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" Vertigo/Relight My Fire " was a classic club hit for the late singer Dan Hartman . Appearing on his album Relight My Fire , the song was written and produced by Hartman, and featured an amazing performance by (also the late) disco diva Loleatta Holloway that would be sampled ad nauseam since. On Billboard magazine's Disco Top-100 chart, the album charted as one entry, with "Vertigo/Relight My Fire" and his disco remake of his " Free Ride " rock classic with the Edgar Winter Group as key cuts. While Relight My Fire spent a massive six weeks at #1 there in 1980, the single criminally missed the pop Hot 100 completely, "bubbling under" the list at #105. About 15 years later, a cover of the song by the boy-band Take That topped the singles chart in England, while a version from Ricky Martin made the Dance chart top-5 in 2003. But to me, the original from Hartman is one of the best disco records of all time. Tragically, we lost Dan to AID...

" Not Gon' Cry " - Mary J. Blige from the albums Waiting To Exhale (Original Soundtrack) (1995) and Share My World (1996) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 17 Today's song of the day comes from R&B singer Mary J. Blige , whose sophomore album My Life had scored her a pair of top-40 pop hits with " Be Happy " and a cover of Rose Royce's " I'm Goin' Down ". Besides that, Mary sang on Wu-Tang Clan rapper Method Man's single " I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By ", with interpolated the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell classic. That "event" single went all the way to #3 on the pop chart in the summer of 1995, so far her best showing at that time. That year she also did a few other side projects; first a song for the hip-hop movie The Show , " Everyday It Rains ", which went to #48 on the R&B Airplay chart. Then Mary covered the Carole King by way o...

" Hold Your Horses " was a big club hit for the female vocal soul trio First Choice. Appearing on their fifth album Hold Your Horses , the song was written by the team on Kathleen Poppy, Les Hurdle, Frank Ricotti, and Peter Gosling, with Hurdle playing bass on the track. On Billboard magazine's National Disco Action Top-40, it became their biggest hit, rising to #5 in 1979 and spending eight months on the chart.

Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit" singles from the previous week. Dua Lipa remains at #1 for a third week, while Lewis Capaldi (pictured above) sees a second song leap into the top ten. Former big hits from Lana Del Rey, Galantis/Dolly Parton/Mr. Probs, Niall Horan, Tom Walker, and Dermot Kennedy drop off my list, while songs from Billie Eilish, the Unlikely Candidates, and Jonas Brothers make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ). Trust me, coughing now gets you the nastiest looks... This Week          Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Don't Start Now - Dua Lipa (1) 2. Circles - Post Malone (2) 3. Might Be Right - White Reaper (5) 4. Dance Monkey - Tones and I (3) 5. Running Up That Hill - Meg Myers (4) 6. Before You Go - Lewis Capaldi (11) 7. Adore You - Harry Styles (...

" Glycerine " - Bush from the album Sixteen Stone (1994) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #28 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 7 Today's song of the day comes from the British post-grunge rock band Bush , whose debut album Sixteen Stone had landed the band their first top-40 pop hit with " Comedown " in the autumn of 1995, as well as a top-40 radio airplay hit with " Everything Zen " and one that almost made that mark with " Little Things ". The fourth song promoted to radio would be the ballad "Glycerine". Written by lead singer Gavin Rossdale about his then-girlfriend, the track sports really vague lyrics that allude to the fact that they were in a volatile relationship that was ending, but really uses more poetic turns of phrase than direct feelings. Nevertheless, fans approved, and the song became their fourth big rock radio hit, crossing over to mainstream pop stations in due time... "Glycerine" became Bush's...

" Counting On Love (One, Two, Three) " was a club hit for the Italo-disco group the Peter Jacques Band. Appearing on their second album Welcome Back , while the band was named for the French businessman who bankrolled them, the song was actually written and produced by Italian musician Mauro Malavasi, a pioneer the the piano-laden Italo-disco movement that predated house music. On Billboard magazine's Disco Top 100 chart, the entire Welcome Back record was listed as one entry with no one cut featured, and rose to #57 on the list in 1980.

