It's no secret that we've lose many a rock performer over the past few years. Most of it was at the expense of those bands I grew up with in the 1960's, 70's and 80's, much of that because, well, they were getting on in years. But it's especially disheartening when some of the more recent figures in rock history die prematurely. And while death due to suicide or a drug overdose has occurred since what seems forever (Brian Jones, Hendrix, Morrison, Joplin, et al), its sad that it takes its toll on the newer generation. Just a couple months ago, the grunge era lost on of its premier front man, Chris Cornell, of Soundgarden. And just last week, the relatively recent nu-metal era generation wasn't spared, as Linkin Park front man Chester Bennington lost his life, an apparent suicide by hanging, at the young age of 41. Bennington was a close friend of Cornell, who died the same way, and that perhaps could have influenced Bennington as well.
I can't say that nu-metal---a genre that combines grunge, electronica, hip-hop and traditional heavy metal--was one of my favorite rock eras. For me, its invasion of alternative rock, a format I went to do escape all the heavy stuff, was a bit of a turn off, but many of my friends loved it. Having said that, Linkin Park was my favorite band of that time. Other prominent bands of that era included Limp Bizkit, Staind, and Korn, but Linkin Park, with Bennington as the lead non-rap singer, had a positive aura about it that made their sound palatable.
The band's prime was the early 2000's as their biggest hit was "In the End", which reached #2 in early 2002. It was the band's third single from their debut Hybrid Theory which was certified "diamond" for excess of ten million copies sold. Other early hits, with Bennington as lead include "Numb", from second album Meteora from 2003, "What I've Done" from 2007's Minutes to Midnight, and "New Divide", at #7 Hot 100 hit from the Transformers soundtrack.
However, it wasn't until the 2010's and my blog era that I really began to appreciate the band. 2010's "The Catalyst" from A Thousand Suns, make my year-end top 100, coming in at #53. It was also the first of eight songs to make my SNS 100, peaking at #23 late that year. Their biggest SNS hit was the #12 "Burn It Down", from 2012's Living Things; the song ranked #50 on my top 100 that year. Their most recent entry was 2014's "Until It's Gone", with reached #62 on my SNS 100 blog list, from their The Hunting Party.
Their latest album, One More Light, came out this year. I will soon add either the first single "Heavy" or the second single "Talking to Myself" as early as next week.
Bennington was a fan of many of the bands that came before Linkin Park. Growing up, he was interested in Depeche Mode, and influenced by Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Metallica and Stone Temple Pilots. As it turned out, the latter band was indeed an inspiration and in 2013, after STP fired Scott Weiland (another who recently lost his life amidst bouts with drugs), Chester was hired to be the new lead singer, concurrent with this involvement with Linkin Park. STP recorded one EP with him, High Rise. There was a single release, "Out of Time" that was released in 2013. In one of the biggest snafu's in my blog history, I waited too long to add that single to my blog list. It had been available as a free download, but for a limited time, but was completely withdrawn afterwards, denying me a chance to put it on my chart. (STP's prior set, their eponymous comeback album with Weiland, was the first to yield three top twenty songs on my blog list). Briefly, in 2005, he had been in a band called Dead By Sunrise, with members of the band Orgy.
Bennington stayed with STP until 2015, when he left amicably to concentrate on the next phase of Linkin Park's career, which included the new album.
R.I.P. Chester Bennington.
WHAT'S GOING DOWN: It's Miley Cyrus at the top for a fifth week with "Malibu", with a small lead over Nick Waterhouse's "It's Time". Interesting that "Malibu", definitely my favorite Cyrus track is struggling at #31 on the Hot 100 after an early sales peak at #10. Again, this shows the banality of top 40 programming. Shame on radio. Anyway, Foster the People and The Hounds of Winter hold at 3 and 4 respectively. Dan Auerbach advances to #5, giving him the distinction of making the top 5 both solo, and with two bands.
It s highly unusual for the Mover of the Week to rank higher than the Top 20 Impact of the Week, but that's what happens as Trapdoor Social's "Winning As Truth" flies from #12 to #6. Fitz and the Tantrums get their 17th straight top 20 as their latest, "Fool" jumps from #30 to #14. Other new additions to that part of the chart are proven performers: Pageants, the band headed by former Avi Buffalo keyboardist Rebecca Coleman, get their fourth straight top 20 with "Lingr", their first entry since 2013's "August Moon" peaked at #17. Hanson, the three brothers who made their initial impact as kids with "Mmmbop", are now in their thirties and have their third top 20 in as many tries, with "I Was Born", moving 22-19, and DJ/producer Calvin Harris get his sixth top 20 with "Slide" which features Migos and Frank Ocean.
