Twostepcublog

We move a decade ahead in this week's throwback Thursday to 1981, the year of the Wonderland murders of a cocaine gang involving the biggest name in porn, John Holmes... Styx - " The Best Of Times " from the album Paradise Theater (1981) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 Songwriter: Dennis DeYoung The song that closed the first side of the arena-rock band's classic album was a crescendo of sound not far from the bombast of Broadway. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

It's throwback Thursday 70s style time, and this week I'm serving up seven more nuggets from 1971, the year Jim Morrison died in a bathtub in Paris... Jean Knight - " Mr. Big Stuff " from the album Mr. Big Stuff (1971) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 Songwriters: Joe Broussard, Carol Washington, Ralph Williams The sassy soul singer from the Big Crescent had something to say to those guys too big for their own britches. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Stevie Nicks - " Talk To Me " from the album Rock A Little (1985) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 13 Today's Song of the Day is from singer/songwriter/sometimes Fleetwood Maccer Stevie Nicks , whose second solo album The Wild Heart had rewarded her a trio of top-40 pop hits, including the #5 single " Stand Back " in 1983. Two years later, still without a release from the Mac, Stevie recorded (twice, in fact) a new album, Rock A Little , and the first single from the project, "Talk To Me", was written by Charles Sanford, who penned John Waite's #1 "Missing You"... "Talk To Me" became Stevie's fourth (and so far most recent) top-10 hit outside of Fleetwood Mac in January of 1986, while scoring her first #1 single on Billboard 's Mainstream Rock radio chart. The record also crossed over to the adult contemporary format, peaking at #14. Internationally, the single went to #6 in Can...

Heading down under to check out the songs making their debut on the official singles chart in Australia , as British singer Paloma Faith leaps six spots to #1 with " Only Love Can Hurt Like This "... Rocketing in all the way up at #3 with English singer/songwriter Gabrielle Aplin with "Please Don't Say You Love Me". It follows her #5 cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "The Power Of Love", and already beats this current single's peak in her native Britain... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

It's time for this week's hump-day 60s flashback, with a half-dozen more nuggets from 1961, the year the Russian submarine K-19 leaked radioactive material, which killed dozens of sailors on the ship who were exposed fixing the trouble (later to be made into a Harrison Ford movie The Widowmaker )... Bert Kaempfert - " Wonderland By Night " from the album Wonderland By Night (1960) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 Songwriters: Lincoln Chase, Klaus-Gunter Neuman Proof of the Barenaked Ladies' claim that "Bert Kaempfert's got the mad hits", this trumpet-driven instrumental topped the chart for three weeks and gave the German orchestra leader his big break. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Sting - " Love Is The Seventh Wave " from the album Dream Of The Blue Turtles (1985) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #17 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 9 Today's Song of the Day comes from the British singer/songwriter/bassist Sting , who after disbanding his band the Police released his debut album and already scored back-to-back top-ten pop hits in America with " If You Love Somebody Set Them Free " and " Fortress Around Your Heart ". For the third single from the project he put out the lite-reggae groove of "Love Is The Seventh Wave", which was much more positive a song than his usual fare... "Love Is The Seventh Wave" became Sting's third top-40 solo hit in America in December of 1985. The record also reached the Mainstream Rock (#19) and Adult Contemporary (#20) radio charts in Billboard as well. Internationally, "Love..." was released as the second single, and actually missed the top-40 at #41 in Stin...

Crossing the border into Germany, it's time to sample the songs making the official singles chart, as Andreas Bourani returns to #1 with " Auf Uns "... The top debut of the week at #63 comes from the rock band Hohner from the city of Cologne, who sing in their regional dialect with "Stah Auf Mach Laut!" ("Carry A Loud Voice")... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

It's time again to cross the Atlantic to check out the songs making the top-100 on the official singles chart in France this week, as Lilly Wood & The Prick stick around at #1 for a second week with "Prayer In C"... The top debut of the week at #22 is French pop duo Frero Delavega, who score their third top-40 hit with "Le Chant Des Sirenes" (The Song of the Sirens). The pair competed on The Voice in this country earlier this year, and their first single "Sweet Darling" went to #18.. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Dionne Warwick & Friends - " That's What Friends Are For " from the album Friends (1985) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (four weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 17 Today's Song of the Day comes from a collaborative effort headed by soft soul vocal giant Dionne Warwick . After decades of pop hits starting with her work with Burt Bacharach and moving to her "revival" with music with Barry Manilow and the Bee Gees, by the 1980s Dionne was probably more known by the younger folk for her hosting Solid Gold than her music, which by that time was more successful on the adult contemporary (or "easy listening") circuit. While she had a top-40 hit with Luther Vandross in 1983 with " How Many Times Can I Say Goodbye ", he following album Finder Of Lost Loves didn't even manage a single in the whole pop Hot 100, even though the record had her working with Manilow, Bacharach, and producer Clive Davis again. However, her A-list name status did...

