Twostepcublog

Friday's here and it's time to run down my top 100 tunes from the previous week. OMI remains at #1 for a third week with "Cheerleader", while Little Big Town (pictured above) climb into the top-5. A former big hit from Houndmouth drops off my list, while songs from Mumford & Sons, Jessica Sutta, and Giorgio Moroder/Sia  make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ). No contract, no peace! This Week             Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Mix) - Omi (1) 2. Honey, I'm Good. - Andy Grammer (2) 3. Renegades - X Ambassadors (3) 4. Fight Song - Rachel Platten (4) 5. Girl Crush - Little Big Town (7) 6. Lean On - Major Lazer & DJ Snake f/MO (8) 7. Tear In My Heart - twenty-one pilots (11) 8. Shut Up And Dance - Walk The Moon (6) 9. Want To Want Me - Jason Derulo (5) 10. Photograph - Ed

" I Just Can't Stop Loving You " - Michael Jackson from the album Bad (1987) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 11 Today's SOTD comes from the "King of Pop", Michael Jackso n , who in 1987 was poised for a return since his landmark Thriller album which spun off a record seven top-10 singles. After an album with his Jacksons brothers and a reissue from Motown that placed a remixed " Farewell My Summer Love " on to the Top-40 in 1984, he had been relatively quiet, musically. However, Jackson was getting more attention from his personal life than his work, between buying the Beatles' publishing catalog (which was reported to have caused a rift in his friendship with Paul McCartney), his outlandish estate (complete with pet monkey), but most prominently his change of appearance, between clearly visible signs of multiple plastic surgeries he denied but also the color of his skin itself, which he explained was cause

I'm ready to head Down Under to check out the songs making their debut on the official singles chart in Australia this week, as Belgian DJ/producer Lost Frequencies (aka Felix De Laet) moves to #1 with " Are You With Me "... Homegrown "boy-band" 5 Seconds of Summer claim the top debut in their own country as "She's Kinda Hot" rockets in at #6. It becomes their fourth top-10 hit in Australia; they topped the chart with their breakthrough single " She Looks So Perfect "... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Here I Go Again " - Whitesnake from the album Whitesnake (1987) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 14 Today's SOTD comes from the British hard-rock band Whitesnake , who came together under lead singer David Coverdale after his departure from Deep Purple in the late 70s, adopting the name from his first solo album. They released their first album as a unit in 1978, but it wasn't until record number two that they got their stride, with Lovehunter reaching the UK top-40 albums chart and track " Long Way From Home " becoming a minor hit at #55 there. By the start of the 80s, two other former members of Deep Purple were part of the group, and they scored their first big pop hit in Britain with " Fool For Your Loving " at #13 (it also reached the American Hot 100 at #53, and in 1989 would be re-recorded to become a US top-40 hit). In 1982, the band with a mostly new lineup save for DP'ers Coverdale and Lord and

Here's the top 10 hits in Germany this week, according to their official singles chart , as Belgian DJ Lost Frequencies scores his second #1 hit out of two releases (after " Are You With Me ") with "Reality" featuring Dutch singer Janieck Devy... 1. " Reality " - Lost Frequencies featuring Janieck Devy (2) 2. " Bye Bye " - Cro (1) 3. "Sugar" - Robin Schulz featuring Francesco Yates (DEBUT) 4. " Supergirl " - Anna Naklab featuring Alle Farben and Younotus (3) 5. " Ain't Nobody (Loves Me Better) " - Felix Jaehn featuring Jasmine Thompson (4) 6. " Stole The Show " - Kygo featuring Parson James (5) 7. " Unter Mein Haut - Gestört aber GeiL & Koby Funk featuring Wincent Weiss (6) 8. "Photograph" - Ed Sheeran (DEBUT) 9. " Lean On " - Major Lazer and DJ Snake featuring MO (9) 10. " Waiting For Love " - Avicii (8) German DJ, remixer, and producer Robin

