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Welcome back to this week's flashback to the 80s, and now I'm back to 1988, the year Celine Dion wins the Eurovision song contest representing Switzerland as a "ringer"... Olivia Newton-John - " The Rumour " from the album The Rumour (1988) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #62 This Elton John/Bernie Taupin song was Olivia's first lead single from an album to miss the top-40 since the early 70s. I still keep a place in my heart for this though, and thought she looked her damn best then. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Hey gang, I'm back with seven more nuggets from the 70s, and this week I'm back to 1978, the year Albino Lucini became Pope John Paul I for only 33 days. Player - " Baby Come Back " from the album Player (1977) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 The California band who delved into "space soft rock" mined pure Hall & Oates territory with this chart-topper. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Today, February 28th, marks the 36th birthday of country star Jason Aldean... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Elton John - " Kiss The Bride " from the album Too Low For Zero (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #25 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 8 Today's Song of the Day is by singer/pianist Reginald Dwight, aka Elton John, who stormed back on the charts in 1983 with his 17th studio album Too Low For Zero and it's triumphant first American single " I'm Still Standing ". The second release rocked even harder (for him), with his classic 70s band mostly back on board with Davey Johnstone on guitars for the riff-heavy "Kiss The Bride"... While "Kiss The Bride wasn't one of his biggest hits, it did respectfully, reaching the top-20 in Britain and top-40 in the States, Canada, and Australia, and was a concert fave at the time. Of course a year later, Elton would "kiss" his own bride, German music engineer Renate' Blauel, who he married for four years become he totally came out of the closet. (Click below to see the rest of

And now I've got the newest songs reaching the top-100 of the official sales chart in Australia this week.This is a big week, as we're waiting for what will be the 1000th #1 single in this country....and the winner is... shit. Yes, the viral video sensation the "Harlem Shake" caused enough people to buy the song to make it the top-selling single of the week.... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Hey gang, I'm back with another half-dozen nuggets from the 60s, and this week I'm back to 1968, the year Mattel starts making Hot Wheels cars... Paul Mauriat - " Love Is Blue " from the album Blooming Hits (1967) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 While "flower power" was in full effect in 1968, the "alright" kids' parents were still buying easy-listening fodder like this by the truckload. The only Frenchman to top the American chart, Mauriat would have the last "big" true orchestral hit. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Today, February 27th, marks the 32nd birthday of vocalist Josh Groban... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Jeffrey Osborne - " Don't You Get So Mad " from the album Stay With Me Tonight (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #25 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 6 Today's Song of the Day is by lite-funk singer Jeffrey Osborne , who after leaving the group L.T.D., released his successful solo debut album in 1982, and score two top-40 pop hits with the smooth " I Really Don't Need No Light " and the classic ballad " On The Wings Of Love ". Osborne follow that up the next year with another new album, and the first single released from the set was "Don't You Get So Mad", another uptempo song written by Osborne with Don Freeman and Michael Sembello, who was at the same time having his biggest success with his own hit "Maniac". It was produced by George Duke, who gave the album a nice jazzy feel to the soul... "Don't You Get So Mad" matched the success of his "I Really Don't..." on the R&B chart

I'm back to check out the latest songs making the top-100 sales chart in Germany this week, as will.i.am and Britney "bitch" spend a sixth week on top with " Scream & Shout ". The top debut of the week in right now the biggest Austrian music star, DJ Otzi, with his latest, "Wie Ein Komet" ("Like A Comet"). Born Gerhard Friedle, he has topped the charts in this country three times, with his first " Anton aus Tirol "  in 1999... German eurodance hitmakers Cascada return at #36 with "Glorious". This marks their eleventh time in the top-40, and three of those have made the top-10 (including the US smashes "Everytime We Touch" and "Evacuate The Dancefloor"). This song will be this country's "entry" into the Eurovision song contest this year in Sweden... The third song coming in at the top-40 level, at #39, is American violinist and YouTube star Lindsey Stirling, who also gai

