Throwback Thursday: 1991 (7 Weeks at #1)

No songs started 7 week runs at #1 in 1992!

Michael Jackson - Black or White (12/7-1/18/92) (This has a long video and a short video)

Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You (7/27-9/7)

Here's the video for this song. I guess Mr. Adams is not a fan of embedding things....so weird.

New Countdown: Streaks Come to an End

Bishop Briggs

Man, there is a lot of danceable music on this episode. It wouldn't surprise me if you got halfway through it and found yourself inexplicably shaking your moneymaker. Let me know if this is the case!

Enjoy!


Countdown #304

***Featuring***
Bishop Briggs
Blink 182
Cage the Elephant
Fitz & the Tantrums
Kaleo
The Kinks
The Lumineers
Michael Jackson
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Strumbellas
twenty one pilots

New Countdown: Many Roads to the Top

Red Hot Chili Peppers

We've got a great episode this week. One that I think you'll enjoy from the very beginning to the very end. So make sure you don't let me down by not enjoying it at some point. Ok? Ok. Let's do this.



Countdown #302

***Featuring***
Bishop Briggs
Blink-182
Cage the Elephant
David Bowie
Fitz and the Tantrums
Kaleo
KONGOS
The Lumineers
Michael Jackson
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Strumbellas
twenty one pilots

Throwback Thursday: 1995 (1 Week at #1)

WOW what a great set of songs. And they only stayed in the top position for a WEEK? Crazy.

Whitney Houston - Exhale (Shoop Shoop) (11/25)

The first of two songs from a movie this week. I feel like no one talks about the "Movie Soundtrack Song Music Video" genre. It's truly a 90's icon. Show the performance, now clip, now performance, now clip. If you're feeling really bold, have the singer be in some way IN the movie. Perhaps a cameo by a star of the movie? Maybe, like in this one, the singer is actually one of the stars of the movie. Or, like we'll see later, maybe the singer is just belting it out from atop a building in the city where the movie takes place

Michael Jackson - You Are Not Alone (9/2)

This song holds a Guinness World Record as the first song in the 37-year history of the Billboard Hot 100 to debut at number one. I actually thought it was #1 for longer than 1 week, but I guess I thought wrong. This is a great song, but get ready for basically no one to be wearing shirts.

Seal - Kiss From a Rose (8/26)

Just a classic song. Meets all the "MSSMV" requirements and also gives me a big injection of nostalgia. Love it.

Throwback Thursday: 1983

As I did when I was covering the Hot 100 for this year, the year of my birth, I will play a video from each album.

...

And I just realized that 1983 is where Billboard's online Album Chart data falls off. It's super annoying. So all I know is that the #1 album for this week in 1983 was Thriller. So let's look at the videos for it!


I couldn't find videos for The Girl is Mine or PYT. Can anyone do better than me? Some of the songs are from the Wembley Stadium Concert he did in honor of my 5th birthday.

Billy Jean

Beat It

Wanna Be Startin' Something

 Human Nature

Thriller

Top Ten Tuesday: Michael Jackson & Justin Timberlake "Love Never Felt So Good"

This song is really good. I know there's kind of maybe a lot of eye-rolling about the "new" Michael Jackson album, but I feel like, based on what I've heard, that it was put together by people that had a real love for MJ's music and just wanted to get previously unheard Michael Jackson music out to the people. Call me naive, but this doesn't feel like a money-making project. I mean, if it was just a money-making project, I don't think this song would be as enjoyable.

Throwback Thursday: 1983

This is the year of my birth!! Less than 5 months from this chart, I made my way into the world!

And so, in honor of this being my birth year (and my wife's!), here are videos for EACH song on the top 10 this week in 1983!

10. Musical Youth - Pass the Dutchie

9. Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton - We've Got Tonight

8. Men at Work - Down Under

7. Eddie Rabbit with Crystal Gayle - You and I

6. Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

5. Culture Club - Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?

4. Michael Jackson - Billie Jean

3. Stray Cats - Stray Cat Strut

2. Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band - Shame on the Moon

1. Patti Austin with James Ingram - Baby Come To Me

One Year, 100 Albums: #43 Michael Jackson "Thriller"

Michael Jackson Thriller, 1982

So. Here we are. I'm ready to write something interesting and exciting about this amazing album. It's pretty hard. I think probably every combination of words possible to use about this album has been used, but I'll give it a shot.

I think the thing that always knocks me about about Thriller is that it starts off strong with three decent early-80's Michael Jackson songs. You may not care for the Paul McCartney collab "The Girl is Mine", but I find it charming and fun. So ok. We're trucking merrily along on this solid B of an album.

Then "Thriller" happens. And it feels like you're waking from a dream. We've got this huge, epic song with...is that....VINCENT PRICE doing creepy Vincent Price-esque guest vocals?? And then the coffin door closes. What could possibly follow that amazing trip of a song?

