'm In Love The Cure
95 Use Somebody Kings Of Leon
96 Steam Peter Gabriel
97 All The Small Things Blink-182
98 Walkin' On The Sun Smash Mouth
99 Walk Foo Fighters
100 My Friends Red Hot Chili Peppers
101 Loser Beck
102 Little Black Submarines The Black Keys
103 Only Nine Inch Nails
104 Semi-Charmed Life Third Eye Blind
105 Riptide Vance Joy
106 Feed The Tree Belly
107 Fall Down Toad The Wet Sprocket
108 Out Of My League Fitz And The Tantrums
109 Waiting For The End Linkin Park
110 Right Here, Right Now Jesus Jones
111 You Oughta Know Alanis Morissette
112 Tomorrow Silverchair
113 Lonely Boy The Black Keys
114 The Devil You Know Jesus Jones
115 Like A Stone Audioslave
116 Panic Switch Silversun Pickups
117 (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I... Weezer
118 Tomorrow Morrissey
119 Heathens twenty one pilots
120 Swallowed Bush
121 Glycerine Bush
122 Fly Away Lenny Kravitz
123 Trouble Cage The Elephant
124 Basket Case Green Day
125 Dangerous Big Data Featuring Joywave
126 Never There Cake
127 Everything Zen Bush
128 Not Sleeping Around Ned's Atomic Dustbin
129 Closing Time Semisonic
130 The Middle Jimmy Eat World
131 Fly Sugar Ray
132 Shake Me Down Cage The Elephant
133 I'll Be You The Replacements
134 Shut Up And Dance WALK THE MOON
135 No One Knows Queens Of The Stone Age
136 Hit The Sugarcubes
137 I Feel You Depeche Mode
138 Rope Foo Fighters
139 Dirty Blvd. Lou Reed
140 Ophelia The Lumineers
141 Stand R.E.M.
142 Broken lovelytheband
143 Selling The Drama Live
144 Welcome To The Black Parade My Chemical Romance
145 Until She Comes The Psychedelic Furs
146 Way Down We Go Kaleo
147 Movin' On Up Primal Scream
148 Desire U2
149 Lump The Presidents Of The United States Of America
150 The Great Commandment Camouflage
151 Never Enough The Cure
152 Way Down Now World Party
153 (I Hate) Everything About You Three Days Grace
154 Tongue Tied Grouplove
155 Comedown Bush
156 Policy Of Truth Depeche Mode
157 Re-arranged Limp Bizkit
158 Counting Blue Cars Dishwalla
159 The Diary Of Jane Breaking Benjamin
160 Miss Murder AFI
161 Pork And Beans Weezer
162 DOA Foo Fighters
163 Sit Next To Me Foster The People
164 Ironic Alanis Morissette
165 The Way Fastball
166 Cannonball The Breeders
167 Second Chance Shinedown
168 Mountain Sound Of Monsters And Men
169 Peek-A-Boo Siouxsie & The Banshees
170 Crawling In The Dark Hoobastank
171 Come With Me Now KONGOS
172 The Sound Of Winter Bush
173 Through Glass Stone Sour
174 Pets Porno For Pyros
175 What's My Age Again? Blink-182
176 The Chemicals Between Us Bush
177 All Apologies Nirvana
178 The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get Morrissey
179 Black Hole Sun Soundgarden
180 In The Meantime Spacehog
181 Drive R.E.M.
182 So You Think You're In Love Robyn Hitchcock
183 The Killing Jar Siouxsie & The Banshees
184 Longview Green Day
185 Every Morning Sugar Ray
186 I Don't Care Apocalyptica Featuring Adam Gontier
187 Mr. Brightside The Killers
188 Novocaine For The Soul eels
189 Come Out And Play (Keep 'Em Separated) The Offspring
190 Nothing Compares 2 U Sinead O'Connor
191 Digging In The Dirt Peter Gabriel
192 Cold Crossfade
193 Sail AWOLNATION
194 Little Talks Of Monsters And Men
195 Give It Away Red Hot Chili Peppers
196 Megalomaniac Incubus
197 Higher Creed
198 Iris Goo Goo Dolls
199 Connection Elastica
200 Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart Stone Temple Pilots
201 Send The Pain Below Chevelle
202 Pain Jimmy Eat World
203 Joey Concrete Blonde
204 God Tori Amos
205 Just Like You Three Days Grace
206 The Emperor's New Clothes Sinead O'Connor
207 Metropolis The Church
208 Live Forever Oasis
