Twostepcublog

" The Way I Feel About You " - Karyn White from the album Ritual Of Love (1991) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #12 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 13 Today's song of the day comes from Karyn White , whose second album Ritual Of Love scored the singer her biggest pop hit with the #1 " Romantic " in the fall of 1991. The second single from the record would be another that reminds me of Rhythm Nation-era Janet Jackson, even though Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (the latter would become her husband in 1992) didn't write or produce like the previous hit. "The Way I Feel About You", produced by Christopher Troy and Zachary Harmon, who wrote the song with Karyn and Bruce Sterling, is a breezy but meaty dance-pop nugget that is like a sequel to Janet's "Alright"... "The Way I Feel About You" became Karyn's sixth and so far last top-40 pop hit in February of 1992. The single also climbed to #5 on Billboard 's R&B ch...

" Diamonds And Pearls " - Prince & The New Generation from the album Diamonds and Pearls (1991) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 17 Today's song of the day is from Prince , whose Diamonds and Pearls album had already scored two pop hits with " Gett Off " and the #1 single " Cream ". A third single, " Insatiable ", was a big hit on urban radio, climbing to #3 for a week on Billboard 's R&B chart, but only managed to slip in to #77 on the pop Hot 100. It was overshadowed by the title track of the album, written and produced by Prince and credited to his band the New Power Generation, with singer/keyboardist Rosie Gaines singing a major part and appearing front stage in the video. It would be the closest thing since "Purple Rain" he would get to a power ballad, and mainstream America ate it up, even with the sexually ambiguous chorus "if I gave you diamonds and pearls, would you be a...

" Can't Truss It " - Public Enemy from the album Apocalypse '91...The Enemy Strikes Back (1991) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #50 This week's "robbed hit" comes from Public Enemy , one of the most (if not the most) important hip-hop groups of all time. Rappers Chuck D (Carlton Ridenhour) and Flavor Flav (William Drayton) founded the group when they were classmates at college. Bringing in a trio of producers (brothers Hank and Keith Shocklee along with Eric "Vietnam" Sadler) named the "Bomb Squad", rapper/spokesman Professor Griff, and DJ Terminator X, they named themselves "Public Enemy" after one of Chuck and Flav's first collaborations . After being the opening act for the Beastie Boys, they released their debut album Yo Bum Rush The Show in 1987. From it they actually scored their first charting single overseas when " You're Gonna Get Yours " slipped in at #88. But with the album reaching the char...

" Addams Groove " - Hammer from the album Too Legit To Quit (cassette , 1991) or Greatest Hits (1996) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 12 Today's song of the day comes from rapper (MC) Hammer , who dropped the MC from his name and spent a budget of a foreign country on a music video for his top-ten hit " 2 Legit 2 Quit " in January of 1991. At the same time, he contributed a song to the reboot movie The Addams Family starring Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston as the TV parents of Gomez and Morticia Addams. The result, "Addams Groove", ended up being one of the most horrific and cheesy singles in history, but that didn't stop him from releasing it at about the same time as "2 Legit...", banking on his momentum and hoping for a rare duo success. That he did get, as "Addams Groove" followed "2 Legit 2 Quit" into the top ten, but it would also signal the last time he would step foot there...

" Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me " - George Michael and Elton John from the album Duets (Elton John, 1993) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 16 Today's song of the day is from a pairing of two of the biggest stars of pop music, (the late) George Michael and (Sir) Elton John , who came together in 1991 to revisit one of Elton's most cherished songs. George, whose critically hailed but commercially muted Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1 album, which nonetheless scored a #1 hit with " Praying For Time " as well as a top ten follow-up in " Freedom '90 ", saw the third single " Waiting For That Day " top out at #27. Meanwhile, as Elton was coming off his first British #1 solo hit with " Sacrifice " in 1990, recapped his career with his To Be Continued box set, which had a new song " You Gotta Love Someone " that just missed the American top-40 at #43. On George's Cover To Cove...

" Mysterious Ways " - U2 from the album Achtung Baby (1991) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #9 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 15 Today's song of the day comes from the Irish alternative rock group U2 , who after become giant arena-size stars after their cornerstone album The Joshua Tree , took an organic left turn with the part concert documentary Rattle And Hum , which did manage to land them a top-3 pop hit in America with the roots-rock of " Desire ", along with a top-20 follow-up with the retro soul of " Angel Of Harlem ". That was followed by a collaboration with blues guitar royalty B.B. King with " When Love Comes To Town ", which hit #2 on the rock radio chart but missed the top-40 at #68. Then " God Part II " (a proclaimed sequel to John Lennon's "God") hit #8 on that list, but missed the pop Hot 100 altogether. Finally, the love ballad " All I Want Is You " climbed to #13 on the Mainstream Rock ch...

