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Song of the Day #5,401: ‘Flowers’ – Miley Cyrus

In the #2 spot on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 is Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers,’ the debut single from her new album Endless Summer Vacation. ‘Flowers’ debuted at #1 11 weeks ago and spent eight non-consecutive weeks atop the chart.

‘Flowers,’ written about the end of Cyrus’ marriage to actor Liam Hemsworth, is her second #1 single, following 2013’s ‘Wrecking Ball.’ Old school Miley hit ‘Party in the U.S.A.’ peaked at #2 back in 2009 (it couldn’t best The Black Eye Peas’ ‘I Gotta Feeling,’ and if remembering those two radio staples doesn’t drop you right back into the late ’00s, nothing will).

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Song of the Day #5,400: ‘Like Crazy’ – Jimin

We’ve had a glorious five straight weeks of Lana Del Rey (sorry, haters!) but now it’s time for something completely different.

While Del Rey’s new album debuted at #3 on the albums chart, with the largest vinyl sales and streaming numbers of her career, it did not place any singles on the Billboard Hot 100. That’s par for the course for Del Rey, who has always been more of an album artist than a singles artist.

So rest assured, you will not encounter any Lana Del Rey for the next two weeks, when I look at the Billboard Hot 100 in the latest installment of ‘What the Kids are Listening To.’

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Song of the Day #5,399: ‘December’s Boudoir’ – Laura Nyro

Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy the last Random Weekend selection on Meet Me in Montauk. Starting next week, I will introduce a new series titled Throwback Weekends.

Suggested by daily commenter Dana (I’ve decided to retire the “frequent commenter” label for Dana to better acknowledge his contributions here), this series will look back at the top hits of decades past on the same weekend through history.

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Song of the Day #5,398: ‘Denise’ – Fountains of Wayne

When today’s SOTD popped up as the random selection, I was certain I had featured it before. But it turns out I’ve given Fountains of Wayne’s 1999 album Utopia Parkway less attention than I thought.

I posted two songs from the album more than a decade ago, plus two more on Random Weekends over the years. But none of those was ‘Denise,’ the first Fountains of Wayne song I ever heard.

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Song of the Day #5,397: ‘Taco Truck x VB’ – Lana Del Rey

Continuing my track-by-track appreciation of Lana Del Rey’s newest album, Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd…

Track 16: ‘Tack Truck x VB’

On an album filled with lyrical and musical references to her past work, it’s only appropriate that Del Rey wraps things up with an extended, grunged-up sample of one of her most beloved and iconic songs, ‘Venice Bitch.’ That’s what the “VB” stands for in the title of this track, and it comes as quite a giddy surprise halfway through the album’s final song.

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