Twostepcublog

    " Spaced Invader " was a club hit for Canadian DJ/producer (George) Hatiras. Appearing on his album Arrival , the song was written and produced by the musician, with vocals from Slarta John (aka Mark James). On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #15 in 2001.    (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " Heaven " - DJ Sammy & Yanou featuring Do from the album Heaven (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #8 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 21   Today's song comes from Spanish DJ/producer DJ Sammy , who grew up as Samuel Bouriah on the Mediterranean vacation island of Mallorca. Honing his craft spinning records at the nightclubs on the island, where he met his Dutch then-wife Marie-José van der Kolk, who joined Sammy as a vocalist under the alias Carisma. He was signed as an artist with the Urban label (distributed by Universal Records) in the mid-1990s. Sammy (with Carisma), released her debut album Life Is Just A Game in 1998. He had some success in Germany, placing four singles on their chart, with " Prince Of Love " making the top-40 at #24. Later that year, he released a multi-artist remix album DJ Sammy At Work , and scored a second German Top-40 hit with " In 2 Eternity ".  For Sammy's second release in 2001, he switched to another Euroda...

    " Destination Unknown " was a club hit for Italian DJ/producer Alex Gaudino, featuring vocals from Crystal Waters. Released as a stand-alone single , the song was produced by Gaudino, who co-wrote the track with Stefano Scarpelini and Sharon May Linn. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #8 in 2004.      

    " Just A Friend 2002 " - Mario from the album Mario (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 15   Today's song comes from R&B singer Mario (Barrett), who grew up in Baltimore, where he started in music in school. In fact, uber record exec Clive Davis signed Mario to his new J Records label when he was just fourteen years old. In 2001 he was a featured singer on a track from rapper Fabolous of the soundtrack to Dr. Doolittle 2 , "Tameeka". A year later, Mario released his debut album, Mario . The lead single from the record was "Just A Friend 2002". The "2002" tied it to the top ten pop hit by Biz Markie from 1990, though the only similarity was the chorus. As opposed to Markie's rap on infidelity, Mario played the more innocent friend-zoned boy. The production by Warryn Campbell has plucked electric guitars over a drum sample of Run DMC's "Sucker MCs". Mario's voice is deeper than hi...

    " Mamasita " was a club hit for the duo Flexy. Appearing on their debut album Ritmo Deluxe , the song was written and produced by the act's Marco Wolters, Christian Schnettelker, and Tobias Danappel, with vocals from Nika. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #5 in 2004. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " Call Me " - Tweet from the album Southern Hummingbird (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #31 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 6   Today's song comes from R&B singer Charlene Keys, aka " Tweet ", whose debut single as a lead artist, " Oops (Oh My) ", not only topped Billboard magazine's R&B singles chart, but also crossed over into the top ten on the all-genre Hot 100 in the spring of 2002. Tweet's second single also paired her with her mentors, rapper/singer/songwriter/producer/icon Missy Elliott as well as producer Tim "Timbaland" Mosley. "Call Me", written by Keys and Elliott, has the singer aggressively macking on a guy, even though she's already got a man. She's down to clown anyway, and I'm not so sure the misspelling on "bonified" is a mistake or not. She disses her man, and goes as far to meeting up the side piece with no panties (oh my!). Of course, this is on a Missy/Timbaland groo...

    "Don't Leave Me This Way" was a club hit for producer Ian Appell, who records under the nickname E-N. Released as a stand-alone single , the song was written by Appell and features vocals from Ceevox (Clara Marens). On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #7 in 2003.      

    " Got Ta Be " - B2K from the album B2K (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #34 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 4   Today's song comes from the "boy-band"-styled R&B vocal group B2K , who broke into both the pop and R&B top-40 with their debut single " Uh Huh " in the spring of 2002.  Omarion, J-Boog, Raz-B, and Lil' Fizz's follow-up was "Gots Ta Be", written by Mischke Butler, Steven Russell, and producers Harvey Mason and Damon Thomas (aka the Underdogs). The lyrics have them throwing out all the pickup lines to try to get the girl, including such cringy ones like " I wanna be your mother your father, your brother and your sister too". The production is sufficiently lush, but the package doesn't offer much that hasn't been done before. The music video casts them in the hot boys with crazy groupies category, with all failing except one (which does it mean they're passing her around?). Anyhoo, MTV of cou...

    " Sandstorm " was a big club hit for Finnish DJ/producer Darude (real name Toni-Ville Henrik Virtanen). Appearing on his debut album Before The Storm , the song was written by Darude, who produced it with fellow countryman Jaakko Salovaara, aka JS16. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single made it to #5 on two separate chart runs in 2000 and 2001. It also topped the charts in Canada and Norway and peaked at #3 in the United Kingdom and Finland, and went to #83 on Billboard 's Hot 100.  (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " Don't Say Goodbye " - Paulina Rubio from the album Border Girl (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #41   This week's "robbed hit" comes from Paulina Rubio , who was born in Mexico, but raised in both the country and Los Angeles, as her mother, Susana Dosamentes, was a popular actress. As a child, she started early in acting and music, joining the Latin children's pop group Timbiriche in the 1980s. A decade later, Rubio left to pursue a solo career, signing with Capitol Latin Records and releasing her debut album La Chica Dorada ("The Golden Girl") in 1992. The record went to #42 on Billboard magazine's Latin Albums chart, and spun off three top ten hits on their Hot Latin Songs chart, with her debut " Mio " ("Mine") going to #3. She went on to release three more studio albums for Capitol (which evolved into EMI Latin) through the 1990's, with each sporting a change in genre of music, but none of them captured th...

