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" Get Down Tonight " was a radio and club hit for the Florida disco legends KC & The Sunshine Band . Appearing on their self-titled second album , the song was written by Harry Wayne (KC) Casey and Robert Finch. The song went to #1 on both the pop and R&B charts in Billboard magazine in 1975, but on their Disco File Top-20 chart the single topped out at #11. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Sugar Hill " - AZ from the album Doe Or Die (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #25 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 13 Today's song of the day comes from New York native Anthony Cruz, who records under the moniker AZ . He got noticed when he guested on Queens rapper Nas' album Illmatic , and landed a record deal with EMI that resulted in his debut album Doe or Die in 1995. The first single from the record, "Sugar Hill", was a picture of a illegal trader, with the luxury highs and the perilous lows which he brags that he avoids. Radio personality Miss (Tarsha) Jones sings the chorus which interpolates the melody of Mtume's "Juicy Fruit"... "Sugar Hill" became AZ's first and biggest success, becoming his only single to make Billboard 's Hot 100 chart in September of 1995. The song climbed to #12 on their R&B chart, and got to #3 on the Rap Singles list. Internationally the single popped on to the British chart

" Boogie Nights " was a classic disco single from the group Heatwave. Appearing on their debut album Too Hot To Handle , the song was written by member Rod Temperton and produced by Barry Blue. The single climbed to #2 on both the American and British singles chart, but on Billboard magazine's National Disco Action Top-40, the record only spent two weeks on the chart in 1977, peaking at #36. Nevertheless it's one of the most recognizable disco classics, no doubt helped by its bassline hook, predating Temperton's work with Michael Jackson later in the decade. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

(Black) Friday's here, and it's time again to run down my top 100 "hit" songs from the previous week. Lewis Capaldi reigns for a seventh non-consecutive week, while Lizzo (pictured above) leaps into the top five to have two songs there now. Songs from Coldplay, Tones and I, and Meg Myers make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while former big hits from Luke Combs and Joel Corry drop out. Let the tryptophan coma begin! This Week         Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Someone You Loved - Lewis Capaldi (1) 2. Father Of All... - Green Day (3) 3. Only Human - Jonas Brothers (5) 4. Good As Hell - Lizzo (8) 5. Truth Hurts - Lizzo (2) 6. Senorita - Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello (4) 7. The Hype - twenty-one pilots (7) 8. The Bones - Maren Morris f/Hozier (10) 9. Liar - Camila Cabello (13) 10. Memories

" Can't Cry Anymore " - Sheryl Crow from the album Tuesday Night Music Club (1993) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #36 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 6 Today's song of the day comes from pop singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow , whose Grammy Award-winning debut album Tuesday Night Music Club had scored a pair of top ten pop hits with " All I Want To Do " and " Strong Enough ", the latter peaking in the spring of 1995. The sixth single releaed from the record (three songs missed the top-40 before her "All I Want To Do" breakthrough) was the midtempo jangle-pop of "Can't Cry Anymore". Written by Crow with producer Bill Bottrell, the track finds Crow leaving a relationship pretty joyfully, but takes a turn about a "brother's" heroin problem... "Can't Cry Anymore" became the third and final top-40 pop hit in America from her debut album in August of 1995. The song climbed to #22 on Billboard mag

" Sugar Pie Guy " was a club hit for the group the Joneses from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Appearing on their debut album Keeping Up With The Joneses , the song climbed to #9 on the Disco Action chart in Billboard magazine (the song entered in the list's third week in existence in 1974). The song also climbed to #10 on their R&B chart, but stalled under the top-40 at #47.

" Only Wanna Be With You " - Hootie & The Blowfish from the album Cracked Rear View (1994) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 29 Today's song of the day comes from the mainstream rock band Hootie & The Blowfish , whose debut album Cracked Rear View had already spun off a pair of top ten pop hits in " Hold My Hand " and " Let Her Cry ", the latter which peaked in the summer of 1995 would go on to win them a Grammy for Pop Group/Duo Performance. The third single released from the album would be the jangle-pop treasure of "Only Wanna Be With You". Written by the band, with Bob Dylan given credit for some of his lyrics that they quoted in the song, the breezy love paean became the band's highest-charting hit... "Only Wanna Be With You" became Hootie & The Blowfish's third consecutive top ten pop hit in October of 1995. The song made both of Billboard magazine's rock radio c

" Crank It Up " was a club hit for pop/soul singer Peter Brown. Appearing on his second album Stargazer as the opening track, the song was written and produced by the artist. On Billboard magazine's Disco Top-80 chart, the track climbed to #4 in 1979, while also making their R&B top ten at #9.

