Taio Cruz – Sida 4 – WelcheMusic.com

Max Martin and RedOne Rule Billboard Hot 100

WelcheMusic regularly covers Swedish songwriters’ success Stateside and today our national newspaper Expressen notes that five songs in the top 10 involves either Max Martin or RedOne. Neither one of them enjoys their first glimpse of success, but this is one of few weeks where their dominance is so great.

Expressen’s music editor Anders Nunstedt compares this phenomenon to five out of the top ten Hollywood’s box office hits being Swedish, a most unlikely event. WelcheMusic reveals that although Americans embrace the hits below, Swedes are more reluctant. Only one of the tracks has actually made it to the top ten – Katy Perry’s collaboration with Snoop Dogg (“California Gurls”). Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite” is on its way to break the top 20, and the track vaulted into No.1 in the UK only a few days ago.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9_n8jakvWU&ob=av2e]

The chart positions in brackets denotes current position on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as the peak position in Sweden.

Taio Cruz – Dynamite (2/21)
Katy Perry – Teenage Dream (3/33)
Enrique Iglesias feat. Pitbull – I Like It (4/30)
Usher feat. Pitbull – DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love (5/31)
Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg – California Gurls (8/8)

Max Martin has collaborated on four of the tracks above, with the exception of Enrique Iglesias “I Like It.”

Taio Cruz Explodes on the UK Chart

CHART SPOTLIGHT. Taio Cruz’ “Dynamite” bowed atop the UK singles chart earlier tonight. The track has already spent 12 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, and is currently trailing Eminem and Rihanna at No.2. The track was co-written by the Swede Max Martin and produced by Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco. WelcheMusic notes that these songwriters only recently scored a worldwide hit with Katy Perry’s “California Gurls.” “Dynamite” has already reached the top in New Zealand, Ireland and Australia.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUjdiDeJ0xg

Taio Cruz Fan? Read earlier blog posts:

When Can We Expect to Hear Back from Cheryl?

CHART REFLECTION. The team at WelcheMusic is thrilled that more than 10,000 visitors have read the blog post on Cheryl Cole’s visit to Skavlan. The visit fueled sales of Cole’s debut hit “Fight for this Love,” a No.2 hit in Sweden which spends its 17^th week on the chart this week.

Originally issued in October 2009, Cheryl Cole’s debut set 3 Words only managed to survive two weeks on the Swedish album tally, peaking at a disappointing No.42 position. So far, the album is certified 2x platinum in the UK and Ireland peaking at No.1 and No.2 respectively.

The title track, “3 Words,” has been issued in select markets reaching platinum sales in Australia. The track was co-written and produced by Black Eyed Peas’ member will.i.am. “Parachute” was issued this March as the third single off the set, and has so far reached the top five in the UK and Ireland and the question is if a fourth track will be lifted from the album.

You might recall that the Taio Cruz track “Break Your Heart,” was originally written for Cheryl Cole as one of two tracks exclusively submitted for the 3 Words album. A Polydor label boss deemed it too similar to “Heartbreaker,” which led Cruz to record it himself resulting in a Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper.

WelcheMusic’s looking forward to hearing more from Cheryl Cole and maybe, just maybe that other Cruz track will make the singles chart. In that case, “Stand Up” will be single number four.

Update: “Fight for This Love” logged a total of 23 weeks on the Swedish single tally, finally dropping off the chart in July 2010. So far, this is the only Swedish singles chart entry to date from Cheryl Cole.

Taio Cruz Sets New Record with “Break Your Heart”

CHART SPOTLIGHT. The British r’n’b artist Taio Cruz sets a new record on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut hit “Break Your Heart,” jumps 53-1 in its second week, a record for a debut artist. The track features rapper Ludacris and topped the UK singles chart last September. The track sold 273,000 downloads in its first week. Prior to Cruz, Kelly Clarkson’s debut hit “A Moment Like This” jumped 52-1 in October 2002. So, WelcheMusic congrats on breaking that record Taio!

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

Coincidentally, Kelly Clarkson still has the record leap as “My Life Would Suck Without You” jumped 97-1 in one week last February. As Unrealitity TV reports, Cruz originally penned the track for X Factor and Girls Aloud member Cheryl Cole.

Cruz told The Sun that after Cole’s management stalled on accepting the song, he decided to release it himself. “I was asked to write two songs for Cheryl, one of which was ‘Break Your Heart’,” he explained. “But they took so long to get back that when they did, we had to tell them, ‘It’s currently radio playlisted, it’s not going to be very easy to get back!’ It was quite funny.”

Taio Cruz Fan? Read earlier blog posts: