New Picks of the Week August 29, 2010

It never fails. When someone does even a halfway decent dance remix of an eighties hit, I am all over it. And that is what we have with Gaby Dershin & Steven Lee’s cover of Asia’s 1982 #4 hit “Heat Of The Moment”. There are some songs from the 1980s that lend themselves really well to the electronica format, and this one definitely fits the mold. What Gaby & Steven have missed out on though is the harmonic opportunities and doing more with the chorus of the song. I love the grooves and the various remixes but it’s just a little too minimalistic for me. So close though. Nice try guys!


I love this new haunting and dramatic single from British/Russian singer-songwriter Katie Melua. The 25-year old singer puts you into a trance at the beginning of this record called “The Flood” and then suddenly the beat kicks in and although the haunting overtones remain, you start moving. And then in traditional classical form it returns to the beginning theme almost creating an A-B-A form. I am very anxious to hear the club remixes of this song. I am also looking forward to hearing more from this intriguing artist.


Good for Christian rock bands that can cross over and influence today’s youth. Lead singer Lacey Mosley and her Texas-based quintet Flyleaf has been leading the charge the past few years starting with their #40 hit from 2008, “All Around Me”. Now they are back with another great rocker called “Missing”. It is from their current album “Memento Mori”. The song is already picking up airplay at Christian radio. We’ll see if this one has the crossover success they have had in the past with both “All Around Me” and “Fully Alive”.

This week's chart update:


It’s going to be pretty difficult for Eminem to top his biggest hit of all time. Back in 2002, the 37-year old Kansas City native went to #1 the first week of October with “Lose Yourself” and nearly held down the top spot the remainder of that calendar year. His run ended at 12 weeks. He is half of the way there with his current single. This week he makes it six weeks at #1 with “Love The Way You Lie” featuring Rihanna.

Eminem is not the only rapper and hip hop star having a big week. There are two huge debuts in the Top 40 this week from rap superstars. 27-year old Lil Wayne powers in at #6 this week with “Right Above It” featuring Drake. It’s the New Orleans rapper’s first Top 10 appearance sing 2008 when he went to #10 with “Got Money”. Lil Wayne has four career Top 10 headliner hits. He has appeared on five more.

The other big debut this week is from 35-year old veteran Nelly. He is in at #12 with “Just A Dream”. It’s Nelly’s first Top 40 appearance sing 2008 when he reached #40 with “Party People”. It’s his highest peak since 2006 when he went all the way to #1 with “Grillz” featuring Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp.

And then making a big move amongst all these hip hop giants is newcomer Bruno Mars who leaps from 16-9 with a former new pick of the week, “Just The Way You Are”. The only Top 40 songs that can top that 7-notch move this week is country act Lady Antebellum which rockets from 33-23 with “Need You Now”. The song already has peaked at #2 and spent 54 weeks in the Hot 100. And the other is “Deuces” from Chris Brown featuring Tyga & Kevin McCall which is up from 39-29.

One other debut in the Top 40 this week. American Idol superstar Adam Lambert bows at #32 with “If I Had You”.

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