HRD Radio Report – Week Ending 7/20/19

HRD Radio Report – Week Ending 7/20/19

Each week on HardRockDaddy.com.  The HRD Radio Report digs deeper into the weekly Active Rock charts, providing commentary, reviews, recommendations and predictions.  It also features opinion pieces on chart action and the music business in general. The following is the Active Rock Mediabase Chart for the week ending 7/20/19. All exclusive HRD content is featured below the chart:

CHART	CHART	ARTIST	SONG TITLE	RADIO
POSITION	POSITION			SPINS
THIS WEEK	LAST WEEK
1	2	GODSMACK	“Under Your Scars”	1927
2	1	BAD WOLVES	“Remember When”	1773
3	5	VOLBEAT	“Last Day Under The Sun”	1679
4	3	SHINEDOWN	“Monsters”	1623
5	4	FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH	“Blue On Black”	1618
6	6	I PREVAIL	“Breaking Down”	1475
7	7	GRETA VAN FLEET	“Lover, Leaver”	1332
8	10	DISTURBED	“No More”	1150
9	9	HELLYEAH	“Welcome Home”	1148
10	8	GHOST	“Faith”	1106
11	12	DIRTY HONEY	“When I’m Gone”	1030
12	11	SLIPKNOT	“Unsainted”	983
13	14	THE GLORIOUS SONS	“Panic Attack”	865
14	13	RIVAL SONS	“Too Bad”	809
15	15	KORN	“You’ll Never Find Me”	795
16	17	BUSH	“Bullet Holes”	657
17	18	SUM 41	“Out For Blood”	653
18	16	BLACK KEYS	“Lo/Hi”	623
19	19	BEARTOOTH	“You Never Know”	555
20	20	SKILLET	“Legendary”	550
21	22	DINOSAUR PILE-UP	“Back Foot”	523
22	23	MOTIONLESS IN WHITE	“Brand New Numb”	461
23	24	SCOTT STAPP	“Purpose For Pain”	378
24	21	HALESTORM	“Vicious”	377
25	26	THE BLACK MOODS	“Bad News”	341
26	40	E. SHEERAN/C. STAPLETON/B. MARS	“BLOW”	332
27	27	ALTER BRIDGE	“Wouldn’t You Rather”	321
28	28	ATREYU	“House Of Gold”	262
29	38	BLACK KEYS	“Go”	211
30	33	RACONTEURS	“Help Me Stranger”	208
31	34	ROYAL BLISS	“Pain”	191
32	32	SAUL	“Brother”	175
33	51	BADFLOWER	“The Jester”	172
34	36	MEMPHIS MAY FIRE (f. A. MINEO)	“Heavy Is The Weight”	156
35	29	MESSER	“Simple Man”	155
36	37	P.O.D.	“Rockin’ With The Best”	154
37	35	COLLECTIVE SOUL	“Right As Rain”	152
38	25	GARY CLARK JR	“What About Us”	152
39	39	COHEED AND CAMBRIA	“The Gutter”	148
40	44	THROUGH FIRE	“All Animal”	116
41	41	STITCHED UP HEART (f. SULLY ERNA)	“Lost”	108
42	47	LIVE	“Hold Me Up”	105
43	42	BUCKCHERRY	“Right Now”	102
44	46	NONPOINT	“Fix This”	97
45	45	BRKN LOVE	“Shot Down”	87
46	113	KILLSWITCH ENGAGE	“I Am Broken Too”	69
47	52	WILSON	“Summertime Treat (Tasty Nasty)”	64
48	49	TRIVIUM	“Drowning In The Sound”	61
49	48	ADELITAS WAY	“What It Takes”	56
50	43	PERRY FARRELL	“Pirate Punk Politician”	53

 

 

PUBLISHER’S PICK OF THE WEEK (By Adam Waldman)

BLACKTOP MOJO – “Can’t Sleep”

Hard Rock Daddy jumped on the Blacktop Mojo bandwagon early on in the band’s career.  Ever since their first feature in 2015, these Texas rockers have continued to deliver time and again with outstanding songs.  Quality is the through line that connects all of their work.  With a hard rock foundation, this band (more than most others in rock today) has a way of infusing their sound with a range of influences.  Sometimes, it’s the dark edginess of ’90s grunge.  Other times, the music takes you back in time to the heyday of southern rock.  Sometimes, Blacktop Mojo is pure power.  Other times, they take your breath away with beauty and soul.  Their original music is worthy of being in heavy rotation on any Active Rock station in the country.  Their covers, which tend not to stray too far from the original (while still adding their own distinct flavor), are as good as any other modern hard rock band.  Blacktop Mojo has done everything that you could possibly want from a rising artist, but they are still under the radar for many.  They shouldn’t be.  It’s not being hyperbolic to say that Blacktop Mojo is one of the best bands in hard rock today, regardless of longevity.

“Can’t Sleep,” continues the maturation and evolution of the band.  Power ballads don’t really exist much in modern rock, but this song is as close as you’ll get.  The verses, deep and soulful, set the stage for booming, melodic choruses with a gigantic hook that grabs you by force and never lets go.  Ryan Kiefer’s lead guitar work blends the emotive qualities of Slash’s playing and the underappreciated, tasteful nuances of Chris DeGarmo’s work with Queensryche.  Buoyed by a powerhouse rhythm section that has Shinedown sensibilities, Blacktop Mojo is a force to be reckoned with.  Of course, what separates really good bands from great bands these days is a vocalist that takes the band into another stratosphere.  Blacktop Mojo has that in Matt James, one of the most underrated singers in rock today.

Will “Can’t Sleep” be the song that takes this band to their rightful place in today’s rock and roll hierarchy?  It should, but that is something that (unfortunately) is in the hands of radio programmers who often favor mediocrity over greatness.

 

 

PUBLISHER’S PREDICTIONS (By Adam Waldman)

As predicted, Godsmack tops the chart this week with “Under Your Scars.”  They should remain on top for at least a few weeks, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them unseated by Volbeat’s white hot single, “Last Day Under The Sun,” as soon as next week if the current chart-topper declines after reaching the top.  Based on current trends, it looks like Volbeat can have a multi-week run once they reach the top (yes, not IF, but WHEN).
 

 

HRD SPIN CONTROL (by Adam Waldman and Jon Loveless)

The following is a list of songs that we feel deserve to be added to Active Rock playlists…

BLACKTOP MOJO – “Can’t Sleep”

SUNFLOWER DEAD – “Turn Away”

GRANNY 4 BARREL – “Nitro Sexy”

EVE TO ADAM – “Day Drinkin'”

ROYAL TUSK – “First Time”

FROM ASHES TO NEW – “My Name”

SHALLOW SIDE – “Sound The Alarm”

PARKWAY DRIVE – “Shadow Boxing”

SAVAGE AFTER MIDNIGHT – “Unleash”

FAME ON FIRE – “Over It”

AWAKE AT LAST – “Unobtainable”

ZERO – “W W Y D F”

 

 

GREATEST GAINERS…

ED SHEERHAN/CHRIS STAPLETON/BRUNO MARS – “BLOW” (+230 spins)

VOLBEAT – “Last Day Under The Sun” (+191 spins)

THE GLORIOUS SONS – “Panic Attack” (+139 spins)

DIRTY HONEY – “When I’m Gone” (+131 spins)

BADFLOWER – “The Jester” (+121 spins)

DISTURBED – “No More” (+108 spins)

HELLYEAH – “Welcome Home” (+103 spins)