Jan 15
January's Trending 100, Oh the Afterglow...The Alt Sub-Gneres have the Real Groove and the Divine Chord
Jan 15
January's Trending 100, Oh the Afterglow...The Alt Sub-Gneres have the Real Groove and the Divine Chord
These are the top 100 songs that are making gains at mid-month
Beyond Radio’s Trending 100, January 2021
Listen on Spotify
POS/ARTIST/SONG/# ON BR250/POINTS
1 ED SHEERAN Afterglow 10 1887.05
Supposedly this sparse acoustic ballad is not the first single from his next album, just a one off for his fans. That didn’t stop it from going to #2 in the UK and in the top 20 on pop radio in the U.S.
2 JUSTIN BIEBER Anyone 25 1833.7
Bieber is pulling a Grande with 3 songs in the U.S. Pop top 20, 2 of those in the top 5 this week. This latest track is one I can give some time to. A far cry from the atrociousness of “Yummy”. This one has a light retro groove.
3 KYLIE MINOGUE & DUA LIPA Real Groove 12 1585.35
Dua Lipa’s vocal on this is really only a slight enhancement to the song, an unassuming disco nugget.
4 HARRY STYLES Treat People With Kindness 41 1512.3
I’m in love with the video to this song and feel it should be the motto for 2021. Last winter the peaked at #141 on te BR250 and this week jumps in at #41, giving Styles a 6th top 50 on the chart from the album “Fine Line”. The album ended up as the #4 album of the year on the Billboard 200.
5 FOO FIGHTERS No Son Of Mine 42 1495.7
After the left field “Shame Shame”, Dave Grohl treats his audience to a solid rocker that stampedes through it’s 3 and half minutes. The background vocals provide a certain eeriness. For a nearly 30 year old band, they hardly ever disappoint.
6 TAYLOR SWIFT f/ HAIM No Body, No Crime 16 1224.7
A murder ballad from Taylor Swift. After her trail of ex-boyfriends, it doesn’t surprise me. Nor does the fact that she has 5 songs in the Trending 100 this month.
7 KINGS OF LEON The Bandit 66 1105.4
It’s been more than 4 years since the last Kings Of Leon album. Sounds like just where they left off. A rootsy alt-rocker with that distinctive voice.
8 THE WEEKND Save Your Tears 2 1050.05
This song has me going ho hum. This seems like a song that will stall out quickly.
9 SZA Good Days 105 856.9
This trance-y song features Jacob Collier who is up for album of the year at the Grammys. He has already won 4 Grammys for arranging including a whacked-out version of the “Flintstones” theme in 2017.
10 GWEN STEFANI Let Me Reintroduce Myself 14 843.15
Kind of an adorable, tongue in cheek song, especially the video.
11 TAYLOR SWIFT Willow 6 777.95
12 COLDPLAY Flags 89 769.1
The latest non-energetic single from Coldplay is said to be, according to Wikipedia, a bonus track on the Japanese version of the album.
13 PAUL MCCARTNEY Find My Way 53 735.2
McCartney’s album McCartney III, on which he played all the instruments, was a UK #1 and Stateside #2 album. His fellow Beatles band-mate, Ringo Starr, is also on the trending chart this month at #26.
14 TEENAGE WRIST Taste Of Gasoline 49 721.8
Tis L.A. alt-rock duo has had a good run on the BR250 in the last 18 months. This is their 4th song to reach the top 100 and second to reach the top 50. They just released another single “Yellowbelly”. ‘Gasoline’, while still featuring a shoegaze gauze, is the most pop-oriented song by them that I have heard.
15 CHEVELLE Self Destructor 170 592.8
This Illinois band has amassed 24 Rock top 40 songs since 1999 with 5 #1’s and 14 top 10’s.
16 MILEY CYRUS f/ DUA LIPA Prisoner 1 588.95
17 CELESTE Love Is Back 174 574.6
18 THE AVALANCHES f/ MGMT & JOHNNY MARR The Divine Chord 32 558.7
19 PALE WAVES She's My Religion 117 541.3
20 LONDON GRAMMAR Lose Your Head 223 491.8
21 TROYE SIVAN & KACEY MUSGRAVES f/ MARK RONSON Easy 44 478.75
22 HVME Goosebumps 137 460.9
23 BUGS Old Youth Feeling 213 429.8
24 BOOTCHY TEMPLE Lost Future 205 400
25 LOLA LENNOX La La Love Me 301 374
Alternative Sub Genres January 15, 2021
Full charts located on their individual pages
Alt Pop/Electro
2 1 BILLIE EILISH Therefore I Am
1 2 24KGOLDN f/ IANN DIOR Mood
3 3 OF MONSTERS AND MEN Visitor
10 4 PALE WAVES Change
28 5 GORILLAZ f/ BECK The Valley Of The Pagans
6 6 HOT CHIP f/ JARVIS COCKER Straight To The Morning
143 7 THE AVALANCHES f/ MGMT & JOHNNY MARR The Divine Chord
17 8 THE BLEACHERS f/ BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Chinatown
18 9 THE KNOCKS f/ FOSTER THE PEOPLE All About You
38 10 ALL TIME LOW f/ BLACKBEAR & DEMI LOVATO Monsters
Retro Soul (R&B, Soul Pop, Jazz Pop, Disco, Throwback Hip Hop)
8 1 KYLIE MINOGUE & DUA LIPA Real Groove
1 2 KYLIE MINOGUE Magic
7 3 CELESTE A Little Love
new 4 SZA Good Days
3 5 SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR Crying At The Discotheque
27 6 ARLO PARKS Caroline
4 7 KYLIE MINOGUE Say Something
2 8 BECKY HILL Space
6 9 LONDON GRAMMAR Californian Soil
new 10 CELESTE Love Is Back
Adult Leaning Alternative
1 1 OF MONSTERS AND MEN Visitor
10 2 THE BLEACHERS f/ BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Chinatown
15 3 JADE BIRD Headstart
16 4 GORILLAZ f/ BECK The Valley Of The Pagans
6 5 JAKE BUGG All I Need
11 6 FLEET FOXES Can I Believe You
7 7 PHOEBE BRIDGERS I Know The End
new 8 SAM FENDER Winter Song
21 9 THE STROKES The Adults Are Talking
3 10 ROMY Lifetime
Alternative Hip Hop
68 1 THE AVALANCHES f/ MGMT & JOHNNY MARR The Divine Chord
21 2 RUN THE JEWELS Out Of Sight
5 3 ACTRESS f/ SAMPHA Walking Flames
43 4 RUN THE JEWELS The Ground Below
new 5 JENNY LEWIS & SERENGETI Unblu
new 6 SZA Good Days
2 7 EMOTIONAL ORANGES All That
12 8 TERRACE MARTIN, ROBERT GLASPER, 9TH WONDER & KAMASI WASHINGTON Freeze Tag
14 9 ARIES Fool's Gold
new 10 YVES TUMOR Kerosene
Alt Rock
1 1 ROYAL BLOOD Trouble's Coming
5 2 I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME Leave Me Alone
104 3 TEENAGE WRIST Taste Of Gasoline
3 4 OF MONSTERS AND MEN Visitor
2 5 FOO FIGHTERS Shame Shame
10 6 MACHINE GUN KELLY f/ HALSEY Forget Me Too
6 7 TEENAGE WRIST Earth Is A Black Hole
new 8 KINGS OF LEON The Bandit
15 9 SMASHING PUMPKINS Cyr
4 10 BRING ME THE HORIZON Teardrops
Underground
1 1 BICEP Apricots
5 2 BICEP Saku
new 3 THOM YORKE, BURIAL & FOUR TET Her Revolution
new 4 BOOTCHY TEMPLE Lost Future
6 5 BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD Science Fair
178 6 NOTHING Catch A Fade
35 7 SPORTS TEAM Here's The Thing
new 8 THE KUNTS Boris Johnson...
new 9 BIIG PIIG Feels Right
21 10 SHAME Water In The Well
Roots AAA (Roots Rock, Americana, Folk, Heritage Pop)
22 1 TAYLOR SWIFT Willow
new 2 TAYLOR SWIFT f/ HAIM No Body, No Crime
4 3 LIAM GALLAGHER All You're Dreaming Of
6 4 JADE BIRD Headstart
new 5 PAUL MCCARTNEY Find My Way
5 6 FLEET FOXES Can I Believe You
new 7 COLDPLAY Flags
new 8 CHRIS CORNELL Watching The Wheels
27 9 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Ghosts
10 10 CHRIS STAPLETON Cold
Jan 12
Beyond Radio Presents, Our 40th episode and my January 11, 1981 Personal Chart
With this month being the 3 year anniversary of our starting to record these podcasts, I reflect back on the story of how it came about, to begin with, and we can owe it all to Jeff.
I talk a bit about the blog writing I've been doing in 2020 and more of that will come up in part 4.
As we discuss a handful of songs that had a big impact on me in 2020, music from the last 30 plus years gets thrown into the mix, we get into a big discussion about Shinedown, Jeff re-discovers a genre that he did not know the name of and Harry Styles does a great impression of Peter Gabriel.
We end on a sea creature and a band with that name.
Listen on Spotify
My January 11, 1981 Personal ChartLW/TW/ARTIST/Song
2 1 MICHAEL STANELY BAND He Can't Love You
1 2 U2 I Will Follow
6 3 ALAN PARSONS PROJECT Games People Play
8 4 THE JACKSONS Heartbreak Hotel
4 5 ATLANTICS Lonely Hearts
9 6 B-52's Quiche Lorraine
5 7 PAUL McCRANE Dogs In The Yard
10 8 EDDIE RABBITT I Love A Rainy Night
7 9 RANDY MEISNER Deep Inside My Heart
11 10 O.M.D. Enola Gay
3 11 B-52's Party Out Of Bounds
14 12 DOLLY PARTON 9 To 5
13 13 BARBRA STREISAND & BARRY GIBB Guilty
16 14 ADAM & THE ANTS Ant Music
17 15 AC/DC Back In Black
12 16 BILLY IDOL & GEN X Dancing With Myself
20 17 PAT BENATAR Hell Is For Children
22 18 SPANDAU BALLET To Cut A Long Story Short
38 19 HALL & OATES Kiss On My List
23 20 ANDY GIBB Time Is Time
27 21 DELBERT McCLINTON Giving It Up For Your Love
15 22 THE POLICE De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
24 23 B-52's Strobe Light
32 24 THE LOOK I Am The Beat
28 25 BOZ SCAGGS Miss Sun
25 26 U2 Out Of Control
29 27 CHEAP TRICK Stop This Game
19 28 JACKSON BROWNE Hold On Hold Out
34 29 REO SPEEDWAGON Keep On Loving You
21 30 JOHN LENNON (Just Like) Starting Over
30 31 THE POLICE When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around
31 32 AMERICA Hangover
18 33 DAN FOGELBERG Wishing On The Moon
40 34 THE GAP BAND Burn Rubber
35 35 CLOUT Substitute
39 36 ABBA Super Trouper
42 37 MADNESS Embarrassment
46 38 NERVOUS EATERS Loretta
43 39 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Out In The Street
44 40 ROBERT PALMER Looking For Clues
26 41 JACKSON BROWNE Disco Apocalypse
79 42 PHIL COLLINS In The Air Tonight
37 43 AMBROSIA No Big Deal
48 44 NEIL DIAMOND Love On The Rocks
49 45 BARRY MANILOW I Made It Through The Rain
51 46 PSYCHEDELIC FURS Sister Europe
56 47 PETER GABRIEL I Don't Remember
52 48 ADAM & THE ANTS Dog Eat Dog
58 49 DONNA SUMMER Cold Love
95 50 STEVE WINWOOD While You See A Chance
54 51 ELVIS COSTELLO Gettin' Mighty Crowded
33 52 POCO Made Of Stone
60 53 DAN FOGELBERG Same Old Lang Syne
67 54 ALAN PARSONS PROJECT May Be A Price To Pay
62 55 SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES Israel
53 56 JOHN MELLENCAMP Hot Night In A Cold World
36 57 THE JACKSONS Lovely One
57 58 ATLANTICS Can't Wait Forever
64 59 BARBRA STREISAND Life Story
65 60 NEW ENGLAND Explorer Suite
59 61 ROD STEWART Passion
83 62 DIRE STRAITS Skateaway
41 63 BARBRA STREISAND Woman In Love
74 64 FISCHER-Z So Long
76 65 ULTRAVOX Vienna
63 66 ROCKPILE Teacher, Teacher
125 67 ABBA On And On And On
91 68 EARTH, WIND & FIRE Back On The Road
47 69 HALL & OATES You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling
68 70 HEART Tell It Like It Is
45 71 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Hungry Heart
72 72 BLONDIE The Tide Is High
73 73 HALL & OATES Big Kids
87 74 STEVIE WONDER I Ain't Gonna Stand For It
50 75 THE TEARDROP EXPLODES When I Dream
81 76 IAN DURY & THE BLOCKHEADS Sueperman's Big Sister
94 77 CLIFF RICHARD A Little In Love
86 78 STEELY DAN Hey Nineteen
97 79 NIGHT Love On The Airwaves
55 80 BARBRA STREISAND Run Wild
77 81 RONNIE MILSAP Smokey Mountain Rain
84 82 THE DOOBIE BROTHERS One Step Closer
88 83 LE ROUX Roll Away The Stone
92 84 BARRY GOUDREAU Dreams
100 85 MOON MARTIN Signal For Help
110 86 ENGLISH BEAT Twist And Crawl
78 87 BOB SEGER The Horizontal Bop
111 88 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Ramrod
102 89 SHALAMAR Full Of Fire
61 90 JOHN MELLENCAMP This Time
98 91 ARETHA FRANKLIN What A Fool Believes
71 92 TALKING HEADS Crosseyed And Painless
105 93 BOB WELCH Don't Rush The Good Things
66 94 DIANA ROSS I'm Coming Out
136 95 THE CLASH Police On My Back
107 96 VISAGE Fade To Grey
80 97 JOHNNY LEE One In A Million
82 98 MELISSA MANCHESTER Without You
113 99 THE OUTLAWS (Ghost) Riders In The Sky
120 100 KANSAS Got To Rock On
69 101 AIR SUPPLY Every Woman In The World
104 102 CLIMAX BLUES BAND Gotta Have More Love
109 103 BONNIE RAITT Don't It Make You Wanna Dance
75 104 EARTH, WIND & FIRE Let Me Talk
108 105 SPLIT ENZ What's The Matter With You
132 106 U2 Stories For Boys
70 107 KENNY ROGERS Lady
138 108 EXILE You're Good For Me
112 109 CHICAGO Song For You
116 110 WHITESNAKE Ain't No Love in The Heart Of The City
142 111 THE MOTELS Days Are OK (But The Nights Are Made For Love)
115 112 RICK PINETTE & OAK Set The Night On Fire
145 113 XTC Respectable Street
119 114 THE CARS Misfit Kid
126 115 ELVIS COSTELLO Clubland
93 116 HALL & OATES The Woman Comes And Goes
148 117 AMBROSIA Cryin' In The Rain
124 118 SAD CAFE I'm In Love Again
new 119 ALAN PARSONS PROJECT I Don't Wanna Go Home
85 120 PAT BENATAR Hit Me With Your Best Shot
121 121 BOZ SCAGGS Simone
128 122 ROSSINGTON COLLINS BAND Getaway
89 123 MADNESS Baggy Trousers
152 124 THE JAM That's Entertainment
96 125 SPLIT ENZ I Got You
106 126 PETER GABRIEL Not One Of Us
new 127 O.M.D. Electricity
153 128 MOLLY HATCHET The Rambler
156 129 ANDREW GOLD Whirlwind
90 130 BILLY JOEL I Don't Want To Be Alone
133 131 ERIC CARMEN All For Love
135 132 DEVO Freedom Of Choice
139 133 THE CLASH The Call Up
140 134 ENGLISH BEAT Too Nice To Talk To
151 135 SUPERTRAMP Breakfast In America (Live)
new 136 RANDY MEISNER Hearts On Fire
150 137 THE BUS BOYS Johnny Soul'd Out
158 138 YARBROUGH & PEOPLES Don't Stop The Music
134 139 GARY MYRICK & THE FIGURES She Talks In Stereo
new 140 HOTEL You'll Love Again
99 141 QUEEN Need Your Loving Tonight
new 142 B-52's Devil In My Car
144 143 ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION Silver Eagle
146 144 XTC Sgt. Rock (Is Going To Help Me)
155 145 DAVID BOWIE Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)
new 146 DOLLY PARTON Sing For The Common Man
149 147 BLUES BROTHERS Who's Making Love
new 148 MICHAEL STANELY BAND Carolyn
new 149 PHIL SEYMOUR Precious To Me
162 150 QUEEN Flash
Jan 3
The Motto for 2021 is....
