July 23, 2016 - Mike Posner (2)

So...yeah. This round was pretty weak. Why has the countdown been so inert since that 5-exit week? Is it the summer lull? Some people have already talked about how slow this year has been for music as a whole, and looking at the summers of 2014 and 2015 here in countdown land, I can say that's true this time around. I mean, I don't mind as much as most others do, but I do feel bad for them. We're entering the dark age of the countdown, unfortunately I did not find this blogging thing at the right time. That is disappointing. But at least our #1 song shows it could surely be worse. With that being said, here are the songs leaving us this week.

• If It Ain't Love by Jason Derulo (#41)

The Countdown!
Last Week’s #1 Song: Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake
45. Work by Rihanna featuring Drake (#43)
44. Lost Boy by Ruth B. (#40)
43. Me, Myself and I by G-Eazy and Bebe Rexha (#45)
42. Unsteady by X Ambassadors (#44)
41. Hands to Myself by Selena Gomez (#39)
40. You Don't Own Me by Grace (#27)
39. 7 Years by Lukas Graham (#42)
38. My House by Flo Rida (#37) (one week at #1)
37. Wild Things by Alessia Cara (#32)
36. Let It Go by James Bay (#24)
35. Pillowtalk by Zayn Malik (#34)
34. Work From Home by Fifth Harmony (#35)
33. No by Meghan Trainor (#36) (Seriously?!)
32. Missing You by All Time Low (#26)
31. Youth by Troye Sivan (#30)
30. Cake By The Ocean by DNCE (#28) (four weeks at #1)
29. Say by Symon (#29)
28. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer (debut)
27. Kill 'Em With Kindness by Selena Gomez (#25)
26. The Sound by The 1975 (#38)
25. History by One Direction (#20)
24. Figure Me Out by The Summer Set (#18)
23. Mama Said by Lukas Graham (#31)
22. Me Too by Meghan Trainor (#21)
21. Wherever I Go by OneRepublic (#10)
20. One Dance by Drake featuring WizKid and Kyla (#33)
19. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (#22)
18. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes (#19)
17. Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots (#12) (five weeks at #1)
16. Don't Mind by Kent Jones (#23)
15. Toothbrush by DNCE (#16)
14. Once In a While by Timeflies (#15)
13. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez (#13)
12. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya (#13)
11. Victorious by Panic! At The Disco (#14) (one week at #1)
10. New Romantics by Taylor Swift (#11) (two weeks at #1)
9. Close by Nick Jonas and Tove Lo (#9)
8. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna (#8)
7. Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande (#7)
6. Just Like Fire by P!nk (#3)
5. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (#6)
4. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots (#5)
3. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul (#2)
2. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake (#1) (five weeks at #1)
#1 Song This Week 1 Year Ago: Honey, I'm Good by Andy Grammer
1. I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner (#4) (second week at #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: You Don't Own Me by Grace (-13)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: One Dance by Drake featuring WizKid and Kyla (+13) (Hm...)

New Entrants
- So we have but one new entrant this week, with a new track from the Ghostbusters movie soundtrack, in Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer. Because of course Hits 1 loves their 5SOS. I know that when it debuted last week I called it their best track yet, but that may have been exaggerating. Still, it feels like an unpopular opinion among this community to like this song, but it's definitely better than their two 2014 hits. I like that guitar riff and the harmonies are good, particularly in the post-verse. We'll see if this wears on me, but I'm liking it right now.

When The Girls Talk Blurbs
- And we have one exit...yet again, because Hits 1 knows what we want and gives us the opposite. They're the Trollfreak of radio. If It Ain't Love by Jason Derulo wasn't destined to last long after that huge drop last month, but as I said last week, I do wish Derulo was having more success with what he's had since Want to Want Me last year.

- I still don't find Lost Boy by Ruth B. as bad or boring as a lot of people do, but it's not a song that to me really fits on the countdown. Still, I can't see myself hating it.

- The Sound by The 1975 took a jump up into the 30's? Sure, I'll take it!

- So Spyder Harrison mentioned this before introducing History by One Direction, but both Harry Styles and Liam Payne have apparently signed record deals. I remember the freakout that people had then and the #OneDirectionIsOverParty thing. I don't even know what to say. Now I'm really hoping that Perfect will make Billboard's Year-End Hot 100, which it has a chance to by the skin of its teeth, but that's a story for December.

- I thought for sure that One Dance by Drake featuring WizKid and Kyla would flop here like Hotline Bling did. Clearly, I was wrong, as it took the biggest jump of the week. It's still #1 on the Hot 100 right now, though, but it won't be for much longer.

- Me Too by Meghan Trainor continues to make me rage every time I hear it. Hopefully it can keep dropping.

- Along with Me Too, Work by Rihanna featuring Drake, No by Meghan Trainor, Pillowtalk by Zayn Malik, Work From Home by Fifth Harmony, Hands to Myself and Kill ‘Em With Kindness by Selena Gomez, Youth by Troye Sivan, and Cake By The Ocean by DNCE all need to leave the countdown!!!!! ...As does Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya, but that one looks like it's a ways away from then.