" This Is A Call " - Foo Fighters from the album Foo Fighters (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: Ineligible to chart Billboard Hot 100 Airplay peak: #35 (one week) Weeks in the Hot 100 Airplay Top-40: 6 Today's song of the day comes from Foo Fighters , which originally was the moniker used by Dave Grohl after Nirvana dissolved after the death of Kurt Cobain. As a one-man "band" where he played all the instruments, Grohl had been assembling material in the years following Kurt's death, while radio was still mourning the band, sending their live cover of " The Man Who Sold The World " into the pop airplay top-40 in the spring of 1993. After recording an album's worth of songs almost all by himself (save for one guitar cameo), Grohl released Foo Fighters on July 4th of 1995. A couple weeks prior to that his first song promoted to radio, "This Is A Call", entered the charts, and while it was unable to place on Billboard magazine&

"Love Is In You" was a club hit for the Canadian studio group Nightlife Unlimited. Appearing on their debut album Disco Choo Choo , the song charted along with its "B-Side", " Dance, Freak and Boogie ", and climbed to #13 on Billboard magazine's Disco Top 100 chart in 1980. The group featured Tony Bentivegna and Johnny D'Orazio as well as singers Louis Toteda and Peter Sciascia...

" Human Nature " - Madonna from the album Bedtime Stories (1994) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #46  This week's "robbed hit" comes from Madonna , who broke her streak of top-40 pop hits in America with her criminally overlooked gem " Bedtime Story " in the spring of 1995. That it came right after the biggest hit of her career, " Take A Bow ", was even more surprising. Nevertheless, a fourth single was released from the album, the funky swagger of "Human Nature". Written as a putdown to her critics by the singer with producer Dave Hall, the song again sported a music video that was a must-watch for its latex-clad dance moves to the most "urban" production she's ever done... While "Human Nature" also missed the top-40, peaking right above the halfway mark on the Hot 100 in July of 1995, it spent over double the amount of time on the chart than "Bedtime Story" did. The song also climbed to #57 o

" Brown Sugar " - D'Angelo from the album Brown Sugar (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #27 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 11 Today's song of the day comes from neo-soul artist D'Angelo , who grew up as Michael Archer in Richmond, Virginia. Signed to EMI Records in 1991, his first success was behind the scenes, with writing and producing the song " U Will Know " by the multi-artist Black Men United from the movie Jason's Lyric , which reached the pop top-20 in the fall of 1994. D'Angelo released his first solo album Brown Sugar in the July of 1995, with the single release of the title track. Written by the singer with Ali Shaheed Muhammed of the rap group A Tribe Called Quest, the song had strong jazz-funk elements in its easy-going appreciation of the "devil's cabbage"... "Brown Sugar" became D'Angelo's first top-40 pop hit in August of 1995. The song climbed up to #5 on Billboard 's R&B char

"I Found Love (Now That I've Found You)" was a big club hit for the studio group Love & Kisses. Put together by producer Alec R. Costandinos, the song appeared on their self-titled debut album . On Billboard magazine's National Disco Action Top-40, the album charted as one entry, with this song as well as " Accidental Lover " singled out as the key tracks, and spent three weeks at #1.

" I Wish " - Skee-Lo from the album I Wish (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #13 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 13 Today's song of the day comes from rapper Skee-Lo , who grew up Antoine Roundtree originally from Chicago, but eventually relocated to Los Angeles. His first single was "I Wish", the title track from his debut album. Based on a sample of Bernard Wright's jazz-funk track " Spinnin' ", the self-mocking track had a flow that gained a lot of fans... "I Wish" became Skee-Lo's first and only top-40 pop hit in September of 1995. The song also rose to #8 on the Rap Singles chart, while hitting #33 on the R&B chart in Billboard magazine. Internationally, the single was a top ten hit in Sweden (#4), Norway (#4), Finland (#5), the Netherlands (#6), and Switzerland (#10). At the 1996 Grammy Awards, "I Wish" was nominated for best male rap performance, which went to Coolio's "Gangsta's Para

