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Hey gang, thanks for hangin' in there, and we're up to the final part of today's "chart sweeps" of Billboard magazine's music lists this week. This time out we have a sampling of the new music making the Dance Club , Mixshow, and Global Dance charts... On the US club chart, the highest entry comes from Kelly Clarkson, who sees her third single from her Stronger album get mixed up at #30, it's "Dark Side"... (Click below to read the rest of the post)

And now on part four of my weekly "chart sweeps" of Billboard magazine's weekly music charts, a glimpse into the new music hitting country radio this week... There are only three new tracks this week (radio has been more conservative than even it usually is), and the top entry is by Eric Church, who follows up his #1 "Springsteen" with "Creepin'" at #54... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Hey everyone, thanks for stoppin' by, and now time for part three of this week's "chart sweeps" of Billboard magazine's music lists for this week. This time out it's the newest songs hitting the R&B/Hip-Hop and Adult R&B charts... On the main R&B/Hip-Hop list, the highest debut belongs to Houston singer/songwriter Tami LaTrell, who strikes out on her own at #73 with "It's Over"... (Click below to read the rest of the post)

It's part two time for my "chart sweeps" of the newest music on Billboard magazine. This time it's the Rock Songs, Alternative, and Triple-A (hipster-rock) charts... On the Rock Songs list, the highest entry at #46 (so close) comes from New Brunswick, New Jersey's own Gaslight Anthem, with a track from their upcoming CD Handwritten that's already on the Alternative list, "45"... (Click below to read the rest of the post)

Hey folks, it's time for the first of today's five "chart sweeps" of this weeks charts in Billboard magazine. Now we'll take a look at the new music hitting the all-genre Hot 100 and adult-pop charts. On the Hot 100 , the highest debut comes from a preview track off of Maroon5's CD Overexposed which came out on Tuesday. "One More Night" comes in all the way up at #42, and it's officially the second promoted single, with a new clip featuring Minka Kelly..odd choice for a single, reminds me of Rihanna's "Talk That Talk" single a lot ...  (Click below to read the rest of the post)

Today, June 30th, marks American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino's 28th birthday... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

The Go-Go's - "Vacation" from the album Vacation (1982) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #8 (three weeks) Weeks in the top-40: 9 Today's Song of the Day is the first single off of the California girl-rockers Go-Go's sophomore album (consequently the first GoGos cassette I owned back then). The band was riding high off their #1 debut, Beauty And The Beat , which produced two top-20 hits with " Our Lips Are Sealed " and the #2 " We Got The Beat ". Rather than follow that up with another track from that, they rush-released a new album, and "Vacation" became their second top-10er just in time for the summer of 1982... "Vacation" also made the top-20 on the dance and rock charts as well, but it would be their last top-10 hit on the pop chart (though they got ever so close with the awesome "Head Over Heels"). In 2004, the song was hilariously used as the musical backdrop on Michael Moore's Fahrenheit...

Hey folks, it's that time again - my top-100 tunes for the week. This time Carly Rae Jepsen spends a third week by the phone and on top, while rap/rockers Linkin Park (pictured above) move up in the top-10. Songs by Keith Urban, Eva Simons, and Imagine Dragons make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while a former big hit from Jason Aldean drops out. Link-O-Rama is still in effect, so you can click on any of the highlighted artist names to go to their official website for more info, music, videos, tourdates, and more. Where's the beach! This Week              Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen (1) 2. Payphone - Maroon5 f/ Wiz Khalifa (2) 3. Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye f/ Kimbra (3) 4. Brokenhearted - Karmin (5) 5. Wild Ones - Flo Rida f/ Sia (4) 6. We Are Young...

Today, June 29th, marks former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger's 34th birthday... Comedian Bret McKenzie of Flight Of The Conchords turns 36.... Pioneer electronic DJ Shadow reaches 40... as two rockers turn 59....metalhead Don Dokken... ..and Men At Work's Colin Hay... Enjoy your Friday!

