Twostepcublog

It's time for today's 70s throwback, and this week I'm back to 1970, the year future presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter were elected governor of California and Georgia...(I've included links to buy anything here if possible)... Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - " Tears Of A Clown " from the album Make It Happen (Tears Of A Clown) (1967) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 Songwriters: Henry Cosby, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder Three years after this song appears as an album track, it was picked up as a single in England, where it topped the charts before coming back and doing the same in the States. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

The Honeydrippers - " Sea Of Love " from the album The Honeydrippers, Volume One (1984) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #3 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 14 Today's Song of the Day is by the Led Zeppelin side-project the Honeydrippers, which singer Robert Plant put together to record more traditional rock and pop music. Including Zep bandmate Jimmy Page as well as guitarist Jeff Beck, and Chic leader Nile Rodgers. Atlantic label head Ahmet Ertegun got them together to record his favorite 50s tunes, and they studio "supergroup" released a five-cut EP in September of 1984. The original first single was supposed to be the raucous rockabilly of "Rockin' At Midnight", but instead radio grabbed on to the "B" side, a remake of the Phil Phillips hit from 1959, "Sea Of Love". Phillips, who wrote the song with co-producer George Khoury, was a bridge between orchestral pop and the burgeoning doo-wop movement, and in return topped the R...

G'day mates, time to head Down Under to check out the songs making the official sales chart in Australia this week, as Eminem and Rihanna take over the #1 spot with " The Monster ". It's the both the rapper's and Rihanna's eighth #1 single in this country... The top entry of the week belongs to English singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran, with his contribution to the soundtrack to the second Hobbit movie, The Desolation Of Smaug . "I See Fire" becomes his fifth top-10 hit at #10, his first "The A Team" went all the way to #2... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

It's hump day sixties flashback time, and this week I've got a half-dozen more nuggets from 1960, the year Penguin Books was cleared of obscenity charges over Lady Chatterley's Lover ... (as usual, I've included links to buy anything if I can)... Elvis Presley - " Are You Lonesome To-night? " from the album Elvis' Golden Records, Volume 3 (1963) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 Songwriters: Lou Handman, Roy Turk The "King" transformed this ditty from the 1920's into a quiet, solemn, almost hymnal classic. Complete with what would be known now as the "rap interlude"... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Romeo Void - " A Girl in Trouble (Is A Temporary Thing) " from the album Instincts (1984) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #35 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 2 Today's Song of the Day is by the new wave band Romeo Void , who came together in San Francisco with singer Debora Iyall and bass player Frank Zincavage in the late 70s.They released their first album It's A Condition in 1981, and from it had a minor club hit with " White Sweater ". A year later came what would be their most remembered song, " Never Say Never ", which went to #27 rock and #17 dance, but was played by college radio everywhere . It remains one of my favorite non-hits of the early 80s. That success set the stage for their third album Instincts , which was produced by David Kahne (who would go on to helm Tony Bennett's Grammy-winning MTV Unplugged album) The first single, "A Girl In Trouble (Is A Temporary Thing)", was written by the band and put them more in...

It's time to cross over the border to Germany to check out the songs making the official sales chart, as Klingande spend a third non-consecutive week at #1 with " Jubel "... The artist with the top debut last week ("Lieder", which moves from #2 to #6) repeats the feat this week as German pop/hip hop singer Adel Tawil comes in at #18 with "Aschenflug" ("Flight of Ashes"), featuring Prinz Pi and Sido, and it's my " German Pick of the Week "... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

I'm ready to cross the Atlantic yet again for this week's look at the songs making the official sales chart in France , as Eminem and Rihanna rack up a second week at #1 with " The Monster "... French rapper Booba (the silliest moniker since Nelly) nabs his biggest hit to date as "Parlons Peu" ("Small Talk") debuts at #5. It's his third top-ten hit in his home country... (Click below to see the rest of the post)