After Billboard launched its Adult Album Alternative singles chart last year, I compared and contrasted it with the two existing rock charts, Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock, and noted how few bands, let alone songs, would be able to make a dent on all three charts. At the time, I wrote: “I’ll be very curious to see what song, if any, will be the first to appear on all three rock charts; my best guess is that it’ll depend on whether U2 or the White Stripes releases a new album sooner.” Not to toot my own horn, but I was right on the mark; the lead single from U2’s No Line On The Horizon became the first song to achieve that feat immediately upon its release. “Get On Your Boots” has been locked at the top spot on Triple-A for the last four weeks; on Modern Rock it entered at No. 8 and currently sits at No. 5; and while it’s made the Mainstream Rock chart, it has so far only climbed to No. 26.
The dominance of “Get On Your Boots” on Triple-A is a no-brainer; the chart is seemingly tailored directly to U2’s demographic. But 20 years ago, the same could have been said of Modern Rock, which was founded to track the airplay of a wave of young bands like U2. And even before that, the band were well-established on the Mainstream Rock chart, which has in recent years drifted further toward hard rock and metal, and away from certain passionate and arty Irish bands. “Vertigo” was the band’s 17th single to reach the Mainstream top 10, but their 16th single reached that height over a decade ago, and “Get On Your Boots” doesn’t seem to have the momentum to rise that far.
The fact that U2 is still a major force on the Modern Rock chart is instructive. So many bands lose their footing on alt-rock radio once they “cross over,” yet Bono and his pals are about as established in the pop-culture firmament as Mickey Mouse. In the ’90s, the band liked to throw curveballs with odd lead singles like “The Fly” and “Numb” before releasing safer follow-ups, and those kinds of little concessions to the alternative nation probably kept them from being left behind in the Nirvana era. And while “Get On Your Boots” isn’t quite as weird as those songs, it’s playful and uptempo enough that rock radio is probably embracing it more than it would a more predictably stately ballad.
The gulf between “alternative” and “mainstream,” is, of course, largely imaginary, but it’s still one that few young bands negotiate as gracefully as U2. And the current generation of MTV-friendly emo pop bands has struggled with the divide. Take Fall Out Boy, who scaled the top 10 of the Modern Rock chart with three of their first four major-label singles. But only one of their last four singles, “I Don’t Care,” has even charted on Modern Rock (although the songs have done well on the Pop 100). On the flip side, though, there’s Paramore. Female-fronted bands have a history of short shelf lives on rock radio, and it’s too early to tell if that will be the case with Paramore. But their current Twlight tie-in “Decode” is their third Modern Rock smash, which surprised me a little given that it’s kind of a power ballad. That song may pave the way for a larger audience for their next album, but for the time being it seems to have cemented them as a significant rock radio draw.
And apparently it’s possible to cross over and come back, if the All-American Rejects are any indication. Their debut single, 2002’s “Swing, Swing,” is so far their one and only song to make the top 10 of the Modern Rock chart, while the follow-up “The Last Song” was also a modest Modern hit. The band’s second album, 2005’s Move Along, was a massive hit with three big singles, but all the airplay came from unhip charts like the Pop 100 and Hot Adult Top 40. And the band’s new single, “Gives You Hell,” would seem to only continue that trend, with its cartoony video and mellow,
keyboard-driven verses. But in recent weeks, it’s become their first song to chart on Modern Rock in six years, and I have to admit I have no idea why.
Aside from Coldplay, no young band of recent vintage has followed in U2’s footsteps as deliberately as The Killers. So it’s appropriate that they’re shaping up to be an incredibly consistent presence on the Modern Rock chart. “Spaceman” recently became the band’s seventh single to crack the top 10 of the chart, which may not be that impressive until you realize that they’ve only released nine singles from their three albums so far (only “Smile Like You Mean It,” which was never promoted with a video in the U.S. and “Bones” have missed the mark). The band’s 2006 album Sam’s Town was widely decried as a possibly career-crippling dud, but as the band keeps on trucking, it’s beginning to look like a minor bump on an otherwise prosperous path—not unlike Rattle & Hum or Pop.
