Revisit the past, learn from it, and then move forward. It's time to look back at the blog for 2021, one that has been all over the map, even gone international for a while and then locally again.
 |
| Glass Animals |
JANUARY: For the first time in years, I start the year during the first week, as my interest in music has been very high, helped out by some interest from the artists themselves.....Starting at the top was Bakar's "1st Time", followed by country artist Chris Stapleton's very bluesy "Cold"...but artists who would have a great blog year start invading the charts, including Tinkers Lane (thanks to Ian Roberts contacting me and having the band's members send me tracks off their new album The Noise is Beautiful), Jade Bird, Cannons, Molly Burch and Ed Sheeran....also entering is "Only Us" by Emily MacMahon, who is the front woman of last year's band that had my #1 song, ScreenAge....That band had been "silent" for a bit, and while I initially thought "Only Us" was a new ScreenAge song, it instead introduced me to another side of that awesome lead singer, but we would soon know the impact of her band made as the year went on....As was the case with politics in 2020, much of it overflowed into this year, marked by the attack on the Capitol building in January 6...One of those involved, journeyman artist Ariel Pink, was dropped by his label for his part, but a friend posted "Cry Baby", which hit my top five nonetheless.......meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle, we have Finneas' "Can't Wait to Be Dead"...two songs were added that were alt-rock hits: Glass Animals' "Heat Waves", and All Time Low's "Monsters". The former would wind up as the latest "token rock song" in Billboard's Top 10 by year's end, while the latter would stay in the alternative list's top 10 all year...Paul McCartney, in the grand tradition of his first two DIY albums from 1970 and 1980, releases McCartney III in which he again, plays all the instruments...and we lost many significant people in and out of the music business this month, including Gerry Marsden, Tim Bogert, Phil Spector, Cloris Leachman and Hank Aaron.
FEBRUARY: The COVID second wave lockdown continues, and for the first time, I am watching the Superbowl at home instead of at a party. Providing the halftime show is The Weeknd, and, despite negative comments from friends, I actually liked some of his songs. Thus, I add "Save Your Tears" and it goes to #2 on my blog......two musicians get into hot water: Bruce Springsteen and Morgan Wallen; the former for drinking two shots of tequila at Sandy Hook Gateway Recreation Area and then driving his motorcycle, the latter for getting drunk and shouting out the n-word. While the Springsteen episode blew over, many stations banned Wallen's music, although his album sold like crazy. By the end of the year, stations once again started playing some of his music, but he was still banned from award shows.... More passings include Mary Wilson of The Supremes and jazz legend Chick Corea, who we learned possibly might be related to our own Tom Corea...... The Rock and Roll Hall of Shame..er...Fame nominations are announced, and I evaluate each of the candidates.....however, both Tom Corea and Ian Roberts of Tinkers Lane take me to task for downplaying Kate Bush's achievements, which I later admit I was in the wrong....,Billboard's "Adult Album Alternative", or "Triple-A" for short, chart turns 25, and I devote a blog to the trends of what is now my favorite radio format.....Emily MacMahon's "Only Us" tops my SNS 100, a song is a throwback to those romantic ballads of the fifties through the seventies. Not bad for a 20-year-old very talented musician......Speaking of Tom Corea, his studio band The Hounds of Winter goes "international", sort of. Thanks to Sound Blend, his usual quartet is "joined" by musicians from Canada and even Israel. The outfit is renamed Einstein's Dad, and they produce two albums, with three songs hitting my top ten
 |
| Tinkers Lane |
