Twostepcub's Biggest Hits of 2020: Part Eight - #30 to #21...
I'm up to part eight of my year-end rundown of the biggest hits on my weekly music chart for 2020. You can check up on parts one thru seven (along with my post of honorable mentions) by clicking here. We're getting higher and higher...
#30 - "Does To Me" by Luke Combs featuring Eric Church
from the album What You See Is What You Get (2019)
Highest rank: #7 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 23
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #20
Billboard Country Airplay peak: #1
Songwriters: Luke Combs, Ray Fulcher, Tyler Reeve
Another meaty 90s-00s throwback from Combs, who pairs with country-rock king Eric Church on this reminiscing track that shows the importance of the small but meaningful things in life. I still can't believe the Voice passed up on Luke, as his personality shines through on his music, and especially here when she recalls how he hocked his guitar to bail his brother out.
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#29 - "Hard To Forget" by Sam Hunt
from the album Southside (2020)
Highest rank: #7 (one week)
Weeks on the chart: 26
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #26
Billboard Country Airplay peak: #1
Songwriters: Sam Hunt, Ashley Gorley, Josh Osborne, Luke Laird, Shane McAnally, Audrey Grisham, Mary Jean Shurtz, Russ Hull (the last three for sample of "There Stands The Glass")
A whole lot of critics fell into hate with this song, but I actually thought this was the highlight of Sam's long-awaited Southside set. The sample of Webb Pierce's #1 hit from 1953 is a gimmick, sure, but it works, grabbing you ear in as Hunt's easier-than-usual-going delivery of an obsession on an old flame. This is one of those I'm sure to be playing on the beach next year.
#28 - "Head and Heart" by Joel Corry featuring MNEK from the album TBA (2021)
Highest rank: #1 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 19 (still charting)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #99
Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs: #3
Billboard Dance Airplay peak: #1
UK Official Singles peak; #1
Songwriters: Joel Corry, Uzoechi Eminike (MNEK), Ajay Owen, Neave Applebaum, Daniel Dare, John Cortidis, Leo Kalyan, Lewis Thompson, Robert Harvey
Joel Corry was a cast member on the British reality show fodder Geordie Shore, the British equivalent of America's Jersey Shore on MTV. But without that backdrop, this neo-house banger that strikes a resemblance to Robin S's 90s classic "Show Me Love" is a triumph of dance, as singer/songwriter MNEK debates with himself on what body organ to trust about the person he's drawn to. Immediately hummable, and a deserved worldwide smash. I'm especially chuffed for MNEK to finally start to get the recognition he deserves.
#27 - "Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat)" by Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo
from the stand-alone single
Highest rank: #3 (three weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 22 (still charting)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (with BTS)
Billboard Adult Top-40 peak: #1
Billboard Dance Airplay peak: #12
UK Official Singles peak: #1
Songwriters: Joshua Nanai (Jawsh 685), Jason Derulo, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Phillipe Griess
Yes, this is a sticky one. Joshua Nanai, a young producer/musician from
New Zealand with roots in the nearby Cook Islands, had already made an
impression on the TikTok world when his instrumental "Laxed (Siren
Beat)" went viral on the platform, with people recreating a specific
dance pattern, sometimes in traditional dress from where they are. That
went on for months, before Jason, who had talked to Nanai about
adding vocals, tried to hijack the thing into his own record. Thankfully
(and honestly quite surprisingly) that didn't happen (maybe because
Jawsh's original was already known by a lot), and Derulo had to share
credit (which honestly, is too good for him). Then, while the
track was lingering in the top ten in American, a "remix" featuring
K-Pop superstars BTS was released, shooting the track to #1 here
(another dubious gimmick). My fondness is more to Jawsh's original
composition than the add-ons, but I can't deny the appeal of either to
getting radio on board. This probably is a one-off, but its nice to see a
part of the world we don't get on the charts get some representation.
#26 - "Honeybee" by the Head and the Heart
from the album Living Mirage (2019)
Highest rank: #2 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 25
Billboard Hot 100 peak: DNC
Billboard Adult Top-40 peak: #29
Billboard Rock Airplay peak: #3
Billboard Alternative Rock peak: #1
Billboard Adult Album Alternative (Triple-A) Rock peak: #2
Songwriters: Head and the Heart (Matt Gervais, Charity Rose Thielen, Chris Zasche, Jonathan Russell, Tyler Williams), Alex Salibian, Aryn Wuthrich
Last year this indie-folk group landed at #27 with "Missed Connection", the lead single from their fourth album Living Mirage. This time out they go one notch higher with the follow-up, the dreamy "Honeybee". An unassuming slow burn of a record that benefits from the vocal tradeoff between singers Matt Gervais and Charity Rose Thielen, with the latter coming through on the chorus.
