Twostepcub's Biggest Hits of 2020: Part One - #100 to #91...
Well after what seems like 500 months, we're at the end of 2020, and it's time to count down the biggest "hit" songs on my weekly music chart. Every week I assemble a personal list from which songs are in the top tiers of the pop, rock, R&B, country, and dance charts in Billboard magazine, as well as the top sales and radio hits in the UK. So while there may be some very superior songs that came around this year that didn't place only since they weren't "hits" (and I hope to make a separate little list of them - needless to say I'm thrilled for the reception to Christine & The Queens' "People I've Been Sad"), this distillation of the 100 singles that went the highest and/or stayed the longest on my list is a nice little recap of the pulse of American "pop" music. I'll be doing ten a night, and we start at #100...
#100 - "I Think We're Alone Now" by Billie Joe Armstrong
from the album No Fun Mondays (2020)
Highest Rank: #15 (one week)
Weeks On The Chart: 15
Billboard Hot 100 peak: DNC
Billboard Adult Top-40 peak: #12
Songwriters: Ritchie Cordell
It's only fitting that the first song on my list is one that probably wouldn't have seen the light of day if not for the biggest ongoing event of this year, the COVID-19 pandemic. Armstrong, the lead singer of the pop-punk trio Green Day, released this song to start his "No Fun Mondays" string of cover versions on YouTube which made the first months of the period of isolation many of us felt be just a little lighter. And the irony in using this song as most of us sane people were socially distancing to stop the spread of the virus wasn't lost on me. Billie's energetic non-flourished reading of the classic Tommy James and the Shondells tune was perfect for those March days of not knowing what exactly was in store. But most of all, it seemed like we all were in it "together", for however long that lasted. Maybe my experience is different being in the Tri-State area which was hit so hard in the early months, but I believe we responded a hell of a lot better than most of the rest of the country.
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#99 - "Some Girls" by Jameson Rodgers
from the EP Jameson Rodgers (2018)
Highest Rank: #19 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 18 (still charting)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29
Billboard Country Airplay peak: #1
Songwriters: HARDY, C.J. Solar, Jake Mitchell
Every year we get songs from country upstarts, usually male, where you can just tell that this might be their biggest moment, before they slip back into obscurity. This record has all the signs of that. I mean, it's pleasant enough, a driving rock-country hybrid with a pronounced piano "hook" that straddles the gray area between bro and boyfriend country, and it gave a nice sound to country radio this fall, but will I remember this five years from now? That I'm not so sure. It's a shame these days that record companies are holding back on album releases with at best putting out "EP"s to test the waters. And this one came out in January of 2018 no less. But on the positive, Rodgers' voice carries the song without it being too hokey, and if he can latch on to a meatier song (please stay away from HARDY) his lightning might strike again.
#98 - "Be Kind" by Marshmello and Halsey
from the album Manic (Expanded Edition) (2020)
Highest Rank: #24 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 16
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29
Billboard Dance Airplay peak: #3
Billboard Adult Top-40 peak: #17
Songwriters: Christopher Comstock (Marshmello), Ashley Frangipane (Halsey), Miles Ale, Amy Allen, Freddy Wexler, Gian Stone
I felt that DJs Marshmello and Kygo were battling to see who was going to be the "David Guetta" of this year, though Marshmello had an advantage going in just coming off the bigger hit of last year, "Happier", which was #12 for 2019, as opposed to Kygo, whose rework of Whitney Houston's "Higher Love" came in at #49. Also, he released a slew of high-profile collabs with the likes of Demi Lovato, Usher, and the late Juice WRLD. But it was his pairing with alt-pop singer Halsey that places Chris Comstock on the list this year. Maybe because I liked that, like "Happier", it didn't sound like a Marshmello record; there wasn't a need for a "drop" of a blaring beat, but rather a layered synthpop background to Halsey's pleading singing about becoming comfortable with those you give you heart to. Joyous and cautious at the same time, again perfect for these times.