209 Schism Tool
210 Veronica Elvis Costello
211 Gold On The Ceiling The Black Keys
212 Ex's & Oh's Elle King
213 Champagne Supernova Oasis
214 Soul To Squeeze (From "Coneheads") Red Hot Chili Peppers
215 About A Girl Nirvana
216 These Are Days 10,000 Maniacs
217 Daughter/Yellow Ledbetter Pearl Jam
218 So Cold Breaking Benjamin
219 Natural One (From "Kids") Folk Implosion
220 Far Gone And Out The Jesus And Mary Chain
221 Heart-Shaped Box Nirvana
222 Better Man Pearl Jam
223 Found Out About You Gin Blossoms
224 Mother Mother Tracy Bonham
225 Never Too Late Three Days Grace
226 Break It Down Again Tears For Fears
227 Brain Stew/Jaded Green Day
228 Somewhere I Belong Linkin Park
229 Here's Where The Story Ends The Sundays
230 Loser 3 Doors Down
231 No Rain Blind Melon
232 Let It Die Foo Fighters
233 Get The Message Electronic
234 Come Anytime Hoodoo Gurus
235 Bleed It Out Linkin Park
236 Ride twenty one pilots
237 New Divide Linkin Park
238 Fever The Black Keys
239 Face Down The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
240 Everything To Everyone Everclear
241 Whatever It Takes Imagine Dragons
242 Weirdo The Charlatans
243 What's The Frequency, Kenneth? R.E.M.
244 Blues From A Gun The Jesus And Mary Chain
245 See The Lights Simple Minds
246 Creep Radiohead
247 Love Song The Cure
248 Trojans Atlas Genius
249 Cough Syrup Young The Giant
250 Breaking The Habit Linkin Park
251 Walking In My Shoes Depeche Mode
252 Perfect Situation Weezer
253 Burden In My Hand Soundgarden
254 The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead XTC
255 Possum Kingdom Toadies
256 Stupid Girl Garbage
257 Enjoy The Silence Depeche Mode
258 Beverly Hills Weezer
259 Merry Go Round The Replacements
260 Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm Crash Test Dummies
261 The Kill (Bury Me) Thirty Seconds To Mars
262 Icky Thump The White Stripes
263 One Creed
264 One Step Closer Linkin Park
265 Shimmer Fuel
266 Blood Makes Noise Suzanne Vega
267 Learn To Fly Foo Fighters
268 Bullet With Butterfly Wings The Smashing Pumpkins
269 Self Esteem The Offspring
270 Resistance Muse
271 Bang And Blame R.E.M.
272 Spiderwebs No Doubt
273 Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me U2
274 Slide Goo Goo Dolls
275 Disappointed Public Image Ltd.
276 Time Of Your Life (Good Riddance) Green Day
277 Holiday Green Day
278 American Idiot Green Day
279 Always Saliva
280 Salvation The Cranberries
281 You Know You're Right Nirvana
282 Wasteland 10 Years
283 House The Psychedelic Furs
284 Steady, As She Goes The Raconteurs
285 Thunder Imagine Dragons
286 High The Cure
287 Aerials System Of A Down
288 Jealous Gene Loves Jezebel
289 Mr. Jones Counting Crows
290 Bitter Sweet Symphony The Verve
291 Love Shack The B-52s
292 The Other Side Of Summer Elvis Costello
293 December Collective Soul
294 Anna-Molly Incubus
295 Vitamin R (Leading Us Along) Chevelle
296 One Week Barenaked Ladies
297 She Drives Me Crazy Fine Young Cannibals
298 What I Am Edie Brickell & New Bohemians
299 Celebrity Skin Hole
300 One U2
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Gary
Diamond Member
Joined: January 2014
Posts: 45,896
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Post by Gary on Oct 12, 2018 18:39:22 GMT -5
How Rise Against's 'Savior' Nearly Became Billboard's Biggest Alternative Hit Ever -- Without Ever Reaching No. 1
This week, Billboard celebrates the 30th anniversary of our Alternative Songs chart. Here, we take an extended look at the unusual run of Rise Against's "Savior" on the chart in the late '00s, and how it ended up becoming one of the biggest hits in Alternative Songs history.
