Two of my fellow Canadians – one from my city – score their first #1’s on the BILLCS Top 30, and are also the first Canadians to reach the top in over a year!
REMINDER: I’ll be travelling to Las Vegas this week, so there is no BILLCS New Music Report on Wednesday.
Check out information about my ONLINE RADIO SHOWS after the chart commentary below as they are directly tied in with this blog. As most of you know, I host 3 online radio shows – The Big 20 and two iterations of Your Weekend New Music Mix – and produce 2 online radio segments – my new music and retro picks of the week – that are all pre-recorded. The Big 20 and the picks of the week are happily being syndicated and you can find the current schedule for all at the bottom of the home page of this blog.
Reminder: Click on the photos to listen to the songs on Spotify.
Toronto’s Alexander Stewart and Nanaimo’s Lauren Spencer Smith reach the summit this week with their incredible duet “Friends Don’t”. I won’t mind if Alexander sings it solo when I see his show again in March, but maybe we’ll get a duet! The song comes from his top notch album What If. It’s so rare that a singer from my city gets to the top of my chart, so I’m quite delighted about this. The last Canadian #1 on the chart was “feel less” by Felix Cartal and Lights in mid-2024, and the last act from Toronto to reach #1 was Frank Walker with Loud Luxury (who are from London, Ontario, though Toronto often calls them its own) and “Like Gold” in early 2021. You can also check out another stunning album track from Alexander’s What If, the heart-wrenching “The Boy I Almost Was”, below.
DJ Martinee and France Joli’s powerhouse disco track, 2025 style, “My Everlasting Love”, continues to rise, moving up 5-3.
Although “Vodka Cranberry” leaves #1 after a month at the top (2 appearances), the exhilarating album track from Wishbone, “Eleven Eleven” by Conan Gray, zips into the Top 5, up 11-4. Might we find Conan at the top of the chart again sometime soon?
Greyson Chance has now completed his 6 week South East Asia tour, and added on “Summertrain ’25” (above, which climbs 10-5) to a limited vinyl release of his 2019 album Portraits. It’s his first Top 5 entry since 2022’s “Black Mascara”. He also gets a second concurrent chart entry with his bluesy and emotional “Flip The Record” (below), which arrives at #27.
L.A. producers TELYKast have the Fastest Riser on the chart with their North American dance radio #1, “Super Powers” (19-9), with Swedish singer/songwriter Oaks. It’s their 5th Top 10 entry.
The third new entry to the Top 10 is “Zombie” by Yungblud, which climbs 12-10. Best wishes to Yungblud while he takes care of his well-being after having to cancel some North American tour dates. He also just received 3 Grammy nominations, including one for “Zombie”.
Madrid-based American singer/songwriter Reigen’s festive Spanish language track “Quiero Bailar” is making short work of the chart, up 20-11 this week.
“Summer Rain” advances 17-12 and looks to be yet another Top 10 entry in the making for Juno Award winning Canadian dance producer Felix Cartal, with vocal by American singer Reo Cragun.
The bright and friendly pop sounds of Toronto-based multi-talent Creighton Doane’s “Need a Friend” (23-18) is yours to check out and listen to a relatable song about a lonely individual who gets helped out through the kindness of others.
The hook and verse from Baltimora’s “Tarzan Boy” are hard to resist in The Magician’s wonderful new track “Night to Night”, which rises 26-19.
“RUDEBOI” is the fun drum ‘n bass track by new L.A. dance producer HISSTERIA, and climbs 24-20. It’s a bit more of a novelty, but his new single “SNOBS” will certainly make you smile, so give it a listen below.
L.A.-based, New Zealand-born Will Swinton is back with his second chart entry of 2025, “Find a Way” at #26. It’s his third overall, following “Harmless” (#2 in 2024) and this year’s “Flames” (#8).
And the final debut is “Addicted” by the Philadelphia indie duo with the distinct lo-fi hip hop flavoured sound, N i G H T S. It bows at #28 and is their 5th chart entry, following last year’s “Hopeless” (#6).
ONLINE RADIO SHOWS
You can hear me and many of my blog choices on this growing list of online radio stations and features!
Listen to The Big 20 from 10pm to Midnight EST on Wednesdays as “The Musicman” James Rogers and I bring you the latest in new songs. The show also repeats on Saturday evening at 6 pm EST.
My New Music Pick of the Week debuts each week on The Big 20. It airs more than 25 times during the week and you can view its schedule by clicking at the following link: Schedule.
On Saturdays and Sundays from 8pm to Midnight EST I bring you “Your Weekend New Music Mix”, four hours of commercial-free music from the 2000’s including many song choices from this blog.
My Retro Pick of the Week airs each week on Russ Horton’s “Top 40 Timeline”, Saturdays at 4pm EST. You can view its schedule by going to the lower right corner of the home page of this blog.
The 3D Variety Show by Planet Radio Canada
I’m featured Tuesdays between 7 and 7:30 pm EST with my Retro Pick of the Week on the live online radio show “The 3D Variety Show”, powered by www.xstreamrockradio.com with “The Musicman” James Rogers. I also join occasionally for looks at music from our past through some live segments. The show repeats on Alberta’s www.katpowerhit.ca on Wednesdays at 6pm EST.
Chicago’s Lake Radio Online now anchors Hunter Wilbur’s “Modern Hype” on Sundays at Midnight EST, which airs my New Music Pick of the Week. You can also hear the new music pick on Hunter’s other show Fridays at 8pm EST on “Hot Hits with Hunter” on UK station Dodge Radio.
For other details about all of the shows, such as dates and times of broadcasts, go to my home page and scroll down to the bottom right side! Schedules are updated regularly.
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