Twostepcublog

    " Cybex " was a club hit for OH-BONIC, a studio act put together by remixer/producer Omar Santana. Appearing on the group's sole album Power Surge , the song was produced by Santana, who wrote the track with Jim Caruso. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #37 in 1992.      

    " We Need A Resolution " - Aaliyah featuring Timbaland from the album Aaliyah (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #59 (two weeks)   This week's "robbed hit" comes from the late R&B singer Aaliyah , who turn into acting in the movie Romeo Must Die rewarded her with two top-40 crossover pop hits with " I Don't Wanna " and " Try Again ", with the latter hitting #1 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the summer of 2000. After also completing a second movie with Anne Rice's Queen Of The Damned , Aaliyah came back in the spring of 2001 with the lead single from her self-titled third album. "We Need A Resolution" was produced by Tim "Timbaland" Mosley, who co-wrote the track with Stephen "Static Major" Garrett, and also featured Mosley in a rap break on the record. The song finds the pair in the middle of an argument, with Aaliyah taking the high road and trying to work things out, though Timbaland is ...

    " She's All I Got " - Jimmy Cozier from the album Jimmy Cozier (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #26 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 7   Today's song comes from R&B singer Jimmy Cozier , who grew up in Brooklyn, New York, who sang back-up and wrote songs for other artists before getting signed to bigtime music executive Clive Davis' new label J Records. It was there that Cozier released his self-titled debut album in the summer of 2001. The lead single from the set was "She's All I Got", written and produced by Mike "City" Flowers, who at the time was having a good run of soul hits for artists like Carl Thomas and Sunshine Anderson.  The song has Jimmy talking about his apparently schizophrenic lover, who turns moods on a dime. He knows he should leave, but as the title says, he thinks there's no alternatives waiting out there for him. It's a very uncomfortable plotline to say the least, but the production from Mike City is ...

    Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit" tunes from the previous week. We have a new leader with Steve Lacy on his first try, while the Killers (pictured above) climb a notch in the top ten. Songs from Beach Weather, Lil Nas X, and Sam Smith/Kim Petras make some of the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while former big hits from the Black Keys, Maneskin, Fitz & The Tantrums, and David Guetta/Becky Hill/Ella Henderson drop off my chart. And under the list everything is Spotify-playlisted for 5 1/2 hours of the biggest in pop, rock, R&B, country, & dance music. Spookybear, show me a good time! This Week               Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Bad Habit - Steve Lacy (2) 2. Late Night Talking - Harry Styles (1) 3....

    " I Wanna Be Bad " - Willa Ford from the album Willa Was Here (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #22 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 11   Today's song comes from singer/model/TV personality Amanda Lee Williford, who had her biggest success under the bastardization of her surname Willa Ford . A Florida native, Ford started her music career using the name Mandah, where she was eventually signed to Atlantic Records, where she had a song of the Pokemon: The First Movie soundtrack, which peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200 sales chart, and sold over two million copies. However, the exposure was sort of curtailed by her changing from Mandah to Willa Ford, and she eventually was moved to Atlantic's subsidiary label Lava (where Matchbox 20 resided). There Willa released her debut (and only) album Willa Was Here in the summer of 2001. The lead single from the record was the trying-to-be-naughty pop ditty "I Wanna Be Bad". Written by the singer with producers Bria...

    " Here's To The Night " - Eve 6 from the album Horrorscope (2000) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #30 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 9   Today's song comes from the alternative rock band Eve 6 , who had scored a top-40 pop crossover hit with their debut single " Inside Out " (otherwise known as the "heart in the blender" song) at the close of 1998. A year and a half later, lead singer/bassist Max Collins, guitarist Jon Siebels, and drummer Tony Fagenson returned with their sophomore effort on RCA Records Horrorscope , a title that belies the power-pop nature of the record. The first single from the project, the chunky noise of " Promise ", was well received by rock radio, spending a week at #3 on Billboard magazine's Alternative Rock radio chart, and placing at #28 on the Mainstream Rock counterpart, but didn't catch on with the more fickle pop radio crowd, missing the Hot 100 altogether (it did hit #33 on the older-skewing Adu...

    " There She Goes " - Babyface from the album Face2Face (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #31 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 2   Today's song comes from singer/songwriter/producer/record label exec Kenny " Babyface " Edmonds, who, along with frequent collaborator L.A. Reid, been a major part of the sound of pop and soul music from the late 1980s through the next decade. However, after his fourth studio album The Day in 1996 that spun off two top ten pop/R&B hits with " This Is For The Lover In You " and " Every Time I Close My Eyes ", he took a break for most of the rest of the decade, releasing a tie in live acoustic set with MTV Unplugged a year later, followed by a Christmas With Babyface holiday set in 1998, both of which peaked in the lower half of the Billboard 200 sales tally. In fact, his sole appearance on the pop Hot 100 chart during that time was a collaboration with Jay-Z, " (Always Be My) Sunshine ", from the...

