The 9513 Last.fm Chart Update (9-13-09)

by Sam Gazdziak

Welcome to all our new members, as our group has grown to 114 music fans. The more the merrier, especially when they result in some new faces populating our charts. Naturally, George Strait is the Top Artist of the week, as anything less than a Top 3 finish for King George might send the world spinning off its axis or something. He had 26 listeners for the week, one behind Miranda Lambert, whose second-place finish is her best position ever, if I’m not mistaken. I’d wager this #2 spot is just a taste of what’s to come in a few weeks when the new album is officially released, questionable sonic quality or no. I’ll also guess that she picks up more Top 10 songs that week than she’s ever gotten on the Billboard charts (not that it’s a huge accomplishment — she’s only scored one Top 10 hit in her career over there).

Brad Paisley comes in third this week with 24 listeners, and then the quartet of Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and Lee Ann Womack round out the Top Five with 21 listeners each. Dolly Parton, another famous blonde who gets much love from our group, makes it all the way up to #8 with 20, along withAlan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood and Brooks & Dunn. Down in the group with 13 listeners are Americana faves Charlie Robison and Steve Earle, along with definitely non-Americana faves Shania Twain andDiamond Rio. Finally, this struck me as rather odd, but only 8 people listened to The Beatles, so our group apparently cares not for fancy remastered albums.

On the Top Albums chart, Underwood hits #1 with Some Hearts — you know, one of the ones with country music in it. It had 15 listeners. Brad Paisley’s American Saturday Night continues its strong showing with 12 listeners, putting it at #2 along with Taking The Long Way by the Dixie Chicks. Terri Clark’s new one, The Long Way Home, debuted at #4 with 11 listeners. We either have more Canadians in the group than I realized, of Clark left a strong impression on some of her American fans. Just outside of the Top 10 are Rascal Flatts’Unstoppable, Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway, Sugarland’s Love On The Inside and Ashton Shepherd’s Sounds So Good with 9 listeners. Your level of traditionalism is directly proportional to how many of those albums you’d consider country music.

Someone finally knocks Reba and George from the Top Tracks chart, and it ended up being Terri Clark that did it. Eight songs in the Top 10 are hers, with “What Happens In Vegas (Follows You Home)” leading the charge with 11. “A Million Ways To Run,” “Merry Go Round” and “If You Want Fire” are other favorites, all with 9 listeners. Gloriana’s “Wild At Heart” and Paisley’s “Welcome To The Future” also managed to sneak in at #2 with 9. Reba manages just one Top Ten track, “Consider Me Gone,” with 8 listeners. Six people apparently made it out to a Best Buy this week to pick up Lambert’s exclusive EP, as her songs “Take It Out On Me,” “Nobody’s Used To Be” and “I Just Really Miss You” all made it to #16. I wasn’t one of those people, but I did buy the EP, and for $2, it’s a no-brainer, especially because you get a $2 coupon for Revolution when it comes out.

Freebie of the Week: My apologies if this has been posted in the daily news already, but it’s probably worth a repeat if it was. Daytrotter.com, home to a wealth of obscure indie rock music performed live in the Daytrotter studio and available as free downloads, has a 4-song session from Dale Watson. Three of the songs, “Drag N Fly,” “Truck Stop In Lagrange” and “I Got To Drive” are from his Truckin’ Sessions: Volume Two album, while “Yellow Mama” appeared on From The Cradle To The Grave. If some of the recent “country” releases aren’t doing it for you, here’s your antidote.

To see this week’s charts and join our group, head to http://www.last.fm/group/The+9513.

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