BILLCS Top 30 #397 – January 28, 2013

You can view the full Top 30 using the link under ***BILL’S PERSONAL CHART*** to the right, or you can click right here. You can hear all of the songs on the chart or watch their videos by clicking on the pics on the chart page.  Any free downloads that are identified are sanctioned by the performer.  There’s always a tiny place at the bottom of the blog post with tags and the statement “Leave A Comment” – please feel free to do so :)

  • The top of this edition’s chart is Matthew Koma territory.  The punk-flavoured rocker “1998” (listen to the song up above) replaces his own “Parachute” at #1.  For some neat chart geekery ;), this is the first time a performer has replaced himself at the top since Darren Hayes’ “How To Build A Time Machine” replaced his “Me Myself And (I)” at #1 at the end of 2007, though Simon Curtis’ “Laser Guns Up” got to #1 right after he was featured prominently in Ro Danishei’s “Wicked Baby” in Fall 2011.
  • River Tiber’s “The City” is Matthew Koma’s rival for #1 in two weeks.  It’s a beautiful and unique song from the album Synapses, available as free download.  If that’s not enough, River Tiber’s “What Are You Afraid Of” advances to #7, and the rockier opening song from the album, “Reverie”, premieres at #25 (listen below).  River Tiber is once again playing Canadian Music Week in March in Toronto.
  • Chris Wallace’s “Time Bomb (Walk Away)” rises to #4, while my #2 song of 2012 “Remember When (Push Rewind)” is still gaining in airplay after four months on the Mediabase chart.  This past week, Chris performed on the Jimmy Kimmel late night show on ABC, where he performed “Remember When” and my #15 song “Keep Me Crazy” (video clip below).  He also now has over 305,000 followers on Twitter 😮

  • FrankMusik’s “Fast As You Can” (#8, video below) becomes the latest of the singer’s long line of Top 10 songs on this chart over the past two years.  At this point, it looks like you will find the song only as a single on iTunes.  Frank has retitled his EP Far From Over, and has revamped the song lineup (also excluding the gorgeous “Hurt You Again” 😦 ) and has set February 14 as the release date.
  • Passion Pit has sold out its Toronto show with Matt & Kim (missed my opportunity for tickets).  The lead single from Gossamer, “Take A Walk”, has long lasting legs and rises to #9 this week.  Meanwhile, Matt & Kim continue to climb with “Now” at #14.
  • The fastest riser on the chart at #10 belongs to Zedd’s emotional dance treatise “Clarity”, featuring perfectly matched vocals by Foxes (video below).

  • “If I Lose Myself” is One Republic’s best single in a few years, and it climbs to #12, while the uplifting “Let Me Love You” by Ne-Yo also moves up to #13.  Ne-Yo’s also featured on Conor Maynard’s most enjoyable “Turn Around” at #21.
  • Some recent debuts have kicked into high gear:  “Reboot The Mission” by The Wallflowers featuring The Clash’s Mick Jones as at #16, while Davis Redfield’s dancefloor stunner “A World Apart” bolts to #17.  “Miss Unknown” to me is the better of two recent Eric Saade singles and it rises to #18.  Videos for all are below.

  • Besides River Tiber’s “Reverie”, there are two other debuts.   One is “Learn To Love Again” by UK quartet Lawson (video below), which I wrote about recently.  The band is in my city and I’ll be checking out their show on February 2.  But the highest of these is, not surprisingly, Justin Timberlake & Jay-Z’s “Suit & Tie” at #23.  Given that the song is everywhere, I’m looking to see if it lasts or burns out.  I’m still quite enjoying its breezy, retro-Motown flare (official lyric video below) – which promotes dressing up in style too.  Nothing wrong with that!  It’s JT’s first lead billing to chart since “What Comes Around…Goes Around” in mid-2007.  He has shared billing since on “Until The End Of Time” with Beyonce, “4 Minutes” with Madonna & Timbaland, and “Hallelujah” with Matt Morris and Charlie Sexton.  Of course JT has also been featured on charted songs by Timbaland, T.I., and Ciara. He’s had four #1’s on my chart – “Rock Your Body”, “SexyBack”, “FutureSex/LoveSound” and “LoveStoned/I Think She Knows”).