Twostepcublog

" Manhattan Melody " was a club track from veteran trumpeter and record label head Herb Alpert. Appearing on his album Magic Man , the song failed to reach the Disco chart in Billboard magazine, but did climb to #74 on their R&B chart in 1981. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Gay Man " is the new single and video from Rupaul's Drag Race alumnus Manila Luzon   Coming from her recent album Rules , the extravaganza of dance beats is perfect for today's parade, instead of the usual Britney/Rihanna/Whitney blaring.

" Body and Soul " - Anita Baker from the album Rhythm Of Love (1994) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #36 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 7 Today's song of the day comes from quiet storm queen Anita Baker , whose jazz-soul stylings had let her sell millions of records in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Her second album Giving You The Best That I Got had spun off a top-3 pop hit in the title track as well as a top-20 follow-up in " Just Because ". But by 1990, even though her stellar Compositions album scored her three top ten R&B hits, the biggest of them, " Talk To Me ", only managed to rise to #44 on the pop Hot 100 in America. After a four-year break, Baker returned with her third solo album Rhythm Of Love . The lead single from the set, "Body & Soul", was another ultra-smooth soul charmer Barry Nowels and Ellen Shipley, and produced by longtime collaborator Barry J Eastmond... "Body & Soul" became Anita...

" I Was Born This Way " was a club hit for singer, actor, and preacher Carl Bean. Released as a stand-alone single in 1977, the LBGT anthem rose to #15 on the National Disco Action Top-40 chart at the beginning of the following year. The song was remixed and re-released in 1986, when I was just "coming out", and has a special meaning to me. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Open Up Babe " is the new single from singer Wils . Formerly recording and promoting himself under the moniker Wiltay, he is a big up and coming star in Singapore, but decided to be true to himself and come out as gay, adopting the new name Wils. "Open Up Babe" is a smooth mix of K-pop melodies and tropical house grooves that's perfect for the summer arrival.

" Circle Of Life " - Elton John from the album The Lion King (Original Soundtrack) (1994) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #18 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 11 Today's song of the day comes from Elton John , who had won both an Oscar and a Grammy with the lead single from the Disney animated film the Lion King , " Can You Feel The Love Tonight ". The second single from the hugely popular soundtrack would be the movie opener, "Circle Of Life". While in the film Carmen Twillie and Lebo M sing the track, the end credits had Elton John with the London Community Gospel Choir in a stirring anthem that made the affair unforgettable... "Circle Of Life" became the second top-40 pop hit from The Lion King in America in October of 1994. The song also spent three weeks at #2 on the Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart in Billboard magazine. Internationally, the single reached the top ten in Switzerland (#2), Canada (#3)...

Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit"* tunes from the previous week. Scottish newcomer Lewis Capaldi takes over at #1, while the Lumineers (pictured above) make a giant leap into the top ten. Songs from Katy Perry, AJR, and Maddie Poppe make some of the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while former big hits from Imagine Dragons, Calvin Harris/Rag N' Bone Man, Old Dominion, Sigrid, Scotty McCreery, Jade Starling, and Oliver Heldens drop out. Happy Pride Weekend, New York! *generally meaning making the top-15 on the Hot 100, top-30 on the Adult Top-40 chart, top-20 on the Country Airplay and Dance Club Play charts, top-10 on the Rock Airplay, Alternative, Triple A, Dance Airplay, British singles and British Radio Airplay charts, and top-5 on the Mainstream Rock and Adult R&B charts, and #1 on the Adult Contemporary and R&B/Hip Hop Airplay charts. This Week             Song...

" Weekend " was an underground club hit for the band Phreek. It wasn't available commercially when it was first released in 1978 as Patrick Adams featuring Phreek , and therefore originally didn't chart. But a remake in 1983 featuring the same singer, Christine Wiltshire, credited to Class Action climbed to #9 on Billboard magazine's Dance/Disco Top 80 chart. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" My Love " is the new single and first release from British Pop Idol inaugural winner Will Young 's new album Lexicon , which has been released today. The "out" singer saw his first three singles top the British charts, and has racked up eleven top ten hits in Britain, but his last was " Jealousy " back in 2011. This neo-disco charmer definitely deserves a shot there as well.