If there’s any moment in Rise Against’s career that might have predicted the Chicago punk rockers’ 2009 hit “Savior,” it’s the release of “Swing Life Away,” the second single from 2004’s Siren Song of the Counter Culture.
That may be a strange thing to say, since sonically, the songs couldn’t be much different. “Swing” is a restrained acoustic ballad featuring minimal percussion and other instrumentation. “Savior,” on the other hand, sports one of Rise Against’s most electric choruses to date, coupled with a bombastic drum beat and breakneck guitar riffs. “Savior” is the kind of song you’d play after “Swing” in a live show to get the audience back on its feet and dancing.
But in 2005, when “Swing” was released as a single,” Rise Against was not known as a radio band. They were loud, political, gritty, at times abrasive. “Give It All,” the predecessor to “Swing” and the band’s first charting Billboard single (No, 37, Alternative Songs, January 2005), was a clear link to the rockers’ hardcore punk beginnings. Despite its strong, singalong hook, it didn’t exactly hint at arena-ready choruses. “Swing” not only sported an even catchier chorus and a more accessible sound due to its acoustic presentation, but its lyrics – musings of proletarian life from one’s front stoop – were relatable from many walks of life. There was an ounce of social commentary, sure, but it was hardly overt.
“Swing” peaked at No. 12 on Alternative Songs, Rise Against’s first top 20 single. Its next album, 2006’s The Sufferer & The Witness, pushed the band into the top 10, thanks to the Nos. 7 and 6 peaks of “Prayer of the Refugee” and “The Good Left Undone,” respectively. Along the way, Rise Against had begun to find its voice on rock radio: often politically charged lyrics paired with impactful hooks, songs that radio programmers were more than happy to slot in among the Linkin Parks and Papa Roaches of the day.
But enough about that. “Savior" is the second-biggest song in the chart’s 30-year history, according to Billboard’s 300-song ranking of Alternative Songs’ most essential songs in celebration of its 30th anniversary. It’s only behind Muse’s “Uprising,” released the same year, and beat out songs such as Portugal. The Man’s 20-week No. 1 “Feel It Still” and hits from Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers, the top two acts on the corresponding all-time artists list for the 30th anniversary. And it did so without ever rising above No. 3 on the weekly chart.
Why “Savior,” though? What about this song makes it not just Rise Against’s biggest song ever on a Billboard chart but also a track that’s only exceeded by Muse’s “Uprising” in terms of overall performance in the chart’s 30-year history? Why not “Re-Education (Through Labor),” the lead single from 2008’s Appeal to Reason, released two singles before “Savior”? Or “Help Is On the Way,” the first track released to radio after “Savior,” which peaked one spot higher at No. 2 in April 2011?
Make no mistake: longevity is a key factor. On Billboard’s airplay and hybrid charts (such as Alternative Songs or the Billboard Hot 100), songs either fall off a ranking because they simply didn’t have enough metrics to remain or because they fell below a certain threshold after a set number of weeks (in order to keep the charts unclogged from huge hits that happen to stick around somewhere between No. 10-30, let’s say, for months on end). Most songs go away after about 20 weeks, give or take a few.
“Savior” didn’t do that. It followed the usual trajectory of most singles by established acts at the start, steadily climbing until reaching No. 3 in its 22nd week -- maybe a long trip to its peak, but nothing unprecedented.
Most songs continue to fall once their peak is reached. “Savior” didn’t do that. Other songs vaulted past it toward the top of the chart and subsequently fell, with newer tracks replacing them. Muse’s “Uprising” was replaced atop the list by another Muse single, “Resistance.” The usual cycle of hits atop the chart continued. But there was “Savior” the entire time, wavering anywhere between No. 3 and No. 6 among most-played songs in the country. Stations weren’t abandoning the song; sure, they weren’t necessarily playing it more often, but it remained a staple of many of their rotations.By April 2010, over four months after it initially peaked at No. 3, “Savior” was back at No. 3 yet again, and it continued to hover in that area in the months that followed.