#97 - "Funny" by Zedd and Jasmine Thompson
from the stand-alone single (2020)
Highest rank: #9 (one week)
Weeks on the chart: 15
Billboard Hot 100 peak: DNC ("bubbled under" at #112)
Billboard Adult Top-40 peak: #22
Billboard Dance Airplay peak: #4
Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs: #7
Songwriters: Anton Zaslavski (Zedd), Jasmine Thompson, Jordan Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Michael Pollack, Marcus Lomax, Casey Smith
Russian/German DJ Zedd had the fifth biggest song on my list of 2018, "The Middle" with Maren Morris. This time out he pairs with British singer Jasmine Thompson, best known at the time for her cover of Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody" from 2015. With the club scene basically stalled out, more pensive dance-oriented tracks like "Be Kind" and this were able to get more attention. This song, though, looks at a relationship on the other side, where isolation sows distrust and resentment after her lover has left. Thompson carries herself through the titanic chords Zedd provides in the chorus, though the acoustic version is maybe a bit sweeter.
#96 - "One Of Them Girls" by Lee Brice
from the album Hey World (2020)
Highest rank: #18 (one week)
Weeks on the chart: 16 (still charting)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #17
Billboard Country Airplay peak: #1
Songwriters: Lee Brice, Ashley Gorley, Dallas Davidson, Ben Johnson
Singer/songwriter Brice, which was here last year at #89 with "Rumor", is a contrast to the above Rodgers, as Brice's "One Of Them Girls", which mined the same territory, produces a song with more uniqueness and staying power that "Some Girls" aspires to be. Not surprising that this is Brice's biggest hit on the Hot 100 so far, though not his best IMHO, as it does have a little bit of aftertaste of bro-country on it. But Brice is a crafty enough writer (with a little help) that he can interpret the "talking up a lady" trope and seem more genuine and memorable. It was a needed hit than affords Brice at least the B-list in Nashville, and hopefully he can build on that.
#95 - "Together" by Sia
from the albums Reasonable Woman and Music (Original Soundtrack) (both 2021)
Highest rank: #9 (one week)
Weeks on the chart: 15
Billboard Hot 100 peak: DNC
Billboard Adult Top-40 peak: #11
Songwriters: Sia Furler, Jack Antonoff
Oh, Sia. For someone who eschews the spotlight, refusing to even show your face when performing, you certainly (and most likely unexpectedly for you) caused a bit of a hubbub this year. You see, the singer and one of the most successful songwriters of the past decade has been working on a movie for years, and the result, Music, is set to be finally released in February of 2021 after being delayed for a couple of years. The film centers on a pair of half-sisters, played by Kate Hudson and frequent Sia dance muse and face of her music videos Maddie Ziegler, with Ziegler playing a girl on the autistic spectrum. There was a backlash from some in that community (not all) that someone who wasn't autistic was playing one, culminating in the normally reserved artist lashing out at someone attacking her for the choice without seeing the movie with not so much grace but hurt bitterness. Needless to say that brought up a "Twitter fury" that most likely delayed the movie a bit more, but I'll leave it at that and if you want you can read up with this assessment from a woman who is autistic. Personally, as a close family member of mine is on the spectrum, I believe Sia's intentions were true, and she herself has a history of not being able to be a public person, so I really want to see it before making any judgement. But on to the lead song from the soundtrack. A bouncy and happy track that is uplifting yet grounded, I felt it didn't get the attention it deserved on radio perhaps because it wasn't Sia's usual moodiness. The music video is a joy to watch, and is a welcome return for the singer who hasn't graced this list in years.
#94 - "I Got You" by Michael Franti and Spearhead
from the album Work Hard & Be Nice (2020)
Highest rank: #5 (one week)
Weeks on the chart: 14
Billboard Hot 100 peak: DNC
Billboard Adult Album Alternative (Triple-A Rock) peak: #1
Billboard Adult Top-40 peak: #33
Songwriter: Michael Franti and Chris Stephens
Now here's joyful. I've been a fan of Franti since his alternative rap days of his Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, and his 2009 nugget "Say Hey (I Love You)" went all the way to the top of my weekly list. He returns with a reggae-pop love confession that is much more heartfelt that a bucket of the trope at wedding receptions of the past few years. And hit quarantine-ready video with his wife and child at their home in Bali is simply smile-inducing. Should've been massive in the summer, but admittedly most of us were kept at home. Damn.
