Thursday, March 25, 2021

Sixty Years of Instrumentals (SNS week of 3/21/2021)

 LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE:  David F. Porfirio grabs his second blog-topper as "That Night on Bergenline Avenue" moves to the top.   The very catchy, almost commercial-like song with its riffs and repetitious progressions (thus being lodged in my brain constantly) accomplishes something that in the official almost 63-year history of the Billboard Hot 100 charts has never been done:  An artist having two instrumentals hitting number one.

Queens NY guitarist David F. Porfirio has his second instrumental blog song with "That Night One Bergenline Avenue"

Since August 1958, there have been twenty-five instrumentals that have hit the Billboard #1 slot, by twenty-five different artists.   It's rather tough to duplicate a success when the music is just a melody and no lyrics.   In fact, Porfirio's three blog top 10's equal Billboard's record for most by an artist in that upper echelon.    From my recollection, only Herb Alpert (with or without the Tijuana Brass), Booker T & the MG's, and The Ventures, have had as many as three top 10 hits (and the Ventures get an asterisk because one of them, "Walk Don't Run '64" was their own remake of their #1 song from 1960.

Instrumentals were very common, especially in the late 1950's and 1960's but are very rare nowadays; in fact, only one song had hit #1 on the Billboard chart after 1985.   That is a bit surprising, given that EDM (Electronic Dance Music) is a key genre these days that feature a techno-style instrumental break, but punctuated with a guest vocal (such as the case with this week's Top Debut, but more on that later).    

But, in the surreal world that is my blog, since I started this in August 2010, there have been about 3300 songs I have added at one time or another.   While I haven't researched each and every one, there are ten instrumentals that I do remember, with three going to #1.    David Porfirio, hailing from Queens, New York has four of them: The current leader "Bergenline", his prior number one "Driving At Dusk", his top 10 "Evening at the Pier", and his newest, "Self Portrait", moving 73-52 this week.     

Canadian Alex Zhang Tungtai has three others:  His number one "Elizabeth's Theme" (2012), and "I Dream in Neon" (#28, 2013), both under his stage name Dirty Beaches; as well as "Pierrot" from 2019.  The other three instrumentals to grace my blog list are Santana, a band which in its early stages of its career made many a memorable instrumental,  "Fillmore East", reaching #22 in 2017, The Wizards of Winter, a holiday-prog band with "Gales of December", #12 in 2015, and Baauer's "Harlem Shake", the only song since 1985 to hit #1 on Billboard, just squeezing into my list at #92 on 2013.  

Instrumentals can come forth in many ways.   Although there has been a fair share of those composed and recorded from "scratch", many are themes from TV shows or movies, and some are remakes of vocal songs (and vice-versa).  Then there are the ones created from "accident", sort of....a B-side of a vocal record flipped over to the same song just being an instrumental, or in one case, a song with vocals that had them stripped, leaving only the backing. 

Some songs aren't "pure" instrumentals...many, such as The Champs' 1958 #1 "Tequila" have just the title repeated throughout the song.  Some have "do-do-doooo's" in parts of the song or a simple phrase, but they're all considered instrumentals.  

There are many types of instrumentals, some pop or MOR in nature, others are progressive rock jams showing off guitar, percussion or other instruments.  Some are funky, R&B and dance/disco/EDM songs.  And, like their vocal counterparts, they can easily set the mood, some even more so, as the artist hadn't chosen a specific a theme, leaving the impression and interpretation to the listener, in many cases.

I thought it might be cool to look back on my Top 100 of the year lists from 1964 to 2020 and see what instrumentals made the list.   But first, here's a few pre-1964 favorites:

Percy Faith and Orchestra, "Theme From 'A Summer Place'", 1960

The Tornados, "Telstar", 1962-63

The Chantays, "Pipeline", 1963

Kai Winding, "More", 1963

The Village Stompers, "Washington Square" 1963

So now, lets get into some memorable instrument-only songs that graced my year-end lists.  Note that not all the instrumental hits are listed, and some were "hits" only with me.   But that's the fun of it.  Here goes. 