" Player's Anthem " - Junior M.A.F.I.A. from the album Conspiracy (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #13 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 11 Today's song of the day comes from the hip-hop collective Junior M.A.F.I.A., who were brought together by rapper Notorious B.I.G. in the mid-1990s. With M.A.F.I.A. standing for Masters At Finding Intelligent Attitudes, the group featured rapper Lil' Kim, along with groups the 6's (which included Lil' Cease) and the Snakes as well as solo rapper Klepto. Their first single, "Player's Anthem", had Lil' Cease on the first verse, Biggie Smalls on the second, and Lil' Kim driving the track home... "Player's Anthem" became the group's first top-40 pop hit in August of 1995. The song also rose to #7 on the R&B chart in Billboard magazine and #2 on their Rap Singles list. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" I Wanna Be Your Lover " was a club hit for Prince , appearing on his self-titled second album . Written and produced by the artist, the song spent a week at #2 on Billboard magazine's Disco Top-100 chart in 1980. The record also topped their R&B chart for two weeks, and just missed the top ten pop list at #11. (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. Lewis Capaldi claims a sixth non-consecutive week at #1, while the Jonas Brothers (pictured above) climb into the top five. Former big hits from Shawn Mendes, Kelsea Ballerini, Spoon, and Jonas Blue drop off my chart, while songs from Madonna, Lizzo, and Meg Myers make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ). Happy T-Day, peeps! This Week             Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Someone You Loved - Lewis Capaldi (1) 2. Truth Hurts - Lizzo (2) 3. Father Of All... - Green Day (6) 4. Senorita - Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello (4) 5. Only Human - Jonas Brothers (7) 6. Social Cues - Cage The Elephant (3) 7. The Hype - twenty-one pilots (9) 8. Good As Hell - Lizzo (23) 9. How Do You Sleep? - Sam Smith (5) 10. The Bones -

" Feels So Good " - Xscape from the album Off The Hook (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #32 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 6 Today's song of the day comes from the female R&B vocal group Xscape , whose debut album Hummin' Comin' At Ya had spun off a pair of top ten pop hits with " Just Kickin' It " and " Understanding ", the latter hitting the charts in the beginning of 1994. The foursome of Kandi, "Tiny", and sisters LaTocha and Tamika returned the following year with their sophomore effort Off The Hook , again with the production dominated by Jermaine Dupri. He produced the first single from the set, "Feels So Good", which he wrote with Carlton Love, and also provided the rap break for... "Feels So Good" returned the group to the R&B top ten at #8, while becoming their third top-40 pop hit in July of 1995. Internationally, the single reached #24 in New Zealand, as they claimed their f

" Open Sesame " was a club hit from the New Jersey funk group Kool & The Gang . Appearing on their album Open Sesame as an edited cut, the song was written primarily by group sax player Ron Bell. On Billboard magazine's National Disco Action Top-40, the song rose to #13, while peaking at #6 on their R&B chart. The song was later included in the soundtrack to the movie Saturday Night Fever . (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" You Used To Love Me " - Faith Evans from the album Faith (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #24 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 12 Today's song of the day comes from R&B singer Faith Evans , who was born in Florida but raised in New Jersey, where she eventually was discovered by Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, who signed her on to his Bad Boy label. There she met and quickly married rapper Christopher Wallace, aka the Notorious B.I.G., who was on the same label in the summer of 1994. She sang backup on his records as well as those for Mary J. Blige and Usher before working on her own debut record which would be released in the the late summer of the following year. But by that time, Biggie and Faith were already having marital problems, which inspired the first single from the record, "You Used To Love Me". Written by Evans and produced by Chucky Thompson, the bitter song accompanied the singer confronting the unfaithful rapper... "You Us

" Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is " was a club track from the soul band Rose Royce. Appearing on their debut album and soundtrack to the movie Car Wash , the song was written and produced by Norman Whitfield. It wasn't released as a single in the U.S., but overseas it was the follow-up to the #1 title track "Car Wash", and climbed to #44 on the British singles chart. It also got to #22 in New Zealand. It remains a DJ favorite.

" He's Mine " - Mokenstef from the album Azz Izz (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 18 Today's song of the day comes from the R&B trio MoKenStef, whose name is an amalgam of the three women's first names - Monifa Bethune, Kenya Hadley, and Stefanie Sinclair, who came together in Los Angeles in the early 1990s. From their debut (and only ) album Azz Izz , the group released their first single "He's Mine", which sampled Prince's "Do Me Baby" and Roger Troutman's "Be Alright" as the base for the production. Written by the three with producer Hami, the song was a huge urban hit that crossed over to mainstream stations... "He's Mine" was MoKenStef's sole hit on the American pop Hot 100, climbing into its top ten in August of 1995. The song spent a week at #2 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart as well. Internationally, the single hit the top-40 in New Zea

" To Be With You " was a club single for New York salsa legend Jimmy Sabater. Appearing on his album To Be With You (Mucho Love and Lotsa Boogie) , the song never made the dance charts when released in 1976, but was a dancer and DJ favorite nonetheless. Jimmy died in 2012, but his son Jimmy Jr. carries on his musical legacy.

" Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under? "/" Any Man Of Mine " - Shania Twain from the album The Woman In Me (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #31 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 7 Today's song(s) of the week come from Canadian country singer Shania Twain , who was born Eileen Edwards in the city of Windsor right across the river from Detroit, Michigan. With her parents divorcing when she was a toddler, she moved with her mother and siblings to the city of Timmins in northern Ontario, where her mother Sharon remarried a local man, Jerry Twain, whom she adopted his surname from. She had a long haul of working side jobs and gigging in bands before she worked on establishing a singing career, at first a pop/rock one, but soon enough edging to her country roots. With Sharon and Jerry dying in a tragic auto accident in 1987, She had to return from Nashville to Canada to take care of her family. Eventually, after changing her first name to "Shania" (&qu

" Ready Or Not " was a club hit for Philadelphia native Deborah Washington. Appearing on the singer and actress' debut album Any Way You Want It , the song was co-produced by George Tobin, who later on discovered mall pop queen Tiffany. On Billboard magazine's National Disco Action Top-40 chart, the single rose to #16 in 1978.

" Crazy Love " - Brian McKnight from the albums Jason's Lyric (Original Soundtrack) (1994) & I Remember You (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #45 This week's "robbed hit" comes from pop/soul singer Brian McKnight , who after making his breakthrough on mainstream radio with his duet with Vanessa Williams, " Love Is ", from the TV show Beverly Hills 90210 , landed his own solo top-40 hit in the fall of 1993 with the ballad " One Last Cry " from his self-titled debut album. Brian returned in 1995 with a contribution to the movie Jason's Lyric that would also eventually serve as the lead single for his second album I Remember You . For the film McKnight covered the Van Morrison soft-rock classic "Crazy Love". Originally appearing on his iconic Moondance album in 1970, the song was the "B-Side" to the album's single " Come Running ", which went to #39 on the American top-40. Nevertheless, the s

" I Got 5 On It " - Luniz from the album Operation Stackola (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #8 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 20 Today's song of the day comes from the Oakland-based hip-hop duo Luniz, who came together in the early 1990's. Rappers Yukmouth (Jerold Ellis) and Numskull (Garrick Husbands) released the first single from their debut album Operation Stackola , "I Got 5 On It", in the spring of 1995. Built on a prominent sample of Club Nouveau's " Why You Treat Me So Bad? ", the boastful player's anthem sported an undeniable hook about that "endo weed" sung by Timex Social Club's Michael Marshall... "I Got 5 On It" became the pair's first but only hit on the American pop Hot 100 chart, reaching the top ten in September of 1995. The track peaked at #4 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, as well as rose to #2 on their Rap Singles chart. Unlike many American rap hits, though, the sing

" Got To Give It Up " was a club and radio hit for one of Motown's biggest treasures, Marvin Gaye. Appearing on his album Live At The London Palladium as the sole studio cut on the record, the song was written by Gaye and produced by Art Stewart, who meant to come as close to a "disco" recording as Marvin was willing to go. On Billboard magazine's National Disco Action Top-40 chart, the song spent a week at #1 in 1977, while also topping the pop and R&B charts in America as well. It would be his sole entry on the chart during the disco era. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Kiss From A Rose " - Seal from the albums Seal (1994) and Batman Returns (Original Soundtrack) (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 32 Today's song of the day comes from the British singer Seal , who had led off his second album, also titled Seal like his first, with the lush pop of first single " Prayer For The Dying ", which reached the top-20 on the American pop chart in the summer of 1994. The second release was an elegant waltz titled "Kiss From A Rose", written by Seal and produced by Trevor Horn. While it was a moderate success in the UK, peaking at #20, it only stayed in the British top-40 for three weeks and didn't cross over to America at all. That was until director Joel Schumacher requested to use the song in his movie Batman Returns , eventually ending up the end title song. "Kiss From A Rose" was re-released as the second offering from the soundtrack, after U2's " Hold Me, T