By Karen Glauber

beabadoobee (photo by Jules Moskovtchenko)

On the mend from bout #5 of COVID. Ten days of quarantine, two days of Paxlovid (which helped the first burst of symptoms) and, thankfully (so far), no rebound. Flying home from NYC after Indie Week, I had the feeling I wouldn’t be spared. On the upside, it doesn’t appear I infected anyone, and still managed to see Illinoise and Stereophonic on Broadway, as well as spend quality time with Audacy’s Christine Malovetz, Universal Music Publishing’s Erin Blankstein, super-lawyer Gillian Bar, talent-booker extraordinaire Sandy Alouete and ADA chief Cat Kreidich. My best friend from college had two tickets to see Patti Smith and Joan Baez in conversation at Symphony Space, both promoting their latest books. It felt truly empowering to be around so many incredible women during my weekend in NYC.

Once home, I stayed in bed, with season three of Bridgerton as my companion. The first season coincided with my first bout of COVID, in December, 2020. When Bridgerton ended, I watched way too many episodes of Love Island, pausing to tape the part where Rob extols the virtues of beabadoobee to his island girl, while insulting her affection for Ed Sheeran. Ask Ted—I sent him whatever I taped. I also read a new cookbook called Open Wide by Benny Bianco. I mostly know Benny as the adoring boyfriend of Selena Gomez, whom I know from Only Murders in the Building. This cookbook is a really fun read, kind of like reading fantasy or science fiction for those of us who can’t cook, and definitely worth acquiring.

My taste has always been far to the left of pop music, but I love that KNDD Seattle added Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” While they’ll never “own” the artist in the market, Chappell is wildly talented and a fantastic role model for the station’s audience, especially the post-40-year-old men who make up the station’s core. I’m being slightly facetious, but I love that the station embraces songs that go beyond the third single by aging ’90s artists. Credit to Christine Malovetz and Christy Taylor for keeping things interesting!

So many incredible female artists are available for airplay, including Clairo, whose “Sexy to Someone” is already an iHeart favorite. I also have lots of affection for girl in red’s “Too Much,” The Marias’ “Run Your Mouth,” The Last Dinner Party’s “Sinner” and Billie Eilish’s “Lunch.” We’re waiting for our slot with beabadoobee, whose Rick Rubin-produced album will be out in August. Dave Lombardi is readying another Beaches track, and one should also pay attention to the Blondshell/Bully single “Docket.”

Very happy for Papa Roach who scored their first Top 10 Alternative single in 15 years! “Leave a Light On,” a song dedicated to mental health, first hit #1 at Rock four months ago, which led the way to its success at Alt. Jacoby Shaddix is still beloved by the Alternative audience, as evidenced by a recent promo tour.

Big congrats to Dave Lombardi and his team for reaching #1 on Royel Otis’ “Murder on the Dance Floor.” It’s truly an extraordinary achievement, especially for a new band. Rather than pivoting to “Linger,” they return to “Sofa King” as their next single—which means I get to hear Ted sing the lyric, “You’re so fucking gorgeous,” again to anyone who will listen (me).

Happiness for Columbia’s Lisa Sonkin, who will be heading into the holiday with Hozier’s “Too Sweet” at #1. Amazing song, and this is well deserved!

Sum 41, whose “Landmines” may never leave the Top 10, is back with a new single called “Dopamine,” already added at Audacy last week. This song will go everywhere post-holidays.

How much do you love Myles Smith’s “Stargazing”? This song is everywhere in pop culture—lean heavily into the zeitgeist.

Dave Barbis is doing exceedingly well with Blame My Youth’s “The Break” on Big Loud Rock. His other act, Letdown, is Top 25. I’m always impressed with Dave’s efforts.

My kid wants to see Beck at the Hollywood Bowl next week. I haven’t told them that I got “Loser” added at KROQ when it was a white-label single on Bongload (before DGC). Those were fun days.

SONG TO HEAR: Been Stellar’s “Pumpkin” (added this week at SiriusXM’s Alt Nation!)