It's time to travel over to Europe this afternoon to check out the new songs making the top-100 official sales chart in France this week, as " Thrift Shop " by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis cash in a fourth week at #1... The top entry on the chart at #15 this week is the second promo single for Justin Timberlake's upcoming 20/20 Experience album, "Mirrors". It follows "Suit & Tie", which came in at #8 five weeks ago and now sits at #45... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Today, February 26th, marks the 60th birthday of singer Michael Bolton... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Frank Stallone - " Far From Over " from the album Staying Alive (Original Soundtrack) (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #10 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 10 Today's Song of the Day is by Sylvester's little brother Frank Stallone , who grew up in Northeast Philly before embarking on a singing career. His big break came with a bit of Sly's help as he was producing and writing the sequel to the iconic disco film Saturday Night Fever . The movie, Stayin' Alive , tracked Danny Manero's life trying to make it as a Broadway dancer, to mostly (unintended) hilarious results. The Bee Gees, who put together the first films' soundtrack, were commissioned to record music for this one as well, though instead of dominating the whole album, they only had half the soundtrack, with the other half split between three different artists (Cynthia Rhodes of Dirty Dancing and Animotion fame would be another one), and Frank was given three cuts on the side. One of t

ZZ Top - " Sharp Dressed Man " from the album Eliminator (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #56 This week's "robbed hit" is from the Texan blues-rock trio ZZ Top , who came back roaring in 1983 with their electrified eighth studio album Eliminator, which already scored them their third top-40 single with " Gimme All Your Lovin' ". After a radio-only release of album track "Got Me Under Pressure", the band released arguably the best song of the set, "Sharp Dressed Man". With a polished up pop production that still rocked the house, the song brought back the "ZZ Girls" for the video... ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man by ZZTop-Official "Sharp Dressed Man" went all the way to #2 on the rock radio chart, but stalled down at #56 on the pop singles chart.It did manage to make the top-40 in Britain, their second to do so after "Gimme..." (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Today, February 25th, marks the 54th birthday of Mike Peters of the Alarm... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Stray Cats - " (She's) Sexy + 17 " from the album Rant N Rave With The Stray Cats (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 12 Today's song of the day is by the retro rockabilly kings Stray Cats , who after conquering the British Isles, crossed back over to the States with their debut album Built For Speed and a pair of big top-10 hits with " Rock This Town " and " Stray Cat Strut ". By the time those hits were done on the charts the trio were ready to release their next album, Rant N Rave , and the first single culled from the set, "(She's) Sexy + 17", written by lead singer/guitarist Brian Setzer and produced by retro rock fave Dave Edmunds, doesn't stray far from the formula that made their last album a hit.. "Sexy + 17" became their third and final top-10 single in the US, and also made it to the runner-up spot on the mainstream rock radio chart, while peaking at #29 in the UK

Hey gang, it's time to close out the weekend with the latest songs making the grade over in Great Britain this week according to their official sales charts ... The top-selling single in the UK this week is the vocal group One Direction with this year's official "Red Nose Day" song for the Comic Relief charity. It's a "mash-up" cover of two influential pop-punk songs of the late 70s (way before these chaps were born), "One Way Or Another" by Blondie and the Undertones' "Teenage Kicks". The result, titled "One Way Or Another (Teenage Kicks)" becomes the quintet's third #1 British hit, and sold over 100,000 copies in its first week. The original of the Undertones' track went to #31 in 1978, while Blondie's song never was released before in the UK, and you'll be seeing it later down the post... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Hey gang, it's time for this week's "album sweep", sampling the new records spending their first week on the Top 200 albums chart in Billboard magazine, and because of the tracking week being post-Grammy week, there are so few big releases that only ten new albums made the whole chart, so I'll take care of it in one foul swoop. Like always I've included links to buy anything you see at Amazon, but if you can, stop by a record store - they'll love you for it! The top-selling album of the week is the Grammy winner for Album of the Year, Mumford & Sons' Babel , which sells more than a 185 thousand this week (well below what Adele did last year, though...)... The top debut of the week, down at #13, is the fourth full-length album from Welsh heavy-metal band Bullet For My Valentine, Temper Temper . It follows two consecutive top-5 albums, with their last, Fever , reaching #3 in 2010...(NSFW) (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Today, February 24th, marks the 55th birthday of country singer (and former crush) Sammy Kershaw... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Bonnie Tyler - " Total Eclipse Of The Heart " from the album Faster Than The Speed Of Night (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (four weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 18 Today's Song of the Day is the companion to yesterday's SOTD by Air Supply, " Making Love Out Of Nothing At All ", which songwriter Jim Steinman originally submitted to his protege' Meat Loaf but scuttled over money quarrels. The other song Jim wrote was "Total Eclipse Of The Heart", and like the Air Supply song, used E Street Band's Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg and guitarist Rick Derringer. The singer chosen for the song is raspy-voiced Welsh woman Bonnie Tyler , who released her first album in 1977, and the first single " Lost In France " became her first top-10 hit in the UK, as well as going to #3 in Germany. After surgery for nodules and the raspiness set in, her second set broke her to American shores, where " It's A Heartache " hit the top

