Twostepcublog

" Underwater " was a club hit for the late German musician and keyboard pioneer Harry Thumann. Appearing on his debut album American Express , the instrumental was written and produced by Thumann, who had been in the forefront of building synthesizers since the 1960s. On Billboard magazine's Disco Top 100 chart, "Underwater" climbed to #17 in 1980, while just missing the top-40 on the British pop singles chart at #41.

" Danger " - Blahzay Blahzay from the album Blah Blah Blah (1996) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #46 This week's "robbed hit" comes from the rap duo Blahzay Blahzay. Rapper Outloud and DJ P.F. Cuttin' came together in Brooklyn, and they released their debut single "Danger" in 1995. Incorporating a bunch of sample as the base, including Gwen McRae's pre-disco hit "Rockin' Chair", the record became a moderately successful hit on urban stations, eventually crossing over to pop radio... While "Danger" climbed to #24 on Billboard 's R&B chart, spending a hefty 22 weeks on the chart, the single stalled right above the halfway mark on the pop Hot 100 for a month at #46 in November of 1995. The duo would release a second single from their debut album Blah Blah Blah , " Pain I Feel ", which got to #78 on the R&B chart, while "bubbling under" the pop Hot 100 at #115. They have reappeared twice...

" I Got Id "/" Long Road " - Pearl Jam from the EP Merkinball (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 9 Today's song(s) of the day come from grunge rock band Pearl Jam , whose third album Vitalogy had scored the band their first "official" top-40 pop hit with the double-sided single "Spin The Black Circle"/"Tremor Christ" in the fall of 1994. Also, the album cut " Better Man " got enough radio love to spend a whole half a year on the pop airplay chart peaking within the top-20. In the following year, the band played on Canadian rock legend Neil Young's album Mirrorball , while lead singer Eddie Vedder laid low. That record was a big success, peaking at #5 being Young's highest charting album since Harvest in 1972 (the one with "Heart of Gold"). There were a couple of songs recorded in the sessions that featured Vedder on lead vocals, and were therefore delegated to be...

" Do It Any Way You Wanna " was a club and radio hit for the Philadelphia-based group People's Choice. Appearing on their album Boogie Down U.S.A. , the song was written and produced by producer Leon Huff. On Record World magazine's Disco File Top-20 chart, the song climbed to #3 in 1975. The single also topped Billboard magazine's R&B chart for a week, and stopped one notch short of the top ten at #11. (Click below to see the rest of the post)

" Too Hot " - Coolio from the album Gangsta's Paradise (1995) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #24 (two weeks) Weeks in the Top-40: 5 Today's song of the day comes from rapper Coolio , who had just coming off the biggest hit of his career with the Grammy-winning #1 song " Gangsta's Paradise " from the soundtrack to the movie Dangerous Minds in the fall of 1995. Later that year, he released his sophomore album Gangsta's Paradise which included the hit, with the single "Too Hot" released as a follow-up. An interpolation of the Kool & The Gang disco hit from 1979 that kept the chorus but with rap verses by Coolio about the dangers of unsafe sex, AIDS, and cheating, he was able to get singer J.T. Taylor to re-sing on the record, Taylor by then having left Kool & The Gang for a solo career that never took off. The topical track plus the identifiable hook got fans and radio on board, if only for a short while... "Too Hot"...

" Love Hangover " was a club and radio hit for Diana Ross . Appearing on her album Diana Ross in 1976, the song was written by Marilyn McLeod and Pam Sawyer, and produced by Hal Davis, who also helmed Thelma Houston's epic "Don't Leave Me This Way" a year later. On Record World magazine's Disco File Top-20 chart, "Love Hangover" spent two weeks at #1, while also topping the Billboard pop and R&B charts as well.

" Tonite's Tha Night " - Kris Kross from the album Young, Rich & Dangerous (1996) Billboard Hot 100 peak: #12 (one week) Weeks in the Top-40: 15 Today's song of the day comes from the hip-hop duo Kris Kross, who had scored a third top-40 pop hit with the lead single from their sophomore effort Da Bomb , " Alright " in the summer of 1993. Chris Kelly and Chris Smith returned at the start of 1996 with their third record Young, Rich & Dangerous , preceded by the single "Tonite's Tha Night". By then, the pair were just turning 18, and were trying to update their sound, including Mariah Carey backup singer (and one-hit wonder in his own right) Trey Lorenz singing backup on the track written and produced again by their mentor Jermaine Dupri, who very slyly interpolated a bit of Shalamar's "Night To Remember" into the song... "Tonite's Tha Night" became Kris Kross' fourth and final top-40 pop hit i...