twostepcub's music chart for March 23, 2012...

Hey guys, it's time for my top-100 tunes for the week. This week Gotye spends a third week at the top, while Jason Mraz (pictured above) makes a four-place leap within the top-10. The biggest jumps are made by singles by Neon Hitch, Shinedown, and the Wanted (artists with moves of 10+ places highlighted in red), while previous big hits by the Fray, The Band Perry, Toby Keith, Kelly Clarkson, Tyrese, Gloria Estefan, Bush, Luke Bryan, and Gym Class Heroes drop out. Link-O-Rama is still in effect, so you click on any of the highlighted artists' name to go to their official website for more info, tour dates, videos, and more. Reeehd Robbinsville!

This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses)
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1. Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye f/Kimbra (1)
2. Domino - Jessie J (2)
3. Set Fire To The Rain - Adele (3)
4. Turn Me On - David Guetta f/Nicki Minaj (4)
5. Lonely Boy - The Black Keys (5)
6. I Won't Give Up - Jason Mraz (10)
7. Shake It Out - Florence + The Machine (7)
8. Titanium - David Guetta f/Sia (9)
9. Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) - Kelly Clarkson (11)
10. We Are Young - fun. (12)
11. Levels - Avicii (6)
12. These Days - Foo Fighters (8)
13. Drive By - Train (16)
14. Paradise - Coldplay (14)
15. Not Over You - Gavin DeGraw (13)
16. Love You Like A Love Song - Selena Gomez & The Scene (15)
17. Love On Top - Beyonce (23)
18. The One That Got Away - Katy Perry (18)
19. It Will Rain - Bruno Mars (19)
20. Called Out In The Dark - Snow Patrol (24)
21. We Found Love - Rihanna f/Calvin Harris (17)
22. Ours - Taylor Swift (28)
23. Alone With You - Jake Owen (33)
24. Good Feeling - Flo Rida (21)
25. Don't Stop (Color On The Walls) - Foster The People (29)
26. Love After War - Robin Thicke (31)
27. Antidote - Swedish House Mafia vs. Knife Party (22)
28. Bully - Shinedown (43)
29. Face To The Floor - Chevelle (20)
30. Reality - Kenny Chesney (30)
31. Sexy & I Know It - LMFAO (27)
32. A Thousand Years - Christina Perri (34)
33. Cough Syrup - Young The Giant (25)
34. We Run The Night - Havana Brown f/Pitbull (38)
35. Part Of Me - Katy Perry (48)
36. Glad You Came - The Wanted (51)
37. Dance On - Blush (37)
38. Be With You - Erasure (42)
39. Run - Matt Nathanson f/Sugarland (46)
40. Ai Se Eu Te Pego - Michel Telo (44)
41. Tonight Is The Night - Outasight (49)
42. I'm Gonna Love You Through It - Martina McBride (32)
43. Feel So Close - Calvin Harris (53)
44. Give Me All Your Luvin' - Madonna f/Nicki Minaj & MIA (54)
45. Home - Dierks Bentley (47)
46. Not Your Fault - AWOLnation (50)
47. Dance With Me Tonight - Olly Murs (41)
48. Fine By Me - Andy Grammer (52)
49. Hangover - Taio Cruz f/Flo Rida (35)
50. You Gonna Fly - Keith Urban (40)
51. International Love - Pitbull f/Chris Brown (61)
52. Dancing Away With My Heart - Lady Antebellum (56)
53. Love's Gonna Make It Alright - George Strait (55)
54. Banjo - Rascal Flatts (64)
55. I Like It Like That - Hot Chelle Rae f/New Boyz (57)
56. F U Betta - Neon Hitch (74)
57. The Walk - Mayer Hawthorne (58)
58. Drink On It - Blake Shelton (66)
59. Surrender - Paul Oakenfold (73)
60. Drifting - Plumb f/Dan Haseltine (60)
61. Next To Me - Emeli Sande (65)
62. A Woman Like You - Lee Brice (70)
63. Walk - Foo Fighters (59)
64. Lullaby - Nickelback (68)
65. Wild Ones - Flo Rida f/Sia (79)
66. You - Chris Young (36)
67. Je L'aime A Mourir - Shakira (67)
68. Over You - Miranda Lambert (78)
69. Woo - Anthony Hamilton (71)
70. Don't Fuck With My Money - Penguin Prison (80)
71. No Hurry - The Zac Brown Band (83)
72. You Da One - Rihanna (45)
73. Satellite - Rise Against (77)
74. Rumour Has It - Adele (DEBUT)
75. Shave It - Zedd (75)
76. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. - RLP & Barbara Tucker f/Lil Jon (DEBUT)
77. Better Than I Know Myself - Adam Lambert (85)
78. Tongue Tied - Grouplove (88)
79. Better Than I Used To Be - Tim McGraw (84)
80. Thank You - Estelle (82)
81. Naked - Dev & Enrique Iglesias (DEBUT)
82. Without You - David Guetta f/Usher (72)
83. Starships - Nicki Minaj (DEBUT)
84. Good Girl - Carrie Underwood (DEBUT)
85. Hot Right Now - DJ Fresh f/Rita Ora (86)
86. Real Love - Eric Benet (DEBUT)
87. Where I Come From - Montgomery Gentry (87)
88. Alone Again - Alyssa Reid f/Jump Smokers (89)
89. Simple Song - The Shins (DEBUT)
90. It's Too Late - Jes (DEBUT)
91. The Trouble With Girls - Scotty McCreery (93)
92. She Doesn't Mind - Sean Paul (92)
93. Watching You Watch Him - Eric Hutchinson (DEBUT)
94. I Know - Irma (94)
95. Heart On Fire - Scars On 45 (97)
96. Got My Country On - Chris Cagle (100)
97. Fly Over States - Jason Aldean (DEBUT)
98. Standing Still - Roman Lob (DEBUT)
99. Somethin' 'Bout A Truck - Kip Moore (DEBUT)
100. Rockstar - Dappy f/Brian May (DEBUT)

There's a baker's dozen of new songs on my chart (highlighted in yellow), and here they are, along with a little about the artists, with links to their previous hits on video in orange....