It's Friday again, and time to run down my top 100 tunes from the previous week. Pink reigns for a fourth week, while Portugal the Man (pictured above) leap ten spots to land right below the top ten. A former big hit from Maren Morris drops off my chart, while songs from Chris Stapleton, Camila Cabello, and Imagine Dragons make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ). Spring, you tease... This Week             Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Beautiful Trauma - Pink (1) 2. One Foot - Walk The Moon (4) 3. Perfect - Ed Sheeran (3) 4. No Roots - Alice Merton (2) 5. Bad At Love - Halsey (5) 6. Havana - Camila Cabello f/Young Thug (6) 7. Losing Sleep - Chris Young (7) 8. Too Much To Ask - Niall Horan (8) 9. How Long - Charlie Puth (9) 10. Up All Night - Beck (10) 11. Live In The ...

" I Love Your Smile " - Shanice from the album Inner Child (1991) Billboard Hot 100 peak: # 2 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 21 Today's song of the day comes from singer Shanice Wilson , who came out in 1987 with her debut album on A&M Records and landed a top ten R&B hit with the Janet Jackson-esque "(Baby Tell Me) Can You Dance" which reached the halfway point on Billboard 's Hot 100 pop chart in the winter of 1987. After a second single, " No 1/2 Steppin' ", also reached #6 on the R&B chart, and a third, the ballad " The Way You Love Me ", becoming a minor R&B hit at #53, Shanice left for Motown, and leaving her last name behind in the process. At the end of 1988, she recorded a collaboration with the soul vocal group Kiara and the result, " This Time ", spent a week at #2 on the R&B chart. While that track only made it to #79 on the pop chart, its success did set her up for her switch to ...

" Smells Like Teen Spirit " - Nirvana from the album Nevermind (1991) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 19 Today's song of the day comes from the iconic grunge rock band Nirvana , which came together in the Seattle area in the mid 1980s with former schoolmates Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, who went through a handful of drummers before recruiting Chad Channing in time for their debut album Bleach in 1989 (that album also listed friend Jason Everman as a guitarist although he didn't play on the record). That album didn't hit the sales chart nationwide, but was a big underground success in the Northwest and on college radio. After a tour that left Everman gone and eventually Channing sitting out, the band released a one-off single with session drummer Dan Peters, " Sliver ", that blipped on to the British singles chart in the beginning of 1991 at #90. By the time of its success, Kurt and Krist had found their latest an...

" Tell Me What You Want Me To Do " - Tevin Campbell from the album T.E.V.I.N. (1991) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 20 Today's song of the day comes from soul singer Tevin Campbell , who with the help of both Quincy Jones, who signed him on his label Qwest, and Prince, who cast Tevin in his movie Graffiti Bridge ,  landed his first big pop hit in the spring of 1991 with " Round and Round " from the film. That summer, he contributed another song to the Ice Cube/Cuba Gooding Jr flick Boyz In The Hood . The resulting new jack swing jam " Just Ask Me To " was also released as a single as climbed to #9 on Billboard 's R&B chart and slipped on to the pop Hot 100 at #88. Those two songs would appear on Tevin's debut solo release T.E.V.I.N. in the fall. The third release and lead into the promotion of that record would be the downtempo love ballad "Tell Me What You Want Me To Do". Written by Tevin and...

" Housecall (Your Body Can't Lie To Me) " - Shabba Ranks featuring Maxi Priest from the album As Raw As Ever (1991) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #37 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 1 Today's song of the day comes from Jamaican reggae artist Shabba Ranks, who was a pioneer in bringing the style of "toasting" (that genre's equivalent of rap) to the mainstream. His debut album Rapping With The Girls was released in 1988, but it wasn't until his fifth album that his international success started in the UK, as the lead track " Trailer Load Of Girls " became a minor hit at #63 in May of 1991. That was followed by a collaboration with singer Maxi Priest , at that time the biggest living artist in reggae music, and who had already scored a #1 pop hit in America with "Close To You", and was about to reach the top ten again with a duet with Roberta Flack, " Set The Night To Music ".  That combination on the song "Houseca...

" Tender Kisses " - Tracie Spencer from the album Make The Difference (1991) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #42 This week's "robbed hit" comes from soul/pop singer Tracie Spencer, who landed the biggest hit of her career in the spring of 1991 with the booty shaking message song " This House ". After another upbeat dance-pop song with " This Time Make It Funky ", Tracie released a more lush mid-tempo love song in "Tender Kisses". Written by Tracie, her brother Marty, and producers Matt and Paul Sherrod, the song got her noticed on more adult stations... While "Tender Kisses" became Tracie's biggest hit on Billboard 's R&B chart, spending a week at #1 in November of 1991, the single stopped two notches short of the pop top-40 the following month. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Angel Baby "- Angelica from the album Angel Baby (1991) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 7 Today's song of the day comes from Latin freestyle dance music singer Angelica (Garcia), who landed her biggest success in 1991 with a cover of a song that was a big hit way back in the girl-group days of the early 60's. "Angel Baby", written by Rosie Hamlin and recorded by her group Rosie and the Originals, it reached #5 on both the pop and R&B charts in 1960. John Lennon had said it was one of his favorite records, and even remade the song himself in the 70s... Now when teenager Angelica went and released her own "Angel Baby", I had no clue this was a previous hit, though with the delicate but primitive synth backdrop and lyrics half in Spanish, it didn't leave any clues... Angelica's version of "Angel Baby" became her sole pop hit, reaching the top-40 in January of 1992. She would go on ...

