May 13, 2017 - Zedd + Alessia Cara (2)

And here we are again with yet another late post. I know I keep going on about it but honestly my motivation has been declining more and more. And unlike certain people I won't name, it has nothing to do with (the lack of) exits here. No, I've just not been in the best of moods recently when it comes to this place and just in general, I don't really know why. Actually, I do know why, but explaining it here would take a while. I've wanted to talk about that in depth but haven't been able to get it to sound right. But you're not here to hear me talk about that right now. You want me to get on with my countdown post. So be it! So without further ado, here are the songs leaving us this week.

• Water Under The Bridge by Adele (#39)
• Miss You by James Hersey (#43)
• Million Reasons by Lady Gaga (#44)
• Love On The Brain by Rihanna (#45)
  

The Countdown!

Last Week’s #1 Song: Stay by Zedd featuring Alessia Cara
45. I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk (#40)
44. This Town by Niall Horan (#41)
43. Chained To The Rhythm by Katy Perry featuring Skip Marley (#42)
42. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5 (#27) (three weeks at #1)
41. Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj (#38)
40. American Girls by One Ok Rock (debut)
39. Don't Leave by Snakehips featuring MO (#36)
38. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd (#29) (four weeks at #1)
37. Sooner Or Later by Aaron Carter (debut)
36. Lights Down Low by MAX featuring gnash (#35)
35. I'm The One by DJ Khaled with Justin Bieber and Chance the Rapper (debut)
34. 24K Magic by Bruno Mars (#34)
33. Just Hold On by Steve Aoki featuring Louis Tomlinson (#31)
32. Bad Things by Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello (#28)
31. Heavydirtysoul by Twenty-one Pilots (#33)
30. Slow Hands by Niall Horan (debut)
29. All Time Low by Jon Bellion (#32)
28. Sign Of The Times by Harry Styles (#37)
27. Cake by Flo Rida featuring 99 Percent (#25)
26. Now Or Never by Halsey (#30)
25. Rockabye by Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie (#11)
24. I Don't Wanna Live Forever by Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift (#24)
23. HandClap by Fitz And The Tantrums (#23)
22. Weak by AJR (#18)
21. Play That Song by Train (#21)
20. Attention by Charlie Puth (#20)
19. Heavy by Linkin Park featuring Kiiara (#16)
18. The Cure by Lady Gaga (#19)
17. Cold by Maroon 5 (#12)
16. All Night by The Vamps featuring Matoma (#22)
15. Slide by Calvin Harris featuring Frank Ocean and Migos (#17)
14. There's Nothing Holding Me Back by Shawn Mendes (#26)
13. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (#9) (eight weeks at #1)
12. Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur (#8)
11. Believer by Imagine Dragons (#10)
10. Issues by Julia Michaels (#13)
9. Paris by The Chainsmokers (#3) (one week at #1)
8. L.A. Devotee by Panic! At The Disco (#14)
7. It Ain't Me by Kygo featuring Selena Gomez (#7)
6. Mercy by Shawn Mendes (#4)
5. That's What I Like by Bruno Mars (#5) (one week at #1)
4. Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran (#6) (one week at #1)
3. Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay (#15)
2. Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran (#2) (nine weeks at #1)
#1 Song This Week One Year Ago: Cake By The Ocean by DNCE (fourth and final week at #1)
1. Stay by Zedd featuring Alessia Cara (#1) (second week at #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5 (-15)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Tie between There's Nothing Holding Me Back by Shawn Mendes and Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay (+12)

New Entrants
- First up we come to long-time Hit-Bound resident, American Girls by One Ok Rock. Spyder mentioned before introducing the song that these guys are so huge in Tokyo, and they even had Fall Out Boy open for them. (Might not be exact wording...) To me, similar to Talk Too Much by Coin, which debuted Hit-Bound the same week as this but failed to make the countdown, this song sounds like one of those songs you would probably hear for the first time in a Rock Band game. That's not to say that I think the song is bad, not at all. But it does feel a bit loud for my tastes. That may be a bit ironic from someone who likes Believer, but I don't know. So I'm not that big on it right about now, but that could certainly change.

- I must say, hearing Aaron Carter after roughly a decade and a half definitely feels nostalgic. I remember some of his early 2000's releases, including Aaron's Party (Come and Get It) and That's How I Beat Shaq from his second album, as well as Leave It Up To Me from Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, The Movie, and then a couple other albums that had a few representations. And now, a decade and a half later, here he is with a new song by the name of Sooner or Later. And he definitely sounds different being twice his age from his last work. I think the song is about the thought of a girl's return to him, which is something I'm sure some have longed for in their lives. It sounds nice enough, and I'm liking it for the time being. I don't know what more Aaron Carter has in him at this point, but if he doesn't do much else then I can say he did well for his time.

