Twostepcubchart's Best of 2014: Part Nine: #20 to #11...

We're coming close to the end of my top-100 recap of the biggest songs on my weekly personal music chart for 2014. You can check out the rest of the pack by clicking here...

#20 - "The Walker" - Fitz & The Tantrums
         from the album More Than Just A Dream (2013)
         twostepcubchart peak: #1 (two weeks)
         weeks on the chart: 24

The soulful L.A. modern rock band also made the top-20 on my 2013 with "Out Of My League" (#11), and this time out is lower on the list but did one better by reaching #1 on my chart for two weeks. Never has the zombie apocalypse seemed so fun.

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#19 - "All About That Bass" - Meghan Trainor
         from the album Title (2015)
         twostepcubchart peak: #1 (five weeks)
         weeks on the chart: 18 (so far in 2014 - still charting)

Like a Disneyfied and sanitized reincarnation of Amy Winehouse, this singer/songwriter went from writing album tracks for Rascal Flatts to her own "song of the autumn" with this female image enhancer that was so damn catchy and so damn positive that it ruled everywhere. I caught the big early, and feel no shame in liking this guilty pleasure, with a woman in pop music not using scandal or sex or outrageousness to sell herself. Rare find for someone who could've been the "once there was a girl from Nantucket"....

#18 - "Say Something" - A Great Big World featuring Christina Aguilera
         from the album Is There Anybody Out There? (2014)
         twostepcubchart peak: #1 (two weeks)
         weeks on the chart (in 2014): 23

Again, XTina attaches herself to a hit record (like Maroon5's "Moves Like Jagger") to continue her only real big success in the last few years. Sure, the New York duo's delicate break-up song works amazingly by itself, but her clout on The Voice gave the record the exposure it deserved.

#17 - "Hey Brother" - Avicii
         from the album True (2013)
         twostepcubchart peak: #2 (two weeks)
         weeks on the chart (in 2014): 24

The Swedish DJ and producer landed at #21 last year with his folk-ish rave of "Wake Me Up" (which also "bubbled under" this year's list). He went even farther, and in a way, even better, with this follow-up that features vocals from bluegrass musician Dan Tyminski, who besides playing with Alison Krauss, helped sell millions of records for the soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou? at the beginning of the millennium.

#16 - "Come A Little Closer" - Cage The Elephant
         from the album Melophobia (2013)
         twostepcubchart peak: #2 (two weeks)
         weeks on the chart (in 2014): 28

Kentucky garage rockers Cage The Elephant were already up to #3 by my recap of last year and came four notches from making the top 100 of 2013, but this trippy answer to the need for this type of rock since the White Stripes split managed to spend another seven months on my list this year as well.

#15 - "Team" - Lorde
         from the album Pure Heroine (2013)
         twostepcubchart peak: #3 (two weeks)
         weeks on the chart (in 2014): 24

The New Zealand-born songstress, who came in at #6 last year with the Grammy-winning "Royals", proved she was more than a one-trick pony with this equally-worthy follow-up that harkened to the sparse electro-pop of the early 80s.

#14 - "Fever" - Black Keys
         from the album Turn Blue (2014)
         twostepcubchart peak: #2 (three weeks)
         weeks on the chart: 24

The quintessential New York indie-rock duo were at #59 in 2013 with "Little Black Submarines" from their last album. They returned this year with a lo-fi throwdown that throws its keyboard honks down like a church organ.

#13 - "Girls Chase Boys" - Ingrid Michaelson
         from the album Lights Out (2014)
         twostepcubchart peak: #5 (five weeks)
         weeks on the chart: 28

Many have tried to emulate Robert Palmer's over the top 80s videos, but it took "serious" singer/songwriter Michaelson to pick "Simply Irresistible" over "Addicted To Love" and swarm the clip with hunky male models in makeup and heels, as she presides like she doing drag Tina Fey doing drag Sarah Palin. Yes, and the song itself rules.

#12 - "Dangerous" - Big Data featuring Joywave
         from the EP 1.0 (2013)
         twostepcubchart peak: #2 (two weeks)
         weeks on the chart: 27 (so far in 2014 - still charting)

Speaking of over-the-top videos, this graphically violent ad campaign disguised as a music video gave quite an edge to the blips and bleeps of this danceable slice of neo-new wave that was a collaboration between two previously underground indie acts.

#11 - "Rude" - Magic!
         from the album Don't Kill The Magic (2014)
         twostepcubchart peak: #2 (two weeks)
         weeks on the chart: 30 (so far in 2014 - still charting)

Canadian songwriter Nasri went from penning sugary pop singles for the likes of Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, and Jason Derulo to scoring the almost song-of-the-summer with his lite-reggae marriage proposal that charmed the pants off half the female population.

Up tomorrow: The final ten. Who will rule?