twostepcub's music chart for April 1, 2011...

Hey folks, after a snowy morning and a cold evening in spring, it's time for my top-100 tunes for the week. This week Lady GaGa rules the #1 spot for the first week, while Rihanna (pictured above) makes it into the top-5. The biggest jumps are made by tracks by Rascal Flatts, Mary Mary, and Miranda Lambert (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red), while former big hits by OneRepublic, Afrojack, and J786 drop out. Link-O-Rama is still in effect, so you can click on any of the highlighted artist names to go to their website for more info, videos, music, and more. At work, every day is Fool's Day!

This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses)
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1. Born This Way - Lady GaGa (2)
2. Fuckin' Perfect - Pink (1)
3. Rolling In The Deep - Adele (3)
4. S&M - Rihanna (7)
5. Colder Weather - The Zac Brown Band (10)
6. Grenade - Bruno Mars (6)
7. Fuck You/Forget You - Cee-Lo Green (11)
8. Tonight (I'm Lovin' You) - Enrique Iglesias f/Ludacris (4)
9. For The First Time - The Script (9)
10. Dog Days Are Over - Florence + The Machine (5)
11. Firework - Katy Perry (8)
12. Shake Me Down - Cage The Elephant (12)
13. Better Than Today - Kylie Minogue (13)
14. Higher - Taio Cruz f/Kylie Minogue & Travie McCoy (16)
15. Sing - My Chemical Romance (15)
16. Hello - Martin Solveig f/Dragonette (14)
17. This - Darius Rucker (19)
18. Marry Me - Train (17)
19. The Cave - Mumford & Sons (23)
20. Don't You Wanna Stay - Jason Aldean f/Kelly Clarkson (22)
21. Rope - Foo Fighters (35)
22. Hello World - Lady Antebellum (26)
23. Back To December - Taylor Swift (25)
24. Jar Of Hearts - Christina Perri (24)
25. Waiting For The End - Linkin Park (21)
26. Help Is On The Way - Rise Against (32)
27. Hold It Against Me - Britney Spears (28)
28. Raise Your Glass - Pink (18)
29. Move On Fast - Yoko Ono (33)
30. Little Lion Man - Mumford & Sons (34)
31. Tighten Up - The Black Keys (27)
32. Maybe - Sick Puppies (20)
33. Let Me Down Easy - Billy Currington (37)
34. Someone Like You - Adele (39)
35. Rocketeer - Far East Movement f/Ryan Tedder (36)
36. You Are - Charlie Wilson (31)
37. Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars (30)
38. Little Miss - Sugarland (40)
39. What Do You Want - Jerrod Niemann (44)
40. Sanity - Hannah (43)
41. What The Hell - Avril Lavigne (45)
42. Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not - Thompson Square (46)
43. Closer To The Edge - 30 Seconds To Mars (47)
44. Who's That Chick? - David Guetta f/Rihanna (29)
45. Seek Bromance - Tim/Berg (49)
46. Uncharted - Sara Bareilles (51)
47. What's My Name - Rihanna f/Drake (38)
48. A Little Bit Stronger - Sara Evans (53)
49. I Do - Colbie Caillat (57)
50. Can't Be Friends - Trey Songz (48)
51. I Won't Let Go - Rascal Flatts (71)
52. Who Are You When I'm Not Looking - Blake Shelton (50)
53. Price Tag - Jessie J f/B.o.B (67)
54. Heart Like Mine - Miranda Lambert (72)
55. Somewhere Over The Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (56)
56. Stuck Like Glue - Sugarland (60)
57. Sleepyhead - Passion Pit (59)
58. This Is Country Music - Brad Paisley (58)
59. Lay With You - El DeBarge f/Faith Evans (64)
60. From A Table Away - Sunny Sweeney (61)
61. A Year Without Rain - Selena Gomez & The Scene (42)
62. Never Gonna Leave This Bed - Maroon 5 (68)
63. Bleed Red - Ronnie Dunn (73)
64. Twist Of Love - Kimberly Davis (78)
65. Party Of The Year - Jipsta f/Sandy B. (55)
66. Naked - Consuelo Costin f/Massi & DeLeon (66)
67. New Low - Middle Class Rut (69)
68. Stay The Night - James Blunt (70)
69. Georgia Clay - Josh Kelley (79)
70. Family Man - Craig Campbell (74)
71. Good Girl - Alexis Jordan (DEBUT)
72. Live A Little - Kenny Chesney (84)
73. Howling For You - The Black Keys (75)
74. Walking - Mary Mary (94)
75. So Delicious - Salme f/Noa Tylo (77)
76. Keep On Dancing - Alyssa Rubino (91)
77. On The Floor - Jennifer Lopez f/Pitbull (85)
78. Diamond Eyes - Shinedown (82)
79. E.T. - Katy Perry f/Kanye West (93)
80. Got That Feeling - Bad Boy Bill f/Eric Jag (81)
81. More - Usher (87)
82. Freefallin' - Zoe Badwi (86)
83. You Lie - The Band Perry (DEBUT)
84. Without You - Keith Urban (99)
85. Love Letter - R. Kelly (89)
86. My Body - Young The Giant (90)
87. We R Who We R - Ke$ha (63)
88. Keep Your Head Up - Andy Grammer (92)
89. Sun Is Up - Inna (97)
90. Celui - Colonel Reyel (98)
91. I'll Be There - Tiffany Evans (DEBUT)
92. Blow - Ke$ha (96)
93. Stay - Hurts (95)
94. Falling In - Lifehouse (DEBUT)
95. Army Of Lovers - Kerli (DEBUT)
96. As Days Go By - Mickey 'Mixin' Oliver f/Kim Smith (DEBUT)
97. Machine Gun Blues - Social Distortion (RE-ENTRY)
98. Welcome To The Family - Avenged Sevenfold (RE-ENTRY)
99. Till The World Ends - Britney Spears (DEBUT)
100. I Can't Love You Back - Easton Corbin (DEBUT)

