Twostepcublog

    " Me Against The Music " - Britney Spears featuring Madonna from the album In The Zone (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #35 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 3   Today's song comes from giant pop stars from two "eras" in pop history, Britney Spears and Madonna, that were both experiencing a relatively dry period. Britney's third studio album, Britney , had sold close to five million copies, but after the lead single, the deliberately over-provocative " I'm A Slave 4 U ", stalled down at #27 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 at the close of 2001 (not helped by the label holding back a commercial single to plump album sales), the subsequent released stiffed in the States. A contribution to the wildly successful Austin Powers: Goldmember film franchise, " Boys " with super-hot producer Pharrell Williams, was a top ten hit in the United Kingdom at #7, but while it got to #22 on the Mainstream Top-40 radio chart in America, it only &

    " Bad Boy This Bad Boy That " - Bad Boy's Da Band from the album Too Hot for TV (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #50 (two weeks) This week's "almost hit" (I can't in good conscience say it was robbed ) comes from a reality show that was the collaboration between MTV (which already was swaying away from the music video business) and record label Bad Boy, run by Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. It was marketed as the "second reiteration" of Making The Band , in which the first produced the boyband O-Town, which did end up scoring a pair of top ten hits on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in 2000-2001. (That version had Lou Pearlman as the studio exec mentor, but his story did not end well.)    This version started in the fall of 2002, with Diddy forming what would be "Da Band" by the end of the second "season". The original 40,000 claimed auditioners were pared to four men and two women, with one of each sex being the s

    " Bright Lights " - Matchbox Twenty from the album More Than You Think You Are (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #23 (five weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 11   Today's song comes from the pop/rock band Matchbox Twenty , whose third album More Than You Think You Are had already spun off two top-40 hits on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart with " Disease " and " Unwell ", with the latter reaching the top five in the summer of 2002. The third single from the record is "Bright Lights", written by lead singer Rob Thomas and produced by Matt Serletic. In the song Rob sings to a woman who is leaving for the big city to pursue fame, saying if it doesn't work out she can return home (and to him presumably). But it seems he is the one needing her more, as the unsureness pervades throughout his words. The production starts out sweet and organically, and even when everything kicks in you can actually discern the different instruments and it f

    Saturday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 hits of the week. Hozier stays put for a fourth week at #1, while Tommy Richman (pictured above) leaps into the top five. Former big hits from Beyonce, twenty-one pilots, Usher & H.E.R., and Linkin Park drop off my chart, while songs from Nate Smith, Mt. Joy, and Nathaniel Rateliff make some of the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ). And under the list everything is Spotify playlisted for five and 1/2 hours of the biggest in pop, rock, R&B, country, and dance music. I guess Justin took his song title a bit too literally... This Week                    Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Too Sweet - Hozier (1) 2. Espresso - Sabrina Carpenter (3) 3. Million Dollar Baby - Tommy Richman (7) 4. We Can't Be Friends (Wait For Your Love) - Ariana Grande (2)

    " Clubbin' " -  Marques Houston featuring Joe Budden and R.Kelly from the album MH (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #39 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 1 Today's song comes from singer Marques Houston , who grew up in Los Angeles, where he came together with Jerome Jones and Don Santos to form the R&B trio Immature in the early 1990. Trying to be marketed as a younger alternative to the hip-hop/new jack scene, the group scored a top-5 pop and R&B hit in 1994 with " Never Lie ", when Marques was only just turning 13 years old. The trio (with Santos being replaced by Kelton Kessee after their first album) would put out five album, with the last two under the modified name IMx. After a lull after six top-40 pop hits with the last being " Stay The Night " in the beginning of 2000, they split, with both Houston and Jones pursuing acting careers.  In 2002 as soon as IMx ended, Houston secured a solo deal with the T.U.G. label, run by Immature

    " Wat Da Hook Gon Be " - Murphy Lee featuring Jermaine Dupri from the album Murphy's Law (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #17 (four weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 13   Today's song comes from rapper Murphy Lee , who grew up as Torhi Harper in the Illinois suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri. He was a part of the collective St. Lunatics, which included Nelly, who shot to fame as a solo artist but didn't forget his friends. In 2001 the group released an album together, Free City , which capitalized on Nelly's success and went to #1 on Billboard magazine's R&B Albums chart and #3 on the all-genre Billboard 200 in 2001, going on to sell over a million copies. However the single from the record, " Midwest Swing ", just missed the R&B Singles top-40 at #41.  When Nelly released his sophomore album Nellyville a year later, he included a track, " Air Force Ones ", that featured Murphy as well as Ali and Kyjuan from the act, and the song

    " Hey Ya! " - Outkast from the album Speakerboxx/The Love Below (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (nine weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 28   Today's song comes (nominally) from the Atlanta rap duo Outkast , who returned in 2003 with their double-disc opus Speakerboxx/The Love Below , which had members Antwon "Big Boi" Patton and Andre "Andre 3000" Benjamin having what was like a solo album each. In August of that year, the pair simultaneously released a single from each disc, with Big Boi's " The Way You Move " entering the top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 first. But three weeks later, Andre 3000's track would rocket in and overtake the former in no time. "Hey Ya!" written and produced by Benjamin, it fit into the totally ecletic makeup of  The Love Below , where Andre skates between styles and periods, with the bouncy tempo and call and response vocals calling to the uplifting soul music of the 60s. But the lyr

