Twostepcublog

    Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit" tunes from the previous week. Taylor Swift takes over at #1, while country singer Parker McCollum (pictured above) climbs four notches in the top ten. Former big hits from Stephen Sanchez and Phony Ppl drop off my chart, while songs from Meghan Trainor, Calvin Harris/Ellie Goulding, and Ed Sheeran make some of 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. This April showers thing is not a joke...   Last Week                 Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Lavender Haze - Taylor Swift (2) 2. Trustfall - Pink (4) 3. Flowers - Miley Cyrus (1) 4. Ghosts Again - Depeche Mode (6) 5. Love From The O...

    " Wasting My Time " - Default from the album The Fallout (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #13 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 20   Today's song comes from the Canadian post-grunge rock band Default , who came together in Vancouver at the close of the twentieth century. After hearing a demo, the group came under the wing of genre giants Nickelback, whose momentum was soaring after their breakthrough single "How You Remind Me". Default's debut single from their first album The Fallout was "Wasting My Time", written by lead singer Dallas Smith, bass player Dave Benedict, drummer Danny Craig, and guitarist Jeremy Hora. The song seems to be placed at the end of a relationship, with Dallas angry but yet resigning at the failure, though it's quite vague on details but rather rides on emotion. The production from Nickelback's Chad Kroeger along with Rick Parashar provide some nice warm tones to balance Dallas' strong but shouty-lite voice,...

    " Blessed " - Martina McBride from the album Greatest Hits (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #31 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 3   Today's song comes from singer Martina McBride , whose fifth album Emotion had scored a decent hit with " I Love You " (also from the album Runaway Bride ) which topped the Country Songs chart and made the top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the autumn of 1999. In 2001, McBride recapped her career so far on RCA Nashville Records with a Greatest Hits collection, featuring a baker's dozen of her charting hits, a beloved album cut ("Strangers"), and four new songs, all of which were released as singles. The lead one out of the gate was the good-girl rambunctiousness of " When God-Fearing Women Get The Blues ". The line-dance staple brought her back to the country market from her stray to the adult-pop side of things, and climbed to #8 on Billboard 's Country Songs chart and #64 on the all-g...

    " Pass The Courvoisier Part II " - Busta Rhymes featuring P. Diddy & Pharrell from the album Genesis (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #11 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 14   Today's song comes from rapper Busta Rhymes , who returned to the pop top-40 in the beginning of 2002 with " Break Ya Neck ". the second single from his album Genesis . (The track "What It Is", which originally was on a Violator record label compilation, went to #20 on the R&B chart and #63 on the Hot 100.) A third release, " As I Come Back ", was more of a promotional track, missing the Hot 100 altogether and nicking the R&B list at #91, though it climbed to #7 on Billboard magazine's Rap Singles chart.  For the final release from the record, Busta reworked a track from the original album, added verses from guest Sean "P. Diddy" Combs as well as producer Pharrell Williams who sang the hook. The result, "Pass The Courvoisier" with ...

    " All You Wanted " - Michelle Branch from the album The Spirit Room (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 21   Today's song comes from singer/songwriter Michelle Branch , whose debut single " Everywhere " placed in the top-20 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the autumn of 2001. The second single from the album was "All You Wanted", written by Branch and produced by John Shanks. The song's lyrics has Michelle trying to reason to her partner in a dying relationship, pleading how much she was attempting to be their savior, but in return they only needed a companion. It's deliberately vague, and the adaptability to various love situations helped her audience click with the song, though it may not be as personal as say Alanis' more direct musings. The production was more like the male-led post-jangle pop hits of Matchbox 20 and Vertical Horizon. Nevertheless, the song did even better, becoming Branch'...

    " It's Love (Trippin') " - Goldtrix presents Andrea Brown from the single (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: did not chart Billboard Dance Club Play peak: #1 (two weeks)   This week's "robbed hit" comes from Goldtrix, a one-time collaboration between British DJ/producers Daniel Goldstein and Jamie "Matrix" Quinn, with the moniker a combo of their name/aliases. In 2001 they recruited native New Yorker Andrea Brown for a single "It's Love (Trippin')", which is a remake of an album cut on American neo-soul singer Jill Scott's debut album Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 from 2000. Here's the original...    Jill's version already had the minor key flow that house music is built on, so it wasn't a stretch to speed up the tempo for Goldtrix's take. Andrea's voice lends enough sassiness to the tribal house groove to create a vibe that had clubgoers not even knowing it was a cover song... While Go...

    " A Thousand Miles " - Vanessa Carlton from the album Be Not Nobody (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 36   Today's song comes from singer/songwriter Vanessa Carlton , who grew up in northeastern Pennsylvania, where she studied music under her mother as well as at ballet school before moving to New York City. Carlton was signed to A&M Records, where after an aborted attempt at a debut Rinse released her first album Be Not Nobody , preceded by the single "A Thousand Miles". Written by the singer, and produced by Ron Fair and Curtis Schweitzer, the song started with its iconic piano roll hook that defined the song. With a conversational cadence that harkens back to the singer-songwriter rebirth of the early nineties with Marc Cohn and Lisa Loeb, the lyrics have Vanessa reminisce about a crush from her college years, and how obsessed she was. The piano and string section in the production put this song on such a higher p...

    Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit tunes" from the previous week. Miley Cyrus holds on to #1 for a seventh week, while Depeche Mode (pictured above) climbs two spots in the top ten. Songs from Gorillaz/Tame Impala, Goose, and Bebe Rexha make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while former big hits from Pink, Metallica, Post Malone/Doja Cat, Maneskin, Mimi Webb, and JVKE 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, and dance music. Get better, pops... This Week              Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Flowers - Miley Cyrus (1) 2. Lavender Haze - Taylor Swift (2) 3. Love From The Other Side - Fall Out Boy (3) 4. Trustfall - Pink (4) 5. Lost - Linki...

    " Don't Let Me Get Me " - Pink from the album Missundaztood (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #8 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 18   Today's song comes from Pink , whose second album Missundaztood had already spun off a top ten pop hit with the delightfully campy " Get This Party Started " at the close of 2001. Her follow-up single was the more focused "Don't Let Me Get Me", written by the singer with producer Dallas Austin. The songs lyrics have allusions to being an outcast and self-sabotage, but in the midst pulls no punches with one of the actual heads of her record label, L.A. Reid (though disguising it badly under the possible Los Angeles initials) for trying to mold her into the slutty/naive pop tart that her first album definitely was gearing. In fact, it even name-checks Britney Spears herself, queen of the tarts, a rarity in a mainstream pop record. It's brash, and it definitely cast Pink as trying to break free of that pig...

    " Shame " was a radio and club hit for the R&B duo Zhane. Appearing on the soundtrack to A Low Down Dirty Shame , the record was a remake of the classic disco hit from Evelyn "Champagne" King written by Reuben Cross and John Fitch Jr. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #46 in 1995, while making it to #12 on their R&B chart and #28 on the pop Hot 100.      

    " Youth Of A Nation " - P.O.D. from the album Satellite (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #28 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 7   Today's song comes from the Christian "nu-metal" hard rock band P.O.D. (for "Payable On Death") , who came together in San Diego in the early 1990s. Lead singer Sonny Bernardo, who had become a "born again" Christian after the death of his mother, joined guitarist Marcos Curiel and drummer Wuv along with second bassist Traa Daniels when they released their debut album Snuff The Punk independently on the Rescue imprint (ran by Bernando's dad) in 1994. They followed with a second album and a live release before they were given a record deal by Atlantic Records in 1999. The band's first release on the major label, The Fundamental Elements Of Southtown . The record was revolutionary at the time, combining Christian themes with the rap/rock fusion already new at the time called nu-metal. Nicking of...

    " Treaty " was a club hit for the Australian group Yothu Yindi. Appearing on their album Tribal Voice , the song was written by members of the group, which included both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members, Australian musician Paul Kelly, and Peter Garrett from the band Midnight Oil. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #6 in 1992, while reaching #11 in their Australian homeland and #72 in the United Kingdom.      

    " More Than A Woman " - Aaliyah from the album Aaliyah (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #25 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 18   Today's song comes from R&B singer Aaliyah, whose return to the top-40 with her second single from her self-titled third album, " Rock The Boat ", was marked with tragedy, as the artist along with members of her crew died in a plane crash returning from the shoot from the video. The video for the next single, "More Than A Woman", had already been filmed, as it was originally intended to be released prior to "Rock The Boat". Written by Timbaland and Static Major (producer Tim Mosley and songwriter Stephen Garrett), the song is more of a vibe with Aaliyah singing how much of a better lover she will be. And opposed to yesterday's SOTD Ashanti cooing in insecurity, there is no such doubt with Aaliyah here. The music video had the singer and a troupe of dancers on a green-screened digital special effect cl...

    " Tempted " was a club hit for the New York-based duo Waterlillies. Appearing on their album Tempted , the song was written by the act's singer Sandra Jill Alikas and musician/producer Ray Carroll. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #4 in 1994..    (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " Foolish " - Ashanti from the album Ashanti (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (ten weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 27   Today's song comes from R&B singer Ashanti Douglas, who grew up in Long Island, New York, did some acting as a child, but chose to pursue a music career. Eventually she was signed on to Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo and Ja Rule's Murder Inc. label, where she started out as a singer commissioned to do the musical "hooks" of tracks from rap artists on the label (to make them more "radio-friendly"). Dropping her surname, Ashanti appeared on two huge pop hits with rapper Ja Rule's " Always On Time " which topped Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the beginning of 2002, followed by Fat Joe's " What's Luv? " which went to #2 for seven weeks. The reason the latter song didn't go all the way to the top was Ashanti herself, who's debut single "Foolish" was released that Febru...