September 10, 2016 - The Chainsmokers + Daya (1)

Yeah, some things are showing activity but as we get into the fall, things might pick up. We're not quite out of the summer lull just yet but surely it should happen soon enough. I don't know what'll happen from here on out, but as the new music starts to come in with the fall, that might finally be the point where things get back on track. But for the time being, this is what we're stuck with. At least we got something that many have been longing for, and we'll get to that, but some songs get worse even as the long-time hits stick with me. There are no songs leaving us this week, so let’s go.

The Countdown!
Last Week’s #1 Song: Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake
45. All In My Head (Flex) by Fifth Harmony (#29)
44. 7 Years by Lukas Graham (#44)
43. Kill 'Em With Kindness by Selena Gomez (#45)
42. One Dance by Drake featuring Wizkid and Kyla (#43)
41. Once In A While by Timeflies (#41)
40. Toothbrush by DNCE (#24)
39. No by Meghan Trainor (#37)
38. Figure Me Out by The Summer Set (#32)
37. Work From Home by Fifth Harmony (#38)
36. New Romantics by Taylor Swift (#42) (two weeks at #1) (Yay! Never leave?!)
35. Hands To Myself by Selena Gomez (#35)
34. Victorious by Panic! At The Disco (#28) (one week at #1)
33. Just Like Fire by P!nk (#30)
32. Cake By The Ocean by DNCE (#39) (four weeks at #1)
31. I Took a Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner (#27) (two weeks at #1)
30. Unsteady by X Ambassadors (#34)
29. Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande (#32)
28. Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots (#26) (five weeks at #1)
27. Me Too by Meghan Trainor (#23)
26. Setting The World On Fire by Kenny Chesney featuring P!nk (#19)
25. Rise by Katy Perry (#40) (As expected...)
24. Missing You by All Time Low (#22)
23. Never Be Like You by Flume featuring Kai (#31)
22. Spirits by The Strumbellas (#36)
21. Say by Symon (#20)
20. Lovesick by Jacob Whitesides (#17)
19. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ (#25)
18. Mama Said by Lukas Graham (#21)
17. Body Say by Demi Lovato (#13)
16. I'm Not Famous by AJR (#15)
15. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey (#16)
14. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer (#10)
13. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya (#18)
12. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots (#14)
11. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez (#11)
10. The Sound by The 1975 (#7)
9. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes (#6)
8. Into You by Ariana Grande (#8)
7. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay (#12)
6. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna (#9)
5. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake (#1) (ten weeks at #1)
4. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul (#2)
3. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (#3) (one week at #1)
2. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots (#5)
#1 Song This Week 1 Year Ago: Photograph by Ed Sheeran
1. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya (#2) (first week at #1)

Biggest DRRRRRRROP!!! Of The Week: Tie between All In My Head (Flex) by Fifth Harmony and Toothbrush by DNCE (-16)

Biggest Jump Of The Week: Rise by Katy Perry (+15)

Never Be Like Blurbs
- Dang, I was hoping that All In My Head (Flex) by Fifth Harmony would do better than this. With Work From Home having done as good as it did, I thought this would have had more success, but I guess not.

- Speaking of Work From Home, both that and No need to leave!!! They are seriously irritating the crap out of me every time they come on and they will both be in orange if Me Too leaves before them!!!

- I'm still not growing out of either of the two week #1s we have here. One of them it's nice to see that it did as well as it did, and the other may have underperformed elsewhere but Hits 1 gave it some love for an artist who we won't be hearing from for a little bit. On that note, I just knew that Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston wouldn't last. :P Hey TayTay, when's that album?

- I still don't see why Unsteady by X Ambassadors is infuriating so many people here. Sure, it's been with us a while, but that other week when it hit #7 almost everyone seemed to turn on it, and last week many were saying it deserved that huge DRRRRRRROP!!!. Can I please ask why?

- Not surprising that Katy Perry had the biggest jump of the week. But the song hasn't gotten any better for me.

