Twostepcub's Best of 2012, Part One - #100-#91..

Wow. December 17th. I can't believe it. This year went by both blindingly fast and painfully slow, with enough tragedy, elation, and conflict to fill a decade. But with not much ado it's time to kick off my yearly recap of the biggest hits on my personal chart this year. I'll go through 10 a day for the next ten business days (save Christmas) until I get to the Top-10 on New Years Eve. I'll also sometime soon post a separate list of my personal favorites of the year that didn't make this score-tallied chart...and away we go...(I've also included links to buy any mp3 on Amazon as well)...

#100. Robin Thicke - "Love After War"
          from the album Love After War (2011)
          Twostepcubchart peak: #24 (two weeks)
         Weeks on the chart: 16

Thicke, yes, the son of Growing Pains father Alan, has fully snagged the blue-eyed soul crown from Justin Timberlake by default, but he steps up his game with this slinky, adult love song about a relationship that isn't perfect but still worth it.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


#99. Demi Lovato - "Give Your Heart A Break"
        from the album Unbroken (2011)
        Twostepcubchart peak: #35 (two weeks)
       Weeks in the chart: 21

Demi might be losing the "who's more cray-cray on the X Factor" race with Britney, but her post-rehab output is more mature than Spears' current repetoire. This by-the-numbers pop song at least has the weight of an emotional tangle based in reality, and it's a mature attitude to let a bad relationship go that's a good one to teach the kiddies. The anti-Rihanna, if you will.

#98. Luke Bryan - "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye"
        from the album Tailgates & Tanlines (2011)
        Twostepcubchart peak: #14 (two weeks)
       Weeks in the chart: 15

Bryan sneaked along to gain his A-list status, claiming the top country album by a male this year. This song, the third consecutive #1 hit from the album, is a driving, hook-filled song sung with enough earnestness to feel at home with rock audiences without the usual hard-ass moves. But it didn't want to, content in reigning on country radio...

#97. David Guetta featuring Usher - "Without You"
        from the album Nothing But The Beat (2011)
        Twostepcubchart peak (in 2012): #3 (two weeks)
        Weeks on the chart (in 2012): 12

This former #1 song from last year (it made the 2011 list at #72) had enough gas to last onto the top-100 of this year. It was definitely the most uplifting moment on Guetta's excellent Nothing But The Beat album that has more appearances coming up later on the list...


#96 - Scissor Sisters - "Let's Have A Kiki"
          from the album Magic Hour (2012)
         Twostepcubchart peak: #10 (two weeks)
         Weeks in the chart: 12

The gay party anthem of the year, not since "Vogue" has an underground aspect of the GLBT community got this wide exposure. With Britney Spears, Wendy Williams, and all of Bravo behind them, this delectably bitchy space-house jam should have been a novelty smash, but I guess even edited it was too risque for radio, and sadly not enough of my own community supported the work by freaking buying it.


#95 - The Script featuring will.i.am - "Hall Of Fame"
          from the album #3 (2012)
          Twostepcubchart peak: #22 (two weeks)
          Weeks in the chart: 15

A by-product of the Voice franchise as lead singer Danny O'Donoghue and will.i.am are judges/mentors on the British version of the show. Mind you, he doesn't bring more than window dressing to the Irish band's first hit as A-listers (well, at least in Britain), but their earnest common-man anthem was a noble left-turn from their string of break-up songs.


#94 - Hunter Hayes - "Wanted"
         from the album Hunter Hayes (2011)
         Twostepcubchart peak: #28 (two weeks)
         Weeks in the chart: 20

The country prodigy is an anomaly in Nashville, playing all his own instruments and writing his songs, but Hayes proves more than a gimmick with this power-ballad that out-rascals Rascal Flatts, and now it's got a new life on adult-pop radio...

#93 - Jake Owen - "Alone With You"
         from the album Barefoot Blue Jean Night (2011)
         Twostepcubchart peak: #14 (two weeks)
         Weeks in the chart: 15

The most "cosmopolitan" of his three #1 hits from his latest album still has enough realism and emotional baggage to dissuade any "non-traditional" complaints.

#92 - Chris Young - "You"
          from the album Neon (2011)
          Twostepcubchart peak: #15 (one week)
          Weeks in the chart: 12

Chris can 'pump my gas' any day. But seriously, the Nashville Star winner's midtempo charmer from his third album proves he's one of the few still carrying the traditional banner for country music. Plus, this makes an awesome two-step song.

#91 - Miranda Lambert - "Over You"
          from the album Four The Record (2011)
          Twostepcubchart peak: #12 (one week)
          Weeks in the chart: 16

The touching ballad co-written by Lambert and husband Blake Shelton about the death of Blake's brother in a car accident was ambiguous enough to connect with romantic loss, and stands out as one of Miranda's most tear-inducing performances. No wonder I wasn't too impressed with Cassadee Pope's cover on The Voice - it could never match the original.

Well that does it for part one of this year's recap...tomorrow I'll have part two, with a truckload of country and a song from a movie series I adore.