december 2010 – WelcheMusic.com

Don’t Hold It Against Britney

CHART SPOTLIGHT. WelcheMusic is not the only blog to get all excited about Britney Spears’s upcoming track “Hold It Against Me” which is scheduled to premiere on Jan.7. The track will precede the upcoming album next March. The track is produced by Max Martin and Dr. Luke. According to New York radio station Z100’s program director Sharon Dastur, fans won’t be disappointed. “The beat that they give her is really unique compared to other artists – this infectious bass beat beneath the song,” says Dastur in a comment via Entertainment Weekly. “Plus, the hook is just amazing.”

Britney Spears’s breakthrough came almost exactly eleven years ago – “…Baby One More Time” was issued on Jan.12 in 1999. The single amassed sales of 25m around the world. To date, Spears has issued six studio albums.

…But Robyn Is Omitted from Fredrik Strage’s Year-End-Tally

2010 CHART REWIND. According to one of Sweden’s leading music critics Fredrik Strage, Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own” is omitted since he doesn’t want to overplay it. He admits that it is his favorite track of the year, but has decided to take a break.

Via his blog, Strage shares this year’s best acts in a single Spotify playlist. Kanye West’s “Monster,” tops the tally – coincidentally the music video which WelcheMusic reported leaked yesterday.

Fredrik Strage’s 21×2010

Listen to it via Spotify

1. Kanye West featuring Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Jay-Z & Bon Iver, “Monster”

2. Salem, “Sick”

3. Crystal Castles, “Baptism”

4. Scissor Sister, “Invisible light”

5. Anna von Hausswolff, “Pills”

6. Kite, “Johnny boy”

7. Kvelertak, “Mjöd”

8. JJ, “Let go”

9. BoB feat Hayley Williams & Eminem, “Airplanes part II”

10. The Hundred In The Hands, “Commotion”

11. White Ring, “Suffocation”

12. Ghost, “Ritual”

13. Lil Jon & Travis Porter, “Fall out”

14. Damian Marley & Nas, “As we enter”

15. Waka Flocka Flame, “Hard in da paint”

16. oOoOO, “Seaww”

17. Me And My Army, “Me and my army”

18. LCD Soundsystem, “I can change”

19. Electric Wizard, “Night child”

20. MIA, “Tell me why”

21. Robyn, “Dancehall queen”

Read Fredrik Strage’s blog

Influential Chart Blogger Awards Robyn ‘Best Pop Single’ of 2010

2010 CHART REWIND. According to the leading chart blogger Chart Rigger, Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own” is the best single of the year. A critics favorite, Robyn was recently named “Swede of the Year” by the magazine Fokus and is comfortably sitting atop many critics’ year-end-tallies. WelcheMusic includes Robyn amongst one of 2010’s best performers.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW05tcG3Fgw

“Dancing on My Own” is included on her first Body Talk trilogy set and is nominated for a 2010 Grammy Award in the Best Dance Recording category. The electropop ballad was co-written and produced by Patrik Berger. The song was featured on the TV series Gossip Girl during a sex scene between Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf.

The track topped the Swedish singles tally this June and has spent 29 weeks on the chart and counting. Earlier this year, “Dancing on My Own” was certified Gold in Denmark following its peak at No.2.

Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” and Cee Lo Green’s “Fuck You” followed Robyn on Chart Rigger’s year-end tally.

‘Grenade’ Moves to Pole Position

CHART SPOTLIGHT. Bruno Mars is only one of six male artists whose first two solo singles manage to reach the pole position on the Billboard Hot 100 as “Grenade” finally ascends to the top. The track is taken off Mars’s debut set Doo-Woops & Hooligans and follows “Just the Way You Are.” Produced by the production team The Smeezingtons, the track recently topped the Australian singles chart. It was, however, knocked off the top by X Factor judge’s Guy Sebastian whose duet with Eve – “Who’s That Girl” – this week.

The other five artists who accomplished Bruno Mars feat are

1. Andy Gibb – managed to top the Hot 100 with three entries, “I Just Want to Be Your Everything,” “(Love Is) Thicker than Water,” and “Shadow Dancing” (1977).

2. Lionel Richie – “Endless Love” (duet w/ Diana Ross), “Truly” (1981).

3. Peter Cetera – “Glory of Love” and “The Next Time I Fall” (w/ Amy Grant) (1986).

4. Rick Astley – “Never Gonna Give You Up” and “Together Forever” (1988).

5. Diddy – “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” (w/ Mase) and “I’ll be Missing You” (w/ Faith Evans & 112) (1997)

As Billboard’s Gary Trusts points out and WelcheMusic totally agrees on, all artists but Rick Astley and Diddy had careers before the solo hits. Richie had a successful career with The Commodores, Cetera broke through with Chicago and Gibb was a familiar face of The Bee Gees. And Bruno Mars – he already topped the Billboard Hot 100 with B.o.B’s “Nothin’ On You” and reached No.4 with Travie McCoy (“Billionaire”). Diddy peaked at No.14 with “No Time” as a guest rapper on Lil Kim’s hit prior to his first chart topper. The track appeared on her album HardCore.

Back to the Hot 100 – Katy Perry’s “Firework” falls 1-2, while Ke$ha’s “We R Who We R” rebounds 5-3. Taylor Swift’s Speak Now remains atop the Billboard 200, trailed by Susan Boyle’s The Gift and The Glee Cast’s Christmas compilation.