1964

#5 - Al Hirt, "Java"

#14 - Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, "The Mexican Shuffle"

#25 - The Ventures, "Walk Don't Run '64"

#79 - The Pyramids, "Penetration"

#89 - Robert Maxwell, "Shangri-La"

#93 - The Marketts, "Out of Limits"

Not surprisingly many made the list that year.  While we think of 1964 as the year of the British Invasion, aside from the Beatles and Dave Clark Five, the top 40 pretty much echoed the years before it during the first half of the year.  Surf music...both instrumental rock as well as pop (think Beach Boys), still existed in 1964 as The Marketts song (a take-off on the sci-fi show Outer Limits), The Pyramids, and the Ventures (remaking their "Walk Don't Run" hit from four years earlier into a surf-rock song) did well on the charts.   As a fan of the trumpet (I would play the instrument in the high school band years later), I loved the Al Hirt and Herb Alpert songs, the former played a lot on the Sonny Fox-hosted kids contest show Just For Fun. "Java" is the only instrumental to ever grace my year-end top 5.


Herb Alpert


1965

#16 - Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, "A Taste of Honey"

#29 - Al Hirt, "Fancy Pants"

#86 - Horst Jankowski, "A Walk in the Black Forest" 

Honorable Mention: Sandy Nelson, "Teen Beat '65"

By 1965, the top 40 became pretty much in the hands of the kids, with the Brit invasion in full swing, plus Motown and the reemergence of new, American acts.  Needless to say, the surf rock genre pretty much died, although the Sandy Nelson song which was pretty much a drum-oriented record, sort of kept it going, but that was out very early in the year.   That left the two trumpeters, Hirt and Alpert to carry on.  For Herb Alpert, it was his second top 10 with the Tijuana Brass, following "The Lonely Bull" in 1962.  The German-born Jankowski song was pretty much an MOR entry (piano and strings) and would usher in, in a few years, songs by international artists.

1966

Honorable Mentions: The Surfaris, "Wipe Out"; The T-Bones, "No Matter What Shape"; Cannonball Adderly, 'Mercy Mercy Mercy"

This year has been regarded as my favorite; it was the first year that I listened to top 40 radio religiously, but oddly enough, no instrumentals hit my top 100 list.  In fact, the only top 10 in Billboard was the T-Bones song early in the year.  Many songs were derived from commercials, and that one came from an Alka Seltzer spot.   As for the band that recorded it, they evolved into the 1970's pop band Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds which, as a vocal group had a couple of top 10's.   As for the Surfaris, the surf-rock song was from 1963 and was re-released in the summer of '66.  "Mercy...." became a vocal hit for the Buckinghams the following year. 

1967

#47 - The Barkays, "Soul Finger"

Honorable Mentions: Miriam Makeba, "Pata Pata"; The Brass Ring, "The Dis-advantages of You"

Another lean year as music changed a bit with Sgt. Pepper and the like, but a first taste of soul surfaced with "Soul Finger", a summer smash.   The Miriam Makeba song continued the international trend; she hailed from South Africa, while the Brass Ring song was another derived from a commercial, in this case Benson & Hedges 100 cigarettes.

1968

#11 - Hugo Montenegro, "The Good, The Bad & the Ugly"

#22 - Paul Mauriat, "Love Is Blue"

#41 - Cliff Nobles & Co, "The Horse"

#48 - Hugh Masekela - "Grazing in the Grass"

#53 - Mason Williams - "Classical Gas"

Needless to say, a banner year for instrumentals.  All MOR-oriented, and some international: Masekela being from South Africa (and once married to Miriam Makeba), Mauriat from France.   Montenegro's song was from the movie of the same name (and a memorable song with my friends in a ski house I was once a part of).   The Cliff Nobles was an interesting entry:  He was a soul vocalist who recorded "Love is All Right", but the song was flipped to its instrumental backing B-side and called "The Horse".   As Nobles was a singer, he didn't really have anything to do with the hit.   "The Horse" became a staple of high school marching band halftime shows.  "Grazing in the Grass" would be made into a vocal hit the following year by Friends of Distinction.