    " Complicated " - Avril Lavigne from the album Let Go (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 27   Today's song comes from Avril Lavigne , who grew up in Ontario, Canada, where she started singing as a child initially country music songs. However, by the time she was discovered and signed to Arista Records, Avril had found a home in the local Canadian skateboarder community, and her music veered into that pop-punk direction, with a singer/songwriter edge. Her debut album Let Go was released in the late spring of 2002, preceded by the single "Complicated". Written by Lavigne with the production team the Matrix (Lauren Christy, Graham Edwards, and Scott Sparks), the lyrics have Avril confronting a close person, assumedly a boyfriend, about how they put on a different and more annoying persona when they're around other people. It's a simple premise most people can understand, and more mature than her years (she was seventee...

    Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit" tunes from the previous week. Latin-soul singer Miguel takes his decade-old song to #1, while Hozier (pictured above) climbs a notchs in the top ten. Former top ten hits from RAYE and Beach Weather drop off my list, while songs from Luke Combs, Maroon 5, and Jelly Roll make some of 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. Is it summer or fall again? This Week                   Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Sure Thing - Miguel (2) 2. Rescued - Foo Fighters (6) 3. Trustfall - Pink (1) 4. Flowers - Miley Cyrus (4) 5. Eyes Closed - Ed Sheeran (3) 6. E...

    " The Underground " was a big club hit for dance music singer/songwriter Victoria Sharpe, who records under the moniker Celeda. Released as a stand-alone single , the song was written by Sharpe with producer/remixer Peter Rauhofer. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single spent a week at #1 in 2001.       

    " I Need A Girl (Part Two) " - P. Diddy and Ginuwine featuring Loon, Mario Winans, and Tammy Ruggieri from the album We Invented The Remix (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 3   Today's song comes from R&B/hip-hop mogul and rapper Sean Combs , who in 2002 was going under the moniker P. Diddy. Combs' record label, Bad Boy, released a compilation of tracks from their various artists but reworked under the title We Invented The Remix . Diddy took the title of one of the songs on his own The Saga Continues album, " I Need A Girl ", and only took the title and chorus, creating two new songs with "part one" and "part two". Both were released as singles, and " I Need A Girl (Part One) " with R&B superstar Usher and rapper Loon rose all the way to #2 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the spring of 2002.    For "Part Two", Sean teamed up with another big R&B loverboy, G...

    " Los Tangueros " ("the ones who dance the tango") was a club hit for the Bajofondo Tango Club, a collective of musicians from Argentina and Uruguay. Appearing on their eponymous debut album , the song was written and produced by members Gustavo Santaolalla and Juan Campodonico. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the import single peaked at #28 in 2003.  

    " I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin' Song) " - Brad Paisley from the album Part II (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 7   Today's song comes from Brad Paisley , whose appropriately-titled sophomore album Part II had brought him back to the crossover Hot 100 top-40 in the beginning of 2002 with the lightly comical but romantic song " Wrapped Around ".  The third single from the record was an even more jocular tune with "I'm Gonna Miss Her". Written by Brad with producer Frank Rogers, the neo-traditional country song starts off with Brad's woman giving him an ultimatum - to either hang with her or go fishing again . Of course, as the title of the piece goes, you already know his answer, but Paisley is so damn cute about it that you can't even get mad.  The music video follows the plot as it should, and features cameos from ESPN broadcaster Dan Patrick, Jerry Springer, and his future wife Kimberly W...

    " Open My Heart " was a club hit for gospel and soul singer Yolanda Adams. Appearing on her album Mountain High...Valley Low , the song was written by Adams with producers James "Jimmy Jam" Harris, Terry Lewis, and James Wright. On Billboard magazine's Dance Club Play chart, the single peaked at #29 in 2001, while reaching #10 on their R&B singles chart and #57 on the pop Hot 100.       

    " Days Go By " - Dirty Vegas from the album Dirty Vegas (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #14 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 9   Today's song comes from the British dance act Dirty Vegas , who came together in London in the beginning of the millennium.  Unrelated DJ and producers Ben and Paul Harris recruited singer Steve Smith for the "Dirty Vegas" project. Signed to Parlophone in the United Kingdom and Capitol Records in the U.S., the group released a debut single, "Days Go By" in the spring of 2001. Written by Smith with songwriter Victoria Horn, the track's lyrics are pretty sparse, with Smith dryly singing about a past failed love, with no verses, but rather alternating choruses that repeat over the most prominent part of the track, that throbbing bassline. The detachment in Smith's voice sets the mood of the piece awry, allowing you to just give in to the robotic rhythm of the music beneath it. In their native Britain's club-fr...

    Friday is here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit" tunes from the previous week. Pink remains at the summit for a seventh week, while Foo Fighters (pictured above) leap into the top ten. Songs from Jenny Lewis, Luke Combs, and Ledisi make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while a former big hit from Zara Larsson drops out. 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. Dolly, we're coming!   This Week               Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Trustfall - Pink (1) 2. Sure Thing - Miguel (4) 3. Eyes Closed - Ed Sheeran (3) 4. Flowers - Miley Cyrus (2) 5. Calm Down - Rema & Selena Gomez (5) 6. Rescued - Foo Fighters (11) 7. Eat Your Young - Hozier (7) 8. Waffle House - Jonas...