Twostepcublog

    " Perfect " - Sara Evans from the album Restless (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #46 (two weeks)   This week's "robbed hit" comes from country music singer Sara Evans , whose third album on RCA Records Born To Fly had scored three big hits that crossed over to the top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart with " Born To Fly ", " I Could Not Ask For More ", and " I Keep Looking ".  Sara released her fourth disc Restless in the summer of 2003 with the poignant ballad " Backseat Of A Greyhound Bus " as the lead single. Like Tim McGraw's "Red Rag Top", the song took on a dark but very real subject of an unmarried but very pregnant woman leaving home and ending up having a baby on the road (a subject that's boomeranged back in the post Roe-v-Wade aftermath). While the single spent a half of a year (26 weeks) on Billboard 's Country Songs airplay chart, it only made it as high as #16 as some ...

    " Burn " - Usher from the album Confessions (2004) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (eight weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 27   Today's song comes from R&B star Usher , who landed the biggest hit of 2004 with the lead single from his fourth album (and second on Arista Records), Confessions , " Yeah! ", which spent three months atop the Hot 100 in Billboard magazine in the late winter and early spring of that year. His follow-up single was the sensual love jam that was meant to be the first single, "Burn". Written by the singer with producers Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox, the lyrics have Usher laying it on the line with the woman he's about to break up with. It was purportedly meant to mimic his own circumstances - Usher was splitting with girlfriend Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas of the group TLC at the time, and he was with mixed emotions about it. (Since then Chilli said she broke it off after Usher cheated repeatedly, and Dupri clai...

  Saturday's here, and it's time to run down my top "hit" tunes from the previous week. Chappell Roan is on top for a sixth week, while Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars (pictured above) leap into the top five. Former big hits from Dua Lipa, Lainey Wilson, Nate Smith, beabadoobee, and Lucky Daye drop off my chart, while songs from Maxwell, Charli XCX, and Seether make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ). And under the list, everything is Spotify playlists for 5 1/2 hours of the biggest in pop, rock, R&B, country, and dance music. Whatever saint helps find lost things, please help now... This Week           Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Good Luck, Babe! - Chappell Roan (1) 2. Birds Of A Feather - Billie Eilish (3) 3. Please Please Please - Sabrina Carpenter (2) 4. Die With A Smile - Lady Gaga & ...

    " Freek-A-Leek " - Petey Pablo from the album Still Writing In My Diary: 2nd Entry (2004) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 26   Today's song comes from rapper Petey Pablo (real name Moses Barrett), who scored his first hit in the autumn of 2001 with " Raise Up ", which hit the top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart. After a couple more minor R&B hits from his debut album on Jive Records, Diary Of A Sinner: 1st Entry , Petey recorded a track for the movie Drumline , " Club Banger ", which popped on to the R&B Singles chart for a few weeks with a high of #98 in the beginning of 2003. At the end of that year, Pablo returned with the lead single of his second (and so far last) album Still Writing In My Diary: 2nd Entry . "Freek-A-Leek", written by the rapper with Corey Evans and producer/rapper in his own right Jonathan "Lil' Jon" Smith. Lil Jon had originally pitched the backing tr...

    " If I Ain't Got You " - Alicia Keys from the album The Diary Of Alicia Keys (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 38   Today's song comes from singer/songwriter Alicia Keys , who had returned to the top ten on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart in the beginning of 2004 with the Grammy-winning " You Don't Know My Name ". The second single from her Diary Of Alicia Keys album was "If I Ain't Got You", which she wrote and produced herself. The lyrics lay out a simple concept that all the material things don't even come close to matching the rewards of being in love. But the conservation of words works to the benefit of the song, allowing Alicia to concentrate on the emotions involved. Her production, which is organic with the instrumentation and harkens to the classic soul years of the late 60s/early 70s, really focuses on the melody and allows Alicia to vamp without seeming showy. The result is a ti...

    " Rubber Band Man " - T.I. from the album Trap Musik (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #30 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 7   Today's song comes from rapper T.I. , who grew up as Clifford Harris Jr. in Atlanta. Starting to rap when he was a child, T.I. was eventually discovered by an executive at Arista Records where he was signed to their Ghett-O-Vision label as a teen. In 2001 the rapper released his first album I'm Serious . But after the album stalled at #98 on the Billboard 200 despite being pumped up with heavy hitters in the production side like the Neptunes and Jazze Pha, he was dumped from the label. (It's notable he sold in the 100-200K range, something today's artists would kill their family for.)   Fast forward to 2003, after put out a series of mixtapes on his own, T.I. appeared on the single " Never Scared " by So So Def Records rapper Bone Crusher, which became a big R&B/hip-hop hit that crossed over to the top-40 on Bi...

    " In My Daughter's Eyes " - Martina McBride from the album Martina (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #39 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 1   Today's song comes from country music's vocal powerhouse Martina McBride , who returned to the top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the autumn of 2003 with " This One's For The Girls ".  The second single from her Martina album was another female-first anthem with "In My Daughter's Eyes". Written by James T. Slater, the song has McBride extolling her offspring, with the hope and admiration that they bring to her. Sure, it has some Hallmark card-ready lines, but also more poignant thoughts like " It's hanging on when your heart is had enough , it's giving more when you feel like giving up". And of course Martina can vocally sell this song, and the production by the singer with Paul Worley is gentle and reverent, using the string section to its utmost effect. Coupled ...