1969

#37 - Santana, "Soul Sacrifice"

#50 - Young-Holt Unlimited, "Soulful Strut"

#60 - The Ventures, "Hawaii Five-O"

#78 - Santana, "Jingo"

#81 - Booker T & the MG's "Time Is Tight"

#91 - Rhinoceros, "Apricot Brandy"

Honorable Mention: Charles Randolph Greane Sound - "Quentin's Theme"; Tommy James & the Shondells "Cellophane Symphony"

For me, at least 1969 belonged to the rockers.   Santana made its debut, with an extraordinary performance at Woodstock playing "Soul Sacrifice"; "Jingo" from the same debut and the first single, is mainly instrumental with a few chants in it.   The Rhinoceros record is a rocker as well.   Booker T ("Green Onions", "Hang 'Em High") and The Ventures had their third and final top 10's, the latter was the theme to the TV series.  "Soulful Strut", like "The Horse" was an instrumental version of a vocal song, in this case Barbara Acklin's "Am I The Same Girl" (later covered by Swing Out Sister in 1992).   Another TV show, Dark Shadows inspired the Charles Randolph Greane song, while the Tommy James song is the title track from that album; the band switching gears to psychedelic rock  in 1969, the song is almost 9 minutes of Pink Floyd style, a far cry from that band's hits.

1970

#37 - Santana, "Samba Pa Ti"

#60 - El Chicano - "Viva Tirado"

#72 - Allman Brothers Band - "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed"

This was the year that album rock  came into its own, even getting cuts on top 40 radio, while its FM counterparts played progressive, free-form rock.   So, it's no surprise that the Santana song (from the second album Abraxas) and the Allman Brothers' Idlewild South extended cut, made my list.  "Viva Tirado" is in the Santana style and a great song.

1971

#28 - The Nite-Liters, "K-Jee"

#99 - Dennis Coffey & the Detroit Guitar Band - "Scorpio"

It was back to R&B for instrumentals for this year, both doing well both pop and on the R&B chart as well.  The Nite-Liters evolved into the group New Birth which also had several R&B hits.

1972

#6 - Apollo 100 - "Joy"

#32 - Dennis Coffey & the Detroit Guitar Band - "Taurus"

#36 - Billy Preston - "Outa-Space"

#38 - Gary Glitter - "Rock and Roll, Part 2"

#41 - Hot Butter - "Popcorn"

Honorable Mention: Emerson, Lake & Palmer, "Hoedown"

A great year for instrumentals, and somewhat of a return to diversity.   "Joy", derived from Johann Sebastian Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" was an MOR and pop smash and the first to land in my top 10 since "Java".  Coffey's follow-up to "Scorpio" had a similar name and style and hit the top 20.  Preston, who started out as a Beatles protégé went on his own with this big hit.   "Popcorn" used a Moog synthesizer to simulate popcorn popping (and a song which I attempted on the trumpet).   The Gary Glitter song was another where the vocal version (Part 1) was flipped with the instrumental (backed with "hey"s) winning out; it became a big bar song.   I had to include the ELP song since it's one of my favorite off of their Trilogy set.

Billy Preston

1973

 #40 - Edgar Winter Group - "Frankenstein"

#74 - Billy Preston - "Space Race"

#94 - Eric Weisberg & Steve Mandel - "Dueling Banjos"

Three songs, three different genres.   Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein" is so named because of its haunting and melodramatic overtones.   Preston became only a handful of artists to score two top ten instrumentals as well as part of an equally elite group:  The keyboardist also had two big vocal hits, "Will It Go Round in Circles" and "Nothing From Nothing".   As for "Dueling Banjos", that, of course is from the movie Deliverance, but did you know that the song didn't originate with that movie?   Some ten years earlier it was preformed by a band called The Darlings on The Andy Griffith Show.