" Wonderwall " - Oasis from the album (What's The Story) Morning Glory? (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #8 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 14 Today's song of the day comes from the British rock band Oasis , led by brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher. Their debut album Definitely Maybe scored the band a top-40 pop radio hit in America in the spring of 1995 with " Live Forever ". Meanwhile, that album landed four top-40 hits in their native UK that year. At Christmastime, the band released a one-off single, " Whatever ", that was in the running for the coveted "#1 Xmas hit" of that year, but ended up at #3 and with a lawsuit from Monty Python member Neil Innes. In the spring of 1995, the group returned with the lead single from what would be their sophomore effort, (What's The Story) Morning Glory? . " Some Might Say " landed the Gallaghers their first British number one single, and while it also went top ten in Ireland ...

" Moonlight Lovin' (Menage a Trois) " was a club hit for the late soul singer Isaac Hayes . Appearing on his first album for Polydor records, New Horizon , the song was written and produced by Hayes. On Billboard magazine's National Disco Action Top-40 chart, "Moonlight Lovin'" and it's "b-side", a remake of " Stranger In Paradise " from the movie Kismet , were listed together and climbed to #16 in 1978. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Wonder " - Natalie Merchant from the album Tigerlily (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #20 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 26 Today's song of the day comes from singer/songwriter Natalie Merchant , who left her band 10,000 Maniacs to do something they couldn't, land a top ten pop hit with her first single " Carnival " in the fall of 1995. Her second single from her solo debut album Tigerlily is the midtempo jangle-pop gem "Wonder". Written and produced by Merchant, the song was inspired by twins she knew with a birth defect, and turning it into a special feature instead of a fault... "Wonder" became Natalie's second top-40 solo pop hit in March of 1996, spending a half a year (26 weeks) in the top-40. The song was her biggest hit on Billboard magazine's Adult Top-40 format list, taking a week at #2, while on the more sedate Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio tally it stopped at #17. On rock rad...

" Like An Eagle " was a club hit for actor and singer Dennis Posa, recording under the name Dennis Parker. Parker was much better known as "Wade Nichols", who starred in a truckload of gay and straight pornographic films in the 1970s. His boyfriend, Village People creator Jacques Morali, recorded the song with appeared on Parker's sole album Like An Eagle . On Billboard magazine's Disco Top-80 Chart, it charted along with its "B-side", " New York By Night ", and climbed to #17 in 1979. That same year, still under the reinvented name, Parker was seen on TV in the long-running soap opera The Edge Of Night , where he played a police chief until 1984. Sadly, he was one of the victims of the AIDS crisis, succumbing to the effects of the disease in the following year. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Natural One " - Folk Implosion from the album Kids (Original Soundtrack) (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 7 Today's song of the day comes from the lo-fi rock band Folk Implosion, which was the "side-project" of singer and bass player Lou Barlow . Barlow had been a member of the indie rock group Dinosaur Jr. through the 1980s. He helped found the act Sebadoh since 1988, and by the mid-1990s had released two studio albums. In 1993, while staying in Sebadoh, Barlow got together with guitarist John Davis to form the act Folk Implosion, releasing their first album together, Take A Look Inside , in 1994. It got enough attention to have filmmaker Larry Clark recruit the pair to create most of the soundtrack music for his movie Kids . A dark film about street kids and sex, alcohol and drug use rampant therein, Kids featured a very young Chloë Sevigny and Rosario Dawson in a piece rated NC-17, meaning actual kids couldn...

"Crusader" was a DJ favorite from the studio creation Trax, which was the project of producer legends Pete Bellotte (Donna Summer) and Keith Forsey (Billy Idol). Appearing on their second album Dancing In The Street in 1978, the song missed Billboard 's dance charts, but remains an underground club classic...

" Get Together " - Big Mountain from the album Resistance (1996) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #44 This week's "robbed hit" comes from the rock-reggae band Big Mountain , who scored a top ten pop hit in the spring of 1994 with their cover of the Peter Frampton 1970s arena-rock classic " Baby I Love Your Way " from the soundtrack to the movie Reality Bites . However they weren't able to have a big follow-up on their album at the time, Unity . So when it came time to put out their next record, Resistance , in 1996, the band played it safe by releasing another cover, this time going a decade back for the flower power anthem "Get Together". Originally made famous by the Youngbloods, the song was written by Chet Powers and first recorded by the Kingston Trio back in 1964. The following year, the group We Five released it as a single and made the top-40 at #31. It was also covered by psychedelic rock titans Jefferson Airplane on their debut a...

