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Today, March 31st, marks the 79th birthday of stage, screen, and music legend Shirley Jones... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Eurythmics - " Love Is A Stranger " from the album Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #23 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 6 Today's Song of the Day was the second hit for the British electro-pop duo Eurythmics , who broke through the music world in a huge way in 1983 with their #1 hit " Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) ". After the success of that song, Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart re-released their previous British minor hit single "Love Is A Stranger", which brought them back to the charts on both sides of the Atlantic... While "Love is A Stranger" was a moderate hit in the States, the re-release of the single in Britain was a big success, as it reached #6 on the pop chart there. It also was a top-10 club hit in America... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

It's time to round things out with the latest Dance jams making Billboard magazine's singles charts. On the DJ-polled Hot Dance Club Play list, Dutch producer Afrojack and yeah yeah Chris Brown are on top with " As Your Friend ". The big debut at #43 is indie-rock group Passion Pit with "Carried Away". It's my "dance pick of the week".... Australian dance duo Stafford Brothers, who had a reality show of their own in their country, arrive on American shores at #44 with "Hello" featuring Lil Wayne and Christina Milian... Brass Knuckles debut at #45 with their "Bad Habits"... The final new song on the club chart at #46 is another newcomer, Sophi, with "This Is Our Love"... Meanwhile, over on the radio-monitored Hot Dance Airplay/Mixshow chart, Calvin Harris and Florence Welch are at #1 for week number six with " Sweet Nothing "... The high debut at #21 is Austin Texas tra...

Country's up now in this "chart sweep" of the newest songs making their debut on the charts at Billboard magazine. On the Country Airplay chart , Blake Shelton goes round 2 at the top with " Sure Be Cool If You Did "... The top entry of the week at #49 is Phil Vassar, the songwriter turned 00s hitmaker that topped the chart twice with "Just Another Day In Paradise" and "In A Real Love". His latest in indie label Rodeowave is "Love Is Alive"... Newcomer Jon Pardi follow up his #29 hit "Missin' You Crazy" with "Up All Night" at #52.. Now that Richie McDonald has rejoined Lonestar, they return with a second hit at #58 with "Maybe Someday", and it's my "country pick of the week.... The final new entry of the week at #59 is a track from the former #1 album Spring Break...Here To Party by Luke Bryan, "Buzzkill".... That does it for this sweep...I'll close...

We're up to part three of this week's "chart sweeps" of the newest songs making their way on to the music charts in Billboard magazine, and now it's the latest on R&B radio.. On the main R&B/HipHop Airplay chart, Rihanna swings around for a sixth week at #1 with " Pour It Up "... The single debut of the week at #39 is rapper Kendrick Lamar with the third single from his Good Kid MAAD City set "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe", while his "Poetic Justice" remains at #4 and first hit "Swimming Pools (Drank)" moves up to #17 in its 32nd week... Meanwhile, on the Adult R&B chart, Miguel's mega-huge " Adorn " stays at #1 for a 15th non-consecutive week... The top entry at #34 is new artist Marley Munroe, who was signed by Color Me Badd's Sam Watters, with "Boomerang", and it's my "soul pick of the week".... The other debut this week is singer Raheem DeVaug...

It's time for part two of this week's "chart sweeps" sampling the new songs making their debut on Billboard magazines various music charts. This time out it's the latest on rock radio. On the aggregate Rock Airplay chart, combining airplay from all rock stations, Imagine Dragons settle in at #1 for a fourth week with " Radioactive ". Rocketing in at #9 is the newest by alt-rock pretty-boys 30 Seconds To Mars with "Up In The Air". It already is their third-biggest hit here - they took both "Kings And Queens" and "This Is War" to #4 from their last album.. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Hey gang - It's time to kick off today's "Chart Sweeps" of the newest songs making their way on to this week's music charts in Billboard magazine, and this time out it's the latest on the pop side.... On the "big" chart, the Billboard Hot 100 , the staff now are backpedaling that the last five weeks were a "fluke" and not a poor editing position as " Thrift Shop " by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis reclaims the #1 spot for a fifth non-consecutive week. The top debut of the week at #42 is will.i.am with another hot mess of a production product called "#thatPower". Featuring Justin Bieber on chorus vocals for maximum financial gain, this record is everything stolen from 90s filtered house records with Chris Brown-esque vocal riffs that I guess is somewhat better than "Scream & Shout" in the way that shit with chocolate chips if somewhat better than regular shit. It's a shame the one track from his ne...

