Twostepcub's Biggest Hits of 2021: Part Five - #60 to #51...
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 premise, using his own fidelity as a pun in a traveler's relationship, is pretty ballsy. But Russell Fivehead sings his heart out on it, making it his fourth consecutive #1, a perfect record so far (we'll see how "Home Sweet" does next month).
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#59 - "Lady" - Brett Young
from the album Weekends Look A Little Different These Days (2021)
Highest rank: #18 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 26
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #52
Billboard Country Airplay peak: #1
Songwriters: Brett Young, Ross Copperman, Jon Nite
Speaking of #1 streaks, this was Young's sixth consecutive #1 country radio hit, and yes, it settles down in the "boyfriend country" lane, where Brett sings to his real-life baby daughter. It's a retread theme, but sung with heart, and co-written by Young, so again, inoffensive. Side note: he's FORTY YEARS OLD. Dayum. Brett was on the year-end in 2020 with "Catch" at #55.
#58 - "Gone" - Dierks Bentley
from the album TBA (2022?)
Highest rank: #11 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 21
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #26
Billboard Country Airplay peak: #2
Songwriters: Nicolle Galyon, Ben Johnson, Niko Moon
Compared to the last two, Dierks is freaking Merle Haggard, but at least he (comically) tackles the periphery of COVID isolation with this post-breakup rocker where he hides from the world to cope. I can relate.
from the album Razzmatazz (2020)
Highest rank: #4 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart (in 2021): 17 (was on for six weeks in 2020)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: did not chart
Billboard Rock Airplay peak: #8
Billboard Alternative Rock peak: #1
Billboard Adult Alternative (Triple-A) Rock peak: #7
Songwriter: Dallon Weekes (IDKHOW)
My pick for the best band name of the year, IDKHow was started by ex-Panic At The Disco! member Dallon Weekes with Ryan Seaman from Falling in Reverse. Their Talking Heads meets synthrock Caucasian funk was at their best with this paranoid number about obsession with the wrong person. Twenty-one pilots paved the way for this type of two-man act to get accepted at rock radio, and I'm so glad they did.
#56 - "Trouble's Coming" - Royal Blood
from the album Typhoons (2021)
Highest rank: #5 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart (in 2021): 16 (was on for three weeks in 2020)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: did not chart
Billboard Rock Airplay peak: #2
Billboard Mainstream Rock peak: #1
Billboard Alternative Rock peak: #8
Songwriters: Royal Blood (Mike Kerr, Ben Thatcher)
Speaking of two-person rock acts with a bass player and a drummer, Royal Blood's Typhoons album vies with the Foo Fighters for my favorite rock set of the year, and depending on the day, I could go either way. Their way of incorporating synth tones into neo-metal blues stomp pushing all my right buttons, and this is a great culmination of my love of the British duo from the beginning.
#55 - "Things A Man Oughta Know" - Lainey Wilson
from the album Sayin' What I'm Thinkin' (2021)
Highest rank: #2 (one week)
Weeks on the chart: 18
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #32
Billboard Country Airplay peak: #1
Songwriters: Lainey Wilson, Jason Nix, Jonathan Singleton
The reason why female voices in country music are crucial is that they are always the ones holding the tradition of telling stories in their songs, from Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn to Martina McBride and Mary-Chapin Carpenter to the current crop of ladies like Wilson, who delivers this somber treatise on a woman's strength that often holds a relationship together. I hope she continues in this cutthroat Nashville atmosphere.
#54 - "My Head & My Heart" - Ava Max
from the album Heaven & Hell (2020)
Highest rank: #3 (one week)
Weeks on the chart: 18
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #45
Billboard Adult Top-40 peak: #12
Billboard Dance Airplay peak: #15
UK Singles peak: #18
Songwriters: Amanda Koci (Ava Max), Henry Walter (Cirkut), Madison Love, Alexsey Potekin, Sergey Zhukov, Thomas Eriksen, Tia Scola
Amanda Koci, aka Ava Max, aka "Baby Gaga" (in my mind), scored her third big hit on my chart with this dance-pop nugget that interpolates the 2001 top-40 hit from ATC "Around The World (La, La, La)", which itself cribbed from a Russian pop song "Pesenka". It may be the lesser of her three, but this one still had major charms, and her debut album Heaven & Hell, which spun off seven singles around the world, is pretty damn solid. Max was on last year's list at #57 with "Kings & Queens", which will be coming up on this recap.
#53 - "Missing Piece" - Vance Joy
from the stand-alone single (2021)
Highest rank: #5 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 19 (still on the chart 12/17)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: did not chart
Billboard Rock Airplay peak: #4
Billboard Alternative Rock peak: #2
Billboard Adult Alternative (Triple-A) Rock peak: #1
Songwriters: James Keogh (Vance Joy), Joel Little
Australian singer/songwriter Joy returned this year with a indie-folk love hymn that is miles ahead of the boyfriend country which covers the same ground. The wall of sound is just right for this swelling of emotion on just the simple fact of finding your soulmate.
#52 - "We Are Between" - Modest Mouse
from the album The Golden Casket (2021)
Highest rank: #3 (one week)
Weeks on the chart: 18
Billboard Hot 100 peak: did not chart
Billboard Rock Airplay peak: #4
Billboard Alternative Rock peak: #1
Billboard Adult Alternative (Triple-A) Rock peak: #1
Songwriters: Modest Mouse (Isaac Brock, Kirby Fairchild, Jeremiah Green, Russell Higbee, Tom Peloso)
Indie-rock veterans Modest Mouse came back after a six year break with this quirky contemplation on life, with a lot of influence from U2 and post-punk on their sleeve. The similes are strong in this one.
#51 - "What's Your Country Song" - Thomas Rhett
from the album Country Again: Side A (2021)
Highest rank: #25 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 35
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29
Billboard Country Airplay peak: #1
Songwriters: Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley, Parker Welling
The "king of boyfriend country", Rhett was on 2020's recap at #51 with the fun drinking song "Beer Can't Fix" with Jon Pardi, and this time out he's back to his wheelhouse as he spins off song titles as he woos his lady. Of course a song about radio, Nashville held onto this like glue, and it ended up spending a hefty 35 weeks on the list.
Wow, we're up to the halfway point in my countdown. I'll return Sunday with an intermission - the songs that almost made the cut (and this year was more competitive than the last few). Until then, if you celebrate, have a Happy Christmas...
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