    " Just A Little While " - Janet Jackson from the album Damita Jo (2004) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #45 (two weeks)   This week's "robbed hit" comes from pop legend Janet Jackson , who started out the new millennium in a very good place, with her 2001 album All For You spinning off one of the biggest hits of her career with the title track " All For You ", which topped Billboard magazine's Hot 100 for seven week. It was followed by another top tenner, the America-sampling " Someone To Call My Lover " and another that hit the top-40 with the Carly Simon-assisted " Son Of A Gun (Betcha Think This Song Is About You) ". (The latter included P. Diddy in the mix, making today quite the day on the bloggie.) In the autumn of the following year Janet guested on reggae star Beenie Man's " Feel It Boy ", giving enough bounce to make the top-40.  Jackson was intending to release her next album on Virgin Records in 2003, bu...

    " I Don't Wanna Know " - Mario Winans featuring Enya and P. Diddy from the album Hurt No More (2004) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (eight weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 25    ( Ed. note - What luck that my pre-scheduled song of the day includes someone in the news for all the wrong reasons.)   Today's song comes from R&B singer/songwriter/producer Mario Winans , who is the stepson of Marvin Winans of the hugely important gospel dynasty the Winans Family (his mother was Vickie Winans, who was for a time married to Marvin). Immersed in music from childhood, Mario first got recognition as a producer and musician, helping with the music on two of R. Kelly's hits from his self-titled 1995 album,  "I Can't Sleep Baby" and "You Remind Me Of Something". With that experience and resume, Mario was signed as an artist in his own right to Motown Records, releasing his debut album Story Of My Heart in 1997. However, the lead single from the record,...

  Saturday's here, and it's time to run down my top "hits" from the previous week. Chappell Roan claims a fifth week at #1, while Taylor Swift (pictured above) climbs into the top ten yet again. Songs from Michael Kiwanuka, Mavis Staples, and Charli XCX make the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while former big hits from Taylor Swift/Post Malone, David Guetta/OneRepublic, Nathaniel Rateliff, and Kiesza 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. 784? Really? 784? This Week             Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Good Luck, Babe! - Chappell Roan (1) 2. Please Please Please - Sabrina Carpenter (3) 3. Birds Of A Feather - Billie Eilish (5) 4. Not Like Us - Kendrick La...

    " Little Moments " - Brad Paisley from the album Mud On The Tires (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #35 (one weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 3   Today's song comes from singer/songwriter/guitarist Brad Paisley , who had returned to the top-40 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the summer of 2003 with "Celebrity", the lead single from his third studio album Mud On The Tires . His follow-up to that comic track took a weirdly romantically nostalgic turn, with the ballad "Little Moments". Written by Paisley with Chris DuBois, the lyrics have Brad rattling off flawed time from his partner, from when she backed up his truck to burned his birthday cake to falling asleep on his now-numb arm. But he wouldn't trade it for the world, and I guess Paisley's aw shucks demeanor and delivery can sell it better than any one else can. The production from Frank Rogers is reverend and sufficiently building in intensity through the song, with a good allowance f...

    " I'm Still In Love With You " - Sean Paul featuring Sasha from the album Dutty Rock (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #14 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 16   Today's song comes from the dancehall-reggae artist Sean Paul , whose second album Dutty Rock catapulted him into the American mainstream pop world, already scoring a trio of hits with " Gimme The Light ", " Like Glue ", and the #1 smash " Get Busy ". He also went to #1 as a featured artist on Beyonce's " Baby Boy " in the fall of 2003, giving Sean even more name recognition and exposure. Right when the latter was topping the charts, Sean released the fourth single from his album, "I'm Still In Love With You", which featured dancehall singer Christine Chin, who recorded then under the name Sasha. Sasha, also signed to the reggae stalwart VP label, had a minor R&B hit in the summer of 2003 with " Dat Sexy Body ", which peaked at #79. Wri...

    " No Better Love " - Young Gunz f/Rell from the album Tough Luv (2004) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #36 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 4   Today's song comes from the Philadelphia-based hip-hop duo Young Gunz, who scored a top-20 crossover hit on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the autumn of 2003 with " Can't Stop Won't Stop ", which was originally on a label compilation from Roc-A-Fella Records. A remix of the track also appeared on their debut album Tough Luv , which arrived in the beginning of the following year.  The next release from  " Young Chris " Ries and Hanif " Neef " Muhammad was "No Better Love", which featured SoCal singer/songwriter Rell (born Wilbur Gerrell Gaddis), Rell was another protege of Jay-Z's and the A-list rapper gave an assist to both of the singer's charting singles, both from movie soundtracks. " Love For Free ", from Streets Is Watching , slipped on to the Hot 100 at #86...

    " Wanna Get To Know You " - G-Unit featuring Joe from the album Beg For Mercy (2003) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #15 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 11   Today's song comes from the hip-hop collective G-Unit, put together by one of the biggest rappers of the time 50 Cent , along with Young Buck and Tony Banks.  With momentum from the former's huge #1 pop hits, the group scored a top-20 crossover single at the close of 2003 with "Stunt 101" from their first album together Beg For Mercy . For the follow-up, they leaned heavily on pop potential by bringing on R&B singer Joe for the second single from the set "Wanna Get To Know You". Written by the trio and Joe, the song samples Marvin Gaye's " Come Live With Me Angel " from his romantic classic I Want You album from 1976. Each of the three rappers has a different dilemma with a woman, with Young Buck first tries his best to win over a hesitant propect, followed by Banks who is tr...