1974

#48 - MFSB, "TSOP"

#54 - Mike Oldfield, 'Tubular Bells"

#72 - Electric Light Orchestra, "Daybreaker"

#93 - Peppers, "Pepper Box"

#95 - The Commodores, "Machine Gun"

Honorable Mentions: Love Unlimited Orchestra, "Love's Theme"; Bachman Turner Overdrive, "Free Wheelin'"; Marvin Hamlisch, "The Entertainer"

Another smorgasbord of styles here.   Three themes in this group: "TSOP" is from Soul Train, while "Tubular Bells" is the theme from the hit movie The Exorcist and "The Entertainer" from The Sting.  The Peppers (no relation to the 2010's reggae band Pepper, nor for that matter, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, melded funk, synth and disco; the song was a UK hit and was played on a radio station in New York, but barely charted here.  ELO are done in their usual classical-slanted style, somewhat reminiscent of "Joy". BTO's song was the flip of their #1 hit "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" and was dedicated to Duane Allman.   And yes, that funky instrumental "Machine Gun" was the debut from the Commodores, a far cry from the Lionel Richie-led ballad era which the band would evolve into.   Finally, Love Unlimited Orchestra was Barry White's back-up instrumental studio ensemble.   The track was originally on the girl R&B group Love Unlimited's (which White produced) album Under the Influence.   At one time, the orchestra included Kenny G and Ray Parker Jr. 


1975

#63 - The Ritchie Family, "Brazil"

#79 - Average White Band, "Pick Up the Pieces"

#90 - People's Choice, "Do It Any Way You Wanna"

Honorable Mention: Van McCoy, "The Hustle"; Electric Light Orchestra, "Fire On High".

As we get well into the disco era, songs that are classified as "instrumentals" do have vocal parts and chants.  All four of these were R&B smashes, with "The Hustle" going to #1.   "Brazil" features "you got me where you want me" a few "woooo's" and in the beginning the title of the song, McCoy invites you to "Do the....", while the other two's only vocals are repeated in the titles.  As for the ELO song, another great Jeff Lynne instrumental, it wasn't a single but had been used over the years as theme music. 


1976

Honorable Mentions: Rhythm Heritage, "Theme from 'S.W.A.T'"; Walter Murphy & the Big Apple Band, "A Fifth of Beethoven"; Barry DeVorzon and Perry Botkin Jr., "Nadia's Theme (The Young and the Restless)"

Hmmm....those years ending with a "6" weren't good for me with instrumentals.  None of them made my top 100 that year, but the three mentioned were big hits, one from a TV show, another classical music adaptation, and one from a soap opera.


1977

#14 - Meco, "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band"

#27 - Bill Conti, "Theme From Rocky (Gonna Fly Now)"

Honorable Mention: John Williams & the London Symphony Orchestra, "Theme From Star Wars".

It's off to the movies that year, with the start of two long-running franchises and their themes.  The first Star Wars movie A New Hope was released during that summer, with  the John Williams original and Meco Manardo's disco version (composed after he saw the movie ten times during the first week of release) both hitting top 10 with Meco's going to #1.   As for Rocky, though the movie was released in 1976, accolades came pouring in during this year.   Several versions of the theme were released with Conti's original winning the #1 spot.  And yes, there are lyrics at the end (the subtitle) but heck, it still counts.

1978

#38 - Meco, "Theme From 'Close Encounters'"

Honorable Mention: Chuck Mangione, "Feels So Good"

The year I graduated college and started working in the real world, as well as the year of the Bee Gees.  Slim pickings this year.   Meco, having scored with the Star Wars theme was a natural to follow this up with another space movie.   The Mangione song is a jazzy classic, best remembered in the TV show Friends where the guy in the building across from Joey's window hums the song every morning (and Joey joins him).

1979

#96 - Giorgio Moroder, "Chase"

Honorable Mention: Frank Mills, "Music Box Dancer"; Herb Alpert, "Rise"

Interesting fact:  All these of these artists charted with vocal songs way before these songs were hits. You probably know Alpert's "This Guys in Love With You" from 1968 but "Rise" tied him with Booker T and the MG's with most instrumental top 10's.   Both Mills "Love Me Love Me Love", and Moroder (only using his first name with "Son Of My Father"), charted those songs in 1972.  Moroder was also known for producing Donna Summer during the disco era. 

