Hot 100 Finally Welcomes Gangnam Style

[koganbot]

I'm late with this news, but last week "Gangnam Style" finally entered the Billboard Hot 100, coming in at 64, signaling that it's garnering a bit of airplay and maybe picking up more download action, along with its massive YouTube streams and blog attention, not to mention Psy's TV appearances, online followers, etc.

Next chart due overnight.

Comments

[askbask.livejournal.com]

#11

[koganbot]

:)

[koganbot]

I surmise from a "release date" given by a Los Angeles station (September 6) that it's only recently gotten an official U.S. release, though I doubt that that affects the numbers on iTunes. It may be one reason for the sudden attention by U.S. radio.

Airplay is still lagging, but, according to Mediabase, forty-one Top 40 stations added it to their playlist in the last week, as did fifteen "rhythmic" stations ("rhythmic" mostly being hip-hop & r&b, but includes the few dance stations as well). It's #24 in Top 40 airplay with 2,496 spins (putting that in perspective, Pink's "Blow Me" is number 1 with almost five times as many, 12,231). Top plays are in New York, Houston, Phoenix, Norfolk (Virginia), San Francisco, Milwaukee. To my surprise, no Los Angeles area station is in the Top 20, though by rooting around in various playlists I see two stations playing it (and presumably it's getting on some of the Korean-language stations, of which there are a few). Got 46 spins on WXXX-FM in Burlington, Vermont. I suppose if there's a concentration of Asians in Vermont, Burlington would be the place — but I suspect college students are driving the radio play.

It's #50 in rhythmic airplay (unexpectedly low) with 499 plays, a third of those on two stations in Honolulu. (Kanye's "Mercy" number 1 with 4,676 spins.)

[koganbot]

There's no English-language version, is there? Don't know how many non-English-language songs have ever placed high on the Hot 100; "Sukiyaki" and "Dominique" come immediately to mind; both hit number one in 1963 or so. Trawling around the 'Net, I find "Macarena," though the version that got big in the U.S. had an English-language rap. Richie Valens' "La Bamba." "99 Luftballoons." Sandpipers' "Guantanamera."

Presume it was the German version of "Rock Me Amadeus" that hit in the U.S., but I wasn't really paying attention to radio at the time. "Je t'aime... moi non plus" only got to 58. Shakira's "La Tortura" went Top 30, though I wouldn't bet it got a lot of play on English-language stations. "Gasolina" broke the Top 40 in 2005 (#32; I didn't know it got so high; no help from Top 40 radio, I'd wager). I'd totally forgotten its existence, but of course there was "Volare" back in '58. Culling from this site, which is pretty useful, even if it lists too many mostly-in-English track like "Michelle" and "Wooden Heart":

Ray Barretto's "El Watusi," which again I hadn't realized made it into the Top 40. Emilio Pericoli "Al di là" (1962), which I'd never heard of, but a quick visit to YouTube reveals that I had heard it. Totally new to me is Lolita's "Seemann, deine Heimat ist das Meer" (1960, though it has a spoken English interlude) and Rene & Rene's "Lo Mucho Que Te Quiero" (with one English verse). Miriam Makeba "Pata Pata" (1967), which I barely remember though I was listening to radio constantly at the time. Maybe Connecticut and Massachusetts didn't go for it. Let's see, "Soul Makossa" isn't big on vocals, but it counts. Mocedades "Eres Tu (Touch The Wind)," name doesn't ring a bell but from the sound I may have heard it (though it's not the most unique melody in the world)(1974). Wasn't diving into Top 40 much by the early '70s, but I did listen to car radios. I have a warm feeling towards Gerardo's "Rico Suave" (1991), but it's got an awful lot of English in it. The Delinquent Habits' "Tres Delinquentes" (1996), with some English interspersed; I recall Chuck or Phil imagining delinquent hobbits in Radio On.

So, not a lot, and actually declining since the '60s, though I assume the decline coincides with an increase in U.S. non-English niche markets (but maybe there were a lot of, say, Yiddish and Polish radio stations in the '20s through '40s).

Few of these songs heralded a genre with the potential to cross to the U.S. "Soul Makossa" helped bring a new genre to the charts, but the genre wasn't Afrobeat or Afro jazz, but disco. "El Watusi" was a tip of the boogaloo/salsa mountain range, which was mostly an American phenomenon but never lodged itself in the Top 40. As far as I know, reggaeton's never again placed as high as it did with "Gasolina."

Don't know if "Gangnam Style" is actually considered by the U.S. audience to be a harbinger of K-pop. It could make 2NE1 a tad more marketable. But for many listeners its genre might be international dance à la "Party Rock Anthem" and "No Speak Americano."

[petronia.livejournal.com]

That Jazz Fest show I went to that was all Miriam Makeba covers... when they hit "Pata Pata" the crowd went nuts. That entire album is really good.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

It's getting quite a bit of airplay in Montreal. Of course, Cancon regulations apart Montreal is essentially a Continental European market, but it was still an arresting moment when I first heard it on FM radio... Apparently it's gone to #1 in iTunes.

[koganbot]

None in Denver, unfortunately.