THERE ARE TWO STORIES this week, both involving the "removal" of Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas" from the top spot on the national chart and here. One is by an accomplished rapper, arguably one of the most successful artist since the 2010's, with 42 debuts on the Hot 100; the other by someone new to this area's scene, but who has had quite the career going for it, reaching the top spot on the SNS 100 this week.
With apologies to Drake, I'm leading off with Vaughan Penn, whose "Bands on the Beach" ascends to the top spot on the blog chart this week, replacing the four-week run of "Choosin' Texas", after three weeks in the runner-up spot.
It was about two months ago that I had attended a show by Deb Browning and Marlisa Kay Small at Deckerz, the popular Carolina beach music pub in North Myrtle Beach. It was the start of the Spring S.O.S. (Society of Stranders), and aside from the duo, other area stars were present, including songwriters and performers such as Rhonda McDaniel, Steve Cheek, Charlie Sattenfield, and Jennifer James. Plus, someone that until a few days earlier, Vaughan Penn, was an "unknown" who had just released her song aimed at the area crowd, "Bands on the Beach", which listed many of the acts past and present in the genre, inviting all of us to "come on down!" This "new" artist made a bunch of new friends, and I was blessed with meeting her as well. A nice newcomer to the Grand Strand, immediately making her mark.
Did I say newcomer? She might be new to beach music, but she's been around for over a quarter of a century and has quite the resume! We can start with the 150 television and film placements in which her 55 songs have been featured in. Perhaps you might know some of the shows and movies:
Grey's Anatomy
Boston Legal
Criminal Minds
NBC's Superstore
The Hills
Kicking and Screaming
Private Practice
Bones
....and many more.
In addition, she has released 12 albums going back to 2001's Over My Head, and has toured with and opening for acts such as Huey Lewis, Indigo Girls, Darius Rucker, and Emmylou Harris. She also recorded an album with Chynna Phillips (of Wilson Phillips) as "Chynna and Vaughan", in 2009 and even appeared on Good Morning America at the time. Check out this clip of that performance:
Vaughan took up singing at a young age, being a part of a musical family, as she told Wayne Troutman in his weekly Surfside Stories podcast. Her parents, Dixie (a singer) and George Penn (an accomplished sax player) had been performing since the late 1950's. Singing at the age of six, Vaughan was 14 when she got her first guitar. She would often go off and find a private spot in her house to practice playing. Inspired by God, and her Christian beliefs, it gave her the strength to write and express herself in songwriting. Her parents definitely encouraged her. While she grew up in North Carolina, she often paid visits to North Myrtle Beach, the home of beach music. But she eventually went to California, and got a break with a record deal, with Modern Records, probably best known as the first label of Stevie Nicks (and which released Stevie's first solo record, Bella Donna). During her time there, she wrote a few songs with Bernie Leadon of the Eagles. She also got into acting as well, in shows like Life Goes On and ER.
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| Vaughan Penn talks with Wayne Troutman on his Surfside Stories podcast. |
Vaughan has been to many places in her career, including a stint in Nashville, where she recorded an album there, and then headed to Europe and did a few shows over there. From there it was back to Dallas where she wrote a few songs for television shows. Many of her songs felt right at home as they were country-tinged, but there are several genres at work with her sound. And finally, just last year, she contributed music to the movie No Address.
So what made her decide to tackle beach music? She was actually rooted in it, what with her family being into genres like swing, jazz, Motown, and several others that contributed to the beach genre. That inspiration led to making her song that listed many of the artists of this genre, those that she had listened to then and now.
Check out the entre interview with Wayne Troutman here: Surfside Stores with Wayne Troutman featuring Vaughan Penn
Vaughan last week was also the subject of radio station 94.9 The Surf, as the Spotlight of the Week with the station's Chris Jones, and Bo the Webguy. Among the highlights of that broadcast revealed more details about her past. Rather than just re-hash the highlights here on this, you can check out more comprehensive information about her here:
The Surf Spotlight - May 20It's an honor that she chose the Grand Strand to launch a new phase of her career, and it seems like a natural progression given her career to this point. In a year that has introduced new (and female) beach artists like Jennifer James and Jennifer Licko, Vaughan adds a breath of fresh air to the music scene here as well. And while her gig itinerary has her playing mainly in her home state of North Carolina, she has already made several appearances at places like Deckerz and Captain Archie's at the Strand, either performing or checking out other beach acts that are playing there. And the demand for her appearances here has increased, causing her to add some more local, North Myrtle Beach dates to her schedule. I do hope to catch her again. For a woman who has had a heck of a career so far, she remains very humble.