1980

#84 - Meco, "The Empire Strikes Back (Medley)"

A very lean and quite year, with Disco dying and Adult Contemporary emerging.  Leave it to Meco to do another Star Wars recording, this time with the second installment of the original trilogy.

1981

Honorable Mention: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, "Hooked on Classics".

Another lean year for 'mentals, but I included this one as it was part of "medley mania" that took place during this year and the following one.  This one, as the title suggests, is a string of classical music by various composers.

1982

#20 - Herb Alpert, "Route 101"

Honorable Mention: Vangelis, "Chariots of Fire"

Another quiet year, with ol' Herb scoring another on my list.   The theme from Chariots of Fire was #1 in a year that would start out mellow but would skew younger as the MTV phenomenon would increase.  But, would it affect instrumentals?

1985

Honorable Mentions: Harold Faltermeyer, "Axel F"; Jan Hammer, "Miami Vice Theme"

Well as you can see, the fact that top 40 made an MTV-fueled comeback didn't help instrumental music.  None in '83, '84 or this year, but two top three hits scored.  Beverly Hills Cop and Miami Vice were the beneficiaries of these themes, as it appears now that these would be the only way to get an instrumental hit in the 1980's.

1986

Honorable Mention: The Art of Noise with Duane Eddy, "Peter Gunn"

Having a hard time coming up with an original instrumental?  Just bring back an old TV theme as well as a vintage surf-rock guitarist.   That's exactly what happens here (and also see 1987).

Stevie Ray Vaughan


1987

#10 - Kenny G, "Songbird"

#56 - Stevie Ray Vaughan & Dick Dale, "Pipeline"

The good news:  Finally, two instrumentals in the year's top 100 for me for the first time in ten years.  Bad news, yes, it's Kenny G, but heck, at the time, I liked the song, enough for it to be the third song to finish in my top 10.   Plus, it's an original composition, not from any TV show or movie (but many television segments adopted it as background music).     Well, remember what I said about "Peter Gunn".  Well, Stevie Ray teams with another surf-rocker, Dick Dale for a remake of "Pipeline", a hit for the Chantays 24 years earlier.  It's a great song and yes, it comes from the movie Back to the Beach, which is a reunion of the old early 1960's "beach" movies reuniting Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon.   Oh, and a pre Full House (and jailbird) Lori Loughlin plays their daughter.

1988

#10 - M/A/R/R/S - "Pump Up the Volume"

The late 80's were the peak of freestyle dance music, and acid house music.  While this song does have mixed vocals in it, (mostly the title), it still, in my opinion qualifies.  Two other songs in my top 15 in that sub-genre, for that year, "Theme From S-Express" (S-Express, #6), and "Beat Dis" (Bomb the Bass, #13) have just too much words in it to qualify. 

1989

#51 - Lil Louis - "French Kiss"

#100 - Kenny G, "Silhouette"

Okay, "French Kiss" I am referring to the short version which is just acid house, which slows down to a series of X-rated groans.    Heck, I'm at a shortage of instrumentals on my countdown, so I'm going with it.   Yes, I know about the #100 entry on my list.  No comment.

1991

#64 - Eric Johnson - "Trademark"

By the 1990's, my musical tastes started drifting away from top 40, dance and even mainstream rock, and it was around this time, I was getting (briefly) into blues-oriented rock.   Many artists of that genre made my list that year, but the only instrumentalist was this artist from Austin, Texas.

1992

#17 - Utah Saints, "Something Good"

#30 - L.A. Style - "James Brown is Dead"

#60 - T99 - "Anasthasia"

Yes, grunge was underway but for some reason, I also hopped on the techno bandwagon.   These three songs are great examples of that genre.   All are not pure instrumentals, but, except for repeating the name of the band for "Something Good" in the beginning, the title for the L.A. Style record (which became another classic in our ski house in Vermont), and "music maestro, please" for the T99 outing, there's no discernable vocals for any of these songs.

