Twostepcublog

    " Spooky " was a club hit for the British synthpop group New Order. Appearing on their album Republic , the song was written by the band (Bernard Summer, Peter Hook, Gillian Gilbert, and Stephen Morris) with producer Stephen Hague. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #6 in 1994. It also rose to #22 in their British homeland.   (Click below to see the rest of the post)  

    " Semi-Charmed Life " - Third Eye Blind from the album Third Eye Blind (1997) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (four weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 38   Today's song of the day comes from the rock band Third Eye Blind , who came together in San Francisco in the early 1990s. Started by lead singer Stephan Jenkins and guitarist Kevin Cadogan, the band signed to Elektra Records and solidified its lineup with bass player Arion Salazar and drummer Brad Hargreaves, and recorded their self-titled debut album in 1996. The lead single was "Semi-Charmed Life", a sarcastic take on crystal meth use in the community flushed out by an undeniable set of guitar and back-up vocal hooks. Supposedly inspired by Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side" , the almost spoken-word verses about the altered world the drug brings contrasts with the sunny production of the song, and so mainstream radio (and a horde of fans) fell in...   "Semi-Charmed Life" became Third Eye B...

    "Haunted House" was a club hit for the act Dada Nada, formed by former EBN/OZN frontman Robert "Ozn" Rosen. Written by Rosen, the stand-alone single was remixed by seminal house music artist Mike "Hitman" Wilson. On Billboard magazine's Hot Dance Club Play chart the track peaked at #5 in 1989.  (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.  Harry Styles makes it into the double digits at #1, while Ava Max (pictured above) leaps into the top ten. Former big hits from Blake Shelton/Gwen Stefani, Ray Lamontagne, James Bay, and Bakar drop off my list, while songs from Shawn Mendes, Sam Smith, and Russell Dickerson make some of the biggest moves (jumps of over 10+ places highlighted in red ). And everything is Spotify playlisted below for your sampling pleasure. Happy Weeners! This Week           Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Watermelon Sugar - Harry Styles (1) 2. Head and Heart - Joel Corry & MNEK (3) 3. Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat) - Jawsh 685 & Jason Derulo & BTS (7) 4. Midnight Sky - Miley Cyrus (2) 5. I Should Probabl...

    " Smokin' Me Out " - Warren G featuring Ronald Isley from the album Take A Look Over Your Shoulder (1997) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #35 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 5   Today's song of the day comes from rapper Warren G , whose sophomore album Take A Look Over Your Shoulder had already spun off a top 20 pop and R&B hit with his interpolation of " I Shot The Sheriff " in the spring of 1997.  His follow-up single was "Smokin' Me Out", which Warren produced and wrote using a sample of the Isley Brothers' " Coolin' Me Out ". The group's Ronald Isley came in to sing the chorus, and thus had his second top-40 pop chart appearance in two years after 1996's " Down Low " with R. Kelly...     "Smokin' Me Out" became Warren's fifth top-40 pop hit in September of 1997. The song rose to #20 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, and topped out at #4 on their Rap Singles list. Internatio...

    " Pop Musik " was a massive radio and club hit for British artist Robin Scott , who recorded under the moniker M. Appearing on his debut album New York-Paris-London-Munich , Robin wrote and produced the track, which featured backup vocals from Brigit Novik. On Billboard magazine's Disco Top-100 chart, the single peaked #4, while topped the American pop (music) Hot 100. The album also reached the chart as a whole in 1980, climbing to #38.  (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " Quit Playing Games (With My Heart) " - Backstreet Boys from the album Backstreet Boys (UK, 1996) and Backstreet Boys (US, 1997) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 35   Today's song of the day comes from the vocal group Backstreet Boys , who were assembled in Florida in the early 1990s by producer and future convicted felon Lou Pearlman. With cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson, along with friends AJ Maclean, Nick Carter, and Howie Dorough, the fivesome initially did the Tiffany-style "mall circuit" in America before recording their self-titled first album in 1995. The first single, " We Got It Goin' On ", was first a success in Europe, which was natural, since there the "boy-band" concept was already a proven phenomenon, with acts like Take That, Boyzone, and Westlife ruling the charts. The single made the top ten in the UK (#3), Germany (#4), Austria (#3), Switzerland (#3), and the Netherlands (#...

