Archive for March, 2008
Chart updated: 3/28/08
A third (or is this the fourth?) week of weekly updates for the Top 25 dance chart. Woot! 
I don’t think that there are any real surprises here. Ron Perkov took the #1 spot with I Get Off, a frisky track that everyone can seem to relate to. *cough* Donna Summer’s track I’m a Fire continues its downhill slide; for me, this track has gotten somewhat tiresome already, surprisingly, and in addition, it just doesn’t get requested. Interestingly, I still have yet to hear the track even once on dance radio, or even see it chart many places to speak of.
I think more interesting to talk about this week are some of the additions:
- Daylight from Kelly Rowland is likely to be around a bit. It’s a solid track, there’s a ton of different remixes in different styles to keep it fresh and give it wide appeal, and even better, the song itself is about partying until all hours of the night, so it sorta fits on so many levels.
- Brit & Alex with Let It Go (a seemingly popular song name, BTW) is a particularly strong new entry. I really dig the track and expect I’ll be playing it a lot.
- Speaking of Brits, a Brit of another kind, Liana Wall, gets an add with Get a Little Closer. I really, really like this track. As I told Liana herself, I wish there were some other mixes available, and perhaps there will be yet. (Heck, I’d like to take a whack at remixing it.) In any case, the stock Club Mix offering is somehow addictive despite its kind of stripped-back, spartan qualities on some level. I think it might be a bit stronger if it was more deeply textured, but that’s back to my wanting other mixes, other options, not necessarily changing the sole mix offered. (That said, I wish the track had a longer intro and outro; it’s tough to mix.) Regardless, I’ll be playing this one a lot, and I wish this actress and model cum singer well.
- Anané’s song, Shake It, has Tommy Boy behind it, and as such, it’s likely to get solid airplay and exposure. I put it on my adds this week, but I don’t expect it to last long, frankly.
See a follow-up post later this week for some recent releases that just aren’t gonna make the cut… Not with me, anyway.
Turn-up the volume,
Wes
Add comment March 31, 2008
Chart updated: 3/21/08
This past Friday, my dance chart was updated. You’ll find it, as usual, here: http://www.djwesley.com/chart/ Following are some observations on this past week’s data:
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Janet Jackson Feedback is still #1. The song is wearing out prematurely for me, but that’s also in part because they already released the next single, Rock With U.
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Speaking of wearing out early, Donna Summer’s I’m a Fire is getting sorta tiresome already as well, although it moved up a notch to #4.
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Ron Perkov’s I Get Off continues to receive a ton of requests during my online sets, resulting in a move to #5. The variety of solid mixes of the track will contribute to its staying near the top for awhile to come I’m guessing.
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Filo & Peri’s Anthem continues its decline at #14 this week. I still like the song, and so do the audiences, but it’s just getting supplanted by the volume of new material that’s out there.
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Erika Jayne’s Stars has been out since last fall (that’s when I got a promo of it, anyway), but is just now starting to gain some traction for my chart (and others, I’ve noticed). Not a whole lot of stong mixes of it in my view, but it’s a good track.
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Among adds this week is Cannyrock with Cube Ah. I’m not sure I’m personally that wild about this track, but people have gone nuts for it… Very enthusiastic response. Not sure where this one will go.
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Also in the adds this week is the latest from my friends Cory and Jennifer at Pleasure Center, their new track for ‘08, Love’s a Basic Freedom. They’re positioning this track as a sort of gay pride anthem for the year, and the political messaging aside, it’s a strong track; probably the best yet from this terrific duo.
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Lenna’s I Can Hear the Money seems a good track that I couldn’t resist adding this week.
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Colette’s If is a new fave; I’m anxious to see where it tracks from here.
As usual, I’ll have a new chart up this Friday.
Add comment March 24, 2008
Chart updated: 3/14/08
I’m still trying how to best cross-post the charts here in the blog, but for the time being, I’ll just post this mention that the updated chart for this week is now available.
One commenter asked how much the chart could possibly change in one week’s time, and I guess we have our answer now: a lot, and not much, all at the same time. Later this weekend, I’ll post a code update that will show this week vs. last week positions, and it’ll be more clear. (I may also add access to historical charts; we’ll see.)
In any case, here’s a summary of this week’s Top 10 of the Top 25:
Add comment March 14, 2008
Show notice: Tracks (Denver), Thursday, March 20
Hey everyone! Once again, I’ll be spinning at Tracks here in Denver ahead of headliner DJ Brian Howe (of XM Satellite Radio, among others) on Thursday, March 20th. As usual, doors open at 9:00 PM, and I would recommend getting there early. The first 50 people in the door get in for free!
Hope to see you there.
Add comment March 11, 2008
The chart lives!
For months now, I’ve been hoping to finish designing and programming a web application that would let me make the maintenance of my Top 25 Dance Chart easier. Making them manually is a pain in the butt, frankly, and it’s way more subjective than I’d like it to be. Since the dance music industry has enough politics going on inside of it to make the presidential election season look tame in comparison, I really wanted to try and remove as much subjectivity from the process as I could. And yes, I acknowledge, at the end of the day, a lot of what I choose to spin is based on my personal preferences, as it is with any DJ; but I wanted it to be as accurate and removed from “who do I like this week?” as I could.
While I’m weeks late in delivering it, I finally did, this week. You can see the results at http://www.djwesley.com/chart/.
The chart is based solely on play frequency data from the past six week period, which I selected because it’s a decent sized sampling, and it would help damp some of the “I got this new song this week and I love it so I play it all the time” effect. Play frequency is obviously based on my choices, but that’s also a reflection of audience response, and also factored-in are specific audience requests.
Throughout the week, I’ll upload playlist history data straight from my DJ’ing software of choice. Then each Friday, the web site will automagically generate an updated chart. So make the above URL one of your weekly stops.
At some point, I’ll see about putting it all into an RSS feed for those of you who are as web-geeky as I obviously am.
Anyway, thanks for your patience, and I hope you enjoy the fruits of my labor.
4 comments March 8, 2008
SIRIUS sucks
Several years ago, Christmas 2003 to be exact, I received a SIRIUS satellite radio receiver as a gift. For a time, I used it in my truck, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I enjoyed it enough that I fitted my brand new Mazda Tribute with a factory satellite radio in 2005. Since then, let’s just say that the gloss has faded on my love for SIRIUS.
When I drive the Tribute these days, my iPod is the primary source of music. And as for my old truck, yes, I still drive it daily to and from work, but the SIRIUS receiver now sits atop the fridge in the small office where I do the work of my day job. It’s connected to speakers, and our small troupe takes turns selecting the station du jour.
What prompted this posting was a promotional spot on one of SIRIUS’ radio stations promoting another channel, E Street Radio. Now, no offense to Bruce Springsteen or his fans, but does anyone in the world actually need a radio station that plays nothing but Bruce Springsteen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Or Elvis Radio, which does precisely the same thing for Elvis music? Or Radio Margaritaville with non-stop Jimmy Buffet? (more…)
16 comments March 3, 2008
