Last weekend, I made the spontaneous decision to take my first real vacation in years, after dealing with the unbearably cold, snowy and gray weeks of winter torture. I was driving around Boston and thought “this sucks and I’m gonna do something about it now”. I’ve accrued more than 20 vacation days that my boss John Garabedian is constantly reminding me of and begging me to use, but I really do love being on the air every night and talking to people. I’d hate to waste time off just sitting in bed or watching movies.
I went on my phone, looked for flights to some place warm and realized that same-day booking was just too expensive. Also, the typically warm locations were getting rain or just weren’t actually that hot at all. I stumbled upon Tampa-Clearwater which was in the high 70s all week, and that was it. I immediately started packing my bag and within two hours was in the car beginning a 24-hour drive there. Luckily, I bought a Tesla almost three years ago that came with free supercharging which expires in June, so transportation cost me nothing except for the $100 in tolls.
After partying, swimming in the ocean, tanning, eating, cruising with the windows down and getting a taste of summer for a few days, I realized I wasn’t ready to go home. By Thursday, Miami really warmed up to the mid-80s and I found a great deal on a hotel near South Beach, so I made the five hour drive across the state and spent the next three days going to clubs, walking around, dressing way differently than I normally do and getting a feel for this place I’ve always wanted to visit. Unfortunately, going to Miami added another four hours onto the already painful drive back to Boston, but it was worth it for the lifelong memories.
We checked out of the hotel at 11am Sunday and didn’t arrive home until Monday at 5 pm. It was a nonstop drive with only a few brief naps taken during the seven charging stops along the way. I was back on the air that night, expecting the whole thing to be a disaster having been awake for more than 30 hours already, but it was actually one of the best shows we’ve done in a while. Everyone was calling and texting to welcome me back, and it felt like the music had changed so much while I was gone. “Stateside”, “Risk It All”, “American Girls”, “Fever Dream”, and “iloveitiloveitiloveit” are all songs to consider right now!
If there was one I had to pick to remember my whole trip, it would be “Midnight Sun” by Zara Larsson. That song seemed to be playing at every bar, club and radio station hourly. It’s so positive, infectious, fun and upbeat. Requests are really picking up for it and it’s in the Spotify Top 100. I’m happy to see her finally getting the recognition she deserves in America, having been a major star in Europe for years now.
I’m even happier to be back in the saddle again, LIVE on the air!
More New Music
The two biggest album releases of the year-to-date came out a week apart. Bruno Mars’ “The Romantic” on February 27 and Harry Styles’ “Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally” on March 3. Both feature promising second singles for each of them, with Bruno’s “I Just Might” now heading for #1 on Top 40 after already impressive streaming numbers and getting huge Liveline requests. Harry’s “Aperture” was disappointing overall, with much hype behind it because of his four year absence. It has clearly slowed and hasn’t become the mainstream hit for fans used to “As It Was” or “Adore You”.
“Risk It All” by Bruno is already #7 on Spotify in America and #3 in the world, accompanied by a stunning music video already racking up 35 million views. Despite the success of “I Just Might,” some listeners expressed that it wasn’t among his best work, a big calculated hit, but offering nothing new or exciting. The energy is fun and it’s catchy as hell, but that throwback style has been his theme for years and a switch up would’ve been nice. That’s where “Risk It All” comes in. Bruno is a great songwriter and best-known for his sensual lyrics, swag and emotional songs like “When I Was Your Man”, “Die With A Smile”, “Grenade” and “It Will Rain”. The man can hit any note, play any instrument and sweep any girl off their feet. This new single is exactly what radio needed from him and just the thing that’s missing from Top 40 right now.
While there was no request tally during vacation last week, we have already gotten calls for it after two days and on our slowest phone nights (Monday/Tuesday). This predicts another smash!
“American Girls” by Harry Styles is #1 on Spotify in America and #4 globally, outperforming the other 11 tracks off his new album by a lot. He’ll be pulling double duty as host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live this weekend, having already been the star of Ryan Gosling’s monologue last weekend which has generated millions of views online.
After hearing the whole album, I feel safe in saying that “Aperture” was quite literally the worst choice for a lead single. It’s too weird, long and different than what fans grew to love him for. I was afraid that he was developing “Prince syndrome,” remembering that artist’s history of self-indulgence. Luckily, that’s not the case here. “American Girls” should’ve been and is clearly now the best representation of the new album, already getting requests on Liveline and creating lots of buzz. It’s got a great beat, it’s fun, and lyrics you can actually sing along to. Oh, and it’s not five minutes.