Treat People With Kindness!
Old soul Harry Styles has the video to start 2021 on the right foot. This song almost made my top 100 of 2020 and now it will re-enter my chart for the first week of the year. Even if you might not care for the song I think the video will put you in a good mood. We all need a little more positive energy this year and treating people better is the best way to start.
"Find a place to feel good!"
And for the music chart kids you'll find the year-end charts for all the genre charts next to this month's chart on each corresponding page.
Happy New Year!
Dec 30
Part 2 of the Beyond Radio Presents Year in Review and Beyond Radio Tim's Top 200 of 2020
Part 2 of our year in review explores the biggest songs at Beyond Radio, some Grammy commentary, and our first interview with an AJR superfan. You can follow the podcast on Spotify.
Beyond Radio Tim’s Top 200 of 2020
1 HANSON In The City 1(4) 29
A 20 year old song took the top spot, sounding as fresh as can be. Hanson evokes shades of Jethro Tull on this track from the album “This Time Around”. Working on my retro blog posts led me to this gem that I don’t recall from the time. 8 songs from that appeared on my chart back in 2000, including multiple week #1’s with the title track and “Runaway Run”.
2 SHINEDOWN Atlas Falls 1(3) 27
This is classic Shinedown, recorded in 2012 but released this year as a COVID-19 charity single. The uplifting power ballad eventually topped the Rock airplay chart in August.
3 LOTTERY WINNERS Little Things 1(5) 23
This fun new Brit band scored 6 songs in my top 200 this year, 4 of those in the top 75. In addition to this song, “That’s Not Entertainment” and “Love Will Keep Us Together” reached #1.
4 HANSON Where's The Love '18 1(6) 31
This orchestral version of their 1997 top 10 hit started the year at #1 and instead of going all acoustic it remained a pop-rock nugget. The additional of the Prague Symphony Orchestra certainly added emotional heft for me.
5 CAITLYN SMITH Long Time Coming 1(2) 24
Her 6th #1 on my chart, Smith deserves to get more recognition. A bluesy but subtle rocker with a great fuzzy guitar break. She placed 2 more in my top 100 this year.
6 THE SIDE DEAL Ghosts 1 25
One part Train, one part Sugar Ray, 2 parts Americana duo Pawnshop Kings. An energetic mid-tempo stomper, I’m looking forward to what else they put out.
7 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER Wildflower 1(3) 21
I fell in love with this song after listening to the breakdown of the song on the podcast “Switched On Pop”. The song did well on the Beyond Radio year-end chart, clocking in at #57. It would have been a much better stateside single choice than “Old Me”. “No Shame” came in at #92 on my chart.
8 HARRY STYLES Falling 1(2) 22
Styles album “Fine Line” placed as the #4 album of the year on the Billboard 200. A great accomplishment for a Pop album in this era. He has 5 songs in my top 200, but this plaintive ballad is the one that really got under my skin. We’ll see if it gets pushed to radio in the U.S. after “Golden’ runs its course.
9 MORRISSEY Bobby, Don't You Think They Know? 1 26
Wacky and wonderful with a killer assist by Thelma Houston. The instrumentation on this song is fantastic. Oblique lyrics, a Doors-y organ solo vamps into an alto sax break, so much going on here.
10 INTERRUPTERS Bad Guy 2 28
I had no idea a ska version of the Billie Eilish tune that I didn’t care for would transform it into something I love. Duh.
11 THE GLORIOUS SONS Pink Motel 1(10) 33
The most emotional gut-wretching song I have ever heard. Beautiful and blistering at the same time. This was was #1 song of the 2019-2020 mid-year cycle. And it’s assured a placement in my top 10 of all-time, perhaps top 5.
12 ROB DICKINSON End Of The World 1(3) 22
I guess I was ready for some emotional music this year. I discovered this 2008 song from a playlist of my friend Tom. Dickinson has always been a fav, his ‘90s band Catherine Wheel placed 7 songs at #1 on my personal chart and he had a number of top 5’s from his solo album. This is gorgeous and heartbreaking, but in a different way than “Pink Motel”.
13 ERIC CHURCH Stick That In Your Country Song 1(2) 20
Savage for a country song, Church is one of my favorite artists of the genre. He never stays in one lane and I love when he decides to rock out. It didn’t go top 10 or even top 20 at country radio, but at least they placed it. That’s progress.
14 WHITE REAPER Headwind 1(2) 24
Power Pop came back to radio this year with the Reaper’s #1 Alternative song “Might Be Right”. That and “Real Long Time” made my top 50 of the 2019-20 cycle but this album track was their first #1 on my chart.
15 REAMONN Promise (You And Me) 3 23
This is another older track, this time from 2006. The German band led by Irishman Rea Garvey hadn’t seen my chart since 2010. My retro blog posts have been leading me to discover things I missed in the past. I’m not complaining. This is their third song to hit my top 5.
16 A GREAT BIG WORLD & CHRISTINA AGUILERA Fall On Me 4 26
Just a beautiful love song. This is the second time they have collaborated. It’s a shame it did not get more exposure.
17 DUA LIPA Hallucinate 1(2) 22
18 DUA LIPA Future Nostalgia 3 22
Lipa is another artist who placed 5 songs in my top 200. I so appreciate how she made great dance-pop without sounding trendy. It would be great if she could take home Album of the Year at the Grammys.
19 CLARE DUNN Money's All Gone 2(3) 23
This under the radar country guitar slinger almost scored her second #1 on my chart, after 2015’s “Move On”. This is a rollicking car song.
20 NOTHING BUT THIEVES Is Everybody Going Crazy? 4(3) 22
According to Spotify this was my most played song of 2020. The band has had 7 top 10’s on my chart since 2015.
21 DOVES Prisoners 1(2) 23
After an 11-year hiatus the band had a #1 album in Britain with “The Universal Want”. This track from the album is mesmerizing. Haunting and energetic, it’s currently on repeat even after peaking on my chart in late September.
22 KINGSWOOD Bittersweet 2 22
This was my introduction to the decade old Australian band. The vibe of this song is somewhere between Royal Blood and Black Keys. The Keys are at #34 with “Shine A Little Light”, probably my favorite by the band. Royal Blood also found their best placement on my chart so far with “Trouble’s Coming”. That should make my top 100 for the 2020-21 cycle.
23 BROTHERS OSBORNE All Night 4 20
A fun and clever country stomper. This makes 3 top 10’s for the bros (including a #1 with “Stay A Little Longer”). They just missed the top 10 with a fourth song at #11, “Shoot Me Straight”.
24 LOTTERY WINNERS That's Not Entertainment 1(2) 19
25 ALL TIME LOW Wake Up, Sunshine 6 22
These pop-punkers have been on the grind for 15 years and finally reached #1 on the Alternative chart this fall with “Monsters”. I’m just waking up to that song but back in 2018 they have 2 #1’s on my chart with “Birthday” and “Everything Is Fine”.
26 BOSTON MANOR Plasticine Dreams 4 26
A bit harder but from a similar genre pool, the Brit band clicked with this and “Ratking” at #78.
27 THE VAMPS Married In Vegas 1(2) 18
This boy band has had 4 top 2 albums in the UK since 2014 and a slew of pop hits there. They impacted me in 2018 with “Just My Type” that made it to #3. The hook on this was enough to push it a bit farther.
28 ADELITAS WAY Habit 9 25
These rockers from Las Vegas sometimes add a pop sensibility to their songs. This has a bit of a dance-y groove and could have found a home on Alternative radio 5 years ago.
29 THE LICKERISH QUARTET Lighthouse Spaceship 1(3) 19
I was so excited to discover this band inadvertently from someone’s personal chart. The name intrigued so I gae it a listen and found out that they are past members of one of my favorites from the early ‘90s, Jellyfish. This song does not disappoint for a Jellyfish fan. And I started going down a rabbit hole and discovered the band Imperial Drag and solo work by Roger manning Jr. His “The Quickening”, at #65, just spent 3 weeks at #1 in November.
30 DMA'S Criminals 2 19
This is the second time the Australian 3-piece has reached my top 10. There is a decided Oasis vibe with “Do I Need You Now” from 2018 and this song, though this one adds some current pop gimmicks.
31 SAINT MOTEL A Good Song Never Dies 6 23
32 POETS OF THE FALL My Dark Disquiet 2(3) 20
33 LOTTERY WINNERS Love Will Keep Us Together 1 17
34 THE BLACK KEYS Shine A Little Light 5 26
35 ROACHFORD Love Remedy 5 22
36 SAINT MOTEL Preach 3 21
37 ADAM LAMBERT Stranger You Are 6 26
38 KENSINGTON Island 10 26
39 GRACE POTTER Every Heartbeat 10 25
40 ADAM LAMBERT Loverboy 8 22
41 KID BLOOM Sugarcoat 3 24
42 HARRY STYLES Watermelon Sugar 9 28
43 CAITLYN SMITH Rare Bird 8 21
44 LABRINTH Something's Got To Give 6 20
45 CREEPER Cyanide 5 19
46 KID BLOOM Lemonhead 6 20
47 NOTHING BUT THIEVES Real Love Song 9 22
48 DEXTER FREEBISH Save The Last Dance 7 22
49 CREEPER Annabelle 7 21
50 HARRY STYLES Adore You 11 22
51 VOLBEAT Die To Live 2(2) 18
52 EVANESCENCE Wasted On You 6 16
53 GORD BAMFORD Just Let Go 8 19
54 THE MAKEMAKES Heyo 12 22
55 I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME Leave Me Alone 5 18
56 TYRONE WELLS Time Of Our Lives 12 22
57 ROYAL REPUBLIC Superlove 1 14
58 SUNDARA KARMA One Last Night On This Earth 11 21
59 ARKELLS Years In The Making 9 20
60 MISTERWIVES Coming Up For Air 9 22
61 CALLUM BEATTIE Salamander Street 2 18
62 CAITLYN SMITH Fly Away 11 24
63 STEREOPHONICS Bust This Town 18 26
64 THE KILLERS My Own Soul's Warning 8 23
65 ROGER MANNING JR. The Quickening 1(3) 15
66 GREEN DAY Meet Me On The Roof 7 18
67 SEMISONIC You're Not Alone 8 21
68 BRING ME THE HORIZON Parasite Eve 4 16
69 DUA LIPA Physical 17 21
70 JOHNNY HATES JAZZ Spirit Of Love 10 20
71 SHRED KELLY Underground 1 17
72 THE SNUTS Elephants 10 19
73 ADAM LAMBERT Closer To You 11 23
74 LOTTERY WINNERS I Don't Love You 16 22
75 POETS OF THE FALL Moments Before The Storm 12 23
76 FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS I Just Wanna Shine 5 21
77 STUCK ON PLANET EARTH Higher Than The Drugs 8 17
78 BOSTON MANOR Ratking 6 18
79 STRUTS f/ROBBIE WILLIAMS Strange Days 5 15
80 JESSIE WARE Spotlight 10 18
81 CREEPER Be My End 13 21
82 THE GLORIOUS SONS Spirit To Break 29 23
83 SCOTT STAPP Face Of The Sun 7 18
84 DUA LIPA Don't Start Now 10 22
85 THE WEEKND In Your Eyes 17 21
86 HANDS LIKE HOUSES Through Glass 12 18
87 THE ZANGWILLS Sunlight At Midnight 9 31
88 THE GLORIOUS SONS Closer To The Sky 16 19
89 TAYLOR KNOX Live It Up 19 23
90 THE ALLERGIES Felony 13 17
91 WILDERADO Surefire 21 26
92 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER No Shame 12 18
93 BASTILLE F/ GRAHAM COXON What You Gonna Do??? 7 16
94 HEY MAJOR Wax And Wane 11 17
95 THE MAKEMAKES Million Euro Smile 18 20
96 ELECTRIC ENEMY Do What You Want 5 16
97 HEARTRACER Darling 21 22
98 LUCIA & THE BEST BOYS City of Angels 17 17
99 JONAS BROTHERS What A Man Gotta Do 11 16
100 ELBOW White Noise White Heat 28 24
101 MARTHAGUNN We Don't Need Each Other 19 21
102 TRAVIS A Ghost 18 19
103 THE LUKA STATE Feel It 12 17
104 WYN STARKS Circles 22 19
105 SPITFIRES Tear This Place Right Down! 17 22
106 ADAM LAMBERT Superpower 10 23
107 WINNETKA BOWLING LEAGUE Kombucha 14 21
108 HARRY STYLES Treat People With Kindness 21 17
109 LOTTERY WINNERS 18 To 30's 17 17
110 KEITH URBAN Superman 18 18
111 TOTO Running Out Of Time 23 20
112 BOY & BEAR Suck On Light 24 20
113 THE JACKS Threw It All Away 25 20
114 SEMISONIC All It Would Take 9 16
115 EVANESCENCE The Game Is Over 11 18
116 THE MAGIC GANG Take Back The Track 27 21
117 BIFFY CLYRO Instant History 20 18
118 WEEZER Hero 33 21
119 THE BLACK MOODS Whatcha Got 32 22
120 ST. PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES Call Me 15 16
121 TENILLE TOWNES White Horse 38 22
122 LUKE COMBS Lovin' On You 7 18
123 EVERY AVENUE Tell Me I'm A Wreck 30 19
124 ESKIMO JOE Say Something 14 17
125 KENSINGTON Uncharted 34 19
126 BT f/ ROB DICKINSON Always 19 17
127 STEREOPHONICS Don't Let The Devil Take Another Day 30 20
128 YOLA I Don't Wanna Lie 32 18
129 GREEN DAY Oh Yeah! 25 17
130 NIALL HORAN Small Talk 29 19
131 KENSINGTON What Lies Ahead 15 17
132 THE BIRD & THE BEE Hot For Teacher 9 13
133 BEN HAZLEWOOD Collateral 21 17
134 DOVES Carousels 24 17
135 SHRED KELLY Dead Leaves 19 17
136 WHITE LIES Falling Out Without Me 19 18
137 LIVE LOUNGE ALLSTARS Times Like These 13 13
138 ALTER BRIDGE Godspeed 22 18
139 BRANTLEY GILBERT Fire't Up 35 20
140 FRATELLIS Six Days In June 35 19
141 DEXTER FREEBISH Wide Awake 22 18
142 ALIEN ANT FARM Everything She Wants 19 16
143 BADLY DRAWN BOY Is This A Dream 27 18
144 JOSH GRACIN Lucky Stars 3 21
145 THE STROKES Brooklyn Bridge To Chorus 20 16
146 LADY GAGA Stupid Love 24 16
147 ERASURE Hey Now (Think I Got A Feeling) 24 16
148 THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT Unbroken 28 19
149 KYLIE MINOGUE Say Something 3 19
150 ALPHABEAT Goldmine 27 17
151 ELEPHANT STONE Hollow World 42 19
152 HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH Hold On 16 16
153 MERCYME Almost Home 31 17
154 HARRY STYLES Sunflower Vol. 6 55 18
155 KEITH URBAN Out The Cage 9 13
156 JIMMY EAT WORLD Criminal Energy 40 19
157 MEGHAN TRAINOR Evil Twin 24 15
158 DECLAN WELSH AND THE DECADENT WEST No Fun 11 21
159 THE GLORIOUS SONS The Ongoing Speculation Into The Death Of Rock And Roll 37 18
160 ALL TIME LOW Getaway Green 26 14
161 MENUDO Lost 25 16
162 TEBEY That's Gonna Get You Kissed 32 21
163 DUA LIPA Break My Heart 43 17
164 RAYE Natalie Don't 26 14
165 BLACK PUMAS Fire 55 21
166 BLOXX Off My Mind 17 16
167 HANSON Something Going Round 18 14
168 DIAMANTE Ghost Myself 28 16
169 KAISER CHIEFS Golden Oldies 5 20
170 CHAZ CARDIGAN Not OK! 40 16
171 JIMMY EAT WORLD All The Way (Stay) 8 18
172 DELTA GOODREM Paralyzed 31 16
173 CAIN Rise Up (Lazarus) 54 18
174 OK GO I Won't Let You Down 30 16
175 PALM SPRINGSTEEN Sister Sister 49 18
176 COREY TAYLOR Black Eyes Blue 26 16
177 LOTTERY WINNERS Hawaii 34 16
178 BROTHER FIRETRIBE Bring On The Rain 36 16
179 SOPHIE AND THE GIANTS Runaway 39 17
180 THE KILLERS Fire In Bone 24 13
181 LIZZO Boys 47 25
182 JANE HOLIDAY All Yours 41 16
183 THE PALE WHITE Swim For Your Life 44 16
184 WEEZER Beginning Of The End 19 14
185 JAMES BAY Chew On My Heart 35 19
186 MERCYME Hurry Up And Wait 49 17
187 IMPERIAL DRAG Zodiac Sign 29 17
188 UPSAHL Smile For The Camera 47 16
189 FRIENDLY FIRES Offline 49 15
190 THE ALLERGIES Since You've Been Gone 43 15
191 EMAROSA Ready To Love 45 16
192 STATIC SHIFT 1965 56 18
193 NEEDTOBREATHE You Are Here 47 17
194 LIME CORDIALE Inappropriate Behaviour 34 15
195 DAUGHTRY Alive 37 14
196 HEARTRACER Sound Of Fear 5 12
197 BEN KWELLER Heart Attack Kid 69 17
198 LOLA LENNOX Back At Wrong 33 17
199 ALMOST MONDAY Broken People 51 15
200 JORDAN ALLEN Never Give It Up 57 16
Dec 22
The BR250 of 2020, Part 1 of Our Year in Review Podcasts and Your Top Christmas Songs, 2020
Check out and see how we connect Hanson and Jethro Tull. Jeff offers a story I was not expecting and his daughter Eva might or might not show up. Part 2 will offer up some of the biggest songs on Beyond Radio this year, plus some Grammy perspective.
