POST TOASTED: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

April 3 was my 35th anniversary at HITS. Without question, I’m grateful for the tenure and the opportunity to learn from Dennis and Lenny every day. I am the dowager of Alternative promotion—beginning at A&M in 1983. I sometimes lose track of the hundreds of artists I’ve worked with—it’s always about who’s next. Ted can remember every chart peak for every record we’ve worked together. I remember every promotion I’ve asked a band to do, especially the ones that didn’t quite go to plan. Years later, Interpol is playing the Forum in L.A. and The Lumineers now play stadiums. I am so grateful to work with The 1975, which takes me back to the time when I devoted my life to The Blue Nile and Simple Minds. As frustrating as radio promotion is, the endgame is worth it. At least, that’s what I tell myself.

Wet Leg

I’m so excited about new music from Wet Leg and The Hives—two bands I love. Wet Leg launched “Catch These Fists” with massive support from Audacy, iHeart and SiriusXM. It’s fantastic to see Wet Leg come in at #1 Most Added, while Lola Young’s “Messy” sits at #1 on the Alternative chart. Let’s go, girls! (Thank you, Shania). Next week, The Hives will be in L.A., along with Wet Leg, for radio promo. Anyone in the know knows that The Hives are the greatest live band in the world. It should be an epic week.

Those who believe that we should hide when Mercury is in retrograde will be relieved to know that it’s ending on 4/7. During this period of astrological torture, my kid’s school announced it was closing for good at the end of the year—good luck finding a new school weeks after admissions were announced. That’s just the worst of many challenges these past few weeks. Maybe I shouldn’t have sold my entire record collection last Sunday.

Ted was raving about the Papa Roach/Rise Against show at the Forum last Friday. We’re doing very well with “Even If It Kills Me” at Alt; it was #1 Most Added when we launched, including KROQ. Ted said the crowd was 18-35, which means that Papa Roach is now entrenched with the younger generation. The same can be said about Deftones, who sold out MSG on 4/3—lots of kids in the audience!

Rumor has it that Justin Bieber is working with Mk.gee on his new record, while Molly and Alec from Alvvays co-wrote and co-produced Miley Cyrus’ new “End of the World.” Let all of our worlds converge, please.

Congrats to Gary Gorman on his latest #1 with Cage the Elephant’s “Metaverse,” the band’s third #1 from their latest LP, Neon Pill. In addition to their North American festival dates, you can see them opening for Oasis in late summer. You can have Oasis—I’m excited to see Tindersticks this week.

Guster

Kevin Ryder is returning to KROQ in afternoon drive. Speaking of KROQ, I remember being a guest at various weekly music meetings during my HITS run, leaving with adds on Beck’s “Loser” (on Bong Load), Veruca Salt’s “Seether” (on Minty Fresh) and Cigarettes After Sex’s “Apocalypse” (on Partisan), as well as many adds on Arcade Fire and Spoon (on Merge). Plus, I’m always grateful for adds on The Lumineers. The first indie record I worked at HITS was Superchunk’s “Hyper Enough” on Merge, followed by Girls Against Boys’ “Superfire” on Touch & Go. During that time, I also got sober (33 years ago) and worked AJR’s “Sober Up.” It’s gone well.

Thinking about Scott Burton, who is now a free agent after a significant run at The Orchard. It was 27 years ago when I met Guster at the Metro in Chicago, and who was there? Scott Burton. Every major event in Chicago included Scott. Let’s take care of him now.

Two records you shouldn’t miss: Malcolm Todd’s “Bleed” (featuring Omar Apollo) and “Back to Friends” by sombr, now heard nightly on iHeart’s syndicated show, Emerging Alt. Another record to not overthink is Sleep Token’s “Emergence.” For reference, consider how you felt when you first heard the Deftones’ White Pony, which is now viewed as a masterpiece.

Happy release day to Momma, whose Welcome to My Blue Sky is amazing! Give “I Want You (Fever)” a spin or two.