Xposition - March, 2016

Attention!!!

While February was quite eventful, March was relatively quiet with only a few movements on the charts. In early March, Sir George Martin, the legendary record producer who propelled The Beatles to fame also referred to as the fifth Beatle passed away at the age of 90. It was in 1962 that he signed on the Fab Four and thereafter made them a worldwide phenomenon with 30 No.1 hits in UK alone. 

The 29th Annual Kids' Choice Awards was also held in March with Blake Shelton hosting the event. Out of the three performances only DNCE's Cake By The Ocean stood apart as being good. The Favorite Music Group was awarded to Fifth Harmony while Adele took away the coveted Favorite Song of the Year for Hello. The other awards for music included:

• Favorite Male Singer: Justin Bieber
• Favorite Female Singer: Ariana Grande
• Favorite New Artist: Shawn Mendes
• Favorite Collaboration: Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth - See You Again

The Box Plus Network have released the Pop Powerlist for 2016 wherein Justin Bieber unsurprisingly has been ranked 1. No doubt the current Prince of Pop is No.1 as he managed to score three back to back No.1 hits in the UK from his latest album Purpose. Closely behind Bieber we have Adele whose album 25 and worldwide smash Hello was enough for her to make that titanic comeback. The top 10 are:

1. Justin Bieber
2. Adele
3. One Direction
4. Rihanna
5. Coldplay
6. Taylor Swift
7. The Weeknd
8. ZAYN
9. Little Mix
10. Ed Sheeran

Fall Out Boy and Biffy Clyro have been announced as the final headliners for the Reading and Leeds Festivals 2016. Disclosure and Foals were already announced as headliners with the fifth and final headliner being Red Hot Chili Peppers who return to the festival after nine years. Also confirmed to perform are HAIM, Chvrches and The Vaccines. 

Moving onto chart news, in the US, Rihanna ft. Drake's Work took over the crown from Justin Bieber's Love Yourself on the first week of March itself and continued her reign throughout the month. Work is Rihanna's 14th No.1 and now she moves up the ladder passing Michael Jackson as the artist with the third highest number of chart toppers behind The Beatles with 20 and Mariah Carey with 18. Work is also the ninth Hot 100 No.1 by a non-US born act with the final week of March witnessing 36 straight weeks of non-US born acts ruling the roost. During the month DNCE's Cake By The Ocean, Flo Rida's My House, Lukas Graham's 7 Years, Mike Posner's I Took A Pill In Ibiza (SeeB Remix) all entered the top 10 along with Kelly Clarkson's Piece By Piece which soared into the top 10 after an emotional performance during an episode of the final season of the American Idol. 

In the UK, Lukas Graham's 7 Years had a strong presence at the top with the global hit remaining on at the summit for the first three weeks and completing 5 consecutive weeks atop the UK Charts and surpassing Whigfield and Aqua as the most successful Danish act in the UK in terms of chart position. This reign came to an end as Mike Posner's I Took A Pill In Ibiza (SeeB Remix) overthrew 7 Years and stayed at the top for the final two weeks of the month. During the month Zara Larsson's Lush Life achieved a peak of No.3 and Rihanna ft. Drake's Work crept up to No.2 while Major Lazer ft. Fuse ODG and Nyla's Light It Up reached No.7.

Some of the hits that became popular during the month are:

• Coldplay - Hymn for the weekend
• Fifth Harmony ft. Ty Dollar $ign - Work from home
• Sigala ft. Imani & DJ Fresh - Say you do
• Sia ft. Sean Paul - Cheap thrills 
• Tinie Tempah ft. Zara Larsson - Girls like
• Meghan Trainor - No
• Alan Walker - Faded

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!! 

Best Songs to Listen to During a Power Outage/Ultimate Blackout Playlist

Attention!!!