Well I'm up to the last chapter in today's "chart sweeps" of the newest songs making it on to the singles charts in Billboard magazine, and this time out it's the latest dance jams in the clubs and on the radio. On the DJ-polled Hot Dance Club Play chart, Australian singer Vassy scores her first #1 hit with "We Are Young"... There are two new entries with Latin rapper Pitbull on them, and the top debut is his guest role on Arianna's "Sexy People (The Fiat Song)" at #40... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

It's time for the fourth part of today's 'chart sweeps' of the latest songs debuting on the Billboard singles charts, and this time I've got the newest on country radio... On the Hot Country Airplay chart, The Band Perry dig a second week at #1 with "Better Dig Two"... The high entry on the list this week at #56 is country hunk Randy Houser with the follow-up to his #1 hit "How Country Feels", "Runnin' Outta Moonlight"... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Hey gang, thanks for sticking with me today...I'm up to the third installment of today's five-part "chart sweeps" sampling the songs making their debut on the singles charts in Billboard magazine, and this time out it's the newest on R&B radio. On the aggregate R&B/Hip-Hop airplay chart, Rihanna moves to #1 with "Pour It Up", her first since "Take A Bow" in 2008 (no, "Diamonds" ain't ever gonna count here...) The top debut of the week is by rapper Future, who already is in the top-10 with "Neva End". He's back at #39 with "Karate Chop", which features either Casino on the original or Lil' Wayne on the remix. It's from his upcoming Future Hendrix album...(NSFW)... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

I'm back to party two of this week's "chart sweeps", sampling the songs debuting on Billboard magazine's various singles charts. On the all-inclusive Rock Airplay chart, Muse hangs on for an eleventh non-consecutive week with "Madness".... The top debut at #40 is the first single from L.A. indie-pop band Fitz & The Tantrums upcoming sophomore effort, More Than Just A Dream . "Out of My League" includes the album title in the lyrics. They had gone to #33 in 2011 with the stellar "Moneygrabber"... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

....and here we are. I admit I was seriously debating stopping my weekly "chart sweeps", due to my disgust at the stunts pulled over at Billboard magazine this week, but the music won out (for now), so here goes, part one of this week's recap of the new songs debuting, starting with the pop charts... As of this week, Billboard started to tally up YouTube views as part of the formula to calculate the Hot 100, which to me is a great idea in theory, because while it provides little revenue, it does provide a playing experience to compare to the other "streaming" services. However, taking this theory to the extreme of allowing any fractionalized clip (that's "authorized") to contribute towards the chart. So that's why Baauer's meme-inducing "Harlem Shake" is the #1 song per Billboard . I've already ranted my piece about it, especially the logic in allowing 30 second clips to actually affect a song's performance, b

Today, February 23rd, marks the 58h birthday of new-wave artist Howard Jones... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Air Supply - " Making Love Out Of Nothing At All "  from the album Greatest Hits (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 17 Today's Song of the Day is by the band led by the Seigfried and Roy of Soft Rock, Air Supply , who by 1983 were still successful though not quite as big as their start, when they racked up seven straight top-5 hits. Their third worldwide album Now And Forever did give them their seventh, " Even The Nights Are Better ", but the two following singles " Young Love " and " Two Less Lonely People In The World " both crested at #38. It seemed that the mainstream music tastes were drifting away a bit from adult contemporary as the second "British Invasion" of new wave groups like Culture Club and Duran Duran swept in. To stay current, they would have to "toughen up" their act a little. So in walks Meat Loaf's muse. Jim Steinman was responsible for the g

