Wonderwall

Jason Aldean Scores 16th Top 10 on Country Songs

The Associated Press, Friday, December 28, 2012, 9:00am (PST)

Billboard -- Jason Aldean and Randy Houser fatten their respective top 10 counts on Country Songs, noted as Houser's "How Country Feels" improves 11-8 and Aldean's "The Only Way I Know" spikes 14-10.

Houser's song is his second top 10 entry -- he first cracked the upper tier with "Boots On," which stopped at No. 2 in the fall of 1009. Aldean's single becomes his 16th top 10 and features Luke Bryan and Eric Church, thus padding those artist's career top 10 tallies to ten and six, respectively.

Country Songs is topped for a third straight week by Florida Georgia Line 's "Cruise," while Greatest Gainer honors go to Little Big Town 's "Tornado" for the biggest streaming bump (15-13), NBC's "The Voice" winner Cassadee Pope 's "Over You" for the biggest digital surge (38-21) and Lady Antebellum 's "Holly Jolly Christmas" for the largest airplay increase (41-35).

Meanwhile, "Voice" coach Blake Shelton accounts for three of the chart's four debuts, including the Hot Shot Debut with "Jingle Bell Rock (featuring Miranda Lambert ) at No. 37, and "Voice" driven starts at No. 42 and No. 43.

HERE COMES CASSADEE: On Country Digital Songs, the aforementioned "Cruise" logs a fifth week at the summit (75,000 downloads), while Pope's "Over You" flies 21-3 (53,000 sold). She also ranks at No. 12 with "Stupid Boy."

JUSTIN TIME: Meanwhile, Justin Moore enters a two-way tie for the third-longest No. 1 climb on Country Airplay during the Nielsen BDS era (since January 1990), as "Til My Last Day" steps 2-1 in its 41st chart week. That matches Tracy Lawrence's gradual ascent with "Find out Who Your Friends Are" back in 2007. The longest No. 1 trek during that time frame is Chris Young's 51 weeks with the twice-released "Voices" two years ago, followed by David Nail's 49-week trip with "Let It Rain" last January. Moore previously crowned the chart with "Small Town USA" in 2009 and "If Heaven wasn't So Far Away" in 2011.

SWIFT ON THE DIAL: Elsewhere on the radio list, Taylor Swift claims her first top 10 since last spring, as "Begin Again" climbs 12-10 in its 13th chart week. She most recently competed in the upper tier with "Ours," which led the chart dated March 31. She also leads Country Albums for a ninth straight week with "Red," which also tops the Billboard 200 for a sixth cumulative week (276,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan).