Pop Music Expert Handicaps The Likeliest Summer Hits of 2013
by Ian Bush
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Last year, you couldn't escape "Call Me Maybe." That Carly Rae Jepsen tune was on just about everybody's beach and party playlist.
So, what will be the song of the summer this time around?
Daft Punk get the early nod with "Get Lucky."
Listen to "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk
"They've been considered underground in the past, but they have a new song which has gotten a lot of Top 40 airplay already, and it's just a reflection of how things have changed now," says veteran radio industry expert Sean Ross, who writes the newsletter Ross on Radio. "Dance music is so front-and-center in pop culture and on Top 40 radio that they actually have the leading summer song candidate."
Ross says it's neither saccharine nor calculated for chart success.
Nor, he says, is "Same Love," by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
"Same Love" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
But it could be too high on social commentary for those who just want to party down, like with Icona Pop's "I Love It."
And Ross says there's a country-crossover song that is another contender for this year's Song of the Summer:
" 'Cruise,' by the country group Florida Georgia Line. It came out last year, and became a country hit in early winter. They've remixed it to put the rapper Nelly on the song."
"Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line
So what makes for the best summer tune?
"It is uptempo and fun and is certainly something you will hear at every party," Ross tells KYW Newsradio. "I don't know if it's the level of obviousness that Black Eyed Peas' 'I Got a Feeling' was, or Katy Perry with 'California Gurls.' That came out this time in 2010 and was pretty much coronated even before Memorial Day came around."
In 2012, everybody was singing "Call Me Maybe." This summer, maybe it's a comeback ("Live It Up") from Jennifer Lopez, featuring Pitbull.
Or "Treasure," a throwback from Bruno Mars.
Others on the short list include Mariah Carey's "#Beautiful," Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines," and Capital Cities' "Safe and Sound."
"The summer song is something that is a shared experience," Ross says. "It's a place where parents and kids can agree on music."
Or an earworm we'll all be tired of by Labor Day.
