Twostepcublog

    Well here we are at the end of our journey through the "hit" tunes that went the highest and/or stayed the longest on my weekly music chart for 2021. You can check out all the other parts (plus the intermission of the 25 that almost made it) by clicking here . Now let's close this thing out....  #10 - " Kings & Queens " - Ava Max           from the album Heaven & Hell (2020)           Highest rank (in 2021): #1 (four weeks) (was #1 for four weeks in 2020)           Weeks on the chart (in 2021): 23 (was on for 13 weeks in 2020)           Billboard Hot 100 peak: #13           Billboard Adult Top-40 peak: #1           Billboard Adult Contemporary peak: #3           Billboard Dance Airplay peak: #4           UK Singles chart peak: #19           Songwriters: Amanda Koci (Ava Max), Henry Walker (Cirkut), Nadir Khayat (RedOne), Brett McLaughlin (Leland), Madison Love, Desmond Child, Mimoza Blinsson, Hillary Bernstein, Jakke Erixsson It's telling h

    We're getting close to the end of this year's countdown of the biggest "hit" tunes on my weekly music chart for 2021. You can catch up with the rest of the series by clicking here . Now let's get rolling...   #20 - " Famous Friends " - Chris Young & Kane Brown             from the album Famous Friends (2021)           Highest rank: #15 (two weeks)           Weeks on the chart: 32 (still on the chart 12/17/21)           Billboard Hot 100 peak: #21           Billboard Country Airplay peak: #1           Songwriters: Chris Young, Corey Crowder, Cary Barlowe This year's big "buddy country" hit came from Young and Brown who regale on their "small town past" with this song that again radio won't let go of. Good intentions for a slightly corny premise with big production.   (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    My countdown of the biggest "hit" songs on my weekly music chart rolls on, and we now enter the top 30. You can catch up with the rest of the series posts by clicking here . Let's get it started...  #30 - " Deja Vu " - Olivia Rodrigo           from the album Sour (2021)           Highest rank: #10 (two weeks)           Weeks on the chart: 24           Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3           Billboard Adult Top-40 peak: #5           Billboard Adult Contemporary peak: #19           UK Singles chart peak: #4           Songwriters: Olivia Rodrigo, Dan Nigro, Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, Annie Clark (St. Vincent) If there was the breakout artist of 2021, it was Olivia Rodrigo, who went from being Disney fodder on the teen series High School Musical to putting out the biggest pop album of the year until Adele came around. It makes sense, since Sour is a teen's version of Adele's 25 , as Olivia sprawls out a failed relationship, which was presumably ab

    It's time to enter the top 40 in my recap of the biggest "hit" tunes on my weekly music chart for 2021. You can catch up with the rest of the series so far by clicking here . Now let's get going...  #40 - " Fire For You " - Cannons           from the album Shadows (2019)           Highest rank: #5 (one week)           Weeks on the chart (in 2021): 19 (was on for 3 weeks in 2020)           Billboard Hot 100 peak: did not chart           Billboard Rock Airplay peak: #3           Billboard Alternative peak: #1           Billboard Adult Album Alternative (Triple-A) Rock peak: #2           Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs peak: #9           Songwriters: Cannons (Ryan Clapham, Paul Davis, Michelle Joy) Los Angeles-based electropop trio released this moody obsession track back in 2019, but is finally hit rock radio big at the start of this year. Michelle Joy channels her inner Lana Del Rey for this song, echoing again how she can't thinking about her

    Hey folks, we're over the "hump" and on to the top half of my year-end countdown of the songs that went the highest and/or stuck around the longest on my weekly music chart. You can catch up with the rest of the series (including yesterday's of the 25 that almost made it) by clicking here . And away we go....  #50 - " ily (i love you baby) " - surf mesa featuring Emilee           from the stand-alone single (2019)           Highest rank: #11 (three weeks)           Weeks on the chart (in 2021): 20 (was on for 32 weeks in 2020)           Billboard Hot 100 peak: #23           Billboard Adult Contemporary peak: #14           Billboard Adult Top-40 peak: 7           Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs peak: #1           Songwriters: Powell Aguirre (surf mesa), Bob Gaudio, Bob Crewe Seattle-based one-man electronica act surf mesa, aka Powell Aguirre, and singer Emilee Flood ended up spending a full year on my chart between 2020 and 2021. It was #46 on last