Well.

Just about the best side of a record I can think of: The one-two punch of "Beat It" and "Billie Jean". Then you have the sexy, smooth "Human Nature:, into "P.Y.T." which, as usual, sets the room on fire. And then we catch our breath, slow dancing on the ashes to the dulcet tones of "The Lady in My Life" and the album's over.

It's devastating what a great album Thriller is. For MJ, this was literally the case. He obsessed over the follow-up for years before releasing Bad, which is about as good a follow-up as you're going to get if you're trying to compare to Thriller, for God's sake.

I had my choice of another of amazing music videos, but, really, what other music video am I going to feature? Honestly. Enjoy :)

Michael Jackson - Human Nature

You can buy Thriller at Amazon, Amazon MP3, and iTunes (although, seriously? you don't already own Thriller??)

All Time Hot 100 (Part 7)

Ok, back on track with today's posting from Billboard as they countdown the All Time Hot 100 from 55 years of Billboard. It's Top 40 time. Someone call Casey!

40. Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson - Say Say Say (1983)

39. Queen - Another One Bites the Dust (1980)

38. The Bee Gees - Night Fever (1978)

37. Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On (1973)

36. Wings - Silly Love Songs (1976)

35. Savage Garden - Truly, Madly, Deeply (1998)

34. Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men - One Sweet Day (1995)

33. Johnny Horton - The Battle of New Orleans (1959)

32. Bobby Lewis - Tossin' and Turnin' (1961)

31. Adele - Rolling in the Deep (2011)

All Time Hot 100 (Part 2)

Continuing tracking down the music videos for the 100 highest charting songs of all of Billboard's history and we are going to do 90-81 right....NOW!

90. Foreigner - Waiting for a Girl Like You (1981)

89. Mary J. Blige - Family Affair (2001)

88. All-4-One - I Swear (1994)

87. Sinéad O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U (1990)

86. Lionel Richie - All Night Long (All Night) (1983)

85. The Knack - My Sharona (1979)

84. Lionel Richie - Say You, Say Me (1985)

83. Wild Cherry - Play That Funky Music (1976)

82. Carly Simon - You're So Vain (1973)

81. Michael Jackson - Billie Jean (1983)

What an interesting list this is so far! Especially this segment! TWO Lionel Richie songs in one 10 song span? Crazy!

And now I believe I'll go listen to Thriller. What an album.

Off The Charts #3: #1 Albums

At first I was worried that this would be immediately shut down by the Man. And maybe it still will be, but I hope not. The thing is, you probably already own all of these songs. So why would you steal them?

I had a blast putting this one together and I hope you have a blast listening to it!

Off The Charts #3: #1 Albums


(A running theme of these episodes has been that I've been talking and talking and talking, so it's another Google Docs link. Let me know if it's not working, but I haven't heard from anyone about the others, so maybe I've learned how to do this right)


(Also, it seems that Blogger has forgotten how to move a word to the next line if it doesn't fit on the line it's on. So, that's annoying and hopefully you won't know what I'm talking about when you're reading this. If you DO know what I'm talking about, I apologize for the weirdness.)


***Featuring***
The Beatles
Blood, Sweat, and Tears
Carole King
Fleetwood Mac
Guns N' Roses
Jay-Z
Jaydiohead
Lauryn Hill
Michael Jackson
Nirvana
Radiohead

Billy Corgan

So, I was watching my DVD of Smashing Pumpkins videos yesterday while I was cleaning my room and I was thinking about Billy Corgan's ego.

I have a very special place in my heart for the Smashing Pumpkins. They were the band that I wrote lyrics for on my notebook in school. And the thing that's always kind of bugged me has been all the stories about BC's control-freak, egotistical attitude.

And then I realized that I feel the exact same way about Kanye West. I think he is so talented, but his actions in the media always make me SO embarrassed.

And I guess the thing is that there can be a difference between an artist's personality and the music they make.

Which, I suppose is what I'm always saying about Michael Jackson. He made some really great music, regardless of what he was doing in his personal life. It doesn't excuse anything he did, but I feel like I can enjoy the songs....

Anyways, back to Billy and Kanye. I'm thinking that maybe I like music that comes from egotistical Chicagoans. Which brings me to my question: Is Jeff Tweedy egotistical? If he is, then I may need to get a hold of some Wilco, ASAP.

In other news, Billy Corgan (as Smashing Pumpkins) is going to release 44 songs for free as 11 4-song EP's. FOR FREE. And it starts around Halloween. Then I guess they're going to release the whole thing as a box set. The album is going to be called Teargarden by Kaleidyscope.

Which is SUCH a Billy Corgan title. :)