Twostepcublog

Hey boys and girls, it's time again for my tunes of the week. As always, you can click on the highlighted name of the artist to bring up their webpage (you can rightclick to bring it up in a new window). This week Pink remains at the top for a second week, while Beyonce (pictured above) moves into the top three. Songs by Sugarland, Gabriel & Dresden, Nelly Furtado, Dierks Bentley, Fall Out Boy, and Kaskade make big moves on the list, while Pepper Mashay and Madonna have songs leaving. I'll be headin' to Vegas, but already have 143 on the roulette. Cheers! This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. U & Ur Hand - Pink (1) 2. It Just Comes Natural - George Strait (2) 3. Irreplaceable - Beyonce (7) 4. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol (6) 5. Stupid Boy - Keith Urban (11) 6. Here (In Your Arms) - hellogoodbye (8) 7. How To Save A Life - The Fr...

A little history. In the mid to late eighties, I lived in Chicago for college. At that time I was already a music junkie from coming from Jersey, but I was mostly a pop music junkie, except for the smattering of British pop I got from buying the old Now That's What I Call Music cassettes at the old Listening Booth music store in the mall. Of course college brings together people of all cultures, and being in a big city also blends in a whole heaping of variety, and I found myself exposed to all sorts of music. I had actually become bigtime into the goth-lite bands like Nitzer Ebb and Depeche Mode and the poppy electro of Erasure and New Order . Dressed in black a whole lot and dying my bangs alternatingly electric blue and purple, I was unrecognizable to who I am today. A shy, ultraslim, brooding young man, with my friend Cherrill we went to the big industrial dance clubs of the time there, where I would just let loose in a dancing frenzy. No alcohol, no drugs, just the music...

Ah, the 80's. As much as that decade was a fertile one for pop and rock music, it was pretty much a septic pool in country music. Don't let any of those idiotic so-called "traditionalist" country music fans tell you otherwise. Current country music has nothing on the late 70s early 80s in term of plain old cheese. And not even good cheese. Velveeta. Hard Velveeta. Gone were most anything sounding "country", and in goes electronic drumpads, synths up the wazoo, and a sterile production that makes Kraftwerk seem like Aretha Franklin. Now occasionally this cheese is fleetingly good. And in small and varied doses even enjoyable. However put together, especially if by one artist, it can be grating. Case in point - Louise Mandrell 's Anthology . Compiling 21 of her best-known songs, while Anthology does succeed in chronicling the most successful single Mandrell had, as a listen its about a dozen songs too many. She had 5 top-10 country songs in her career, a...

Well, tonight marked the season premiere for the 11th run of The Amazing Race , this time the dreaded "all-star" edition. (Though in actuality, are we really talking about stars here?) As a person who normally despises the reality show genre as it is, AR has proven to be a smart, exciting, and mostly non-explotative show. That being said, my stomach was turning when I found out about the "all-star" edition, which features annoying Survivor -fame hacks Rob and Amber, the most vile team from the last season (the beauty queen slash nutcases), and a bunch of people who either weren't good but had somewhat of a personality (Myrna and Chmyrna, I have no idea who is who except one's a "Little Person", and Kevin And Drew who've parlayed fame from season one better than the rest, and the David & Mary "You've won a house" show), to people I don't remember racing (the John Vito-Jill, Oswald & Danny, Teri & Ian teams). My f...

Hey folks it's that time again, for my tunes of the week. As per the drill, you can click on any highlighted name of an artist to bring up their webpage for more info about them (it's better to rightclick to bring up a new window). This week sees Pink reach the top spot, and Supafly, Inc. (pictured above) make it into the top five. Saying goodbye to the chart are songs by Sugarland, Beyonce, Ultra Nate, Rascal Flatts, Nelly Furtado, and Evanescence, while making big moves are Keith Urban, Gabriel & Dresden, Jamiroquai, and Fall Out Boy. L'amour, l'amour... This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. U & Ur Hand - Pink (3) 2. It Just Comes Natural - George Strait (4) 3. My Love - Justin Timberlake (1) 4. Hurt - Christina Aguilera (2) 5. Moving Too Fast - Supafly, Inc. (6) 6. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol (7) 7. Irreplaceable - Beyonce (10) 8. H...

Well, the Grammy awards were a definite hit and miss. Bigtime hit was the five awards the Dixie Chicks won, including the trifecta of album, record, and song of the year. In addition, they got the best country album and group performance, surprising since country radio is still too chickenshit to play their songs. Yeah, that's why you're failing, country radio. Chickenshit. You heard it. Also Mary J. Blige kicked ass singing last night as well. Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man" was a deserved pop female win, as well as John Mayer's "Waiting On The World To Change" (usually these have of late gone to little-heard songs by the "dinosaurs"). And speaking of dinosaurs, a relevant recording, this time Bob Dylan's "Someday Baby", got best rock vocal, as well as the Red Hot Chili Peppers getting 3 rock Grammys for rock album, song, and group performance. Gnarls Barkley at least got Alternative rock, though they objecti...

just an image I'm having tonight. happy Friday.

