By Karen Glauber

Like you, I spent most of last weekend watching the heart-wrenching performances from the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert in London. The performances were nothing short of historic, especially when Taylor’s 16-year-old son Shane joined the Foo Fighters for “My Hero.” Nothing could possibly mitigate the tragedy of Taylor’s death—but the concert amplified how loved and respected he was by some of the greatest musicians in the world. The Los Angeles tribute concert is on 9/27, and I expect I’ll see many of you there.

The biggest story of the summer was the return of two legends to the forefront of Alternative music: Kevin Weatherly returned to KROQ, and Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” became the SONG OF THE SUMMER, thanks to Emmy winner Nora Felder’s brilliant work as the music supervisor on Stranger Things.

One year later, Wet Leg is still the coolest new band on the planet, with “Chaise Longue” in Power on KROQ and “Wet Dream” now Top 30. I would think this band is a lock for Grammy acknowledgement this year, similar to the noms Japanese Breakfast and Phoebe Bridgers received last year.

Speaking of Phoebe, whose iconic status continues to grow, she has a cameo in “I’m in Love With You,” the new video from The 1975, which is at 2m views on YouTube and 6m streams in the past week. Dirty Hit will service the song to Alternative on 9/12, while Triple A continues to have massive success with “Part of the Band” (currently #2 on the chart).

I don’t often envy other’s concert experiences, but seeing Michelle Rutkowski’s photos from last weekend’s Lumineers concert at Wrigley Field made me feel like I’d missed a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For an indie-rock band to sell 40k tickets is an extraordinary achievement. The Lumineers also sold that many tickets in Denver, and their summer tour winds down with next week’s BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, where they’ll be playing with Hall & Oates (side note: Daryl Hall’s first solo album, Sacred Songs, is one of the greatest albums of all time) and Pete Yorn, among others. After two Top 5 songs with “Brightside” and “Where We Are,” Dualtone (aka me and Ted) will be launching, BY POPULAR DEMAND, a radio mix for the programmer fave “A.M. Radio.” Lots of love for this song, and it’s been streaming 600k weekly in the States, with 21.3m total U.S. streams.

The streaming juggernaut commanding your attention is Beach Weather’s “Sex, Drugs, Whatever,” which is the vibe song of the summer. Nick Petropoulos has the hits… Our old friend Nick Bedding, who, believe it or not, briefly toiled as a HITS employee, has landed at Nettwerk, where his first project is Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness’ amazing new single “Stars.” Nick can be reached at [email protected]. Say hi

Everybody is talking about Rosa Linn’s “Snap,” which is a massive streaming hit. My boss thinks she sounds like Natalie Merchant. I disagree—but we totally agree that “Snap” is a smash.

Dan Connelly has yet another hit to add to his repertoire with TALK’s “Run Away to Mars,” which my kid has known about for a month. This one will fly up the charts… Another super-buzzy song is “Insomnia” by The Moss. Amy Kaplan is at the helm, and this is definitely a song you will love.

My newest favorite song is “Tonight” by Phoenix, featuring Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend, whose “This Life” is one of the greatest songs in recent years and should’ve been an infinitely bigger hit, but you guys fucked it up. Phoenix is a global treasure, and “Tonight” is a classic.

SONG TO HEAR: BLACKSTARKIDS w/Beabadoobee “CYBERKISS 2 U,” which reminds me of De La Soul. BLACKSTARKIDS are from Kansas City and they love Lazlo.