With the recent power outages it was necessary to come up with this list. When there is a blackout there is absolutely nothing to do so you might as well listen to music. So you had better charge your iPods and Mp3 Players to full capacity before the darkness strikes. Also if your phone is charged you can YouTube the following songs and singalong in the candlelight. We have a smorgasbord of genres ranging from Pop and Rock to Latin Pop and Hip-Hop as well as artists from the 80s and 90s to the 2010s. Five's When The Lights Go Out takes the crown as it is literally about what you do after the lights go out. Linkin Park ft. Steve Aoki's A Light That Never Comes is ideal to listen to when you are pissed off at those who are responsible for the blackout. Rihanna and Havana Brown are the only ones with two entries each and we have two sets of songs with the same titles - Dancing In The Dark and Hit The Lights. So here are the 25 best songs to listen to during a blackout: 

1. Five – When the lights go out
2. Linkin Park ft. Steve Aoki – A light that never comes
3. Ellie Goulding – Lights
4. New Boyz ft. Chris Brown – Better with the lights off
5. Dev ft. Flo Rida – In the dark
6. Kanye West ft. Rihanna – All of the lights
7. Enrique Iglesias – Don’t turn off the lights
8. Rihanna – Dancing in the dark
9. T-Pain ft. Ne-Yo – Turn all the lights on
10. Jennifer Lopez – Feel the light
11. Bruce Springsteen – Dancing in the dark
12. Havana Brown – City of darkness
13. Selena Gomez & The Scene – Hit the lights
14. Jessie J – Flashlight
15. NKOTBSB – Don’t turn out the lights
16. Fall Out Boy – My songs know what you did in the dark
17. Jay Sean – Hit the lights
18. Lady Gaga – Dance in the dark
19. McFly ft. Taio Cruz – Shine a light
20. Katy B ft. Ms.Dynamite – Lights on
21. Belinda Carlisle – Leave a light on for me
22. Black Eyed Peas – Light up the night
23. Elton John – Electricity
24. Santana ft. Everlast – Put your lights on
25. Havana Brown – Flashing lights 

Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

Most Inspirational Songs of 2014

Attention!!!

When I compiled the list for inspirational songs for 2013, I believed that it was just a coincidence that there were so many inspirational songs during that year. However, now I believe that it is a trend for artists to come up with at least one motivational song in their albums. Although there were not so many inspirational songs during 2014 there were enough to compile a list. I think the reason for artists to come up with so many inspirational songs is due to the fact that there is a popular demand for such songs. During this hectic era, the younger generation can be heavily burdened with work, life and love and so to cater to the market wants and needs, artists come up with these songs. The songs are sometimes purely inspirational while others deal with motivation to handle breakups. The genres vary from Rap, Hip-Hop and Pop to Rock, EDM and Country. Eminem ft. Sia's Guts Over Fear featured in the film The Equalizer takes the crown with Taylor Swift's global smash hit Shake It Off at second followed by the X-Factor winner Ben Haenow's winning single Something I Need at third. Sia and Fall Out Boy are the only artists with two entries with the latter having both entries within the top 10. So here are the 25 most inspirational songs of 2014:

1. Eminem ft. Sia – Guts over fear
2. Taylor Swift – Shake it off
3. Ben Haenow – Something I need (Original by OneRepublic)
4. Idina Menzel – Let it go
5. Fall Out Boy – Immortals
6. The Script – Superheroes
7. Ella Henderson – Glow
8. Imagine Dragons – Warriors
9. OneRepublic – I lived
10. Fall Out Boy – Centuries
11. Sia – Chandelier
12. Colbie Caillat – Try
13. Nico & Vinz – Am I wrong
14. Avicii – The days
15. Foxes – Let go for tonight
16. Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne – Rather be
17. Carrie Underwood – Something in the water
18. Aloe Blacc – The man
19. Paramore – Ain’t it fun
20. Tinie Tempah ft. Ella Eyre – Someday (A place in the sun)
21. American Authors – Best day of my life
22. Lily Allen – Air balloon
23. Cheryl Cole – I don’t care
24. Union J – Tonight (We live forever)
25. Ariana Grande ft. Zedd – Break free

Till the next chord…

At Ease!!!