Or Access the Playlist Here
The BR250 Top 500 of 2020
1 THE WEEKND Blinding Lights
2 LADY GAGA & ARIANA GRANDE Rain On Me
3 DUA LIPA Don't Start Now
4 DUA LIPA Physical
5 DUA LIPA Break My Heart
6 HARRY STYLES Watermelon Sugar
7 THE KILLERS Caution
8 MILEY CYRUS Midnight Sky
9 THE WEEKND In Your Eyes
10 HARRY STYLES Adore You
11 THE 1975 If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know)
12 THE KILLERS My Own Soul's Warning
13 DOJA CAT Say So
14 LADY GAGA Stupid Love
15 BILLIE EILISH Everything I Wanted
16 DUA LIPA Levitating
17 DUA LIPA Hallucinate
18 TAME IMPALA Lost In Yesterday
19 GABBY BARRETT f/ CHARLIE PUTH I Hope
20 TAYLOR SWIFT Cardigan
21 AVA MAX Kings & Queens
22 KYLIE MINOGUE Say Something
23 SAINT JHN Roses
24 THE CHICKS Gaslighter
25 JOEL CORRY f/ MNEK Head & Heart
Beyond Radio's Christmas Top 100 2020
The BR250 of 2020 will be posted later today.
1 MARIAH CAREY f/ ARIANA GRANDE & JENNIFER HUDSON Oh Santa! 3
2 MARIAH CAREY All I Want For Christmas Is You 56
3 DALLAS SMITH Classic 6
4 BEVERLEY KNIGHT A Christmas Wish (The Theme To The Loss Adjuster) 4
5 CARLY RAE JEPSEN It's Not Christmas Till Somebody Cries 8
6 TROYE SIVAN & KACEY MUSGRAVES f/ MARK RONSON Easy 24
7 WHAM Last Christmas 56
8 PALOMA FAITH & GREGORY PORTER Christmas Prayer 3
9 BLOSSOMS Christmas Eve 7
10 CARRIE UNDERWOOD f/ JOHN LEGEND Hallelujah 6
11 KELLY CLARKSON f/ BRETT ELDREDGE Under The Mistletoe 8
12 DELTA GOODREM Only Santa Knows 3
13 LIMAHL One Wish For Christmas 4
14 ROBBIE WILLIAMS Can't Stop Christmas 4
15 SHAKIN' STEVENS Merry Christmas Everyone 56
16 JAMIE CULLUM Turn On The Lights 10
17 WIZZARD I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday 56
18 KELLY CLARKSON All I Want For Christmas Is You 4
19 THE POGUES Fairytale Of New York 56
20 RICK ASTLEY Love This Christmas 4
21 DIMITRI VEGAS & LIKE MIKE Christmas Time 4
22 THE DARKNESS Christmastime (Don't Let The Bells End) 56
23 ELTON JOHN Step Into Christmas 56
24 RICHARD MARX Holiday 7
25 AVA MAX Christmas Without You 8
26 HANNAH GRACE Merry Christmas Everyone 3
27 THE OFFSPRING Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) 6
28 JAMIE CULLUM Hang Your Lights 3
29 SHAWN MENDES & CAMILA CABELLO The Christmas Song 3
30 PHOEBE BRIDGERS If We Make It Through december 4
31 JONAS BROTHERS I Need You Christmas 4
32 MARTINE MCCUTCHEON I'll Be Home For Christmas 3
33 KELLY CLARKSON Underneath The Tree 56
34 THE WAITRESSES Christmas Wrapping 56
35 SLADE Merry Xmas Everybody 56
36 POPPY I Won't Be Home For Christmas 4
37 PAUL HEATON & JACQUI ABBOTT Christmas (And Dad Wants Her Back) 4
38 GOO GOO DOLLS This Is Christmas 6
39 CARRIE UNDERWOOD Favourite Time Of Year 3
40 GABRIELLE APLIN December 4
41 LIAM PAYNE & DIXIE D'AMELIO Naughty List 8
42 CARRIE UNDERWOOD Let There Be Peace 17
43 TOBYMAC f/ OWL CITY Light Of Christmas Eve 4
44 CHRIS REA Driving Home For Christmas 56
45 MAYER HAWTHORNE What Do The Lonely Do At Christmas 4
46 LENNON STELLA Merry Christmas Darling 4
47 LEONA LEWIS One More Sleep 54
48 MEGHAN TRAINOR f/ SETH MCFARLANE White Christmas 6
49 JOHN LENNON Happy Xmas (The War Is Over) 56
50 ESCAPE THE FATE Christmas Song 4
51 JONAS BROTHERS Like It's Christmas 57
52 TORI AMOS Circle Of Seasons 4
53 BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD Christmas Is Coming (We All Know The Score) 3
54 DEARS Christmas Love 4
55 KODALINE Tis Must Be Christmas 3
56 VISTAS Merry Christmas Everyone 3
57 FOR KING & COUNTRY O Com O Come Emmanuel 6
58 FAITH HILL Where Are You Christmas 4
59 ALESSIA CARA Make It To Christmas 56
60 DIRTY RADIO Christmas Mistletoe 3
61 BASTILLE Merry Xmas Everybody 3
62 JOSH GROBAN Celebrate Me Home 8
63 MATTHEW WEST The Hope Of Christmas 4
64 ZACH WILLIAMS Go Tell It To The Mountain 4
65 FRANCESCA BATTISTELLI Behold Him 4
66 CAIN Celebrate Me Home 4
67 BAND AID Do They Know It's Christmas 56
68 MICAH TYLER Feels like Joy 2
69 BEAR'S DEN Christmas, Hopefully 4
70 JESS GLYNNE This Christmas 3
71 WE THE KINGDOM Light Of The World 4
72 TORI AMOS Better Angels 3
73 DOLLY PARTON & MICHAEL BUBLE Cuddle Up, Cozy Down Christmas 6
74 FOR KING & COUNTRY Little Drummer Boy (Rewrapped) 56
75 ARIANA GRANDE Santa Tell Me 56
76 CHRIS TOMLIN Miracle Of Love 2
77 MADDIE & TAE We Need Christmas 6
78 DANNY GOKEY Joy To The World 2
79 DAN & SHAY Take Me Home For Christmas 2
80 MARC MARTEL The Christmas Waltz 2
81 PAUL MCCARTNEY Wonderful Christmastime 56
82 TOMMEE PROFITT f/ TAUREN WELLS O Holy Night 2
83 MARC MARTEL Silver Bells 57
84 JUSTIN BIEBER Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree 5
85 TYLER SHAW Christmas Time 57
86 PENTATONIX We Need A Little Christmas 3
87 CHRIS TOMLIN Christmas Day 57
88 JOHN LEGEND Happy Xmas (War Is Over) 6
89 ELIZABETH CHAN Celebrate Me Home 6
90 THE PRETENDERS 2000 Miles 56
91 MEGHAN TRAINOR Last Christmas 2
92 RYLAND JAMES Please Come Home For Christmas 2
93 NEEDTOBREATHE Silent Night 2
94 MATT MAHER Glory (Let There Be Peace) 56
95 JASON GRAY Go tell It To The Mountain 57
96 RYLAND JAMES A Little Christmas 2
97 HANNAH KERR Here To Stay 2
98 GOO GOO DOLLS Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 6
99 UNSPOKEN Good News 2
100 2FRERES Noel C'T'Annee 2
Dec 15
The Queens of 2020, Top the Trending 100 in December. Plus 1970 leads backwards to 1969 and the December Alternative Sub-Genres
These are the top 100 songs that are making gains at mid-month
December 2020
POS/ARTIST/SONG/POS ON BR250/POINTS
1 MILEY CYRUS f/ DUA LIPA Prisoner 6 2233.75
Who didn’t think that this collaboration would top the trending chart? It’s already #1 in airplay in the UK and in the Pop top 25 in the States. Cyrus is going on 4 months at the top of the BR250 with "Midnight Sky" and Lipa is by far the biggest artist here this year. With Miley’s album release, 5 titles make the Trending Top 100. Her duet with Billy Idol, “Night Crawling”, comes in at #9 and another ‘80s icon, Joan Jett, shows up with her at #82 with “Bad Karma”.
2 RINA SAWAYAMA Lucid 65 1113.6
A new addition to the deluxe version of her album “Sawayama” that was released on November 25. A strong out the box debut on the BR250 at #65 means the song has potential to surpass “XS” and reach the top 25. That song peaked at #32 earlier this year. This one is a pure pop nugget produced by Bloodpop who also was behind Lady Gaga’s “Chromatica”.
3 BILLIE EILISH Therefore I Am 12 1055.3
#2 in both the UK and the U.S. This is her fourth top 20 in 2020.
4 THE WEEKND Save Your Tears 16 1026.85
He is definitely in an ‘80s mode on this synth-y track. Top 30 airplay on both sides of the Atlantic. But can any song of his keep them from playing “Blinding Lights”?
5 FOO FIGHTERS Shame Shame 7 1014.45
A different direction and a cool vibe to this #1 Rock tune from their upcoming tenth studio album.
6 BRITNEY SPEARS Swimming In The Stars 87 949.7
Interesting that Spears re-issued her 2016 album “Glory” twice this year. “Mood Ring” made it to #43 on the BR250 earlier in 2020. This one was released to coincide with her 39th birthday. Another track “Matches”, is a collaboration with Backstreet Boys.
7 LIAM GALLAGHER All You're Dreaming Of 73 902.5
A charity single for Action For Children UK, timed well as the Oasis song “Stop Crying Your Heart Out” was just a UK top 10 by the BBC Children In Need Allstars. Around since 1980, the BBC charity has been releasing a single every year since 1985.
8 PALE WAVES Change 44 878.8
This is the most straightforward Pop song the UK group has done. This has bested the #89 peak of 2018’s “Eighteen”.
9 MILEY CYRUS f/ BILLY IDOL Night Crawling 101 854.3
10 MARIAH CAREY f/ ARIANA GRANDE & JENNIFER HUDSON Oh Santa! 105 846.55
From Mariah’s Christmas special, I don’t think this can usurp “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, which is #1 on the Hot 100 again and probably would have been #1 every year if the Billboard rules allowed it all along.
11 THE BLEACHERS f/ BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Chinatown 68 821.25
12 SAM FENDER Winter Song 116 807.5
13 MARINA Man's World 24 805.1
14 AVA MAX My Head & My Heart 29 803.75
15 NATHAN DAWE f/ LITTLE MIX No Time For Tears 96 776.1
16 SYSTEM OF A DOWN Protect the Land 17 737.1
17 MAMMOTH WVH Distance 119 689.7
18 SHANE CODD Get Out Of My Head 35 679.15
19 STEPS Something In Your Eyes 13 663.4
20 PROSPA The Thrill 115 662.2
21 SHAWN MENDES & JUSTIN BIEBER Monster 75 660.9
22 ERIC PRYDZ NOPUS 97 630
23 KENNYHOOPLA f/ TRAVIS BARKER Estella 172 521.25
24 CELESTE A Little Love 91 475.7
25 LP How Low Can You Go 232 471.8
The 1970 retrospective leads to a look at 1969
So, working on the 1970 year-end chart had me going down a 1969 rabbit hole. First, I wanted to finish up my exploration of the second half of 1969 in an effort to put together the mid-year charts that I have been doing since the summer music party. My regular year-end chart goes from Dec-Nov and the mid-year chart goes from June-May. This set up allows late-year songs to see their full potential. Often with just a year-end chart, songs that straddle both years don’t see good chart positions in either year. There are glaring examples of this actually occurring on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969-71 range. 5 songs that reached #1 on the Hot 100 never showed up on the year-end lists. These are the songs:
PARTRIDGE FAMILY I Think I Love You
SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES The Tears of A Clown
STEAM Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
PETER, PAUL & MARY Leaving On A Jet Plane
DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES Someday We'll Be Together
Conversely, some songs that never made the top 20 made the year-end chart.
Peak Year-end #
30 55 MAMA CASS ELLIOT It's Getting Better
28 100 THE BOX TOPS Sweet Cream Ladies, Forward March
21 78 MOUNTAIN Mississippi Queen
34 79 IKE & TINA TURNER I Want To Take You Higher
23 83 CHRISTIE Yellow River
Seems a bit of a letdown (if you follow these things). Doing the mid-year chart avoids this situation on a personal level. Here’s a comparison of the top 40 from my 69-70 cycle compared to how the songs fared in either year.
69# 6970# 70#
16 1 31 CHICAGO Questions 67 And 68
57 2 14 ELTON JOHN Skyline Pigeon
81 3 10 THE BEATLES Oh Darling
29 4 45 ELTON JOHN Empty Sky
7 5 260 MAMA CASS ELLIOT It's Getting Better
56 6 32 THE FIFTH DIMENSION Wedding Bell Blues
94 7 19 THE BEATLES Maxwell's Silver Hammer
3 8 x THE COWSILLS Hair
109 9 25 THE BEATLES Abbey Road Medley
8 10 x THREE DOG NIGHT One
x 11 2 THE HOLLIES He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
121 12 26 MAMA CASS ELLIOT Make Your Own Kind Of Music
30 13 148 THREE DOG NIGHT Eli's Coming
9 14 x FRIENDS OF DISTINCTION Grazing In The Grass
22 15 x THE GRASS ROOTS I'd Wait A Million Years
38 16 138 ELVIS PRESLEY Suspicious Minds
58 17 82 SMITH Baby It's You
x 18 3 EDISON LIGHTHOUSE Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)
157 19 38 THE JACKSON 5 I Want You Back
135 20 54 GLEN CAMPBELL Try A Little Kindness
x 21 4 RAY STEVENS Everything Is Beautiful
40 22 202 CUFF LINKS Tracy
2 23 x THE FIFTH DIMENSION Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In
x 24 13 THREE DOG NIGHT Celebrate
x 25 17 SLY & THE FAMILY STONE I Want To Take You Higher
33 26 x THE BEATLES Martha My Dear
192 27 22 MARMALADE Reflections Of My Life
34 28 x THE ARCHIES Sugar Sugar
87 29 x PROCUL HARUM A Salty Dog
x 30 5 CHICAGO 25 Or 6 To 4
123 31 72 R.B. GREAVES Take A Letter, Maria
168 32 58 ARETHA FRANKLIN Eleanor Rigby
42 33 298 THE TEMPTATIONS I Can't Get Next To You
23 34 x THE BEATLES Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
72 35 171 PEGGY LEE Is That All There Is
11 36 x CREAM Badge
35 37 340 NEIL DIAMOND Sweet Caroline
x 38 21 BADFINGER Come And Get It
86 39 157 THE BEATLES Come Together
189 40 59 MARK LINDSAY Arizona
I could not complete the 1970 exercise without filling out 1969 in total. There were a number of songs from ’69 that I had completely forgotten about until doing this. 3 of those made my top 25. I was most excited by #4, Edwin Starr’s “Twenty-Five Miles”. I never knew the title of this song or who it was by, but I remember it well. This will absolutely be put on my next party playlist. Cream comes in at #11 with “Badge” a song I know through osmosis of radio exposure over the years. It did better than “White Room” at #32 but that was a late 1968 release so it would probably be in the top 10 for the 68-69 cycle.
