Listen to/Watch all the songs featured on this pick list on this YouTube Playlist.
Or listen on Spotify.
Had it not been for Susan Tedeschi, female vocalists would have been shut out of the top spot and almost top 3 for 2016. Interestingly the Nov/Dec 2015 #1’s were all female, including Carrie Underwood and Clare Dunn who were featured at the start of this year end mix. The Nov. #1’s which made my top 100 of the 2016 were by Sara Bareilles and Florence & The Machine.
SARA BAREILLES She Used To Be Mine peak #1
FLORENCE & THE MACHINE Delilah peak #1
Before Brendan Maclean reached the top in 2 weeks in May, Bareilles took the top spot in 3 weeks with her incredibly emotional song from her Broadway show “Waitress”. The song stalled on radio, barely reaching the top 25 on Hot AC and not even making the AC top 40.
‘Delilah’ builds from subtle to anthemic and is a great showcase for Florence Welch’s vocal range. It reached the AAA top 10. The band’s next release”Queen Of Peace” reached #10 on my chart in Jan.
DEMI LOVATO Confident peak #3
In the first installment of the year end mix I missed Lovato’s #3 girl anthem. She is proving herself as a varied artist with a powerful voice. Check out her interesting and bold choice for third single release from the album “Stone Cold”. It only cracked the Pop top 40 but what a showcase. Adventurous Hot AC and AC programmers should have taken notice.
BLONDFIRE Pleasure peak #5
SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS Ablaze peak #17
A pair of female voiced alt bands that enjoyed relatively equal success on my chart considering their disparate peak positions. It all depends on the competiton from week to week and the intensity of the song’s impact at any given moment. Both spent 21 weeks in the top 150 and were on the chart during a similar period. Beyond Radio’s biggest female voiced alt band of the year, Chvrches, scored a top 30 on my chart with “Clearest Blue”. They scored 3 songs in the Alternative top 100, 2 od them in the top 15.
SIA Unstoppable peak #10
CARLY RAE JEPSEN Run Away With Me peak #18
HEY VIOLET Brand New Moves peak #10
I can run hot and cold with Sia. Her big hits of the year, “Cheap Thrills” and :”The Greatest” had very little impact on me.
Jepsen scored 3 top 50 songs for me this year including the #2 Untapped Resources Hot AC song of the year “Your Type”.
While pop radio is going with the moody EDM-ish “Guys My Age” at the moment, I was immediately attracted to the slinky dance groove of ‘Brand New Moves’.
SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR Come With Us peak #8
LAURA TESORO What’s The Pressure peak $22
Disco infused ‘Come With Us’ was a welcome return for Bextor and was the #2 Untapped AC song of 2016 (and #12 Beyond Radio dance song of the year). Tesoro’s Euro-dance ditty was Belgium’s entry in the Eurovision song contest.