Wang Chung - " To Live And Die In L.A. " from the album To Live And Die In L.A. (Original Soundtrack) (1985) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #41 This week's "robbed hit" comes from the British new wave band Wang Chung , who scored two top-40 hits from their breakthrough album Points On A Curve with " Don't Let Go " and the top-20 " Dance Hall Days ". For their next project they were recruited by director William Friedkin to record the entire soundtrack for the political/crime intrigue movie To Live And Die In L.A. , starring future CSI star William Petersen and Willem Dafoe. The title track from the movie, written by band members Nick Feldman and Jack Hues, became the first single from the effort... While the single climbed to #21 on Billboard 's Mainstream Rock radio chart, it stopped one notch short of the top-40 at #41 for two weeks in December of 1985, spending over four months on the chart. It remains my favorite song fro...

The second half of this week's "album sweep" is up and ready, sampling the records making their debut on Billboard magazine's official Top 200 Albums sales chart this week. You can check out the first half by clicking here , and as before I've included highlighted links to anything you see... The soundtrack to the Zach Braff/Kate Hudson movie Wish I Was Here comes in at #43 this week. The collection includes songs from the Shins, Cat Power, and Bon Iver, among others... Roots-rock veteran John Hiatt returns at #47 with Terms Of My Surrender . His last studio set, Mystic Pinball , remains his sole top-40 album so far... Punk rockers Pennywise land at #62 with Yesterdays . It's their ninth to make the top-100 on the albums chart - in 2003 they made it to #54 with From The Ashes ... Mining the Grateful Dead archive their fans still clamor for, the GarciaLive: Volume Four: March 22nd, 1978, Veteran's Hall live album from the Jerry Garci...

Clarence Clemons & Jackson Browne - " You're A Friend Of Mine " from the album Hero (1985) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #18 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 12 Today's Song of the Day comes from the man that had stood by "The Boss'" side for decades, saxophonist Clarence Clemons . Clemons hooked up with Bruce Springsteen in the early bar-band days, and was there through the artist's entire recording career up to that point in 1985, including the mega-smash Born In The U.S.A. album. In 1985, He released his first true solo album, Hero , which capitalized on the momentum he had with Springsteen, as well as his featured roles on other hits like Aretha Frankin's "Freeway Of Love" The first single from the set was a duet with singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, but "You're A Friend Of Mine" was written by producer Narada Michael Walden along with Jeffrey Cohen, and sounded more akin to "Freeway" (also produced b...

The weekend's finally at a close, and it's time to check out the songs making the official singles chart in Britain this week.... The top song of this week is from former Girls Aloud lead singer Cheryl Cole, who tops the list for the fourth time as a solo artist with "Crazy Stupid Love" featuring British rapper Tinie Tempah. She first hit the summit in 2009 with the sublime "Fight For This Love". This also mark's Tinie's fifth time to the top of the chart... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

It's time to roll out the first half of this week's "album sweep" (yes, it's back), sampling the records making their way on to the official Top 200 Albums sales chart in Billboard magazine. As always, I've included highlighted links to buy any of the sets, along with some of the artists' other major work. Support the talent! This week's biggest-selling album is the first #1 in the long career of musical parody king "Weird Al" Yankovic, as his fourteenth studio album Mandatory Fun sells over 100,000 copies in its first week. It's also his third consecutive top-ten album. I'm so overjoyed to its success, as is Al... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Miami Sound Machine - " Conga " from the album Primitive Love (1985) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #10 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 16 Today's Song of the day comes from the Cuban-American band Miami Sound Machine, who were fronted by husband and wife Emilio and Gloria Estefan . Starting with independent releases in the late 70s, the Latin-flavored outfit released their first proper English-language major album, Eyes Of Innocence , in 1984. The first single from the project, " Dr. Beat ", became a top-10 hit in England, Germany, and the Netherlands, and went top-20 on Billboard 's Dance Club Play chart as well. With that momentum, the group recorded the follow-up, Primitive Love , the following year. With a firm pop presence among the club cuts, the album was a big success. The first single, "Conga", with Gloria's rapid-fire delivery of the chorus and an infectious percussion backdrop, gave the MSM their first big pop radio exposure... ...