Eric Clapton was a member of the Cream trio. He also was part of the trio Blind Faith (with Steve Winwood and his Cream bandmate Ginger Baker). That one album supergroup scored 2 songs just outside the top 100, “Sea of Joy” at #104 and “Can’t Find My Way Home” at #106. They did a bit better on the mid-year. Winwood was also a member of the band Traffic that had “Empty Pages”, “Glad” and “Freedom Rider on my chart in 1970. Between Clapton and Winwood, who both went on to impressive solo careers, there is an interesting family tree of bands that intersect. Traffic connects to Bread, Seals & Croft, and Fleetwood Mac. In the mid-‘60s Clapton was in the Yardbirds, which connects to Led Zeppelin and Jeff Beck, while Winwood was in the Spencer Davis Group which connects to Elton John’s ‘70s backing band. In addition, with Clapton part of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Fleetwood Mac (again) and the Rolling Stones enter the mix. Clapton’s involvement with the one-off band Derek & the Dominos (with a Traffic connection as well) brings the Allman Brothers to the family, while his work with Delaney & Bonnie and Friends adds George Harrison, Leon Russell, and Rita Coolidge. This could go on and on.
Another song I had forgotten about was “I’d Wait A Million Years” at #22 by the Grass Roots. I have a number of favorites by that band, 1971’s “Sooner Or Later” definitely the best of the bunch. I’ve discovered quite a few songs by the band that I did not know like “The River Is Wide” at #63, “Bella Linda” at #90, and “Baby Hold On” (#44 of 1970). I did not know their first top 10 hit was 1967’s “Let’s Live For Today”, definitely a different vibe than most of their other hits. I remember the song but didn’t know who it was by.
Another band that I have been able to explore a little more deeply recently is the Turtles. This resulted from one of the early podcasts and that’s when I discovered “Elenore” at #26 and 1967’s “She’d Rather Be With Me”. They also show up at #114 with “You Showed Me”. Of course, their biggest hit was “Happy Together” in 1967 but their first top 10 was 1965’s “It Ain’t Me, Babe”. I have no recollection of this song. When the band broke up in 1970 the vocalist's Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan joined the Mothers Of Invention, the experimental band that included frontman Frank Zappa. That band leads down another family tree that includes Little Feat, Journey, Canned Heat plus circles back to Traffic, John Mayall, and Jeff Beck.
Volman and Kaylan contractually could not use their real names (or that of the Turtles) so they became Phlorescent Leech & Eddie. They left the Mothers in 1971 and became Flo & Eddie. I certainly knew the name but absolutely nothing about them. This could become another rabbit hole as the Spotify bio describes them as the Partridge Family and Redd Foxx on one album. Just listening to 2 songs, “Thoughts Have Turned from 1972 and “Keep It Warm” from 1976, I could spend some time exploring these guys.
Here are my Top 200 songs of 1969
Beyond Radio Alternative Sub-Genre Charts--December 15, 2020
Alt Pop/Electro
1 1 24KGOLDN f/ IANN DIOR Mood
97 2 BILLIE EILISH Therefore I Am
2 3 OF MONSTERS AND MEN Visitor
8 4 NOTHING BUT THIEVES Impossible
5 5 TAME IMPALA Is It True
26 6 HOT CHIP f/ JARVIS COCKER Straight To The Morning
7 7 I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME Leave Me Alone
6 8 ROMY Lifetime
12 9 CANNONS Fire For You
new 10 PALE WAVES Change
Retro Soul (R&B, Soul Pop, Jazz Pop, Disco, Throwback Hip Hop)
1 1 KYLIE MINOGUE Magic
6 2 BECKY HILL Space
4 3 SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR Crying At The Discotheque
2 4 KYLIE MINOGUE Say Something
7 5 KYLIE MINOGUE I Love It
5 6 LONDON GRAMMAR Californian Soil
83 7 CELESTE A Little Love
new 8 KYLIE MINOGUE Real Groove
3 9 LONDON GRAMMAR Baby It's You
28 10 MALUMA x THE WEEKND Hawai
Adult Leaning Alternative
2 1 OF MONSTERS AND MEN Visitor
3 2 TAME IMPALA Is It True
4 3 ROMY Lifetime
10 4 CANNONS Fire For You
new 5 CLAIRO Sofia
48 6 JAKE BUGG All I Need
31 7 PHOEBE BRIDGERS I Know The End
7 8 LONDON GRAMMAR Californian Soil
1 9 THE KILLERS My Own Soul's Warning
new 10 THE BLEACHERS f/ BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Chinatown
Alternative Hip Hop
3 1 LABRINTH No Ordinary
9 2 EMOTIONAL ORANGES All That
6 3 THE AVALANCHES Take Care Of Your Dreaming
new 4 SHYGIRL Slime
18 5 ACTRESS f/ SAMPHA Walking Flames
1 6 CLIPPING Say The Name
24 7 CLIPPING 96 Neve Campbell
new 8 RUN THE JEWELS No Save Point
new 9 FRED AGAIN... Kyle (I Found You)
10 10 ASHNIKKO Daisy
Alt Rock
1 1 ROYAL BLOOD Trouble's Coming
26 2 FOO FIGHTERS Shame Shame
20 3 OF MONSTERS AND MEN Visitor
6 4 BRING ME THE HORIZON Teardrops
3 5 I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME Leave Me Alone
31 6 TEENAGE WRIST Earth Is A Black Hole
2 7 BEABADOOBEE Care
10 8 CHRIS CORNELL Patience
4 9 DEFTONES Ohms
28 10 MACHINE GUN KELLY f/ HALSEY Forget Me Too
Underground
8 1 BICEP Apricots
121 2 JAMES BLAKE Before
25 3 EGOISM You You
38 4 JONSI f/ ROBYN Salt Licorice
new 5 BICEP Saku
new 6 BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD Science Fair
new 7 DOGBAR CINEMA Bridge Too Far
27 8 DIRK. Toulouse
new 9 SOFT BLUE SHIMMER Cherry-Cola Abyss
17 10 JOENSU 1685 All Around You
Roots AAA (Roots Rock, Americana, Folk, Heritage Pop)
1 1 TAYLOR SWIFT Betty
4 2 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Letter To You
3 3 TAYLOR SWIFT f/ BON IVER Exile
new 4 LIAM GALLAGHER All You're Dreaming Of
2 5 FLEET FOXES Can I Believe You
97 6 JADE BIRD Headstart
new 7 SAM FENDER Winter Song
6 8 ALANIS MORISETTE Ablaze
9 9 TOM PETTY Leave Virginia Alone
15 10 CHRIS STAPLETON Cold
Dec 8
December Brings a Return to my 1970 Personal Chart
My Year-End Personal Chart, 1970
See my full 1970 Year-End chart here
I started out in January of this year with the intention to write a series of blogs connected to my personal charts of the past and felt 1970 was a perfect starting point, 50 years in the rearview. I was 9 at the time and I had not started doing a weekly chart (that didn't commence until 1974) so the first thing I needed to do was create a chart for January 1970 that reflected how I felt about the songs now. I have been doing this for every month of the year so now I can compile a year-end chart for the year. I had done a version of this in 2001, the last time I did an all-time list (I am due for an update in 2021). I only did a top 60 then based on my gut. On the following chart that original position is on the left and the current rankings are based on the charts from Dec. 1969 through Nov. 1970 that I created this year. 3 songs in the top 20 were not on my list in 2001 and 4 songs in the top 10 made substantial moves.
The Carpenters moving to #1 (up from #6) was slightly surprising, though it is a song closely related to my mother, who actually passed in April 2001, so the 20th anniversary is coming soon. I have a copy of the “Close To You” sheet music framed above my desk that my best friend gave me after she died. In a related occurrence, a few days ago I was texting with my friend Lisa, sitting in my new Beyond Radio studio. We had our garage converted this fall to an office that I can do my work from. I’m moving my albums, 45s, CDs, and mixed tapes that were relegated to our basement years ago. It’s a fabulous space with stone walls that will be a perfect place to record future podcasts. All extremely exciting. Anyway, when texting Lisa my Mom came up and I told her the story about “Close To You”. As I was writing to her the song unexpectedly came on. I told Lisa that my Mom had just christened the studio. It was a beautiful moment and if you have listened to any of the podcasts, just another crazy coincidence that happens to me all the time.
The Hollies move from #22 to #2 with “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”, is another surprise, but that song's connection to childhood is just so strong, as is the case with Ray Stevens’ “Everything Is Beautiful” at #4. Both evoke a certain warm feeling that remains in the past. And, of course, it’s a beautiful song (Neil Diamond’s version-not so much). Funny, another song in a similar mode, “The Long And Winding Road”, fell from #1 to #9. At one point in the late ‘70s, it was my #1 song of all-time, displacing “Funeral For A Friend” by Elton John for a brief time, when I was really discovering the Beatles catalog. My #2 song of 1969, “Oh Darling” shows up behind ‘Road’ at #10. The Beatles scored 5 titles in the top 25 with the Abbey Road Medley being considered one song at #25. In addition, “Let It Be” comes in at #24 and “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” at #19. Paul McCartney also shows up in the top 25 as a solo artist with the original version of “Maybe I’m Amazed” at #18. And the McCartney written “Come And Get It” by Badfinger lands at #21.
John Lennon also shows up at #36 with “Instant Karma (We All Shine On)”. I was just reminded by my ex-girlfriend Chris from high school that today is the 40th anniversary of Lennon’s murder. What a sheer tragedy that was. I had just talked about the song “Imagine” in my most recent 2010 blog post. The band Live did a version during their 1999 tour leading up to the millennium. When I saw them on that tour it was paired with my favorite song of all-time at that point, “Pillar Of Davidson”. It is my favorite concert experience ever. ‘Karma’ was the first solo Beatles song to sell a million copies.
The move for “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)”, 51-3, is totally appropriate, just a great bubblegum Pop song of the time. The kings of bubblegum in 1970 were the Jackson 5, whose “The Love You Save” was their highest charter at #12. All 4 of their Billboard #1 hits from the year made the top 100 with “ABC” at #20. Elsewhere on the chart, Bobby Sherman fell some from my previous version of the list. “Easy Come, Easy Go” down to #46 from 29 and “Julie, Do Ya Love Me” at #60. The Partridge Family’s “I Think I Love You” is at #47, but only because of the late-year release. More about the PFam when I write about the December 1970 chart.
The 3 songs that enter the top 20 that were not on my original list all come from the R&B side. “Ball of Confusion” at #8, a killer remake of the Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter” by Merry Clayton (who was the female singer on their version) at #16, and “I Want To Take You Higher" by Sly & The Family Stone at #17. I didn’t appreciate this music as a child, so it was really great to re-discover some and be introduced to others from the time (like Aretha’s version of “Eleanor Rigby” at #58 and “Psychedelic Shack” by the Temptations at #61).
Elton John’s “Skyline Pigeon”, which comes in at #14 and was originally #4 of 1969, is definitely My #1 song of 1969 at this point. A simple, harpsichord driven hymn, this is most definitely in my top 50 of all-time. “Take Me To The Pilot” at #6 remains my favorite song from his American debut album. “Empty Sky”, his true debut, was released in the UK in 1969 but not until 1975 in the States. The title track comes in at #45, though it really was a late ’69 song (#1 for me the month of Nov. 1969), so really a much more important song overall. In all EJ placed 10 songs in the top 100, the rollicking “Rock ‘N Roll Madonna”, at #11, was prominently featured in the movie “Rocket Man”.
Chicago had a good year as well with 4 songs in the top 100. I never questioned what “25 Or 6 To 4” (#5 for the year) meant. Now I have learned it means 25 or 26 minutes before 4am. I had to chuckle. Other meanings for the title have been floated around about illegal drugs or a famous person’s name in code. “Make Me Smile” at #29, was actually the band’s first Billboard Top 10, peaking at #9. The radio version is different than the album version on “Chicago II”. It is part of a 7-song suite called “Ballet For A Girl in Buchannon” (kind of similar to the “Abbey Road Medley”). The song suite also includes the song “Colour My World”, an extremely popular prom and wedding song from the early ‘70s. It was the b-side of both “Make Me Smile” and the re-release of “Beginnings” (#74) from their 1969 debut in 1971 after the band gained their popularity. “Questions 67 and 68” (#31) was also re-released in 1971.
I only learned of the #7 “Little Green Bag” from the 1992 movie “Reservoir Dogs”. I don’t believe they played it on the radio in the New York area. It was my #49 in 1995 when I saw the movie. The original title of the Dutch band The George Baker Selection’s debut single was “Little Greenback”, a reference to the color of the American dollar bill. You can hear it sang that way in the song. How it became “Little Green Bag” I am not sure, but again with a drug reference, it was thought to mean a bag of marijuana.
Three Dog Night has 4 songs in the top 200 with “Celebrate” at #13. The band would become one of my favorite artists of the first half of the decade. “Mama Told Me Not To Come” at #27, is a song written by Randy Newman (most famous for the song “Short People”) and was originally recorded by Eric Burdon & The Animals in 1966. Three Dog Night took it to #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for 2 weeks in July. “Ride Captain Ride” at #28 was the only hit for the Florida band Blues Image. One of its members later joined Three Dog Night. The song reached #4 on the Hot 100, the same position as the one hit from British band Free, “All Right Now” (#35). The song was sung and co-written by Paul Rodgers, who would later become the frontman of the hugely successful band Bad Company. The song “Vehicle” (#37) was another one-hit wonder by the Illinois band the Ides Of March. That song peaked at #2 on the Hot 100, and many people thought it was by the band Blood, Sweat, and Tears. Vocally and stylistically it totally makes sense. The song was written by frontman Jim Peterik who would also go on to greater success as the leader of the ‘80s band Survivor. This theme is born out once more with “The Rapper” (#39) by the Pennsylvania band The Jaggerz. Another one-hit-wonder, this song reaching #2 on the Hot 100. The lead singer Donnie Iris had a moderately successful run as a solo artist in the early ‘80s with the songs like “Ah Leah” and “Love Is Like A Rock”.
Finally, Diana Ross had a 3-week run at #1 on the Hot 100 in September 1970 with her remake of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (#40). The original version peaked at #19 in 1967 for Marvin Gaye & Tammy Terrell. Ross had the defining version which was nominated for a Grammy. The funny thing about this song is that it was the #1 song when my podcast partner Jeff was born. We discussed the song on the original episode of the podcast and he is not a fan of the song.
6 1 THE CARPENTERS (They Long To Be) Close To You
22 2 THE HOLLIES He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
51 3 EDISON LIGHTHOUSE Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)
24 4 RAY STEVENS Everything Is Beautiful
8 5 CHICAGO 25 Or 6 To 4
3 6 ELTON JOHN Take Me To The Pilot
4 7 GEORGE BAKER SELECTION Little Green Bag
x 8 THE TEMPTATIONS Ball Of Confusion
1 9 THE BEATLES The Long And Winding Road
2-69 10 THE BEATLES Oh Darling
31 11 ELTON JOHN Rock And Roll Madonna
9 12 THE JACKSON 5 The Love You Save
34 13 THREE DOG NIGHT Celebrate
4-69 14 ELTON JOHN Skyline Pigeon
18 15 JAMES TAYLOR Fire And Rain
x 16 MERRY CLAYTON Gimmie Shelter
x 17 SLY & THE FAMILY STONE I Want To Take You Higher
44 18 PAUL MCCARTNEY Maybe I'm Amazed
11-69 19 THE BEATLES Maxwell’s Silver Hammer
21 20 THE JACKSON 5 ABC
25 21 BADFINGER Come And Get It
35 22 MARMALADE Reflections Of My Life
x 23 THE DOORS Peace Frog
20 24 THE BEATLES Let It Be
var-69 25 THE BEATLES Abbey Road Medley
Dec 4
More from the 2010 Blog, The End of the Rock’s Summer in Popland, Part 1
Learn more about an era of music and the connections behind the songs. Interwoven with personal anecdotes, commentary and artist history. A unique way to tap into music nostalgia and discovery.
My Personal Chart, November 7, 2010
See my chart here
I have a running joke that I like bands that sound like Nickelback more than I like Nickelback. Often, I am irritated by Nickelback. The song that irks me the most is “Photograph” from 2005 (“and what the hell is on Joey’s head”). Even with that, the song reached #30 on my personal chart. I think it took a little time before I was completely annoyed. Theory Of A Deadman is one of those bands and not ironically the first band to be signed to Chad Kroeger’s label 604 Records. They have relatively similar histories on my chart. Nickelback 31 charted songs, 2 top 10’s, TOAD 29 songs, 3 top 10s, but TOAD has had more than double the songs reach my top 30.
This was the ninth single from the band’s 2008 album “Scars & Souvenirs”, their most succes
This was the ninth single from the band’s 2008 album “Scars & Souvenirs”, their most successful album. It spawned 3 top 3 Rock songs (“So Happy”, “Hate My Life” and the #1 “Bad Girlfriend”) and 2 Hot AC and Pop hits with the Rock ballads “All Or Nothing” and “Not Meant To Be”. They have always had a tongue-in-cheek side, most recently with the humorous “Straight Jacket” in 2017, a song that was discussed on an early episode of the Beyond Radio Presents podcast. Another song about a bad girlfriend, the best lyric is:
“And you're supercali-pessimistic-expiali-narcissistic You are Mary Poppins, you'll be soon be going out of business Guys, let me witness, you got a Honda Civic 'Cause you're backseat driving my life”
It’s full of clever phrases and haunting backing vocals with a number of critics panning it. During the song’s run on my chart, I went back and forth on it, but in the end, I enjoyed it. It just missed the Rock top 10. Their most recent Rock #1’s are more sobering efforts; “Rx (Medicate)” (also from 2017) a song about prescription drug abuse, and last year’s “History Of Violence” about domestic violence.