I almost didn't do this. Since the 1940s, Billboard magazine has been the stalwart of documenting the biggest musical hits of our time, from the age of swing to the birth of rock and roll to the British Invasion to the rise of the singer/songwriter to the days of disco to....you get my drift. All during that time, they have adapted to the various ways that music was purchased, from Victrola records to vinyl 45s to cassettes to CDs to mp3s, as well as how it's broadcast, from polling jukebox operators to getting playlists from radio stations to electronically monitoring them to get an exact play count. Of course, there were a few missteps (like when they scuttled the R&B chart for a little over a year), and at times it took them a bit to become current (especially the lag time to include iTunes into the charts), but all and all they did the best they could with minimal subjectivity and cautious editorship. Where there shenanigans? Hell , yeah. The whole "payola&qu

Hey gang, it's finally Friday, and time for my top-100 tunes for the week. This week Calvin Harris and Florence Welch take over the top spot with "Sweet Nothing", while Kelly Clarkson (whom I duly believe over Clive Davis - and pictured above) lurks right below the top-10.  Songs by Tori Amos, Vicci Martinez, and Churchill make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while former big hits by Ed Sheeran, fun, Justin Moore, and The Script drop out. Swedish meatballs!!!!! This Week           Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Sweet Nothing - Calvin Harris f/Florence Welch (2) 2. Thrift Shop - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis f/Wanz (6) 3. Try - Pink (1) 4. Locked Out Of Heaven - Bruno Mars (4) 5. Don't You Worry Child - Swedish House Mafia (3) 6. Better Dig Two - The Band Perry (7) 7. Little Black Submarines - Black K

Today, February 22nd, marks the 39th birthday of singer James Blunt (in 1974, though)... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Laura Branigan - " How Am I Supposed To Live Without You " from the album Branigan 2 (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #12 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 12 Today's Song of the Day is by the late great pop vocalist Laura Branigan , who started off 1983 pretty well, with a huge hit with " Gloria " from the debut album, followed by a second top-10 hit with " Solitaire " from her second set, Branigan 2 . Her followup to that latter hit from the album was the first writing success for soon-to-be-everywhere Michael Bolton, who co-wrote the ballad "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You" with Doug James. The song first appeared on TV sung by Lisa Hartman on Knots Landing two years before Laura's version... Laura's version utilized her impressive vocal range in the best way, as well as her emotional take which makes hers the definitive version... Branigan's take on the song missed the top-10 on the pop chart, but reign

Welcome back to another flashback to the 80s, and this time I'm back to 1987, the year Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And this week - all eight are lead singers from bigger bands that struck out on their on in the year. Ann Wilson - "The Best Man in The World" from the album The Golden Child (Music from the Motion Picture) (1986) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #61 I have the 7-inch vinyl single for this song, and rank it among Heart's best from the 80s. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Hey gang, I'm back with another seven nuggets from the 70s, and this week i return to 1977, the year A.J. Foyt becomes the first racer to win the Indianapolis 500 four times... Meco - " Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band " from the album Star Wars and other Galactic Funk (1977) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 Yes, my father owned the 8-track of this album. So I can't get the theme out of my head without hearing this version.. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Today, February 21st, marks Mary-Chapin Carpenter's 55th birthday... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Naked Eyes - " Promises Promises " from the album Naked Eyes (US)/ Burning Bridges (UK) (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #11 (one week) Weeks in the top-40: 12 Today's Song of the Day was the second hit for British synthpop duo Naked Eyes , who had a quirky top-10 success with their version of the Bacharach & David classic " Always Something There To Remind Me " in the early summer of 1983. Their followup is one that I was much more fanatical about at the time, the "busy" production and synth flourishes that grace "Promises Promises"... "Promises Promises" came frustratingly close to the top-10, spending a week at #11, while also reaching the top-20 on the adult-contemporary chart and top-40 on the dance list. Up tomorrow: Instructions for loneliness, please?

It's time for this week's trip Down Under to check out the latest songs making their way on to the official singles sales chart in Australia, as Macklemore and Ryan Lewis end an eleven-week stay at #1 while Pink and fun's Nate Ruess leap to the top in their second week with " Just Give Me A Reason ". The highest debut of the week is Taylor Swift, with the seventh song from her Red album to make the top-100, "22", which arrives at #45... (Click below to see the rest of the post)