NLOTH Singles Chart Watch

[digitize]

As of this moment, "Crazy" is #15 on the U.S. iTunes Rock chart, so it's bouncing a little, but fairly stable. "Beautiful Day" is #37 (U2's only other song on that chart - at least in the Top 100).

I finally saw the Blackberry ad on TV too! It was on the SyFy (formerly SciFi) station, which is a more remote cable network. This suggests U2 and/or Blackberry are expanding the ad. With U2 due to come to the U.S. in less than a month, all of this may be peaking just right. The song is "released" in Sept., the ad picks up steam, and U2 starts their U.S. tour. With a big hit song, this should help fill out any stadiums that haven't quite sold out yet and perhaps could give a lot of life to the album.

Speaking of albums, NLOTH is #6 on the U.S. iTunes Rock charts. "U2-18" is the only other album on that chart at #47. NLOTH is #37 on the overall albums chart on iTunes - which I think is the highest it has been in a while. I wonder if this will translate to a jump up on this week's Billboard charts?

No... people in this fuckhole of a culture would rather listen to "I got my money (I'm paid) \ Lets spend it up (Lets spend it up) \ Go out and smash it (Smash it) \ Like Oh My God (Like Oh My God)" than "At the Moment of Surrender \ Of vision over visibility \ I did not notice the passersby \ And they did not notice me".

 

[doctorwho]

No... people in this fuckhole of a culture would rather listen to "I got my money (I'm paid) \ Lets spend it up (Lets spend it up) \ Go out and smash it (Smash it) \ Like Oh My God (Like Oh My God)" than "At the Moment of Surrender \ Of vision over visibility \ I did not notice the passersby \ And they did not notice me".

Well, who wouldn't? Smashing fun!

But there's always room for the market to expand!

 

[digitize]

Well, who wouldn't? Smashing fun!

But there's always room for the market to expand!

Like Oh My God.

 

[fna692002]

No... people in this fuckhole of a culture would rather listen to "I got my money (I'm paid) \ Lets spend it up (Lets spend it up) \ Go out and smash it (Smash it) \ Like Oh My God (Like Oh My God)" than "At the Moment of Surrender \ Of vision over visibility \ I did not notice the passersby \ And they did not notice me".

Actually in Norman they will be listening to both. BEP is opening .


Right now Crazy is doing well at starting off. If U2 can get a SNL appearance and combine it with some airplay and TV AD/Video exposure, I think we may have that big hit for NLOTH.

 

[digitize]

Actually in Norman they will be listening to both. BEP is opening .


Right now Crazy is doing well at starting off. If U2 can get a SNL appearance and combine it with some airplay and TV AD/Video exposure, I think we may have that big hit for NLOTH.

The SNL performance is a month and a half away... I'm not sure how much good that will do them.

 

[doctorwho]

But U2's U.S. tour is also about a month away. And they are starting in the "sure thing" markets of Chicago, Boston and New York where they have already sold out or will sell out. As the European shows gave U2 plenty of time to get the tour fine-tuned, when the come to the U.S., there won't be any hiccups ala PopMart and Vegas. So there is a chance the timing of all of could work out very well for U2, "Crazy" and NLOTH.

"Use Somebody" proves that a big hit can do wonders. And that song wasn't an immediate #1. It climbed up the charts and now has staying power. To me, that's a lot better than a flash #1 and fast drop. Hopefully, "Crazy" will do the same for U2.

 

[digitize]

But U2's U.S. tour is also about a month away. And they are starting in the "sure thing" markets of Chicago, Boston and New York where they have already sold out or will sell out. As the European shows gave U2 plenty of time to get the tour fine-tuned, when the come to the U.S., there won't be any hiccups ala PopMart and Vegas. So there is a chance the timing of all of could work out very well for U2, "Crazy" and NLOTH.

"Use Somebody" proves that a big hit can do wonders. And that song wasn't an immediate #1. It climbed up the charts and now has staying power. To me, that's a lot better than a flash #1 and fast drop. Hopefully, "Crazy" will do the same for U2.

I'm not sure why Use Somebody was popular at all, and I wouldn't get my hopes up for U2 doing well in the US (Canada's another story). The US seems pretty disinterested in U2 at the moment... there's especially little buzz in people under the age of 30 or so, which is unfortunate, considering how future-themed the album and the tour are. I could go around my high school and just about everyone would know Vertigo, but very few people would know Bootz or Magnificent. More might know Crazy because they went to the movies this summer, but I'm not counting on much.