" December 1963 (Oh What A Night) " - Four Seasons originally from the album Who Loves You (1975) 1994 remix from the album Oh What A Night (1994) Billboard Hot 100 peak (1976): #1 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40 (1976): 15 Billboard Hot 100 peak (1994): #14 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40 (1994): 20 Today's song of the day comes from Frankie Valli and his group the Four Seasons . Valli, who had spent much of the 1950 with a band called the Four Lovers, which had a minor pop hit with the single " You're The Apple Of My Eye " (#62, 1956), but with no other success. By the end of the decade and countless name changes, Valli, along with keyboard player Bob Gaudio and Nick Massi on bass, and Tommy DeVito on guitar, settled in with "The Four Seasons". Hooking up with producer Bob Crewe, they released one independent single on Gone Records that stiffed (" Bermuda ") before signing with Vee Jay (one of the labels that distributed ...

" Theme Song From 'Which Way Is Up' " was a club hit for the female vocal trio Stargard. Appearing on their self-titled debut album , the song comes from the movie that starred comedic great Richard Pryor. Written by Norman Whitfield, the record featured singers Debra Anderson, Rochelle Runnells, and Janice Williams. A #1 hit on the R&B chart in Billboard magazine, the track peaked at #21 on the American pop chart, and climbed to #12 on their National Disco Action Top-40 list in 1978.

Today's SYSK comes from actor/singer/legend Billy Porter from the hit TV show Pose , who teams with another Broadway vet, Matt Zarley (a personal favorite), for a remake of Des'ree's 90s charmer " You Gotta Be ". With a relaxing semi-reggae vibe and an anthemic optimistic approach, it's just what we may need for this upcoming Pride Weekend in NYC.

" Another Night " - Real McCoy from the album Another Night (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (eleven weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 40 Today's song of the day comes from the German Eurodance act Real McCoy . Started up by producer Juergen Wind and rapper Olaf "O-Jay" Jeglitza, who had recorded together as "The Alliance" in the late 1980s, they added producer Frank "Quickmix" Hassas to originally be called "MC Sar and the Real McCoy". In 1989, along with studio singer Karin Kasar, the act recorded a cover of Belgian dance group Technotronic's " Pump Up The Jam " before they got the rights/label in Germany. The "McCoy" rap version climbed to #16 on the Germany singles chart. That was followed by " It's On You ", an original which heavily sampled Raze's "Break 4 Love", which found the act pulling a "Milli Vanilli", hiring a model-type French-African to pose as MC Sar ...

" Soul Makossa " was a hit record and one of the first songs in the "disco" genre, recorded by Cameroonian sax player Manu Dibango. Appearing on his album Soul Makossa , it was released in 1972, way too long before any sort of disco chart, but the record climbed to #35 on the American pop chart and #21 on the R&B chart in Billboard magazine.

As much as I was inwardly critical of Madonna for her Eurovision debacle and overuse of AutoTune in her latest album Madame X , I have to give recognition when it's due and damn does she still have the eye for a visual statement. This video is very scary, and very uncomfortable, but it's very necessary. Everybody else is too chicken shit to make a piece of art like this, and while I really think she would've been better not having any vocal tweaking on this, I'll give " God Control " and Madonna a pass.

" Do You Wanna Get Funky " - C+C Music Factory  from the album Anything Goes! (1994) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #40 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 2 Today's song comes from the dance production duo of C+C Music Factory, who had ruled the airwaves and dancefloors in 1991 with three massive singles: " Things That Make You Go Hmmm... ", " Here We Go (Let's Rock & Roll) ", and the #1 club classic " Gonna Make You Sweat ". (A fourth single, " Just A Touch Of Love ", missed the pop top-40, but claimed a fourth #1 dance hit.) The following year, Rob Clivilles and David Cole released a collection of their remixes in and out of the Factory, and a double-sided single "Pride (In The Name Of Love)"/"Deeper Love" also nearly made the pop top-40 with "Deeper Love" topping the dance chart. Also, using the C+C Music Factory moniker the pair scored yet another #1 dance hit with " Keep It Comin...