Paul McCartney - "Take It Away" from the album Tug Of War (1982) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #10 (five weeks) Weeks in the top-40: 11 Today's Song of the Day is by the venerable Sir Paul McCartney , who just turned 70 last week. His Tug Of War album was his first post-Wings effort (1980's McCartney II solo album was released before the breakup), and reunited Paul with Beatles producer George Martin. The followup to the 7-week #1 duet " Ebony And Ivory " also had another Beatles connection: Ringo Starr played drums and appeared in the video for "Take It Away", featuring actor John Hurt... The song made the pop and adult-contemporary top-10, and managed the US rock top-40, but missed the British top-10 in that new-wave driven market. Paul's next US top-40 hits would be two big collaborations with one Michael Jackson. Up tomorrow: Belinda and the girls take a break.

Today, June 27th, marks the 44th birthday of Puerto Rican heartthrob Chayanne... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Gary U.S. Bonds - "Out Of Work" from the album On The Line (1982) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #21 (two weeks) Weeks in the top-40: 9 Today's 'vacation' Song of the Day is by early rock legend Gary U.S. Bonds , who dominated the charts in the beginning of the 60's. Born in the Jacksonville, Florida, Bonds (real surname Anderson) had his first hit single in 1960 with the top-10 blues-shouter-cum-dance-number " New Orleans ". The following year, Gary scored his first (and only) #1 hit with " Quarter To Three ". He had three more top-10 pop hits in the next year, but with the Beatles frenzy and subsequent 'British Invasion' Bonds' style of music was pretty much tossed aside. Gary would occasionally write a hit, like the classic Johnny Paycheck/Tracy Byrd hit " (Don't Take Her) She's All I Got ". But it took "The Boss" to revive Bonds career. In 1980, Bruce Springsteen produced Bonds' comeb...

Hey folks, it's a beautiful Wednesday night here, and a good time to roll another "sweep" out - this time the newest singles down under in Australia. It's an odd week to start, of course, since the chart is dominated from entries by their version of The Voice , which seems to be the biggest thing going doing there. The four judges on this edition are natives Delta Goodrem and Keith Urban, as well as British singer Seal, and American Joel Madden from the rock band Good Charlotte. The winner was declared on the 18th of June, and it was Seal's protege' Karise Eden that took the prize, and this week she sees four songs join the four that have charted already. A mighty feat for a woman who spent years in foster care, and I'm really happy for her. At #1 is her version of a minor 60's hit that was notably covered by Bette Midler in The Rose , "Stay With Me (Baby)"... (Click below to read the rest of the post)

Today, June 27th, marks country singer Lorrie Morgan's 53rd birthday. My favorite Morgan tunes... 1) Good As I Was To You 2) Something In Red 3) Go Away 4) I Can Buy My Own Roses 5) Maybe Not Tonight (Click below to read the rest of the post)

Leslie Pearl - "If The Love Fits Wear It" from the album Words & Music (1982) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #28 (two weeks) Weeks in the top-40: 7 Today's Song of the Day is by Pennsylvania-born singer Leslie Pearl. Pearl, a jingle writer, released her first and only album in 1982, with songs like "Let's Go To Bed Early and Stay Up All Night" and "You're The First Thing I Want (But The Last Thing I Need)". But it was the more succinct "If The Love Fits Wear It" that she co-wrote with Phil Redrow that gave Leslie her first and only top-40 hit. The song was a big adult-contemporary (soft-rock) hit, reaching #7 and staying on that chart for 17 weeks. It's extremely hard to find on CD, only appearing in the States on one of Barry Scott 's 70's/80's compilations, but I'm really quite fond of its cliched charm. Up tomorrow: An artist who had five top-ten hits in the early sixties finds himself empl...

