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

Good evening, everybody, and to everyone in Canada a happy Canada Day and in the States a great Independence Day. Since the boom-boom is thunder and not fireworks, it's time for my top-100 tunes for the week. This week LMFAO spends a second week on top, while Romanian siren Alexandra Stan (pictured above) leaps into the top-10. Former #1 hits by Rihanna and Bruno Mars drop off my list, as well as former big hits by Rascal Flatts, Kat Deluna, Ultra Nate, Cage The Elephant, and Enrique Iglesias, while tracks by Lady GaGa, Katy Perry, and Robyn make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places marked in red). Link-O-Rama is still in full effect, so you can click on any of the highlighted artist name to go to their website. Is that POOP in the post office?

This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses)
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1. Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO (1)
2. Rolling In The Deep - Adele (2)
3. Price Tag - Jessie J f/B.o.B (3)
4. Country Song - Seether (4)
5. You Lie - The Band Perry (7)
6. Rope - Foo Fighters (8)
7. Fuckin' Perfect - Pink (6)
8. Mr. Saxobeat - Alexandra Stan (13)
9. Help is On The Way - Rise Against (5)
10. The Edge Of Glory - Lady GaGa (46)
11. Never Gonna Leave This Bed - Maroon 5 (17)
12. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster The People (22)
13. Sweat - Snoop Dogg vs. David Guetta (14)
14. For The First Time - The Script (12)
15. Uncharted - Sara Bareilles (9)
16. Good Life - OneRepublic (20)
17. Mean - Taylor Swift (21)
18. Fade - Kristine W. (18)
19. E.T. - Katy Perry f/Kanye West (11)
20. Far Away - Marsha Ambrosius(10)
21. The Lazy Song - Bruno Mars (26)
22. Don't You Wanna Stay - Jason Aldean f/Kelly Clarkson (28)
23. The Cave - Mumford & Sons (19)
24. Fuck You (Forget You) - Cee-Lo Green (15)
25. Judas - Lady GaGa (32)
26. Something To Believe In - Parachute (30)
27. Give Me Everything - Pitbull f/Ne-Yo, Afrojack, & Nayer (31)
28. Without You - Keith Urban (16)
29. I Need A Dollar - Aloe Blacc (36)
30. Just Can't Get Enough - The Black Eyed Peas (34)
31. Adolescents - Incubus (38)
32. Beautiful People - Chris Brown f/Benny Benassi (24)
33. Tomorrow - Chris Young (33)
34. Sing - My Chemical Romance (27)
35. World Keeps Turning - Sylvia Tosun (37)
36. Mirrors - Natalia Kills (41)
37. I Do - Colbie Caillat (23)
38. Call Your Girlfriend - Robyn (52)
39. Original Sin - INXS f/Rob Thomas (35)
40. Hollywood Tonight - Michael Jackson (45)
41. Bleed Red - Ronnie Dunn (29)
42. Keep Your Head Up - Andy Grammer (44)
43. Till The World Ends - Britney Spears (43)
44. Closer To The Edge - 30 Seconds To Mars (40)
45. Where You At - Jennifer Hudson (25)
46. Country Girl (Shake It For Me) - Luke Bryan (48)
47. Kick Us Out - Hyper Crush (49)
48. Save Me, San Francisco - Train (54)
49. Just A Kiss - Lady Antebellum (53)
50. Born This Way - Lady GaGa (42)
51. Paris (Ooh La La) - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals (50)
52. Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) - Katy Perry (72)
53. You Are A Tourist - Death Cab For Cutie (63)
54. Somewhere Else - Toby Keith (56)
55. Falling In - Lifehouse (47)
56. Am I The Only One - Dierks Bentley (64)
57. If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away - Justin Moore (59)
58. Knee Deep - The Zac Brown Band f/Jimmy Buffett (66)
59. On The Floor - Jennifer Lopez f/Pitbull (55)
60. Addiciton - Medina (61)
61. Howlin' For You - The Black Keys (51)
62. 4Evermore - Anthony David f/Algebra (62)
63. Changing - Airborne Toxic Event (67)
64. Old Alabama - Brad Paisley f/Alabama (58)
65. All Here Now - David Garcia f/Sarah Tancer (69)
66. Dirt Road Anthem - Jason Aldean f/Ludacris (70)
67. So In Love - Jill Scott f/Anthony Hamilton (71)
68. We Own The Night - Andrea Rosario (74)
69. Don't Hold Your Breath - Nicole Scherzinger (65)
70. Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall - Coldplay (DEBUT)
71. Catch A Fire - John LePage & Debby Holiday f/LFB (75)
72. Honey Bee - Blake Shelton (76)
73. Move With It - Linnea (83)
74. I Smile - Kirk Franklin (78)
75. Homeboy - Eric Church (79)
76. Your Surrender - Neon Trees (81)
77. Riptide - Sick Puppies (77)
78. Teenage Daughters - Martina McBride (80)
79. You & Tequila - Kenny Chesney f/Grace Potter (87)
80. Nobody's Perfect - Jessie J (84)
81. Where Them Girls At - David Guetta f/Flo Rida & Nicki Minaj (85)
82. I Wouldn't Be A Man - Josh Turner (82)
83. Arms - Christina Perri (91)
84. Super Bass - Nicki Minaj (DEBUT)
85. Panic - Sublime With Rome (90)
86. I'm Into You - Jennifer Lopez f/Lil' Wayne (DEBUT)
87. Run The World (Girls) - Beyonce (DEBUT)
88. Lies Of The Beautiful People - Sixx: AM (88)
89. Faster - Matt Nathanson (DEBUT)
90. Loving You Tonight - Andrew Allen (94)
91. Changed The Way You Kiss Me - Example (DEBUT)
92. Call My Name - Pietro Lombardi (96)
93. Just Fishin' - Trace Adkins (97)
94. Barefoot Blue Jean Night - Jake Owen (99)
95. Call My Name - Sultan & Ned Shepard f/Nadia Ali (100)
96. (It) Feels So Good - Steven Tyler (98)
97. You Can't Stop The Rain - Martin Clancy & The Witness Protection Programme (DEBUT)
98. Lost In You - Three Days Grace (DEBUT)
99. Right There - Nicole Scherzinger f/50 Cent (DEBUT)
100. Vamos A La Playa - Loona (DEBUT)