By the end of the aughts, Rock artists were increasingly fading from Pop radio, with it almost being a dirty word by 2020. Between 2009 and 2012 you can see the erosion according to the Billboard Hot 100. In 2009 4 Rock songs made the top 20:
#6 New Divide/Linkin Park
#7 Second Chance/Shinedown
#15 No Surprise/Daughtry
#19 If Today Was Your Last Day/Nickelback
In 2010 only 6 songs landed in the top 50:
#17 According To You/Orianthi
#27 The Catalyst/Linkin Park
#34 This Afternoon/Nickelback
#36 September & Life After You/Daughtry
#37 Radioactive/ Kings Of Leon
2011 saw 5 in the top 50 but none in the top 30
#35 (It) Feels So Good/Steven Tyler
#38 The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie/Red Hot Chili Peppers
#41 Crawling Back To You/Daughtry
#42 Waiting For The End/Linkin Park
#44 When We Stand Together/Nickelback
In 2012 only 6 titles made the entire top 100
#30 Burn It Down/Linkin Park
#67 Tattoo/Van Halen (their first single to hit the Hot 100 in 17 years and only for one week)
#94 Bully/Shinedown
#94 Gold On The Ceiling/Black Keys
#95 Lost In The Echo/Linkin Park
#97 Oh Love/Green Day
See the pattern? Mostly the same artists or big names. Nickelback was prominent here and had a healthy Pop presence throughout the 2000-10 decade. According to Joel Whitburn’s latest edition of his Top Singles Book, they were the #25 artist of the 2000s. California’s Linkin Park was arguably the biggest Rock act of the aughts. “Waiting For The End” (105) was on its way to a #11 peak on my chart, the last time they would make my top 25. The atypical ballad has a great build to it and gives lead singer Chester Bennington a great showcase. He claimed that this and the song “Iridescent” (a true ballad) were his favorites from the album “A Thousand Suns”. The album deals with subjects like nuclear warfare. The songs “The Catalyst” and ‘Waiting’ both hit #1 on the Alternative chart with “Iridescent” peaking at #19. The band would hit the summit one more time in 2012 with “Burn It Down” and in 2017 they made the Pop top 20 with “Heavy” featuring the female artist Kiiara, which was a true departure from their previous work.
Bennington, who committed suicide in July 2017, was briefly the lead vocalist of Stone Temple Pilots between 2013-15. This was after the original vocalist Scott Weiland was fired in 2013. The band was supposed to do a tour for the 20th anniversary of their album “Core”, their debut during the Grunge era featuring the monster “Plush”, but it never materialized supposedly because Weiland couldn’t pull off the vocal abilities of his younger self. He also died, from an overdose and alcohol and cocaine, in 2015.
In 2010 their song “Cinnamon” (44) would reach #5 on my chart by the end of December. The song has a decidedly ‘60s Brit-Pop feel, not the first time they went that direction. In 1996 “Lady Picture Show” followed a somewhat similar stylistic path, a bit more psychedelic and definitely Beatlesque. That same year was the last time before “Cinnamon”, that the band was in my top 10, with the song “Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart”. That song has one of my favorite instrumental guitar breaks ever.
In 2003 STP had split up with Weiland going on to form Velvet Revolver with Slash and 2 other members of Gun N’ Roses and the Deleo Brothers from the Pilots hooked up with Filter’s lead singer Richard Patrick as Army Of Anyone. That group produced one album and one top 5 Rock song with the #3 “Goodbye”, a song that did moderately well for me. Filter had peaked at #5 on my chart in August 2010 with “Fades Like A Flower”, their fourth top 20 on my chart. It was featured on the soundtrack of the disaster movie “2012” starring John Cusack but saw no real radio exposure.
Velvet Revolver was a much more impactful band on my chart, placing 4 songs in my top 100 of the year between 2004-07, all reaching the top 10 on my weekly chart: “Fall To Pieces” #10, “The Last Fight” #7, “Slither” #6 and the non-radio song “You Got No Right” #1. That song has such a GNR/Slash guitar break which I’m sure sent the song over the top for me, though the song is absolutely a complete package. It also has a Beatlesque part before the guitar solo. The debut album from the supergroup, “Contraband”, debuted at #1 and sold almost 3 million copies. It won the band the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2005, which Weiland had also won in 1994 with STP on the song “Plush”.
After Velvet Revolver, Slash released his debut solo album in 2010, the first of 4 in the last decade. That album featured a myriad of guest vocalists. The opening track “Ghost” (17)was sung by Ian Astbury of the ‘80s UK band The Cult. It went to #3 on my chart. Other singers included Fergie, Adam Levine, Chris Cornell, and Ozzy Osbourne. One of the singers, Myles Kennedy, became the voice on the tour because Slash was so impressed and said he was “one of the best Rock & Roll vocalists out there”. I totally agree. He became the primary vocalist on the next 3 albums and those produced 2 #1 songs on my personal chart (2012’s “Standing In The Sun” and 2018’s “Driving Rain”-I just see the correlation!) and 2 on Rock radio (“You’re A Lie” and “World On Fire”) plus 5 other top 10s.
Kennedy was actually offered to audition for Velvet Revolver but turned it down. He came on my radar in 1998 as the lead vocalist for the band Mayfield Four with their debut album. 5 songs from that charted for me, including 2 #1’s, “Shuddershell” for 2 weeks and “Always” for 5 weeks. I don’t recall their second album in 2001 but it produced their only Rock radio song, the #37 “Eden (Turn The Page)”. After Mayfield Four broke up Kennedy teamed up with 3 former members of Creed and became Alter Bridge. This has been a more fruitful endeavor with 15 songs charting on Rock radio since 2004. In 2008 the ballad “Watch Over You” reached #7 on my chart (#19 Rock and #40 HotAC as well) and has gone on to become one of my all-time favorite songs. It is a strummy ballad that is the most amazing showcase for his voice. Gorgeous and stately, his vocal explodes about halfway through (“who is gonna save you when I’m gone”). It’s a heartbreaking but beautiful song. Could be about death but more likely about being pushed out of a relationship due to substance abuse. It became the unofficial theme of “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” after being featured in a number of episodes (some scenes with former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler).
\Mark Tremonti, of Alter Bridge and Creed, started his own band in 2011, Tremonti. He has his own impressive Rock pipes. In 2016 the band’s song “Dust” peaked at #8 on my chart, another song about death, perhaps suicide, with a fantastic guitar solo and soaring vocal:
“You carried the weight of everyone After all the time we spent Rewriting the rules that now we bend The whole damn thing has turned to dust You left alone, defeated us.”
Like “Watch Over You”, this song over time has been elevated for me. Between 2012-16 Wolfgang Van Halen was in the band and he played bass on this song. He is currently in the Rock top 20 as Mammoth WVH with “Distance”, his tribute to his father Eddie Van Halen.
Slash is featured on one of the heavier songs, “What I Want”, on Daughtry’s debut album. After Chris Daughtry’s success on the fifth season of American Idol, the album exploded becoming the fastest-selling album in the Soundscan era and the best-selling album of 2007, according to Billboard. The band had 3 songs on my chart this week, “What I Meant To Say” (26), “September” (43), and “Photograph” (78) with Santana (a cover of the Def Leppard song). And no, that did not do nearly as well as the original on my chart.
Chris Daughtry was quite busy during the last third of the aughts, collaborating with a number of artists featured here. Chad Kroeger co-wrote the band’s hit “No Surprise”, Daughtry co-wrote the 2009 Theory Of A Deadman single “By The Way”. He was a guest vocalist on the song “The Past” by Sevendust in 2008 and that album also has appearances from Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti. Sevendust had their highest charting Rock song in 2010 with the #7 “Unraveling” but have been consistent performers on Rock radio since 1997. Both Daughtry and Sevendust are in the current Rock top 40, Daughtry’s return to Rock form “World On Fire” is #20 and Sevendust’s “Dying to Live” is #34.
Daughtry also worked with 2 artists that impacted the Christian music market at the time. Ed Kowalcyzk had a bad falling out with his band Live in 2009 and released the solo album “Alive” in 2010. There was always an underlying spirituality with Live but he went deeper into it on this album (which hit #6 on the Christian Albums Chart) with songs like “Grace” (#2 on my chart in August) and “Drink (Everlasting Love)” (29). The latter was co-written by Daughtry. In 2003 Kowalcyzk performed the John Lennon song “Imagine” with Slash at a 2003 concert called “Peace On The Beach” in protest of the Iraq war. He also performed the song on tour with Live in 1999 feeling it was an appropriate song leading up to the millennium. Videos from the tour are much better than the beach concert footage. I had seen Live a number of times and on this tour, they followed “Imagine” with my favorite song of all-time (at that point), “Pillar Of Davidson”. It was the greatest concert experience of my life. We discuss it on the Beyond Radio Presents podcast, Castlist 005, Episode 2.
Finally here, Daughtry teamed up with the Christian Rock band Third Day in 2009 on the song “Slow Down”. That along with “This Is Who I Am” and the #1 “Run To You” all made my top 25 songs of the year. Their album “Revelation” was big for me, with 6 charting songs and the title track possibly my favorite song by the band (my #14 of 2008). I wrote about them last month as well and 2 songs from 2000, “Sky Falls Down” and “What Good” re-entered my chart. Both originally peaked at #101. This week ‘Sky’ sits at #2 and “What Good” at #14. It’s so great to re-discover past songs. Right now, another song from “Revelation” is playing, ‘Otherside”. This one I don’t remember and didn’t chart then but could very well now.
Part 2 will explore another side of Rock music in 2010.
Read more of the Blog here
Dec 1
November Slow Down but not for Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa
There is very little activity on the BR250 this week as the year starts to wind down. This is quite a difference from the same time last year when a bunch of songs blasted onto the chart (I was monthly instead of bi-monthly at that point). 7 songs entered the top 25 from outside the top 250 in November last year (including a #1 debut for “Don’t Start Now”, #4 for Coldplay’s “Orphans” and #9 for “Everything I Wanted” by Billie Eilish), down to only 3 this year (“Positions”, “Sweet Melody” by Little Mix and Foo Fighters’ “Shame, Shame”).
“Midnight Sky” has spent a full 3 months at the summit, actually increasing in points a bit from the last chart. Her mash up remix with Stevie Nicks "Edge of Midnight" is also on the chart at #211 and her remake of Blondie's "Heart Of Glass" falls to #238.. Only 5 songs in the top 25 lost points but there were no major increases except for “Diamonds” and “Sweet Melody” within the top 25.
“Therefore I Am” by Billie Eilish is the highest debut in the BR250 at #47, though perhaps a bit of a disappointment. Also a surprise is that Ariana Grande’s “34 + 35” only moves 141-74 (while “Positions” holds at #7) so neither of these artists are quite repeating their recent successes.
No one can touch Dua Lipa on the BR250 this year. 2 new duets keep her moving forward with “Fever” moving 117-85 and her collab with Miley “Prisoner” enters at #118 in its first week out. This makes 11 songs in the past year to grace the BR250. Of those, 3 hit #1 and 2 peaked at #2. Cyrus I'm sure is hoping Lipa can help her get into the top 10 in the States again. It has been a struggle for some time. Her latest album "Plastic Hearts" was just released this past Friday.
Nov 25
A New Podcast: Beyond Radio Presents Castlist 006. Episode 5, Connect The Dots
It has been about 6 weeks since I posted the last episode. During that time there has been a lot of activity at our house with work on our garage turned music studio/party room/podcast office the main focus. It is very exciting to have a place to display my albums, CDs, and mixed tapes. The side walls of the garage are granite and as I suspected, it makes for great acoustics.
The songs in this episode all connect in a sort of succession. A large part of the episode focuses on early Elton John deep cuts that had an impact on my childhood. They connect in ways to my favorite Keith Urban song, Moulin Rouge, and an arc about actors who sing and how they are connected.
This was a hot and cold mix of music for Jeff but he is always a good sport. Not always knowing where the next connection was going, a few surprises were revealed. Of those was one that blew me away.
It's a long episode, a little over 75 minutes, but there was no good way to break it up. As always there are laughs to be had and things to be learned.
Nov 16
Trending in November, the Styles are Grande, and Little Steps are on the Horizon. Mostly New #1's on the Alternative Sub-Genre Charts
These are the top 100 songs that are making gains at mid-month
November 2020
POS/ARTIST/SONG/POS ON BR250/POINTS
1 ARIANA GRANDE Positions 7 3175.35
No surprise that Grande dominates the November trending chart as “Positions” debuted at #1 on the Hot 100 and the UK singles chart. In addition, the album also topped the chart in both countries. 7 of the tracks from the album also make the trending chart though I feel she performed better with “Thank You, Next”.
2 HARRY STYLES Golden 8 3135.25
5 singles in and Styles is still breaking into the BR250 top 10, the song moved 124-8 on the current chart. 4 of those have reached the top 10 (“Falling” only peaking at #16), while a sixth track, “Treat People With Kindness”, spent some time on the BR250 earlier this year as well. “Golden” is top Pop 20 in the States and top 10 in airplay in the UK.
3 LITTLE MIX Sweet Melody 17 2120.6
The third single from the just released #3 UK album “Confetti” gives the girl group their best showing on the BR250 this year, debuting at #17. The song is their 16th UK top 10 single since 2011.
4 STEPS Something In Your Eyes 33 1702.6
The title track to the UK co-ed group, “What The Future Holds” slides from its peak of #18 on the BR250 this week while the third preview into the album debuts at #33. During their initial run on the UK charts between 1997-2001 they scored 14 UK top 10’s, 7 of those reaching the top 2.
5 BRING ME THE HORIZON Teardrops 79 1142.7
These alt-metal lads just came in at #5 on the UK album chart with “Post Human: Survival Horror”, supposedly the first of 4 EP’s to feature the post human moniker. The 4 preview singles all have reached the BR250’s top 100 with the sonic stew “Parasite Eve” making it all the way to #12.
6 MEDUZA f/ DERMOT KENNEDY Paradise 104 948.6
Irish singer Dermot Kennedy follows his UK top 5 and European top 20 single “Giants” a collaboration with this Italian production team. Last year Meduza had 2 songs make the top 50 on the BP250, “Piece of Your Heart” at #42 and “Lose Control” featuring Becky Hill at #28. Hill herself moves in the BR250 top 50 this week with “Space”, up 104-46.
7 KYLIE MINOGUE I Love It 54 1407.1
Superstar Minogue debuted at #1 in the UK and in Australia (and #25 in the States) with her fifteenth album “Disco”. Both “Say Something” and “Magic” are still in the top 25 on the main chart, with “I Love It” clocking in at #54 in it’s first week in the top 100.
8 JAX JONES f/ AU/RA I Miss You 31 1771.65
The English DJ has his best showing in 2020 with his new single. He has reached as high as #12 on the BR250 with last year’s “Play”.
9 DUA LIPA & ANGELE Fever 117 855.4
As if Lipa needed another song to add to her 2020 war chest, this is the tenth song to make the BR250 this year. The song reached #2 in France and #1 in Angele’s homeland of Belgium.
10 PALOMA FAITH Gold 124 834.8
Faith’s fifth album “Infinite Things” was released this past Friday. The lead single “Better Than This” has been in the BR250 top 100 for last 2 months, peaking at #55. This mid-tempo song puts her in Sia territory.
11 ARIANA GRANDE 34 + 35 141 789.45
Racy is the best way to describe this song that is following “Positions” up the Pop top 30 in the U.S.
12 GORILLAZ f/ BECK The Valley Of The Pagans 102 951.6
Finally, a fun and funky song from Damon Alban’s “Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez”. They have been releasing a single a month (except March) this year, corresponding with their web series.
13 THE AVALANCHES f/ LEON BRIDGES & ALAN PARSON PROJECT Interstellar Love 167 705.2
This Australian electronic duo may be even more left field than the Gorillaz. Their soundscape is all over the place. This song which samples “Eye In The Sky” is certainly one of their most accessible offerings.
14 SYSTEM OF A DOWN Protect the Land 169 703.35
15 years is a long hiatus but this Armenian-American metal band released 2 new songs in responses to the war that is being waged in Armenia this year.
15 HOT CHIP f/ JARVIS COCKER Straight To The Morning 89 1060
Jubilant disco is what you will find of the UK synth band’s latest single. Earlier this year they peaked at #40 on the BR250 with “Positive”.