Today, March 30th, marks the 45th birthday of Celine Dion.... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Quiet Riot - " Cum On Feel The Noize " from the album Metal Health (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 14 Today's Song of the Day was the first American true "heavy metal" record to reach the top-10 on the pop charts, by a group that also topped the album chart with a heavy metal title for the first time. Quiet Riot started out in the Los Angeles area gigging at clubs and opening for bigger acts like Van Halen. After getting signed in the 70s, their first two records were put out only in Japan, after which guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Rudy Sarzo were nabbed from the group to join Ozzy Osbourne's band. However, after Rhoads' untimely death in a plane crash, Sarzo returned to the band as they prepared a new album that started as a tribute to Rhoads, and ended up being the Metal Health album. The song that would bring Quiet Riot their seemingly instant fame was a cover of a #1 single from England from a dec...

Hey gang, right now I'm barreling towards Florida, but in the meantime it's time for my top-100 tunes for the week. This week Macklemore & Ryan Lewis cash in a fifth week on top, with Icelandic rockers Of Monsters And Men (pictured above) jump into to the top-10 with their second hit. Previous big hits by Matchbox Twenty, Imagine Dragons, Churchill, Taylor Swift, and Labrinth drop off my list, while tracks by Pink & Nate Ruess, Ed Sheeran, and C-Rod with Jason Walker make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ). Oh Mickey, you're so fine! This Week        Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Thrift Shop - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis f/Wanz (1) 2. Tornado - Little Big Town (3) 3. Radioactive - Imagine Dragons (5) 4. Carry On - fun (8) 5. Two Black Cadillacs - Carrie Underwood (9) 6. Catch My Breath - Kelly...

Today, March 29th, marks the 54th birthday of alt-punk king Perry Farrell... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson - " Say Say Say " from the album Pipes Of Peace (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (six weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 18 Today's Song of the Day is the superstar pairing of two of the indisputably biggest names in pop music, Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson , who each had by the early 80s carved out a nice successful solo career beyond their original groups. Paul had returned to #1 in 1982 with another big "duet" with Stevie Wonder, " Ebony & Ivory ", while Michael was smack in the middle of the biggest album of all time, Thriller . While recording the album that contained Paul's previous chart-topper, he and Jackson recorded "Say Say Say" which would eventually land on McCartney's next album, Pipes Of Peace . Written by the pair, and produced by Beatles' collaborator George Martin, and was the most-hyped hit of the year, complete with a high-concept video directed by Bob Girald...

Hey gang, it's time for another voyage back to the 80s, and this week it's eight more nuggets from 1982, the year Johnny Carson hosted the Oscars and Chariots Of Fire won Best Picture. George Benson - " Turn Your Love Around " from the album The George Benson Collection (1981) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 An add-on track to Benson's greatest hits set, this single's smooth, positive delivery belies its love-in-trouble lyrics, written by Chicago's Bill Champlin and Toto's Steve Lukather. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

I'm back with another seven nuggets from the golden 70s, and this time it's a trip to 1972, the year Pioneer 10 , the first satellite to leave the solar system, is launched. Bill Withers - " Use Me " from the album Still Bill (1972) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 Whenever I need to reign in my sometimes insatiable urge to buy new music, I dig up treasures like this that I could take to a desert island and be happy with. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Today, March 28th, marks the 27th birthday of Lady GaGa.. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Def Leppard - "Foolin'"  from the album Pyromania (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #28 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 5 Today's Song of the Day is by the British mainstream metal band Def Leppard , who had the first big hard-rock album of the 80s to reach pop radio with Pyromania , which had already scored two top-20 hits with " Photograph " and " Rock Of Ages ". The third single released from the multi-platinum album was "Foolin'", a harder-edged rocker than the radio-friendly pair... "Foolin'", written by singer Joe Elliott with guitarist Steve Clark and producer wunderkind "Mutt" Lange, became the band's third top-40 hit in the fall of 1983. It also reached #9 on the rock radio chart, but like their other hits didn't get any traction in their home country, where it didn't even make the top-100. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