The highest entry comes from British singer Adele, who is still in my top-3 with her former #1 hit on both mine and Billboard's chart, "Set Fire To The Rain". The track was co-written and produced by OneRepublic singer Ryan Tedder, and was previously on my chart last year as a half of a cover medley by the cast of Glee along with her "Someone Like You". Here's "Rumour Has It"...



French DJ RLP has kicked about in his homeland for decades, but now has his first American dance success courtesy of a rework of the R&B classic "Respect" (now "R.E.S.P.E.C.T."). The track features vocals from house music legend Barbara Tucker, who had five #1 club hits in the 90's like "Beautiful People" and "Stop Playing With My Mind", as well as a featured rap from crunkmeister Lil' Jon, who jammed the clubs in 2004 with "Yeah" (backing Usher). The finished result:



The next dance mix features California hipster-house maven Dev, who scored a #1 hit backing the Far East Movement on "Like A G6", as well as a top-20 lead followup on "In The Dark", with Latin Explosion comeback king Enrique Iglesias, who last appeared here with the dance #1 "I Like How It Feels" last year. Her debut album drops this coming Tuesday (the 27th) in the US, and features "Naked"....



Rap freakshow Nicki Minaj bounces from hard-ass rapper like on "Did It On Em" to pop-dance fare that's been her most successful, like on "Super Bass" or song currently in my top-5, "Turn Me On". Previewing her upcoming revamp Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, is the bouncy "Starships"...



Two-time Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year Carrie Underwood has placed 11 singles at the top of that format's chart, with songs like 3 million plus selling "Before He Cheats" and Billboard Hot 100 top-10 remake of "I Told You So" with drunk Randy Travis. Her latest CD comes out in May, and she introduces it with the rockin' "Good Girl"...



Milwaukee-born Eric Benet has his biggest success with the former #1 R&B/top-40 pop hit "Spend My Life With You" (his only top-40 hit so far), though me may be better known for his marriages, first to actress Halle Berry, then to Prince's second ex-wife Manuela Testaloni. He's acted on TV and in movies like Mariah Carey's Glitter. He's back with a top-5 adult R&B smooth jam, "Real Love"...



New Mexico-based alt-rock band the Shins have Scrubs actor Zach Braff to thank for exposing them to a wider audience as the ultimate band in the movie Garden State, and their subsequent top-5 CD produced a top-20 modern rock hit with "Phantom Limb" in 2006. After a five year break and a couple member replacements, the group is back with a just-released album and top-5 adult-alternative rock hit "Simple Song"...



Jes Brieden, or JES, has scored two #1 dance airplay hits: 2004's "As The Rush Comes" (as lead singer of Motorcycle), and on her own with "Imagination" five years later. Her latest is actually doing better on the regular club chart, becoming her second top-20 hit, with "It's Too Late"...



Singer/songwriter Eric Hutchinson topped the adult-alternative rock chart in 2008 with "Rock And Roll", and followed that with the awesome and underrated top-5 "OK It's Alright With Me". The Washington DC-area native is back the more pessimistic "Watching You Watch Him"...



Jason Aldean was last year biggest male country star, thanks to multi-format hits "Don't You Wanna Stay" with American Idol Kelly Clarkson and "Dirt Road Anthem" with rapper Ludacris (his first top-10 Billboard Hot 100 hit). He was last year's Academy of Country Music Artist of the Year, and is in the running for this year's Entertainer of the Year. The fifth single from his My Kinda Party CD is gunning to be top-10, and it's about the "Fly Over States"...



The world's biggest music competition for the past 57 years, Eurovision, acts representing over 40 countries in Europe and Asia compete for television audiences and votes. Past winners include Swedish supergroup ABBA (on the top 10 "Waterloo"), Welsh songstress Lulu (with the cheesy "Boom Bang A Bang"), Canadian Celine Dion (ringer for the Swiss on "Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi"), and Israeli transexual Dana International (with the campy "Diva"). The contest was won last year by the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan, with Ell & Nikki's "Running Scared". As the winning country hosts the following year's event, the capital of Baku will host in 2012 (causing alarm for that country's record with LGBT tolerance given Eurovision's massive gay fanbase). The German entry to the contest is singer Roman Lob, a former contestant in that country's Idol franchise, with a song that's already in his homeland's top-3, with "Standing Still"...



After a debut single that missed the top-40 ("Mary was the Marrying Kind"), southern Georgia-born singer Kip Moore has his first single go top-20 on Billboard's country chart with "Somethin' 'Bout A Truck"...



British rap-singer Dappy, one-third of the group N-Dubz, has had two #1 UK hits: one with the band supporting Tinchy Stryder on "Number 1", and on his own with debut solo single "No Regrets". Now he gets a little help from Queen guitarist-cum-astrophysicist on "Rockstar"...



and that's it. It's pouring, so hopefully I'll make it home dry. Cheers!