Hey everyone, thanks for hangin' in there with my delayed schedule, now it's time to sample the new music hitting the stores and radio in Germany this week...the highest debut is a song I showed in the French Sweep , and Chris Brown's "Don't Wake Me Up" comes in all the way up at #28 here. At #31 is the winner of Germany's version of The Voice , Berlin's Ivy Quainoo (pictured above), who follows up her excellent #2 hit " Do You Like What You See ", which even made my personal chart earlier this year,  with "You Got Me"... (Click below to read the rest of the post)

Hey folks, it's time to take a look at some of the new music hitting over in France this week. This week's highest debut, like most of the other countries I've featured, is Justin Bieber's " As Long As You Love Me " at #48. The highest non-Bieber track debuting in the top-100 is rapper Zifou, who lands at #66 with "Cest La Hass"... (Click below to read the rest of the post)

This week's winner of the Cee U Next Tuesday award, given for female excellence in the male-dominated field of douchebaggery, is Arizona radio show loon Barbara Espinosa. Barbara, in the form of that aunt you avoid at family affairs, had a funny little quip to say about our current president.... Nice. You gotta give her credit for wearing her racism right out there instead of the shadow shit wordgame that the GOP under Romney has been playing lately. Oh, but of course she's not racist , because the mental succubus' last name is Espinosa (otherwise known as the "Zimmerman defense"). Oh, and by the way loves the reply to that - "Barbara, let me ask you a question: Are you chugging the Robitussin directly from the bottle, or do you pour it into a glass and let it breathe first?". And God, I love these old bitches that think they're of an age that they can just rattle off that shit, no facts, no policy wonk arguments, just pure hatred. ...

One Way - "Cutie Pie" from the album Who's Foolin' Who (1982) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #61 (Sorry for the delay, lost my FIOS for a day)... This week's "robbed hit" that surprisingly didn't make the top 40 comes from a funk outfit from Detroit. One Way, led by singer Al Hudson, started out as the Soul Partners, where they had their biggest hit under that name on the R&B chart with 1978's " How Do You Do ". The next year they dropped the "Soul" from the name and scored with a mid-level R&B hit, " You Can Do It ", which while it didn't reach the top half of the chart, stayed on there for 23 weeks, and also made the top-10 on the dance chart, grabbing a club audience that would help them start out the 80s. After changing record labels and their name to One Way, their records started gaining steam. In 1980, the group had their first top-40 (" Music "), then their first top-20 (" Pop...

Today, June 26, marks Chris Isaak's 56th birthday... (Click below to read the rest of the post)

Melissa Manchester - "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" from the album Hey Ricky (1982) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (three weeks) Weeks in the top-40: 15 Today's Song of the Day is by singer/songwriter Melissa Manchester , who after studying under Paul Simon, was discovered by Bette Midler and Barry Manilow. She joined Midler's backup singers, the Harlettes for a year, and she released her first album in 1973. But it was 1975 that she broke through with the top-10 ballad " Midnight Blue ". A few years later, her talents as a songwriter gave fruit as " Whenever You Call Me Friend " was a top-10 hit for Kenny Loggins and Stevie Nicks. In 1979, the Celine-ish epic " Don't Cry Out Loud " went to the top tier as well. "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" was written by Dean Pitchford and Tom Snow, who would later go on to write the #1 hit "Let's Hear It For The Boy" for Deniece Williams fr...

Now for part-two of this week's Album Sweep of the new sets hitting this week's Billboard magazine Top 200 albums chart. At #46 is Minneapolis indie-rock group Motion City Soundtrack with their fifth full-length album, Go ... (Click below to read the rest of the post)

Good morning, folks! Today, June 25th, marks the 67th birthday of Carly Simon. My favorite Carly singles: 1) Nobody Does It Better 2) You're So Vain 3) Jesse 4) That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be 5) Coming Around Again (Click below to read the rest of the post)

The J. Geils Band - "Angel In Blue" from the album Freeze-Frame (1981) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #40 (two weeks) Weeks in the top-40: 2 Today's song of the day is the third by Boston bar-rock band led by guitarist J. Geils in 1982. They were coming off the top-five success of the title track of their #1 album Freeze-Frame , which itself succeeded their first (and only) #1 hit record in the US, "Centerfold". The next single was their first top-40 "ballad", and it's the sweetest song to a stripper I know... The song reminds me a lot of the Rolling Stones from that time, in a good way. "Angel In Blue" would end up being their last studio-recorded top-40 with lead singer Peter Wolf. (Their next album, a live set from the tour supporting this album, gave them their final top-40). Up tomorrow: A former Harlette spreads some gossip.

