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Song of the Day #5,877: ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ – Chappell Roan

Singer-songwriter Chappell Roan sits at #11 on the latest Billboard Hot 100 chart with ‘Good Luck, Babe!,’ her breakthrough single. I don’t know if this track has the wide popularity to be the Song of the Summer, but it may well be the song of the year.

‘Good Luck, Babe!’ is aimed at a closeted woman who flees a lesbian relationship to hide in the more accepted confines of a straight one. It’s emotionally raw but incredibly catchy, with an alt-pop chorus so slick and sweet I want to listen to it on repeat.

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Song of the Day #5,876: ‘Houdini’ – Eminem

We have two repeats on this week’s Hot 100 at #8 and #9: Teddy Swims’ ‘Lose Control’ and Benson Boone’s ‘Beautiful Things,’ respectively. Both have been kicking around the Top Ten for at least a few months.

At #10 is Eminem with ‘Houdini,’ the first single from his new album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce). This song is a throwback to his turn-of-the-millennium heyday, opening with an interpolation of his 2000 hit ‘Without Me.’

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Song of the Day #5,875: ‘Too Sweet’ – Hozier

I owe Hozier an apology. Six years ago, I included him in a series I did on future one-hit wonders. I figured ‘Take Me to Church’ would be the only Top 40 single of his career.

That prediction held up pretty well for five years. His next 15 singles failed to crack the Hot 100. Then he managed to break into the Top 40 with ‘Northern Attitude,’ a collaboration with Noah Kahan. Still not exactly “hit” status.

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Song of the Day #5,874: ‘Rag Doll’ – The Four Seasons

The week of August 1, 1964, found The Beatles atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘A Hard Day’s Night.’ This was the fifth of seven #1s the Fab Four would have in a one-year period.

The runner-up that week was a song that was in the top spot the previous week, looking down at The Beatles at #2. The Four Seasons’ ‘Rag Doll,’ a pop/doo-wop classic, gave the band their fourth chart-topper.

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Song of the Day #5,873: ‘Sh-Boom’ – The Crew Cuts

Throwing back to the week of July 31, 1954, we find a classic doo-wop song topping Billboard’s singles chart. ‘Sh-Boom,’ or ‘Life Could Be a Dream’ as it is sometimes titled, is so good it showed up twice in the top ten simultaneously by two different artists.

The track was first recorded by New York R&B group The Chords. That version eventually made it to #2 on the R&B charts and #9 on the pop chart. It was also recorded by Canadian doo-wop group The Crew Cuts, and their version made it to #1, where it stayed for seven straight weeks. No surprise that the white guys had the bigger hit with the Black guys’ song.

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