This week's Australian sweep is up, so let's check out the new songs reaching the chart Down Under this week, and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis rack up a third #1 hit (out of three released) with " Can't Hold Us "... The top debut of the week is by American rapper Flo Rida, who jumps in at #31 with "Sweet Spot" featuring Jennifer Lopez. It makes the final of the nine tracks on his Wild Ones album to reach the top-100 chart... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Hey gang, it's time for another trip back to the sixties, and this week's it's another half-dozen nuggets from 1962, the year Lawrence In Arabia starring Peter O'Toole debuts in America and Britain. Ray Charles - " I Can't Stop Loving You " from the album Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music (1962) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 Ray took a B-side of a country hit and made it the biggest single of the year with this reverent to the point of religious take on the Don Gibson song. His fusion of country, pop, and soul on his two C&W albums are one of the most lasting legacies in modern music. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Today, March 27th, marks the 43rd birthday of Mariah Carey... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Agnetha Faltskog - "Can't Shake Loose" from the album Wrap Your Arms Around Me (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 5 Today's Song of the Day is from the second former member of ABBA to have a hit apart from the group, Agnetha Faltskog (one of the "A"s in ABBA). Before she joined the worldwide pop phenomenon, Agnetha was a successful pop singer in her native Sweden already, with a bunch of local hits started out with " Jag var så kär " ("I Was So In Love") back in 1967 (when she was just 17). As one of the two leading ladies in ABBA, Faltskog enjoyed one of the biggest success stories in pop music of the 70s, climaxed by their #1 US hit " Dancing Queen " in 1976. After her marriage to member Bjorn Ulvaeus and subsequently the group disintegrated, Agnetha ventured back out for a solo career. Her first release apart from ABBA, a duet with Swedish singer Tomas Ledin, became a moderate worl...

It's time now to cross over the border to Germany to sample the songs making their debut on the official sales chart this week, as will.i.am and Britney (bitch)'s reign finally is interrupted by British singer Passenger with " Let Her Go "... The top entry of the week at #47 is by one-man dance act Schiller, who was born Christopher von Deylen in the northern town of Visselhovede, with "Lichtermeer" ("Sea of Light"). (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Good afternoon, gang, it's time to cross the Atlantic once more to check out the new songs making their way on to the official sales charts in France this week, as Macklemore and Ryan Lewis hang in for an eighth week at #1 with " Thrift Shop "... Rocketing in at #3 for the high entry of the week is rapper Matire Gims from the group Sexion D'Assaut, with his biggest solo hit yet, "J'me Tire" ("I Draw"). Born in Zaire, he was just on the chart with "Meurtre Par Strangulation"... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Today, March 26th, marks the 45th birthday of country singer Kenny Chesney... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Huey Lewis & The News - " Heart And Soul " from the album Sports (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #8 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 13 Today's Song of the Day is by the dapper pop bar-band Huey Lewis & The News , who broke through on pop radio in 1982 with their second album, Picture This , which scored two top-40 hits with " Do You Believe In Love " and " I Hope You Love Me Like You Say You Do ". The band was ready with their next album, but due to conflict within their record company, Chrysalis, they held out until the fall of 1983 to release Sports . The first single, "Heart And Soul", picked up nicely where they left off - written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, the guys behind Toni Basil's #1 hit "Mickey", the semi-agressive guitar and jangly percussion found a welcome home on the radio amidst all the cold new wave, and with the band producing the album, it brought out a cohesiveness that felt like it was ...

The S.O.S. Band - " Just Be Good To Me " from the album On The Rise (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #55 This week's robbed hit is by the Atlanta disco/soul outfit the S.O.S. Band, who crashed the party in a big way right at the end of the genre high with the classic " Take Your Time (Do It Right) ", which reached #3 on the pop chart and sold over two million copies. However, amidst changing producers over a course of a couple more albums, they hadn't returned to pop radio since that point. Shaking things up and recruiting producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis from The Time, the band released their fourth album On The Rise in 1983. The first single, "Just Be Good To Me", gave them an epic though lower-tempo jam that did pretty well... "Just Be Good To Me" was a huge R&B for the group, reaching #2, and stopped at #3 on the dance chart, but stalled at #55 over on the pop chart in 1983. Overseas, it was their biggest hit in ...