    Hey folks, I hope those who celebrated had a great Christmas. I'm at the halfway mark on my countdown of the 100 biggest songs on my weekly music chart for this past year, and it's time to take a break to serve up the songs that "bubbled under", that almost made the list. Mind you, it was a little harder out this year, as six of the songs here would've made my main year-end in 2020, including Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats (pictured above).  You can catch up on the rest of the series by clicking here . So here we go...   #125 - " In Da Getto " - J. Balvin & Skrillex             from the album Jose (2021)             Highest rank: #45 (three weeks)             Weeks on the chart: 21 (was still on the chart 12/17)             Billboard Hot 100 peak: #90   Colombian reggaeton singer/rapper Balvin takes a short trip to the club as he and dubstep king Skrillex sample David Morales' dance classic for just over two minutes.   (Click be

    Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit" tunes from the previous week. Adele holds tight at #1 for a fourth week, while the Lumineers (pictured above) climb into the top ten. Former big hits by Foo Fighters, Imagine Dragons, Marshmello/Jonas Brothers, Lee Brice, and H.E.R. drop off my chart, while songs from Adele, Priscilla Block, and Volbeat make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ). And under the list everything is Spotify playlisted for 5 1/2 hours of the biggest in pop rock R&B country and dance music.   And please check out my 2021 year-end recap which serves up the biggest hits on this weekly series from the past 52 weeks by clicking here . Have a great Christmas weekend, everyone!!!  This Week               Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Easy On Me - Adele (1) 2. Shivers - E

    We're approaching the halfway point in my countdown of the top 100 "hit" tunes on my weekly music chart for 2021. You can catch up with the rest of the series by clicking here . Now let's get going....  #60 - " Love You Like I Used To " - Russell Dickerson           from the album Southern Symphony (2020)           Highest rank (in 2021): #18 (one week) (peaked at #14 in 2020)           Weeks on the chart (in 2021): 21 (was on for 11 weeks in 2020)           Billboard Hot 100 peak: #31           Billboard Country Airplay peak: #1           Songwriters: Russell Dickerson, Casey Brown, Parker Welling Like Lee Brice's "One Of Them Girls" from earlier on the series, this slice of smarmy "boyfriend country" was something country radio wouldn't let go of, letting the song reach the recap here even though it was already descending from its peak in 2020, when it didn't even make the "bubbling under" list. It's pr

    My countdown for 2021 continues, with the "hit" songs that went the highest and/or stayed the longest on my weekly music chart . You can catch up with the series so far by clicking here . Let's get rolling...  #70 - " Nobody " - Dylan Scott           from the EP Nothing To Do Town (2019)           Highest rank: #17 (two weeks)           Weeks on the chart: 20           Billboard Hot 100 peak: #50           Billboard Country Airplay peak: #2           Songwriters: Dylan Scott, Matt Alderman, Dallas Wilson Yeah, more "boyfriend country". With Nashville the way it is, it's hard to avoid. And this could just as easily be a Justin Bieber record, but at least Scott's gruff vocal gives a more pleasant listen to the by-the-book love ballad. (Click below to see the rest of the post)    

    we're up to round three of my 2021 year-end countdown of the biggest "hit" tunes on my weekly music chart . You can catch up with the first two installments by clicking here . And on it goes...   #80 - " Big Big Plans " - Chris Lane           from the album TBA (2022?)           Highest rank: #9 (three weeks)           Weeks on the chart (in 2021): 16 (was on for 8 weeks in 2020)           Billboard Hot 100 peak: #42           Billboard Country Airplay peak: #1           Songwriters: Chris Lane, Ernest Smith, Jacob Durrett      Previously on the countdown I mentioned the rise of "boyfriend country" in the last few years, where pin-up ready hunks coo romantic verses to woo the ladies. Chris Lane is one of those interchangeable singers, and while this is a pleasant proposal song, complete with the music video where he married reality show fodder Lauren Bushnell of The Bachelor (who apparently dumped her bachelor), it really could be sung by a ple

    It's time for the second installment of my 2021 recap of the songs that went the highest and/or stayed the longest on my weekly music chart on this little corner of the interwebs. You can catch up on part one by clicking here . And away we go...  #90 - " Afterglow " - Ed Sheeran           from the non-album single (2020)           Highest rank: #8 (two weeks)           Weeks on the chart: 13           Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29           Billboard Adult top-40 peak: 7           Billboard Triple-A rock peak: #38           Songwriters: Ed Sheeran, Fred Gibson, David Hodges    After taking a break for a year and a half, Sheeran emerged right in the middle of the pandemilovato at Christmastime with this sparse and open ballad that was the right mood to bring in such a stark new year. A big contrast to what Ed would serve up later this year. Even though his last album No. 6 Collaborations Project was released in July of 2019, the seventh single from the set, "So