" Street Player " was a club favorite from the jazz-rock band Chicago . Appearing on their album Chicago 13 , the nine-minute-plus opening song was written by drummer Danny Seraphine alone with Henry "Hawk" Wolinski of the R&B group Rufus. Although it never reached either the disco or the pop charts, the song popped into the R&B chart in 1979 at #91. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Des Larmes " ("Tears") is the new single from French new wave legend Mylène Farmer . Coming from her 2018 album Désobéissance (Disobedience), the song follows two singles that reached #1 on the French sales chart - "Rolling Stone" and "N'Oubliez Pas" with lesbian rock star LP. Farmer has a Madonna/Kylie-like following in France, with one of the most successful careers in that country.

" Endless Love " - Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey from the album Songs (1994)  Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 13 Today's song of the day comes from (the late) Luther Vandross , who had last been seen with his top ten pop hit from the movie Mo' Money from the summer of 1992, " The Best Things In Life Are Free ", which was a "duet" with Janet Jackson and featured New Edition alums Bell Biv Devoe, and Ralph Tresvant. It was Luther's fourth top ten hit, all since 1989's "Here And Now", so he was on a pretty good run at that time. But his eighth studio album, Never Let Me Go , which arrived in 1993, must have been seen as a sort of disappointment, for the biggest single from it, " Little Miracles (Happen Everyday) ", while slipping into the R&B top ten at #10, stalled way down at #62 on Billboard magazine's pop Hot 100 chart (it did become a moderate success in UK, at #28, on...

" Love Epidemic " was a proto-disco club hit for the R&B vocal group the Trammps. Appearing on their self-titled album on the Golden Fleece label in 1975, the track actually was released as a single in 1973, way before the Disco Chart came about, but it managed to climb to #75 on the R&B chart in Billboard magazine. The production behind the record was done by the band MFSB, who released the #1 Philly Soul classic " T.S.O.P. (The Sound of Philadelphia) " better known as the theme to Soul Train ... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Action " - Terror Fabulous featuring Nadine Sutherland from the album Yaga Yaga (1994) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #43 This week's "robbed hit" belongs to Jamaican reggae artist Terror Fabulous, who was born Cecil Campbell in Kingston, where he started his music career. Pairing up with producer Dave Kelly, his debut single " Dorothy " arrived in 1991. A year later Terror released his first album Gwaney Gwaney . He proceeded to release countless singles was involved with one live album before his big breakthrough. "Action", a reggae dance jam featuring singer Nadine Sutherland who worked with Bob Marley, got attention in America and became his first and biggest hit... While "Action" went to #36 on the R&B chart in Billboard magazine, spending 20 weeks on the chart, the single stalled right under the pop Top-40 at #43 for three weeks in August of 1994. Sadly, although he's put out a couple more albums after that, t...

" Same " is the new single from Australian singer/songwriter Alfie Arcuri . Arcuri, who won The Voice of Australia in 2016, also was in the running to represent his country in this year's Eurovision . When Alfie, who came out in 2013, released his debut album Zenith , it went to #5 on the Australian Albums Chart. "Same" has the theme of still being not over a bad breakup, even though you've supposedly moved on to a similar rebound.

" At Your Best (You Are Love) " - Aaliyah from the album Age Ain't Nothing But A Number (1994) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 14 Today's song of the day comes from (the late) R&B singer Aaliyah , who had landed her debut single " Back & Forth " in the summer of 1994. Her follow-up would be a cover of a song from the Isley Brothers, "At Your Best (You Are Love)". Written by the Brothers, and appearing on the top ten album Harvest For The World in 1976, their original never was released as a single, but was a staple at "quiet storm" style radio... Produced by her mentor/secret husband R. Kelly, Aaliyah's album version coos over a similar production, keeping the soft emotion but adding a bit of naivete to the track. But the remix for the single adds a bit of street sounds to the mix, especially in the percussion... Aaliyah's take on "At Your Best" became her second to...

