To be honest, over the past month, my Sirius XM radio dial has been set to one of three channels: 60s on 6, 70s on 7, and 80's on 8, all of which I'll feature on a future entry. In other words, I went along with the majority of my age group and abandoned much of my adult music listening and going back to the music I grew up with. But that also included obscure stuff that I perhaps never heard back then. In that regard, I guess that still counts for something as many the avid oldies listener would complain that they "never heard" that song back in the day. But for me, it's the aura of those hidden gems that made it awesome, something that you'd never hear today.
It took me awhile to put together my Top 100 of 2016 entry, which only garnered a smattering of likes on Facebook, and wondered, whether all the time put into something like this, was worth it. Only two friends have posted new music on that social media platform, Gail Cacciarelli Bradley with more of the pop tunes, and Brian Sniatkowski with the alternative side to things. Neither of them liked or commented on my list, which, along with the banality of the current music scene which the current (political and otherwise) audience climate has embraced, in spite of what I may call, "limited talent", seem to be said audience's "heroes of the day". It's a genre that me, at best, dabbles in there, ever so lightly these days.
On my Facebook page this week, for example, I started in what I hoped was a series of looking back at a certain era in my life from one week in the past. Scroll below for my take on 1969, but the music I posted on my timeline: Songs that were on the Billboard charts 47 years ago today were posted, some getting twenty or more likes. The one recent song I posted, Santigold's "Can't Get Enough of Myself", a song that was featured in Facebook's "Friend's Day" videos, garnered exactly zero. That, to me, seemed to be the nail in the proverbial coffin.
So, it seemed like I was just going to pull the plug, until a friend, Barbara Schiffman, an ardent oldies fan, commented that my blog helped her keep track of things that are out there now. There you go, probably a person, on paper at least, whom you'd think would be the least interested in new stuff, would be the one that would keep this going. And then during a quiet night shift, I put on some music on my iPod from my last current top 20 from early December, and finally I realized that I actually love these songs, no matter how far removed they are from the actual Billboard top pop, country or alternative hits that are "legit". And I also remembered how much my tribute to classmate and musician Ron Pietranowicz went over, with the blog even mentioned in the eulogy to my fallen friend. That, perhaps, even if one out of every ten entries could make an impact on a few people, that it would be all worth it.
So the final verdict is that I will keep doing this, taking one week at a time. And if I feel like I am total out of touch with the current scene or the people who read this, then it's time to put it to rest.
ON WITH IT: So, my strategy is, whatever out there right now that I like, it gets added to my SNS 100, regardless of its perceived popularity on Billboard or any other station. I will use those charts, as well as the "Alt-18" Sirius XM and WEQX playlists, along with any friends' recommendations to determine what gets added, but if it touches me in any way, I will go on here and promote it. And perhaps it means that there will be no more "Rolling in the Deep" or "Pumped Up Kicks", songs that I made hits long before the public embraces them, but leave that door open as I want to explore new, worthy bands that make rock music in the best way, that maybe just haven't been heard since the old but cool "rcrd.lbl.com" site folded. That is where I first heard this week's Top Debut Foxygen, as well as the current #1 Wild Belle, as well as stuff like Golden Void and Django Django. Thus, I will be searching new ways to find new music and I have loaded my SoundHound app on my phone in case any gem comes up that I want to check out, no matter where I am. What I will also do, is to check out classic bands that have put out new material, such as what I've been doing with Santana and The Pretenders on my current list; a new Blondie album is coming out and I will check out Debbie Harry and company's latest really soon.
WILD ON MY CHART: Wild Belle grabs its third number one as "Our Love Will Survive", the third single from their sophomore outing, Dreamland, takes over the top spot. While radio was done after the first two singles, which, in my opinion were just "okay", this one, an emotional ballad finally did the trick for me. To prove that a current pop gem will be included if it's an awesome song, Rihanna's "Love on the Brain" jumps from 20-7, and an artist that I hope has a breakthrough this year, Phoebe Ryan, advances 15-9 with "Boiz In Poizn".
I'll be adding tons of new music over the next few weeks in order to play "catch up" as there are new songs my artists that I enjoyed last time around. The top debut, as mentioned earlier, was the new one by Foxygen, "Follow the Leader", from their newly released fifth album Hang. The previous three sets, have produced an SNS hit that has either reached #1 or #2, including two chart toppers "San Francisco" and "How Can You Really...". Despite not receiving any airplay as for as I known, the band is also a hit with Brian Sniatkowski and Alan Corso, and the new one is different but doesn't stray too far from their original formula: Take a classic sound from the past and make it all their own. At least on this first single, they haven't diluted their sound. Taking the Todd Rundgren sound one step further and mixing it with some other classic pop sounds (the strings on this are awesome), it makes for another worthy record. Check out this sorely underappreciated group. It debuts at #51.
The other major entry is the new one by Ed Sheeran, "Shape Of You". Sheeran, who had my #1 song of 2015 with "Thinking Out Loud", does what he wasn't able to do nationally with that single: It debuted at #1 on Billboard ("Thinking Out Loud" stayed at #2, held back by "Uptown Funk"; a song that also held it out of that trade magazine's year-end spot for that year. It comes in here at #64. The song is a change-of-pace for Sheeran, known more for ballads; it is perhaps, his response to the current pop scene as he induces a sparse, hip-hoppish, even tropical type of dance beat into this one. Sheeran, whose follow-up to "Thinking..." also hit my top 3, is at least worthy of an add and I will be tracking its progress here. He also released a companion single "Castle on the Hill", which I will add in future weeks; that song is more of a traditional follow-up for him.