Welcome once again, Vaughan!
More on her chart action below.
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| Drake sets all kinds of records with 9 of the top 10 songs, and 42 overall on the Hot 100 this week. |
DRAKE DETONATION: Moving to the Billboard Hot 100, there are two artists that with one album release, can drastically shake things up, chart wise. One of them is Taylor Swift. The other? None other than Drake. And just when you thought the big chart was diversified music-wise, along comes Drake, with songs from not one, not two, but THREE new albums he released last week. A total of 42 songs debuted this week on the Hot 100. That included the new #1 song, "Janice STFU", nine of the top 10, 12 of the top 13, 25 of the top 40. Talk about a whitewashing of the chart!
The lone survivor of the purge at the top is Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas", which drops to #5. The next non-Drake song is also Ella's, "Be Her", but that is only #14. Bruno Mars' "I Just Might" (#16), Olivia Dean's "Man I Need" (#17) and "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" (#20), are the only others still in the top 20.
Drake, with the 42 entries breaks Morgan Wallen's record of 37 debuting entries from May of last year. He also sets a record with his 14th #1 song for "Janice STFU", breaking Michael Jackson's record of 13 by a solo male artist. He thus ties Rihanna and Taylor Swift for third place with most chart toppers overall. Ahead of them are Mariah Carey in second, with 19, and The Beatles, leading with 20 #1's. Also, the 41 new entries (one was a re-entry from last summer), itself is a record. Drake now has 90 top tens, and 241 top 40 hits, easily first in both categories. He also has 402 total chart entries, well ahead of the second-place artist, Taylor Swift, who has 276. One more nugget: "Janice STFU" includes a sample interpolation from Lykke Li's "I Follow Rivers", an artist who has made the SNS 100 a few times over the years.
Speaking of Michael Jackson, his resurgence in the wake of his biopic Michael, still manages to hold onto the chart with his recent re-entries. "Billie Jean", now at #32, would have advanced up to #12 had Drake not debuted his entries. "Human Nature" and "Beat It" also hang onto the chart, but we lose the others that had entered in recent weeks.
Drake's chart blitz does manage to do one thing: It finally forces off Alex Warren's "Ordinary" and HUNTR/X's "Golden" off the chart after lengthy chart runs, falling below the recurrent criteria. However, Kehlani's "Folded", which drops from #9 to #29 in week 49, still stays on the chart in spite of it falling below #25 which should have been removed with more than 26 weeks. So, there are exceptions.
What should be interesting next week is when many of the Drake tracks fall off: Will those songs come back on the chart? A projected top 20 for next week still has a few Drake songs on there, but neither "Ordinary" or "Golden" are there, so we just may lose them for good. They were both good songs in its day, doing well in my top 20, but enough was enough. Time to move on.
Despite Drake's chart blitz weeding out the old "dead wood", it poses another problem with the chart. I've mentioned it before, but the fact that in the streaming era, ANY track can chart, regardless of whether it's an official single. And while artists like Swift and Wallen can dominate a chart with one album, Drake has done it with three simultaneous album drops. What happens if an artist of that caliber drops five albums at once? Six? Would an artist be able to dominate the ENTIRE Hot 100? While the recurrent rule was put into effect to allow newer releases to chart, allowing an artist to monopolize several chart positions (almost half the chart in this case), defeats the purpose of allowing a variety of acts to chart. Perhaps there should be a rule that allows a maximum of three songs per album release to enter, the ones most streamed, which could change from week to week. Still, that would give Drake nine songs in the top 10 but that would be all that was allowed.
