JN’s Top 10 (Honey Bee Sting edition)
Everything’s coming together for Blake Shelton. It seems that no matter what he releases, it’s heading for #1, and his current single Honey Bee is no exception. This song took only 10 weeks to reach #1, a week less than Brad Paisley’s big hit with Alabama took. You might argue the point, but I now count him among the top group of country radio superstars (along with Paisley, Chesney, Underwood, Aldean, and you decide who else qualifies – go ahead and submit your top group in the comments section, limiting yourself to 6 or 7 artists).
1. What’s So Special About Honey Bee? It’s light, it’s catchy, it’s summery, and it flew to the top of the chart. (That must have stung the slower-climbing artists. Taylor Swift is usually swift on the charts, and her song has completed 15 weeks on the chart; ordinarily this would be her week to celebrate a #1 song, but Blake buzzed right past. Here’s my question: why is this song such a favorite among women? Most of the lyrics are innocent enough, but he wants her to be his honeysuckle – she’s a plant, she doesn’t move, she waits for him. But he gets to be her honeybee, and cross-pollinate with a lot of other plants, not just her. He travels, he enjoys his freedom, and she is… a plant. Nice deal for him to get the woman in the song to buy into this, but why are so many female listeners enchanted with this one-sided romance? Feel free to explain what I am missing here. I don’t begrudge the song’s status as a hit – I’m just puzzled that it’s so big.
2. Two More Big Hits Enter The Top 10. This week is notable for the top 10 entries of Lady Antebellum’s new single Just A Kiss and Zac Brown Band’s Knee Deep (featuring Jimmy Buffett). These two recent releases have been passing otherwise strong songs such as Dierks Bentley’s Am I The Only One and Luke Bryan’s Country Girl (Shake It For Me) quite easily on their way to top 10 status. Can there be any doubt that both of these songs will reach #1 after Honey Bee loses its sting? Lady A’s last lead single, Need You Now, spent 5 weeks at the top – this one isn’t going to do that, but nobody else has managed a 5-week #1 song since NYN. And keep in mind that all but one of ZBB’s singles have reached #1 – and the one that missed, Whatever It Is, peaked at #2 and lost out on the top spot by a tiny margin. I don’t think either act will fall short this time.
3. Jerrod Niemann Crashes Into The Top 40. One More Drinking Song is the name of Niemann’s third single from his successful album Judge Jerrod And The Hung Jury. He reached #1 with the surprising Lover, Lover; he got as high as #4 with the different-sounding What Do You Want. This time he fools us by releasing something more predictable in the way of a toast to the summertime. But if you’re familiar with the introduction to One More Drinking Song on the album, you know that Jerrod never strays too far from expressing his sense of humor. This isn’t quite your typical drinking song no matter how much it resembles one. This song moves up 14 positions on the 6/25 Billboard chart and reaches #34. Looks like a future top 10 to me, with an outside shot at going to #1. If you haven’t heard the album, with its tongue-in-cheek segues from one song to the next, this might be a good time to give it a listen.
4. Alan Jackson Has A Drinking Song Too. Not that he’s a stranger to the topic: It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere was Jackson’s longest-running #1 song ever, at 8 weeks. But this new one about a bug in the margarita glass is funny and downright irresistible. It’s called Long Way To Go, and it hasn’t charted yet but it will debut next week. With Alabama making a comeback, AJ couldn’t stay away for long – everybody who can chart a song is going to do it this summer.
5. Kenny Chesney’s Progressing Toward A Major Chart Distinction. Nobody’s ever had more than 5 #1 country singles on a single album – and no, I’m not counting Greatest Hits collections or live performances, I’m looking at studio albums. If you’re strict, like I am, you say it’s only been done once – by Rodney Crowell in 1988-89. Brad Paisley almost did it – but his original album 5th Gear only had 4 #1’s. (Sorry, a re-release doesn’t count, even if Waitin’ On A Woman was added.)
But right now we’re watching Chesney’s chart runs carefully. His current album Hemingway’s Whiskey has already produced 3 #1 hits – The Boys Of Fall, Somewhere With You, and Live A Little. Now his duet with Grace Potter, You And Tequila, has reached the top 15 and it’s gaining strongly. There are quite a few strong candidates for #1 singles remaining on the album, so if the current song gets to #1, Kenny will have the chance to tie, and possibly to break, the longstanding Crowell record. You can’t say you weren’t warned.
6. American Idol 2, Paying Your Dues 0. I guess it’s just got to be this way – the reality of reality shows is not to be denied. And I don’t wish bad fortune to the winner and runner-up on AI, who take their music very seriously and want to make country music. But I just can’t help thinking of all the singers and songwriters who perform in clubs around the country, waiting for a break for a decade or more.