" Nobody Knows " - The Tony Rich Project from the album Words (1996) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 38 Today's song of the day comes from singer/songwriter/producer Tony Rich , a native of Detroit who came on as a songwriter for Babyface and L.A. Reid's label LaFace Records in the early 1990s. Eventually, he signed as an artist recording as The Tony Rich Project, and released his debut single "Nobody Knows" in the fall of 1995. A gentle ballad that convinced everyone was a Babyface original, the break-up ballad from a delusional lover caught on with both urban and mainstream audiences and became his first and by far biggest hit... "Nobody Knows" became Rich's first and only top-40 pop hit, stopping just one notch from the top in March of 1996. The song spent seven weeks in the runner-up position on Billboard magazine's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart, and hit #7 on t...

"Winds Of Change" was the title track of the disco album from French-Egyptian producer and musician Alec R. Costandinos. The album was the soundtrack for the Japanese animated movie Metamorphoses , which was re-released in the U.S. under the Winds of Change name, with new narration from Peter Ustinov and including this music also featuring singer Pattie Brooks. The song never made the dance chart, but remains a DJ favorite... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" No One Else " - Total from the album Total (1996) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #22 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 14 Today's song of the day comes from the female R&B vocal group Total, whose debut single, " Can't You See " featuring rapper Notorious B.I.G., scored them their first top-40 pop/top-10 R&B hit in the summer of 1995. Their follow-up single, which was released before their self-titled debut album, was the mid-tempo jam "No One Else". Featuring a rap cameo from Da Brat, the song was written by Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, producer Jean-Clauder "Poke" Olivier, and singer Terri Robinson of Terri & Monica. It marked the evolution between "new jack swing" and the 90's Bad Boy version of that... "No One Else" became Total's second top-40 pop hit in February of 1996. The song also climbed to #4 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart. (Click below to see the rest of the ...

" Good Times " was a club and radio classic from the band Chic, fronted by guitar legend Nile Rodgers . Appearing on their album Risque' , the song was written and produced by Rodgers with bassist Bernard Edwards. On Billboard magazine's Disco Top-80, the entire Risque' album charted as one entry, with " My Feet Keep Dancing " and " My Forbidden Lover " listed with "Good Times" as key tracks. Stunningly, the album, arguably with the most recognized song in the disco era, only made it to #3 on the Disco Top-80 in 1979. The song did top both the American pop and R&B chart, though. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Sittin' Up In My Room " - Brandy from the album Waiting To Exhale (Original Soundtrack) (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 29 Today's song of the day comes from singer/actress Brandy , whose self-titled debut album in 1994 was a massive success, spinning off three top ten pop hits with " I Wanna Be Down ", " Baby ", and " Brokenhearted ", as well as a fourth top-40 pop hit in " Best Friend ", with the first two topping Billboard magazine's R&B chart as well. The following year, Brandy recorded a song for a couple of movies that would become hits. The first would be for the Whitney Houston gal-pal film Waiting To Exhale , and it would be released as the soundtrack's second single after Whitney's #1 hit " Exhale (Shoop Shoop) ". "Sittin' Up In My Room", written and produced by Babyface, was a classy yet youthful take on waiting on a lover, which in...

" More Than A Woman " was a club hit for the Australian pop group Bee Gees . Appearing on their landmark soundtrack to the movie Saturday Night Fever (along with a version from the group Tavares that became a top-40 pop hit), the song was written by Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, who produced it together with Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson. On Billboard 's National Disco Action Top-40 chart, the 12" record that included " Stayin' Alive ", " Night Fever ", and "More Than A Woman" charted as one entry, listing all three hits, and rose to #3 in 1978. (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. Dua Lipa spends a second week at #1, while one-man act Absofacto (pictured above) holds tight within the top ten. Songs from Nathaniel Rateliff, Halsey, and the Jonas Brothers make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while former big hits from Pet Shop Boys/Years & Years, Alicia Keys/Miguel, and Thomas Rhett drop out. Pills, glorious pills... This Week           Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Don't Start Now - Dua Lipa (1) 2. Circles - Post Malone (2) 3. Dance Monkey - Tones and I (3) 4. Running Up That Hill - Meg Myers (4) 5. Might Be Right - White Reaper (7) 6. Heartache Medication - Jon Pardi (6) 7. Good As Hell - Lizzo (5) 8. South Of The Border - Ed Sheeran f/Camila Cabello & C...

