twostepcub's music chart for December 9, 2011...

Hey folks, it's winding down to Christmas, and I'm working late shifts, and it's time for my top-100 tunes for the week. This week Adele finally relinquishes the top spot after eight weeks to the team of David Guetta and Usher, while Daughtry (pictured above) climbs to the #6 spot. Former big hits by Mika, Jill Scott, OneRepublic, and LMFAO drop off my list, while the biggest jumps are made by tracks by Enrique Iglesias, Flo Rida, and Nervo (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red). Link-O-Rama is still in full effect, so you can click on any of the highlighted links to go to the artist's official website (rightclick, and used a different tab or window and keep this up).... Trees, beware!

This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses)
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1. Without You - David Guetta f/Usher (2)
2. Mr. Know It All - Kelly Clarkson (3)
3. We Found Love - Rihanna f/Calvin Harris (5)
4. The Sound Of Winter - Bush (6)
5. Someone Like You - Adele (1)
6. Crawling Back To You - Daughtry (8)
7. Sexy And I Know It - LMFAO (9)
8. Nothing - The Script (4)
9. Paradise - Coldplay (12)
10. Baggage Claim - Miranda Lambert (10)
11. Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie - Red Hot Chili Peppers (7)
12. We Owned The Night - Lady Antebellum (13)
13. Walk - Foo Fighters (11)
14. Brighter Than The Sun - Colbie Caillat (16)
15. Not Over You - Gavin DeGraw (17)
16. Stereo Hearts - Gym Class Heroes f/Adam Levine (21)
17. You Make Me Feel... - Cobra Starship f/Sabi (19)
18. You & I - Lady GaGa (14)
19. When We Stand Together - Nickelback (25)
20. Don't Hold Your Breath - Nicole Scherzinger (20)
21. The One That Got Away - Katy Perry (31)
22. I Got You - Thompson Square (22)
23. Moves Like Jagger - Maroon5 f/Christina Aguilera (18)
24. All Your Life - The Band Perry (28)
25. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster The People (15)
26. Keep Me In Mind - The Zac Brown Band (32)
27. In The Dark - Dev (23)
28. Tonight - Seether (33)
29. Just A Kiss - Lady Antebellum (27)
30. Cough Syrup - Young The Giant (34)
31. Love You Like A Love Song - Selena Gomez & The Scene (41)
32. It Will Rain - Bruno Mars (44)
33. Lonely Boy - The Black Keys (43)
34. Fool For You - Cee-Lo Green f/Melanie Fiona or Philip Bailey (40)
35. Let It Rain - David Nail (36)
36. Good Feeling - Flo Rida (50)
37. It Girl - Jason Derulo (30)
38. Heartbeat - The Fray (46)
39. Sparks Fly - Taylor Swift (24)
40. Easy - Rascal Flatts f/Natasha Bedingfield (42)
41. God Gave Me You - Blake Shelton (26)
42. Countdown - Beyonce (52)
43. Tattoos On This Town - Jason Aldean (49)
44. Show Me - Jessica Sutta (38)
45. One More Drinkin' Song - Jerrod Niemann (45)
46. Stay - Tyrese (53)
47. Crazy Girl - The Eli Young Band (37)
48. I Don't Want This Night To End - Luke Bryan (54)
49. Papi - Jennifer Lopez (29)
50. In The Air - Morgan Page f/Sultan & Ned Shepard, BT, & Angela McCluskey (35)
51. Floor On Fire - Taylor Dayne (39)
52. Reality - Kenny Chesney (56)
53. Life Of The Party - Charlie Wilson (48)
54. Bring It Back - Global Deejays (55)
55. You - Chris Young (61)
56. Drink In My Hand - Eric Church (58)
57. Loca People - Sak Noel (47)
58. Set Fire To The Rain - Adele (RE-ENTRY)
59. I Like How It Feels - Enrique Iglesias f/Pitbull (77)
60. Kiss Me Slowly - Parachute (64)
61. Rain - C+C Music Factory (66)
62. Invisible - Skylar Gray (62)
63. Country Must Be Countrywide - Brantley Gilbert (65)
64. Love Slayer - Joe Jonas (60)
65. Brand New Bitch - Anjulie (DEBUT)
66. I'm Gonna Love You Through It - Martina McBride (70)
67. Levels - Avicii (DEBUT)
68. If It's Love - Kem f/Chrisette Michele (72)
69. Lights - Ellie Goulding (74)
70. Tonight - D'Manti (71)
71. Gonna Get Over You - Sara Bareilles (73)
72. We're All No One - Nervo f/Afrojack & Steve Aoki (86)
73. 1,000 Ships - Rachel Platten (83)
74. Lego House - Ed Sheeran (75)
75. Helena Beat - Foster The People (76)
76. Storm Warning - Hunter Hayes (82)
77. A Thousand Years - Christina Perri (DEBUT)
78. I Got Nothin' - Darius Rucker (80)
79. Read All About It - Professor Green f/Emeli Sande (81)
80. Face To The Floor - Chevelle (84)
81. Tonight Tonight - Hot Chelle Rae (67)
82. Buy My Love - Wynter Gordon (DEBUT)
83. Dark Horses - Switchfoot (93)
84. Called Out In The Dark - Snow Patrol (DEBUT)
85. Out Of My Head - Theory Of A Deadman (85)
86. Sail - AWOLnation (91)
87. When I Start (To Break It Down) - Erasure (89)
88. Lightning - The Wanted (88)
89. Wish You Were Here - Avril Lavigne (DEBUT)
90. Amen - Edens Edge (94)
91. Geronimo - Aura Dione (95)
92. Hangover - Taio Cruz f/Flo Rida (98)
93. Didn't I - James Wesley (97)
94. My Heart Can't Tell You No - Sara Evans (DEBUT)
95. Earthquake - Labrinth f/Tinie Tempah (96)
96. Rumour Has It/Someone Like You - Glee Cast (DEBUT)
97. Take A Chance On Me - JLS (99)
98. Care - Kid Rock f/Martina McBride & T.I. (DEBUT)
99. Stay Together - Ledisi f/Jaheim (DEBUT)
100. Gotta Be You - One Direction (DEBUT)

