Levine/Xtina duet, Maroon 5 hype

LIP-SMACKIN’ GOOD: "Moves Like Jagger," the brand new single from Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera, is off to a torrid start. The song, which the L.A. Times describes as a “made-for-summer pop cut…a catchy, sure-fire hit,” shot to #1 at iTunes yesterday after Adam Levine and Xtina debuted it in a kick-ass live performance with the rest of M5 Tuesday night on The Voice, which you can see right here. Not surprisingly, Maroon 5 is riding a ton of renewed momentum behind the deep impression Levine has made on the hit series. It can be seen both on the new track and current single "Never Gonna Leave This Bed," which is bulleted and growing in the 20s at Top 40 and #4 at Hot AC. The latter song is from the Mutt Lange-produced 2010 LP Hands All Over, throughout which “the band’s skillfulness at pounding hammer-down hooks into phat grooves remains emphatically apparent,” as our own Bud Scoppa put it in his review of the album for Uncut mag. Major props to manager Jordan Feldstein and A&M/Octone, both of whom have kept the pedal to the metal on this project and are now beginning to see their efforts pay off. (6/23a)