Congrats to Scotty McCreery for debuting a couple of weeks ago at #32 with I Love You This Big, and moving up now to #25. Congrats as well to Lauren Alaina, who has also charted for 3 weeks and is now at #45 with Like My Mother Does. I admit it, I want to see Sunny Sweeney climb the chart a lot faster than she’s moving – I like the lessons she has learned; I can hear them in her voice. But I have to recognize the achievements of the American Idols; we live in their world.
7. Why Can’t Reba’s Song Go Places? Reba’s current single When Love Gets A Hold Of You is a pretty good song. And Reba’s fairly well known at this point – I would have to say that she has earned her one-name superstar status as much as anybody ever has in any genre; right, Bono? Yet it took this song 8 weeks to reach #40, and now on the new chart the song has slipped back to #42 in week 9. I don’t get it. Should be top 20 by now. I understand it takes relative unknowns 25 weeks to go places that big stars go in 8 weeks – that’s how radio works. But why can’t Reba’s song get going? Will it flop? Tell me below what you think its peak position will eventually be (or has it already gotten there).
8. I Can’t Tell You No, And Neither Can Sara. That is to say: I can’t tell you Sara Evans’ comeback is going to stall. Because I don’t think it will: she had one big #1 song, and now she’s at the crossroads. She was down pretty far and the success of A Little Bit Stronger, a 2-week #1, brought her back a long way. To go the rest of the way, she needs a second top 10.
Up to #49 in chart week 2 is Sara’s new release, My Heart Can’t Tell You No. And I think she can ride this one to the top 10, and feel a sense of relief that she’s back on top of the country world. As of this week, she’s now ranked #150 all-time among country radio artists – that’s a nice feather for the Evans cap – and she’s setting sail for the top 100. Couldn’t happen to a better singer.
9. Fishing Is One Source Of Pre-Marital Pleasure. Craig Campbell’s debut single Family Man was modest and earnest. It charted for a very long time, 40 weeks – peaking at #14: an earnest and modest chart run. Now he deserves a mention for reversing himself with a playful song (called Fish) about a girlfriend who’s obsessed with f***ing, and yes, I do mean fishing. The song’s got the right tone, and it isn’t going wink-wink all the time and pretending to be dirty. It’s got excellent fiddle, strong vocals, and everything it needs to be a surprise hit. It’s up to #46 in just two weeks, and you should cast a line and see if Fish hooks you.
10. George Strait Posts His Second-Highest Debut Ever. I was trying to build up to this, not upstage it with a fish story: George set his personal best for debuts a few years ago with I Saw God Today, which spent its first week at the lofty position of #19. George isn’t usually given to the spectacular; he’s modest and would never do what Garth did in pushing for a #1 debut.
Still, it’s a good sign for veteran George-watchers to see Here For A Good Time enter the chart at #29. He’s been off the chart for about 20 weeks; he’s aging well but obviously not capable of getting younger. His fans sometimes worry. But he’s got a dynamite song here, and his performance is very strong and comes across very well on the radio. I think it will be his 45th #1 song, and I can’t wait for that to happen (but I will have to, for 4 months or so).
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10 Responses to JN’s Top 10 (Honey Bee Sting edition)
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Excellent blog, Jared!
I’ll give some thoughts!
* First, my superstar list. I really don’t know if I can limit it to 6-7. For males, its Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Jason Aldean, Keith Urban, and Blake Shelton. That’s 5 right there. I can’t really place Alan Jackson or George Strait in that highest tier anymore, simply because of their chart performances recently. Same goes for Toby Keith and Tim McGraw. For females, the superstars are Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, and Taylor Swift. Miranda has just joined the group, in my opinion, and Reba can’t really be in the top tier anymore, given her recent chart performances. And then I’d have to say the top groups are clearly the Zac Brown Band, Lady Antebellum, and Rascal Flatts, with The Band Perry possibly a superstar-group in the making.
1) As for Blake, I like his song for what it is–sunny, carefree, and I admittedly find the production fairly catchy. But why is it a big hit? I don’t think it’s because the song is THAT good, rather, I think it’s because country radio is crowning him as the next superstar. Once buzz gets going, it seems like everyone is talking about something and it just adds fuel to the fire. Blake is now married to fellow superstar Miranda Lambert, he appears to have a co-hosting gig locked up for the ACM’s, and he’s a hit on NBC’s “The Voice”. All of it is giving him a lot of exposure.
2) Not much to say here, as I completely agree. I highly doubt that Lady A or ZBB will miss out on #1.