 |
| Toronto's The Beaches have my most played song in the streaming era, according to Spotify's latest "Wrapped" results., with "Takes One to Know One" |
SPOTIFY WRAPPED (AGAIN): The streaming service did another "wrapped" listing this past week, this time looking about at the entire streaming history. It lists your first streamed song, plus your 120 most listened-to songs in playlist form on that streaming site. So, what was my first song ever streamed? To be honest, I had no idea, but the answer was "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, from 2013. The song never even made my SNS 100 chart, only "bubbling under" at #105, and listed for only three weeks. Back then, I didn't actively stream, so maybe I was just "testing the waters". As I still use my iPod to listen to older songs, all of the 120 on the playlist are just from the past few years when I switched to Spotify as my official platform for the SNS chart. "Takes One to Know One" by Canadian band The Beaches was #1 with 60 plays. The #120 song, with 27 plays was "Steppin' on Me" by Fitz and the Tantrums. Here are my top 20 most played songs on Spotify:
1. The Beaches, Takes One to Know One
2. Gotts Street Park ft Pip Millett, Got to Be Good
3. Jalen Ngonda, If You Don't Want My Love
4. North Tower, Pretty Lady
5. The Jay Vons, Days Undone
6. The Jay Vons, My Mama (She Was Right)
7. Michael Nau, No Quit
8. The Black Keys, No Rain, No Flowers
9. Say She She, In My Head
10. Shaboozey, A Bar Song (Tipsy)
11. Orbis Max, ft Lisa Mychols and Ed Ryan, R U OK
12. Deb Browning, Think I Found Forever
13. Say She She, Trouble
14. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, Die With a Smile
15. Colorjoy, Golden Age
16. Kesha, Only Love Can Save Us Now
17. The Black Keys, The Night Before
18. Jitwam, Open Doors
19. Thee Sacred Souls, My Heart is Drowning
20. Jerry Powell, Dance With Me
To access the entire playlist, click here: Rob's Most Played on Spotify
Finally, Spotify shows that my most played artist is Orbis Max.
SNS 100: As mentioned above Vaughan Penn, hits the top spot on the SNS 100. It had previously spent three weeks at #2 behind Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas" which now drops to #2. Brooke Combe's "Tears Won't Lie", continues to bullet at #3, then Ella is back at #4 with "Be Her". Sombr holds at #5 with "Homewrecker". Tim Sidden, Jennifer James, Ruth Morayniss, The Mac Daddy's Band and new to the Top 10 The Tams, "I Tried" round out the top songs.
Three new songs enter the top 20, led by New Jersey singer-songwriter C. Lynne Smith's "A Little Faith" which snags the Impact award in a 22-15 move. It's her third entry in the top 20; "Real" hit #3 in 2020, and "Follow It Down" got to #10 in 2024. Meanwhile, Starbuck's "Red Cadillac" moves 24-17; the song also enters Don Mark's Surfside chart at #19. The latest from The Tonez, "NMB SC (Where I Wanna Be)" moves 21-19.
Just outside the top 20 is the song that refuses to die: North Tower's "Pretty Lady" which once again rebounds 31-22 in week 36. It's back to #1 on Pat Gwinn's "At the Beach" chart and holds at the top of the monthly Smokin' 45 Beach Music chart. Just behind that song is Christina Cooper Black's "A New Lease on Love" (34-23). The Mover of the Week was last week's Top Debut, the duet of Jennifer James and Brad Cox with "Suspicious Minds" (54-35).
DEBUTS: Some impressive new entries this week. We start off across the pond for Barry Walsh's follow-up to last year's #6 song, "Suddenly June". This one is called "Star Ride", and this one will transport you back to the 1960's in a big way. I can't narrow this one to any one genre tied to that year, it seems to encompass a lot of styles of that decade. Garage rock, sunshine pop, psychedelia, and British invasion contribute to this groovy sound. This one should be an instantaneous hit, all the tools are here to insure another blog hit. The song enters at #58 as the Top Debut.
Not far behind is the latest from The Black Keys, "Where There's Smoke There's Fire", the second single from their current album Peaches! following the Top 10 "You Got to Lose". This duo doesn't cease to amaze me. With a small jam to start, they proceed to what they do best: Play rock and roll and having a good time doing it. While it seems the public and alternative radio are getting tired of them, there's no reason why. This song rolls along and they're jamming along with it. They've been a fixture since the very beginning of the blog when "Tighten Up" became the first number one. Those who say "rock is dead" need to listen to this band more. It debuts at #62.
