Twostepcublog

    " 8th World Wonder " - Kimberley Locke from the album One Love (2004) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #49    This week's "robbed hit" comes from Kimberley Locke , who came in third place on the second season of the singing competition television program American Idol , behind Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken.  A native of Tennessee, Locke was popular enough on the show to get signed to Curb Records (without the burden of having to deal with the Idol machine). But before that, she appeared on the RCA Label's Idol franchise releases, and her duet with Aiken on " Silver Bells " from the Great Holiday Classics set reached #16 on Billboard magazine's Adult Contemporary radio chart in the 2003 Christmas season.  In the spring of the following year, Locke released her first album on Curb, One Love . The first single from the set is the light dance-pop of "8th World Wonder". Written by Kyle Jacobs (who mostly writes country music and eventuall...

    " This Love " - Maroon 5  from the album Songs About Jane (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 38   Today's song comes from the pop/rock band Maroon 5 , who scored their first hit on Billboard 's Hot 100 with " Harder To Breathe ", which hit the top-20 in the late autumn of 2003, and secured them a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2005. The second single from the record was the white boy funk of "This Love". Written by lead singer/guitarist Adam Levine and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael (coincidentally the only two remaining original members of the group still around), the lyrics have Adam going through a breakup, but the production is so grooved-up and sunny that you kind of forget any hurt that he may be dealing out. Also, his boasting on his sexual prowess while stating the fact that she wasn't satisfied is a choice. But she's apparently done this before, so something must be bringing her back. But...

    " Travelin' Soldier " - The (Dixie) Chicks from the album Home (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #25 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 5   Song of the Day is back with the country music trio that now go by the Chicks , whose album Home had already spun off a pair of hit singles that both reached #2 on Billboard magazine's Country Songs chart and #7 on the all-inclusive Hot 100 with " Long Time Gone " and their cover of Fleetwood Mac's " Landslide ".  While the latter was reaching its heights on pop radio, their latest single was making its way to the top of the country chart. "Travelin' Soldier", written by Bruce Robison (the then brother-in-law of member Emily Erwin Robison) and produced by the group with Lloyd Maines (lead singer Natalie Maines' father), the song was a neo-traditional folk ballad that dealt with the tragedy of our youth during a time of war, but instead of using the current "war on terror" situa...

  Saturday's here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit" tunes from the previous week. Noah Kahan and Post Malone stay put at #1 for a fourth week, while Doja Cat (pictured above) takes her Dionne Warwick-sampling record up two notches in the top ten. Former big hits from OneRepublic, Tamar Braxton, Kane Brown, Dirty Heads, Fifty Fifty, and Peggy Gou drop off my chart, while songs from boygenius, Jelly Roll/Lainey Wilson, and Maneskin make some of the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ). A peaceful Veterans Day weekend...   This Week               Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Dial Drunk - Noah Kahan f/Post Malone (1) 2. Under You - Foo Fighters (2) 3. Snooze - SZA (3) 4. What Was I Made For? - Billie Eilish (4) 5. I Remember Everything - Zach Bryan f/Kacey Musgraves (5) 6. Used To Be Young ...

    " Landslide " - The (formerly Dixie) Chicks from the album Home (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 22 Today's song comes from the (at the time "Dixie") Chicks , whose Home album had brought them into the top ten on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 with the song " Long Time Gone " in the summer of 2002. For the second single from the album, the trio released a remake of a song long-revered but never an "official" hit for its original writer. "Landslide" was written by Stevie Nicks while she was just starting her stint in Fleetwood Mac, and appeared on the band's self-titled 1975 album. The song was never released as a single at the time (her composition "Rhiannon" was instead) and remained a fan favorite for years.      In 1994, the alternative rock group Smashing Pumpkins covered the song for their Pisces Iscariot set. And while that is well wasn't released as a physical ...

