Twostepcublog

    " Yeah! (Turn On The Lights) " was a club hit for the studio act U.K. One featuring Tia & Chantel. Released as a stand-alone single , the track with interpolates a list a club songs including "Serious" from Donna Allen was produced by Ricky Layne. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #21 in 1990.       

    " No Place That Far " - Sara Evans from the album No Place That Far (1998) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #37 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 3   Today's song comes from Sara Evans , who got her start as a child singer in Missouri, before moving to Nashville to kickstart her country music career. After signing with RCA Nashville, Evans released her debut album Three Chords And The Truth in 1997. The first single from the set, the retro-sounding " True Lies ", was her first minor hit on Billboard magazine's country chart at #59, but none of the three singles from the record reached the top-40, and the album lingered in the bottom of the Country Albums sales chart at #56. Sara returned the following year with her sophomore effort No Place That Far . The lead single, " Cryin' Game ", which put her more in the pop-crossover vein of Faith Hill, again stalled in the lower half of the Country Singles chart at #56. For the follow-up Evans released a ...

    " Feel It " was a club hit for the Italian dance act The Tamperer featuring Maya. Appearing on their sole studio album Fabulous , the song was written by Jim Dyke and Steve Gittleman, and used a sample of the Jacksons' disco hit "Can You Feel It" as a foundation. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #4 in 1998, while making it to #1 on the British Singles chart.    (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " It's All Been Done " - Barenaked Ladies from the album Stunt (1998) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #44    This week's "robbed hit" comes from the Canadian band Barenaked Ladies , whose breakthrough single " One Week " topped the pop chart in America for one week in the fall of 1998.  There were good prospects for their followup, "It's All Been Done", which topped the Canadian singles charts where "One Week" only made it to #3. Written by the group's Steven Page, and produced by the band with David Leonard and Susan Rogers, the uptempo rocker doesn't rely on gimmicks, and is a straight-in-your-face power-pop gem with the guitar powerchords and singalong chorus intact. It even sported a totally adorbs music video in the viewpoint of various pets who carouse around a house party... While "It's All Been Done" climbed to #9 on Billboard magazine's Adult Top-40 radio chart, and #15 on the Alternative Roc...

    " Back 2 Good " - Matchbox 20 from the album Yourself of Someone Like You (1997) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #24 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 19   Today's song comes from the pop/rock band Matchbox 20 , whose debut album Yourself of Someone Like You had already spun off three big top ten pop radio hits with " Push ", " 3AM ", and " Real World ". However, since Billboard magazine had a rule for their official Hot 100 pop chart that an entry had to be released as a commercially available retail single, none of them showed up in the top ten although they had the radio points for it. In December of 1998, when the music industry trade bible finally relented and allowed all songs to appear on the list, "Real World" did manage to pop in at #38 as it was ending its radio run.  That wouldn't be an issue anymore for the fourth single from the debut, "Back 2 Good". Written by lead singer Rob Thomas with producer Matt Serl...

    " Come Into My House " was a club hit for rapper/singer/actress Queen Latifah. Appearing on her debut album All Hail The Queen , the track was written by the artist and produced by DJ Mark the 45 King. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #7 in 1990, while reaching #81 on their R&B list..     (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " Hold On To Me " - John Michael Montgomery from the album Leave A Mark (1998) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #33 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 3   Today's song comes from country music singer John Michael Montgomery , who grew up in Kentucky before heading south to Nashville to start his career. Signed to Atlantic Records, John, who had been in a "Cowsills-like" family act with brother Eddie (who will eventually be in this series as half of duo Montgomery Gentry), released his debut single and album of the same name, " Life's A Dance ", in the fall of 1992, with the single climbing to #4 on Billboard magazine's Country Singles chart and the album making it to #27 on the Billboard 200 sales tally (and #4 on the Country Albums distillation), going on to move over three million copies and spending over a year on the list. His follow-up ballad, " I Love The Way You Love Me ", was even bigger, spending three weeks at #1 on the Country ...

    " Only Love Can Break Your Heart " was a big club and rock radio hit for the British trip-hop group St. Etienne. Appearing on their debut album Foxbase Alpha , the song is a cover of a rock classic from Neil Young. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single spent two weeks at #1 in 1992, while climbing to #11 on the Alternative Rock radio chart. It also reached the pop Hot 100 at #97.    (Click below to see the rest of the post)  

    " Sweet Lady " - Tyrese from the album Tyrese (1998) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #12 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 19   Today's song comes from singer/songwriter/model Tyrese Gibson , whose debut single " Nobody Else " reached the pop top-40 in the fall of 1998. His follow-up, though, would soon eclipse that success. "Sweet Lady", written by Johnta Austin, Charles Farrar, and Troy Taylor, is nothing beyond a booty jam designed to lure the ladies into the bedroom. With a swaying tempo at just the right speed for, well, you know, Tyrese does his runs (though not nearly as impressively as Jesse Powell on yesterday's SOTD), and with is doesn't really elevate it beyond a so-so song marketed precisely. And so it was especially with the music video, which is a male stripper's backdrop, capitalizing on Gibson's looks as he somehow seduces someone off the bus. I know I'm not the intended audience for this by far, but it kind of straddle...