The Billboard charts dated Sept. 25, 2010, was the final time “Savior” appeared on the Alternative Songs chart. It was at No. 9; falling below No. 10 would finally send it recurrent, meaning it would automatically come off the chart. Despite its age -- 65 weeks on the chart by this point -- it had actually gained nine percent in spins from the previous week. Nonetheless, it was gone the next week, supplanted by the ascensions of Kings of Leon’s “Radioactive” and Switchfoot’s “The Sound (John M. Perkins’ Blues)” into the top 10.
Sixty-five weeks. That’s how long “Savior” stayed on Alternative Songs. That wasn’t just a chart record – it was eight weeks longer than any other song. It’s a record that holds to this day, though one song has since come close: Cold War Kids’ “First,” the No. 7 song on the all-time list, which spent 64 weeks amid a chart run that began in April 2015 and concluded in July 2016. It never quite won the race, but lord, did it run a lot of laps.
And that should in no way detract from its success, because it’s not a marker of anything but lofty achievement. As we’ve seen with other songs over the years that undertake improbably long runs on Billboard charts, even after the efforts from radio promoters and labels to take the song to the top of the tallies dry up, people still have to want to hear the song (whether it’s by streaming it or requesting it at radio), and on a radio front, programmers need to have a reason to keep playing it.
This is where “Swing Life Away” comes back in. It showed that Rise Against could be a major player in rock radio if it hit on the right formula: a good hook and instantly relatable lyrics. And while the band crafted plenty of the former in subsequent years, a defining aspect of “Savior” is that it isn’t political, it’s not angry. It’s about a relationship – in this case perhaps a romantic one, but applying something platonic to it isn’t farfetched.
“That's when she said, ‘I don't hate you boy/ I just want to save you while there's still something left to save,’” begins the chorus. “That's when I told her, "I love you girl/ But I'm not the answer for the questions that you still have.’" It’s a sentiment applicable to relationships the world over, buoyed by the consistently resurfacing refrain of “I don’t hate you” that returns on the bridge and outro. And despite the usage of first-person pronouns, the emotion is universal enough to avoid a specificity that might keep it from being relatable – kind of like, again, “Swing Life Away.”
Then there’s the music. “Savior” isn’t the kind of song you forget even after a few listens; frontman Tim McIlrath’s vocal over steadily picked electric guitar is immediately recognizable and attention-grabbing out of the gate. By 20 seconds in, the rest of the band joins in, sending the track on its whirlwind, frenetic pace, taking a breather only in the seconds before the chorus and on the bridge. Impressive electric and bass guitar work from McIlrath, then-new lead guitarist Zach Blair and bass guitarist Joe Principe abound (the electric guitar slides are a particularly nice touch), and Brandon Barnes keeps a feverish punk rhythm throughout. Easily shout-able, melodic backing vocals on the chorus pound home what’s already an earworm of a chorus.
Bear in mind, too, that “Savior” was the last single from Appeal to Reason. That ends up important because there was no single to replace it. A lead single from an album can be as huge as it wants to be, but eventually, a band’s gotta work its follow-up to radio, too. When this happens, radio programmers will often cut back on the previous single’s spin counts to avoid overload of an act on its airwaves. “Savior” was the third single from the album, and a fourth was not opted for, meaning the song could stick around longer without a shiny new Rise Against single to take its place.
So “Savior” had a lot working for it. But consider this, if you still need convincing: even once “Savior” finally fell off Alternative Songs, it wasn’t like it just went away. The song proceeded to spend 19 weeks at No. 1 (finally, a No. 1!) on the Alternative Songs Recurrents chart, which tracks play for songs no longer on the main list. It proceeded to remain on that chart for another year, finally falling below its 20-position threshold after the Sept. 24, 2011, list. It remains a part of many alternative stations’ libraries, at least those still favoring guitar-forward music. During the latest radio tracking week, it received just over 200 spins among the 60-plus alternative radio stations monitored by Nielsen Music, which would nearly be enough to put it onto the Alternative Songs chart right now if it was a new song.