" Mary's Prayer " - Danny Wilson from the album Meet Danny Wilson (1987) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #23 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 8 Today's SOTD comes from the Scottish "sophisti-pop" trio Danny Wilson , who came together in the northeast city of Dundee in the mid-80s as Spencer Tracy, before being forced to change to the titular character in a Frank Sinatra movie when their debut album, Meet Danny Wilson , was released in 1987. With brothers Gary and Kit Clark along with childhood friend and bassist Ged Grimes, their first offering was "Mary's Prayer", a smooth slice of pop that somehow tanked in Britain on its first go, not even making the top-40 on a second run before American pop radio found a home for the song.... "Mary's Prayer" became Danny Wilson's sole American pop hit, reaching the top-40 in September of 1987. It naturally did even better on "easy listening" radio, climbing to #6 on Billbo

Here's the top ten hits in France this week, according to their official music chart , as Feder and Lyse spend a sixth week at #1 with "Goodbye"... 1. " Goodbye " - Feder featuring Lyse (1) 2. " Reality " - Lost Frequencies featuring Janieck Devy (4) 3. " Ain't Nobody (Loves Me Better) " - Felix Jaehn featuring Jasmine Thompson (3) 4. " Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Mix) " - OMI (2) 5. " Lean On " - Major Lazer & DJ Snake featuring MO (6) 6. " Homeless " - Marina Kaye (5) 7. " Hey Mama " - David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj & Afrojack (7) 8. "Where Are U Now" - Skrillex & Diplo featuring Justin Bieber (DEBUT) 9. " Stole The Show " - Kygo featuring Parson James (9) 10. " Le Chant Des Sirenes " - Frero Delavega (RE-ENTRY) Dubstep/alt-dance production kings Skrillex and Diplo, otherwise monikered as Jack U, land in the top 10 along with Justin Bieber

" When Smokey Sings " - ABC from the album Alphabet City (1987) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 12 Today's SOTD comes from the English new wave group ABC , who had changed their sound dramatically on each of their first three albums, going from their stellar debut as a suave New Romantic quartet on The Lexicon Of Love , to their sophomore mainstream rock effort Beauty Stab (which flopped in the States), to the cartoonish pop-dance of How To Be A Zillionaire , which brought them back to American radio with the top-10 " Be Near Me " and top-20 follow-up " How To Be A Millionaire " in 1985. For their next release, the remaining duo of Martin Fry and Mark White went back to their roots with Alphabet City , a mature, lyrically entertaining batch of wit and storytelling that served as a much better followup to their debut. The first single, "When Smokey Sings", used a legend from the past that was just having h

" I Want Action " - Poison from the album Look What The Cat Dragged In (1986) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #50 This week's "robbed hit" comes from the glam-metal band Poison , whose extra spending in the hair and makeup department paid off in droves as their single " Talk Dirty To Me " climbed into the pop top 10 in America in the spring of 1987. Their next release was a natural progression as "I Want Action" signaled their next stop intentions.... While the song followed the template of their previous single, it stopped short at the halfway mark on Billboard 's Hot 100 in July of 1987. However that slip wouldn't last as it would be their last to miss the top-40 for quite a while. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Doing It All For My Baby " - Huey Lewis & The News from the album Fore! (1986) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 11 Today's SOTD comes from the mainstream pop/rock band Huey Lewis & The News , whose straight-laced offering Fore! had already rewarded them with four consecutive top-10 hits with " I Know What I Like ", " Hip To Be Square ", and a pair of #1s with " Jacob's Ladder " and "S tuck With You ". The fifth single put out from the album was the doo-wop-ish "Doing It All For My Baby", along with the big-budget MTV video extravaganza... "Doing It All..." became the fifth top-10 pop hit from Fore in the U.S. in September of 1987, while climbing to #2 on Billboard 's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

It's time to check out the new songs making the official singles chart in the UK this week, as Little Mix holds tight at #1 for a second week with " Black Magic "... British singer John Newman claims the top debut of the week at #5 with the first single from his upcoming sophomore album Revolve , "Come and Get It". John has topped the UK chart three times, once as a solo artist with " Love Me Again ", once supporting Rudimental on " Feel The Love ", and once as the vocalist on Calvin Harris' " Blame "... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Give To L i ve " - Sammy Hagar from the album I Never Said Goodbye (1987) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #23 (one week) Weeks in the top-40: 7 Today's SOTD comes from the "Red Rocker" himself, Sammy Hagar , who after scoring a pair of top-40 pop hits in 1984 with " Two Sides Of Love " and " I Can't Drive 55 " joined hard rock titans Van Halen after the departure of David Lee Roth. After contributing a song to the Sly Stallone movie Over The Top , " Winner Takes It All ", which was a minor pop hit and a #3 rock hit. Still owing another solo album to his former record label, Sammy released his ninth studio set in 1987. With an MTV contest to name the record resulting in I Never Said Goodbye , the first single, "Give To Live", was a more serious choice of single than his normal fare... Oh, that hair. "Give To Live" became Sammy's fourth and so-far last top-40 solo pop hit in August of 1987, while

