On Sept. 8, Radio-Info.com’s Sean Ross chose the Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow” as “The Summer Song of 2009.” By the author’s own admission, it was a summer with a lot of evenly matched contenders. “Boom Boom Pow” got the nod for dominating the charts for the first half of the summer, and as a sonic breakthrough – a different-sounding record even in a Top 40 format already dominated by jittery synth-jams.

Here are our readers’ takes on the Song of the Summer:

“Funny you mention ‘Say Hey (I Love You)’ by Michael Franti and Spearhead as a surprise as a crossover hit into Alternative. This single had been issued a few weeks before the death of the now defunct Indie 103.1 and the only station that picked it up WAS Indie 103.1. I had always sensed the song to make a break for it to KROQ in a few weeks (C'mon, the catchy chorus, the Alternative vibe to that song) but Indie 103.1 closed shop and it seemed that a lot of the “Indie” tracks KROQ would have [played] reached a standstill. The song had reached heavy airplay on Indie 103.1 as well. From the first time I heard the song, I had a feeling that it would be a crossover hit and it would have happened a lot faster if Indie had still been around, but all good things must come to an end right? My personal recommendation for summer song would have been LMFAO’s “I'm in Miami, Trick,” but it seemed that not too many stations picked up on the potential of the single.” – Joe Daark, Los Angeles

“If possible, I'd like to place a last-minute vote for Michael Franti’s ‘Say Hey’ for song-of-the-summer. Your columns discussing ‘Hey’ have called up a fond memory of my driving around the pretty hills of Birmingham, Ala., with a lady friend, and of both of us cranking up the speakers with a “wow” reaction upon hearing that song on Citadel’s WWMM (Live 100.5). After all, isn’t sharing a song with your favorite squeeze really what radio has always been about? As the subject implies, I would also like to ask of what Summer that you speak? You see, our “Wow” reaction occurred in August… of 2008!” – Paul Burt, CE, Alert FM, who goes on to praise Scott “Reg” Register of WWMM’s Sunday morning new-music show, where he first heard the song. “Somebody had to play that song first,” he adds. “I still think it’s ‘I Gotta Feeling.’ But it is interesting how many songs will be remembered from this summer.” – Larry Rosin, president, Edison Research

“Of [the songs referenced], I would concur with Lady Gaga. The Sean Kingston outing didn’t get the exposure it warranted, not compared to his earlier hit anyway, and the Miley Cyrus track, while inevitably presenting her side of Rick Nelson’s “Teenage Idol” saga, simply was, despite its widespread exposure, not representative of her best work.” – Michael McDowell, Blitz Magazine

“I put myself in the same category you described [of listeners who like Hip-Hop but couldn’t relate to ‘Boom Boom Pow’]. As someone who cumes Hip-Hop KQKS [KS107.5] Denver on a daily basis and enjoys the Black Eyed Peas’ work, I have to say that Keri Hilson or Pitbull would have gotten my vote. I never warmed up to ‘Boom Boom Pow.’ I like a melody. But I did enjoy following your process and the methodology of coming to your conclusion. There’s always next summer I guess, LOL.” — Jon Holiday, John Holiday consulting “I can live with that choice – and the follow-up proves that Black Eyed Peas are changing the face of CHR radio again.” — Jeff Scott

“I vote for Taylor Swift or Black Eyed Peas.” – Tracy Austin, PD, WIOQ (Q102) Philadelphia

Finally, as to the sort of summer it was at Top 40, consultant Guy Zapoleon wrote:

“I can’t believe PDs told you that it was a weak summer for music, because as you cited in your Song Of Summer issue, there were some amazing songs and a huge amount of major releases by superstars putting out music in spring and early summer – established superstars like Black Eyed Peas, Pink, Beyoncé, Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry, Nickelback, Pussycat Dolls and Jordin Sparks, as well as new superstars Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry. “I will still go on record that Kristiana DeBarge, Pussycat Dolls’ ‘Hush Hush, Hush Hush’ and even Sean Kingston’s ‘Fire Burning’ were even bigger hits than people give them credit for being. The volume [of available product] was one reason they were lost, but there is another reason.

“As a consultant, I see more chart-watchers and less radio people using their ears. That’s not a good thing given the current state of consolidated radio with fewer places to go to establish hits. Each week, songs grow vulnerable with potential hits getting lost because of a few weeks of limited airplay or no airplay from stations or networks. PDs then become hesitant about playing them which leads to more hesitancy and songs being dropped – a vicious cycle.

“Many PDs don’t have callout to give them a true view of the hits in their own marketplace and many even doubt their own callout: ‘hey, it’s top 10 for us, but it’s not working nationally, so let’s hedge our bet and reduce the spins.’ Thus, watching the national charts becomes ‘garbage-in, garbage-out’ with an [increased] tendency among PDs to pull the trigger on songs early [on]. With more competition, we see more hits frying faster, so we need all the hits we can find, for the health of Top 40 and the other formats that it affects.”