Twostepcub's music chart for May 4, 2012...

Hey folks, it's finally the end of the week, and time for my top-100 tunes for the last one. To those that may be finding themselves here for the first time, I'm a rabid music nut and collector that has been tracking the music charts for thirty years now. Like a lot of chart "geeks", I've been compiling a weekly list of my own since then, mixing together pop, rock, country, dance, R&B, and international music. The songs below are a small sample of some tunes and artists you may want to check out, and at the end I'll highlight the baker's dozen of new tracks on my list this week.  This week Gotye and Kimbra spend an eighth week at the top, while Scottish producer/singer Calvin Harris (pictured above) finally makes it into my top-10. The biggest jumps are made by songs by Taylor Swift, Karmin, and Carly Rae Jepsen (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red), while former big hits by Taylor Swift, Coldplay, AWOLnation, Chevelle, Young The Giant, and LMFAO drop out. Link-O-Rama is in effect, so you can click on any of the highlighted artists' names to go to their official website for more information, videos, tour dates, and more. May the 4th be with you!

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. Rumour Has It - Adele (3)
3. I Won't Give Up - Jason Mraz (4)
4. We Are Young - fun. f/Jonelle Monae (2)
5. Glad You Came - The Wanted (5)
6. Bully - Shinedown (6)
7. Feel So Close - Calvin Harris (11)
8. Part Of Me - Katy Perry (8)
9. Set Fire To The Rain - Adele (7)
10. Wild Ones - Flo Rida f/Sia (14)
11. Turn Me On - David Guetta f/Nicki Minaj (10)
12. Drive By - Train (12)
13. Domino - Jessie J (9)
14. Give Me All Your Luvin' - Madonna f/Nicki Minaj & MIA (16)
15. Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) - Kelly Clarkson (15)
16. A Woman Like You - Lee Brice (19)
17. Love On Top - Beyonce (13)
18. What Makes You Beautiful - One Direction (28)
19. Tonight Is The Night - Outasight (23)
20. Over You - Miranda Lambert (27)
21. Run - Matt Nathanson f/Sugarland (25)
22. Titanium - David Guetta f/Sia (20)
23. Dancing Away With My Heart - Lady Antebellum (26)
24. A Thousand Years - Christina Perri (24)
25. International Love - Pitbull f/Chris Brown (29)
26. Starships - Nicki Minaj (31)
27. Levels - Avicii (17)
28. Alone With You - Jake Owen (18)
29. Good Girl - Carrie Underwood (33)
30. These Days - Foo Fighters (22)
31. Lonely Boy - Black Keys (21)
32. Respect - Melanie Amaro (32)
33. Fine By Me - Andy Grammer (34)
34. Banjo - Rascal Flatts (38)
35. Naked - Dev & Enrique Iglesias (36)
36. Drink On It - Blake Shelton (40)
37. Next To Me - Emeli Sande (39)
38. Girl Gone Wild - Madonna (48)
39. Gold On The Ceiling - Black Keys (43)
40. Ai Se Eu Te Pego - Michel Telo (30)
41. No Hurry - Zac Brown Band (45)
42. Better Than I Used To Be - Tim McGraw (44)
43. Better Than I Know Myself - Adam Lambert (51)
44. Wild One Two - Jack Back f/David Guetta, Nicky Romero, & Sia (56)
45. Thank You - Estelle (50)
46. Eyes Open - Taylor Swift (66)
47. We Found Love - Rihanna f/Calvin Harris (41)
48. Tongue Tied - Grouplove (54)
49. Good Feeling - Flo Rida (49)
50. Never Forget - Dave Aude f/Lena Katina (59)
51. Shadow Days - John Mayer (58)
52. Lullaby - Nickelback (52)
53. She Gets Down On Her Knees - Yoko Ono (53)
54. Love You Like A Love Song - Selena Gomez & The Scene (46)
55. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. - RLP & Barbara Tucker f/Lil Jon (55)
56. Fly Over States - Jason Aldean (63)
57. Even If It Breaks Your Heart - Eli Young Band (65)
58. Midnight City - M83 (64)
59. Brokenhearted - Karmin (74)
60. Changed The Way You Kiss Me - Example (60)
61. If You Ever Come Back - The Script (68)
62. Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen (77)
63. On My Goodness - Olly Murs (69)
64. Drunk On You - Luke Bryan (72)
65. Springsteen - Eric Church (75)
66. You Don't Know Her Like I Do - Brantley Gilbert (70)
67. Simple Song - The Shins (71)
68. Watching You Watch Him - Eric Hutchinson (73)
69. Everybody Talks - Neon Trees (DEBUT)
70. Famous - Audio Playground (78)
71. Rock The Boat - Bob Sinclar f/Pitbull (82)
72. Got My Country On - Chris Cagle (76)
73. Don't Stop (Color On The Walls) - Foster The People (61)
74. Boyfriend - Justin Bieber (80)
75. Little Talks - Of Monsters And Men (DEBUT)
76. Time Is Love - Josh Turner (86)
77. Ships In The Night - Mat Kearney (79)
78. This Ole Boy - Craig Morgan (83)
79. Favorite Song - Colbie Caillat f/Common (87)
80. Sweeter - Gavin DeGraw (DEBUT)
81. Never Give Up - Phil B f/Debby Holiday (DEBUT)
82. Turn Up The Music - Chris Brown (94)
83. Feel Like A Rock Star - Kenny Chesney & Tim McGraw (95)
84. Somethin' 'Bout A Truck - Kip Moore (88)
85. Heart Skips A Beat - Olly Murs f/Rizzle Kicks (85)
86. Share My Love - R. Kelly (91)
87. Climax - Usher (DEBUT)
88. Let's Don't Call It A Night- Casey James (90)
89. Body On Mine - Eva (DEBUT)
90. Beers Ago - Toby Keith (DEBUT)
91. You're On My Mind - Kem (DEBUT)
92. (Kissed You) Good Night - Gloriana (DEBUT)
93. Real Love - Eric Benet (97)
94. Give Your Heart A Break - Demi Lovato (98)
95. Wanna Make You Love Me - Andy Gibson (99)
96. Love Me Bad - James Durbin (DEBUT)
97. Somebody That I Used To Know - Glee Cast (DEBUT)
98. Can't Stop Me - Afrojack f/Shermanology (RE-ENTRY)
99. 2012 (If The World Would End) - Mike Candys f/Evelyn & Patrick Miller (DEBUT)
100 Can't Say No - Conor Maynard (DEBUT)