    " Messin' With My Mind " was a club hit for the soul vocal group LaBelle, led by the legendary Patti LaBelle. Appearing on their album Phoenix , the song was written by the trio's Nona Hendryx and produced by Allen Toussaint. On Record World magazine's Disco File Top-20, the single peaked at #8 in 1975, while on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, it rose to #19.  

    " 5 Miles To Empty " - Brownstone from the album Still Climbing (1997) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #39 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 2 Today's song of the day comes from the female R&B vocal group Brownstone, who landed a record deal on Michael Jackson's vanity label MJJ Records and a top ten pop hit with their first single " If You Love Me " in the beginning of 1995. However member "Mimi" Doby left the trio not too long after, and "Maxee" Maxwell and "Nicci" Gilbert brought on Kina Cosper as a replacement. They returned in 1997 with their second and what would be their final album Still Climbing . The lead single from the set was the downtempo "5 Miles To Empty", written by Gilbert with producers Gerald Baillergeau and Victor Merritt. Using the gas tank on a car as a metaphor for the juice in their relationship, the group did their plea to save the romance before it's all gone... "5 Miles To Empty...

    " Touch My Heart " was a club hit for Swedish singer Madleen Kane. Appearing on her album Rough Diamond , the song was written and produced by Michaele, Lana, and Paul Sebastian. On Billboard magazine's National Disco Action Top-40 chart, "Touch My Heart" and the "A-Side" of the 12" single, " Rough Diamond ", were both listed. The single peaked there at #3 in 1978, spending a hefty 22 weeks on the list.    (Click below to see the rest of the post)  

    " Butterfly Kisses " - Raybon Bros. from the album Raybon Bros. (1997) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #22 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 8   Yesterday I went on a long rant about how the record companies started to ensure their eventual demise with the phasing out of the commercial "single" that allowed younger, newer, and more budget-conscious fans to purchase a song they love on the radio. This mostly started in the 1990s with labels holding back single releases to either juice up a high debut or juice up album sales, which worked sometimes. In the later half of the decade their popped up a practice of another act releasing a cover while the radio hit is big to grab those sales, and the most conspicuous example of this was " Butterfly Kisses ". Written and recorded by gospel singer Bob Carlisle, the track became a top ten radio hit without being put out commercially (except for the Christian bookstore market), and therefore were unable to make the top-...

    "Can U Feel It" - 3rd Party from the album Alive (1997) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #43 (one week)   This week's "robbed hit" comes from the dance-pop trio 3rd Party. Lead singer Maria Christensen, who used to be in the freestyle act Sequal put together by Expose producer Lewis Martinee, landed a top ten dance hit in 1988 with " Tell The Truth ".  Christensen wrote a handful of the songs of the new act's only album Alive , but not the lead single, "Can U Feel It". Penned by Arnie Roman and Steve Skinner, the club jam found a home of many a dance music radio station, and the group found themselves with their first hit... "Can U Feel It" just missed the pop top-40 in America in June of 1997, but staying on the list for five months (20 weeks). The single surprisingly only reached #42 on Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play list (I remember it being played all the time). The Alive album did spawn a second charting single wi...

    "Undercover Lover" was a club hit for Baltimore native Debbie Jacobs. Appearing on her debut album Undercover Lover , the song was written and produced by Paul Sabu. On Billboard magazine's Disco Top 80 chart, the single was listed with both this and "flip-side" " Don't You Want My Love ", another club classic. The single peaked there at #6 in 1979.   (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " Butterfly Kisses " - Bob Carlisle from the album Butterfly Kisses (Shades Of Grace) (1997) Billboard Hot 100 peak: ineligible to chart Billboard Hot 100 Airplay peak: #10 (one week) Weeks in the Airplay Top-40: 11   Now that we're getting into the latter half of the 1990's there have been quite a few SOTD's that have not been "official" Billboard magazine top-40 hits. This started because the heralded trade periodical had a strict policy about their Hot 100 pop chart that the song had to be released as a physical commercial single for sale in the majority of record stores in America. Now before then, that wasn't really an issue, with the seven inch vinyl single, with one song on the front and another on the back, had been one of the prevailing music delivery forms since the beginning of the rock era, allowing an entry point especially for younger fans with a limited budget to purchase their favorite song on the radio (or at one point in t...