" Medley Of Hits " was a club hit for the Motown vocal group the Supremes. As a promo 12" single, the track mashed together six of their songs with a clap-track much like the "Stars On 45" record. The medley included "Stop! In The Name Of Love", "Back In My Arms Again", "Come See About Me", Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart", "Where Did Out Love Go", and "Baby Love", and climbed to #46 on the Disco Top 100 chart in Billboard magazine in 1980. It can now be found on the deluxe edition of Diana Ross' Diana album.

" Nuttin' But Love " - Heavy D & The Boyz from the album Nuttin' But Love (1994) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #40 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 1 Today's song of the day comes from the hip-hop group Heavy D & The Boyz, who returned to the top-40 in the spring of 1994 with the first single from their fifth album, " Got Me Waiting ". Their follow-up was the title track "Nuttin' But Love" written by (the late) Heavy D with a prominent sample of the obscure song " Ecstasy " by the new wave band Endgames from 1983... "Nuttin' But Love" entered the pop Top-40 in September of 1993, the last as a group. The song also climbed to #18 on the R&B chart in Billboard magazine. Their third single from the set, " Black Coffee ", got to #15 on the R&B list, but stalled down at #57 on the pop Hot 100. Finally the track " This Is My Night ", which sampled Kool & The Gang's "...

" Groove Me " was a club hit for soul and dance music singer Fern Kinney. It was a remake of a single from King Floyd that topped the R&B chart for four weeks and peaked at #6 on the pop Hot 100 in 1970 that Kinney sang backup vocals for. Appearing on her album Groove Me , the song climbed to #6 in Billboard magazine's Disco Top 80 chart in 1979. The single also hit #26 on the R&B chart and #54 on the pop Hot 100 in America... (Click here to see the rest of the post)

" Far Behind " - Candlebox from the album Candlebox (1993) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #18 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 15 Today's song of the day comes from the rock band Candlebox , who came together in the grunge scene in Seattle, Washington in the early 1990. Featuring lead singer Kevin Martin, lead guitarist Peter Klett, bass player Bardi Martin, and drummer Scott Mercado, they were one of the first signed acts to Madonna's "vanity" record label Maverick, the band released their self-titled debut album in the summer of 1993. The lead single " Change " was a decent hit on rock radio, peaking at #18 on the Mainstream Rock radio format chart in Billboard magazine. That was followed by " You ", which claimed their first top ten hit on that list at #6, while landing the band their first charting hit on the American pop Hot 100 chart at #78. It would be on their third try that would have the band claim their biggest success. ...

" Heart Of Glass " was a massive pop hit for the new wave/post-punk band Blondie . Appearing on their album Parallel Lines , the song was written by lead singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. Although the single topped the American pop charts, it somehow only managed to go to #58 on Billboard magazine's Disco Top 80 in 1979. They would re-issue the single in 1995 with new remixes which did a bit better, going to #7 on Billboard 's Hot Dance Music Club Play list. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit" tunes from the previous week. The Jonas Brothers hold on for a second week at #1, while country singer Kelsea Ballerini (pictured above) climbs a couple notches within my top ten. Former big hits from twenty-one pilots, Brett Young, Jon Pardi, and Lil Peep/ILoveMakonnen/Fall Out Boy drop off my list, while songs from Khalid, Avicii/Aloe Blacc, and Luke Combs make some of the biggest jumps this time out (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ). Goodbye, old friend... This Week              Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Sucker - Jonas Brothers (1) 2. Walk Me Home - Pink (2) 3. Someone You Loved - Lewis Capaldi (5) 4. Dancing With A Stranger - Sam Smith & Normani (4) 5. Lo/Hi - Black Keys (3) 6. Hey Look Ma, I Made It - Panic! At The Di...