    " I Love This Bar " - Toby Keith from the album Shock'n Y'all (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #26 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 9   Today's song comes from Toby Keith , who went from being a consistent country music hitmaker to jingoistic provocateur with his Unleashed album in 2002, which spun off a quartet of hit country singles, three of which made the top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 with " Courtesy Of The Red White & Blue ", " Who's Your Daddy ", and the lynching-glorifying " Beer For My Horses ".  A year later, Toby returned with his eighth studio album and fourth on DreamWorks Records, Shock'n Y'All , titled to appeal to the "bomb them to infinity" crowd. The lead single for the record, though (probably tempered by the record company to be more wide-appealing) was the easy-going party record "I Love This Bar". Written by Keith with Scotty Emerick, the song goes through the

    " Heaven " - Live from the album Birds Of Pray (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #59 (two weeks)   This week's robbed hit comes from the rock band Live , who had four album tracks reach the top-40 on Billboard 's Hot 100 Airplay chart (since never released as "singles", their weren't eligible for the Hot 100 proper). The last of them, " Lakini's Juice " from their third album Secret Samadhi , made that mark in the beginning of 1997.  In 1999, Live came back with their next album The Distance To Here , which reunited them with producer Jerry Harrison (of the Talking Heads/Tom Tom Club). The lead single, " The Dolphin's Cry ", spent six weeks at #2 on Billboard 's Mainstream Rock chart, and four weeks at #3 on their Alternative Rock chart, their most recent top ten placing on either list. That song, now with airplay-only tracks able to list, got to #78 on the pop Hot 100. That was followed in 2001 by the more electroni

    " Who Wouldn't Want To Be Me " - Keith Urban from the album Golden Road (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #30 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 6   Today's song comes from Australian (but New Zealand-born) country music singer/songwriter/guitarist Keith Urban , whose second album on Capitol Nashville Records, Golden Road , had scored a pair of big radio hits that crossed over to the top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart with " Somebody Like You " and " Raining On Sunday ".  The third single from the record was the uptempo track "Who Wouldn't Want To Be Me". Written by Urban with Monty Powell, the deceptive title isn't about Keith's success, which he casts in the first verse as he has no money and no job, but is about the love he has, which supercedes those setbacks. At least he has a car to cart his woman around, who is the one who is serenading him . he repeats that in the third verse, and the simplicity may be c

    Saturday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hits" from the previous week. Hozier holds tight at #1 for a third week, while Sabrina Carpenter (pictured above) leaps into the top three. Songs from Shaboozey, Pearl Jam, and Nathaniel Rateliff make some of the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while former big hits from Lainey Wilson and the Knox drop off my chart. Under the list, everything is Spotify playlisted for five and 1/2 hours of the biggest in pop, rock, R&B, country, and dance music. Happy father's day! This Week              Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Too Sweet - Hozier (1) 2. We Can't Be Friends (Wait For Your Love) - Ariana Grande (2) 3. Espresso - Sabrina Carpenter (7) 4. Lose Control - Teddy Swims (4) 5. Dilemma - Green Day (3) 6. End Of Beginning - DJO (6) 7. Mill

    " Pass That Dutch " - Missy Elliott from the album This Is Not A Test! (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #27 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 6   Today's song comes from rapper/singer/songwriter/producer Missy Elliott , whose fourth studio album Under Construction had spun off two crossover hits that reached the top ten on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 with " Work It " and " Gossip Folks ", the latter reaching the high tier in the spring of 2003. Later that year, under pressure from her label Elektra Records (who housed her imprint GoldMind), Elliott returned with a fifth disc, This Is Not A Test! ,  mostly produced by the artist with long-time collaborator Tim "Timbaland" Mosley. The lead single from the record was "Pass That Dutch", which was written and produced by the pair using a myriad of samples, including " Potholes In My Lawn " from rap trio De La Soul, which itself sampled " Magic Mountain " fro

    " This One's For The Girls " - Martina McBride from the album Martina (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #39 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 2   Today's song comes from country music's vocal powerhouse Martina McBride , whose Greatest Hits album in 2001 had spun off four genre radio hits, with one of them, " Blessed ", crossing over to the top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the spring of 2002. A year later, the singer returned with her seventh studio album on RCA Nashville Records, Martina . The lead single from the set was the female-only party "This One's For The Girls". Written by Aimee Mayo, Hilary Lindsey, and Chris Lindsey, the song has Martina spending a verse on a different age group, though starting off with the high school girls lauding them for chastity is a little off but on brand for her. Moving on to "girls" in their twenties and forties, the message gets more universal, and her positive energy shows i

    " Stacy's Mom " - Fountains Of Wayne from the album Welcome Interstate Managers (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #21 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 8   Today's song comes from the rock band Fountains Of Wayne, who came together in New York City in the mid-90s when college-mates Adam Schlesinger and Chirs Collingwood reunited and after being signed by Atlantic Records eventually brought in guitarist Josey Parker and drummer Brian Young to make a proper unit. Their band name came from a outdoor statuary shop in the town of Wayne, New Jersey. But before that Adam and Chris (with help from Danny Weinkauf, who was in a pre-FOW band with them called Bellflower) recorded Fountains Of Wayne's eponymous debut, which came out in 1996. The lead single from the record, " Radiation Vibe ", which sported a music video with the whole lineup. The lo-fi power-pop single hit #71 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 Airplay radio chart, while peaking at #14 on their