Twostepcublog

    " How Did You Know (77 Strings) " was a big club hit for producer Kurtis Mantronik (of Mantronix fame) under the moniker Chamonix. Released as a stand-alone single , the song was written by Kurtis el Khaleel (his real name) with Dave Billing, and featured vocals from Miriam "Mim" Grey. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single spent a week at #1 in 2004. It also went to #16 on the British Singles chart.     (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " The One " - Backstreet Boys from the album Millennium (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #30 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40:4   Today's song comes from the Backstreet Boys , whose smash album Millennium had already spun off three pop hits with " I Want It That Way ", " Larger Than Life ", and " Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely ". The fourth and final single from the millions-selling record was "The One". Written by Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell with producer Max Martin,  the song has the boys acting all savior-like promising a brokenhearted girl that they will make everything right. A rote boy-band them that hits their target market where they want, and absolutely nothing more... "The One" became the fourth top-40 pop hit from Millennium in July of 2000. The song rose to #15 on Billboard magazine's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") chart, and #33 on the dance-oriented Rhythmic format list. In

    " Lei Lo Lai " was a big club hit for The Latin Project, a studio act put together by producers Jez Colin and Matt Cooper. Appearing on their first and only album The Latin Project , the song was written by Colin and Cooper with Robbie Nevil and Vancho Manoilovich, who both play on the record. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single spent a week at #1 in 2003.  

    Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit" tunes from the previous week. Lil Nas X takes an eighth week at #1, while the Red Hot Chili Peppers (pictured above) climb a pair of spots in the top ten. Songs from Camila Cabello/Ed Sheeran, Florence + The Machine, and Harry Styles make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while former big hits from Kelsea Ballerini/Kenny Chesney and Cannons drop off my list. 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. Man, this week went quickly... This Week               Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. That's What I Want - Lil Nas X (1) 2. Enemy - Imagine Dragons f/JID (3) 3. Heat Waves - Glass Animals (4) 4. abcdefu - Gayle (2) 5. Heart On Fire - Eric Church (5) 6.

    " Chain Of Love " - Clay Walker from the album Live, Laugh, Love (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #40 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 1   Today's song comes from singer Clay Walker , who had racked up a string of country radio hits through the 1990's before finally landing his first top-40 crossover single with " You're Beginning To Get To Me " from his Greatest Hits collection at the close of 1998. The following year, Clay released his fifth studio album on the Giant Nashville label, Live, Laugh, Love . The lead single from the set was " She's Always Right ", which was co-written by Richie McDonald and produced by label head Doug Johnson. Despite the push from Giant, the underrated song stopped at #16 on Billboard magazine's Country Singles chart, and peaked down at #74 on the crossover pop Hot 100. That was followed by title track " Live, Laugh, Love ", which did a little better, almost making the country radio top 10

    " Open Me " was a club hit for the group KHZ. Appearing on their album Emotronic , the song was written by the act's singer Raiana Paige and musician/producer Eddie "Pull" Frente'. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #25 in 2002.    

    " She's More " - Andy Griggs from the album You Won't Ever Be Lonely (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #37 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 1   Today's song comes from country music singer Andy Griggs , whose debut single " You Won't Ever Be Lonely " went to #2 on Billboard magazine's Country Singles chart and crossed over to the pop Hot 100 top-40 in the spring of 1999.  His second single, the uptempo " I'll Go Crazy ", also made the country top ten at #10, but stopped at #65 on the Hot 100. (Coincidentally, it's my favorite cut on the album.) The third release from the You Won't Ever Be Lonely set goes back to the ballad charms of "She's More". Written by Rob Crosby (who had his own top-20 country single in 1990 with "Love Will Bring Her Around") and Liz Hengber, Andy sings about how his woman isn't what he fantasized about before, but in return she's much better. It's a simple senti

    " Miss You " was a club hit for the late blues-rock icon Etta James. Originally appearing on her album Matriarch Of The Blues with a dance remix from the Queer As Folk Season Two soundtrack, the record is a cover of the disco track from the Rolling Stones written by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #15 in 2001. James passed away in 2012.      

     " Absolutely (Story Of A Girl) " - Ninedays from the album The Madding Crowd (2000) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 21   Today's song comes from the rock band Ninedays , who came together in Long Island in the early 1990s. Led by singers/guitarists John Hampson and Brian Desveaux, former metal heads, the pair along with drummer Vincent Tattanelli, bassist Nick Dimichino, and keyboard player Jeremy Dean released their debut album Something To Listen To independently on the Dirty Poet label in 1995. The group recorded two more albums before finally getting signed to the 550 Music label on Sony Music. There they released their fourth effort The Madding Crowd in the spring of 2000, with the song "Absolutely (Story Of A Girl)" as the lead single. Written by Hampson and produced by Nick DiDia, who had worked with Pearl Jam and would go on to produce for Bruce Springsteen, the song was inspired by Hampson's future wife, who he h

    "Sunshine (When I Dance With You)" was a club hit for Infinity featuring singer Duane Harden. Released as a stand-alone single, the song was written by Harden with producer John Kano, who uses the moniker Infinity for this record. On Billbaord magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #19 in 2000.  

    " Let's Get Married " - Jagged Edge from the album J.E. Heartbreak (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #11 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 18   Today's song comes from R&B vocal group Jagged Edge , who landed their second top-40 crossover pop hit in the beginning of 2000 with " He Can't Love U ".  The third single from their sophomore effort J.E. Heartbreak (lead hype single "Keys To The Range" was a minor R&B hit at #55) was the romantic proposal ballad "Let's Get Married". Written by group members/brothers Brandon and Brian Casey, producer Jermaine Dupri, and songwriter Bryan Michael Cox, the song is in the perspective of a guy whose been in a relationship for a while and ponders losing her so asks her to meet him at the altar. Although with lines like " We ain't gettin' no younger, we might as well do it" I'm not sure how she's going to react. Either way, the melody is repetitious and whiny,

    "Haru" ("Spring" in Japanese) was a club hit for the New York based club act Haru. Released as a stand-alone single, the song was written by the duo's Gad Romann and Derick Garrett with John Bryan and D Joseph. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #5 in 2004.      

