the Best of twostepcubchart 2011, Part 7...

Hey folks, I'm back with my recap of the biggest songs on my weekly music list this year, and we've hit the top-40, the cream of the crop. From women who used to dye their hair pink to those who dyed theirs Bozo-red. Plus a lot of fornication going on here...

40. Rihanna - S&M (from the CD Loud)

twostepcubchart peak: #1 (one week)
US Hot 100 peak: #1 (one week)
US Dance Club Play peak: #1 (one week)
US Dance Airplay peak: #1 (one week)
US R&B Singles peak: #59
US Adult-Pop peak: #24
UK Singles peak: #3
German Singles peak: #2
French Singles peak: #3
Global Dance Tracks peak: #2

This song is a total anomaly: an ode to sadomasochism sung by a victim of domestic abuse becoming a pop smash. It only could happen with the everpresent Rihanna. I have no idea when the inevitable Rihanna backlash will happen, but until then she's providing us some of the most provocative pop music in the "mainstream", and pulls no punches (no pun intended) with this video that pulls out all the fetish bells and whistles, along with Perez Hilton gagged on a leash.




39. Katy Perry featuring Kanye West - E.T. (from the CD Teenage Dream)

twostepcubchart peak: #7 (one week)
US Hot 100 peak: #1 (5 weeks)
US Adult Pop peak: #2
US Adult Contemporary peak: #18
US R&B Singles peak: #83
US Dance Club Play peak: #1 (one week)
US Dance Airplay peak: #1 (2 weeks)
UK Singles peak: #3
French Singles peak: #10
German Singles peak: #9
Global Dance Tracks peak: #11

Another surprising success with a two-letter title, Katy Perry's futuristic track became her fourth #1 pop hit from Teenage Dream despite its disjointed skittish beat and robotic early-80's vocals. And that's a compliment. The best thing about this is that it sounded like nothing else on her CD, let alone nothing on pop radio.




38. Gavin DeGraw - Not Over You (from the CD Sweeter)

twostepcubchart peak: #7 (2 weeks)
US Hot 100 peak: #22
US Adult-Pop peak: #6
US Adult Contemporary peak: #28

Degraw had a really good and really bad year in 2011, having the biggest hit since his debut single with "Not Over You", but being severely beaten in an attack in New York City this past summer. Gladfully doing better, DeGraw's brand of adult pop is welcome amongst all the male braggadocios going around, and the song is a poignant yet real confession of heartbreak.




37. 30 Seconds To Mars - Closer To The Edge (from the CD This Is War)

twostepcubchart peak: #20 (2 weeks)
US Hot 100 peak: #99
US Adult Pop peak: #17
US Rock Songs peak: #21
US Modern Rock peak: #7

This song was the band's pop breakthrough, and rightfully so, with Jared Leto channeling all his angst into this earnest anthem.




36. Linkin Park - Waiting For The End (from the CD A Thousand Suns)

twostepcubchart peak: #3 (3 weeks)
US Hot 100 peak: #42
US Rock Songs peak: #2
US Modern Rock peak: #1 (4 weeks)
US Adult Pop peak: #11

The California rock-rap group have matured more than any that came on the scene in their time, and their latest is an almost lilting reggae-fied rocker that more thoughtful than abrasive.




35. Pink - Raise Your Glass (from the CD Greatest Hits...So Far!)

twostepcubchart peak: #1 (one week in 2011)
US Hot 100 peak: #1 (one week)
US Adult Pop peak: #1 (7 weeks)
US Adult Contemporary peak: #9
US Dance Club Play peak: #17
US Dance Airplay peak: #1 (2 weeks)
UK Singles peak: #13
German Singles peak: #5
Global Dance Tracks peak: #15

This was the last #1 song of 2010, and the first #1 of this year. Pink put two of her best songs on her hits set and made both of them her biggest ever. There's so much to admire her as a person, and this video is a great "f*** you" of empowerment to the marginalized.




34. Mumford & Sons - The Cave (from the CD Sigh No More)

twostepcubchart peak: #2 (2 weeks)
US Hot 100 peak: #27
US Adult Pop peak: #40
US Rock Songs peak: #2
US Modern Rock peak: #3
US Triple-A rock peak: #2
UK Singles peak: #31

The British folk-rock band had their first top-40 hit capitalizing on their Grammy performance buzz with this very English ditty that sounds like it could have been sung by sailors for decades.




33. Maroon 5 - Never Gonna Leave This Bed (from the CD Hands All Over)

twostepcubchart peak: #10 (one week)
US Hot 100 peak: #55
US Adult Pop peak: #4
US Adult Contemporary peak: #17

Maroon 5's third single and last before their resurgence with "Moves Like Jagger" (coming up later) that found the group in Matchbox Twenty territory with this melodic rocker aimed at the ladies...




32. Enrique Iglesias featuring Ludacris - Tonight (I'm Fucking You) (from the CD Euphoria)

twostepcubchart peak: #4 (2 weeks)
US Hot 100 peak: #4
US Dance Club Play peak: #1 (one week)
US Dance Airplay peak: #2
US Adult Pop peak: #11
UK Singles peak: #3
German Singles peak: #12
Global Dance Tracks peak: #9

Enrique ended up going whole-Jersey shore in 2011, turning up the heat and releasing this track with no question what his intentions are (though most of radio-land and YouTube got the neutered "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" version).






31. The Band Perry - If I Die Young (from the CD The Band Perry)

twostepcubchart peak: #1 (2 weeks)
US Country Singles peak: #1 (one week in 2010)
US Hot 100 peak: #14
US Adult Pop peak: #4
US Adult Contemporary peak: #1 (3 weeks in 2011)

The trio's classic ballad of premature passing got a second life after pop and AC radio embraced the song almost a year after their conquest of the country chart. This song is nominated for a country song Grammy, but far deserves a song of the year nom as well.




Next up I'll bring you a Romanian dance sensation, a Swedish Mafia, and a Country Song that never made the country charts. Peace.