1993

#72 - Kenny G - "Forever in Love"

#90 - Joe Satriani - "Cryin'"

Well, so much for techno.  Joe Satriani's song is blues at its best, similar to Eric Johnson's above, but slower.   Oh, and how the heck did Kenny G get in there again?  

1996

Honorable Mention: "Theme From 'Mission Impossible'" - Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen.

One-half of U2 does the theme from the TV show turned movie.  The last top 10 pop hit until 2013.

1997

#56 - Howie B - "Angels Go Bald Too"

Well, it was the year of electronica, and this was a perfect example.

1999

#25 - Kenny G - "Auld Lang Syne (Millennium Mix)"

Okay, don't say it!  If there's a saving grace, radio stations played a version with audio clips of all the events of the prior century in anticipation of the new millennium, which actually made it worth a listen.  Then again, anyone who was in the Love Unlimited Orchestra or appears in a Katy Perry video, has to have some kind of cool, right?  Long live Kenny G!

2001

#12 - The Wiseguys - "Start the Commotion"

Far and away my fave of the early 2000's, this British electronic band released this originally in 1998.  While the "get up, put your body in motion" phrase is repeated much of the song as well as a lot of "bah-bah-baaaah's", it's mainly instrumental in nature, and hey, what other alternatives do we have?

2012

#20 - Dirty Beaches, "Elizabeth's Theme"

An eleven year drought gets broken in the blog era.   This rather avant-garde hit #1 on my blog in the autumn of that year.  Very surreal.


2013

Honorable Mention: Baauer - "Harlem Shake"

The song only hit #92 on my blog, but it became the first #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 since 1985.   The song garnered a record number of streams at the time, as Billboard added that configuration to its tallying of the most popular songs.

2015

Honorable Mention: The Wizards of Winter, "Gales of December"

Although the Wizards of Winter are no relations to The Hounds of Winter, the two contingents have something in common:  Tom Corea.   The Hounds mastermind produced this holiday contingent's (based in Frenchtown NJ and containing former Trans-Siberian Orchestra members) 2014 debut album.   The song, which was played at an NFL Baltimore Ravens football game in December of that year, peaked on my blog the following February at #12.

Santana

2017

#88 - Santana - "Fillmore East"

The original, classic 1969-71 lineup of the San Francisco band led by Carlos Santana, reunited in 2016. Given that many of the band's instrumentals are classic (see above), it's no surprise that this one made the list.

2019

#79 - Alex Zhang Hungtai - "Pierrot"

This is the real name of Dirty Beaches who was on the list back in 2012.  This instrumental is even more bizarre and mystifying than "Elizabeth's Theme".

2020

#13 - David F. Porfirio - "Driving at Dusk"

This artist is from Queens, NY and has a progressive, bluesy, jazzy, rhythmic vibe, depending on what song you listen to.  In my opinion, he's one of the best guitarists in the past ten years or so.  Now it's up to the rest of the world to find out. 


BACK TO THE VOCALLY PRESENT:   As mentioned, David F. Porfirio grabs his second blog-topper, but it's actually a virtual three-way tie, with the leader from last week garnering the nod.   Anna Lavigne and Fleet Foxes move up to #2 and #3 in only their fourth week; it's almost certain one of them will top the list next week.  The rest of the top 10 pretty much hold steady with a few in the 11-20 range still gaining.

Much of the big movers are centered on songs added two weeks ago; they appear consecutively in positions 28 to 31:  Øff Guard's "Sincere" (40-28); Offspring's "Let the Bad Times Roll" (44-29); Winnetka Bowling League's 'Romantic Way" (49-30); and Oneiric's "The Ride" (59-31, Mover of the Week honors).  Speaking of Oneiric, we now know the lead singer's full name.  It's Ted Torres joining Evan and Emily Carpenter in that promising band. 


