Twostepcublog

    " Where Are You Going " - Dave Matthews Band from the albums Busted Stuff and Mr. Deeds (Original Soundtrack) (both 2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #39 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 2   Today's song comes from the Dave Matthews Band , who had scored their first official top-40 hit on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 (due to rule changes allowing album cuts to chart) in the summer of 2001 with " The Space Between " from the album Everyday . However the tight production and bright and shiny songs turned off as many fans and they gained from the mainstream exposure. In response, Matthews and the group went back and revisited material they originally recorded for an album with producer Steve Lillywhite that was scrapped. Some of the re-recorded tracks were included on their next album Busted Stuff . One of the pair that wasn't, "Where Are You Going", was released as the lead single, although it also appeared on the soundtrack to the Adam Sandle...

    " The Warrior " was a club hit for the London-based band Osibisa, featuring three members from the West African nation of Ghana and one from the Caribbean county of Antigua. Appearing on their album Ojah Awake , the song was an appropriation of the song from the African-themed musical Ipi Tombi written by South Africans Bertha Egnos and Gail Lakier (it appeared briefly on Broadway as the final show at the Harkness Theatre). On Billboard magazine's National Disco Action Top-40, the Ojah Awake album was listed as a single entry, with "The Warrior", "Keep On Trying", and "Ojah Awake" listed as key DJ Cuts. The record peaked there at #32 in 1977.    (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " Underneath It All " - No Doubt featuring Lady Saw from the album Rock Steady (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 26   Today's song comes from the California pop-rock band No Doubt , whose Rock Steady album had scored a top ten pop hit as well as a Grammy Award with their reggae-appropriating " Hey Baby ", and followed with a rock-disco gem of " Hella Good ". For the third single from the record, the group went back to the "island life" style with "Underneath It All". As with "Hey Baby", they brought in a genre notable in the form of Marion "Lady Saw" Hall, who had been featured on indie-pop singer Vitamin C's 1999 top-40 hit " Smile ". In 2001, Lady Saw released a one-off single, " Son Of A Bitch ", an answer record to Shaggy's #1 hit "It Wasn't Me" with fellow artist Marsha, which popped on to Billboard magazine's R&B sing...

 " Disco Choo Choo " was a club hit for the Canadian studio group Nightlife Unlimited. Appearing on their album Disco Choo Choo , the song was written by group members Tony Bentivegna, Luisa D'Orazio, and Louis Toleda with producer Peter Di Milo. On Billboard magazine's Disco Top-80, the single peaked at #18 in 1979. 

    " Ordinary Day " - Vanessa Carlton from the album Be Not Nobody (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #30 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 8   Today's song comes from singer/songwriter Vanessa Carlton , who charmed the hearts of America with her piano-heaven opus " A Thousand Miles ", which reached the top ten on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the spring of 2002.  Carlton's follow-up single was another self-written song, "Ordinary Day", written while she was still a teenager. The lyrics tell of first love when the guy can't do wrong and pursues the dreams she never thought to materialize. This is all under a a 6/8-time with a production from Ron Fair that brings enough emotional punch without becoming overblown. While it's not as immediate as "Thousand Miles", its naive youthful attitude rewards on more repeated listens. And Carlton got back to the pop charts with this effort, with a music video directed by the same guy (Marc ...

    " Groovin' You " was a club hit for jazz/funk drummer/producer Harvey Mason. Appearing on his album Groovin' You , the song was written by Mason with his wife Sally, and produced by Harvey with his brother Kenny. On Billboard magazine's Disco Top-80, the song peaked at #32 in 1979, while reaching #58 on the R&B Singles chart.       