With "Red Cadillac" entering the top 20 this week, and its Elsie B featured "Sleeping in the Rain and Thunder" moving 89-65 in its second week, we now have "Doo Wop Bop", a standalone single with Bruce Blackman back out in front with the vocals for Starbuck. The song has that tropical-style vibe that is perfect with the summer season upon us. Debuts at #93.
Orbis Max, already charting with two new songs this year, offers a third, "You Know That Ain't Right", coming in at #95. Aided by synthesizers, the song is a no-holds-barred rocking tour-de-force. A lot going on here for the Internet band, with wild vocals, aided by very much rocking guitars and a steady drum beat. The wild vocals (Dw Dunphy's?) keep this thing moving along.
Another with a rockin' guitar in a similar vein as the Orbis' song is the latest by Caroline Rose, "Yip Yip Yow", in a punk/new-wave vein, which is a departure from her blog hits such as "Miami". She's definitely having fun here. Finally, we move to Toronto, Canada for the latest from Harley Olivia, following up her top 30 "San Francisco" with "Trouble", debuting at #100. Not as wild as the above two entries, but it still is in the alt-rock vein. The woman is in command of the music she plays and does a great job at it.
AND BUBBLING UNDER: We move from Toronto out to Nova Scotia for the latest from Blair Sparrow, "I Gave You Everything", the follow-up to the mid-charting "Big Party Excuse". This one is sort of in the Eddie Vedder/Pearl Jam vein, sort of a 90's post-grunge mode...Kurt Vile had a #2 blog hit back in 2018 with "Loading Zones", and he returns with "Chance to Bleed". It his usual slice of lo-fi, indie rock with a folkish tint to it; the sound is infectious. Finally, we have "Boston" by country artist Stella Lefty, which is doing well on the Hot 100. Between Ella Langley, Kasey Musgraves, and Ms. Lefty (among others), women in country are doing fine these days.
KAREN WALLO UPDATE: The latest on Karen is that she made it to the next round after scoring first in the top 10 in the People's Artist competition, an artwork contest sponsored by actor Johnny Depp and The Art of Elysium's Salon. Ms. Wallo, who also fronts the Grand Strand band Rendezvous, and scored a top 10 blog solo hit back in 2020, now advances to the next round, where the top five will continue. To vote for Karen, click here: Karen Wallo | The People's Artist presented by Johnny Depp, and here to see her art work: Artist,Vocalist, Animal Advocate| home|karenwallo-fineart.com/
Meanwhile, Canadian artist Harley Olivia continues in another competition, for the Amazon Prime People's choice awards, and you can vote for her here: https://nxne.fillout.com/prime-peoples-choice-awards
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist
May 24, 2026
|
This Week |
Last Week |
ARTIST-Title |
Weeks on List |
|
1 |
2 |
NUMBER ONE:  (Single Release) |
8 |
|
2 |
1 |
19 |
|
|
3 |
3 |
8 |
|
|
4 |
6 |
13 |
|
|
5 |
5 |
15 |
|
|
6 |
7 |
8 |
|
|
7 |
8 |
9 |
|
|
8 |
4 |
9 |
|
|
9 |
10 |
13 |
|
|
10 |
11 |
7 |
|
|
11 |
15 |
4 |
|
|
12 |
13 |
6 |
|
|
13 |
9 |
12 |
|
|
14 |
20 |
11 |
|
|
15 |
