First off, happy Halloween!
Let’s see if I can “scare” up some hits for you to consider this week with Hits on the Horizon.
Starting off in my usual area of Top 40/Hot AC. I’ve been obsessing over a hit song I believe Hot AC can own and champion on their own to separate from Top 40: Mumford & Sons ft. Hozier – “Rubberband Man.” No, this is not a remake of the hit by The Spinners in the ’70s! It’s catchy and is getting some early radio love from “Alice” in Denver.
Next up, Benson Boone – “Mr. Electric Blue.”
“He was a stranger who walked in looking for danger!” The song has a good hook and grabbed over 1 million streams this week. So far, Z100/NY has jumped in with spins.
One more to get your ears on, if you haven’t already: Cortis – “What You Want.” The song has a solid hook and a bit of an edge to it. It was released in late August and so far has no radio airplay, but it did just shy of 500k streams this week. This could be a song to carry you through the holiday downtime for new releases.
Let’s move into the rock world for the week. From the alt side, it’s hard to think a lyric such as “I feel like garbage” would actually be an up-tempo, fun song that sticks with you—but that’s the case with Twenty One Pilots – “Garbage.” With the only radio love currently coming from SiriusXM’s Alt Nation, the song scored over 700k streams nationally this week.
Okay, this next one comes from the funniest band name I’ve heard in a long time: Pigeons Playing Ping Pong – “Fantasy.” Such a cool groove! I’m usually a big fan of rock songs with horn sections, and this one has it. It’s getting early radio love from 92.3 WTTS in Indianapolis, WEXT in Albany, N.Y., and WTMD in Baltimore.
Another one from the AAA world that caught my ear this week is Chet Faker – “This Time for Real.” It has a groove that will stick with you after one listen. Early radio love is coming from XPN in Philadelphia and Lightning 100 in Nashville.
Let’s segue to the country world for this week. I’m really liking Dasha – “Like It Like That,” with just shy of 1.7 million streams this week and radio love coming from SiriusXM’s The Highway and KNCI in Sacramento, to name a few. This song has crossover potential as well.
Next choice is Morgan Evans – “Beer Back Home.” Catchy lyrics: “I could use a beer back home, with some friends I know… nothin’ tastes better than a beer back home!” No streaming story so far, but you should get your ears on this one.
One last stop in the rhythm world for the week. Leon Thomas – “Yes It Is” should be on your radar if it isn’t already. It has a really cool groove, scored just shy of 1.8 million streams this week, and has radio airplay coming so far from 102.3 Radio Free in Los Angeles as well as Music Choice.
One more for this week: give a listen to Kid Cudi – “Maui Wowie.” He even name-checks John Legend: “Goin’ back to Honolulu just to get that Maui Wowie!” Radio love so far from Hot 104.7 in Portland, Maine. The song also had 5.5 million streams nationally this week.
Well, there you go—ear candy for the weekend when we end daylight saving time and fall back, except in those states that don’t (looking at you, Arizona and Hawaii). Happy listening!
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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.
