Twostepcublog

    " I Got You Covered " was a club hit for singer Donna Garraffa. Released as a stand-alone single, the song was written, produced, and mixed by Ed Terry. On Billboard magazine's Hot Dance/Disco Club Play chart, the single peaked at #38 in 1986.  

    " Pop A Top " - Alan Jackson from the album Under The Influence (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #43   This week's "robbed hit" comes from country artist Alan Jackson , who finally landed a top-40 crossover hit in the fall of 1999 with the fourth single from his extremely personal seventh album High Mileage , " Little Man ". A month later that year, Jackson returned with his next studio album, Under The Influence . This record would be all remakes of classic country songs of the past. The lead single from the set goes back all the way to 1967 with "Pop A Top". Written by Nat Stuckey, the song was first successful by Jim Ed Brown, who spent two weeks at #3 on Billboard magazine's Country Singles chart. A merger of the "tears of a clown" and "drinking songs", "Pop A Top" has Alan swinging to the beat about sitting at the bar after having his woman dump him. It's done reverently but upbeat enough to dul...

    " Got To Get It " - Sisqo featuring Make It Hot from the album Unleash The Dragon (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #40 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 1  Today's song comes from R&B singer Mark " Sisqó " Andrews, who became famous as part of the vocal group Dru Hill in the 1990s. Dru Hill's second album, Enter The Dru , landed a top ten pop hit with " How Deep Is Your Love " and a top-40 follow-up with " These Are The Times ". They also guested on Will Smith's #1 pop hit " Wild Wild West " in the summer of 1999, while Sisqo was featured on Mya's top ten pop hit " It's All About Me " a year earlier. Instead of capitalizing on that success, the foursome took a break, with the intention of each releasing solo material. Member Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin was featured on rapper Eve's top-40 pop/top-10 R&B hit " What Ya Want ". Sisqó released his debut solo album Unleash The Dragon i...

    " Come Inside " was a big club hit for Fancy, aka German singer Manfred Alois Segieth. Released as a stand-alone single, the song was written by Anthony Monn and Richard Palmer-James, and produced by Fancy. On Billboard magazine's Hot Dance-Disco chart, the single was listed with its "B-Side", "Chinese Eyes", and spent a week at #2 in 1985.    (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " My Best Friend " - Tim McGraw from the album A Place In The Sun (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 9   Today's song comes from Tim McGraw , whose fifth studio album A Place In The Sun had scored a top ten crossover hit with " Please Remember Me " and a top-40 follow-up with " Something Like That ". The third radio single from the set was the "soulmate" love song "My Best Friend". Written by Aimee Mayo and Bill Luther, the song has Tim recount how special and vital his partner is to himself, with generalities that don't seem too vague to be greeting card fodder (I credit Mayo on that). Produced by McGraw with Byron Gallimore and James Stroud, the song continued Tim's string of success...     "My Best Friend" became the third #1 country hit from A Place In The Sun , spending two weeks at the top, while reaching the Hot 100 top-40 in January of 2000. Internationally, the singl...

    "Adventure" was a big club hit for singer/songwriter Eleanor (Academia). Appearing on her debut album Jungle Wave , the song was written and produced by Eleanor, and mixed by Shep Pettibone. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single spent one week at #1 in 1988.       

    " All The Small Things " - Blink-182 from the album Enema Of The State (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 14   Today's song comes from the pop-punk band Blink-182 , who came together in the San Diego suburbs in the early 1990's, with guitarist Tom DeLonge, bass player Mark Hoppus, and drummer Scott Raynor. After putting out a few demos, the trio was signed to indie label Cargo Records, where they released their debut album Cheshire Cat in 1995. The local success of the record caused a "bidding war" between major labels trying to sign the act, with MCA winning out, co-signing with Cargo on the release of their next record Dude Ranch in 1997. Lead single " Apple Shampoo " was a minor hit in Australia, before the first American offering " Dammit " was put out in the fall of that year. Sporting a cute music video that MTV took to, the song went to #11 on Billboard magazine's Alternative Rock...

    " Let It Whip " was a big club and radio hiit for the Dazz Band. Appearing on the funk group's album Keep It Live , the song was written by the band's Reggie Andrews and Leon Chancler, with Andrews producing the cut. On Billboard magazine's Dance/Disco Top-80 chart, the single spent four weeks at #2 in 1982, while topping the R&B chart and peaking at #5 on the pop Hot 100.    (Click below to see the rest of the psot)

    Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit" tunes from the previous week. Country stars Jimmie Allen and Brad Paisley take over at #1, while Taylor Swift (pictured above) hangs in in the top ten. Former big hits by the Jonas Brothers, the Zac Brown Band, Lil Nas X/Jack Harlow, Jon Pardi, and Courtney Barnett drop off my list, while songs from Charlie Puth, Nathaniel Rateliff, and Cody Johnson make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ). And under the chart everything is Spotify playlisted for 5 1/2 hours of the biggest in pop, rock, R&B, country, and dance music. Let democracy prevail and tyranny be vanquished.    This Week            Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Freedom Was A Highway - Jimmie Allen & Brad Paisley (3) 2. Oh My God - Adele (4) 3. Smoking Out T...