- And for the elephant in the room, someone did notice this the previous week, but yes, I have Don't Mind by Kent Jones in pink. I don't know, I may just have a soft spot for most intentionally weird songs. It'll probably be red again eventually.

- All the songs through 7 - 9 held their spots from last week.

- Who saw Sia perform on Good Morning America yesterday? I liked the performances of Cheap Thrills and Unstoppable, but when she did Chandelier, she had to shift into her lower range and not belt out like on the original studio version. I still love the song, but yeah, it is not a song meant to be performed live. And like many, I was expecting Cheap Thrills to be #1.

- When they played Honey, I'm Good by Andy Grammer (the #1 song this week one year ago), I noticed they didn't censor out the word "ass" in the second verse. Am I weird for only now noticing that?

- But to see I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner at #1 again? Again, it would've been nice to have Cheap Thrills at #1 this time around, but I'll take it. Also, before Spyder Harrison introduced it, he didn't refer to it as "this week's numero uno". And there wasn't the dramatic silent pause before saying "wutchuwanted", as there was synth going on then.

Hit-Bound

• Rise by Katy Perry
• All About Us by Jordan Fisher
• Hymn For The Weekend (Seeb Remix) by Coldplay
• Red Dress by MAGIC!
• Brand New by Ben Rector
• Body Say by Demi Lovato
• No Broken Hearts by Bebe Rexha featuring Nicki Minaj
• Lovesick by Jacob Whitesides
• Spirits by The Strumbellas
• Hello Friday by Flo Rida featuring Jason Derulo
• Wild by Troye Sivan and Alessia Cara
• I Wanna Know by Alesso with Nico and Vinz
• I'm Not Famous by AJR
• Back 2 U by Steve Aoki & Boehm featuring Walk The Moon (debut)

- Yes, you're reading that right. Rise by Katy Perry is in orange. I just find the song disappointing and not interesting. And seeing as it currently has an average rating of 3.5/5 stars on iTunes and isn't in the Top 10 there at the time of this typing, I'm not alone in feeling the same. Hello Friday, you're off the hook this week.

- On that note, Hello Friday by Flo Rida featuring Jason Derulo has actually grown on me a little. Not to the point of where I'll actively seek it out, but it won't make me change the station immediately. I highly doubt it'll be green, though, and there are other songs here I would rather see make the countdown.

- I've seen Brand New by Ben Rector get quite a bit of hate, and I've even seen a few call it one of the worst songs of the year so far. I don't think the song is great, but it definitely deserves better than that.

- Spirits by The Strumbellas has only gotten more interesting every time I hear it. We need more indie folk like this!

- And last, but certainly not least, we come to our one debut here, Back 2 U by Steve Aoki & Boehm featuring Walk The Moon. Nicholas Petricca's vocals fit the song well and the drop is pretty solid. Walk The Moon don't deserve to be one-hit wonders...

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 - Garbage:
None!

1 - Bad:
20. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya

2 - Meh:
19. New Romantics by Taylor Swift
18. One Dance by Drake featuring WizKid and Kyla

3 - Decent:
17. Don't Mind by Kent Jones
16. Victorious by Panic! At The Disco
15. Close by Nick Jonas and Tove Lo
14. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna
13. Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande

4 - Good:
12. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes
11. Toothbrush by DNCE
10. Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots

5 - Great:
9. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez
8. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya
7. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele
6. Just Like Fire by P!nk
5. Once In a While by Timeflies
4. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul
3. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake
2. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots
1. I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner

Overall score: 77/100 - Solid

May The Following Please Refer To Blurb #7?
1. Me Too by Meghan Trainor
2. Work by Rihanna featuring Drake
3. Kill 'Em With Kindness by Selena Gomez
4. No by Meghan Trainor
5. Work From Home by Fifth Harmony

Countdown Top 5
1. I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner
2. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots
3. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake
4. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul
5. The Sound by The 1975

Hit-Bound Top 5
1. Spirits by The Strumbellas
2. Hymn For The Weekend (Seeb Remix) by Coldplay
3. Back 2 U by Steve Aoki & Boehm featuring Walk The Moon
4. I'm Not Famous by AJR
5. Body Say by Demi Lovato

Most Missed Song: I Need Your Love by Calvin Harris with Ellie Goulding

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1: Greenlight by Pitbull featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Flo Rida

Yes, as you can see, I'm including these two sections like a few other of these bloggers have done. I know the second one isn't something Hits 1 will see, but it's cool to throw stuff out there that one thinks might fit well. Now I need to figure out how to include the "new songs out there" pages and what not...

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
Should've Been Us by Tori Kelly - Beautiful song and easily my favorite of Tori Kelly's three singles, but unfortunately all of them have had disappointing runs.
Stitches by Shawn Mendes - Already talked about this one on my 2015 Year-End Hot 100 breakdown. It's just meh with a not straightforward premise. Next!
Bad Girls by MKTO - Not really a lot to say about this one, these guys are silly but just fun.
She's Kinda Hot by 5 Seconds of Summer - This song's narrating goes all over the place and after the first chorus abandons the titular aspect completely.

So yeah, not the most exciting round. Let's hope for some more activity next week to actually liven this countdown up for a change. Thanks for reading, everybody!