MARCH: Tinkers Lane's "Honey Honey" hits the #1 spot, making it three out of four number ones for the Brits thus far.... the buzz generated from my blog across the pond resulted in me being contacted by a very talented Scottish singer-songwriter, Anna Lavigne. She e-mails me to check out her new album Angels in Sandshoes. I am very overwhelmed! She grabs two number ones and two other top tens from it, then later in the year releases her second album Roses for the Ride, with another top ten song.....and I love her voice.....Another hot song is Fleet Foxes' "Sunblind" which races Ms. Lavigne's "Every Kind of Heaven" up my chart....back to local artists, I hear about my Roselle Park friend Joanne Oehler's son Tyler Jones, aka TYTILLIDIE, and his song "Doomsday". It's pure hip-hop and a great song which goes top ten here......Offguard also comes back. The Long Island outfit led by Matt Weiss cuts several songs, but Weiss makes more of a mark by being featured on no less than five EDM songs by various producers......I get a request to join the page for the band called Oneiric. Turns out that this is a trio of Jerseyans, aged 20, 19 and 14 who play seventies-style prog rock like they own it. Two of the members, Evan and Emily Carpenter turn out to be my Roselle Park friend Debbie Antoinette's grandkids. Four of their songs become mainstays on my playlist, each garnering well over 15 weeks on my listings.... And finally, keeping local, Queens NY instrumentalist David F. Porfirio's "That Night on Bergenline Avenue" becomes his second song to hit the top; as a result, I take a look at hit instrumentals over the last six decades
APRIL: During a project to download 2001 songs, I analyze whether songs from twenty years ago are remembered more than those from fifty years prior; I concluded that maybe it's my age, but I know those seventies songs like a book; 2000's? not so much. But I list my top ten songs for that second year of the millennium.... I announce a new, local up-and-coming singer, Madison Pisani, who is from my current hometown and has performed in the area. However, we still await any new original recordings from her......ScreenAge releases "North Star" from their up-and-coming DNR set. It would be just the tip of the iceberg as to what's to come with this quartet.... Pageants, the west coast duo headed by Rebecca Coleman, released its second album and many tracks released as singles.... Yet another British artist, Tim Izzard contacts me about his new album. Called Starlight Rendezvous, it's the great lost glam-era David Bowie album. It scores with me, garnering two top tens and a third entering the top 20 as we speak.
MAY: Joe Long and Les McKeown, from The Four Seasons and Bay City Rollers, respectively, pass......ScreenAge releases its second single, "Think Again", which debuts at a high #28, and by the end of the month become the second act to have the top two songs on my blog playlist, and begins a five week run at the top.....It's back to the beach, sort of, as I add a few more Carolina Beach Music songs. Deb Browning's "Stop Messing with My Man" is the unlikely winner.... The Rock Hall announces its inductees, and I agree with most of the selections but wonder why Gil Scott-Heron and Kraftwerk got in as "early influences" when they made their mark well after the birth of rock and roll. Still scratching my head on that one.
 |
| ScreenAge |
JUNE: With artists like ScreenAge, Pageants, Matt Weiss, Molly Burch, and David F. Porfirio releasing songs every week or so, I question whether that it's a good strategy to flood the market all as once with product. For some it's worked, others, not so much.... a Facebook page devoted to an awesome but defunct alternative station, WHTG-FM, 106.3 "Modern Rock at the Jersey Shore", is discussed as well as some of my favorite songs that were played during that great era of music......ScreenAge is at it again, releasing two more songs as well as their DNR album; and two more number ones in "Going Back" and "Questions". The latter is also the name of a single by trio Middle Kids, which competes with the Screeners for the top spot.... ScreenAge will have multiple top 20 songs every week, with a few exceptions, for the remainder of the year......Summer songs start to abound on the playlist. While there's none to speak of nationally, many are added by me: Songs by Anna Lavigne, Surfer Blood and others make my top 20, but it's Ian Roberts' three-year-old "So Fine Summertime" that takes the cake; it hits top five here.