Beyond Radio Alternative Sub-Genre Charts--November 15, 2020
Each of these charts (top 100’s) now have their own page found on the Monthly Genre Charts Menu at Beyondradio.com
Alt Pop/Electro
2 1 24KGOLDN f/ IANN DIOR Mood
5 2 OF MONSTERS AND MEN Visitor
10 3 NEW ORDER Be A Rebel
7 4 BEABADOOBEE Care
11 5 TAME IMPALA Is It True
33 6 ROMY Lifetime
6 7 I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME Leave Me Alone
21 8 NOTHING BUT THIEVES Impossible
3 9 LONDON GRAMMAR Baby It's You
72 10 LONDON GRAMMAR Californian Soil
Retro Soul (R&B, Soul Pop, Jazz Pop, Disco, Throwback Hip Hop)
2 1 KYLIE MINOGUE Magic
1 2 KYLIE MINOGUE Say Something
3 3 LONDON GRAMMAR Baby It's You
8 4 SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR Crying At The Discotheque
23 5 LONDON GRAMMAR Californian Soil
21 6 BECKY HILL Space
new 7 KYLIE MINOGUE I Love It
6 8 ARLO PARKS Hurt
4 9 CALVIN HARRIS f/ THE WEEKND Over Now
new 10 SYLVAN ESSO Ferris Wheel
Adult Leaning Alternative
1 1 THE KILLERS My Own Soul's Warning
new 2 OF MONSTERS AND MEN Visitor
6 3 TAME IMPALA Is It True
new 4 ROMY Lifetime
5 5 NEW ORDER Be A Rebel
3 6 LONDON GRAMMAR Baby It's You
35 7 LONDON GRAMMAR Californian Soil
15 8 PHOENIX Identical
new 9 FLEET FOXES Can I Believe You
new 10 CANNONS Fire For You
Alternative Hip Hop
2 1 CLIPPING Say The Name
1 2 DISCLOSURE f/ AMINE & SLOWTHAI My High
19 3 LABRINTH No Ordinary
4 4 SLOWTHAI f/ JAMES BLAKE & MOUNT KIMBIE Feel Away
3 5 TERRACE MARTIN & DENZEL CURRY Pig Feet
7 6 THE AVALANCHES Take Care Of Your Dreaming
8 7 THE AVALANCHES Music Make Me High
new 8 CLIPPING Pain Everyday
new 9 EMOTIONAL ORANGES All That
12 10 ASHNIKKO Daisy
Alt Rock
2 1 ROYAL BLOOD Trouble's Coming
7 2 BEABADOOBEE Care
6 3 I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME Leave Me Alone
3 4 DEFTONES Ohms
10 5 BEABADOOBEE Worth It
new 6 BRING ME THE HORIZON Teardrops
8 7 SEETHER Dangerous
4 8 SMASHING PUMPKINS Cyr
1 9 BASTILLE F/ GRAHAM COXON What You Gonna Do???
9 10 CHRIS CORNELL Patience
Underground
2 1 CLIPPING Say The Name
1 2 IDLES Model Village
148 3 PORRIDGE RADIO 7 Seconds
new 4 NOTHING Bernie Sanders
12 5 GIRL IN RED Rue
6 6 SOFT SET 7 On Up
9 7 LAVENDER BLUSH I'm In Love
new 8 BICEP Apricots
128 9 GRAZER How Many Times
7 10 SLOWTHAI f/ JAMES BLAKE & MOUNT KIMBIE Feel Away
Roots AAA (Roots Rock, Americana, Folk, Heritage Pop)
2 1 TAYLOR SWIFT Betty
13 2 FLEET FOXES Can I Believe You
1 3 TAYLOR SWIFT f/ BON IVER Exile
7 4 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Letter To You
4 5 THE CHICKS Sleep At Night
5 6 ALANIS MORISETTE Ablaze
6 7 SEMISONIC You're Not Alone
11 8 SHERYL CROW In The End
27 9 TOM PETTY Leave Virginia Alone
15 10 AMY MACDONALD The Hudson
Nov 9
My Personal Chart, November 7, 2010
Learn more about an era of music and the connections behind the songs. Interwoven with personal anecdotes, commentary and artist history. A unique way to tap into music nostalgia and discovery.
My Personal Chart, November 7, 2010
See my chart here
Or access on Spotify here
The Many Faces Of Alternative and Some Alt Radio Records
My top 11 this week in 2010 shows the variety of Rock styles that fit into the Alternative universe at the time.
Anberlin/Impossible (1)
In 2008 this Florida Emo band scored a #1 Alternative song with “Feel Good Drag” from the fourth album “New Surrender” and first on a major label. ‘Drag’ took 29 weeks to reach the summit which was a record at the time and was Billboard’s #2 Alternative song of the year. The following year it was bested by Phoenix’s “1901” (31 weeks) and in 2010 “Animal” By Neon Trees eclipsed that with 32 weeks). Phoenix, a French indie-Pop band had a decade of moderate success in their homeland before they hit it big in the States in 2009 with “1901” and “Lisztomania”. Those 2 songs made Billboard’s year-end Alternative top 10, at #4 and #7, and were from their fourth album “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”, an album that won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album in 2010.
Neon Trees were descending my chart this week with “1983” (51) after peaking at #5 in September. Both that and “Animal” made my top 50 of the year and in Billboard, the former was the #44 Alternative song of 2011 and the latter was #5 of 2010. “Animal” was also the first of 2 top 10 Pop hits as well. In 2012 the Provo, Utah band returned with “Everybody Talks” which took them in the top 5. After a lengthy absence from the charts, during which time lead singer Tyler Glenn came out, they returned this year with the Alternative top 5 “Used To Like” and another charter, “New Best Friend”.
Anberlin’s ‘Drag’ was a re-recorded version of a song from their 2005 independent album “Never Take Friendship Personal” that spawned their first chart single “Paperthin Hymn”, #38 on the Alternative chart and #8 on my personal chart. The band has always been connected to the Christian music scene though the lead singer Stephen Christian (hmmm) says their intention was not to be categorized in that way. This, I believe is similar to the approach that Manic Bloom, whom I wrote about extensively earlier this year, has taken. “Impossible” was their second top 5 on Alternative radio and not their only #1 on my chart. In April of 2011 they repeated with “Pray Tell”. 2 more songs would chart in 2011, “Closer” and “Take Me (As You Found Me)”. “Impossible” also was Billboard’s #21 Alternative song of the year in 2010.
San Diego’s Switchfoot may be the most successful Christian Rock band on the mainstream charts. They have been a mainstay on my personal chart with 50 songs over the last 19 years (starting with “Learning To Breathe” in 2001). 2010 was not their best year on my chart but they did place 2 songs on Billboard’s year-end Alternative chart in 2010. “The Sound” was #25 and “Mess Of Me” was #44. 8 of the songs from their 2009 album “Hello Hurricane” made my personal chart in 2010, 2 of those made my weekly top 25. The ballad “Your Love Is A Song” performed well on Christian radio and at HotAC and went to #21 and “Free”, an anthemic non-single, and my fav from the album, which debuted on my chart the following week, rose to #4 in February 2011.
Pocket Full Of Rocks/Alive (2)
Formed in 1995, this Christian band released 6 albums between 2002-2011. This is the only song I know by them. A great Pop-Rock tune that would spend 2 weeks at #1 on my chart in November and go onto place at #18 on the year-end chart.
A Silent Film/You Will Leave Your Mark (3)
The bright Alt-Pop from this British outfit has drawn comparisons to Keane, Coldplay, and Snow Patrol. I definitely gravitated towards the driving energy of their more upbeat songs. ‘Mark’, a great car with windows down kind of song, is their only song to reach the Alternative chart in the States, peaking at #38. I’m relatively sure that it got much more exposure on SiriusXM’s Alt Nation station. In fact, looking it up the song was #4 on the station's year-end countdown. Another band that made their top 18 of the year countdown was by The Temper Trap, an Australian Indie band whose sound was in a similar vein. Their song “Fader” was #15 for the year on Alt Nation and one of two songs to reach my top 10. The other, “Sweet Disposition” was also an Alternative radio and UK top 10. This song initially did not perform well but after its inclusion in the movie “500 Days Of Summer” it had a renewed life. In the end, in 2010 the song won Most Popular Australian Single at the ARIA Awards.
A Silent Film would chart for me 6 times and produce 3 other top 30 songs. “Driven By A Beating Heart”, even with a peak of only #22 on my weekly chart, ended up at #59 for the year (26 weeks in my top 150 and 15 of those in the top 40). In 2012 they came back with “Danny, Dakota and the Wishing Well” which was one of my husband John’s favorite songs of the year. The Temper Trap had a bit more success overall. Both bands had 3 studio albums, but A Silent Film didn’t have much chart success, while The Temper Trap had 2 of their albums go to #1 in Australia. In 2016 they would return to my chart and make it to #1 with the percolating “Alive”, a feel-good anthem from their final album “Thick As Thieves”, a single that failed to chart. The title track could chart for me in the coming weeks as I had not heard it before. The other single from that album “Fall Together” floundered on my chart for 11 weeks, never getting above #148 though in listening to it now it should have done better. I find it funny that in looking at other songs that were around it on my chart at that time 4 years ago, I remember it so much better than many of them.
Two Door Cinema Club/Come Back Home (4)
Speaking of songs that I don’t remember well; this song was spending its third week at #4 on my chart. Even with the first time I listened to it now I was like, why don’t I remember this? I’m listening to it again now while I write this (probably the third time recently) and it is coming back to me to some degree. This whole process of analyzing my past personal charts is so fascinating to me, and certainly a joy. There is a jangly essence to the UK band’s Alt-Dance vibe. I remember their first single “What You Know” better in retrospect, though that one only made it to #49 on my weekly chart. It was a top 25 hit on the U.S. Alternative chart. This is another band that my husband John has gravitated towards over the years. Songs like 2016’s “Bad Decisions” and 2019’s “Talk” (the band’s only other top 10 on my chart) were in heavy rotation on his playlist. The band has reached my top 50 8 times.
The band hails from Northern Ireland and won the Choice Music Prize for Best Irish Album of the Year in 2010 for their debut “Tourist History”. That album produced 5 singles including “Something Good Can Work” and ‘Undercover Martyn” but it was the last of those, “What You Know” that finally got them on the UK singles chart. They never reached the top 30 on that chart but the last 3 albums have all made the UK top 5.
This band, along with Phoenix and The Temper Trap, are all on Glassnote Records. Launched in 2007 by 30-year music veteran Daniel Glass. The label also is the home of Folk-based rockers Mumford and Sons whose 2009 debut single “Little Lion Man” established the UK band as one of the biggest Rock bands of the last decade. The song was a huge hit, reaching #1 on the Alternative chart in the States (#18 for the year) and the album “Sigh No More” selling over 3 million copies. The album won the Brit Award for Album of the Year, yet the song surprisingly only peaked at #24 in the UK. It produced 2 other Alternative top 10s, “The Cave” and “Roll Away Your Stone”. I was not a big fan of the band with none of these songs making my weekly top 100. They did make an appearance in my weekly top 10 once, with the lead single “I Will Wait” from their second album “Babel”. That album went on to win the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2013.
Another UK band in the Alt-Dance realm (and another fav of John’s), The Wombats, first charted for me with “Let’s Dance To Joy Division” in 2007. On this week’s chart, they had “Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves) (59). For some reason, I always thought this band was from Australia. Ironically their first album, released only in Japan, is titled “Girls, Boys, and Marsupials”. Many of the tracks on that album were included on the international debut album in 2007. Like so often happens in the UK, the original single releases were re-released to better effect after they had established themselves with the public. Their debut single “Backfire At The Disco” had one week on the UK singles chart in April 2007 and then another 5 weeks a year later in April/May of 2008.
The band has had 10 songs reach my weekly top 100 (well 2 of those almost made it so technically 8) though they only have gotten past #33 once. In 2015 they quickly clicked and shot up to #1 on my chart with “Emoticons”. With 14 weeks in my top 10 and 5 in my top 2, that song ended as my #2 of the year in 2016. There was just something to the build of that song. It starts with a simple beat, a lazy guitar line, breathy vocals, and simple keyboards. By the end, it is an exuberant denouncing of emojis (“all these emoticons and words, they try to make it better, but they only make it worse”). I like it when a middling band has a moment in the sun.
30 Seconds To Mars/Closer To The Edge (5)
Moving to the heavier side of Alternative is this Jared Leto led L.A. band. Some may remember that Leto won numerous acting awards in 2013 for his supporting turn in the movie “Dallas Buyers Club”. Matthew McConaughey also won Best Actor in that film, a biopic about AIDS patient Ron Woodroof who smuggled experimental drugs into the country. The band has placed 9 songs in the Alternative top 10, this one peaking at #7. This was their second and last Pop hit. Both ‘Edge’ and 2006’s “The Kill (Bury Me)” reached #30. These are 2 of 4 songs to reach my top 10 (“From Yesterday” and “A Beautiful Lie” are the other 2). The band made the “Guinness Book of World Records” in 2011, clocking in 309 live performances during a one-album cycle. The tour was in support of the 2009 album “This Is War’. The title song and “Kings And Queens” both hit #1 on the Alternative chart and ‘Edge’ was the best-selling rock single in the UK, topping that chart for 8 weeks.
Solon Bixler was in the band from 2000-2003 and went on the form the band Great Northern. In 2007 they landed a #4 on my chart with “Home”, a dreamy concoction with back and forth vocals from Bixler and Rachel Stolte that was featured in a 2008 Nissan Murano ad and in the movie “21”. “Story” (58) is one of three songs that charted for me from their second album “Remind Me Where The Light Is”. All but one of the songs on that album have a one-word title.
Read the Blog here
Oct 31
The Midnight Sky is Still Looking Bright, and Country Comes To Town in 2000
Miley Cyrus continues to gain ground and has been #1 on the last 4 charts (since Sept. 15) with "Midnight Sky". She is still quite far ahead of #2 in points, a spread of 3300 points. Starting in December 2018 her collaboration with Mark Ronson “Nothing Breaks Like A Heart” spent 3 months at #1 on the BR250 so she is a similar zone with this one.
There is no question that on the BR250 Dua Lipa is the artist of 2020. While The Weeknd’s “Blinding Light” is by far the #1 song of 2020, at this point almost 9,000 points ahead of “Don’t Start Now” (the point spread would be closer if her numbers from Nov. 2019 were included). With one month to go and “Levitating” moving up to #2 it’s looking like Dua Lipa will place 5 song in the top 20 of the year (The Weeknd only 2). All 5 of her radio single releases have reached the top 2.
The UK rock duo Royal Blood now have their biggest song on the BR250, moving 8-3, even before it reaches the top 10 at Rock and Alternative. Stalwart rockers AC/DC move into the top 25 with the #2 Rock song “Shot In The Dark”, a song that does nothing to change their sound. Not that that would have been expected. At #24 it joins heritage rockers Smashing Pumpkins (“Cyr” at #21) and Deftones (“Ohms #23, down from 19) in the top 25.
As “Say Something” falls to #20 Kylie Minogue gets to the top 5 for the second time this year with “Magic”. The next preview from her upcoming 15th album “Disco” (out Nov. 6), “I Love It”, should move into the BR250 on the next chart, already on 5 charts. Three more dance leaning songs enter the top 25 this week, the return of New Order moves 35-19, Lady Gaga’s “911” is up 29-22 and another Kygo re-working of a past hit, Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff”, jumps 36-25.
The highest move into the top 100 belongs to Romy’s “Lifetime” (144-34). I knew the voice when I heard it but I couldn’t place it. Of course, she is Romy Madley Croft from the Alt band The XX. I’ve never been a fan of their lo-fi approach, but this song has some life to it and could get her into my top 100. Another band under that Dream Pop umbrella is this week’s highest debut in the BR250 at #87. London Grammar’s atmospheric string-laden song and title track from their upcoming third album “Californian Soil” gives the band 2 songs on the list this week. “Baby It’s You” moves up 2 to #12.
Learn more about an era of music and the connections behind the songs. Interwoven with personal anecdotes, commentary and artist history. A unique way to tap into music nostalgia and discovery.
See my October 7, 2000 chart here
The playlists on the left features the songs discussed in this section, the one on the right features all the songs on the chart for this week as well.
