Twostepcublog

Hey guys, it's time for the second part of this week's "Album Sweep" of the newest records hitting Billboard magazine's Top 200 sales chart. Debuting at #31 is the second album by British act Marina & The Diamonds. Electra Heart was a #1 record in her native country, and deservedly so...  (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Today, July 23rd, marks Depeche Mode's Martin Gore's 51st birthday. My favorite Depeche tunes... 1) A Question of Lust 2) Strangelove 3) Somebody 4) Love In Itself 5) Never Let Me Down Again 6) Nothing 7) Halo 8) Enjoy The Silence 9) Everything Counts 10) Leave In Silence (click to see the rest of the post)

Jermaine Jackson (Featuring Devo) - "Let Me Tickle Your Fancy" from the album Let Me Tickle Your Fancy (1982) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #18 (two weeks) Weeks in the top-40: 7 Today's Song of the Day is by Jackson brother Jermaine , and his foray into New Wave. Jermaine started the 80s with a bang, courtesy of a top-10 pop hit, " Let's Get Serious ", from the top-10 LP of the same name. However, two rush-released followups, Jermaine and I Like Your Style , which failed to even place a top-40 pop hit (though collectively they scored three top-40 R&B hits). So, for the next album in 1982, Berry Gordy got new-wave it-band Devo (of " Whip It " fame) to back Jackson up on "Let Me Tickle Your Fancy", an electronic jam that made the US top-20... ahh, Fred Travalena. "Let Me Tickle Your Fancy" not only scored a needed pop hit for Jackson, but he returned to the top-5 of the R&B chart with the song, as well a...

Hey folks, thanks for dropping by, it's Sunday night, so that means time to check out the new singles making the chart in the United Kingdom this week. This week Florence + The Machine's " Spectrum (Say My Name) " holds onto the top for a second week. There's no top-10 entries this week, as the highest debut is at #11. It belongs to Misha B. (B for Bryan), a singer/songwriter from Manchester. She was a contestant on Britain's X Factor , where she was the middle of a big brouhaha over accusations of her bullying other contestants. All aside, she scores her first hit with "Home Run"...  (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Hey folks, it's time for the first part of this week's "Album Sweep" of the latest records hitting Billboard magazine's Top 200 chart of the biggest sellers this week. This week's big winner is country jam kings the Zac Brown Band, with their third studio album, Uncaged , who score their second #1... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Today, July 22nd, marks singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright's 39th birthday.... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Jackson Browne - "Somebody's Baby" from the album Fast Times At Ridgemont High (Original Soundtrack) (1982) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (three weeks) Weeks in the top-40: 12 Today's Song of the Day is by singer/songwriter Jackson Browne , who was born in Germany to a military family in 1948. His first break was as a songwriter in the late 60's, when he penned songs covered by Linda Ronstadt, Joan Baez, and the Byrds. He released his first self-titled album in 1972, and scored a top-10 pop hit from it, " Doctor My Eyes ".Throughout the seventies his profile as an album-rock artist grew, as 1976's The Pretender became his first top-5 album, Four years later, his LP Hold Out topped the charts, but during all this time Browne's singles were middle-grade hits on pop radio. Two years after Hold Out , Browne was consigned for a track on the teen comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High , along with other rockers like Don Henley, Stevie Nicks...