- Spyder Harrison commented on how Jacob Whitesides is the CEO of his own record label. And he's got a pretty kickass song here on the countdown. For a guy who's only 18, that is pretty awesome.

- Yes, Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey is now in blue. Maybe it'll turn green soon. We'll see.

- In the third 4-1-1 Weekend Rewind, which was right before Sit Still, Look Pretty, Alex T. from The Morning Mash-Up said that Drake and Kanye West are indeed working on a collaborative album. Ugh, don't remind me... I mean, Drake just had Billboard's biggest song of the summer, he's released three albums in just over a year and a half... Can he just take a break already?

- Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots continues to get more interesting and enjoyable when I hear it. This might gain more steam as we go into October and the Halloween season.

- I really hope that The Sound by The 1975 can stick with us longer because I still like this song a lot. But it could end up going down the same path that other songs that have shown up here but not elsewhere, like Once In A While and Figure Me Out, have. It recently debuted on the American Top 40, though, so maybe it'll stick with us.

- Can This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna move down some? Because I'll probably have it in red very soon.

- This is the third time that Ride by Twenty-one Pilots has had a (female) guest DJ while in the Top 10. I was hoping that it would be our #1...

- ...But that brings us to our new #1. I do still enjoy Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya, probably more than I should at this point. I'm happy that it's #1. Also, when introducing it, Spyder Harrison made a mistake in saying that it was the song's second time being at #1. Silly Spyder! :P

Hit-Bound
Starving by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey featuring Zedd
Back 2 U by Steve Aoki and Boehm featuring Walk The Moon
Death Of A Bachelor by Panic! At The Disco
Gold by Kiiara
Superstitious by MKTO
Kids by OneRepublic
This Girl by Kungs vs Cookin' On 3 Burners
Be As You Are by Mike Posner
Fresh Eyes by Andy Grammer
Cruel by Snakehips featuring Zayn
Wild by Troye Sivan and Alessia Cara
The Little Things by Big Gigantic featuring Angela McCluskey
Bacon by Nick Jonas
Red Dress by MAGIC!
Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga (debut) (?)

- Ryan Sampson from The Morning Mash-Up hosted Hit-Bound this week.

- I'm confused... Is Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga on Hit-Bound? Because I didn't hear it there today, and I don't see it for vote on the website, but it was mentioned as a Hit-Bound entrant.

- As you can see, I have Starving in both blue and red, as I'm not sure which color it should go in, in that some of its elements are awkward but I do find it overall tolerable, but I don't know if I will much longer. We'll see which color it takes.

Top 20 Breakdown:
0 - Shit:
20. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya

1 - Bad:
None!

2 - Meh:
19. This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna

3 - Decent:
18. Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes
17. I'm Not Famous by AJR
16. Mama Said by Lukas Graham
15. We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez
14. Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ
13. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey

4 - Good:
12. Girls Talk Boys by 5 Seconds of Summer
11. Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul
10. Body Say by Demi Lovato
9. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele
8. Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya

5 - Great:
7. Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake
6. Ride by Twenty-one Pilots
5. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
4. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay
3. Lovesick by Jacob Whitesides
2. Into You by Ariana Grande
1. The Sound by The 1975

Overall score: 75/100 - Solid

Also, since I don't have work today and my shift yesterday ended earlier, not to mention that we have no exits, I decided to do something I don't usually do: cover the YouTube15. This is a show with Jenna Marbles that airs every Friday evening at 6, and is re-aired a few times over the weekend, and in it she talks about some trending songs on YouTube. It's interesting, but it gets annoying when she spends like ten seconds talking after introducing a song before getting to it. That aside, we do get some odd stuff here, but some songs that end up here are ones that have existed for a while but not overly popular at all, and there are some things on the countdown. I won't do this every week, but if the chance presents itself and the songs here get interesting I might do it more. So without further ado, here are the songs that were on the YouTube15 this week.