My Personal Chart Blog, October 7, 2000
Part 3, Country Comes To Town and Out (Not Without Controversy), the Ladies and Gents of Country-Pop Crossover, Earl Says Goodbye, and an Urban Assault Begins
BILLY RAY CYRUS/You Won’t Be Lonely Now (3)
After the crazy success of “Achy Breaky Heart”, his debut single, Cyrus has had an up and down history on the charts. That song was also a Pop hit, reaching #4 on the Hot 100 and was 1992’s best-selling single In Australia. His debut album “Some Gave All” became the best-selling debut album by a male artist in history. Over the last 3 decades, he has reached the Country top 10 with only 7 of his 53 single releases. Yet last year he surfaced again on Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” which holds the record for most weeks atop the Hot 100 (19 weeks). There was racial controversy over that song as it entered the Country chart but then was removed (deemed not Country enough) until the remix, with Cyrus added, was released.
“You Won’t Be Lonely Now” is by far my favorite song from Cyrus, almost a surprise that it spent 3 weeks on top of my chart in the fall of 2000. A passionate love song, it should not be a surprise that I gravitated to this song as it was co-written by John Bettis, a frequent writer of Carpenters songs (“Yesterday Once More”, “Only Yesterday”) and a host of other Pop and Country artists (I mentioned him in one of the 1970 blog posts earlier this year). His co-writer was Brett James, a Country artist responsible for Carrie Underwood’s song “Jesus Take The Wheel” that won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards in 2007. He also co-wrote at least 2 #1 songs on my chart, “With Me” by Lonestar from 2001, one of only a handful of Country songs my husband John likes, and the Backstreet Boys 2007 song “Helpless When She Smiles”. Troy Verges was a frequent co-writer with Brett James (including on both of these songs) and he has more recently co-written a number of songs with my current favorite female singer, Caitlyn Smith. She’s enjoyed 6 multiple-week #1’s on my personal chart since 2018 including that year’s #2 of the year on my chart “Contact High”. Her current single with Country chart darlings Old Dominion, “I Can’t”, is starting to move up my chart and getting some Country radio play as well.
Lonestar’s 1999 song “Amazed” is one of two Country songs to hit #1 on the Hot 100 in the 2000s (the other Carrie Underwood’s “Inside Your Heaven”). It also was #1 on the Country chart for 8 weeks and 7 weeks on my personal chart in 2 separate runs (4 weeks in ’99 and 3 in 2000 when the Pop remix came out). When John and I got married in 2004 (the year gay marriage became legal in Massachusetts) our friend Chris sang “Amazed” at our wedding. The band had just fallen off my chart on Sept. 30 with “What About Now”, another Country #1. Producer Dann Huff, whom I have also mentioned in blog posts before, connects Lonestar to ‘Lonely’. He was part of the late ‘80s early ‘90s rock band Giant who scored 3 top 10 songs on my chart including “I’m A Believer”. He also produced the title track from Cyrus’ album “Southern Rain” that reached #8 on my chart following ‘Lonely’. Another song I charted from that album, “Without You”, Cyrus co-wrote with one of my favorite ‘90s artists, Jude Cole (discussed on the 1990 blog posts). Billy Ray Cyrus was part of a rock band himself in 2010 called Brother Clyde. It started out as a collaboration between Cyrus, John Waite (“Missing You”) and 2 Country artists: Jeffrey Steele and Phil Vassar. By the time the album came out those 3 were gone (even though they originally invited Cyrus into the band) and were replaced by former members of Hole and Snot. It was a one-album endeavor. The song “Lie To Me” had a bit of a grunge feel.
Jeffrey Steele (who co-wrote the #1 songs “What Hurts The Most” by Rascal Flatts and Steve Holy’s “Brand New Girlfriend”, a #8 on my personal chart) was the lead singer of the ‘90s group Boy Howdy. That California band had 2 top 5 Country singles, “She’d Give Anything” (a song I do remember) and “They Don’t Make Them Like That Anymore” in ’93 and ’94. Since my charts from 91-97 are basically lost I’m sure ‘Anything’ charted but I don’t know how well. I’ll be re-creating those charts as we progress through these blog entries. Steele also wrote a song from the “Southern Rain” album, “All I’m Thinking About Is You”.
See the Rest Here
Oct 26
Another look at the Year 2000
Learn more about an era of music and the connections behind the songs. Interwoven with personal anecdotes, commentary and artist history. A unique way to tap into music nostalgia and discovery.
See my October 7, 2000 chart here
My Personal Chart Blog, October 7, 2000
Part 2, A Big Era for Christian Music, Many Roads lead to DC Talk.
SOLOMON’S WISH/Grand Scheme (2)
The playlist on the left features the songs discussed in this section, the one on the right features all the songs on the chart for this week as well.
**Bolded songs were on my top 150 this week in 2000 & the number in parentheses is its position on the chart.
I could not find much information about Solomon’s Wish on the internet. They were a trio and only had one album. At the time, this acoustic guitar-based song was my #1 song of the year. Much of that status has to be because of the harmonies and the grandeur of the song as it builds. Besides, I must have been a pretty spiritual state of mind at the time. They were in the same lane as Jars of Clay and this song especially reminds me of Toad The Wet Sprocket and the song “Something’s Always Wrong”. In total, I charted 5 songs from the album “A Wise Man’s Tragedy”. “Learning To Fly” (25) was the only other to make my top 10, peaking at #3. Their music is not available on Spotify. There also seems to be one or two bands with the same name. Both indie rock, one from the mid-’90s and another in the last few years.
‘Fly’ has a similar style to a number of songs from the Australian band Taxiride (not a Christian band) that had a string of hits in the land down under between 1999 and 2005. One of those, “Get Set” reached the Alternative top 40 in the States and was featured in the movie “Election” with Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick. I charted 8 songs from their debut album “Imaginate” and 17 songs in total. 10 of those reached my top 10 including 3 #1’s with the 2002 song “How I Got This Way” becoming my #1 song of 2003. This song has one of my favorite choruses of all-time. There is an acoustic version of this song on Spotify that is good, but it doesn’t have the intensity of the original. Like Solomon’s Wish, there was extensive use of vocal harmony by this band. On this week’s chart was “Let Me Die Young” (101), a song about joining the one you lost too soon. “72 Hour Daze” is another lamenting ballad that reached #6 on my chart earlier in the year and was my #30 of the year. In ’99 “Get Set” and “Everywhere You Go” with its late ‘70s vibe both reached my top 10.
Christian music was much more prominent on my personal chart between the mid-’90s and about 2010. The catalyst for that was most likely DC Talk, a trio from Lynchburg, Virginia. Their early music was much more Hip-Hop oriented than their music towards the end of the ‘90s. Early songs like “Spinnin’ Round” and “Heavenbound” owe a lot to the Beastie Boys and Run DMC who both incorporate Rock into their brand of Hip-Hop. I will say this early music, to me, was relatively amateurish. Their second album in 1990 added a dose of New Jack Swing to the mix. “Nu Thang” brought them into the Christian top 5 for the first time. In 1992 with their third album “Free At Last” they started to settle into their status as a major Christian force. The album featured covers of “Jesus Is Just Alright” made most famous by the Doobie Brothers in 1972 and Bill Withers’ “Lean On Me”. The album went on to win Best Rock/Gospel Album of the year at the Grammys. ‘Jesus’ helped bring them into mainstream consciousness. They were among only a handful of Christian artists to appear on late-night TV, performing this song on “The Tonight Show” in November 1993. The song contains samples from Madonna’s “Vogue” and Snap’s “The Power” but I also hear elements of Crystal Water’s “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)”. It wasn’t until their next album that I really became fully aware of them.
The album “Jesus Freak” released in November 1995 helped to propel them as the biggest Christian Rock band of the ‘90s. In 1997 they placed 6 songs from the iconic album “Jesus Freak” in my top 50 of the year. The title track was a brilliant mix of Rock and Rap yet so much of the album settled into a polished and melodic Pop-Rock lane. This helped them to attain Pop airplay with “Just Between You And Me” their only crossover hit, reaching #15 Pop. The album also includes a cover of the “Day By Day” from Godspell. The song “Mind’s Eye” was my #3 song of 1997 and one of 17 songs of theirs that went to #1 on the Christian chart.
In listening to snippets from the album one of the tracks is a 1:18 reprise of “Jesus Freak”, done in a tongue in cheek off-key lounge style. What is particularly funny about this is that yesterday at a friend’s house we ended up getting sucked into a documentary about Florence Foster Jenkins by accident. She is notable as “the world’s worst opera singer”. Meryl Streep portrayed her in the movie named after her in 2016. Just another perfectly timed coincidence in my life of coincidences. Just listen to “The Magic Flute: Queen Of The Night Aria” to experience her sheer delightful awfulness. In total DC Talk had 7 #1’s on my personal chart, the last was “Wanna Be Loved” in 1999.
See the Rest Here
Oct 15
Trouble's Coming to Trending 100, Post-Grunge is the Talk of 2000, and New Alternative Sub-Genre Charts
These are the top 100 songs that are making gains at mid-month
October 2020
POS/ARTIST/SONG/POS ON BR250/POINTS
1 ROYAL BLOOD Trouble's Coming 8 2851.6
Whoever thought Royal Blood would add a dance edge to their bluesy rock music? Well here it is, and it is quite groovy. They were trying to achieve a Daft Punk meets rock vibe and I think they found it. By blasting onto the BR250 this week at #8 it seems likely that they will surpass the #6 peak of 2017’s “Lights Out”.
2 KYLIE MINOGUE Magic 13 2495.85
The other out of the box BR250 splash (#13 debut) comes from Queen Kylie. The second single from the upcoming “Disco” album would keep me on the dance floor after the Royal Blood song. It has a wonderfully happy groove. This has been a great year for dance-pop. This week Dua Lipa tops my personal chart with “Hallucinate”, the first in that genre in a long time.
3 SHAWN MENDES Wonder 71 1198.15
This new single has a grand Sam Smith-ian chorus and is quite introspective from a lyrical standpoint. It’s already top 20 Pop in the States and top 10 in the UK. For some reason, his voice has always somewhat irked me. He has only made my top 100 once.
4 AC/DC Shot In The Dark 78 1144.15
It has been 5 years since AC/DC’s last release and Rock radio was clamoring for it. It debuted at #5 on that chart last week. Funny, in an interview with Mike Kerr of Royal Blood, he talked about AC/DC and their connecting of rock and dance music. The band’s 17th album “Power Up” will be released in November. This song also marks the return of vocalist Brian Johnson.
5 SAM SMITH Diamonds 18 2238.65
Oh look, Sam Smith right here. He’s also right behind Mendes on the Mediabase Pop airplay chart right now. I’ve always been hot and cold with Smith but on this dance track I’m liking what I hear. This has already surpassed the BR250 peak of his 3 other singles over the last year. His third album “Love Goes” is scheduled for release at the end of the month.
6 DAVID GUETTA f/ SIA Let's Love 9 2822.65
This duo has teamed up on numerous tracks over the years including the smash “Titanium”. I hear shades of A-Ha’s “Take On Me” but I don’t see a songwriting credit. The song is currently top 10 in the UK and top 15 in Australia.
7 LADY GAGA 911 29 1860.2
The frenetic techno pulse of the third single from Chromatica fits the theme of the song quite well. I have a different take on the song now that I understand it. The song talks about her relationship with taking an antipsychotic drug, thus the lyric “pop a 911”.
8 TRAVIS SCOTT f/ YOUNG THUG & M.I.A. Franchise 102 958.15
Scott made Billboard history with this song, it being his third to debut atop the Hot 100 in less than one year. It made it with one week to go. “Highest In The Room debuted at #1 on Oct. 19, 2019 and this on Oct. 10, 2020. In-between the song “The Scotts” with Kid Cudi was the third.
9 JUSTIN BIEBER f/ CHANCE THE RAPPER Holy 57 1348.35
The gospel influenced track actually features gospel artist Kirk Franklin in the choir at the end of the song. It is an across the globe hit, already top 5 on the Hot 100, Australia and in the UK plus top 15 across Europe.
10 BASTILLE Survivin' 100 968
This UK band does not typically get a song on Pop radio in the States out of the box but it is already charting at Pop, Hot AC, AAA and Alternative. The thing that makes this song unique is the saxophone line that almost seems out of place.
11 OF MONSTERS AND MEN Visitor 24 2111.35
This Icelandic band has had an impressive run on Alternative radio over the last decade, landing 10 songs on that chart. This driving electro-pop song becomes their first top reach the top 25 on the BR250. In 2019 “Alligator” peaked at #36 and “Wars” topped out at #32.
12 BLACKPINK Lovesick Girls 122 829.1
This single co-written by David Guetta is the fourth to make the BR250. 2 of those are still on the chart, “Ice Cream” at #44 and “How Like That” #147 after a #20 peak.
Learn more about an era of music and the connections behind the songs. Interwoven with personal anecdotes, commentary and artist history. A unique way to tap into music nostalgia and discovery.
My Personal Chart, October 7, 2000
See my October 7, 2000 chart here
The playlist on the left features the songs discusssed in this section, the one on the right features all the songs on the chart for this week as well.
My Personal Chart Blog, October 7, 2000
Part 1, The Mainstream Side of Post-Grunge, Iconic Songs, Music Party Impact, and the Future Wives Club.
Leaving Town/Dexter Freebish (1)
“Leaving Town” ranks as one of my all-time favorite songs. Back in 2001 was the last time I put together my all-time list and at that time it ranked at #220, in a similar zone to songs I have talked about in my blog posts this year (“Breakdown Dead Ahead” by Boz Scaggs, Elton John’s “Sartorial Eloquence” and the Jeff Healey Band version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”). I feel that when I re-do this list, which I should do for my 60th birthday coming up next July, this song will move upwards, possibly into the top 100 or higher. The Austin, Texas band has a connection to the Beatles in that they won Song of the Year in the 1999 John Lennon Songwriting Contest with this song. That contest was established in 1997 by Yoko Ono and gives awards in 12 different categories plus the Song of the Year grand prize. Sadly, it is the only song by the band that charted, reaching #30 Pop, #25 Alternative, and #15 AAA. It missed the Hot 100, placing at #111 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under chart. It was a favorite among my circle of friends and was #24 at the 2001 music party that I host each summer. The second series of my podcast “Beyond Radio Presents” chronicles the #1 songs from the parties that started in 1984 and that will have a virtual version later this fall.
Over the course of 3 albums, they scored 15 placements on my personal chart (plus at least 5 others that should have charted) with 7 of those making my top 5 including 2 #1’s (“Wonderland” was the other). Their debut album “A Life Of Saturdays” is definitely among my favorite albums of all-time, which is why I’m perplexed that 4 of the songs from that never charted (though 5 did) and 2 of those that didn’t (“Spotlight” and “Deeper”), would easily make the top 10 if I re-did those charts now. The band was named after a roller coaster at Astroworld in Houston, Texas that closed in 2005. The coaster was originally called “Dexter Frebish’s Electric Roller Ride”, opening in 1972. Its name was changed to Excalibur and they closed that coaster in 1998. I only late last year discovered the band’s 2010 third album “Shine On” with the song “Save The Last Dance” reaching #7 on my chart in February.
Though only a one-hit-wonder (and moderate at that), Dexter Freebish fits into the mold of the mammoth Pop-Rockers of the time, Matchbox 20. The Orlando group led by Rob Thomas first hit the airwaves 4 years earlier with “Long Day”, a #8 Rock song that was their first #1 on my chart. It was a melodic slice of Post-Grunge but slightly harder than what would follow and establish the band. The next single “Push” was the breakthrough, taking them to #1 on the Alternative chart and #3 Pop. The album “Yourself Or Someone Like You” proved to be a hit-making machine and eventually sold over 12 million copies. By the time the 2nd album “Mad Season” came out, Thomas had become a household name due to his turn as the vocalist on the #1 song of 1999, Santana’s “Smooth”. That song is ranked by Billboard as the #2 song of all-time, behind Chubby Checker’s “The Twist”.
The lead single from “Mad Season” was the fabulously insinuating “Bent” which was another multi-format smash that topped the Hot 100 in July and my personal chart the week of my birthday at the end of the month. It was the #5 song at the 2001 party, and it will always be connected to my friend and business partner at the time, Keino from South Africa. He came to the States for the party and if I recall correctly it was his favorite song at the time. The opening instrumental line of the song is definitely part of what makes the song great, a moody lick that is repeated later and contrasts the gentleness of the verses. Thomas has said this was the first love song he had ever written, though not necessarily tender and sweet.
“If You’re Gone”, the second single (and I guess his second love song), was released to radio the first week of October. It debuted on my chart the following week but somehow only managed to hit #72 on my chart 2 weeks later. The horn line, most prevalent in the bridge and towards the end, so totally reminds me of the early ‘70s and specifically the Partridge Family. Maybe the top 5 Pop hit was too bland for me in that moment. At the time the song had the distinction of taking the longest to reach #1 on the AC chart, 42 weeks. The Rock-oriented “Crutch” debuted on my chart the same week and reached #5, albeit 7 months later, so it was a long slow burn. In all 11 of the 13 songs from this album charted for me with the title track also going to #1. More to that story when I circle back to early 2001 next March.