There are eleven new songs on my list (highlighted in yellow), and here they are, along with a little background on the artists, along with links to YouTube clips of their previous hits in orange. And here we go...

The highest "debut" is by Canadian singer Anjulie (Persaud), who's from the suburbs of Toronto. Her self-titled debut CD produced three top-10 songs on the US dance club charts, including the #1 hit "Boom" and #3 "Rain". She also co-wrote another #1 US dance hit for fellow Canuck Kreesha Turner with "Don't Call Me Baby". Anjulie is back with the sassy new track "Brand New Bitch"...



The next song is notable in the fact that it's already been heard on my list courtesy of being used as a generous sample for Flo Rida's "Good Feeling". Swedish DJ Tim Bergling, under the alias Tim/Berg, had a worldwide dance hit last year with the sample-house cut "Seek Bromance". Again this year under the moniker Avicii he released the track "Fade Into Darkness" which was transformed into Leona Lewis' "Collide". That song sampled a Penguin Cafe track, and now Tim does it with the Etta James classic "Something's Gotta Hold On Me" from 1962. I'm excited that this is getting just as much buzz as the Flo Rida track, since it's much stronger in its original form. Here's "Levels" with its crazy-ass video...



Next up is Philadelphia-area singer-songwriter Christina Perri, who scored an out-of-the-box international hit with the somber "Jar Of Hearts" which even got to be covered on the excellent prom episode of Glee, and hit the top 20 in the US and top-5 in Britain. She followed that up with "Arms" which was a top-20 adult-pop hit. For her hat trick Perri's scored the coup of landing a single on the Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 soundtrack (along with Bruno Mars' "It Will Rain" also on my list) with "A Thousand Years"....