Work From Home by Fifth Harmony
Perfect Strangers by Jonas Blue featuring JP Cooper
Still Falling For You by Ellie Goulding
This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris with Rihanna
Wish That You Were Here by Florence & The Machine
Panda by Desiigner
In The Name of Love by Martin Garrix with Bebe Rexha
Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes
Tears by Clean Bandit with Louisa Johnson
Cold Water by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ
Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj
Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
May We All by Florida Georgia Line featuring Tim McGraw
Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey
Tag You're It by Melanie Martinez

Ellie Goulding returns with another soundtrack song, Still Falling For You, from Bridget Jones' Baby. It's definitely not as good as Love Me Like You Do, but it's still lovely for what it is.

One funny thing about Panda by Desiigner is that when the chorus repeats twice, they censor out the word "killas" the first time it's used but not the second. And yes, I find Work From Home in orange - as I said, it is simply infuriating me at this point.

We haven't heard a lot from Martin Garrix since Animals in 2014, so here he is with Bebe Rexha in In The Name Of Love. I feel like I should hate the drop, but I just don't and the song feels too pretty for me to not like.

For those of you that don't remember Clean Bandit, they made the absolutely magical Rather Be with Jess Glynne, which is a big fan favorite from 2014, regarded by many (myself included) as the best song from that Year-End Hot 100. Now here they have Tears with Louisa Johnson, which, while it doesn't match up, is still a pretty solid dance track.

On that front, we have the recently arrived Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj, which is pretty fun. These two work quite well together, and while it's no Into You, I do like it, as much as these two shouldn't mix with reggae as well as they do.

There's also another country track with May We All by Florida Georgia Line featuring Tim McGraw, but this song is awfully compressed. And the 2Pac line is unnecessary.

Countdown Bottom 5
1. Me Too by Meghan Trainor
2. Work From Home by Fifth Harmony
3. No by Meghan Trainor
4. Kill 'Em With Kindness by Selena Gomez
5. Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya

Countdown Top 5
1. The Sound by The 1975
2. Into You by Ariana Grande
3. Spirits by The Strumbellas
4. Lovesick by Jacob Whitesides
5. Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay (Did I have this same Top 5 last week? That's what happens when you have no exits...)

Hit-Bound Top 5
1. This Girl by Kungs vs Cookin' On 3 Burners
2. Back 2 U by Steve Aoki and Boehm featuring Walk The Moon
3. Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga
4. Superstitious by MKTO
5. Bacon by Nick Jonas

YouTube15 Top 5
1. Tears by Clean Bandit featuring Louisa Johnson
2. In The Name Of Love by Martin Garrix with Bebe Rexha
3. Perfect Strangers by Jonas Blue featuring JP Cooper
4. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots
5. Side To Side by Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj

Most Missed Song: Ho Hey by The Lumineers - With Spirits having jumped and going through the recently made Decade-End Hot 100 predictions thread on Pulse Music Boards, this is a song I had to mention. It's one of the songs that looks like it'll barely miss that cut, despite its outrageously long run on the Hot 100.

#1 Recommendation For Hits 1 And The Countdown: I Hate U, I Love U by gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien

Songs That Debuted This Week One Year Ago:
What Do You Mean? by Justin Bieber — Say one thing, mean the other, yes Bieber, welcome to the world of girls and maturity.
Renegades by X Ambassadors — Already talked about this one, but it's cool that we have a song that's about people living to overcome their disabilities. Even if this thing is a Jeep commercial.
Can't Sleep Love by Pentatonix — I'm not gonna say this song is great per se, but it's stupid, bubbly fun.
Downtown by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and a bunch of other names I'm too lazy to remember — This song is the shit. The verses are as ridiculous as can be, and so are those gang vocals, but the chorus is absolutely epic in every sense of the word. The Mack returned hardcore.

One other thing to state real quick, next week (September 17) the countdown won't be on its usual schedule, given I'll be working from 8 AM to 4:30 PM, which I don't often work at. But I'll still bring my iPad with me so I can watch certain parts of the countdown when necessary. Thanks for reading, everybody!