    Well here we are. 2021 turned out to be the sequel to 2020 that we didn't want, with the pandemilovato back to full force at no small part due to a portion of Americans being cultist dillweeds, one that started with an attempted coup on our democracy, and pretty much a state of suspension for our lives for yet another year. But as opposed to last year, the music business was able to get relatively back on its feet, and while the dominance of streaming has stunted a lot of returns for artists, in some ways it gave some an outlet they never had before, reaching an audience previously unreachable by traditional "record stores" and what's in stock and such. The mainstream pop landscape is still a mess though, with steamroller campaign promotions for an elite set of acts along with such obvious payola shenanigans in the streaming world, as well as the even more so fragmentation of the musical genre market that often left markers of success to the stan fanbase and the b

    Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit" tunes from the previous week. Adele reigns supreme for the third week, while Kenny Chesney (pictured above) leaps into the top five. Songs from NEIKED, Silk Sonic, and Taylor Swift make some of the biggest jumps this time out (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while no big hits drop out. And under the list everything is Spotify playlisted for five and a half hours of the biggest in pop, rock, R&B, country, and dance music. This is the final chart of my 2021 "chart year", and starting next week I'll be counting down the 100 biggest songs of the year on this series. Stay tuned! This Week         Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Easy On Me - Adele (1) 2. Shivers - Ed Sheeran (2) 3. Cold Heart (PNAU Remix) - Elton John & Dua Lipa (3) 4. Cold As You -

    " Cry India " was a club hit for the British duo Umboza. Released as a stand-alone single , the song was written by the act's Stuart Crichton and Michael Kilkie using an interpolation of Lionel Richie's #1 pop hit "All Night Long". On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #16 in 1996, while rising to #19 on the British singles chart.     (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " This Gift " - 98 Degrees from the album This Christmas (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #49   This week's "robbed hit" comes from the pop vocal "boy-band" 98 Degrees , whose second album 98 Degrees and Rising scored three top-40 pop hits with " Because Of You ", " The Hardest Thing ", and " I Do (Cherish You) ".  Just about the year after the release of that album, the group put out a holiday set, This Christmas , as their third studio album. A new song from the set, "This Gift", was promoted to radio as a single, and became a rare pop "holiday" hit of that era. Written by Anders Bagge, Anthor Biggisson, Dane Deviller, and Sean Hosein, The track follows the boy-band template, slipping in Christmas words to make it relevant to the season... While "This Gift" did pretty well on the radio, getting to #14 on Billboard magazine's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio c

    " The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) " - Christina Aguilera from the album My Kind Of Christmas (2000) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #18 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 2   Today's song comes from former "new" Mouseketeer turned pop star Christina Aguilera , whose debut single " Genie In A Bottle " went all the way to #1 in the summer of 1999.  Later that year Christina released a single for the holiday season before she even put out her second release from her debut. It was a remake of the classic "The Christmas Song". Subtitled by its opening line "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire", the song was written by Mel Torme and Robert Wells, and was first made famous by legendary crooner Nat King Cole in 1946. It made the top ten on both the Disc Jockey (#3) and Best Sellers (#7) charts in the pre-rock Billboard magazine, and eventually made the pop Hot 100 in the trade bible on re-release, peaking at #65 in 1962.

    " Elements " was a big hit for remixer/producer Danny Tenaglia. Appearing on his second album Tourism , the song was written and produced by Tenaglia. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single spent two weeks at #1 in 1998.      

    " Get Gone " - Ideal from the album Ideal (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #13 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 16   Today's song comes from the R&B vocal group Ideal, who grew up together in Houston, Texas. With brothers Cedrick and Maverick Cotton joined by cousin Wayne Perry and childhood friend Jay Green, the group first appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Original Gangstas with a remake of the Marvin Gaye classic " Inner City Blues ". It was released as a single, and spent a month on Billboard magazine's R&B Singles chart going to #94 in 1996. It would be another three years before Ideal, signed by Virgin Records' Noontime imprint, released their self-titled debut album. The lead single, "Get Gone", was written by Johnta Austin and Kevin Hicks along with producer Bryan Michael Cox, and had the guys dispatching a cheating lover post haste. It starts with the acoustic guitar that began the majority of R&B crossover hits