    " Couldn't Last A Moment " - Collin Raye from the album Tracks (2000) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #43    This week's "robbed hit" comes from country music singer Collin Raye , who after racking up a string of 18 top ten hits through the 1990's finally crossed over to Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart (thanks to a changing of rules) with two singles from his 1998 album The Walls Came Down : " Someone That You Used To Know " and " Anyone Else ". Raye started the new millennium with an album of covers songs geared for children, Counting Sheep , and a few months later in the spring of 2000 followed with his next country studio album, Tracks . The lead single from the set was the uptempo love song "Couldn't Last A Moment". Written by Jeffrey Steele and Danny Wells, the song has Raye second guessing breaking up with his woman, and pleading on all the ways his life won't go on without her. Produced by Raye with Dann

    " (Hot S**t) Country Grammar " - Nelly from the album Country Grammar (2000) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 28   Today's song comes from rapper Nelly , who grew up Cornell Haynes Jr. in the St. Louis area, where he formed a rap group St. Lunatics that had some local success before he got signed to Universal Records under his own label Fo' Reel. His first single would be his debut album's title track, "(Hot S**t) Country Grammar". Written by the rapper with producer Jay Epperson, he clearly is trying to place himself as the hip-hop king of his town, name-checking St. Louis as well as its name brand beer Bud(weiser), along with touts about his phrasing and his St. Lunatics crew, even getting a jab at MC Hammer's financial woes at the end. And this is all over the lyrics and beat of the children's "Down Down Baby". This is what "Down Down Baby" sounds like... Now here's Nelly's single,

    " Tush " was a big club hit for Ghostface (Killah) of the Wu-Tang Clan. Appearing on his The Pretty Toney album, the song was written by the rapper with producer Derrick Trotman and Jeff Steinbacher over a sample of "Naked Truth" by The Best of Both Worlds written by Robert Lee, and featured a cameo from Missy Elliott. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single spent a week at #1 in 2004, while also climbing to #34 on the British Singles chart.  

    " Where I Wanna Be " - Donell Jones from the album Where I Wanna Be (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 9   Today's song comes from R&B singer Donell Jones , who scored a top ten crossover pop hit at the close of 1999 with his song " U Know What's Up ".  The third release from the album ("Shorty (Got Her Eyes On Me)" was a minor R&B hit at #80) was the neo-soul of "Where I Wanna Be". Written by Jones with co-producer Kyle West, the song has Jones leaving his woman and trying to explain that he needs time and space to get himself in order. It's a mature and rare expression in pop music, and he captures the indecision and introspection pretty damn well. The chord changes in this are just delicious and harkens back to Stevie Wonder's 70's period... "Where I Wanna Be" became Jones' second and so far last top-40 "pop" hit on the Hot 100 in July of 2000. The song s

    " It's Gonna Be Me " - *NSYNC from the album No Strings Attached (2000) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 21   Today's song comes from the male vocal "boy-band" group *NSYNC , who scored a top ten hit in the spring of 2000 with " Bye Bye Bye ", the lead single from their album No Strings Attached , which sold a record-breaking 2.4 million copies in its first week on sales. The second release from the record was the uptempo jam "It's Gonna Be Me". Written by the Swedish team of Max Martin, Andreas Carlsson, and producer Rami Yacoub, the song has the group trying to convince a woman to be her rebound, which is a pretty sketchy premise in itself, but somehow in the English as a second language lyrics they are able to sell it. I mean look at them. They're GOR-geous. Anyway, The single was more notable for the music video, which cast JC Chasez, Justin Timberlake, Chris Kirkpatrick, Lance Bass, and Joey F

    Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit" tunes from the previous week. Lil Nas X reigns for a seventh week, while country hunk Sam Hunt (pictured above) climbs a notch in the top ten. Former big hits from Ed Sheeran/Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Kane Brown, Jack White, and Mitski drop off my list, while songs from Latto, Tate McRae, and Thomas Rhett make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ). Here comes staycation 2022... Last Week                 Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. That's What I Want - Lil Nas X (1) 2. abcdefu - Gayle (2) 3. Enemy - Imagine Dragons f/JID (3) 4. Heat Waves - Glass Animals (4) 5. Heart On Fre - Eric Church (5) 6. Light Switch - Charlie Puth (7) 7. 23 - Sam Hunt (8) 8. The Motto - Tiesto & Ava Max (10) 9. Black Summer - Red Hot Chili Peppers (13) 10. When I&#

    " Back Here " - BBMak from the album Sooner Or Later (2000) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #13 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 24   Today's song comes from BBMak , a British trio that came together in the mid-1990s in Liverpool, England. Christian Burns, whose father was also a pop musician, found Mark Barry and Stephen McNally, and their bandname is a shortened combination of their surnames. Signed to the Telstar label in their home country, the threesome released their debut single "Back Here" originally in the summer of 1999, where it popped into the top-40 in the UK at #37. The following year, it was released in America through the Disney-affiliated Hollywood label, and became a big success, riding on the wave of the "boy-bands" of the era during the turn of the millennium. Written by the group with Phil Thornalley (once of the Cure and co-writer of Natalie Imbruglia's smash "Torn") and produced by Oliver Lieber and John Shanks, the mi