We follow this with another singer-songwriter, this time from Queens, New York - Wynter Gordon first hit big as co-writer and backup on Flo Rida's "Sugar" in 2009. Her first solo hit, "Dirty Talk", was a #1 US Dance hit, as well as a charttopper in Australia and a top-40 British hit. She released her debut US EP this year which contained the top-3 club followup "Til Death", as well as this next debut, "Buy My Love", further expanding her quirky yet accessible approach to dance music, which is a refreshing break from the same old thump...



Northern Irish rock group Snow Patrol had their first big success in the UK with the excellent top-5 single "Run" in 2004. The band scored 4 more top-10 singles there since, including their biggest British ranking, the #4 hit from Spiderman 3 "Signal Fire", and the US top 10 triple platinum (3million+ in sales) classic "Chasing Cars". They are back with a song that's climbing the adult-pop chart after just missing the top-10 in Britain, with "Called Out In The Dark"...



Like Anjulie, another Ontario Canada native comes in at #89. Avril Lavigne has released four CDs in the last ten years, with three of them hitting the top of the US album charts. She's also had a slew of hits, including her three biggest: the number-one hit "Girlfriend", her debut #2 song "Complicated", and the top-5 followup "I'm With You". The third single from her latest release is "Wish You Were Here" - watch how she gets all pyro with florals...



Missouri-born country singer Sara Evans has seen five of her songs go to #1 including "No Place That Far" (also her first top-40 country hit), and "Born To Fly", and she seemed to be carrying out the strong-woman belter tradition in the Martina McBride vein. However after a high-profile messy divorce and an abbreviated stint on Dancing With The Stars, Evans struggled to stay atop the scene, but scored a welcome #1 last year with "A Little Bit Stronger". Her followup to that song is a remake of a top-5 pop hit for Rod Stewart from 1988, "My Heart Can't Tell You No"...



The next track is the first single from the third season of Glee to make my chart. In fact, only three other Glee songs have made my chart this year: the original songs "Loser Like Me" and "Get It Right", and the mashup from the Super Bowl episode "Thriller/Heads Will Roll". It's only fitting to bookend their next success with another excellent mashup, this time two songs from the biggest album of this year, Adele's 21. Santana, Mercedes, and the "Troubletones" tear into their version of "Rumour Has It/Someone Like You". I may have big problems with this season, but this version does rock (95% because of the abilities of Amber Jones and Naya Rivera)...



Next up is stoner-conservative hick Kid Rock. Even though he's sold a truckload of albums, he's only had three top-40 hits, the top-5 ballad "Picture", the top-20 "Only God Knows Why", and 2008's sample-crazy "All Summer Long". I know the guy's got mad talent, but what's with the letting Mitt Romney use his "Born Free" as his campaign song? Does anyone think either of them knows let alone likes the other? (BTW love the troll comments on that YouTube vid). Here's his latest, featuring country singer Martina McBride (also on my list with "I'm Gonna Love You Through It") on the album version and recently incarcerated rapper T.I. Well, that sounds pretty Republican to me. Here's the adult-pop top-30 hit "Care" substituting McBride with singer Angaleena Pressley..



Next is New Orleans' neo-soul songstress Ledisi, who follows her "Pieces Of Me" with a duet featuring Jaheim, who also had his biggest hit supporting rapper Nelly on the top-5 "My Place". Their new collaboration, a top-5 adult-R&B hit, is "Stay Together"...



The final new entry is by British boyband One Direction, who have translated their X Factor UK exposure (albeit loss) to two big hits: the #1 "What Makes You Beautiful" from this summer, and this top-3 single, "Gotta Be You"...



and as a bonus, one song comes back in a big way...after making the top-20 of my list because its remix maded the club chart. Now that its the official third single following the megasmashes "Rolling In The Deep" and "Someone Like You", it's back, and it's "Set Fire To The Rain"...



Best comment ever I saw on another site - this sounds like the Slovenian National Anthem.....

Ciao!