CHART REFLECTION. The Swedish electro house duo Dada Life presented new material at the Miami Winter Music Conference. Consisting of Olle Corneer and Stefan Engblom, the duo has released a string of singles since 2006. Dada Life has also remixed artists such as Eric Prydz, Kylie Minogue and most recently the WelcheMusic favorite Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” Rumors say that the guys will play Siesta and Way Out West this summer.
CHART SPOTLIGHT. Following the global success of “The Time (Dirty Bit),” Black Eyed Peas returns to the charts with another single off The Beginning. Produced by will.i.am, DJ Ammo and Rodney Jerkins (who produced “Telephone” w/Gaga-Beyoncé), the track vaults into No.9 on the German singles chart this week. The track has so far peaked at No.38 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Black Eyed Peas is just behind Chris Brown’s “Yeah 3x” which bows at No.8. In a busy week, last week’s newcomer Lena drops 2-7 with “Taken by a Stranger.” Bruno Mars still remains at No.1 with “Grenade,” followed by Adele and Taio Cruz/Kylie Minogue.
2010 CHART REWIND. We’re definitely sure that Taio Cruz doesn’t look back on 2010 in anger. Few UK artists have earned such great success in the US as Cruz. His hit single “Break Your Heart” topped both the UK and US singles charts, while “Dynamite” reached No.2 Stateside while topping the tallies in the UK, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand.
As Swedes, WelcheMusic is particularly pleased about “Dynamite” being co-written by pop genius Max Martin. Another interesting note is that “Break Your Heart” was written for Cheryl Cole.
So, what is waiting in the wings for Cruz in 2011? In February his next single “Higher” will be released in the UK. The track has already charted internationally, peaking at No.10 in Austria, No.7 in Germany and No.5 in Switzerland. The track was co-written by Taio Cruz and the French song-writer Sandy Vee and has actually been released in four different versions.
Most territories will chant to Kylie Minogue, while Travie McCoy (of “Millionaire” fame) was chosen for the US market – the track has yet reached No.41. A third version is available with vocals from the local girl band K3, while a fourth is a solo version.
“Higher” follows the recent hit single “Shine a Light” which was released last November as a collaboration with British boy band McFly. The track peaked at No.4 in the UK, charting in France, Portugal and Scotland as well. It was McFly’s 15th top ten hit in the UK.
One of the best dance cuts from this year is Sidney Samson’s “Riverside.” Initially released in February 2009, the track made it to No.2 in the UK this January. We’ve already covered the track upon its UK appearance. Sidney Samson was born in 1981 and is of Dutch origin.
“Riverside” samples Tupac Shakur’s voice from the 1992 crime drama Juice. Originally an instrumental track, it was renamed to “Riverside (Let’s Go!)” upon its UK release. The new version also features the Miami electro hop group Wizard Sleeve. His second single “Shut Up and Let It Go” featured Lady Bee and was released this February. It unfortunately failed to chart.