    " Rock The Funky Beat " was a club hit for the drum and bass duo Natural Born Chillers. Released as a stand-alone single , the song was written and produced by the act's Arif Salih and Lee Parker. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #23 in 1998, while reaching #30 on the British singles chart.  (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " Someone To Call My Lover " - Janet Jackson from the album All For You (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 17   Today's song comes from Janet Jackson , who returned to the top of the pop charts in the spring of 2001 with the title track to her seventh studio album " All For You ".  Janet's (at the time she was being credited as just "Janet") follow-up was the breezy electro-soul of "Someone To Call My Lover", written primarily by the singer with producers Jimmy "Jam" Harris and Terry Lewis. The record samples the acoustic guitar hook from " Ventura Highway ", the top ten hit from soft-rock group America in 1972, which gave Dewey Bunnell writing credit as well. But besides that organic guitar run the rest of the record is a chillwave electronica affair, as Janet ventures out as a single woman after her separation from soon to be ex-husband Rene Elizondo Jr., a marriage that at the t...

    "Survival" was a club hit for the Machine Orchestra, a studio group put together by Peter Black. Released as a stand-alone single , the song was written and produced by Black. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #22 in 1992.      

    " Take It To Da House " - Trick Daddy featuring the SNS Express from the album Thugs Are Us (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #50    This week's "robbed hit" comes from Maurice Young, a rapper who records under the moniker Trick Daddy .  He grew up on the mean streets of Miami, the son of a broken home that fell into dealing drugs and violence that led Young to be in prison by the time he was twenty years old. But seeing potential in his rapping skills, label head Ted Lucas signed Trick Daddy (at the time going by "Trick Daddy Dollars") to his Slip-N-Slide Records. His debut album, Based On A True Story , came out in 1997, with a couple cuts featuring rapper J.T. Money, who would himself make this series before Young did. The record made Billboard magazine's R&B Albums chart at #59.  Dropping the "Dollars" from his alias, Trick Daddy returned a year later with his sophomore release www.thug.com . The record did much better, reachi...

    " She Couldn't Change Me " - Montgomery Gentry from the album Carrying On (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #37 (five weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 7   Today's song comes from the 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...

    " People Are Still Having Sex " was a big club and radio hit for Chicago techno-house DJ/producer (William) LaTour. Appearing on his debut album LaTour , the song was written and produced by LaTour. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single spent two weeks at #1 in 1991, while reaching #35 on the pop Hot 100 and #15 on the British singles chart.     (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    Hey folks, it's time for my weekly new album roundup, where I give you my picks of the albums making their debut on the charts in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. You can catch up with my "singles" roundup from yesterday by clicking here ..   Maxident - Stray Kids Billboard 200 debut: #1 Billboard Current Album Sales debut: #1 Choice cut: "Case 143"    With the current kings of K-Pop, BTS, on hiatus for solo projects and mandatory military service, younger upstarts Stray Kids pick up the slack with an equal amount of dolled up members to spread around the fanbase. They don't copy, though, as their approach is more about the rhythm than the melody and this bouncy track exemplifies that.  (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    Hey everyone, it's time for this week's New Music Roundup, where I offer up my faves of the songs reaching the various singles charts in Billboard magazine in the US and the Official Chart in the UK.   "Seeing Someone Else" - Ingrid Andress from the album Good Person (2022) Billboard Adult Top-40 debut: #40    As Andress is in the country radio top ten with her duet with Sam Hunt on "Wishful Drinking", she goes his crossover pop route for the first time with this burned-women track from her sophomore album. Ingrid carries the anger and betrayal and insecurity very well, and the production soars without being canned. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " Havana " was a club and radio hit for lite-jazz saxophonist Kenny G. Appearing on his album The Moment , the song was written and produced by Kenny with Walter Afanasieff, and remixed for the dancefloor by Tony Moran as well as Todd Terry. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single spent a week at #1 in 1997. It also hit #66 on the pop Hot 100 and reached #10 on Billboard 's Adult Contemporary radio chart.     

    Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit" tunes from the previous week. Harry Styles remains on top for a seventh week, while Death Cab For Cutie (pictured above) leap into the top five. Former big hits from Ellie Goulding/Big Sean, Shinedown, LF System, Jack Harlow, and Jax Jones/MNEK drop off my chart, while songs from Ronald Isley/Beyonce, Bailey Zimmerman, and John Legend/Saweetie make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ). And under the list everything is Spotify playlisted for 5 1/2 hours of the biggest in pop, rock, R&B, country, and dance music. Let's get ready to vacay...   This Week              Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Late Night Talking - Harry Styles (1) 2. Bad Habit - Steve Lacy (6) 3. Sunroof - Nicky Youre & dazy (2) 4. H...