    " Running Away " - Hoobastank from the album Hoobastank (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #44    This week's "robbed" hit comes from the hard rock band Hoobastank , who came together in the mid-1990s when schoolmates Doug Robb and Dan Estrin brought in drummer Chris Hesse and bassist Markku Lappalainen. They released a few independent releases as they were working the California rock circuit as the nu-metal genre was gaining steam, until they were signed to Island Records. They released their self-titled debut album in the late autumn of 2001, with the lead single " Crawling In The Dark " as the lead single a month before. The driving but melodic song was a decent rock radio hit, spending a week at #3 on Billboard magazine's Alternative Rock airplay chart, and peaking at #7 on the Mainstream Rock counterpart. It also was able to place on the "big chart", Billboard 's Hot 100, at #68. It was also a minor hit in the United Kingdom a...

    " Beautful Mess " - Diamond Rio from the album Completely (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #28 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 9   Today's song comes from the band Diamond Rio , who scored their third #1 country music radio hit, and their second to cross over to the top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100, with " One More Day " in the spring of 2001. A year later, the group returned with the lead single from their seventh studio album on Arista Nashville (and would be their last on the label), Completely . "Beautiful Mess", written by Sonny LeMaire (formerly of the country-pop group Exile), Clay Mills, and Shane Minor (who had a top-20 country hit in 1999 with "Slave To The Habit"), the song is a bright and too cute for itself love song aimed for the soccer mom crowd. The verses have lead singer Marty Roe detail how he's completely let himself go because of the love that he's in. It's made him disheveled, exhausted to the ...

    Friday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit" tunes from the previous week. Luke Combs parks himself at #1 for a sixth week, while Taylor Swift (pictured above) also claims a pair of songs in the top ten. Songs from Janelle Monae, Billie Eilish, and Beck/Phoenix make some of the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while former big hits from Nickelback, Maroon 5, Metalllica, Old Dominion, and the Revivalists 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 (but NOT that astroturfed propaganda tool). Where's that beach house?   This Week            Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Fast Car - Luke Combs (1) 2. Dance The Night - Dua Lipa (2) 3. Jaded - Miley Cyrus (3) 4. Kar...

    " Doin' The Best That I Can " was a club hit for R&B singer Bettye LaVette. Released as a stand-alone single , the song was written by Mark Sameth and produced by Eric Maatthew and Cory Robbins, and remixed by disco legend Walter Gibbons. On Billboard magazine's National Disco Action Top-40, the single peaked at #13 in 1978.      

    " Trade It All (Part 2) " - Fabolous featuring P. Diddy & Jagged Edge from the albums Barbershop (Original Soundtrack) (2002) and Street Dreams (2003)  Billboard Hot 100 peak: #20 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 8 Today's song comes from rapper Fabolous (real name Johnathan Jackson), whose debut album Ghetto Fabolous had spun off two top-40 crossover hits on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 with " Can't Deny It " and " Young'n (Holla Back) ". In the spring of 2002, Fabolous released a third single from the debut, "Trade It All", which started to chart before getting overhauled with a "part 2" rework for the movie Barbershop starring rappers Ice Cube and Eve as well as future TV star Anthony Anderson. The song was written by the rapper with producers Ernesto "DJ Clue" Shaw and Ken "Duro" Ifill, along with two members of the R&B vocal group Jagged Edge , brothers Brandan and Brian Case...

    " I'm Your Boogie Man " was a club and radio hit for K.C. and the Sunshine Band. Appearing on their third album Part 3 (naturally), the song was written and produced by group leader Henry Wayne Casey (K.C.) and Richard Finch. On Billboard magazine's National Disco Action Top-40, the Part 3 album was listed as a single entry, with all the tracks listed as key DJ cuts, where it peaked at #9. "I'm Your Boogie Man" went to #1 on the pop Hot 100 and #3 on the R&B Singles chart as well.    (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " Stingy " - Ginuwine from the albums Barbershop (Original Soundtrack) (2002) and The Senior (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #33 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 6   Today's song comes from R&B singer Ginuwine , whose third album The Life had returned him to the top ten on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the autumn of 2001 with " Differences ".  A year later, he was featured on part two of Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' single " I Need A Girl " which went to #4 (like "Differences" did). At about that time, Ginuwine also released a new solo single which was featured on the soundtrack to the urban comedy movie Barbershop starring rappers Ice Cube and Eve as well as future TV star Anthony Anderson. "Stingy", written by Johnta Austin along with producers Bryan-Michael Cox and Jason Perry, the lyrics have Ginuwine professing that he wants to monopolize his lover's time with the "stingy" part weirdly a...