There are ten new songs on my chart, highlighted in yellow. Here they are, including some links to some of the artists' earlier hits in orange...

The highest debut belongs to the British rock group Coldplay, who have carved out a niche as the foreign-based band to top these days (taking over from U2). Chris Martin and the boys are working on album #5, and even though their status is firm in the successful column, it's fair to note that they've only scored one #1 hit, "Viva La Vida" in either the US or the UK. They have come close before twice in their homeland, with "In My Place" and "Fix You". Their latest has already made the British pop and US rock top-10, and here's the brand-new clip for "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall". It somehow samples gay icon Peter Allen's "I Go To Rio"...



Next up is Nicki Minaj, a Queens, NY transplant from the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, where she lived at a toddler. Her debut CD, Pink Friday, has churned out five US top-40 hits, including two that bubbled under my chart and hit #1 on the R&B chart - the Annie Lennox-sampling "Your Love", and the epic "Moment 4 Life". Her fifth is the one that takes her to the top-10 for the first time as a lead artist, and it's not surprising, since its summer-ready camp factor and cool dance beat ensured its wide appeal. And it doesn't hurt to include some super-hot guys in her video for "Super Bass"...



I've had my issues with Jennifer Lopez judging a singing contest, being that I feel she was the vanguard processed-vocal "product" artist, though I can't discount her ability as a "performer", stemming from her dancing stint on In Living Color. And with four number-one US pop hits ("If You Had My Love", "I'm Real", "Ain't It Funny", and "All I Have"), she's only two behind Paula Abdul (shock!), and the show was obviously better for her than her for the show, reviving her visibility and greatly responsible for the success of the worldwide hit "On The Floor", which is still on my chart this week. Her latest trades off Cuban grunter Pitbull for Cajun whiner Lil' Wayne, and placed her back in the UK top-10 with "I'm Into You"...



Beyonce performed at the legendary Glastonbury Festival last week, which is on my "Bucket List" top-10 things to do before I die. She was a hit there, which is good considering the premiere single from her forthcoming CD 4 has essentially been a mega-flop compared to her previous chart record apart from her group Destiny's Child of five #1 singles from 2003's "Crazy In Love" to 2008's "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)". Her last CD, I Am Sasha Fierce put 6 songs in the top-40, yet "Run The World (Girls)" only managed to scrape the top-30 after an over-the-top performance at the Billboard Music Awards show a few weeks back. However, the track has caught on at the dance club chart, the last bastion for megastars with not-so-mega hits. Gotta love the gays!



Massachusetts-born singer/songwriter Matt Nathanson had a top-10 adult top-40/adult contemporary hit three years ago with "Come On Get Higher". His latest comes from Matt's excellent new CD, Modern Love, which just became her first top-20 album last week. Here's "Faster" ...



British "blue-eyed" rapper Example got his name from a childhood bully, but has parlayed that moniker into a brand that's earned him two lead-artist UK top-10 hits with personal faves "Won't Go Quietly" and "Kickstarts". He also guested on a #2 hit with Wretch 32 which also made my chart, "Unorthodox". This momentum built up to his first British number-one, and third appearance on my list with "Changed The Way You Kiss Me"...doesn't it sound like an updated Human League?



Irish producer Martin Clancy follows up his minor dance hit "Flat Foot" with a song that takes him into the top-20 in the clubs for the first time with his Witness Protection Programme backup on the retro-disco of "You Can't Stop The Rain"...



Canadian rockers Three Days Grace's current CD, Life Starts Now, has already scored three #1 rock hits and hits on my chart. Their fourth single aspires to be their eighth total charttopper, from 2003's "Just Like You" to last year's "World So Cold". It might just do that, especially after crossing over to adult top-40 with "Lost In You"...



Ex-Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger look to be the new Paula Abdul on the US version of the X Factor, and follows up her first British #1 solo hit "Don't Hold Your Breath" with her collaboration with "In Da Club" rapper 50 Cent on "Right There". It didn't go "#1", as Fiddy pre-boasted, but her third top-3 hit in a row ain't too bad...



The last debut on my list is a left-field entry from Dutch singer Loona, who revives a 80's Spanish-language hit by Italians Righeira that I remember being played in Spanish class in high school. Yes, it still remains in my memory. Supposed, the lyrics in the original are deep a la Nena's "99 Luftballons", but this version sure as heck doesn't go there. Loona herself (who was born Marie-Jose van der Kolk, and also records under the moniker Carisma) also had two German #1 hits in 1998 crooning in Spanish with "Bailando" and "Hijo De La Luna". Voila, "Vamos A La Playa"...



Have a safe weekend, and try not to do your own fireworks show. You'll end up setting fire to your whole town! Peace, twostepcub.