Will Rise Against ever write another “Savior”? Doubtful, and maybe the band doesn’t even want to. At this point, the quartet has five Billboard 200 top 10s to its name and is still pumping out music that clearly connects; “The Violence,” the lead single from its most recent LP, 2017’s Wolves, peaked at No. 2 on Mainstream Rock Songs and No. 15 on Alternative Songs. Nothing since can claim it’s as hooky as “Savior,” nor has anything struck the blend of melody and hard rock that bands like Foo Fighters somehow continue to churn out.
But with “Savior,” at least, Rise Against scores Alternative Songs immortality. Hell, it took the chart so long to get rid of it, maybe it’s the definition of the word.
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Gary
Diamond Member
Joined: January 2014
Posts: 45,896
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Post by Gary on Oct 12, 2018 18:41:01 GMT -5
The Disappearing '80s: Is It the End of the World For R.E.M., The Cure and More on Alternative Radio?
10/12/2018 by Bobby Olivier
This week, Billboard celebrates the 30th anniversary of our Alternative Songs chart. Here, we look back at some of those artists who were big on the chart three decades ago, and see which of them -- if any -- are still receiving play on alternative radio in 2018.
The Cure. Siouxsie and The Banshees. Lou Reed. R.E.M.
When Billboard debuted its “Modern Rock Tracks” chart in September 1988, these were among the alternative artists who quickly became the ranking’s first class, encapsulating a new radio format that had made its name throughout the decade as a home for guitar music beyond big brother format AOR (album-oriented rock). Stations like KROQ in Los Angeles, WLIR in New York and KCMU in Seattle -- plus a legion of underground college programs -- all spun these songs relentlessly during the chart’s infancy, relying on ‘80s post-punk, new wave and goth-rock to help define their space on the dial.
But now, as the chart -- renamed “Alternative Songs” in 2009 -- celebrates 30 years of compiling the hottest tunes bubbling just under the radar, how many of those jams that first characterized the format remain in regular rotation on alternative airwaves? Do R.E.M. and Siouxsie Sioux still play a role amid today’s indie-pop and electro-rock heroes, or have surviving stations simply moved on?
Program directors from several of the most popular alt radio stations in the country seem to agree that while the forefathers of the format haven’t gone completely extinct, the era is certainly endangered in 2018 -- with only a handful of the most elite alt hits mixing in with more recent tracks. Mike Kaplan, Senior Vice President of Programming at ALT 92.3 in New York, estimates tunes from the ‘80s to only comprise about two or three percent of his station’s total spins.
“They’re generally the songs that have had the benefit of being a critical mass, almost top 40 song at the time,” says Kaplan, noting The Ramones, R.E.M. and The Cure as ALT 92.3’s go-to retro artists. “That’s what I see working to this day -- those songs that either hit top 40 or hit more than one format are what seems to still resonate with the masses here.”
At 101 WKQX in Chicago, Program Director Troy Hanson says his station has largely become Nirvana-forward. “And some guys even hate that,” he notes, as some in the industry believe alt stations should only be playing what’s new.
“There still is ‘It’s the End of the World’ from R.E.M., there still is The Smiths’ ‘How Soon Is Now?,’ there’s ‘No Sleep Till Brooklyn’ and ‘(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)’ from the Beastie Boys, and if we really want to venture back, we’ll probably look at a Clash track,” Hanson says of the station’s older programming. “But that’s about the extent of it.”
And at Radio 104.5 in Philadelphia, Program Director John Allers calls the ‘80s stuff no more than “spice at this point.” “Ten years ago, we were playing multiple tracks from many of the ‘80s bands, while in 2018 we don’t go very deep on the ‘80s artists anymore,” Allers says, noting the station does still sprinkle in some Violent Femmes and Depeche Mode as well as the aforementioned staples.
This all jives with Billboard’s most recent ‘80s alt data: when diving into the last week of playlists from the 65 or so alternative stations who report to the chart, the Top 10 most-played ‘80s songs were (according to Nielsen Music):
1. Beastie Boys, “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)”
2. Violent Femmes, “Blister in the Sun”
3. R.E.M., “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”
4. Beastie Boys, “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”
5. Beastie Boys, “Brass Monkey”
6. The Cure, “Lovesong”
7. R.E.M., “The One I Love”
8. The Cure, “Just Like Heaven”
9. Beastie Boys, “Paul Revere”
10. Pixies, “Where Is My Mind?”
But this is, of course, a top-heavy list, with only three of the era’s most popular groups — who all scored top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 as well — comprising eight of the top 10. And even though Beastie Boys’ “Fight” is listed as No. 1 here, it is actually a lowly No. 202 when ranked against all songs played on alt radio in the last week that are considered gold by Billboard.