I'm ready to wrap up this week's 'music sweeps' checking out the songs making the Billboard charts for the last couple weeks with the latest dance jams in the clubs and on the radio... On the DJ-polled Dance Club Play chart newcomers L'Tric landed their first #1 with " This Feeling ", and this week 75-year-old Giorgio Moroder takes over with " Deja Vu " featuring Sia... Kelly Clarkson entered the chart last week with "Invincible" at #39 and rockets to #25 this time out. It follows her " Heartbeat Song ", which went all the way to the top ... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Part four of this week's "music sweeps" has the latest hits on country radio as monitored by Billboard magazine... On their Country Airplay chart last week Canaan Smith scored his first #1 hit with " Love You Like That ", which is replaced this time out by Jason Aldean with his fourteenth, " Tonight Looks Good On You "... Country bear Tyler Farr follows up his first #1 hit "A Guy Walks Into A Bar" with "Withdrawals", which climbs from #58 to #52, and nabs my " Country Pick of the Week "...  The king of traditional country these days, Alan Jackson, returns with "Jim And Jack and Hank" which scales from #56 to #54... Mother-two-daughters trio Lucy Angel debuted last week at #59 with "Crazy Too", which moves a couple spots this time out... Newcomer Clare Dunn lands her first hit this week with "Move On", which enters at #58... The final newbie at #60 is Jackie Lee wi

We're at the "hump" of this week's double-packed "music sweeps", sampling the songs making their debut on the charts in Billboard magazine, and this time up I'm serving the latest on R&B radio... On the main R&B/Hip Hop Airplay chart, Rihanna moved to #1 last week with " Bitch Better Have My Money ", which holds on for week number two... Last week's top debut, "Alright" from Kendrick Lamar, jumps ten spots to #30 this week. It's the third radio hit from his #1 album To Pimp A Butterfly ; " i " made it to #11... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Round two of this week's "music sweeps" is up, checking out the songs making their way on to the charts in Billboard magazine, and this time out I've got the latest hits on rock radio.... On their main Rock Airplay chart, " Renegades " from the X Ambassadors holds tight on top for a fifth week... Singer/songwriter Halsey, from the New Jersey town of Washington, makes her debut at #40 with "New Americana". She's been opening for Imagine Dragons on tour... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Hey gang, I'm back after a week break with the first of today's five "music sweeps", checking out the songs making their debut on the various charts in Billboard magazine. As usual, I'll start out on the pop side of things, then later in the day move on to the latest in rock, R&B, country, and dance music. And away we gooooo... On the "big" chart, Billboard 's Hot 100 , which combines tallies of radio airplay from all formats, sales (like iTunes and AmazonMp3 and the like), and internet streaming (from subscription services like Spotify and on-demand like YouTube), last week Jamaican pop-reggae artist OMI took over at #1 for the first time with " Cheerleader ", and holds again this week... Last week Meghan Trainor entered the chart at #95 with the fourth single from her debut album Title , "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" featuring John Legend. This week she leaps up to #71. Her last single, " Dear Future Husband &qu

" Love Power " - Dionne Warwick & Jeffrey Osborne from the album Reservations For Two (1987) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #12 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 9 Today's SOTD comes from pop vocal icon Dionne Warwick , who landed the biggest hit of her career with the charity single " That's What Friends Are For ", which topped the American singles chart for a month and became the biggest single of 1986. A year later, she released her Reservations For Two album, which included five duets among its ten tracks. One of them, "Love Power", was released as the first single. Written by the legendary duo of Burt Bacharach and Carol Bayer Sager, the record features R&B singer Jeffrey Osborne , who had also had the biggest solo hit so far with his " You Should Be Mine (Woo Woo Song) ". Dionne even got to slip in a line about psychics, considering her future stint hawking the Psychic Friends Network.. "Love Power" climbed