DEBUTS:  EDM is responsible for the top debut as "Be Okay" by producer duo Fablers and Comet comes in at #71.   Fablers is the stage name for Italian-born Fabio Ghisleni.  I'm not sure where Comet is from (and I have no picture of him), but their style is along the lines of other EDMers such as Calvin Harris and The Knocks.  Oh, and doing the vocals?  None other than Matt Weiss of Øff Guard, a contrast to the rock produced by his band.   But his vocals are perfect for this song, they fit right in, and I wouldn't be surprised if Weiss' breakthrough came from this collaboration instead of his band, which is of course awesome as well.    Like many of Calvin Harris' songs, there is an instrumental break in the middle of the song.   The song already has 20,000 hits on Spotify, and could surprise.

Next is the Blue Stones' follow-up to their top 20 "Let It Ride".  You could say that this duo is Canada's answer to The Black Keys; Tarek Jafar's voice sounds a lot like Dan Auerbach's.  The new one, "Spirit", while keeping the Keys' vibe, is much heavier in sound and harkens back to late 60s bands like Cream. 

Lauren Davidson is an "urban country" artist from New York City who has been around for a few years.  She makes her blog debut with "Backfire", which, while it does have country sensibilities, there's a ton of rock in there as well...then again, much of modern country is like that.   Definitely has possibilities.   

Tune-Yards had one blog song back in 2014: "Water Fountain" which peaked at #87.  The New Canaan, Connecticut band as already surpassed that peak with an #82 debut with "Hold Yourself".  It's a bare-bones, drum oriented, harmonizing romp, rather simplistic, but it's doing well on the alternative charts.  Speaking of bare-bones, simplistic songs, AJR returns with "Way Less Sad", while the style is still the same with Auto-tuned vocals, the song has a brass backing that reminds me of Simon & Garfunkel's "My Little Town".   More importantly, the theme is about how it isn't easy to just go from depression to being happy...it's not that easy at all.   Definitely a good message.     Pop star Dua Lipa's "We're Good" and the latest from The Killers, "C'est La Vie" round out the debuts.  

Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist

March 21, 2021


This Week

Last Week

ARTIST-Title

Weeks on List

1

2

NUMBER ONE:

DAVID F. PORFIRIO

"That Night on Bergenline Avenue"

(Single Only)

9

2

4

Anna Lavigne - Every Kind of Heaven

4

3

5

Fleet Foxes - Sunblind

4

4

1

Tinkers Lane - Honey Honey

12

5

3

Emily MacMahon - Only Us

12

6

6

Aaron Frazer - Over You

11

7

7

Frances Forever - Space Girl

9

8

8

Kings of Leon- The Bandit

9

9

10

Bryan Hansen Band - Waiting For Tomorrow

10

10

9

Jade Bird - Headstart

18

11

15

Boy Pablo - Hey Girl

6

12

11

The Mystery Lights - It's Alright

17

13

16

Einstein's Dad - OMT

9

14

17

Maybird - Dreamcatcher

8

15

19

Illiterate Light ft. Devon Gilfillan - Freedom

10

16

12

Molly Burch ft. Wild Nothing - Emotion

12

17

13

Surfer Blood - Parkland (Into the Silence)

11

18

18

Kitten  - What Year Are We In

12

19

20

Iration - Coastin

10

20

23

TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:


THE AVALANCHES

"The Divine Chord"

Album: We Will Always Love You

6

21

22

Future Islands - Plastic Beach

8

22

14

Gwen Stefani - Let Me Reintroduce Myself

15

23

26

The Weeknd - Save Your Tears

7

24

29

Tytillidie - Doomsday

5

25

27

Taylor Swift ft The National - Coney Island

7

26

21

Bakar - 1st Time

19

27

24

Delacey - Unlovable

12

28

40

Øff Guard - Sincere

3

29

44

The Offspring - Let the Bad Times Roll

3

30

49

Winnetka Bowling League - Romantic Way

3

31

59

MOVER OF THE WEEK:

ONEIRIC

"The Ride"

(Single Only)