As Kaplan explains, stations walk a fine line between a robust retro mix and venturing too deeply in what are now considered oldies by their target audience.
“You go out and the ‘80s are still very much in the mind of the millennial consumer… but there are also expectations,” he says. “People are coming to you in a certain mood and they know what they want and if you defy the expectation and play too much of a throwback sound [you lose listeners]. With alternative today, if you play a smattering of that I think it’s healthy but leaning too far in that direction is detrimental to your station.”
But for some call signs, especially those not as beholden to what’s climbing on Billboard, this isn’t exactly the case. Owen Murphy, a producer for KEXP public radio in Seattle (successor to KCMU), says their DJs still employ a full list of old records, from the artists mentioned to Kate Bush, Public Enemy, New Order and more as foundation acts that provide more seasoned listeners added context when juxtaposed with new bands on the station.
“For example, one of our new favorites is the English punk band Idles,” Murphy says. “And there’s no Idles without The Fall, or The Clash; or there’s no Janelle Monae without Prince, and one needs to play the music of both to properly tell a given story.”
But in most scenarios, as ‘80s alternative disappears from stations that are more in tune to current trends, the songs that were once the lifeblood of this format will likely continue to migrate where their predecessors did years ago — and where many of them have already gone — further into adult contemporary and classic rock formats. Yet therein also lies a problem. Songs that may now be considered too rock-heavy for alternative stations spinning pop-crossover artists like Portugal. The Man or Twenty One Pilots might also be too keys-laden or genre-bending for stations dependent on more traditional rock icons like Led Zeppelin or Tom Petty.
"The style of 80’s alternative music dictates whether it moves to classic rock,” Kaplan says. “Much of the indie/synth texture isn’t a fit for classic rockers who rely more on the guitar-based artists." Hanson adds: “I don’t think you are going to see Depeche Mode, Beasties or XTC suddenly make their way on classic rock stations, sonically it may not fit.”
So, does that leave ‘80s alternative floating in the radio ether, as a era without a home format? Kaplan wonders if such a hole could lead to “development for a ‘Classic Alternative’ format” in certain cities.
Wherever these songs end up, be it scattered across multiple formats or woven into a new fleet of stations, they are not alone in their departure on modern alt radio. Kaplan says many of the ‘90s hits -- once considered the bedrock of most alternative stations, and reflective of the format’s most commercially successful era -- are starting to be excised from rotation as well.
“Our core [audience] is 25-34 -- millennials,” he says. “And they have some appetite for the ‘90s and some ‘80s. But they’re really looking ahead more than behind.”
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Gary
Diamond Member
Joined: January 2014
Posts: 45,896
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Post by Gary on Oct 13, 2018 9:30:47 GMT -5
Lou Reed, B-52s, The Cure & More: 10 Acts That Earned Their First Billboard No. 1s on the Alternative Songs Chart
10/12/2018 by Kevin Rutherford
These acts didn't just get an Alternative Songs No. 1 -- their leaders were the first of their careers.
Since its inception 30 years ago, Billboard's Alternative Songs airplay chart has reflected the format's unique platform as a springboard for acts that have gone from relative obscurity to global superstardom.
Imagine Dragons' first No. 1 song? "Radioactive," on the Alternative Songs chart. Lorde's? "Royals," Alternative Songs. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alanis Morissette, twenty one pilots? Each of these acts first snagged a chart-topping song at the alternative radio format before becoming renowned worldwide.
But, in the early days of Alternative Songs, the tally wasn't just a tastemaker for the potential next big thing in music, with acts like R.E.M., Jane's Addiction and Green Day reaching new audiences. When the chart was first published in the Sept. 10, 1988, Billboard issue, certain established acts, some of which had already achieved vaunted, perhaps even fabled, status through some of their earlier work, had yet to earn No. 1 hit in America.