3) For Jerrod, I do think OMDS will be an easy top 10, and I agree–top 5 with a shot at #1 is certainly possible. This one is exploding out of the gate. I like “Bakersfield” a lot better and would still prefer to hear that one on the airwaves, but OMDS is still pretty catchy. It’s a nice laid-back tune that isn’t trying to be anything more than what it is, so I’m fine with it since it’s sure to continue to cement Jerrod’s increasing star status at radio.
4) I LOVE Alan’s new song. I hope it can go to the top 10. The top spot might be too much to hope for, but we’ll see. He does have a new label and I think that could really help.
5) I agree that Kenny has a chance to do big things with this album. His songs are getting quite a bit of recurrent airplay (Somewhere With You is holding up remarkably well), and I really enjoy “You And Tequila”–I don’t see it missing #1. For the 5th single, I think “Seven Days” could hit big, but as you noted, there are a handful of tracks that could do well at radio. I would not be opposed to Kenny picking up 5 #1 singles from his album, if not more.
6) I don’t always know what to think of Idol..as long as we don’t have people coming from it every year to country radio, then I suppose I can be ok with it. I do like Carrie a lot, though I’m still waiting for her to really knock me out of the park. The 2 country youngsters this year are talented, I think, but I’m not completely sold on them yet. And I agree that there are a lot of other would-be stars out there that could use a break. Sometimes people do get that break, but often times they don’t. The biggest disappointment, to me, with the current situation, is that Scotty’s debut single is not a good song. In fact, it’s a horrible song. Lauren’s is decent, but not that great either. It will be interesting to see how well (or poorly) these Idols fare over the coming year and beyond.
7) Reba’s song is good–I can’t completely figure out why she’s struggling. Probably a few reasons–new stars are continually getting broken in, her album isn’t selling too well, they sort of pulled the plug on “If I Were A Boy” after it stalled, etc. If she’s going to get some more big hits in the coming years, her best bet is to keep giving us radio accessible, yet strong, lead singles…though I supposed a “Turn On The Radio” part 2 could do the trick, even though that’s one of her worst singles, in my opinion.
9) Craig’s song is decent. I like the traditional style he brings to the table, and maybe the song will grow on me more. Right not, it’s not a favorite, but I agree that it’s off to a strong start. I think it will be his 1st top 10 hit.
10) I certainly enjoy George’s song, and I’ll be hoping for him to pick up that 45th #1 hit. My guess is he will have his shot at #1 after Brad & Carrie begin to drop.
Sorry for the long post. I find myself unable to keep things short, lol.
zazie I enjoyed everything in your blog Except your exclusion of Keith as a radio super star. In my book he is definitely in the top five! I realize that not all of his singles race to number one, and will be forever confused by that. Of those you mentioned he is the most passionate and expressive vocalist and the most amazing musician! To me he is the Best vocalist, with a voice unique and as I said full of feeling and passion, whether he is joyful, or soulful!
I agree about Blake, that he is quite simply radios crowned new radio super star! For whatever reason. His voice is good, but I don’t hear anything special. As far as Honey Bee goes, it fits right into that song list that I never care much for, and that lose any impact on me really fast. As a first or second listen they grab my attention as cute and catchy, past that those songs lose their appeal!
As far as LA and ZBB go, again not a lot to say. Right now they can do no wrong. I am never the one to give an opinion on groups, I just am not a fan of very many groups! I do like ZBB, but to me, even though the title is ZBB, it is essentially a man with a band.
Again I don’t have a lot to say about JN, have only heard his song a couple times. In my part of the world, he isn’t played that much. He is a singer like so many others so far to me. Good voice, but sounds like so many others.
I would like to see Alan Jackson do well, I have long been a fan of his, but this is not a favorite song. Maybe it will grow on me!
Kenny Chesney will forever be an enigma to me. Long before I had a computer and had found CCT or for that matter MV, I did not understand Kenny’s appeal. He is not a great or strong singer, he plays no instruments, to me it will be forever confusing why he is so big at radio! I know why his concerts are big, He surrounds himself with multiple opening acts and his concerts are a free for all. Yes, I have been to one and as much as I love concerts, I want to hear the music and enjoy the experience of the show, not just be in the middle of a massive drunken party!
As far as American Idol goes, I believe I am the one person in all of America who is not a fan. I am sorry but I see no real good in it! It often lifts the hopes of people who simply die away and it has given rise to Artists who were required no time at all in working their way up or learning their craft. I am afraid I am of the generation who believes you should really earn a career, not win it!