Hey folks, I'm back from NYC pride, and before I hit the hay, I'll recap the newest tunes debuting across the pond in England. This week there's not much being released, but a couple good ones.. Finally being able to be sold in the UK (and after a 'copycat' version by "Precision Tunes" made the top-10 there), Maroon5 and Wiz Khalifa debut up and the #1 spot. And damn, Adam Levine still looks fine even beaten to shit... London girl-group Stooshe score their second top-5 hit with "Black Heart", and it showcases their vocals pretty well, I really like this in a retro sort of way...  (Click below to read the rest of the post)

Hey folks, it's time to take a look at the new albums making the top-200 chart on Billboard magazine this week. Since there's 28 new sets on this week's list, I'm splittin' them up into 2 parts again. Hopefully you can find something you haven't heard yet, or a fave artist's new album. Usher's Looking 4 Myself debuts at the #1 position, his fourth consecutive studio effort to do so... (click below to read the rest of the post)

Today, June 24th, marks Mick Fleetwood's 65th birthday. My favorite Mac Attack Tracks... 1) Songbird 2) You Make Loving Fun 3) Go Your Own Way 4) Silver Springs 5) Rhiannon 6) The Chain 7) Gold Dust Woman 8) Over My Head 9) Dreams 10) Gypsy (Click below to read the rest of the post)

Larry Elgart and His Manhattan Swing Orchestra - "Hooked On Swing"  from the album Hooked On Swing (1982) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #31 (two weeks) Weeks in the top-40: 5 Today's Song of the Day is the auto-clap medley record that signaled the end of that genre on the top-40, Larry Elgart's "Hooked On Swing". Elgart was born in 1922 in Connecticut, and along with his brother Les, plodded along the swing band circuit, and in the mid-fifties, were best-known for recording the theme to Dick Clark's American Bandstand , " Bandstand Boogie ". Larry also did some experimental jazz, like in " Beyond Gravity " from 1953. But it took until 1982, on Elgart's 60th birthday, to score a top-40 hit, with a medley of swing tunes set to a metronome-like electronic drumbeat. It includes these songs: 1) " In The Mood " (Glenn Miller) 2) " Cherokee " (Max Roach) 3) " American Patrol " (Glenn Miller)...

Hey everyone, thank you so much for reading, and it's finally down to the fifth chart sweep of the day. Now for the latest jams hitting Billboard magazine's Dance Club , Mixshow, and Global Dance charts this week. Over at the club chart, the highest entry comes from my girl, Kylie Minogue, with her new song "Timebomb" all the way up at #31. Simply awesome.."Do you wanna dance like it's the last dance in your life?".. Swedish DJ Avicii is back at #34 with the followup to the international smash "Levels" as "Silhouettes" featuring Salem Al Fakir comes in at #34... Jennifer Lopez's "Dance Again" was a #1 dance hit, and her next single featuring rapper Flo Rida comes in at #35, It's "Goin' In"... Canadian Nelly Furtado is back on the dance charts with the earring ode "Big Hoops (Bigger The Better)" at #42... and at #43 is the Scissor Sisters with t...

and now for part four of today's sweeps of Billboard magazine's weekly music charts. This time we run down the new songs on the country radio chart. The highest debut belongs to American Idol third-placer Casey James, and his second genre hit "Crying On A Suitcase" at #54.. (click below to read the rest of the post)

And now for part three of today's sweeps of Billboard magazine's music charts. This time, the newest songs making the R&B/Hip Hop and Adult R&B charts. The highest debut on the main R&B list is by French Montana a rapper born in the North African country of Morocco but currently living in the Bronx. His second R&B hit at #57 is "Pop That", featuring three powerhouses of current rap - Rick Ross, Drake, and Lil' Wayne...(way NSFW) (Click below to read rest of the post)