    Saturday is here, and it's time to run down my top 100 "hit" tunes from the previous week. Luke Combs hangs on for a tenth week at #1, while Billie Eilish (pictured above) holds tight in the top ten. Songs from Fall Out Boy, Doja Cat, and Ayron Jones make some of the biggest jumps (moves of 10+ places highlighted in red ), while former big hits from Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, boygenius, Becky Hill, Lauren Daigle, and Justin Moore drop 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. Happy Kylie Day!   This Week               Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Fast Car - Luke Combs (1) 2. Dance The Night - Dua Lipa (2) 3. Cruel Summer - Taylor Swift (3) 4. Snooze - SZA (6) 5. Need A Favor - Jelly Roll (5) 6. Love...

    " Long Time Gone " - The (formerly Dixie) Chicks  from the album Home (2002) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 7 Today's song comes from the (Dixie) Chicks , whose second major label album, Fly , became one of the biggest success in the history of country music, selling over eleven million copies and placing nine of its fourteen tracks on Billboard magazine's Country Songs airplay chart, with five of those also crossing over to the top-40 on the Hot 100 with " Ready To Run ", " Cowboy Take Me Away ", " Goodbye Earl ", " Without You ", and " If I Fall You're Going Down With Me ". However, behind the scenes the trio were in legal battles with their label Columbia, accusing them of misappropriated funds and fudged royalties. It was eventually settled without trial with the Chick getting their own imprint on the label and giving them proper compsenation.  With that Open Wide Records deal...

    " Just Like A Pill " - Pink from the album Missundaztood (2001) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #8 (three weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 17   Today's song comes from P!nk , whose sophomore album Missundaztood had already spun off two top ten hits with " Get The Party Started " and " Don't Let Me Get Me ", The third offering from the record had the singer drift even more from the R&B posturing of her debut.  "Just Like A Pill" was a rock-styled emotional track, but it was produced and co-written by Pink with Dallas Austin, who worked with L.A. Reid and Babyface and was known at the time more for his work with TLC and Boyz II Men. The lyrics frame her previous troubles with drugs and the psychological issues that led to and were caused by addiction, but cached in imagery of a more romantic relationship. But there's no questioning what the original intent was here. It's an intensely powerful song for an offering to pop radio, but Aus...

    It's time for the third installment in this year's countdown of the biggest hits on my weekly music chart. You can check out part one or part two or the whole series (so far) by clicking here .   #80 - " I Hate U " - SZA           from the album SOS (2022)           Highest rank: #10 (two weeks)           Weeks on the chart: 23           Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7           Billboard Pop Airplay peak: #33           Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay peak: #1 (four weeks)           Billboard Adult R&B Airplay peak: #4           Billboard Rhythmic Airplay peak: #1 (one week)     ...

    "Lost In You" / "It Don't Matter To The Sun" - Garth Brooks as Chris Gaines from the album The Life Of Chris Gaines (1999) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 6   Today's song comes from one of the all-time biggest stars in American music, Garth Brooks , who grew up in Oklahoma, where he started a country music career in local venues before moving to Nashville and getting signed by Capitol Records. Brooks released his self-titled debut album in 1989, with the lead single " Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old) ", which climbed into the top ten on the country charts in the U.S. (#8) and Canada (#9). That was followed by the fatalistic ballad " If Tomorrow Never Comes ", which went all the way to #1 for a week on Billboard magazine's Country Singles chart, then "Not Counting You", which did the same in Canada while stopping in the runner-up spot in America. Lastly, another epic ballad about death...

" Birds " is the new single from the deluxe re-release of alternative rock heroes Imagine Dragons ' Origins album. While the stunning animated music video that was just released doesn't pull from the revamped version of the single featuring Italian singer Elisa , nonetheless the storyline portrayed here is just a lot of emotional pushes, and fits their anti-bullying crusade well...

" Zero " is the new single from alternative rock group Imagine Dragons . It's their contribution to the upcoming movie Ralph Breaks The Internet , the sequel to the animated film Wreck-It Ralph. The video is an eye-catching array of memes and computer references that you need to focus to catch everything. The band's current single " Natural " is currently #14 on Billboard magazine's pop Hot 100 chart.