As far as Reba goes, she is very Country, and there are a lot of us who like the elements of rock and pop mixed in, she has been around a long time, and I am one of those who believes that the exposure that everyone talks about is not necessarily a good thing in the long run! She spent years on TV, in a funny show that I watched. But in all the time I watched her show I was never motivated to buy her music. I believe you should stick with where your passion is. If your passion is all over the place, then OK, but don’t be surprised if in the end it hurts every aspect of your career as far as being on top is concerned. I am sure the motivation for the financial aspect of branching into TV or movies is a big one, but I am not at all convinced that in the long run it promotes your musical career! Just like I don’t believe that Gwyneth Paltrow is going to necessarily become a big Country Artist because she is a well known actress!
I will skip over Sara, as I didn’t care for her number one song and have never been a fan, so I will just not go there!
I do like Craig and I would like to see him score some top ten or even five success. I liked ‘Family man’ a lot! But I am not really feeling this song yet, but as jhomes said, it might grow on me. It has been known to happen.
I like George’s song, although to me it really does have the sound of a George song. That is not in anyway bad, but there have been a lot of them over the years, so I guess it just remains to be seen if people still have that much interest. Here in Texas we will hear it a lot. Texas loves George and he will be played to death, especially in my area of Texas which is not that far from George’s home and stomping grounds!
So there you go and I seem to have an opinion on just about everything!
I would say the sure Top of the chart hitters, remain about the same with a few thrown in there once in a while. I am no longer a fan of the quick success of American Idol winners. I think they need to pay their dues, especially when you see struggling artists with great songs never “get there”! With that being thrown into the equation, it is always hard to know what ‘light weight, catchy song’ or rising like a bullet star will mess things up at the top. No apologies when I say Keith Urban should be there every time! I am more for the quality songs, from any artist. Not the cutsie, catchy, tricky songs! Don’t like them, don’t get them! I heard George’s song yesterday and I like it. Love Lady A’s new song, Chris Young’s song, Reba’s song, and please don’t throw banana’s Kenny Cheseny and Grace Potters song! I am not a KC fan, but I have liked ‘Somewhere with You’ and now ‘You and Tequila’. That being said, I NEVER think any song is better than a Keith Urban song out. I make no apologies about that!
Always enjoy reading your opinions zazie!
I think you forgot Keith Urban in that list of the Top Country Artists. Keith is here to stay with quality music, songs and concerts. I can’t understand why ‘Honey Bee’ would make it to number one at all unless it’s because Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton seem to be the Nashville Golden Couple. There are many country artists I admire and like, but every one of them have paid their dues, and Keith has paid his over and over. A little more respect for what Keith does would be so welcome!
I am really surprised that you didn’t include Keith Urban in your top group of radio superstars! All of his hits are played often and regularly on the country station that I listen to!
“Put You In A Song” was only denied a #1 because “Without You” was released a little to early.
At any rate Keith Urban will always be my country radio superstar!!!
I always enjoy reading your blogs Zazie. And I think you knew that us urbanites would add that Keith Urban belongs on your list of top country radio superstars, not in the etc. and so on and so forth,lol. None the less you got all of us to say it. Each of the artists listed above have some songs I like and some I don’t but none where I would go out and buy it except for Keith. Can’t help it. It is what it is! As always, I will be looking forward to your next blog.
I think the artists dominating radio right now with their steady slew of chart hits are Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Blake Shelton, Zac Brown Band, Rascal Flatts. I would not consider Miranda Lambert as a major radio artist yet because she is yet to fill her resume with more number ones. On newer artists, I think Chris Young and Luke Bryan are the two who would soon become part of this elite group of country superstars. However, two stars which I think should be bigger than they are right now given their great talent are Dierks Bentley and Josh Turner.
1. Blake Shelton, I agree, is now a certified country superstar, thanks to his high-profile marriage, hit songs, plus his TV stint as contest judge did not hurt him at all. Before I did not like Blake and his music but eventually they grew on me.
2. I think ZBB’s “Knee Deep” and Lady Antebellum’s “Just a Kiss” will be competing with one another at the chart’s penthouse given the speed of their respective climbs. Both will go to number one although I think Lady A will spend a longer time atop especially once the anticipation for their new album builds up. Anwyay, I am a big fan of these two groups and I wish them both mega-success.
5. I was never a fan of Kenny Chesney until the release of Hemmingway’s Whiskey album last year. At first I could not stand his songs which all sound the same to me, but this latest album shows Chesney having more depth and style in his songs (I like “Somewhere With You” a lot).