#25 - "Hallucinogenics" by Matt Maeson
from the album Bank On The Funeral (2019)
Highest rank: #4 (three weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 24 (still charting)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: DNC
Billboard Rock Airplay peak: #1
Billboard Alternative Rock peak: #1
Billboard Triple-A Rock peak: #2
Songwriters: Matt Maeson, James Flannigan
The first single from Maeson, "Cringe", came in at #55 on last year's countdown, and with his third release, Matt's send-off to an ex-lover as he falls back into addiction makes the top-40 here. There was also a version with Lana Del Rey, but Matt's solo take gives a better reflection of his isolation.
#24 - "Lose Somebody" by Kygo and OneRepublic
from the album Golden Hour (2020)
Highest rank: #10 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 27 (still charting)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #88
Billboard Adult Top-40 peak: #8
Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs peak: #5
Songwriters: Kyrre Gorvell-Dahll (Kygo), Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic), Philip Plested, Jacob Torrey, Morten Ristorp (Rissi), Alexander Delicata, Alysa Vanderheym
Kygo follows up his revamp of the late Whitney Houston's posthumous cover of Steve Winwood's "Higher Love" (which was at #49 on last year's list) by teaming up with the second-in-line pop band after Maroon5, OneRepublic, who placed at #80 in 2019 with "Rescue Me". The result is miles away from Kygo's usual trop-house fare, as Tedder churns out a soaring PSA about getting over loss that does almost have the same vocal tag as King of Leon's old hit "Use Somebody". Just saying. Anyhoo, an enjoyable comes-on-at-the-office track that highlights both producer and singer. And the video is cute.
from the album Imploding The Mirage (2020)
Highest rank: #2 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 25
Billboard Hot 100 peak: DNC
Billboard Adult Top-40 peak: #16
Billboard Rock Airplay peak: #1
Billboard Alternative Rock peak: #1
Billboard Triple-A Rock peak: #2
Songwriters: The Killers (Brandon Flowers, Mark Stoermer, Ronnie Vannucci Jr.), Jonathan Rado, Shawn Everett, Alex Cameron
The Las Vegas darlings are back, and it was like they never left. Three years after they were at #29 on my year-end list with "The Man", Brandon Flowers and the band return with a wall of sound that Springsteen would be proud of. "Caution" has a frantic urgency that fit the uneasy times, and Flowers' wordplay remains flawless. They are righteous veterans of the modern rock scene.
#22 - "Breaking Me" by Topic & A7S
from the stand-alone single (2019)
Highest rank: #8 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 29 (still charting)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #53
Billboard Dance Airplay peak: #4
Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs peak: #3
UK Official Singles peak: #3
Songwriters: Tobias Topic (Topic), Alexander Tidebrink (A7S), Molly Irvine, Rene Miller
German DJ Topic and Swedish singer A7S score their worldwide breakthrough with this neo-house jam that combines a throbbing bass with mournful vocals from Alexander Tidebrink (A7S), tagging it with the "la-la" hook that attaches itself to your brain like a remora on a shark. A perfect way to dance through your pain in isolation.
#21 - "Good As Hell" by Lizzo
from the album Cuz I Love You (Super Deluxe Edition) (2019)
Highest rank (in 2020): #1 (three weeks) (was #1 for one week in 2019)
Weeks on the chart (in 2020): 20
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3
Billboard Adult Top-40 peak: #3
Billboard Dance Airplay peak: #1
Billboard Dance Club Play peak: #1
UK Official Singles peak: #7
Songwriters: Melissa Jefferson (Lizzo), Eric Frederic (Ricky Reed)
The last #1 of last year and first #1 of this year was only fitting for a song that originally came to my ears when she appeared on the Samantha Bee Full Frontal live show on the election night that brought us the Cheeto Benito in 2016, and now ushered in the hellscape that was 2020. Maybe Lizzo knew we needed her joy that exudes in every inch of this self-empowerment anthem. Hair toss, check my nails, baby how ya doin', indeed. And the piano riff is a slice of heaven, bringing a retro backing to Lizzo's soaring vocals that are simply revelatory. Her best in an already impressive body of work.
That's it for today - I'll return tomorrow with some explosive brothers, Grammy's 2020 darling, the return of a dubious producer, and the first of only two songs from last year's top 100 to make it this year (but two more that "bubbled under").
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