October 1, 2016 - The Chainsmokers + Halsey (1)

I guess we can call this progress. We're still getting rid of some of the garbage and making way for some new stuff, even if some of that new stuff isn't to my liking. So without further ado, here are the songs leaving us this week.

• Say by Symon (#31)
• Toothbrush by DNCE (#41)

One other thing I wanted to mention really quick is that I changed the "Old but I still like it" color to dark yellow (or gold, whatever that looks like to you). I feel like it makes a little more sense that way. Anyway, let's go!

The Countdown!
Last Week’s #1 Song: Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya
45. Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande (#39)
44. 7 Years by Lukas Graham (#45)
43. No by Meghan Trainor (#44)
42. Missing You by All Time Low (#35)
41. Work From Home by Fifth Harmony (#42)
40. Victorious by Panic! At The Disco (#43) (one week at #1)
39. Just Like Fire by P!nk (#40)
38. Cake By The Ocean by DNCE (#32) (four weeks at #1)
37. New Romantics by Taylor Swift (#37) (two weeks at #1)
36. Mama Said by Lukas Graham (#33)
35. I Hate U, I Love U by Gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien (debut)
34. Me Too by Meghan Trainor (#34)
33. I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner (#38) (two weeks at #1)
32. The Sound by The 1975 (#24)
31. I'm Not Famous by AJR (#21)
30. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk (#28)
29. Body Say by Demi Lovato (#27)
28. Lovesick by Jacob Whitesides (#29)
27. Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots (#22) (five weeks at #1)
26. Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber (#25)
25. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (#17)
24. The Little Things by Big Gigantic featuring Angela McCluskey (debut)
23. Death of a Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco (#30)
22. Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga (#20)
21. Kids by OneRepublic (#19)
20. Gold by Kiiara (#23)
19. Spirits by The Strumbellas (#26)
18. My Way by Calvin Harris (#36)
17. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots (#2) (Ouch!)
16. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ (#14)
15. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer (#11)
14. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya (#18)
13. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay (#13)
12. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd (#12)
11. Never Be Like You by Flume featuring Kai (#16)
10. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez (#15)
9. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna (#5)
8. Unsteady by X Ambassadors (#9)
7. Into You by Ariana Grande (#8)
6. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes (#6)
5. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (#1) (three weeks at #1)
4. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake (#4) (ten weeks at #1)
3. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul (#3)
2. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots (#6)
#1 Song This Week 1 Year Ago: Shut Up and Dance by Walk The Moon (12th and final week at #1)
1. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (#10) (first week at #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Ride by Twenty-one Pilots (-15) (Kinda came out of nowhere...)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: My Way by Calvin Harris (+18)

New Entrants
- Our first entrant comes in I Hate U, I Love U by Gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien. I like this one, as it tells a story about two estranged lovers where the guy wants another girl. However, it is worth noting that Hits 1 plays the Deepend Remix of this song, which is over a minute shorter than the original version and cuts a little bit of it out completely. But I guess this remix they considered people might find more enjoyable for when they're driving in their car, like why they have the Seeb remix of Hymn For The Weekend. Anyway, we'll see how successful this one ends up being.

- On the not as good side, we have The Little Things by Big Gigantic featuring Angela McCluskey. To say the least...I do not like this. The piano feels too high-pitched as does this lady's singing, and everything is just too compressed and loud for my taste. There are maybe a few little things (yes that pun was intended) here that I can maybe kinda appreciate, like that saxophone at the very end, and the lyrics are...okay I guess? They're alright, but it's the singing and instrumentation that kill the song for me. It feels way too compressed and is not a pleasant listen overall. Sorry.

You Want Her, You Blurb Her, And I'll Never Be Her
- I will not miss either of our exits at all. They both deserved to go. Next!

- Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande needs to leave. It was nice having you, but you need to go. And as mentioned during its introduction, she might be going country. And I don't know about you, but I think that does not sound like a good idea. We have too many country songs out there that feel washed out or off tune (or, as YouTube user Spectrum Pulse calls them, "not country music"), and the last thing most of us want is for one of the better acts in mainstream today to go down that road.

- Before introducing Cake By The Ocean by DNCE, Spyder said, "Down six to #38, still loving...". Really? As the longest tenured song on the countdown, you'd think these DJs would get sick of playing it (I mean, he said "and yes, finally" when Hello by Adele left back in June). If I want to listen to this song, I'll just put on the song it's ripping off, thank you very much.

- While introducing I'm Not Famous by AJR, Spyder Harrison commented on how few views the video had on YouTube and that it deserved way more, making a pun on the song's title, saying "Guess it's because they're not famous yet". Haha. Well, they did have one of your station's biggest (albeit barely) songs from 2014... That being said, I do still find the song funny. My twin brother said a few weeks ago that it's one of his favorites here.

- I'm surprised that Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber dropped on its second week. Only one spot, but still, I thought for sure that it would jump. And Hits 1, this song is not from My World 2.0!!!

- Speaking of Adele, congrats to the album of our #25 song - quite fittingly named, 25 - for reaching Diamond status! Billboard recently released a list of all the albums that are Diamond, so maybe I'll make a post on something like that. I don't know, just a thought. But it's pretty rare that albums reach Diamond status in today's day, so it is definitely worth mentioning.

- If Rise leaving last week after three weeks was anything to go by, I have a feeling that Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga won't be much longer for us either. It's flopping everywhere else just like the former so I won't be devastated if it takes a quick exit.

