“There’s a hundred songs that mention towns,” Mike Mullaney, assistant program director and music director at Audacy’s WBMX (Mix 104.1) Boston, tells Billboard. “But if you have a song which is great that mentions your town right away, it’s outstanding.”
Cue Stella Lefty’s “Boston.” (Literally, that’s what radio is doing.)
“This song is a legitimate hit. And that’s the takeaway,” Mullaney says.
On the Aug. 8-dated Billboard Hot 100, “Boston” spends a second week in the top five, a week after hitting a No. 3 best (and passing Dave Loggins’ 1974 ballad “Please Come to Boston” as the highest-charting song to shout out the city in a title). It drew 16.1 million streams, 28.6 million in radio reach (up 18% week over week) and 3,000 in sales (up 8%), according to data tracker Luminate.
The song’s radio sum is owed to play at both country and pop formats: It’s No. 7 on Country Airplay, No. 23 on Adult Pop Airplay and No. 27 on Pop Airplay, all new bests.