    " Believe In Me " was a big club hit for the British dance group Raw Stylus. Appearing on their album Pushing Against The Flow , the song was written by the trio's Donna Gardier, Max J Brookes, and Dominic Oakenfull, who produced the track with Gary Katz. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single spent a week at #1 in 1995.    (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. Ed Sheeran reigns for a third week, while Galantis and David Guetta with Little Mix (pictured above) climb three notches within the top ten. Songs from Big Red Machine/Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, and Volbeat make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while a former big hit from Miranda Lambert drops out. And right under the list, everything is Spotify playlisted for five and a half hours of listening goodness. Another year older, but not any wiser...   This Week        Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran (1) 2. Good 4 U - Olivia Rodrigo (3) 3. You - Regard, Troye Sivan, & Tate McRae (2) 4. Nowhere Generation - Rise Against (4) 5. We Are Between - Modest Mouse (6) 6. Heartbreak Anthem - Galanti...

    " You " - Jesse Powell from the album 'Bout It (1998) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #10 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 14   Today's song comes from R&B singer Jesse Powell, who grew up in Gary, Indiana, and like the Jacksons, came from a musical family (sisters Trina & Tamara were featured singers on the top ten pop hit from Somethin' For The People " My Love Is The Shhhh! " in the autumn of 1997).  Signed to MCA Records on the Silas imprint (ran by producer Louis Silas Jr.), Powell released his self-titled debut album in 1996. The lead single, " All I Need ", climbed to #32 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, and "bubbled under" the pop Hot 100 at #113.  In 1998, Powell returned with his sophomore effort 'Bout It . The lead single from the set, " I Wasn't With It ", climbed to #25 on the R&B chart, and was Jesse's first to crack the pop Hot 100 at #85. But the follow-up would prove to be Pow...

    " Bang To The Beat " was a club hit for the freestyle/house act Pain. Released as a stand-alone single , the song was written by Mickey Garcia and Marvin Schlachter, and produced by Albert Cabrera. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #42 in 1990.  

    " Unbelievable " - Diamond Rio from the album Unbelievable (1998) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #36 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 3   Today's song comes from the country music band Diamond Rio , who had started out as the "Tennessee River Boys" in the early 1980's. Most likely inspired by the hit song from Alabama, the Nashville-based group were hired players at the Opryland USA amusement park there. After a thorough shuffling of members (including future SOTD artist Ty Herndon) where none of the original members remained, they were taken under the wing of producer Keith Stegall, and eventually got signed to Arista Nashville at the beginning of the 1990. Their debut single, " Meet In The Middle ", came out a year later, and did what even Alabama couldn''t achieve, going all the way to #1 on Billboard magazine's Country Singles chart out of the gate (caveat though that Alabama's first #1 was their first major-label chart hit). Th...

    " I Am Stretched On Your Grave " was a club hit for Sinead O'Connor. Appearing on her album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got , the song it an interpretation of a 17th century Irish Poem put to music by Philip King. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the song was listed along with it's "A-Side", "The Emperor's New Clothes". The single peaked there at #27 in 1990.     (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " Ex Factor " - Lauryn Hill from the album The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill (1998) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #21 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 16   Today's song comes from Lauryn Hill , whose first solo retail single after leaving the Fugees, " Doo Wop (That Thing) ", went all the way to #1 on the pop chart in the autumn of 1998.  Her follow-up single, "Ex-Factor", would bring things a little more personal. Allegedly about former bandmate and romantic partner Wyclef Jean, the self-written and self-produced single uses a sample of the Wu-Tang Clan's " Can It Be So Simple ", their single from 1994 that went to #82 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, and itself used a sample of Gladys Knight and the Pips' version of " The Way We Were ", which went to #11 on the pop Hot 100 in 1975. Hill keeps in vague in the specifics, but the emotion about feeling neglected and knowing her love is doomed shines right through. The ...

    " If I Fall " was a club hit for the Naked Music NYC, a project led by musician/producer Jay Denes. Appearing on the act's debut album What's On Your Mind , the song was written by Denes with Seamus McNally and vocalist Catherine Russell. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #25 in 1998.  

    " Faded Pictures " - Case & Joe from the albums Rush Hour (Original Soundtrack) (1998) and Personal Conversation (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #10 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 9   Today's song comes from R&B singers Case and Joe , who had both broke through in the latter half of the 1990's. Case Woodard had scored hit first top-40 pop hit in the summer of 1996 with his contribution to the Eddie Murphy-driven Nutty Professor movie reboot, " Touch Me, Tease Me ".  Meanwhile, Joe Thomas' sophomore effort All That I Am had landed a pair of top-40 pop hits with " All The Things (Your Man Won't Do) " from the Don't Be A Menace To South Central... movie and " Don't Wanna Be A Player ". The latter song, which hit the top-40 in the spring of 1997, was reimagined by rapper Big Punisher as " Still Not A Player ", which featured Joe singing the chorus, which made the top-40 in the summer of 1998. Later...

    " Walking Down Madison " was a club hit for the late British singer Kirsty MacColl.  Appearing on her album Electric Landlady , the song was written by MacColl with former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and produced by her husband Steve Lillywhite. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #18 in 1991, while reaching #4 on their Alternative Rock radio chart. Sadly, MacColl died from being hit by a speedboat protecting her child in 2000.  (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " Spirit Of A Boy, Wisdom Of A Man " - Randy Travis from the album You and You Alone (1998) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #42    This week's "robbed hit" comes from country singer Randy Travis , who originally recorded under his birth name of Randy Traywick when he released his first music. Born in south central North Carolina, he first moved to Charlotte, where Randy met his manager and eventual wife Elizabeth Hatcher. Moving to Nashville and signing with the indie label Paula Records, Randy's single " She's My Woman " grazed the lower stretch of the Country Singles chart for a month, peaking at #91 in 1979.  From there Travis disappeared for six years before getting a deal with Warner Brothers under the possibly more palatable name Randy Travis. His first single on the label, the cheating treatise " On The Other Hand ", was originally another minor hit on Billboard magazine's Country Singles chart at #67, but after the follow-u...