    " What Do You Say " - Reba McEntire from the album So Good Together (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #31 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 3   Today's song comes from Reba McEntire , who grew up in Oklahoma the product of two generations of cattle ranchers and rodeo champions. Singing with her brothers and sisters since she was a child, she eventually found help in country music singer Red Steagall, who aided in getting Reba signed to Mercury Nashville Records in 1975. Releasing her eponymous debut album in 1977, she had three minor country hits from the record, starting with " I Don't Want To Be A One Night Stand ", which peaked at #88 on Billboard magazine's Country Singles chart in 1976. In 1978, Reba was set up with a duet with Jacky Ward, who had just come off of two top ten country hits, for a cover of the soft-pop classic " I'd Really Love To See You Tonight " from England Dan and John Ford Coley paired with " Three Sheets In...

    "The Party Starts When I'm With You" was a club hit for singer Rue Caldwell. Released as a stand-alone single, the song was written by Caldwell with producer Bill Pfordresher. On Billboard magazine's Dance/Disco Top-80 chart, the single peaked at #21 in 1983.      

    " Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely " - Backstreet Boys from the album Millennium (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (three weeks) Weeks in the top-40: 19   Today's song comes from the Backstreet Boys , whose album Millennium had scored a top ten pop hit in America in the summer of 1999 with " I Want It That Way ", but stumbled a little in the States but still made the top-40 with the followup " Larger Than Life ". For their third release, the boyband went back to what works the best for them, the ballad. In this case, it's the "breakup" track "Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely", written by Swedish producer Max Martin along with British songwriter Herbie Crichlow. However, it seems like it was completely written by someone with English as a second language, as the phrases are very clunky and weirdly phrased, not least the title. I mean, why is it phrased as a request? Why would you want your ex to do that? And the ...

 " Chief Inspector " was a club hit for French multi-instrumentalist Wally Badarou. Appearing on his EP Chief Inspector , the instrumental was written and produced by Badarou. On Billboard magazine's Hot Dance/Disco Club Play chart, the song was listed with the single's "B-Side", "Novela Das Nove (Spider Woman)". The record peaked at #26 in 1986. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " Cowboy Take Me Away " - (Dixie) Chicks from the album Fly (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #27 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 8   Today's song comes from the Chicks (then still the Dixie Chicks), who had scored their third top-40 crossover hit on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart in the fall of 1999 with " Ready To Run ".  That song appeared in the movie The Runaway Bride as well as served as the lead single for the trio's album Fly . Their follow-up became one of their most loved hits. "Cowboy Take Me Away", written by bandmember Martie Maguire with Marcus Hummon (who had a minor country radio hit in 1996 with "God's Country"), was a mid-tempo breezy love song about wanting to escape the hustle and bustle for those "wide open spaces" with her love. Their harmonies are impeccable, Martie's fiddle is transcendent, and the lyrics are dreamlike while painting a picture in your mind that really is so damn ...

    "Strip This Heart" was a club hit for John Adams, former member of the duo Private Lives. Appearing on his album Strong , the song was written by Adams and produced by Frankie Blue and Les Pearce, and remixed for the clubs by Bruce Forest. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #9 in 1987.    (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " Say My Name " - Destiny's Child from the album The Writing's On The Wall (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 27   Today's song comes from the R&B group Destiny's Child , whose second album The Writing's On The Wall had already scored a #1 pop and R&B hit with " Bills, Bills, Bills " and a top-40 follow-up with " Bug A Boo ".  The third single had the act change producers from Kevin "Shakespear" Briggs to another "hot" newcomer, Rodney "Darkchild" Jenkins. Jenkins co-wrote "Say My Name" with brother Fred, LaShawn Daniels, and Destiny's Child members Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland, LeToya Luckett, and LaTavia Roberson. In it, lead singer Beyonce confronts a suspected cheating lover on the phone, demanding he "say her name" to prove he wasn't there with another woman. Trouble with cheating was also brewing in Destiny's Child itse...

    " Don't Drop My Love " was a club hit for singer Anita Ward. Appearing on her second album Sweet Surrender , the song was written and produced by Frederick Knight. On Billboard magazine's Disco Top-100 chart, the single peaked at #26 in 1979, while making it to #87 on the pop Hot 100 and #52 on their R&B Singles chart.      

    " Caught Out There " - Kelis from the album Kaleidoscope (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #54   This week's "robbed hit" comes from singer Kelis Rogers, who grew up in New York City, where he finished high school at an arts-based school before pursuing a music career, using just her first name. Her first big break came at the close of 1999, where she had a featured vocalist spot singing the chorus on the single " Got Your Money " by Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard.  That record got her into the top-40 on the pop chart and the R&B singles list. At the time that was peaking, Kelis released her debut album Kaleidoscope , produced by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of the Neptunes, who also helmed "Got Your Money". The pair wrote all the songs on the disc (including three co-writes with Kelis), including the lead single "Caught Out There". A break-up track to end all break-up tracks, the instantly identifiable skittis...