Welcome back to part two of this week's "album sweep" sampling the new records reaching Billboard magazine's Top 200 albums chart this week. You can check out part one by clicking here , and as before I've included links to buy anything if possible. Creeping in at #92 this week is the first soundtrack EP for the wildly popular AMC series The Walking Dead . This a remix of the title theme as well as underground artists and a ringer in Of Monsters and Men, this set is a really brief snippet of the show's musical landscape. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Today, March 25th, marks the 71st birthday of the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Men At Work - " Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive " from the album Cargo (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #28 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 5 Today's Song of the Day is by the Australian rock group Men At Work , who had already scored two top-10 pop hits in America from their second album Cargo , " Overkill " (one of my favorite songs of the 80s), and the anti-war " It's A Mistake ". They followed up with a song turning a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson on its head into a comic "love potion" ditty about a scientist who concocts something to make himself more attractive... "Dr. Heckyll" became Men At Work's last pop top-40 appearance in the US, although they did come close a couple years later with "Everything I Need". The single also reached #12 on the rock radio chart, and overseas in their home country it was their fifth and final top-10 hit, and the fourth and final top-40 single in Britain. In ...

Well, the weekend's coming to a close, so time to check out the new songs reaching the top-100 of the Official Charts in the UK this week, tracking all the sales of the songs in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The top-selling single this week is the first #1 hit for girl-group the Saturdays with "What About Us". The four British and one Irish women have recently jumped on the reality show train, and this track actually charted on the American dance list a couple of months ago. It features reggae-pop artist Sean Paul, who scores his second featured-credit #1 after Blu Cantrell's "Breathe" in 2003. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Good afternoon, folks, it's time to kick off part one of this week's "album sweep" sampling the new records spending their first week on Billboard magazine's Top 200 Albums chart. I've included links to buy anything when I can, but please try making it to a local record shop if you can. This week's two top-selling albums are by people over 50...which tells you the market for albums these days (where shall the blame commence...). The winner this week is 51-year-old Jon Bon Jovi, as his namesake band sells just under 100,000 copies to land at #1 with What About Now . It's their fifth #1 album (and third consecutive studio set to do that)... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Today, March 24th, marks the 64th birthday of British singer/songwriter/producer Nick Lowe... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Billy Joel - " Uptown Girl " from the album An Innocent Man (1983) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (five weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 16 Today's Song of the Day is by the "Piano Man", Billy Joel , who kicked off his retro-sounding landmark album An Innocent Man in the fall of 1983 with the US #1 hit " Tell Her About It ". That single had barely peaked before people were slamming radio stations with requests for what would be the next single, "Uptown Girl". Originally written for then-girlfriend Elle McPherson, then inspired obviously by the next supermodel who would become Billy's wife, Christie Brinkley, the record seemed ripped right out of the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons' catalog. With Christie in the video as a rich lady at Joel's car shop, MTV was all over this one. "Uptown Girl" was his biggest hit in Britain, topping the chart for five weeks, the same amount of time it spent at #3 in America. It a...

Well, it's time to wrap up today's "chart sweeps" checking out the songs making their way on to the weekly music charts at Billboard magazine, and right now it's the latest dance jams in the clubs and on the radio. On the DJ-polled Hot Dance Club Play chart, Mayra Veronica scored her first #1 club hit with " Ay Mama Mia "....  The top entry at #43 is Scotsman Calvin Harris with English singer Ellie Goulding with "I Need Your Love". Both have topped this chart in the last year. This is my "Dance Pick Of the Week".... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

We're up to part four of this week's "chart sweeps" sampling the new songs making the charts at Billboard magazine, and this time out it's the latest on country radio. On the Hot Country Airplay chart , Blake Shelton grabs his 13th chart-topper with " Sure Be Cool If You Did ".  It's his eighth #1 in a row, not bad for a song that cribs Barenaked Ladies' "Pinch Me"... The top entry of the week at #57 is Justin Moore with "Point At You", the first single from his upcoming third album. Justin's had two singles that went to the top of the chart, "Small Town USA" and "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away". It's this week's "Country Pick of the Week"... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

It's part three time for today's "chart sweeps" checking out the new songs making it on to the weekly music charts in Billboard magazine, and this time it's the latest on R&B radio... On the main R&B/HipHop Airplay chart , Rihanna hangs in at #1 for a fifth week with " Pour It Up "... The single debut of the week at #49 is by the artist RiRi replaced at the top, Miguel, with "How Many Drinks?", as his classic "Adorn" is still at #2, while climbing back to #1 for a 14th non-consecutive week. It's by default the R&B "Pick of the Week", since nothing else comes in to either the main or the adult R&B charts this week, but I don't mind, his album is a keeper... Coming up next in an hour and a half is the latest on country radio...