Another song that fits into the Matchbox playbook is an obscure song from the California band Neve. Their #30 Alternative and #25 Hot AC song from 1999 “It’s Over Now” spent 4 weeks at #1 on my chart in mid-99 and was my #2 song of the year. For some reason that escapes me now, it re-appeared on my chart in June 2000 and spent another 6 weeks in my top 15. It was unusual for a song to chart twice for me in those days but typically it was if I knew the song better and thus it performed better in its second appearance. This was not the case with this one. This band came and went quickly and were also compared to the New York band Nine Days. They are an almost one-hit-wonder. Their song “Absolutely (Story of A Girl)” was a true Pop hit, spending 2 weeks at #1. The autobiographical song was written about the lead singer’s future wife (Matchbox 20’s “If You’re Gone” was also written for Rob Thomas’ future wife). They were able to reach the Pop top 40 a second time with “If I Am” (124), peaking at #25. 4 of the 9 songs that I charted from the band between 2000-2003 made my top 20, better than “Absolutely” which peaked at #25. The third single “257 Weeks” (16) was a piano rocker while the break-up song “Bitter” went to #1 on my chart for 2 weeks in the summer of 2001. The follow-up album was mired in release delays by their label because they said there wasn’t a single (“Good Friend” and “Marvelous” both made my top 15 so I disagree) and they were eventually dropped.
Fellow New Yorkers Splender had a remarkably similar life on my personal chart. They also scored a #1 on my chart with the Pop top 20 ballad “I Think God Can Explain” for 2 weeks in June 2000. Before that, they peaked at #15 with “Yeah Whatever”, a top 25 Alternative song in 1999. ‘God’ placed at #21 for the 1991 music party. In total, they also placed 9 songs on my chart, 6 of those reaching my top 25. They also had 2 songs on this week’s chart, “Spaceboy” (70) and “Monotone” (115). Like Nine Days, their follow-up album went nowhere. Both bands also appear on the album “Music From Dawson’s Creek, Vol 2”.
See the Rest Here
Beyond Radio Alternative Sub-Genre Charts--October 15, 2020
Each of these charts (top 100’s) now have their own page found on the Monthly Genre Charts Menu
Alt Pop/Electro
1 1 BASTILLE F/ GRAHAM COXON What You Gonna Do???
6 2 24KGOLDN f/ IANN DIOR Mood
8 3 LONDON GRAMMAR Baby It's You
20 4 SMASHING PUMPKINS Cyr
135 5 OF MONSTERS AND MEN Visitor
10 6 I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME Leave Me Alone
2 7 BEABADOOBEE Care
3 8 BILLIE EILISH My Future
7 9 EVERYTHING EVERYTHING Violent Sun
50 10 NEW ORDER Be A Rebel
Retro Soul (R&B, Soul Pop, Jazz Pop, Disco, Throwback Hip Hop)
new 1 KYLIE MINOGUE Say Something
new 2 KYLIE MINOGUE Magic
new 3 LONDON GRAMMAR Baby It's You
new 4 CALVIN HARRIS f/ THE WEEKND Over Now
1 5 JESSIE WARE What's Your Pleasure?
22 6 ARLO PARKS Hurt
3 7 MARIAH CAREY f/ LAURYN HILL Save The Day
new 8 SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR Crying At The Discotheque
2 9 JESSIE WARE Save A Kiss
85 10 JANELLE MONAE Turntables
Adult Leaning Alternative
2 1 THE KILLERS My Own Soul's Warning
1 2 BASTILLE F/ GRAHAM COXON What You Gonna Do???
4 3 LONDON GRAMMAR Baby It's You
8 4 PHOEBE BRIDGERS Kyoto
36 5 NEW ORDER Be A Rebel
11 6 TAME IMPALA Is It True
7 7 CHRIS CORNELL Patience
9 8 SAINT MOTEL Preach
14 9 SUFJAN STEVENS Video Game
6 10 FUTURE ISLANDS For Sure
Alternative Hip Hop
1 1 DISCLOSURE f/ AMINE & SLOWTHAI My High
6 2 CLIPPING Say The Name
2 3 TERRACE MARTIN & DENZEL CURRY Pig Feet
new 4 SLOWTHAI f/ JAMES BLAKE & MOUNT KIMBIE Feel Away
24 5 RUN THE JEWELS Out Of Sight
5 6 YVES TUMOR Gospel For A New Century
new 7 THE AVALANCHES Take Care Of Your Dreaming
new 8 THE AVALANCHES Music Make Me High
4 9 THE AVALANCHES Wherever You Go
3 10 RUN THE JEWELS f/ PHARRELL WILLIAMS & ZACK DE LA ROCHA Ju$t
Alt Rock
1 1 BASTILLE F/ GRAHAM COXON What You Gonna Do???
new 2 ROYAL BLOOD Trouble's Coming
new 3 DEFTONES Ohms
15 4 SMASHING PUMPKINS Cyr
79 5 OF MONSTERS AND MEN Visitor
6 6 I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME Leave Me Alone
2 7 BEABADOOBEE Care
new 8 SEETHER Dangerous
4 9 CHRIS CORNELL Patience
44 10 BEABADOOBEE Worth It
Underground
5 1 IDLES Model Village
23 2 CLIPPING Say The Name
2 3 SUFJAN STEVENS My Rajneesh
8 4 BON IVER AUATC
1 5 FONTAINES DC Televised Mind
160 6 SOFT SET 7 On Up
new 7 SLOWTHAI f/ JAMES BLAKE & MOUNT KIMBIE Feel Away
new 8 RUN THE JEWELS Out Of Sight
44 9 LAVENDER BLUSH I'm In Love
7 10 FONTAINES DC A Hero's Death
Roots AAA (Roots Rock, Americana, Folk, Heritage Pop)
1 1 TAYLOR SWIFT f/ BON IVER Exile
2 2 TAYLOR SWIFT Betty
7 3 THE GO-GO'S Club Zero
3 4 THE CHICKS Sleep At Night
4 5 ALANIS MORISETTE Ablaze
5 6 SEMISONIC You're Not Alone
50 7 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Letter To You
9 8 SEMISONIC All It Would Take
11 9 ORVILLE PECK & SHANIA TWAIN Legends Never Die
6 10 JAMES BAY Chew On My Heart
Oct 9
My Personal Chart, Oct. 7, 2000 and the latest Podcast Episode
See my October 2000 chart here
Blog posts for the chart will be coming in a few days
Beyond Radio Presents - Castlist 006 - Ep 4
From '90s Alt to Country Crossover
Follow the podcast on Spotify
I teased Jeff and the audience at the end of the last episode by ending before he was aware of the transition from the Editors "Hallelujah" to the Eels.
Once we establish that we delve a bit into that band's music, sampling, and Beck. This segues nicely to the next artist, who exemplify how Alternative music has changed from the '90s 'til now.
From there we deep dive into Country (Jeff's not so favorite place) and talk about that genre's connection to Pop music over the years. Jeff needs to make a point about the effects of Twang on him and how it relates to a spoken vocal style as well.
In the end, I allude to the theme of the next podcast which also includes some Country music and will feature a great backstory, one of my favorite stories connected to the podcast.
Oct 5
My Personal Chart Blog, September 8, 1990 Part 3, Start Your Cars, Vaughn Marx the Path From Blues to Country
Learn more about an era of music and the connections behind the songs. Interwoven with personal anecdotes, commentary and artist history. A unique way to tap into music nostalgia and discovery.
My Personal Chart, September 8, 1990
See the chart here
The companion Spotify playlist has all the songs discussed in the blog.
Number in Parentheses after bolded and underlined songs are the chart position on my personal chart that week.
Just Came Back/Colin James (5)
This song had just come off a 4-week run at the top of my personal chart in July and August and spending its 9th week in my top 10. The song starts like a campfire song recorded in a bygone era and then transforms into a blistering Blues-Rocker smoothed out by a killer melody, horns, and female background vocals. The production of the time added a simmering synth backdrop and all these elements have put this song in a grand place in my personal chart history. At the time it was my #4 song of the year but now it stands as my favorite song of 1990, surpassing the original #1 “Heart Of The Matter” by Don Henley, #2 “Policy of Truth” by Depeche Mode, and #3 by Winger ?! “Can’t Get Enuff” (8). That one also had an underlying keyboard groove that elevated it above other hair metal of the time.
Saskatchewan native Colin James is an acclaimed blues guitarist who was discovered by Stevie Ray Vaughn and has had 16 albums and 17 charted singles since 1988. With this song, which went to #5 in Canada, he won the Juno Award for Song of the Year in 1991 as well as Male Vocalist of the Year. “Voodoo Thing” was his 1st hit in 1988 and he returned the Canadian top 10 in 1995 with “Saviour”. In 1991 he played guitar on the Richard Marx song “Thunder and Lightning”, the B-side of his hit “Hazard”.
On his follow-up album In 1993, “Colin James and the Little Big Bad”, he dabbled in Jump Blues long before the Swing revival of the late ‘90s made it popular. He would do 4 albums in that style over the years. He also often collaborated with members of the Canadian band Odds who had a few Alternative hits in the mid-90s; “Someone Who’s Cool” (hitting #6 on Adult Alternative in 1997), “Heterosexual Man” and “Eat My Brain”. That last song was featured in the 1996 movie “Brain Candy” from Canadian comedy troupe Kids In The Hall who had a successful TV show from 1988-1995.
Stevie Ray Vaughn was also instrumental in bringing Blues guitarist Jeff Healey to recognition. Healey had a rare cancer and went blind at the age of 1. At 3 he started playing guitar and uniquely played it flat on his lap. In 1989 he scored a major hit with the Blues ballad “Angel Eyes”. The song co-written by famed artist John Hiatt hit #5 on the Hot 100. In the summer of ’89 “Angel Eyes” and Stevie Ray Vaughn’s own “Crossfire” were both moving up my chart. The week of Sept. 30 ‘Eyes’ peaked at #5 and “Crossfire” and #22.
In 1990 The Jeff Healey Band won Entertainer of the Year at the Juno Awards. Their 1990 album “Hell To Pay” produced 2 Rock top 10 songs; the #5 “I Think I Love You too Much” written by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits and the Beatles cover “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (14). This version went to #1 on my chart and #7 on the Rock chart. On this track they got an assist from the song’s writer George Harrison and ELO’s Jeff Lynne. In 2007 Healey died at the age of 41 from complications from sarcoma.
Find the rest here
Oct 1
September Charts and a New Podcast Episode
For September 30, the top 25 is relatively quiet. Miley extended her lead over Taylor, now over 2000 points. The Killers make a nice move, 7-3, but probably will stall there though right now there are no clear fast movers. Dua Lipa joins herself in the top 10 but neither have the juice needed to challenge the top 3. I’m enjoying her new song “Love Is Religion” from “Club Future Nostalgia”. “Dynamite”, up 21-14 is the only song that saw a substantial increase in charts over the last BR250 in the top 15.
There are 4 new titles in the top 25, led by London Grammar’s “Baby It’s You” (30-19) and followed by 24kgoldn’s “Mood” (27-20), “Over You” from Calvin Harris and the Weeknd (39-22) puls Everything Everything’s “Violent Sun” (28-25), their 1st appearance in the top 25 this year after 3 other songs placing on the BR250.
Just outside the top 25, 2 songs make substantial moves from outside the top 200. The 1st New Order song singe 2015, “Be A Rebel” got 16 adds and leaps 267-28 while the David Guetta/Sia collab ‘Let’s Love” added 17 charts moving it 245-33. The songs with the most adds, and highest out of the box debut belongs to Sam Smith and “Diamonds” (#82).
Here are the #1’s on September’s Genre and Untapped Charts
AAA-TAYLOR SWIFT f/ BON IVER Exile
AC-KYGO & TINA TURNER What's Love Got To Do With It
ALT-THE KILLERS My Own Soul's Warning
CHRISTIAN-JENNA PARR Those Eyes
COUNTRY-TAYLOR SWIFT Betty
DANCE-DUA LIPA Levitating
HIP HOP-CARDI B f/ MEGAN THEE STALLION WAP
HOTAC-TAYLOR SWIFT Cardigan
ROCK-DEFTONES Ohms
UNTAPED HIP HOP-JANELLE MONAE Turntables
UNTAPPED AAA-CELESTE Little Runaway
UNTAPPED AC-JESSIE WARE Remember Where You Are
UNTAPPED ALT-STAND ATLANTIC Blurry
UNTAPPED CTY-SPENCER CRANDALL Say In This
UNTAPPED HOT -VIZE f/ TOM GREGORY Never Let Me Down
UNTAPPED POP-TROYE SIVAN In A Dream
UNTAPPED ROCK-NICKELBACK The Devil Went Down To Georgia
A brand new “Beyond Radio Presents” Podcast episode has been added. Check out all the episodes through the above link or by following it on Spotify.
This episode makes connections between '80s Goth and Dark Wave and more recent songs in those styles. It starts on a completely different path at first. Jeff wants to play me a song by a local Maine artist that I find was part of 2 groups I know. This leads to another Struts conversation and 2 collaboration songs.
Once the actual theme starts a few different concert experiences come into play, the lack of baritone and bass vocals in popular music, and a lot of talk about songs that build. This seems to be a comfort zone for Jeff, who offers some interesting connections which leads to one that only I became aware of during editing. This process is always so much fun.
We end on a highlight for Jeff that will lead to the next episode.
Sep 23
How XTC, Radiohead, Big Star and Semisonic connect to my September 1990 Chart
Learn more about an era of music and the connections behind the songs. Interwoven with personal anecdotes, commentary and artist history. A unique way to tap into music nostalgia and discovery.
My Personal Chart, September 8, 1990
See the chart here
The companion Spotify playlist on the left has all the songs discussed in the blog. The Jellyfish playlist features only the songs discussed in Part 2.
My Personal Chart Blog, September 8, 1990
Part 2, Section 2 - The Power of Pop? The Ecstasy of the Bends, Big Star Worship, and a Semisonic Reunion
Golden Blunders/The Posies (95)
This song was just getting started on my chart, in its 2nd week, and would go on to my top 5. Its title, obviously a play on the Beatles song “Golden Slumbers”, has a vastly different meaning. This song is about making mistakes that last a lifetime, alluding to teen pregnancy and the aftermath of a failed marriage (“Four weeks seemed like a long time then, but nine months is longer now” and “Honeymoons will never start, bonds will blow apart just as fast as they were made”). At the time I never thought about the lyrics, the song just fit into that Power Pop sweet spot. The song certainly had an impact on Ringo Starr who covered it on his album, “Time Takes Time”, the album I spoke of in the last post concerning Jellyfish.
The song was another Modern Rock top 20 (#17 peak) and the band had 8 albums between 1988-2016. Their commercial peak came in 1993 with the album “Frosting On The Beater” that produced The #4 “Dream All Day” and “Flavor of The Month”, a song that addressed the rise of oh so many grunge bands from their hometown of Seattle. Funny the album had a bit more of a grunge factor than the previous album with production from Don Fleming, who helmed albums by Screaming Trees and Hole.
Like Jellyfish, the driving force of the Posies, Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow met in high school. They got major label support for their 2nd album “Dear 23” and producer John Leckie was brought on. 2 of the albums that he produced over the years were XTC’s “White Music” from 1978 and Radiohead’s “The Bends” in 1995. XTC was certainly an influence on the Posies. The XTC debut album features my introduction to the band, “This Is Pop”, a song that mixes a Post-Punk sensibility with a Power Pop style chorus. “The Bends” is my favorite album of the ‘90s, with the title track definitely among my top 100 songs of all-time. Similar to the Jellyfish song “Joining a Fan Club” it has a great instrumental bridge, but the sonicscape of the song is quite different; dissonance, slicing guitar, feedback, and a quiet/loud tone. Right behind that song would be “Just” a gloriously soaring anthem that I was surprised only reached #37 on the Modern Rock chart (though #19 in the UK). Interestingly the band’s 2nd single in 1993 was called “Pop Is Dead” (not available on Spotify – seek it out on YouTube). I wasn’t expecting to go on this tangent.
In 1993 Auer and Stringfellow joined a resurrected Big Star (while remaining in the Posies), the influential ‘70s band led by Alex Chilton that Rolling Stone magazine called “the quintessential American Power Pop band”. Their song “September Gurls” from the 1974 album “Radio City” was covered by The Bangles on their monster 1986 album “Different Light”. The only thing I knew about Big Star was the name until now. Before Big Star, Alex Chilton was the lead singer of the late ‘60s band The Box Tops, who topped the Hot 100 in 1967 with “The Letter” when he was only 16. They almost reached the top again in 1968 with “Cry Like A Baby”, stalling at #2.
Find the rest here
Sep 21
Feelin' Groovy in 1990