Speaking of hit records…

I just got an e-mail saying Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” was the “Best podium in many years.”

Speaking of podiums, Mikaela Shiffrin just did a podcast wherein she talked about her trolls:

“‘I Have Nightmares’ — Mikaela Shiffrin and Simone Biles Detail the Horrors of Online Hate”

‘I Have Nightmares’ — Mikaela Shiffrin and Simone Biles Detail the Horrors of Online Hate

The only reason to hate Shiffrin is she’s so damn good. Great. She just clinched the year long slalom trophy and it’s only January. Mikaela has 108 World Cup wins. That’s 22 more than #2, Ingemar Stenmark, and she’s still active! Shiffrin is not Lindsey Vonn, who can complain, is parading her body and story all over the news, Shiffrin, like immigrants, just gets the job done. And she has haters? Who affect her?

You should see my inbox after writing about Springsteen. He’s inviolate.

But if you want to hear a hit record…

You only have to listen to the chorus of “Choosin’ Texas” to get it. I’m not going to sit here and say it’s the best song I’ve ever heard, far from it, but you only have to listen to it to get it. It swings, with an indelible chorus. And although it doesn’t have the deep, penetrating lyrics of a Jason Isbell number, it does tell a story, it does create images in your mind, something lacking from so many pop records, which is why it’s #3 in the U.S. Spotify Top 50. And that’s utterly AMAZING!

The Spotify Top 50 represents pure demand, it’s the ultimate arbiter. Forget the rest of the charts, they’re all irrelevant, manipulated, made to make those in the business feel good. But the Spotify Top 50…that’s raw customer demand, that’s people listening. Yesterday “Choosin’ Texas” had 1,279,734 streams. And it’s a COUNTRY RECORD!

That’s the world we live in, if a track has the goods, nothing can hold it back, people just need to hear it…which is a difficult task, but if you can get that far…

“Choosin’ Texas” was released on October 17th. And radio is definitely a big part of the story. The track went to number one country, it’s now sitting at #2, but that’s not enough for the #3 position on the Spotify Top 50. As for the Mediabase Top 40 chart, the one from this week has “Choosin’ Texas” at #48, so it’s not a phenomenon, nor is Ella Langley, she is not Morgan Wallen in terms of stature, but she’s got this hit record.

What does this #3 chart position then mean? That people heard “Choosin’ Texas” and then needed to hear it again and again, it’s not yet a multiformat phenomenon, in the parlance of yore, it’s REACTING!

And that’s the world we live in, one of effect. Are people pulling your music, it’s entirely their prerogative, and when the numbers are this high at this point in a song’s arc, when it’s not universal, that means it’s a hit.

And it’s country!

As Tom Petty said, “Today’s country music is the rock and roll of the seventies.”

And the public is reacting to it.

Listen with your business hat on, not your critical one. You don’t even need to get halfway through to realize “Choosin’ Texas” is a hit, and that’s what it’s all about.