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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 8h

Just when "12 to 12" ought to be the hit!

Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 9h

The best song title of 2025 so far ("Gas Station Love") and much more on this week's Big Hits Energy playlist of new, uptempo pop, R&B, rock, and more. For anybody looking for the variety they heard on #AT40 (or even just 15 years ago). open.spotify.com/playlist/0Hg...

Big Hits Energy 2025

open.spotify.com

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 1d

Brave Sir Robin Gibb. #AT40

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 2d

If you ask the audience, they're not hung up on "Thriller," "Ghostbusters," "September," or "Manic Monday" on a Tuesday. (I do try to avoid "Manic Monday" on the weekend, though.)

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 3d

Also, have you ever noticed its influence on "Jolene"? (Listen to the bongos.)

On Zeppelin, "Trampled Underfoot"? (Sing the "without love" part from the former, then the "talk about love" part from the latter.) #AT40

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 3d

Nostalgia is inherently filmy ... especially if "Kodachrome" comes a song or two later. #AT40

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 3d

As I came to appreciate Karen Carpenter, every song got a few extra bonus points, but "Yesterday Once More" is still sappy to me. Also, like "'65 Love Affair," it's a fake oldie that has none of the fun of the oldies it references. #AT40

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 3d

In the early '00s, Toby Keith covered "Shambala," and while it wouldn't have been the definitive version either, I still would've been glad to see it. #AT40

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 3d

And I refuse to let the O'Jays song, a happy memory of childhood and an all-time great, be wrested away. Also, I never watched the TV show, and it's not like there aren't 17 other triggers a day! #AT40

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 4d

Here's the Australian hit version of "Dreams," which became the #1 song of the year there. www.youtube.com/watch?v=brf3...

Jolyon Petch feat. Reigan - Dreams (Official Lyric Video)

YouTube video by TMRW Music

www.youtube.com

Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 4d

There were two different dance remakes of "Dreams" that became hits around the world--one in South Africa, one from Australia.

A few months after the video, I sent the first remake to a record label contact, who felt the time had passed. But "Dreams" is top 20 Spotify five years later.

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 4d

He *was* skateboarding to dinner at 4:15.

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 4d

Here's my favorite "okay, we're breaking up, here's what we really think of our audience" song. Bonus because it's built on the riff from "Dirty Water." www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w09...

Music Time

YouTube video by Styx - Topic

www.youtube.com

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 4d

Diane was also indirectly responsible for one of the best and most unlikely Chic productions. www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW8U...

Why - Carly Simon

YouTube video by Carly Simon

www.youtube.com

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 4d

Thanks to @tombreihan.bsky.social for the shout-out. Return now to a moment where Alt's breakthrough acts were trying hard to squander their stardom, but in this case couldn't.

tombreihan.bsky.social @tombreihan.bsky.social · 4d

Alternative Number Ones on the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who are apparently immune to failure, and on "My Friends," the big and not-terrible ballad that they pulled out of their ass during a rough stretch.

The Alternative Number Ones: Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “My Friends”

In The Alternative Number Ones, I’m reviewing every #1 single in the history of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks/Alternative Songs, starting with the moment that the chart launched in 1988. This colum...

www.stereogum.com

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 4d

Hey, thanks Tom! Around this time, all the Alt breakthrough acts returned with a series of less mainstream follow-ups, but radio kept digging for the hit.

"Warped" felt like a "Geek Stink Breath" level act of defiance (but less fun). Seeing this, maybe RHCP was too in shambles to calculate a hit.

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 7d

Start your week with Big Hits Energy! Top 40 hits from around the world and some that should be. This week, something I never expected to feature, two from Temper Trap! open.spotify.com/playlist/0Hg...

Spotify – Web Player

open.spotify.com

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 7d

Not disagreeing. Being outvoted on "Ordinary" doesn't make me enjoy it. The sales shouldn't make anyone like "POAS" if they don't. But since you do, you're not alone.

My point has been nobody should asterisk 3.5m because vibes, troll farm, etc. Won't recant even if it sells 3k pieces next week.

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 8d

Saw Dave Mason a decade or so ago in Tarrytown. Far exceeded expectations. Seemed genuinely enthused to be there. No shortage of semi-obscure nuggets. #AT40

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 9d

There *will* be a dropoff. Perhaps some of that will reflect the loss of people now mad about her politics who might have otherwise been the week #12 buyers. But for this week, I think some of the online noise has been drowned out by the opening figures.

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 9d

If, after buying multiple copies of TTPD, which was *not* "Thriller" or "1989," people are still willing to buy seven copies of this one, then this discussion is just for fun anyway.

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 9d

TTPD definitely generated mixed reactions and had no sustained hit singles. It was also #1 for 17 weeks and even if that happened via fan base machinations, you or I would still gladly accept the royalties. And how quick is a dropoff that follows 17 weeks at #1? Morgan Wallen might sneer; I can't.

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 9d

Buyers gave George Michael, Paula Abdul or Alanis Morissette the benefit of the doubt for one album. They would have loved to be golden after the ups and downs of eight albums.

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 9d

There is always an album with the unenviable task of following up a blockbuster. We're having a discussion about 3.5 million sold that we didn't have eight albums after "Thriller," "Faith," "Back in Black," or "Forever Your Girl." That's not just career momentum. It's a career.

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Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com · 9d

We've all seen "follow-up juice" carry some ultimately disappointing records for a week, but it's usually the project after the big breakthrough. Eight albums later, it's harder to dismiss 3.5 million sales as "just the fanbase."

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