    " Fly Too High " was a left-field club hit for pop singer/songwriter Janis Ian. Appearing on her album Night Rains , the song was produced by Giorgio Moroder, who co-wrote the track with Ian. It appeared in the Jodie Foster movie Foxes . On Billboard magazine's Disco Top 100 chart, the single peaked at #30 in 1980.     (Click below to see the rest of the post)  

    " Smile " - Scarface featuring 2Pac & Johnny P from the album The Untouchable (1997) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #12 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 9   Today's song of the day comes from rapper Brad " Scarface " Jordan, who had scored his first top-40 pop hit away from his group the Geto Boys in the beginning of 1995 with " I Seen A Man Die ".  Two years later, Scarface returned with his fourth solo album The Untouchable . The lead single was a song he recorded with 2Pac Shakur, who was murdered in the fall of that year. "Smile", also featuring singer Johnny P on the chorus, was written by Scarface, 2Pac, and producer Mike Dean, and reworked the S.O.S. Band's Top 5 R&B hit from 1983 "Tell Me If You Still Care". The result, with his melodic sample and 2Pac's posthumous popularity still strong, gave Scarface his biggest pop hit... "Smile" became Scarface's second and so far last top-40 pop hit in July ...

    " Forever Came Today " was a big club and urban radio hit for the Jackson Five. Appearing on their final Motown album Moving Violation , the song was written and produced by the iconic team of Holland, Dozier, and Holland originally for Diana Ross & The Supremes in 1968, where it hit #28 on the pop chart. On Record World 's Disco File Top-20 chart, the single spent four weeks at #1 in 1975. It also reached #6 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, and #60 on the official Hot 100 pop list.   (Click below to see the rest of the post)  

    " Look Into My Eyes " - Bone Thugs-N-Harmony from the albums Batman & Robin (Original Soundtrack) and The Art Of War (both 1997) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 12   Today's song of the day comes from the Cleveland-based rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony , who followed up their massive #1 pop hit " Tha Crossroads " with a contribution to the soundtrack to the movie Set It Off , " Days Of Our Livez ", which made the top-40 of Billboard magazine's Hot 100 Airplay chart in the autumn of 1996. The following year, Crazy, Lazy,, Bizzy, Wish, and Flesh-N-Bone returned with a track from another movie, this time the fourth installment in Warner Brothers' reboot of the Batman superhero franchise, Batman & Robin , with George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell as the titular characters. The previous movie, Batman Forever , had a hugely successful soundtrack, with four songs reaching the pop charts, including the #1 ...

    "Ease On Down The Road" was a club hit for the studio group Consumer Rapport. A cover of the song from the Broadway musical The Wiz written by Charlie Smalls, and featured Frank Floyd, who sang backup in the show.  On Record World 's Disco File Top-20 chart, the single spent five weeks at #1 in 1975. It also reached #19 on Billboard 's R&B chart and just missed the top-40 at #42 on the pop list.  

    Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit" tunes from the previous week. Harry Styles remains on top for his ninth week, while country crossover duo Dan + Shay (pictured above) float up four notches within the top ten. Songs from Sam Smith, Love Regenerator, and Jameson Rodgers make some of the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while a former big hit from Powfu drops out. And everything is Spotify playlisted for you sampling pleasure below. Is it over yet? This Week              Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Watermelon Sugar - Harry Styles (1) 2. Midnight Sky - Miley Cyrus (2) 3. Head and Heart - Joel Corry & MNEK (3) 4. Break My Heart - Dua Lipa (4) 5. Before You Go - Lewis Capaldi (5) 6. I Should Probably Go To Bed - Dan + Shay (10) 7. S...