" Hook " - Blues Traveler from the album four (1994) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #23 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 18 Today's song of the day comes from the jam band from New Jersey, Blues Traveler , who broke through big on mainstream pop radio in the summer of 1995 with their top ten hit " Run-Around ". For their follow-up single the band chose the mid-tempo reflection on pop music and the business they were in with "Hook". Written by lead singer/harmonica player John Popper, the song cribs Pachobel's "Canon in D" piece to drive the proverbial "hook" in the song, while singing about how most pop music is just jumbled up words around a melody that will not leave you. Genius. The late MTV host Ken Ober again stars in the video for the song... "Hook" became Blues Traveler's second top 40 pop hit in March of 1996, and their final "official" one on Billboard 's Hot 100 chart (they would have...

" It Looks Like Love " was a club hit for the studio act Goody Goody, put together by producer Vincent Montana, Jr.. Montana, who also led the Salsoul Orchestra, created the new group after leaving the Salsoul label in 1978. The song appeared on their self-titled and only album release Goody Goody . On Billboard magazine's National Disco Action Top-40 chart, the entire album charted as one entry, but three other tracks (" #1 Dee Jay ", " Super Jock ", and " Bio-Rhythms ") were listed as key cuts. Goody Goody peaked at #16 in 1978. Nevertheless this remains my fave of the set.

" Free As A Bird " - The Beatles from the album Anthology 1 (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 4 Today's song of the day is from the biggest, best, and most influential band to have graced this planet, The Beatles . I could go through their history here, but I'd still be writing as of tomorrow. For sake of purposes here, any child needs the Beatles music in their educational upbringing. Even though the group split up in 1969, the volume of work they released remains timeless. But let get caught up to the modern-ish era of the 80's on. Six years after their final "true" single " The Long And Winding Road " went to #1 in 1970, the release of the compilation Rock and Roll Music in 1976 spurred on the 1966 Revolver track " Got To Get You Into My Life " to become a top ten pop hit for the now-defunct band. In 1982, after the tragic death of John Lennon, another collection of old songs from movie...

" Standing Right Here " was a club hit for stage actress and singer Melba Moore . Appearing on her album A Portrait Of Melba on the Buddah record label, the song was written by the production team of Gene McFadden and John Whitehead along with Victor Carstarphen. On Billboard 's National Disco Action chart, the song climbed to #53 in 1979. Coincidentally, another record of hers on her new home of Epic Records, " Pick Me Up, I'll Dance ", debuted in the same week, but did a bit better, making it up to #22.

" Good Intentions " - Toad The Wet Sprocket from the albums Friends (Original TV Soundtrack) and In Light Syrup (both 1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: ineligible to chart Billboard Hot 100 Airplay peak: #23 (two weeks) Weeks in the Hot 100 Airplay Top-40: 13 Today's song of the day comes from the alternative rock group Toad The Wet Sprocket , whose fourth studio album Dulcinea had scored them their third official top-40 pop hit with " Fall Down ", as well as a follow-up in " Something's Always Wrong " that came one notch from meeting that mark in the fall of 1994. In the next year, the band contributed a song to the massive hit sitcom Friends that would also appear in the band's release of odds-and-ends called In Light Syrup . "Good Intentions", written by their lead singer and guitarist Glen Phillips, was about navigating a romantic relationship and avoiding being dumped, while the video features Friends actress Courtney ...

" The More I Get, The More I Want " was a club hit for the late soul singer Teddy Pendergrass. Appearing on his debut solo album Teddy Pendergrass , the song was written by the production team of Gene McFadden and John Whitehead along with Victor Carstarphen. On Billboard magazine's National Disco Action Top-40, the entire album charted as one entry, with " You Can't Hide From Yourself ", " I Don't Love You Anymore ", and "The More I Get, The More I Want" singled out as highlights. It rose to #7 on the list in 1977. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" The World I Know " - Collective Soul from the album Collective Soul (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #19 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 24 Today's song of the day comes from the rock band Collective Soul , whose self-titled second album had scored them a second top-40 pop hit with " December ", as well as an airplay-only single " Gel " that made the top half of the pop radio chart. While the former hit was meandering on pop radio in the summer of 1995, rock stations started to play the album cut " Smashing Young Man ", so much so that the song climbed to #8 on the Mainstream Rock radio chart, and went to #19 in Canada. That fall, the band released their next single from the set, the mid-tempo introspective ballad "The World I Know". Written by lead singer Ed Roland and lead guitarist Ross Childress, the song illustrated by the music video shows the despair of life but also its redeeming qualities as the protagonist gets a ...