I find it ironic that the band produced an excellent album (NLOTH) aimed at getting themselves away from "adult contemporary", and that's exactly where they have been shunted because that album wasn't as immediately accessible as the last two (especially Teh Bomb).

 

[doctorwho]

Regardless of one's opinion of "Use Somebody", it's become a huge hit as evidenced not only on iTunes, but by Billboard and KOL's album's success.

"Crazy", by the way, is now up to #12 on the U.S. Rock iTunes chart. And it is the third biggest U2 download. It has now passed classics like "One" and WOWY, and is only behind BD and "Vertigo".

 

[Danny Boy]

The U2 BlackBerry spot was on today during the PGA championship.

 

[beLIEve]

Not sure when the single will be "officially released" in the U.S. But Crazy is doing well pre-release as an album cut. On Amazon.com in the U.S., it's up to #27 on their "Rock bestselling downloads"; up to #50 on the same "Pop" chart; and it's at #108 overall for downloads.

On Adult Top 40 (also called Hot AC), it's up to #28 today on mediabase. More importantly, though, is that it's gone from 34 stations last Friday to 42 stations today. As long as it keeps getting added to station playlists, it will continue to rise. It's up to #6 on Adult Rock, playing on 26 of the 30 monitored stations for Mediabase. Surprisingly, to me anyway, is that it's also still rising on Alternative Radio, up to #34 with total stations up to 36.

Crazy is doing much better than Magnificent in this respect. It reached #1 on Adult Rock before ever cracking the larger Adult Top 40 chart, where it peaked at #24 then faded quickly. At this point, Crazy Tonight appears to have much more potential in the U.S. than the first two singles off of NLOTH.

As for U.S. music tastes, I really wonder if it's what's get forced on listeners these days versus what listeners would really choose if more music was accessible. My own 10-year old daughter loves NLOTH. While at the beach on vacation a few weeks ago, we went to the movies on a rainy day, and of course, the Blackberry Ad for U2/Crazy Tonight was played in the preview. Her friends actually asked about that song...so I played it for them. 7-hour drive home turned into a NLOTH love-fest for 3 pre-teens, and NLOTH itself was the consensus favorite. Crazy Tonight was the most played, however, getting some 15 requests. Now everyone knows I love U2, but I had to take a weeklong break from NLOTH after hearing it over and over for those kids while driving all day.

FWIW, these friends of my daughter are over at the house all the time, ages 10-12. They have discovered U2 and have been blasting it over the stereo ever since hearing NLOTH that day. Favorites include Crazy, NLOTH, Spinning Head Remix, Magnificent Remix, Mysterious Ways, Stand Up Comedy(?), Breathe!, BD, Vertigo, etc.

 

[U2freakboy]

Thanks for the update Believe. This song seems to have plenty of potential. It's also now up to #12 on the Itunes Rock chart.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

Why oh why cant this happen in the UK

 

[KUEFC09U2]

U2 #9 on the top 100 rock songs UK.

 

[Native_Son]

NLOTH down to #25 on UK itunes
#23 on amazon UK seems to be steady in the upper-mid 20's

 

[KUEFC09U2]

Dont forget though native still another 3 shows to go, plus the broadcast to 25 radio stations (around 6.5 million listners),

 

[kpod]

Dont forget though native still another 3 shows to go, plus the broadcast to 25 radio stations (around 6.5 million listners),

They should play both versions of Crazy Tonight for the radio broadcast

 

[doctorwho]

U2 #9 on the top 100 rock songs UK.

Am I reading this correctly? Is "Crazy" #9 on the UK top 100 rock songs? What chart? iTunes or general rock? And how does this translate to overall songs?

 

[Irishteen]

Am I reading this correctly? Is "Crazy" #9 on the UK top 100 rock songs? What chart? iTunes or general rock? And how does this translate to overall songs?

US it's 125 on itunes overall, UK it's 120

 

[fedeu2]

They should play both versions of Crazy Tonight for the radio broadcast

They should play both versions during the entire american leg. Not playing the regular version of Crazy in America would be a big mistake.

 

[digitize]

It will be a hard decision for U2... they seem to enjoy the remix more than the regular version, and the remix fits in well as the LAPOE of the tour, but playing the regular version would be some nice promotion to help NLOTH and probably SOA.