3

32

32

Sunflower Bean - Moment in the Sun

8

33

25

James Hunter Six - I Can Change Your Mind

16

34

39

Babeheaven - Human Nature

5

35

42

Glass Animals - Heat Waves

11

36

38

Midnight Sister - Foxes

5

37

35

Olivia Rodrigo - Drivers License

6

38

61

Jade Bird - Open Up the Heavens

2

39

28

I Don't Know How But They Found Me - Leave Me Alone

11

40

36

Ed Sheeran - Afterglow

12

41

33

The Black Keys - Keep My Name Outta Your Mouth

10

42

31

Elise Farnsworth - Pixie Dust

18

43

37

Harry Styles - Golden

10

44

30

Ariel Pink - Crybaby

11

45

41

Cold War Kids - 1 X 1

9

46

47

Clairo - Sofia

8

47

54

Beebadoobee - Charlie Brown

6

48

55

Machine Gun Kelly ft Blackbear- My Ex's Best Friend

3

49

56

Two Feet - Think I'm Crazy

7

50

34

Blake Shelton ft. Gwen Stefani - Happy Anywhere

13

51

51

Miley Cyrus - Midnight Sky

27

52

73

David F. Porfirio - Self-Portrait

2

53

62

Foo Fighters - Waiting On a War

4

54

43

Paul McCartney - Find My Way

9

55

58

The Happy Fits - Hold Me Down

5

56

50

Cannons - Fire For You

14

57

65

Black Coffee ft. Maxine Ashley and Sun El Musician - You Need Me

7

58

48

Shannon Marsyada - The Road

14

59

46

Kjband - Rock Star

11

60

69

Valerie June ft Carla Thomas - Call Me a Fool

2

61

68

Phoebe Ryan - Fantasy

4

62

45

Django Django - Spirals

23

63

52

Gia Ness ft Ariel Walton - Across the Universe

17

64

71

Nathaniel Rateliff - Redemption

4

65

77

The Neighbourhood - Stargazing

4

66

78

Gia Ness ft. Cameron Ness - Love Song

2

67

63

Weezer - All My Favorite Songs

8

68

81

TV Priest - This Island

2

69

53

Miley Cyrus ft. Dua Lipa - Prisoner

15

70

75

Haim ft. Taylor Swift - Gasoline

5

71

--- 

TOP DEBUT: 


FABLERS AND COMET featuring MATT WEISS

"Be Okay"

(Single Only)

1

72

60

Fitz - Head Up High

19

73

67

Temples - Paraphenalia

5

74

--- 

The Blue Stones - Spirit

1

75

84

CIVIC - Radient Eye

2

76

83

Awolnation - Radical

9

77

--- 

Lauren Davidson - Backfire

1

78

57

Morgan Wallen - More Than My Hometown

13

79

91

Carole's Daughter - Violent

3

80

80

Sports Team - Fishing

5

81

90

Porter Robinson - Look at the Sky

3

82

--- 

Tune-Yards - Hold Yourself

1

83

64

Cage the Elephant - Skin and Bones

21

84

82

The Backseat Lovers - Kilby Girl

35

85

92

Quarters of Change - Cyclone Trip

2

86

93

Baio - Dead  Hand Control

3

87

--- 

Dua Lipa - We're Good

1

88

66

The Blue Stones - Let It Ride

22

89

94

Amy Shark - All The Lies About Me

2

90

--- 

AJR - Way Less Sad

1

91

76

Winnetka Bowling League - Congratulations

18

92

85

Michigander - Let Down

4

93

87

Echosmith ft. Mat Kearney - Tell Her You Love Her

5

94

74

Gracie Abrams - Friend

8

95

79

Bleachers ft Bruce Springsteen - Chinatown

6

96

96

Dayglow  - Close To You

6

97

70

Chris Stapleton - Cold

20

98

--- 

The Killers - C'est La Vie

1

99

72

Brittany Howard - You'll Never Walk Alone

18

100

86

The Beths - Mars, the God of War

7


 

Songs with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.   Songs with 25 or more plays on iTunes/iPods ▲   Songs with 50 or more plays.