#93 - "Make Me Want To" by Jimmie Allen
from the album Mercury Lane (2018)
Highest rank: #10 (one week)
Weeks on the chart (in 2020): 16
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #49
Billboard Country Airplay peak: #1
Songwriters: Jimmie Allen, Paul Sikes, Jennifer Denmark
Did Jimmie Allen kill country legend Charley Pride? Well no, but he performed with Pride at the Country Music Association awards in November, which was a horribly-planned maskless affair in the times of this pandemic, and wouldn't you just know it, Pride died of COVID-19 complications less than a month later. Insane. Now it certainly wasn't Jimmie's fault for how that show was put on, and he surely is mournful of the loss of such a titan in the genre and one of the few African-Americans and definitely the biggest name in the field. But damn, I didn't watch that show knowing the ignorance would get someone killed, and Pride ended up the unfortunate Herman Cain of the music world.
That said, the song.
"Make Me Want To" was Allen's second #1 country radio hit, one that took over a year to reach to top (these days not as uncommon as it would seem). The breezy love song adheres to the standards of country of the roaring 90s and 00s, which is a good thing, and his soulful yet twangy voice sets him apart from the rest of the newcomers and I really hope he can continue that success (there has only been an EP released with a weird duet with Noah Cyrus that fizzled out). Country music really needs voices like Jimmies. Just be careful where you perform.
from the album Father Of All Motherf*ckers (2020)
Highest rank: #8 (one week)
Weeks on the chart: 14
Billboard Hot 100 peak: DNC
Billboard Rock Airplay peak: #1
Billboard Mainstream Rock peak: #1
Billboard Alternative Rock peak: #1
Songwriters: Green Day (Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tre Cool), Gary Glitter and Mike Leander (for the "Do You Wanna Touch Me" interpolation)
Now Billie's back with his Green Day bandmates, and how punk is it to take a song originally written by one of rock music more reviled people, convicted pedophile sex offender Gary Glitter, though most Americans only know "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah!)" from Joan Jett's top-40 cover from 1982. The band reclaim the anthem, detach it from its roots, and turn it into a snarly little singalong that might be a little trite, but these days we needed a bit trite. The music video is hilarious and meta as hell.
from the album Be (2020)
Highest rank: #3 (three weeks, still at peak)
Weeks on the chart: 13 (still charting)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1
Billboard Adult Top-40 peak: #11
UK Singles Chart peak: #3
Songwriters: David Stewart, Jessica Agombar
Well, 2020 was the year that K-Pop decidedly conquered America. The Korean version of mainstream music had a rapidly growing fanbase in this country for a while, with albums from acts like GOT7, Blackpink, and BTS selling over most of the homegrown competition whose fans had become complacent with streaming. For the "armies" though, they knew their duty was to support their bands, buying anything that came across. But the deciding factor was when the arguably biggest of them all, BTS, decided to step over a line they previously said they wouldn't cross - recording an all-English language song. The genre has always strayed pretty close with using English-word titles and scattered phrases mixed with Korean. But this experiment did pay off in droves. No matter that the lyrics seem to be fed through Google translate a few times, "Dynamite" had enough earnestness from its seven-member crew performing it over a slice of Katy Perry-style neo-disco production that basically said "we're here to entertain you, not enlighten you". And it works. The punchy backdrop hides any nuance in their vocals, to the point where I cannot tell who is singing unless I'm watching the video. But that's not for me. I'm just on board as a tourist. It's definitely for the fans, who responded by sending this straight to #1, getting radio's attention to finally become a bona fide airplay hit. And they even got the group's following single, "Life Goes On", to also go to #1 even with mostly-Korean lyrics. So not sure what direction this will take the group, whether they will release more English tracks, or whether this was a one-off to open ears at radio. But it's definitely welcome. For all the derision on the genre, there's a lot of positive about K-Pop. The biggest I see it young people can see young men who are definitely comfortable displaying affection amongst themselves, something the western world can learn from. It may originally arise from the "idol" movement notion of keeping the stars "available" for their female fans, but I truly believe the seven feel for each other as friends by now and the showing of that is a very good thing for Americans to witness.
Well that's it for the first 10 of the 100. Tomorrow we'll have the new talk show star, a country career almost swerving off the road, and an indie duo getting ready for the weekend.
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