We are heavily into the holiday season, and there's the usual debate whether we should use the word "Christmas" or "Holiday" (and such a controversy arose in my hometown of Roselle Park over a tree lighting last week, but the ceremony did draw a lot of people none the less), and we are now seeing everything holiday season associated...except snow and cold weather; it's been very mild to even warm so far, with temperatures into the 60's over the weekend.
But as it is December, let's turn to the holiday music. For some reason, Billboard isn't publishing its holiday charts as part of the subscription to the chart information this year. You can access their "Holiday 100" (songs that are receiving sales and airplay) as well as the radio only "Holiday Airplay" and sales-only "Holiday Digital Songs" on their website for free, however. But that, of course, encompasses all the hit over the decades, one hundred of which I am counting down once again this year on my Facebook page. But, new holiday entries are hard to find on these charts as they have to compete with all the classics. The only place you can find new Christmas stuff is the Adult Contemporary chart, which has their usual influx of holiday songs (only the new releases for 2015 are eligible to enter this chart), and even those are pretty sparse. It appears the winner thus far is "This Christmas" by Seal, with a couple of Train entries close behind, one of which, "Merry Christmas Everybody", is the second-ranked new holiday song on my list this week. It really doesn't seem to emphasize any current, major acts, but then again, there doesn't seem to be any notable holiday albums in release this year.
So as such, I added two additional holiday songs this year, by artists that are for the most part unknown. They are the top two new entries this week.
My good friend Gia Ness last week, instant messaged me a song by an outfit called Us Commoners, called "Christmas and Hanukkah", and told me to look closely. Well, the first time I saw the video, I really didn't see too much as I was in a rush. But looking later, I discovered that Gia, her husband Rick and their two kids, Cameron and Rebecca, were in the video!! After a couple of views, the song really grew on me, so I checked into who exactly "Us Commoners" are.
It appears that it's a musical project that originated in Kingston NY (not too far from where the Nesses live), by a singer-songwriter named Wayne Nuessle. Nuessle wrote, arranged and produced this song. The singers are Bernadette Marnell-Palumbo and Mike Vocal, who trade leads on this inspirational song covering two faiths sung as one. It's a call for family and friends to "get back together" and talk, and not rely on social media. It's a mid-tempo easy going song for sure.
The project originated back in 2013 when Nuessle contacted Marnell-Palumbo, who was a church performer as well as at local events in the Woodstock area (also near Kingston). Veteran musicians also contributed to this project, most notably John Sebastian, of Lovin' Spoonful, and "Welcome Back" fame. He plays harmonica and guitar on the song. Proceeds of the song go to VH-1's Save the Music foundation.
As for the video, it was shot in that general area, and features the performers in an intimate setting to a group of kids and adults. At :22, and especially 2:06 of the video, you can see Gia and Rick, and their kids are shown in other parts of the song. It's definitely an inspiration to the season. I suggest to download a copy as it is available on Amazon, iTunes and other outlets.
HIS NAME IS MY NAME TOO: The other new holiday entry is by an obscure artist named Kendall Schmidt, which has been featured on Sirius XM's Holly channel. Well, maybe not that obscure. The 25-year old from Wichita is also an actor and has appeared in the TV show Big Time Rush and is part of a boy band of the same name. He's had bit parts on several other TV shows. The song, "Blame It On the Mistletoe" is sort of a Meghan Trainor-type doo-wop mixed with 2010's pure pop. That sound is perfect for the holidays, and is melodic enough to get you somewhat in the spirit. Will it be a classic? Probably not, but it's fun for a little while.
BACK TO THE CHART: Adele's "Hello" hangs on to my top spot for the fifth week with "Hello". Only Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" has had more weeks at the top (6) this year. But it loses its bullet (signifying an increase of less than six fave-points) and it only one point ahead of Florence + the Machine's "Queen of Peace". Still no action on that song by radio, although on one of her Facebook fan pages, the topic was that song, and many fans thought it was one of the best on the album. It has a realistic chance to reach the top next week. The rest of the top five hold steady. Gwen Stefani's "Used to Love You" is the biggest entry into the top 20.
The BIG SIX-O: "6 AM" by Fitz & the Tantrums hits a milestone as it reaches its 60th chart week. It's only the second song to rack up that many weeks on the SNS 100. The first? Another song from the same More Than Just A Dream album, "Out of My League", with 63 weeks. There are two more blog weeks left in 2015. With the song at #79 this week, if it can hold on for two more weeks, it will be the first song to be listed on every blog chart in any calendar year. With two more weeks in the New Year, it will break the all time record. Stay tuned.
QUICK NOTES: As I mentioned above, there are two more blogs due for this year, leading up to my Top 100 of the Year. Billboard already announced that their top song was "Uptown Funk" by Mick Ronson and Bruno Mars. That song was a major entry on my list as well, but was it the best. Stay tuned. Also, the Grammy nominees have been announced; I will review the pertinent nominations in a forthcoming blog. Finally, if anyone has watched The Voice, that aside from Blake and Gwen's "show", a talented artist named Jordan Smith is taking the show by storm. Could this finally be the artist that breaks through because of this show?
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
December 6,
2015
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 1 | NUMBER ONE:
"Hello"
Album: 25
(5 weeks at #1)
|
7 |
| 2 | 2 | Florence + the Machine - Queen of Peace | 8 |
| 3 | 3 | Selena Gomez - Same Old Love | 8 |
| 4 | 4 | St. Paul & the Broken Bones - Broken Bones & Pocket Change | 12 |
| 5 | 5 | Leila Hegazy - Maybe If We Try | 5 |
| 6 | 7 | Thomas Rhett - Crash and Burn | 9 |
| 7 | 8 | Django Django - Shake & Tremble | 12 |
| 8 | 14 | The Dreamers - Wolves (You Got Me) | 6 |
| 9 | 6 | Palma Violets - Danger in the Club | 13 |
| 10 | 13 | The Decemberists - Philomena | 8 |
| 11 | 20 | Zac Brown Band - Loving You Easy | 8 |
| 12 | 12 | Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats - S.O.B. | 12 |
| 13 | 23 | TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
"Used to
Love You"
(Single Only)
|
5 |
| 14 | 9 | X Ambassadors - Renegades | 24 |
| 15 | 18 | Soak - Sea Creatures | 14 |
| 16 | 19 | Foo Fighters - Outside | 12 |
| 17 | 11 | Ed Sheeran - Photograph | 20 |
| 18 | 28 | Smash Palace - Haddontown | 7 |
| 19 | 10 | Best Coast - Feeling OK | 11 |
| 20 | 15 | Fitz and the Tantrums - Last Raindrop | 21 |
Tremors:
| 101 | 101 | Good Charlotte - Makeshift Love |
| 102 | Sam Hunt - Breakup in a Small Town |
|
|
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. 
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