" Wildside " - Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch from the album Music For The People (1991) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #10 (five weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 12 Today's song of the day comes from actor and at-one-time rapper "Marky" Mark Wahlberg and his Funky Bunch, who rode all the way to #1 on the New Kids On The Block fan-wave in the fall of 1991 with the dance/hip-hop party song " Good Vibrations ". But instead of continuing the positive-energy but inane path of his debut, Mark took as far of a left turn as he could have, with the ultra-heavy "message rap" offering "Wildside" as his second single. A recycled track from his collaborator MC Spice, it samples Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side" while painting very vivid and violent scenarios about life and crime in the city, two of which were ripped from the Boston papers. And who'd have thought that it would be this guy that starts a music video with a burnin...

" Spending My Time " - Roxette from the album Joyride (1991) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #32 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 8 Today's song of the day comes from the Swedish pop duo Roxette , whose 1991 album Joyride had landed them a #1 hit with the title track and a #2 follow-up with the sublime " Fading Like A Flower (Everytime You Leave) ". While their next release internationally in the summer of the year would be the rollicking country-pop of " The Big L. ", which reached the top-40 all over Europe (#21 in the UK), the third single from the record in the U.S. would be the power ballad "Spending My Time". Written by member Per Gessle with Mat Gersson and sung mostly by Marie Fredricksson, it was set up to be a successful hat trick like "Listen To Your Heart" and "It Must Have Been Love" were... "Spending My Time" became the third American Top-40 hit from Joyride in January of 1992. (I truly bel...

Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 tunes from the previous week. Pink holds on to the top spot for a third week, while Niall Horan (pictured above) climbs into the top ten. Songs from Axwell & Ingrosso, Nathaniel Rateliff, and Fall Out Boy make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while former big hits from Kelly Clarkson, U2, Demi Lovato, Foo Fighters, Luke Combs, and Bleachers drop off my list. Now where's that half-price chocolate? This Week              Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Beautiful Trauma - Pink (1) 2. No Roots - Alice Merton (2) 3. Perfect - Ed Sheeran (3) 4. One Foot - Walk The Moon (6) 5. Bad At Love - Halsey (5) 6. Havana - Camila Cabello f/Young Thug (4) 7. Losing Sleep - Chris Young (11) 8. Too Much To Ask - N...

" 2 Legit To Quit " - Hammer from the album Too Legit To Quit (1991) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 17 Today's song of the day comes from Oaktown rapper MC Hammer , whose breakthrough smash album Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em had topped the chart for 21 weeks, and spun off three top ten pop hits with " U Can't Touch This ", " Have You Seen Her ", and " Pray ". Each one of those hits heavily sampled R&B giants like Rick James, Prince, and the Moments. The fourth single from the set, the album opener " Here Comes The Hammer ", sampled James Brown's "Super Bad", but it wasn't as immediately earwormed like the others, and  stalled at #54 on the pop chart in the U.S., though it did climb to #15 in the UK, the same rank it did on the American R&B chart. Another track, " Yo Sweetness ", also did well in Britain, peaking at #16. With this massive success, ...

" Black Or White " - Michael Jackson from the album Dangerous (1991) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (seven weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 15 Today's song of the day comes from pop superstar Michael Jackson , whose 1987 album Bad had spun off seven big hits in America with " Smooth Criminal ", " Another Part Of Me ", and five that topped the Hot 100 with " I Just Can't Stop Loving You ", " Bad ", " The Way You Make Me Feel ", " Man In The Mirror ", and " Dirty Diana ". Also, two more tracks from the album released as singles internationally did really well, with " Leave Me Alone " going all the way to #2 in the UK and " Liberian Girl " following it to #13. After parting ways with long-time producer and guru Quincy Jones, Michael released his eight solo studio album Dangerous , with new jack swing master Teddy Riley at the helm with Jackson along with engineers Bill Bottrell a...

" Change " - Lisa Stansfield from the album Real Love (1991) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #27 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 9 Today's song of the day comes from British soul/pop singer Lisa Stansfield , whose solo debut album Affection had granted her three big hits in America with " This Is The Right Time ", " You Can't Deny It ", and the top ten smash " All Around The World ".  In 1991, Lisa released her sophomore effort Real Love , which she co-wrote with former Blue UK bandmates Ian Devaney and Andy Morris. The record was much richer in tone, swinging more towards classic soul than the electronic dance-pop prevalent when she first arrived. The first single from the record, "Change", was a lush midtempo jazz-soul-pop hybrid in the style of acts before her like Swing Out Sister, with an optimistic love message to go with it. Here she talks about the American version of the video before it rolls... "Change...