- So, seeing the name I'm The One, before recently my brain could only think of the song of the same name by Van Halen, which is best known for having the hardest section to FC in any Guitar Hero game. DJ Khaled is definitely no Van Halen, but I digress. Justin Bieber sings the chorus on this, and he is for sure the reason this song caught on as quickly as it did. The beat is pretty reminiscent of Don't Mind from last year, but I'd rather take this one. They kept Chance The Rapper around here, but cut out Quavo and Lil Wayne's verses as to save time presumably. Chance is alright, but with only that verse, the song does feel short. This song recently debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and while I'm definitely not wild that it dethroned That's What I Like and that was unfortunately left with but one week at the top, it is pretty interesting. But I'm not huge on it right now. Maybe that'll change.

- Finally we have the follow-up from Niall Horan. As This Town continues to linger after Hits 1 was as kind to it as they were, his follow-up, Slow Hands, has made way. This one has gotten some note for being more upbeat and having more going on than the former representation. While I'm kind of liking it right now, I'm not figuring out what isn't getting me to quite love it. Maybe it'll click with me in due time, it is in green but it could become blue. We'll see.

I'm The Blurb Yeah, I'm The Blurb Yeah
- As far as our exits go, Water Under The Bridge was by far the best and the one that will be the most missed by me. I did like Million Reasons and Love On The Brain in the long run, but I'm alright with their departures. And Miss You probably won't be remembered long from now but eh.

- So nice to see Don't Wanna Know have the biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! into the bottom 5. Can we please get this dumbass song off the countdown already?!

- Before introducing Side To Side, Spyder mentioned how Nicki Minaj paid off the student loans of some of her followers. I heard about that, and that is pretty interesting given how she has been known for...well, some negative things that have gone on. And I still actually like the song after all this time. Huh.

- The guest DJ who introduced 24K Magic was from El Paso, Texas, and even opened with a Spanish greeting. Nice to see listeners who actually take somewhat of an interest in foreign languages!

- I'm very fascinated that All Time Low is still here.

- I find it rather ironic - and sad - that Rockabye, a song about motherhood, had to drop on Mother's Day weekend.


- Before introducing Slide, Spyder talked about how Calvin Harris was recently listed as among the wealthiest people from Scotland. That's not surprising at all, but then Spyder spoke of how he's among the wealthiest people still living in an apartment. Is that really true???

- I was not expecting L.A. Devotee to enter the Top 10. Something Just Like This is completely welcomed into the Top 5, though. Maybe it'll hit #1 like these guys have already had THREE representations to do so?!?! Let's hope...

- Not gonna lie, there's a part of me that didn't want Stay to hold at #1, if only so we could potentially have a long chain of changing #1s like back in late winter/spring 2015 where nothing held at #1 for three months. But no, it had to break there. But I'm alright with it keeping at the top.

Hit-Bound
Good News by Ocean Park Standoff
Most Girls by Hailee Steinfeld
Body Like A Back Road by Sam Hunt (debut)
Swalla by Jason Derulo featuring Ty Dolla $ign and Nicki Minaj
Overwhelming by Jon Bellion
Stay Together by Noah Cyrus (debut)
Break My Heart by Hey Violet
Wicked by Mansionz featuring G-Eazy
Still Got Time by Zayn Malik featuring PARTYNEXTDOOR
Young and Menace by Fall Out Boy
At My Best by Machine Gun Kelly and Hailee Steinfeld (debut)
Good Time, Good Life by Erin Bowman
Kissing Strangers by DNCE
Bon Appetit by Katy Perry

- Oh boy... Body Like A Back Road is here. I was really hoping it wouldn't show up given how rare country songs appear here, but alas, it did. This (being the biggest country song in years) is beyond insulting. This is legit the worst song to appear on Hits 1 since Me Too. Hopefully it doesn't debut, but I'll save my thrashing for when it inevitably does, because it will NOT be pretty.

- I don't really have much to say about Stay Together at the moment. It isn't as crappy as her other song that I won't name, but it's really just there. I'll talk more about it if it debuts.

- Oh great, more Machine Gun Kelly? I recently watched a slamming review of his new album bloom, and At My Best is another one of his weak representations. God bless.

- That's right, I have no defined opinion on Bon Appetit. It's really hard for me to explain. As with Adrian, I really feel as if it could go either way for me.


Countdown Bottom 5
1. Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5
2. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd
3. Bad Things by Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello
4. Play That Song by Train
5. Cold by Maroon 5

Countdown Top 5
1. Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay
2. The Cure by Lady Gaga
3. Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran
4. I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk
5. Slide by Calvin Harris featuring Frank Ocean and Migos

Most Missed Song: Uh...I dunno? Shows how lazy I can get when I get these out late...?


Favorite Countdown Song This Week One Year Ago: Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya — While there were definitely worse songs last year objectively, I really don't think any countdown song from 2016 tested my patience as much as this condescending yelper talking about how great she thinks she is. Remind me how Daya is trying to save music again?
Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake — While this sure is no Uptown Funk or Shut Up and Dance in terms of quality, I definitely can appreciate it for what it is, even if there's not really that much to say about it.

QOTD: Closer or Shut Up and Dance? With all the talk about overplay on Mark's blog, I thought, why not take two of THE biggest songs that Hits 1 has had out in their time? I think you guys can guess which one is my pick - the one that I actually liked from day one.

Thanks for reading, everybody!