Twostepcublog

    " Spandisco " was a club hit for the studio group Love Childs Afro-Cuban Band. Appearing on their second album Spandisco , the song was written by producer Michael Zager (of "Let's All Chant" fame) with Alvin Fields. On Billboard magazine's National Disco Action Top-40 chart, the single peaked at #13 in 1977.       

    " Lonely and Gone " - Montgomery Gentry from the album Tattoos & Scars (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #46 (three weeks)   This week's robbed hit comes from the country music duo Montgomery Gentry , two Kentucky natives who initially were in a band together along with Eddie Montgomery's younger brother John Michael in the early 1990s. After John left for what would be a very lucrative solo career, and Troy Gentry's attempt to do the same failed, Eddie and Troy came back together as Montgomery Gentry, and were signed to Columbia Records. Their debut single under the moniker, " Hillbilly Shoes ", became a fan favorite, and while it stopped short of the top ten on Billboard magazine's Country Singles chart at #13, the raucous rock-country song sold quite well and went to a respectable #62 on the crossover "pop" Hot 100.  For the duo's follow-up, Eddie and Troy released the closest thing to a "country power-ballad", ...

    " 24/7 " - Kevon Edmonds from the album 24/7 (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #10 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 9   Today's song comes from Kevon Edmonds , who from 1987 to 1997 was a member of the R&B group After 7. The trio, with Kevon, his brother Melvin, and Keith Mitchell, had two top ten pop hits in 1989/1990 with "Ready Or Not" and "Can't Stop". After their third album Reflections in 1995 which scored a top-40 pop hit/top-10 R&B hit with " Til You Do Me Right ", the trio split up. In 1997, Kevon and Melvin got together with producer/singer/songwriter brother Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds along with K-Ci and JoJo from the group Jodeci for the "supergroup" Milestone and the one-off single " I Care 'Bout You " from the movie Soul Food , which made the pop top 40 and the top-10 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart. Kevon subsequently signed as a solo artist with RCA Records, where he r...

    " Lazy " was a big club hit for the British electronica act X-Press 2. Appearing on their debut album Muzikizum , the song was written by the act's Ashley Beedle, Darren House, and Darren Rock, along with the record's guest vocalist David Byrne of Talking Heads. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single spent a week at #1 in 2002, while going all the way to #2 on the British Singles chart.     (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " Hot Boyz " - Missy Elliott featuring Lil' Mo, Nas, Eve, and Q-Tip from the album Da Real World (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 21   Today's song comes from Missy Elliott , who had scored her first big hit in the fall of 1997 with the double-sided hit " Sock It 2 Me " and "The Rain (Supa Fly)".  Two years later, Missy returned with her sophomore effort Da Real World . A more aggressively-styled album with a myriad of guest rappers, the first single from the set was " She's A Bitch ", a collaboration with producer Tim "Timbaland" Mosley. Despite the high-tech flashy music video, the crass title alone got radio stations running away, and it stalled down at #30 on Billboard magazine's R&B Singles chart while only getting to #90 on the pop Hot 100. Her follow-up, " All In My Grill ", featured rapper Big Boi from the Atlanta duo Outkast, and singer Nicole Wray. It had Mi...

    "Come On Down" was a big club hit for singer Crystal Waters. Released as a stand-alone single , the song was written by Waters with producer Orlando Ortiz using a sample of the theme to the TV game show The Price Is Right by Robert A. Israel.  On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single spent two weeks at #1 in 2001. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " When I Said I Do " - Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black from the album D'Electrified (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #31 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 4   Today's song comes from Clint Black , who was born down the New Jersey shore but was brought up in Texas, where he went from being in a band with his siblings (as a lot of country singers do) before starting off on his own music career. Hooking up with fellow songwriter Hayden Nicholas, Black was signed to RCA Nashville Records, where he released his debut album Killin' Time in 1989. That album was one of the keystone works of that year, spinning off four #1 country radio hits with " A Better Man ", " Killin' Time ", " Nobody's Home " (which took three weeks at the top), and " Walking Away ". Three of those four sported music videos, and his incredibly handsome face and soothing baritone sold many a people (included me) watching TNN and CMT on cable tele...

    " Never Let Me Down " was a big club hit for DJ/producer Richard "Humpty" Vission (aka remixer Richard Gonzalez). Released as a stand-alone single , the song was written and produced by Vission. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the track spent a week at #1 in 2004.    (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. Adele holds tight at #1 for a ninth week, while country singer Kane Brown (pictured above) rolls up four notches in the top ten. A former big hit from Tiesto drops off my chart, while songs from Regard, Eric Church, and Nita Strauss make some of the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlight in red ). 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. Northeast, batten down the hatches!   This Week              Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Easy On Me - Adele (1) 2. Smoking Out The Window - Silk Sonic (2) 3. Brightside - The Lumineers (3) 4. You Should Probably Leave - Chris Stapleton (4) 5. Freedom Was A Highway - ...

    " Then The Morning Comes " - Smash Mouth from the album Astro Lounge (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #11 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 20   Today's song comes from the rock band Smash Mouth , whose second album Astro Lounge had already scored two radio hits that also were featured in movies, with " Can't Get Enough Of You Baby " and the top ten hit " All Star ". In the fall of 1999, after the release of the album, a third single, "Then The Morning Comes", was released. Written by the band's guitarist Greg Camp with Paul Barry, notable for co-writing Cher's comeback smash "Believe", puts them back into the 60's garage rock pastiche, eschewing the bro-rock "All Star" was, and they're the better for it. Minor chord madness prevails in the verses which serve to brighten up the choruses' majors, as Steve Harwell gruffly ponders the circular inanity of life than snakes through the lyrics. The musi...