 

[cjboog]

Here are the most recent Mediabase #'s...

Mediabase, August 3rd-9th

AAA
Up to #7 from 8
413 plays (+18)

Alternative
Up to #36 from 40
315 plays (+70)

Rock
Up to #29 from 31
34 plays (-1)

Hot AC
Up to #32 from 33
399 plays (+59)

No sign of Crazy on the other radio formats, at least in the top 40. So this week it has a total of 1,159 plays on these four formats.

August 10th-16th

AAA
Up to #6 from 7
433 (+20)

Alternative
Up to #34 from 36
357 plays (+42)

Rock
Down to #31 from 29
36 plays (+2)

Hot AC
Up to #28 from 32
469 plays (+70)

Increased plays on all formats is definitely good news

Up to 1,295 plays on these formats in the past week.

 

[Irishteen]

It will be a hard decision for U2... they seem to enjoy the remix more than the regular version, and the remix fits in well as the LAPOE of the tour, but playing the regular version would be some nice promotion to help NLOTH and probably SOA.

The remix also would of been a bigger hit, Crazy Tonight isn't 2009 pop it's 2000 pop, while the remix is not just better than the original but it's exactly the style of music that is pop music in 2009. I'm really surprised U2 didn't record the live version for the single

 

[KUEFC09U2]

Sorry i meant uk itunes it is #9

 

[Danny Boy]

The remix also would of been a bigger hit, Crazy Tonight isn't 2009 pop it's 2000 pop, while the remix is not just better than the original but it's exactly the style of music that is pop music in 2009. I'm really surprised U2 didn't record the live version for the single

They did actually release the Dirty South remix to radio in the US at one point, but it basically went nowhere. I think a radio edit of the Redanka remix would probably suffer the same fate.

 

[Irishteen]

They did actually release the Dirty South remix to radio in the US at one point, but it basically went nowhere. I think a radio edit of the Redanka remix would probably suffer the same fate.

I just think the idea of Crazy being the pop song of this album just makes U2 seem so behind the times in music, I mean U2 have generally been good at putting their own spin on what's popular at the time, which is what Crazy live sounds like to me, the studio Crazy just sounds like a U2 song that would of been huge 5 years ago

 

[doctorwho]

I just think the idea of Crazy being the pop song of this album just makes U2 seem so behind the times in music, I mean U2 have generally been good at putting their own spin on what's popular at the time, which is what Crazy live sounds like to me, the studio Crazy just sounds like a U2 song that would of been huge 5 years ago

I agree - "Crazy" is that transition song between old and new. U2 usually have a few of those to help maintain old fans, while simultaneously throwing out new sounds and styles.

And, it appears to be working. "Crazy" may not have been as high on some charts as GOYB or "Magnificent", but clearly it is gaining more and more momentum. And it appears many like it. The song may reflect U2's style from earlier this decade, but that's the style people like now. They want more BD's and "Vertigo's" and "Walk On's", etc.

So let's go "Crazy" (intentional Prince reference).

 

[doctorwho]

I'm not sure how much differences various places are on iTunes. Could a mere 10 downloads be the difference between #12 and a top 10?

Regardless, after seeing "Crazy" at #12 on the U.S. iTunes Rock chart over the weekend, it's now slipped to #20. NLOTH, which was on #6 on the iTunes Rock Album charts, is now #12. And on the overall album chart, NLOTH had reached into the 30's, but is now #66.

Someone stated that the Blackberry ad was featured during the PGA tournament. With the excitement of Tiger Woods, I'm guessing it was watched by many. This may have caused the boost.

 

[Irishteen]

I'm not sure how much differences various places are on iTunes. Could a mere 10 downloads be the difference between #12 and a top 10?

I'd say a difference of one position on itunes between 100-200 overall equals roughly 10-15 downloads, you can use the popularity bars to judge it better but on average the distance between places is just 10-15. Obviously higher in the top 100 and lower between 200-300

 

[Irishteen]

We've got US sales for Crazy last week

8406, up 102% from last week, total sales are now 39286 and it's 182nd best selling digital song

 

[Danny Boy]

The Digital EP will be available in the US on August 25. Looks like the same tracks that will be available on the UK digital EP.

Amazon.com: I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight: U2: MP3 Downloads
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight: U2: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 Downloads