I added ten new songs this week, spearheaded by Christina Taylor's title track from That Girl. The up-and-coming country star is oh-so-close to the charts, and had a big breakthrough when the video for "Don't Look Good In Your T-Shirt" made the video playlist of CMT! While that song is still trying to break at radio (it hasn't yet appeared on a Billboard chart), I am moving on to what I think would be the next single, "That Girl", which is somewhat reminiscent of her "Dodged Your Bullet", a 2016 top 10 SNS hit she recorded as Taylor Centers. Let's wish Taylor the best of luck.
Kaleo is back with "No Good", the third single from A/B. "Way Down We Go" was my #1 song of 2016. Cage the Elephant also return with "Whole Wide World". This is the lead track from their forthcoming Unpeeled. Their previous album, Tell Me I'm Pretty had the unique distinction of having three singles chart in three different calendar years, all of them top 10 SNS songs. While "Whole Wide World" didn't hit me strongly upon initial listen, neither did "Mess Around", the lead from their prior set, so there's nothing to worry there. CTE has three #1's on SNS to their credit. Sam Hunt has a monster country hit with "Body Like a Back Road", and I add the song here. Haley Reinhart was a finalist on American Idol several years ago, and she has an interesting new single, a cover of the Shirelles' "Baby It's You", which actually is more faithful to the version by Smith in 1969. That song, performed by lead singer Gayle McCormick, who passed away recently, was very memorable in that she invited some comparisons to Janis Joplin, and Reinhart, although not an original take, does that version justice.
Well, Justin Bieber finally makes my chart for the first time as he is featured vocalist on "Despacito", by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, which is enjoying a long run on Billboard's Hot 100, at #1. Eleven weeks and counting, and some friends are talking about it, thus I add the song, which is sung mostly in Spanish. It is, no doubt in line to be Billboard's "Song of the Summer". Which, speaking of, I will again award that status on SNS as I have done each summer. Without doing any calculating, it would appear the "Malibu" is in the lead, although there's still a good six weeks remaining.
The Weeknd w/ Daft Punk, The Regrettes, Lo Moon, and Queens of the Stone Age also debut.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
July 23, 2017
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 1 | NUMBER ONE:
"Malibu"●
(Single Only)
(5 Weeks at #1)
|
8 |
| 2 | 2 | Nick Waterhouse - It's Time | 7 |
| 3 | 3 | Foster the People - SHC | 8 |
| 4 | 4 | The Hounds of Winter - I Get You | 11 |
| 5 | 7 | Dan Auerbach - Shine on Me | 6 |
| 6 | 12 | MOVER OF THE WEEK:
"Winning
As Truth"
Album: Trapdoor Social
|
6 |
| 7 | 5 | LP - Lost on You● | 14 |
| 8 | 6 | Keith Urban f. Carrie Underwood - The Fighter● | 19 |
| 9 | 8 | Alison Ireheta and Halo Circus - Band-Aid | 8 |
| 10 | 9 | Michelle Branch - Hopeless Romantic | 7 |
| 11 | 15 | Twenty-One Pilots - HeavyDirtySoul | 13 |
| 12 | 16 | Pop Etc - Routine | 8 |
| 13 | 18 | Jake Owen - Good Company | 6 |
| 14 | 30 | TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
"Fool"
(Single Only)
|
3 |
| 15 | 19 | Portugal. The Man - Feel It Still | 15 |
| 16 | 10 | Parquet Courts - Human Performance | 17 |
| 17 | 25 | Pageants - Lingr | 6 |
| 18 | 13 | The Palms - Push Off● | 19 |
| 19 | 22 | Hanson - I Was Born | 7 |
| 20 | 27 | Calvin Harris f Frank Ocean and Migos - Slide | 11 |
Tremors:
101. Chris Stapleton, "Either Way"
|
|
Songs
with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.
● Songs
with 25 or more plays on my iPod.
▲ Songs with 50 or more
plays on my iPod.
The “Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100” is a list
of current and recent song playlist which I am listening to.