22 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:  Album: Taking the Long Way |
11 |
|
16 |
14 |
14 |
|
|
17 |
24 |
9 |
|
|
18 |
12 |
15 |
|
|
19 |
21 |
10 |
|
|
20 |
16 |
14 |
|
|
21 |
25 |
7 |
|
|
22 |
31 |
36 |
|
|
23 |
34 |
5 |
|
|
24 |
17 |
15 |
|
|
25 |
28 |
9 |
|
|
26 |
33 |
17 |
|
|
27 |
29 |
19 |
|
|
28 |
36 |
9 |
|
|
29 |
18 |
12 |
|
|
30 |
19 |
17 |
|
|
31 |
38 |
4 |
|
|
32 |
32 |
16 |
|
|
33 |
42 |
5 |
|
|
34 |
47 |
6 |
|
|
35 |
54 |
MOVER OF THE WEEK:  (Single Release) |
2 |
|
36 |
45 |
6 |
|
|
37 |
44 |
5 |
|
|
38 |
26 |
12 |
|
|
39 |
23 |
10 |
|
|
40 |
46 |
5 |
|
|
41 |
27 |
13 |
|
|
42 |
30 |
16 |
|
|
43 |
41 |
9 |
|
|
44 |
58 |
3 |
|
|
45 |
43 |
8 |
|
|
46 |
50 |
4 |
|
|
47 |
48 |
7 |
|
|
48 |
37 |
14 |
|
|
49 |
35 |
12 |
|
|
50 |
52 |
6 |
|
|
51 |
65 |
4 |
|
|
52 |
53 |
4 |
|
|
53 |
66 |
3 |
|
|
54 |
49 |
8 |
|
|
55 |
39 |
16 |
|
|
56 |
84 |
2 |
|
|
57 |
40 |
16 |
|
|
58 |
--- |
TOP DEBUT:  (Single Release) |
1 |
|
59 |
64 |
5 |
|
|
60 |
60 |
18 |
|
|
61 |
69 |
6 |
|
|
62 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
63 |
95 |
2 |
|
|
64 |
89 |
2 |
|
|
65 |
96 |
2 |
|
|
66 |
68 |
11 |
|
|
67 |
75 |
4 |
|
|
68 |
77 |
4 |
|
|
69 |
72 |
6 |
|
|
70 |
83 |
4 |
|
|
71 |
87 |
3 |
|
|
72 |
55 |
16 |
|
|
73 |
88 |
2 |
|
|
74 |
51 |
10 |
|
|
75 |
80 |
4 |
|
|
76 |
56 |
17 |
|
|
77 |
71 |
20 |
|
|
78 |
57 |
17 |
|
|
79 |
91 |
3 |
|
|
80 |
103 |
1 |
|
|
81 |
59 |
13 |
|
|
82 |
99 |
2 |
|
|
83 |
94 |
3 |
|
|
84 |
61 |
16 |
|
|
85 |
67 |
11 |
|
|
86 |
81 |
20 |
|
|
87 |
76 |
12 |
|
|
88 |
73 |
19 |
|
|
89 |
102 |
1 |
|
|
90 |
70 |
18 |
|
|
91 |
104 |
1 |
|
|
92 |
106 |
1 |
|
|
93 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
94 |
101 |
1 |
|
|
95 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
96 |
62 |
11 |
|
|
97 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
98 |
63 |
6 |
|
|
99 |
74 |
5 |
|
|
100 |
--- |
1 |
Tremors:
101. Blair Sparrow, I Gave You Everything
102. Yellowcard ft. Good Charlotte, Bedroom Posters
103. Beck, Ride Lonesome
104. Kurt Vile, Chance to Bleed
105. Stella Lefty, Boston
Tremors: Songs which have steady or increasing points but not enough to chart on the SNS 100.
Murmurs:
Mary Stroud - Place to Roam
Murmurs: Songs which are in the queue for future adds onto the Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist.
|
Songs with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week
●Songs garnering 25 plays on Spotify (“Scrobbles”) according to Last.Fm (effective October 2024) ▲ Songs garnering 50 plays.
Songs on the SNS 100 are included on the following public Spotify playlists
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves Top 40: Contains songs in positions 1-40 on the SNS 100
Scenes 41-100 and Newbies Songs in Positions 41-100 on the SNS 100 plus new additions
Scenes Recurrents: Songs which had been in the top 20 and/or songs on the chart 25 weeks or more, that have dropped off the SNS 100.
(Rob Sheldon is a music fan who has followed music trends the past 60 years, and covers new and classic music, specializing in pop, rock, alternative, beach, soul and country genres). He can be contacted at rsheldonx4804@gmail.com