Friday is finally here, and it's time to run down my top 100 tunes from the previous week. Pop-reggae artist OMI spends a second week at #1 with "Cheerleader", while Rachel Platten (pictured above) takes her "Fight Song" into my top-5. Songs from the Weeknd, Beck, and Jessica Sutta make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while former big hits from Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars, the Zac Brown Band, Vance Joy, Audien, a Thousand Horses, and Axwell & Ingrosso drop off my list. Man, it's hard coming back from vacation! This Week                 Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix) - OMI (1) 2. Honey, I'm Good. - Andy Grammer (2) 3. Renegades - X Ambassadors (5) 4. Fight Song - Rachel Platten (6) 5. Want To Want Me - Jason Derulo (3) 6. Shut Up And Dance - Walk The Moon (4)

" Since You've Been Gone " - The Outfield from the album Bangin' (1987) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #31 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 5 Today's SOTD comes from the British mainstream-rock band the Outfield , whose sound as American as their name helped them score two big hits in the U.S. with " Your Love " and " All The Love In The World ". In the summer of 1987 the trio released their sophomore album Bangin' , with "Since You've Been Gone" tagged as the first single. Written by band guitarist John Spinks, the song stayed on the same path the previous hits tread, with tight harmonies and prominent guitar riffs leading the way... "Since You've Been Gone" became the Outfield's third top-40 pop hit in America in August of 1987, while stopping at #11 on Billboard 's Mainstream Rock radio chart. Up tomorrow: Whitney's auntie and the Woo Woo guy have romance strengths.

It's time to head back Down Under to check out the songs making their way on to the official singles chart in Australia this week, as Meghan Trainor and John Legend top the list for a fourth week with " Like I'm Gonna Lose You "... Australian dance music duo Peking Duk, from the capital city of Canberra, return at #29 with "Say My Name" featuring Benjamin Joseph. Last year the pair had back-to-back top-10 hits with " High " reaching #5... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Hypnotize Me " - Wang Chung from the album Mosaic (1986) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #36 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 2 Today's SOTD comes from the British new wave act Wang Chung , who after paring themselves to a duo and going pure-pop, and scoring two top-10 pop hits in America with " Everybody Have Fun Tonight " and " Let's Go ". The third single from the album was also used for the soundtrack to the Dennis Quaid sci-fi-lite film Innerspace . "Hypnotize Me", written by the Wang Chung duo of Jack Hues and Nick Feldman and produced by pop giant Peter Wolf (not the J. Geils singer), the track was remixed for the single/movie release... "Hypnotize Me" reached the American pop top-40 in July of 1987, while missing that mark at #46 in Canada, and not even reaching the chart in their native Britain.  The song would be their last in the US Top-40. Their next album, The Warmer Side Of Cool , got a cooler reception, wi

Here's the top ten hits in Germany this week as tallied by their official music chart , as rapper Cro spends a third week at #1 with "Bye Bye"... 1. " Bye Bye " - Cro (1) 2. " Reality " - Lost Frequencies featuring Janieck Devy (2) 3. " Supergirl " - Anna Naklab featuring Alle Farben & Younotus (3) 4. " Ain't Nobody (Loves Me Better) " - Felix Jaehn featuring Jasmine Thompson (4) 5. " Stole The Show " - Kygo featuring Parson James (5) 6. " Under Mein Haut " - Gestört aber GeiL & Koby Funk featuring Wincent Weiss (6) 7. " Wie Schon Du Bist " - Sarah Connor (8) 8. "Waiting For Love" - Avicii (9) 9. " Lean On " - Major Lazer & DJ Snake featuring MO (7) 10. " Goodbye " - Feder featuring Lyse (10) No new songs appear in this week's top-10, but on my break last week Swedish DJ/producer Avicii entered with "Waiting For Love", which moves