I'm at the last installment of today's "chart sweeps", checking out the songs making the charts in Billboard magazine, and I'll wrap things up with the latest dance jams in the clubs and on the radio... On the DJ-polled Dance Club Play chart, Daft Punk get their "lucky" seventh #1 single with " Derezzed "... The top debut at #38 finds Fatboy Slim "presenting" DJ Gregor Salto on "Samba Do Mundo" featuring Saxsymbol & Todorov.... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Part four of this week's "chart sweeps" of the Billboard radio charts has the latest songs on country stations across the U.S.A.... On the mag's Country Airplay chart, Joe Nichols spends a second week at #1 with " Yeah "... The top debut of the week at #50 is the third single from Jerrod Niemann's High Noon album, "Buzz Back Girl". The first, " Drink To That All Night ", topped this chart earlier this year... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

We're at the "hump" of today's "chart sweeps", sampling the songs making the radio charts in Billboard magazine, and this time I'm serving the latest R&B singles ... On the main R&B/Hip Hop Airplay chart, Chris Brown holds for an eighth non-consecutive week at #1 with " Loyal "... The "Rich Gang", a combination of the Young Money and Cash Money rap collectives, come in at #35 with "Lifestyle", featuring Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan. Last year their " Tapout " with Lil' Wayne and Nicki Minaj went to #7... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Round two of this week's "chart sweeps" is up, with the latest songs on Billboard magazine's rock radio charts... On their main Rock Airplay chart, The Black Keys hold tight at #1 for an eleventh week with " Fever "... The big debut of the week at #45 is southern rock act J Roddy Walston & The Business with "Take It As It Comes". The single peaked to #25 on the Alternative rock chart. It's the follow-up to their " Heavy Bells ", which made it to #28. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

It's time to kick off the first of today's "chart sweeps", checking out the songs making their way on to the various singles charts in Billboard magazine. As always, I'll start out on the pop side of things, then later in the day move on to the latest on rock, R&B, country, and dance radio.... On the "big" chart, Billboard 's Hot 100 , which combines tallies of radio airplay from all formats along with sales and internet streaming, Canadian reggae-rock group Magic! spend a second week at #1 with " Rude "... The top debut of the week belongs to Australian "boy-band" 5 Seconds of Summer, who place their fifth song in the top-40 at #24 with "Everything I Didn't Say". Their first album just came out here and is expected to come in at #1 next week. The "offiical" first single " She Looks So Perfect " also peaked at this rank, and sits at #74 in its 16th week. I guess now the 1D/Bieber crowd...

Survivor - " Burning Heart " from the album Rocky IV (Original Soundtrack) (1985) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 16 Today's song of the day comes from a band that got their big break with a theme song from Sylvester Stallone's boxing franchise sequel, Rocky III . " Eye Of The Tiger " topped the singles chart in 1982, and since then, the band that recorded it, Survivor , switched lead vocalist to Jimi Jamison, and enjoyed a successful follow-up album Vital Signs that scored a trio of top-20 pop hits in the U.S. In 1985, the band was hired yet again to record a song for the next Rocky movie, and the result, "Burning Heart", resulted in another hit... "Burning Heart" reached the runner-up spot on the American pop chart in February of 1986, while stopping at #11 on Billboard 's Mainstream Rock radio chart. Internationally, the single did very well, becoming the band's second top-10 hit in ...

Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 tunes from last week. Sam Smith holds on to the top spot for a fifth week, while Canadian reggae stars (that aren't Snow) Magic! land in my top-5. Former big hits from Sara Bareilles and Thomas Rhett drop off of my chart, while songs by Dave Aude' with Andy Bell, Kylie Minogue, and Robyn & Royksopp make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ). Congrats on your wedding Whore and Dr. Whore! This Week           Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Stay With Me - Sam Smith (1) 2. Sing - Ed Sheeran (2) 3. Summer - Calvin Harris (5) 4. Am I Wrong - Nico & Vinz (6) 5. Rude - Magic! (7) 6. Fever - The Black Keys (3) 7. Come With Me Now - KONGOS (4) 8. Problem - Ariana Grande f/Iggy Azalea (18) 9. I Wanna Get Better - Bleachers (13) 10. Fa...

