Sparked by its resurgence due to a synch in the newly released fourth season of Netflix’s Stranger Things, Kate Bush‘s 1980s classic “Running Up That Hill” has been serviced to a variety of radio formats, as of Friday, June 3.
The new season of the ’80s-set show incorporates the song in multiple episodes as a recurring theme of sorts for the character of Max Mayfield, played by Sadie Sink.
“Warner Music has such an incredibly rich catalog that proves to be as relevant now as ever,” says Mike Chester, Warner Records EVP of radio and commerce. “Kate Bush’s global resurgence by way of her song’s integration into Stranger Things has catapulted her back into the zeitgeist of popular culture. This exciting moment of discovery moved us to service the song to all formats of radio, immediately. We’re thrilled that our partners at the DSPs and radio are reacting so favorably to this watershed moment.”
Originally released in 1985, “Hill” reached No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated that Nov. 30. Her highest charting of four entries on the chart, it also rose to No. 13 on Dance Club Songs and No. 34 on Mainstream Rock Airplay. At the time, Billboard did not yet produce the Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay, Alternative Airplay or Adult Alternative Airplay charts, which the song could now scale, among others, given its newfound attention.
Bush boasts notable success on Alternative Airplay dating to its 1988 inception, scoring a No. 1 with “Love and Anger” in 1989 among four top 10s, logged through 1993.
In the past seven days (May 27-June 2), “Hill” has already received a boost in U.S. radio airplay. It’s accumulated 122 total plays among the over 1,300 stations that report to Billboard‘s all-format Radio Songs chart – up from 25 the previous period (May 20-26), according to Luminate. Its biggest champion has been Audacy-owned Milwaukee Pop Airplay panelist WXSS, which has played it 11 times in the past week, following no spins the previous week.
As previously reported, “Hill” has drawn a pronounced boost in streams and sales in the U.S. and globally since the May 27 Stranger Things fourth-season premiere. After logging 24,000 U.S. on-demand audio streams May 26, the song ballooned to 90,000 May 27 and has continued to rise throughout the week, according to preliminary reports from Luminate.
“Running Up That Hill” U.S. daily on-demand audio streams:
- May 26: 24,000
- May 27: 90,000
- May 28: 551,000
- May 29: 1.3 million
- May 30: 2.4 million
- May 31: 3.7 million
Similarly, after tallying negligible digital sales in the U.S. May 26-27, the song began garnering sizable download counts throughout the week, which will lead to a strong debut for it on Billboard sales charts dated June 11.
“Running Up That Hill” U.S. daily sales:
- May 28: 1,400
- May 29: 2,400
- May 30: 4,000
- May 31: 3,700
Finalized May 27-June 2 figures for “Hill” will be reflected on Billboard charts dated June 11, including a potential return for the song to the Hot 100. Highlights of the next Hot 100 are set to post on billboard.com Monday, June 6, with all charts updating June 7.