Bear in mind, after all, that although the chart began in the late '80s, alternative music had been growing the world over, from the jangly, synth-driven sounds of The Smiths and their British peers to New York City punk rock. The genre didn't just appear out of nowhere; musicians, many of whom had influenced those making the music on the first Alternative Songs chart, had been creating what came to be known as alternative music for years, and as such, there were veterans of the scene.
And when Alternative Songs began, well, some finally got their due. From Lou Reed and Mick Jones to The Cure and the Talking Heads, acts without No. 1 Billboard hits finally got them.
Here are a select 10 of those artists.
Lou Reed, "Dirty Blvd."
Perhaps the most remarkable example is The Velvet Underground's frontman Lou Reed, who had not only released five LPs with his old band, but also 14 solo albums pre-Alternative Songs. Of course, The Velvet Underground's lack of commercial success in its time has been well-reported, and Reed managed the classic top 20 Billboard Hot 100 hit single "Walk on the Wild Side" in 1973 and one top 10 album, 1974's Sally Can't Dance, on the Billboard 200, but he wasn't exactly topping charts, either.
In February 1989, just months after Alternative Songs' creation, that changed for Reed, as "Dirty Blvd." ascended to No. 1 for four weeks, becoming Reed's first leader on any Billboard chart. It was no fluke, either; in addition to a pair of top 20 hits on the tally in the ensuing year-and-a-half (including one, the No. 13-peaking "Nobody But You," with former Velvet Underground bandmate John Cale), lightning struck again for Reed in the form of 1992's "What's Good," which ruled the list for three weeks.
Kate Bush, "Love and Anger"
Kate Bush became the first solo woman to rule Alternative Songs, and she did so a decade after her first-charting title on a Billboard ranking. When "Love and Anger" reached No. 1 in December 1989, it followed 10 years of intermittent appearances by Bush on various charts. First there was "The Man With the Child in His Eyes," which peaked at No. 85 on the Hot 100 in March 1979. Then came the enduring "Running Up That Hill," which hit No. 30 in 1985, and "Don't Give Up," with Peter Gabriel (No. 76, 1987).
Unlike some of her contemporaries on this list, Bush's Alternative Songs No. 1 remains her only leader on any Billboard chart, song- or album-based, to date, although she added three more Alternative Songs top 10s (plus a No. 11-peaking cover of Elton John's "Rocket Man") through 1993.
Mick Jones -- Big Audio Dynamite, "Just Play Music!"
When Jones formed Big Audio Dynamite in 1984 following his removal from his post as The Clash's lead singer and guitarist, he had no No. 1s to his name with his former band (which still boasts no chart-toppers to this day). But Jones and co. were among the first to take advantage of the newly formed Alternative Songs chart, as "Just Play Music!" became the list's second No. 1 (after Siouxsie & The Banshees' "Peek-a-Boo"), in September 1988.
The band was fairly successful on the ranking in its first few years of existence; in addition to "Music!," Big Audio Dynamite (eventually named Big Audio Dynamite II and then just Big Audio) scored an additional No. 1 with "Rush," which samples The Who's Baba O'Riley," in August 1991 -- and after, three more top 10s.
Johnny Marr -- Electronic, "Get the Message"; Morrissey, "Tomorrow"
If there's any band that best exemplifies alternative without actually having a single song on the Alternative Songs chart, it's The Smiths, whose period of music-making (1982-87) completely predates the list's existence. But that doesn't mean that its members didn't go on to achieve Alternative Songs success. First came guitarist Johnny Marr, whose Electronic project with New Order's Bernard Sumner snagged Marr's first-ever Billboard No. 1 in the summer of 1991, the two-week leader "Get the Message."
Former Smiths frontman Morrissey, who first reached Alternative Songs as a solo artist in 1989 with the No. 3-peaking "The Last of the Famous International Playboys," followed a year later with "Tomorrow," his first Billboard leader, a six-week No. 1 beginning in August 1992.
John Lydon/Public Image Ltd., "Disappointed"
John Lydon -- or Johnny Rotten, if you'd like -- formed Public Image Ltd. in 1978 after leaving the Sex Pistols earlier that year. His old band hadn't scored much Billboard chart success, but then again, neither did PIL for a while, failing to crack the top 100 of the Billboard 200 with its early releases.