Kool & The Gang - " Emergency " from the album Emergency (1984) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #18 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 8 Today's Song of the Day comes from a R&B/pop band from New Jersey that were enjoying a huge success with their 16th studio album, Kool & The Gang . The first three singles from the set became top-10 pop hits in the U.S. - " Misled ", " Fresh ", and their signature ballad " Cherish ". For their fourth release from the set (surprising since the record only had eight tracks) the band released the title track, written and produced by the band, and got them back on the dance floor... "Emergency" became the band's fourth top-20 pop hit in America from the album in December of 1985. It also climbed up to #7 on Billboard 's R&B chart (their sixth consecutive top-10) and popped in at #41 on their dance club play chart. Internationally, while the single went top-40 in Ireland, it...

We move ahead a decade in this week's throwback to 1980, with eight more nuggets from the year Pope John Paul II visited Brazil, causing a stampede that killed seven people. (I've included links to buy anything you see, support the talent!)... Diana Ross - " Upside Down " from the album diana (1980) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 Songwriters: Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers The quintessential diva caught the tail-end of the disco craze with the guys from Chic in this summertime classic. Also, too, "respectfully, I say to thee..". (Click below to see the rest of the post)

It's throwback Thursday 70s-style time, and this week i'mback to 1970, the year Casey Kasem's American Top 40 syndicated radio show starts in July. (I've included highlights links to buy anything on MP3 or CD)... Three Dog Night - " Mama Told Me (Not To Come) " from the album It Ain't Easy (1970) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 Songwriter: Randy Newman The very first #1 song on Kasem's show was this cover of a Randy Newman song by the biggest hitmaking band of the early 70s. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Dire Straits - " Walk Of Life " from the album Brothers In Arms (1985) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 15 Today's Song of the Day comes from the British progressive rock band that struck in "rich" in 1985 with their #1 hit " Money For Nothing ", Dire Straits. For it's follow-up the group released "Walk Of Life", a song about a busker that integrated old-time rock with folksy guitar strumming and a keyboard riff like newbies the Hooters.... "Walk Of Life" became the second top-10 pop hit off their Brothers In Arms album in January of 1986, while scaling to #6 on Billboard 's Mainstream Rock and #4 on their adult contemporary radio chart. Internationally, the single was a big hit, and in their native Britain did even better than "Money For Nothing", climbing to #2 on the UK pop charts, and topping the list in Ireland. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

I'm ready to head Down Under to check out the songs making the official singles chart in Australia this week, as the Madden Brothers spend a second week on top with " We Are Done "... Coming in at the runner-up spot is French DJ/producer David Guetta with "Lovers On The Sun" featuring vocals from Sam Martin, a songwriter who co-penned Maroon 5's "Daylight"... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Humpday 60s flashback time is back, and this week I'm serving up a half-dozen more nuggets from 1960, the year that a US Air Force plane was shot down over Murmansk, Russia. Brian Hyland - " Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini " from the album The Bashful Blond (1961) Billboard Hot 100 peak; #1 Songwriters: Lee Pockriss, Paul Vance The summer novelty tune about a bashful girl would have nothing these days on the thong-donning Jersey Girls. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

The Cars - " Tonight She Comes " from the album Greatest Hits (1985) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 12 Today's Song of the Day comes from the new wave band from Boston, The Cars , who had the biggest album of their career with their fifth studio release Heartbeat City , which spun off five top-40 pop hits including two top-tenners with " You Might Think " and " Drive ". As the band took a breather (with members Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr releasing solo albums, the Cars released a greatest hits collection, including a new song as the first single. "Tonight She Comes", written by Ocasek and produced by the band with Mike Shipley, sounds like an extension of their Heartbeat City work.... "Tonight She Comes" became the Cars' fourth top-ten pop hit in January of 1986, while going all the way to #1 on Billboard 's Mainstream Rock radio chart (which they did before with "You Might T...