" Living In A Box " - Living In A Box from the album Living In A Box (1987) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #17 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 7 Today's SOTD comes from the British new-wave trio Living In A Box , who came together in the blue-collar city of Sheffield in the mid-80s with lead singer Richard D'arbyshire leading the group. Their debut single, named for the band itself, was a frenetic dance number that rode on its wall of synth hooks, not surprising since the song was co-written by keyboardist member Marcus Vere... "Living In A Box" became the band's sole top-40 hit in America, landing in the top-20 in August of 1987. The 12" remix went all the way to #6 on the Dance Club Play chart in Billboard , and even crossed over to its R&B chart at #74. Internationally, besides scaling to #5 on the British chart, the single reached the top-10 in Ireland, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Switzerland, the latter stopping one notch short of

Here's the top 10 hits in France this week, according to their official singles chart , as "Goodbye" from Feder and Lyse spends a fifth week at #1... 1. " Goodbye " - Feder featuring Lyse (1) 2. " Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Mix) " - OMI (2) 3. " Ain't Nobody (Loves Me Better) " - Felix Jaehn featuring Jasmine Thompson (4) 4. " Reality " - Lost Frequencies featuring Janieck Devy (5) 5. " Homeless " - Marina Kaye (6) 6. " Lean On " - Major Lazer & DJ Snake featuring MO (3) 7. " Hey Mama " - David Guetta featuring Afrojack & Nicki Minaj (RE-ENTRY) 8. " Laissez Passer " - Maitre Gims (8) 9. "Stole The Show" - Kygo featuring Parson James (7) 10. " Jour 1 " - Louane (10) There are no newbies in this week's top ten, but last week while I was away Norwegian DJ/producer Kygo scored his second top-10 hit after "Firestone" (#5) with "Stole

" Can't We Try " - Dan Hill with Vonda Shepard from the album Dan Hill (1987) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 13 Today's SOTD comes from Canadian soft rock artist Dan Hill , who started out as a teen songwriter for RCA which led to his first self-titled solo album in 1975. While the first single, " You Make Me Want To Be ", reached the top-40 in his homeland, it was the second, the coming-of-age ode " Growin' Up ", which dented the American pop chart at #67. Two years later, with his third album Longer Fuse , Hill struck gold with the creepy breakup song " Sometimes When We Touch ", which peaked at #3 in the States in topped the charts up North. After the follow-up single, " All I See Is Your Face ", just missed the pop top-40 at #41 (while reaching the top-10 on the "easy listening" chart), Hill's success was relegated just to Canada. In 1987, Hill returned with a second

Time to play catch-up with the latest songs to reach the official singles chart in the UK this week, as last week's #1 (whilst I was away), " House Every Weekend " from David Zowie, plummets to #5... The new #1 hit in Britain is from the X Factor UK -winning female vocal group Little Mix as they collect their third chart-topper with "Black Magic". They previously led with " Cannonball " and " Wings "... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" These Times Are Hard For Lovers " - John Waite from the album Rover's Return (1987) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #53 This week's "robbed hit" comes from British rock singer John Waite , who went from a lucrative stint in the power-pop band the Babys to a #1 solo pop hit in the U.S. with " Missing You " in 1984. His next album a year later nabbed him another top-40 single with " Every Step Of The Way ". He also contributed a song to the excellent About Last Night movie, " If Anybody Had A Heart ", which was a top-40 adult contemporary hit. In 1987, John released his fourth solo effort, Rover's Return . On the first single, "These Times Are Hard For Lovers", he employed songsmith Desmond Child, who worked with Bon Jovi, to punch up the energy... While "These Times..." became his fourth top-10 rock hit in Billboard , the single stalled out below the halfway mark on their Hot 100 pop list. However

" One For The Mockingbird " - Cutting Crew from the album Broadcast (1986) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #38 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 2 Today's SOTD comes from the British rock band Cutting Crew , who had scored a #1 pop hit in America with their first single " (I Just) Died In Your Arms ". Their next release was another proto-modern rock song, "One For The Mockingbird", written by band leader Nick Van Eede.. "One For The Mockingbird" reached the top-40 on both the pop and Mainstream Rock (#29) charts in America in July of 1987. However, the track missed that mark in both Canada (#47) and their native England (#52)... (Click below to see the rest of the post)