    " Dinosaur Adventure 3D " was a club hit for British electronica act Underworld. Appearing on their album A Hundred Days Off , the song was written by the act's Karl Hyde and Rick Smith. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #6 in 2003, while reaching #34 on the British Singles chart.     (Click below to see the rest of the post)

"     " Girl On TV " - LFO (Lyte Funky Ones) from the album LFO (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #10 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 11   Today's song comes from the American "boy-band" trio LFO, or "Lyte Funky Ones", who scored a top ten hit with the second single from their debut album, " Summer Girls ", in the summer of 1999.  Pin-up hunks Rich Cronin, Brad Fischetti, and Devin Lima followed that success up with "Girl On TV", written by Cronin with co-producers Dow Brain and Brad Young. Supposedly inspired by Cronin's then-girlfriend  Jennifer Love Hewitt, the track had him speak-singing stream of conscious lyrics over clunky or non-existent rhymes, much like "Summer Girls", culminating in the hilarious chorus line of " Shoobie-do-wop and scooby snacks , I met a fly girl and I can't relax". Oofdah. But the girls loved it (I can't imagine any straight or gay guys falling for this), and it rac...

    " If You Don't Wanna Love Me " was a club hit for singer Tamar (Braxton), sister of Toni Braxton. Appearing on her debut solo album Tamar , the song was written by producer Christopher Stewart with LaTocha Scott (of the R&B group Xscape), and remixed by Hex Hector for the clubs. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #34 in 2000, while reaching #30 on their R&B Singles chart and #89 on the pop Hot 100.      

    " Meet Virginia " - Train from the album Train (1998) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #20 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 17   Today's song comes from the rock group Train , who came together in San Francisco when singer/songwritteer Pat Monahan moved out west from Pennsylvania. Recruiting lead guitarist Jimmy Stafford, rhythm guitarist Rob Hotchkiss, bass player Charlie Colin, and drummer Scott Underwood, the newly-minted Train played the circuit and opened for mid-level acts before releasing their self-titled debut album independently before being signed by Columbia Records, who handled the distribution of the set. Initially released in the beginning of 1998, the first single from the record was " Free ", which they wrote and self-produced. At the end of the year, "Free" started getting traction on rock radio, and by the start of 1999, had climbed to #12 on Billboard magazine's Mainstream Rock airplay chart, spending 24 weeks on the list.  Their f...

    " Rose Rouge " was a club hit for St. Germain, the recording moniker for French musician Ludovic Navarre. Appearing on his album Tourist , the song was written by Navarre using samples of Marlena Shaw's "Woman Of The Ghetto" and Dave Brubeck's "Take Five". On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #36 in 2000.      

    " Will 2K " - Will Smith featuring K-Ci from the album Willennium (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #25 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 4   Today's song comes from rapper/actor Will Smith , who went all the way to #1 on the American pop chart in the summer of 1999 with the title track from the movie he starred in " Wild Wild West ".  Later that year, Smith released his second "solo" album Willennium , and for the next single from it he took advantage of the zeitgeist around the turn of the century with "Will 2K". With K-Ci Hailey (of Jodeci/K-Ci & Jojo) singing the chorus, and grabbing the sample this time from the Clash's 1982 top ten hit "Rock The Casbah", Will goes all out to bring his "party like it's 1999" on. However, the thing is that Smith is trying to do a "movie song" without a movie. What made "Men In Black" and "Wild Wild West" work makes this sound like a total nov...

    " I Am Ready " was a club hit for Size Queen, one of the recording monikers for the late DJ/producer Peter Rauhofer. Released as a stand-alone single, the track was produced by Peter, who wrote it with Rainer Pototschnig using a sample of "For The Same Man" from the Beat Girls by Malcolm McLaren, Matt Noble, and Rebecca Rifkin. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #5 in 2003.      

    " Candy " - Mandy Moore from the albums So Real (1999) and I Wanna Be With You (2000) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #41    This week's "robbed hit" comes from singer/actress Mandy Moore , who grew up in Florida, and had sung on some children's records before being discovered by producer/songwriters Tony Battaglia and Shaun Fisher, who helped her get signed to Epic Records as a teen. In 1999, Moore released her debut album So Real . The lead single, "Candy", was produced by Battaglia and Fisher along with Denny Kleiman, who wrote the song with Dave Katz and "song doctor" Denise Rich. Despite the record's American team behind it, "Candy" sounds minted from the Swedish hit factory that brought us Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, and NSYNC (the latter of whom Moore opened on tour for). In fact, the song makes more than a passing resemblance to Robyn's top ten pop hit "Do You Know What It Takes". It was surely ...

    " If You Love Me " - Mint Condition from the albums Woo (Original Soundtrack) (1998) and Life's Aquarium (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #30 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 5   Today's song comes from the R&B group Mint Condition , whose third album Definition Of A Band  in 1996 had spun off two top-40 crossover pop hits with " What Kind Of Man Would I Be " and " You Don't Have To Hurt No More ".  However their record company, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis' boutique label Perspective, folded, and the band eventually signed on with Elektra Records. In the meantime, they contributed a song to the soundtrack to the movie Woo in 1998, "If You Love Me", that would be released as the lead single for their next album Life's Aquarium a year later. Written by Mint Condition's keyboardist Keri Lewis, the song sounds like an album cut from a decent soul band from the 80's that might have made the cut for a third or fourt...