- Spirits by The Strumbellas rebounded nicely back into the Top 20. More good news.

- Wow. Out of absolutely nowhere, Ride by Twenty-one Pilots took the biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! out of the week. There goes its chance at #1. I don't like it as much as I did in the summer, but I'm still kinda bummed about that. This is also yet another rare occasion where the biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! of the week is higher than the biggest jump. Also, while Hit-Bound was on, the second of the three Most Wutchuwanted songs that they stopped for was this one. Maybe it'll rebound next week, I don't know.

- Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes is REALLY stuck to that #6 spot. I thought it would jump a little because of his album, Illuminate, releasing this past week. I am kinda relieved that it didn't, because the song is really getting cumbersome for me.

- And on that note... Yeah guys, not gonna lie, after many months, I am finally starting to get sick of some of these songs, Cheap Thrills and Don't Let Me Down in particular. I mean, most of the big songs are at least tolerable, as in it won't be the end of the world if I'm stuck listening to them. And sure, I don't grow out of the biggest and most overplayed hits as easily as many do, but I can't pretend that I love them forever. Well, I could, but not all of them I find amazing, in that so many listens have made me realize that they are indeed flawed - or lacking in the right substance. With Cheap Thrills, for example, the verses I feel are pretty lazily written. Some of these very well could turn red eventually, but we'll see just what my final thoughts on them will be come the end of the year. We really need to start voting for more Hit-Bound songs, or get more interesting music out here.

- And yet, Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake I somehow still have in green. It might be one of those that sticks with me to the end.

- To think that this week one year ago was the final week of 12 at #1 for Shut Up and Dance by Walk The Moon. Is it sad that even today I find it a more enjoyable song on its own than pretty much anything that's been a hit this year so far?

- Finally we come to our new numero uno. I'm definitely not surprised that Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey is #1, seeing how it's currently #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 by a MASSIVE lead, but I was not expecting such a sudden jump from #10 to the top spot. But I hope Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots can hit #1. I mean, I am enjoying the former now, but I like the latter more... Bad enough that the former is blocking the latter from #1 there, but to have the exact same Top 2 here on the countdown as well??? Ahhhhhhh!!! Don't have any of that!!! Hit #1 next week!!!

Hit-Bound
Bacon by Nick Jonas
Green Light by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida
Fresh Eyes by Andy Grammer
Kiss The Sky by Jason Derulo
Body Moves by DNCE (debut)
The Greatest by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar
Be As You Are by Mike Posner
Chase You Down by RUNAGROUND
Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk
Still Falling For You by Ellie Goulding
Red Dress by MAGIC!
This Town by Niall Horan (debut)
Good Grief by Bastille
This Girl by Kungs vs Cookin' On 3 Burners

- Our first debut this week is Body Moves by DNCE. I was expecting this to be another annoying track like their first two, but this is actually pretty cool.

- As you can see, I have Red Dress by MAGIC! in dark green, meaning I have no real opinion on it at this point. I think it's the first time I've used that color for a song that wasn't one I haven't heard. But this song has been on Hit-Bound for so long now. But I think the song is nice and not one I can really hate. In all seriousness though, it should either debut soon or leave.

- Then we come to the sudden out of nowhere solo debut from Niall Horan, with This Town. I think it's cute, to say the least. Not really a lot much beyond that at this point. I'm sure I'll have more to say when it inevitably debuts the countdown. But the song may as well be called "Everything Comes Back To You", and that line reminds me of a certain Hit-Bound drop-out that deserved to debut. :( Ah well.

- A recent comment I once heard is that some people don't like This Girl by Kungs vs Cookin' On 3 Burners because of its drop. Are they talking about that trumpet that plays in between the verses and right before the very end? Because I really haven't had a problem with that. Anyway, I really do not want this song to be a flop, so let's please get it on the countdown soon.

- So once again, Hit-Bound is looking good, as aside from the aforementioned no opinion Red Dress, everything here is at least decent.

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 — Shit:
20. Gold by Kiiara
19. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya

1 — Bad:
18. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna

2 — Meh:
17. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes16. Unsteady by X Ambassadors
15. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya

3 — Decent:
14. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez
13. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul

12. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd

4 — Good:
11. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer
10. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots
9. Never Be Like You by Flume featuring Kai
8. My Way by Calvin Harris
7. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey

5 — Great:
6. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake
5. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay
4. Spirits by The Strumbellas
3. Into You by Ariana Grande
2. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ
1. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots

Total score: 69/100

Countdown Bottom 5
1. Me Too by Meghan Trainor
2. No by Meghan Trainor
3. Work From Home by Fifth Harmony
4. Gold by Kiiara
5. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya

Countdown Top 5
1. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
2. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ
3. Into You by Ariana Grande
4. Spirits by The Strumbellas
5. The Sound by The 1975

Hit-Bound Top 5
1. Kiss The Sky by Jason Derulo
2. Green Light by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida
3. This Girl by Kungs vs Cookin' On 3 Burners
4. Chase You Down by RUNAGROUND
5. Body Moves by DNCE

Most Missed Song: Need You Now by Lady Antebellum - One of my favorite hit songs of the decade.

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1 And The Countdown: In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha (Not a lot of newer music recently...)

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago: None.

Thanks for reading, everybody!