Well, we’ve passed the 4th of July holiday, and summer is in full swing, and I have a friend who insists it’s half over now that the holiday has come and gone! Thankfully, I’ve found some good ear candy to distract you from that horrible thought.
Let’s start as usual in the Pop/Hot-AC world, where I’ve had new music out today from Rob Thomas stuck in my head. Rob has moved his talent from Atlantic to Republic, and his first effort is called “Hard To Be Happy.” It’s catchy and includes birds chirping at the beginning, which makes you think, is Rob about to do a show tune? Relax, because it’s not that, but could be a good song for Hot-AC!
I need to come back to this because, as a whole, Top 40/Hot AC is missing a good one. Damiano David / “The First Time” is a hit to my ears for the lead singer of the band Maneskin. A couple of solid airplay spins on this record so far from Sirius-XM-Hits1 and WKRZ in Wilkes-Barre.
One more for you to get your ears to spend some time with this week comes from Olivia Dean / “Nice To Each Other.” The hook is contagious on this one, and you’ll most likely end up doing the dance towards the end of the video to this one once you watch it!
Heading into the Rock world this week, here are the songs grabbing my attention. AJR / “Betty,” the brothers are back with another catchy, fun song!
Took a couple of listens, but the new Foo Fighters / “Today’s Song” is surely one your ears should get on if they have not been.
One more for this week comes from Good Charlotte/ “Rejects” Joel, Benji and Matthew have hit with another good one here.
Into the Country world we go with this week’s choices, including John Morgan / “Kid Myself.” The song has a strong hook.
Also perking up my ears this week, Kaitlin Butts / “You Ain’t Gotta Die (To Be Dead To Me). This would definitely grab your audience’s attention!
One last one for the week, Shaboozey & Jelly Roll / “Amen.” As the lyric goes, “somebody say a prayer for me, all I ‘m askin’ for is a little mercy”. The song has a good hook, and KBAY in San Francisco is an early strong believer with over 130 spins.
From the Rhythm world this week, Charlie Wilson / “Keep Me In Love” sounds like a winner. Great groove!
Next up is Sean Paul / “Ginger” grabbing some nice spins out of ‘Jam’n 94.5 in Boston! One more for this week, Mau P / “Like I Like It” at the beginning of this, it sounds like Mark Wahlberg is narrating, but I could not confirm that. It definitely gets you movin’!
There you go, your ear candy for the weekend. Enjoy!
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Jim Ryan is a Music Radio columnist for Barrett Media. In addition, he runs Jim Ryan Media LLC, a consulting company which assists major market radio brands and top talent including national radio personality Delilah. Prior to relaunching his consultancy in 2025, Jim spent 15 years with Audacy/CBS Radio, serving as SVP of Programming. Among his responsibilities included programming WNEW-FM and WCBS-FM. His career includes additional programming stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Houston. Jim was voted the #2 PD of 2024 in Barrett Media’s Top 20 series in the AC category. He can be reached by email at Jim@JimRyanMedia.com.
