Braintree Top 40

Merry Christmas!  We have tied our record of 18 holiday chart entries this week as “Santa Tell Me” logs a 2nd week at #1 while “Mystery of Love” battles back to #2 amid the blizzard of winter tunes.  Lady Gaga attains her very first top five single as “Christmas Tree” jumps 25 spots to #5 while 90s boyband *NSYNC earns their first top ten as “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” soars to #9 after debuting last week at #31.

Call Me By Your Name continues to be a dominant presence in Braintree, thanks solely to Josh, as Sufjan Stevens earns his 2nd top ten off the soundtrack as “Visions of Gideon” debuts at #9.  A little farther down, The Psychadelic Furs debut at #12 with “Love My Way” and “Paris Latino” continues cling onto the chart, falling to #31 after peaking at #6.  It’s only a matter of time before at least one of the girls (Emm!e looks to be the most likely) gets hooked onto this gay romance phenomenon the same way Josh has.

Emm!e was able to provide Foster the People with their 2nd chart entry as “Sit Next to Me” debuts at #37.  She also gave a little boost to former #1 “I Miss You” as it ticks up one spot to #16.

Daina, voted Head Cheermeister in Braintree, was all about the Christmas music as she spearheaded nearly all 18 chart entries that holiday music had.  What will she listen to now that Christmas is over, you wonder?  Well, she’s already jumped back into her “refined tastes” playlist, which provided a small boost to “Havana,” which jumps to #20 after nearlt falling off the chart last week.

Celina was able to get one of her many British singer-songwriter artists to debut on the chart as James Arthur debuts at #36 with his first solo entry, “Naked.”  Emily, on the other hand, finally did what Celina never could: get “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” by ZAYN & Taylor Swift to debut on the chart.  This melodramatic ballad from the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack comes in at #22 this week.

After what seemed like a sure thing early in the week, poor Kesha debuts at a lowly #38 with The Greatest Showman soundtrack single, “This Is Me.”  Maybe it’s just because it’s a soundtrack single from a movie that’s not getting good reviews or Braintree just forgot about it in the holiday shuffle, but this is the lowest debut for a new Kesha single ever.  Could it go up next week now that it’s got chart attention?  We’ll see.

Speaking of next week, it looks to be a quiet one in terms of releases.  New Year’s will bring about the reminiscing of the top songs of 2017, which is sure to make even more of an impact than it already has.  Soundtrack songs look to be on the rise as Oscars season heats up.  Can “Mystery of Love” return to dominance or will “Visions of Gideon” bring Sufjan Stevens his 2nd #1 hit?  Find out next week as we make the first chart of 2018!