Mason’s Observations on Digging Deeper for Buried Treasure

Since I just returned from vacation and haven’t put out a new edition of Mason’s Observations in two weeks, this presented a good opportunity to do something unique. Instead of listing two individual titles that only we are getting requests for, it was eye-opening and fascinating to look at the large number of pre-2010 songs currently in the Spotify Top 200. 

While there are even more than what’s mentioned here, these have gotten recent requests and could still sound great on the air, maybe even positioned as “favorites from the past, popular online this week”: Goo Goo Dolls “Iris” (#27), Radiohead “Creep” (#43), The Killers “Mr. Brightside” (#56), Journey “Don’t Stop Believin” (#90)–there’s a great 2008 version by George Lamond which we play all the time and went #1 on Z100 in New York, Sublime “Santeria” (#92), Waka Flocka Flame “No Hands” (#110), Tears For Fears “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” (#112), Coldplay “Yellow” (#116), Kesha “TiK ToK” (#117), Coldplay “Viva La Vida” (#129), Red Hot Chili Peppers “Scar Tissue” (#134), Toto “Africa” (#137), Linkin Park “In The End” (#145), Gorillaz “Feel Good Inc.” (#146), Empire Of The Sun “Walking On A Dream” (#158), Kesha “Your Love Is My Drug” (#165), Katy Perry “Last Friday Night” (#187), Nelly Furtado & Timbaland “Promiscuous” (#188), Red Hot Chili Peppers “Under the Bridge” (#196) and Pitbull “Time of Our Lives” (#200). 

Some viewers of this column and posts I make on my personal Facebook about old music on Top 40 radio argue that there isn’t research that listeners really want to hear this music or if it even fits on the format. What we’ve found is that 80% of our total weekly requests are for throwbacks pre-2015, while the other 20% are the current biggest hits and recurrents. Spotify shows this same trend as well. Era and genre are becoming irrelevant. With the limited callout and research available for old titles, we now have raw, honest and simple numbers that show you exactly what people want to hear, yet it is still ignored and stations insist on playing “Give Me Everything” and “We Found Love” into the ground, both great records but is it possible they are burned to a crisp?  Neither have ever been that big for us in requests.

Hot Hits This Week

Ravyn Lenae – “Love Me Not”: A sleeper hit indeed, now undeniable! More than a year after its glease, “Love Me Not”(from the album “Bird’s Eye”) reaches #5 on Spotify in America and #8 Globally. It just hit the Top 10 on Liveline this week and has quickly grown to be a potential song of the summer, if that darn Sabrina Carpenter would stop making so much catchy music! It’s currently #11 on Top 40, #16 on Rhythmic and #24 on Hot AC. Am I crazy for thinking it would also sound good on Alternative too? n

Benson Boone – “Mystical Magical”: His next big hit! Currently #11 on Spotify, doing laps around “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else” in terms of streams, requests and overall listener passion. Despite not being the radio single initially, stations have gradually started playing it. Creeping up the airplay charts by two or three notches every week, it’s now #28 (and the week’s most added). KUDD/Salt Lake City is the leader with 103 spins, their most-played song this week. Z100/New York and WBLI/Long Island both gave it 65 spins, as KIIS in LA, WIHT/Washington DC, KMVQ/San Francisco and WXKS/Boston are all ranging 40-45 spins so far. Now #13 in Liveline requests!

Nobody in the world needed to be convinced that “Manchild” by Sabrina Carpenter is a summer smash and obvious power after three weeks. In almost no time, everyone got behind it. It’s still #1 on Spotify and #13 on Top 40, rising fast. By contrast, radio didn’t embrace Boone’s “Mystical Magical” as it was just supposed to be a teaser for the new album “American Heart” which came out June 20. On Friday, there was heavy first day airplay for a number of Boone tracks, most of which has tapered off. “Mr Electric Blue” is the subject of a hilarious self-deprecating video. It’s still getting some spins on SiriusXM Hits1 and KIIS/Los Angeles. It’s not in the Spotify Top 200.

sombr – “back to friends”: The majority of Top 40 radio has finally hopped aboard the “undressed” train, but they’re still missing out on one of the biggest songs of the summer! At this moment, “back to friends” is the bigger one of the pair, this week jumping to #2 on Spotify in America where “undressed” is behind by about 300,000 daily streams at #6. Both are getting a lot of requests on Liveline, though Top 40 program directors are focused on “undressed” while Alternative takes “back to friends”. Obviously, they’re two of the strongest and best songs, compatible on multiple formats including Hot AC too.

Black Eyed Peas – “Rock That Body”: We would’ve featured it in this week’s “Buried Treasures”, but that wouldn’t give the same importance as listing it here with all the emerging new music. Released in 2010 as the fifth single from their 2009 album “The E.N.D.”, this seemingly forgotten throwback has blown up all over again thanks to TikTok, and a new remastered 4K version of the music video which sees the group in what would be one of their last hits. On Shazam, it’s currently #4 in America and #3 Globally. On Spotify, it’s #33 in America and #22 Globally. Requests have really picked up for it in the past seven days and we’re playing it in the position of a new song as its original peak position might suggest that it’s still unfamiliar or odd to some people. This is a story that needs to be told! 15 years ago, it reached #9 on Billboard, #12 on Top 40 and #18 on Rhythmic… Now, it’s re-entered the charts in a dozen countries already! David Guetta and will.i.am are co-producers, and Fergie sings that high-pitched robot voice with the hook being the Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock “It Takes Two” sample. 

A big thank you to Radiocraft’s Scotty Meyers for sharing his observations about great radio and syndication lastweek while I was on vacation. Ross On Radio’s Sean Ross wrote about “Why Requests Still Matter in 2025” the week before, both of which received a lot of positive feedback from readers.