    " Music's Takin' Over " was a club hit for the Jacksons (formerly the Jackson Five). Appearing on their album Goin' Places , the song was written and produced by Gene McFadden, John Whitehead, and Victor Carstarphen. On Billboard magazine's National Disco Action top-40, the Goin' Places album was listed as a single entry, with "Music's Takin' Over", "Jump For Joy", and "Goin' Places" listed as the key DJ cuts. The record peaked at #40 in 1977, while the "Goin' Places" single went to #8 on their R&B Singles chart and #52 on the pop Hot 100.    (Click below to see the rest of the post)

    " Hey Ma " - Cam'ron featuring Juelz Santana, Freekey Zekey, and Toya from the album Come Home With Me (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 20   Today's song comes from rapper Cameron " Cam'ron " Giles, who landed a huge crossover hit in the summer of 2002 with " Oh Boy ". Another cut from the Come Home With Me album, " Welcome To New York City ", had his boss at the label Jay-Z on the record, but wasn't promoted to radio, but unsolicited airplay got the track to #55 on Billboard magazine's R&B Songs chart. Cam'ron's next proper single from his Come Home With Me album, "Hey Ma", also pairs him up with rapper Juelz Santana (LaRon James), and brings in newcomer Freekey Zekey , aka Ezekiel Giles, Cam'ron's cousin. With the main mix were written by Cam'ron and Santana with producer Darryl "DR Period" Pittman over a prominent sample of the Commodores...

    " The Impossible " - Joe Nichols from the album Man With A Memory (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 6   Today's song comes from Joe Nichols , who grew up in Rogers, Arkansas (coincidentally the city where the first Walmart was located), Coming from a working class family, Nichols pursued country music early, and was signed as a teen to the independent label Intersound Records. He released his self-titled debut there in 1996, but neither that nor the four singles from it, including his first, " Six Of One, Half Dozen Of The Other ", made any dent in America, and he was dropped. After a misfired second contract and taking on regular work to pay the bills, Nichols was signed to Universal South (Universal Records' country imprint) at the close of the 90's, but it wouldn't be until 2002 for his sophomore effort, Man With A Memory , to arrive. The lead single from the set was the parable ballad "The Impossible...

    " Aerials " - System Of A Down from the album Toxicity (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #55     This week's "robbed hit" comes from the nu-metal band System Of A Down , whose second album Toxicity had given them a big hit on rock radio that lingers in the bottom quarter on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 for five months, " Chop Suey ". The title track " Toxicity " was put out as the follow-up, and did a little better on the list at #70, while spending a week at #3 on Billboard 's Alternative Rock airplay chart and #10 on the Mainstream Rock counterpart.  The third and final single released from the record was "Aerials", another complex experimental track written by the group's Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian, who both produced the song with Rick Rubin. The lyrics are more poetic and descriptive than storytelling, with the titular plane stunt serves as a metaphor for taking chances in life. Serj and Daron's voices ...

    " I Keep Looking " - Sara Evans from the album Born To Fly (2000) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #35 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 3   Today's song comes from country music singer Sara Evans , whose third album Born To Fly had already spun off two radio hits that crossed over to the top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 with " Born To Fly " and " I Could Not Ask For More ".  The third offering from the record was " Saints and Angels ", a really pretty mid-tempo adult-pop relationship song that criminally stopped at #16 on the Country Songs airplay chart and only "bubbled under" the Hot 100 at #103.  For the fourth and final single from the album, Sara released the uplifting but pragmatic "I Keep Looking". Written by the singer with Tony Martin and Tom Shapiro, and produced by Sara with Paul Worley, the lyrics explore the whole "grass is greener on the other side" concept, with one verse dealing with being...