@2ironic4u: …and it’s all Kid Rock’s fault. Oh, the irony.
@2ironic4u: …and it’s all Kid Rock’s fault. Oh, the irony.
@Al Shipley: I haven’t heard it yet (probably because we don’t have an Alternative or Active Rock station in NYC).
@DocStrange: Aren’t you in NYC? That’s probably why.
(Welcome Back)
Even with all these alternative standards still hanging on, it still is absolutely perplexing that the #1 song is Shinedown. I can’t think of a more Active Rock-happy band being at #1 in the recent years. Say what you will about Limp Bizkit, Korn, Papa Roach, etc. but they at least had SOME sort of non-AOR rock influence to their sound. Shinedown is pretty much trying to be a modern Lynyrd Skynyrd.
“Second Chance” being at #1 is not perplexing at all because it is MASSIVE. I’m surprised it hasn’t crossed over to pop radio more yet.
I’ve never even heard the new Shinedown song. I mean Mediabase states that, from airplay, the #1 Alternative song is that three year old Incubus song ([www.mediabase.com]) which has spent like 4 weeks on the top of the Mediabase Airplay chart, but only one on top of the Radio & Records and Billboard (which use the same information: airplay on alternative rock formatted stations).
And, wow. That Airborne Toxic Event song is still getting airplay (I mentioned a few days ago how rare it is for a genuine alternative rock song to do this well on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and that it’s even rarer for a debut entry by an alternative band to do this well). No matter what I think of Airborne Toxic Event, I must applaud them for finally making an alternative song that unites the whole format (and isn’t by Kings of Leon or Death Cab for Cutie).
On the subject of U2, it’s kind of cool that they are the first band to have a song appear on all three charts, because - if my memory of Joel Whitburn books are correct - their “Desire” was the first song to appear at #1 on both Modern and Mainstream Rock charts.
if my memory of Joel Whitburn books are correct - their “Desire” was the first song to appear at #1 on both Modern and Mainstream Rock charts.
It’d have to be: it was only the fourth song to top the Modern Rock chart, ever.
(The first three, for my fellow 30somethings who enjoy nostalgia: Siouxsie’s “Peek-a-Boo,” B.A.D.’s “Just Play Music!” and the Psychedelic Furs’ “All That Money Wants.”)
Interestingly, “Desire” was followed at No. 1 by another double-rock-topper, R.E.M.’s “Orange Crush.” It’s appropriate that the two ’80s bands that pretty much willed the Alternative Nation into being topped Modern Rock back-to-back within the chart’s first quarter of existence. Also appropriate that by 1988, they were both big enough acts to top the Mainstream Rock chart, which was still a big, lumbering AOR beast back then. (It was R.E.M.’s first Mainstream No. 1, U2’s second after “With or Without You.”)
Excellent write-up here. Keep up the great work.
Unrelated, why doesn’t NYC have more rock stations? I know the large Spanish-speaking population is cited as a major factor, but that’s the same case in L.A. and radio out here is great is far superior IMO. What gives?
@2ironic4u: No, Rhode Island. I’ve mentioned before that we have one choice for alternative rock radio, WBRU (you can get Boston’s WFNX if you mess with your antenna enough). Both WBRU and WFNX actually play real alternative rock. No Slipknot, no Avenged Sevenfold, no AC/DC. They are among the reasons why Death Cab for Cutie continue to do well on the modern rock chart, because they play a ton of them. WBRU also plays hip-hop on Sundays (which is why their Mediabase request page also contains alot of rap - [www.mediabase.com]). They do, sadly play that wretched Asher Roth song during the rest of the week, but the listener is rewarded with alot of out there stuff like Los Campesinos! and Matt & Kim and that new Yeah Yeah Yeahs song if you listen long enough.
@DocStrange: Ah, forgot we had this convo. I actually had a chance to listen to BRU. While they still threw in a good number of Active-happy numbers (Staind, Seether, etc.) they leaned more towards the “cool alternative” side of things than most stations.