There are a lucky thirteen new songs on my list this week (highlighted in green), and here they are, along with a little about the artists, with links to their previous hits on video in orange.

The highest entry belongs to the alt-rock quartet Neon Trees, from Utah, who had a huge hit in 2010 with their fisrt single "Animal", which was a #1 modern rock, #2 adult-pop, and top-20 pop hit in the US. Their sophomore CD, Picture Show, was released two weeks ago, and the first single is the top-10 modern rock hit "Everybody Talks"...

Next up is newcomers Of Monsters And Men,an indie folk rock band from a suburb of Reykjavik, Iceland. After hearing them on a local music competition, the Philly local station started playing the track, and now it's in the top-10 on the modern rock and triple-A (adult album alternative) radio. Here's "Little Talks"...

Gavin DeGraw may have not gone through the end on Dancing With The Stars,but the singer, who had a top-10 pop hit with "I Don't Want To Be" back in 2004, is back on my list with his followup to recent hit "Not Over You", here's "Sweeter"...

San Francisco DJ Phil B teams up with dance singer Debby Holiday, who's looking top top her top-5 dance hit from 2004, "Dive", with "Never Give Up"..

R&B superstar Usher has gathered up nine #1 pop singles in the US, the latest being "OMG" in 2010.That sparked a string of dance-oriented singles that culminated in his collaboration with David Guetta, "Without You". To preview his upcoming CD, Looking 4 Myself, which comes out in June, Usher has gone back to basics, and his first single is a slow jam that's hit #1 on the US R&B chart as well as top-5 in the UK. It's called "Climax"...

California based dance singer Eva scored a top-10 dance single last year with "Not My Daddy",  The followup to that is already top-20, and it's "Body On Mine"...

Toby Keith is back with a song on the same lines of his recent top-10 country hit "Red Solo Cup" with another alcoholic ode, "Beers Ago"..

KEM is a smooth-style soul singer from Detroit who's biggest hit was the excellent top-20 R&B single "Why Would You Stay" two years ago. He's back with a song that's in the adult R&B top-5, "You're On My Mind"...

Country trio Gloriana,who last time out as a quartet featured America's Most Talented Kid winner Cheyenne Kimball, and had a top-20 hit on the genre chart with "Wild At Heart". Kimball left last year, and brothers Tom and Mike Gossain have continued with Rachel Reinert with their second top-20, (Kissed You) Good Night...

American Idol fourth-place finisher from last year, James Durbin, scraped the rock chart last year with "Stand Up", and now has a hit with the adult-pop top-40 single "Love Me Bad"...

'And now we come to Glee. If you have checked out my little rant yesterday about the diminishing returns in the music part of that show, and how it's ruining it, you can check it out here.I left this song off, knowing I was going to discuss it here. It's a classic example of what's going on wrong with Glee. Here we have a #1 hit that was rushed to license for the show, and was plopped into the show where the writers had to write a plot around it. Since it's a story about a love affair gone wrong, and being dumped, you'd even think there may be actual valid characters that could be given the material (Artie, Santana, Finn, Sam, anyone who is in a romantic pairing that could be breaking or have broken up - I'd give Artie the top on this), but no. They gave it to Blaine, because they have to give it to Blaine, because lord knows they need a "hit" in iTunes, since they've pretty much tanked lately, Only four tracks have hit the top-40 this season. Also, ratings have been dropping (sooprise sooprise). So bring in Blane, God bless his soul for his umpteenth solo, and pair him with actor Matt Bomer. As his brother. For a song about being dumped. Dafuq is all dat. And while Darren has the voice to carry the song professionally, Bomer's voice is Auto-tuned to all-creation. Well, Murphy and Anders scored another top-40, but not by much. So here it is, and I don't fault Gotye one bit on not liking the version, though with the exposure and royalties he could have possibly been a little more diplomatic about it...

Swiss DJ Mike Candys  comes off a worldwide dance hit with "One Night In Ibiza" with a track that's a top-3 record in Germany, Austria, and his homeland, "2012 (If The World Would End)" featuring singer Evelyn and Patrick Miller.

 The final debut belongs to the British Bieber, Conor Maynard, who won MTV's Brand New For 2012 award, and his first single is a top-5 UK hit. Here's "Can't Say No"...

Have a good day, everyone, thanks for everyone who found themselves here, and congrats to my godchild on her 1st communion tomorrow! Peace out.