There's a great music blog by Jason Hare, www.Jasonhare.com , which I read religiously. Aside from his weekly flashback to the top-ten music charts of yesteryear, he also writes a weekly column called "Adventures In Mellow Gold". Concurrently reminiscing, dishing, and trashing soft-rock "classics", it's a funny read every time. One of the most recent columns , about Mary MacGregor's "Torn Between Two Lovers", argued the fact that there are few and far between women that would put together the rigth combo of sap and sugar of a mellow-gold nugget, but I'd like to offer a case for Anne Murray 's " You Needed Me ". Check out these lyrics... I cried a tear, you wiped it dry I was confused, you cleared my mind I sold my soul, you bought it back for me And held me up and gave me dignity Somehow you needed me You gave me strength to stand alone again To face the world out on my own again You put me high upon a pedestal So high that...

Hey guys and gals it's time again for my tunes of the week, and as always you can click on the highlighted name of any artist to bring up their website for more info, videos, soundbites, etc. This week Justin Timberlake spends a second week at the peak, while Pink (pictured above) moves into the top 3 with the third single from her I'm Not Dead album. Keith Urban, the Pet Shop Boys, Jamiroquai, and Shakira make strong jumps on the chart, while leaving the list are songs by Justin Timberlake, Keane, and the Dixie Chicks (for the third time). Happy Jeffuary! (h/t to my buddy JS, whose birthday is this month) This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. My Love - Justin Timberlake (1) 2. Hurt - Christina Aguilera (2) 3. U & Ur Hand - Pink (5) 4. It Just Comes Natural - George Strait (4) 5. Welcome To The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance (3) 6. Moving ...

Even for those alive in 1987 who forget Cutting Crew can sing along to the chorus of "I just dye-yeeed in your arms tonight". That song was ubiquitous to that year's progression from new wave greatness to pop-rock drivel. However, the band's Broadcast album was a little of an overlooked gem. Coming from the crossroads of big-sounding rock like Bryan Adams-land and new wave-ish fey-ness like the Icicle Works, the album actually sounds less dated than similar albums released around the time (Honeymoon Suite, anyone?). " Any Colour " is a good opening anthem, with busy guitars and synths overlaying a soaring theme of love found. After that comes two of the hit singles, the bizarrely cool " One For The Mockingbird ", which pulls the mid-80's "somehow I'm on some kind of adventure song", and the by-numbers ballad " I've Been In Love Before ", which sound good as long as you don't pay too much attention to the al...

Yeah, I'm bummed Da Bears lost. Grossman was way responsible for the flubs, having a much poorer handle on the rainy turf than Manning. And the Colts are much better at protecting their quarterback on the rush. However, Grrrlacher tried his best on defense. However all is moot after reading columns like this one and this one about openly gay high-school quarterback Anthony Castro, who died in a car accident in January. His story is really memorable. Able to step to the plate from fullback to quarterback while dealing with harrassment and being kicked out by his mother, this is a profile in courage. "I was too scared to come out when I was in high school," says Mariscal, who was driving the truck in the accident. "There were no gay people when I was there, and it is very tough to be openly gay outside of school because we live in such a small town. But if there's one thing that Anthony taught me, it's to stop being afraid. "I loved him very much. He ...

Why? Why? Why?

You know I couldn't resist. And yes , I know it's bad. Super bad. How it got nominated for a Grammy all I could say is that it was the coke years. I'll be all decked out in my Urlacher jersey tomorrow. Da Bears!

When it comes to Fleetwood Mac, as much as I like Stevie and Lindsey, I'm a Christine boy at heart. I always was more drawn to her sweet-yet-fragile songs like "Say You Love Me" and "You Make Loving Fun". And 1982's Mirage album featured McVie's "Hold Me" as the big single. Which makes Christine McVie 's 1984 solo venture Christine McVie a familiar affair. "Hold Me" would've fit quite nicely on it, though it would've been the most esoteric cut on the album. This album is square in the mainstream fold, with " Love Will Show Us How " and " The Challenge " recalling hooks lifted from Mirage . " One In A Million " features Steve Winwood, which made me relisten to the album and think, this really is a lighter Back In The Highlife , with this song being the "Freedom Overspill" of the album, with the tight bass guitar hook, while " Ask Anybody " is her "Back In The Highlif...