6. While I feel for those artists who work their butts off singing in bars and paying their dues, I do not like when people quickly throw negative judgment against reality show winners just because they did not go about it the same way as everybody did. I think Scotty and Lauren during their stint in American Idol fought their way to remain true to their country roots amidst all the pressure from the powers-that-be. Scotty in an interview said that the producers toyed with the idea of him having to sing a NeYo song, and yet he sang unmistakeably country week after week. Carrie also underwent the same pressure when Arista wanted to release “Before He Cheats” as a pop remix despite her insistence not to. While they did not have the ‘from bar to superstar’ story, what Underwood, McCreery and the rest of singing contest alumni have gone through is not any easier.
7. I feel bad that Reba’s latest single is not going anywhere. I think her difficulty in sending a song up in the charts has something to do with the release of “If I Were a Boy”. I seriously think that was a big misstep in Reba’s career.
10. George Strait is just purely legendary. All his songs are amazing.
Some of Honey Bee’s success is most definitely because of Shelton’s increased visibility. But I would argue that the song itself is also one of those songs that you like even though you know you shouldn’t. The first time I heard Honey Bee and really listened to the lyrics, I had second-hand embarrassment. It was so bad that I thought the honeysuckle/honeybee line is the least of the lyric problems. Some of the comparisons don’t even make sense. “You be my sugar, I’ll be your sweet iced tea?” What? If the tea is already sweetened, why does it need sugar?
But the next couple of times I heard it, I managed to move past the lyrics to the rest of it, and the bottom line for me is that Honey Bee is a ridiculously catchy song. It’s the combination of everything — Shelton’s voice, the melody, and the production and yes, even the stupid lyrics. There’s something very sweet and innocent about it. It makes me happy when I hear it come on, and I have to stop myself from bopping along like an idiot. I don’t think it’s the sort of song that will age well at all (I’ll probably look back on it in a few months and wonder what was wrong with me), but I like it for what it is now.
As far as American Idol, I don’t have a problem with the winners not paying their dues. People roll into Nashville or LA all the time and get record deals over equally talented artists. It’s as much luck as anything else. (And this is true, I would argue, for anyone who gets hired at pretty much anything.) So instead of lucking into a brief stint as a waiter where they get noticed because they brought the right guy a drink at lunch, the contestants lucked into a show where they worked for however many months it took to win.
Granted, country is different than some other genres in that the music is such that having lived hard can make it so much better, if only because it provides the extra drive someone might need that can come across in their singing. But that’s going to come out in their music. If they can’t hack it, they won’t be successful.
You should mention that Carrie Underwood’s CARNIVAL RIDE had a record 5 #1 songs (w/ 4 Billboard #1′s). It was so frustrating that somehow “I Told You So” peaked at 2 on Billboard…so very close to having 5 Billboard #1′s on one album, but she did have 5 overall #1 which may be a record for a female artist.. is it Jared??
Carrie also has 13# CONSECUTIVE overall #1 songs (w/ 10 country Billboard #1′s. Is this is a record for a country female artist?? Who ha mos consecutive overall #1′s ??
thanks so much, RM
I’m very much enjoying the thoughtful responses posted here, especially on the topic of who is and who isn’t a radio superstar. I’m definitely re-thinking my view of AI winners, though I haven’t changed my mind quite yet.
As for Carrie’s #1 performances, I have chosen to rely on Billboard charts when I write about streaks, and also I’ve adopted some of Joel Whitburn’s “rules” about what does and doesn’t break a streak. These positions are a bit arbitrary but they explain why I don’t think of Carnival Ride as enjoying 5 #1 singles. I know, Mediabase should count for something. But when it comes to streaks, I use Billboard only.
The record for consecutive #1′s by a female artist, I have to admit, I have not researched thoroughly. I can tell you this:
1. The Judds had 8 #1′s in a row, but of course there were two of them, not one. Both female, indisputably. But not solo. The question above doesn’t ask for solo female streaks, but I have a feeling that puggle10 would prefer that I stick to solo artists.
2. Tammy Wynette, a solo female artist, had 7 in a row. At least, she did if you accept the Whitburn rule that a duet that fails to reach #1 doesn’t break an ongoing streak. I do accept that rule, so I give Tammy the lead.
3. Carrie Underwood had 6 in a row on Billboard. I’m not a big Carrie fan but I did enjoy I Told You So a lot, and I was disappointed to see that one fall short on Billboard.
4. Rosanne Cash had 6 in a row as well, if you accept the Whitburn rule I described above.
5. Dolly Parton had 5 in a row. The best Reba could do is post a run in which she scored 8 #1 hits out of 10 singles. Her streak within that run was interrupted.
I might have forgotten somebody.