A slew of other debuts this week, some of them follows to big SNS hits. Michael Kiwanuka's follow up to "One More Night" which was #1, is the title track to his album Love and Hate, is another song that defies current trends, but yet it soulful without being retro. Another winner. Us Commoners have advertised their new single, "Earth's Better", but unfortunately it's not available for download, thus is not yet eligible to chart here. However, a prior single that also wasn't available in that mode finally is, thus I am adding "A Long Road Back Around" as the follow-up to "Fallin'" (hey this is my blog and I can do what I want!). Another easy-listening and palatable song by the Kingston NY duo. And I picked out another by The Billy Spanton Band from their latest album, "Faith" which keeps their bluesy sound in the forefront.
Other new songs added are by The Shins, with "Name for You", their best in a while, CRX, which includes Nick Valensi from The Strokes, "Ways to Fake It"; Rag N Bone Man, is Rory Graham, from England, with "Human", a bluesy hip-hop jaunt which is from their first full-length album of the same name; the song tops the Triple-A chart this week. West Coast outfit Night Riots and New Yorkers The Heydaze, and SNS vet Gin Wigmore also enter this week.
BACK IN THE WINTER OF '69: This week, I had tried something new on my Facebook page: Looking back at this week in a prior year. The plan was to pick a random year from a decade and post music, photos, and other artifacts from around that time period. Thanks to some yearbook pictures from Middle School, I did get a lot of comments from my old classmates who are current FB friends, as the first week I spotlighted was the last week of January in 1969.
The day I picked, as it turned out, just happened to be the rooftop contract by The Beatles, which became the catalyst for the Let It Be documentary, the final time the Fab Four performed live. As for the charts, a look at the Hot 100 for January 25, 1969 showed a very diverse array of genres. Motown, as it had much of the decade was dominant: Marvin Gaye's "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" was spending its sixth week atop the list; at #3 was a duet of Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations' version of "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me". The Supremes had two entries of their own, with "Love Child", their former chart-topper at #19, and the follow-up the highest debut at #47, "I'm Livin' in Shame", while the Temps also had "Cloud Nine".
Tommy James & the Shondells changed their sound drastically with the psychedelic "Crimson & Clover" at #2, about to top the charts for a couple of weeks. The acid rock sound which reemerged on the pop charts during the prior summer continued: The Doors had "Touch Me" in the top 10; Canned Heat's 'Going Up the Country" at #11, which was a harbinger of that summer's Woodstock festival, just as Scott MacKenzie's "San Francisco" was to the Summer of Love two years prior. Other rock bands on the charts included Spirit's "I Got a Line on You", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary", Deep Purple's cover of "River Deep, Mountain High", and "Crossroads" by the then-defunct trio Cream. Bubblegum was still on the charts with Derek's "Cinnamon" and the 1910 Fruitgum Co's "Indian Giver" (try releasing that one now, folks).
R&B was hot, as always, headed by Sly & the Family Stone's "Everyday People", Tyrone Davis' "Can I Change My Mind", Booker T & the MG's "Hang 'Em High", and Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life", just to name a few. Country had Glen Campbell's "Wichita Lineman" and Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man" leading that genre. And finally The King, Elvis Presley was enjoying his "comeback" with "If I Can Dream" which got him back in the top 20 for the first time in quite awhile, from his "Comeback Special" that aired the prior month.
I will try, in future blogs, to look back at a particular week of my choice, so stay tuned!
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
February 4, 2017
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 4 | NUMBER ONE:
"Our Love Will
Survive"
Album: Dreamland
|
11 |
| 2 | 2 | Sam Roberts Band - If You Want It | 11 |
| 3 | 5 | Jake Owen - If He Ain't Gonna Love You | 13 |
| 4 | 1 | Maybird - Turning Into Water | 12 |
| 5 | 7 | Capital Cities - Vowels | 9 |
| 6 | 3 | Fitz and the Tantrums - Roll Up | 10 |
| 7 | 20 | Rihanna - Love On the Brain | 4 |
| 8 | 8 | Colony House - You and I | 12 |
| 9 | 15 | Phoebe Ryan - Boyz n Poizn | 7 |
| 10 | 9 | Kings of Leon - Waste A Moment | 12 |
| 11 | 11 | Michael Kiwanuka - One More Night | 17 |
| 12 | 13 | Calvin Harris - My Way | 9 |
| 13 | 6 | Miike Snow - My Trigger | 11 |
| 14 | 10 | Kjband - Waves | 12 |
| 15 | 12 | Paul Czekaj - A Place I Once Called Home | 16 |
| 16 | 19 | The Chainsmokers f. Phoebe Ryan - All We Know | 10 |
| 17 | 24 | TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
"Same Old Lie"
Album: Eternally Even
|
6 |
| 18 | 14 | Trails and Ways - My Things | 17 |
| 19 | 21 | KT Tunstall - Evil Eye | 11 |
| 20 | 17 | Deerhunter - Snakeskin | 18 |
|
|
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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