"Disappointed," however, became Lydon's first, and to date only, Billboard No. 1 when it ascended to the top of Alternative Songs for one week (July 29, 1989). PIL was a regular presence in Alternative Songs' early days, snagging five top 20s in all between May 1989 and March 1992.
Elvis Costello, "Veronica"
He'd been around the block quite a few times by the time Alternative Songs came into existence, but Elvis Costello nonetheless lacked a Billboard No. 1 before March 1989; he had notched a top 10 album on the Billboard 200, Armed Forces, as well as a handful of appearances on the Hot 100 and the Mainstream Rock Songs airplay chart.
Costello, of course, was probably always going to benefit from Alternative Songs' creation; ever since 1977's My Aim Is True and his rebellious 1977 Saturday Night Live performance of "Radio Radio," Costello had been associated with the very spirit of the genre. And when "Veronica" ruled the airwaves in 1989, it paved the way for three more top 10s on the list, including a second No. 1, "The Other Side of Summer," in 1991.
Notably, an act not necessarily associated with alternative co-wrote "Veronica" with Costello: Paul McCartney. The pair also penned McCartney's "My Brave Face," with both songs reaching the Hot 100's top 40 in 1989.
The Cure, "Fascination Street"
The Cure began appearing on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart in 1980, and the Robert Smith-fronted U.K. act was fairly prolific on both that list and the Billboard 200 in the 1980s, leading up to the band's first Hot 100 appearance, "In Between Days," in 1986, and its first top 40 hit, "Just Like Heaven," in early 1988.
The Cure didn't claim a No. 1 prize stateside, however, until "Fascination Street," a seven-week ruler of Alternative Songs from 1989's Disintegration. And more was to follow; in all, The Cure nabbed four leaders on the list through 1992.
The B-52s, "Channel Z"
Ever heard of being big in Canada? The B-52s sure were … well, somewhat. "Rock Lobster," first released in 1978 from the new-wave Georgians' debut album, performed modestly in the United States, peaking at No. 56 on the Hot 100 in 1980, but it led RPM's Canada Top Singles chart that year, in addition to becoming a top three hit in Australia.
Despite those early inroads, the band never managed a chart-topper in America until "Channel Z," which led Alternative Songs for three weeks beginning on the Aug. 5, 1989, tally. To date, the band earned each of its No. 1s on a Billboard chart on Alternative Songs, with "Love Shack" (a No. 3 Hot 100 smash) and "Good Stuff" also reigning.
Peter Murphy, "Cuts You Up"; Love and Rockets, "So Alive"
Following the extinction of Bauhaus in 1983, the post-punk quartet broke into two pieces: frontman Peter Murphy struck out on his own, while Daniel Ash, David J and Kevin Haskins formed Love and Rockets.
Each former Bauhaus member eventually enjoyed a trip to No. 1 on a Billboard chart, and each on Alternative Songs. Love and Rockets' "So Alive" led in summer 1989, and Murphy's "Cuts You Up" followed in winter/spring 1990.
Talking Heads, "Sax and Violins"
Yep, that's right: for all the success that the Talking Heads had experienced throughout the late 1970s and the duration of the '80s (they even released their own concert film, Stop Making Sense), the band never notched a No. 1 song until its final single, "Sax and Violins." Not "Burning Down the House," a No. 9 Hot 100 hit. Nor "And She Was," which reached No. 11 on Mainstream Rock Songs. At last, "Sax" topped Alternative Songs in February 1992. Call it a pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the ninth.
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rockgolf
2x Platinum Member
Pop music fanatic since the days of 7" 45 RPM records.
Joined: August 2018
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Post by rockgolf on Oct 13, 2018 16:12:02 GMT -5
Top 300 Alternative Songs 10 Drive Incubus 101 Loser Beck 181 Drive R.E.M. 230 Loser 3 Doors Down 263 One Creed 300 One U2 |
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Post by Baby Yoda Hot100Fan on Oct 15, 2018 11:14:01 GMT -5
^Interestingly, those are part of the one word title club which is easy to do a copy/paste of as we have discussed.
Here's a Spotify playlist to the full top 300 songs:
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