This week there are eight new songs on my list (marked in yellow), and I've included links to their previous hits in links in orange.

The highest entry is by American singer Alexis Jordan. Jordan first was seen on America's Got Talent, where she made it up to the semi-finals. However her success soared after a following on the good ol' YouTube, which parlayed into a record deal on Jay-Z's label and a #1 US Dance Hit and top-5 British pop hit with the infectious "Happiness". That song has grown to be one of my fave dance hits of last year, and she follows it with a song that's already hit the top-10 in England and top-5 on the US dance chart, and it's equally as fun as her first single. Here's "Good Girl"...



Next is the family trio the Band Perry, consisting of brothers Neil and Reid with their sister lead singer Kimberly. The group first had top-20 success with their debut single "Hip To My Heart", and topped that with the #1 ballad "If I Die Young", which was one of the best country songs to have widespread popularity on radio last year. Its adult theme and wistful performance contrasted so much with the fluff NashVegas usually puts out. This time out they go more fun and spiteful towards an unfaithful love with "You Lie"...



Tiffany Evans is another singing-competition alum, this time from Star Search, where she sang against future Idol contestants David Archuleta and Lisa Tucker. After winning SS and a few acting gigs, Evans has some minor success on the R&B chart most prominently with "Promise Ring" with fellow siren Ciara. Even though the single stalled in the mid-60s on that list, her self-titled debut made the top-20 soul albums list on Billboard. Her latest single previewing her upcoming sophomore effort has made waves in the dance clubs, making top-15 there. Here's the original ballad version of "I'll Be There"...



As a bonus, here's the more danceable "Wawa" remix of "I'll be There"...



LA-based rock outfit Lifehouse may have a lowkey squeaky-clean image, but they've used the stealth approach to string a list of major hits in the last decade, most importantly 2001's "Hanging By A Moment", which was Billboard's biggest pop hit of that year without even hitting #1. Six more hits made the adult-top40 top ten, and each hung around tenaciously (especially the waltz "You And Me" from 2005 which made the Pop top-5). Their latest CD, Smoke And Mirrors, has produced three top-40 hits, the latest being this one, "Falling In"...



I wouldn't have put money on this last year, but at this time there are two artists from the small Baltic republic of Estonia on this week's list. While Hannah (last name Pruuli), from the populous northern capital of Tallinn is already in the top-40 with her third single to make my chart, "Army Of Love" is the first appearance by singer Kerli (last name Kõiv), who hails from the small town of Elva in the southeast more suburban/rural section of the country. Her first big success was in 2008, with the song "Walking On Air", which not only was a charttopper in her homeland, but also was featured on the US version of So You Think You Can Dance. This year, Kerli breaks through with a song that's shooting up the top-10 of the US Dance Club chart, and it's with her "Army Of Love"...



Next is a legendary DJ that I'm thrilled is back to recording. Mickey "Mixin" Oliver was one of the original "Hot Mix 5", a group of seminal house music and dance DJs that were on Chicago's WBMX radio station in the 80s. I listened to that station constantly when I lived there, and was so glad to have been there to experience the evolution of such a vital part of today's dance culture, with idols like Ralphi Rosario, Farley "Jackmaster" Funk, Kenny Jason, and Scott Silz. While out of them Rosario has had the most high-profile career, Oliver's return is just as welcome to me. He recruits Louisiana singer Kim Smith for "As Days Go By"...



...and now...someone who wasn't even in the double-digit age when I was listening to Oliver. Britney's back, and whether or not she's on a lipsynch binge, it looks like her new CD Femme Fatale will be next week's #1 album. There are two tracks from that disc on here - her former #1 US hit "Hold It Against Me" is still climbing in my top-40, while the follow-up "Till The World Ends" sneaks in the lower regions, which she tends to do...Here she is on Jimmy Kimmel, and besides being pretty vacant (sorry, JR), but kind of likin' the chunky Brit...



Finally, country hottie Easton Corbin is back with the third straight hit from his debut CD, which is the best CD George Strait hasn't made in the last ten years. Following the #1 country hits "A Little More Country Than That" and "Roll With It", Corbin is back with a ballad that's my favorite of the three. Here's "I Can't Love You Back"...



I can't believe it's been a full quarter year gone by. Where has the time gone? Well, later this weekend I'm going to recap the forty biggest songs so far on my weekly list, with videos of them all to boot. Thanks for reading, and hope to see ya soon. G'nite!