JULY: I take a look at aspiring country star Christina Taylor, who planned on releasing five songs over the next year. Despite some great gems like "I Got That From You" and "Damn Boy" and attracting significant buzz, a Billboard chart appearance still eludes her......meanwhile on the Hot 100, newcomer Olivia Rodrigo is becoming a force on that chart, as her first three releases all hit #1....I roll out my preliminary songs of the summer list; not surprisingly the top two thus far are by...you guess it, ScreenAge.....another pop star gaining acceptance with me is Dua Lipa; her "Levitating" is rapidly rising on my chart......I catch my first live performance of the year. Yes, it's ScreenAge, playing a few songs at an outdoor club in Farmingdale....they are just as awesome live as they are on record......Former Staind lead singer Aaron Lewis releases a country song called "Am I the Only One". While it is patriotic in nature, coming in the woke culture with attacks on Springsteen, and tearing down statues doesn't sit well with the left.
 |
| Maneskin |
AUGUST: As part of my eleventh anniversary of my blog, I compile a list of "100 Jersey-oriented artists that affected me" and count them down in five blogs. The Four Seasons topped the list.... We lose two more artists: Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones, and Don Everly, one half of The Everly Brothers...Pageants' "Just Tell Me" hits #1, breaking a record for the longest span between number one songs for that West Coast duo...... Speaking of The Four Seasons, an unlikely cover of one of their vintage hits, "Beggin'" hits the charts via the Italian group Maneskin. That song would top my blog list in October and begin twelve-week run on the alternative chart.
'SEPTEMBER: I again, contemplate streaming vs downloading, with no final verdict......I also look back twenty years to the events of 9/11, how it affected me. Rolling Stone does a feature on Omnia and Leila Hegazy, the duo comprising Staten Island's Hegazy, who identify as Muslim, and how they had to deal with the fallout......Ed Sheeran is in a familiar spot. His "Bad Habits" garners his fourth blog topper. Initially bewildered by his appearance in the video as well as his production techniques in the song, it turns out to be just another of his classics...... In the "whatever happened to" department, I remember Vivian Girls, the trio from Ridgewood NJ with their "girl group sound" on "Take It as It Comes" before breaking up. Well, turns out they reformed, with a completely different sound. I add 2019's "Sick" and "Something to Do", both have that 90's post-grunge sound to it, and both hit my top five......Drake obliterates a Hot 100 record when 9 songs, all from his new album including the top five, debut in the top 10. He also ties the Beatles 1964 record of having the top five songs on the weekly chart. I take a look at the vastly different methods of computing the charts then and now......My "Song of the Summer" is announced, not surprisingly, it's "Think Again" by ScreenAge; they also have #4, 5 and 20. Billboard's award goes to K-Poppers BTS' "Butter"...... My hometown of Roselle Park has its annual Arts Festival, which I attend for the first time. ScreenAge, who played at the last one in 2019 (it was canceled due to COVID-19 last year), returned by popular demand. Other acts like Johnny Woods, Alexis Morrast and Swingadelic also performed, and would eventually place songs well up my playlist chart.
 |
| The Weeknd |
OCTOBER: I go back to the pop music scene, and with artists like Dua Lipa, Bebe Rexha, The Weeknd, Ed Sheeran and others putting out good songs, I wonder if that quality in that genre is "coming back"....It's back to Roselle Park one more time, as our beloved ScreenAge returns there, this time for an "anti-bullying" rally at the town's Mauri Park.....And this month marks the return of none other than Adele, who released "Easy on Me"; her first in six years, ahead of her new 30 album. I evaluate whether her music is still relevant in this environment. Turns out, yes, it is, with a seven-week run for that song, including three on my list.....for one week however, Adele has competition in the sales department with two different songs called "Let's Go Brandon", which are political songs of sorts; the phrase comes from a crowd chant "F**k Joe Biden" at an auto race; when the winner Brandon Brown was interviewed, the reporter mistakenly heard the crowd instead yell "Let's Go Brandon". However, three weeks later, it was just a memory (at least the songs were) ......It's great to see some singers in the pop world coming back (or venturing into) alternative music again. Taylor Swift did duets with Haim and The National on her last new album, and now Edison NJ's Halsey scores with "You Asked for This", which hits #1 on my blog. In December, another pop star, Avril Lavigne, returned with the biting "Bite Me" which is also on the rise, both blog wise and on the airplay chart.....
NOVEMBER: Nineties rock still has relevance as I review a concert I attended in Morristown by that decade's stalwarts Collective Soul, Better Than Ezra, and Tonic......Going back two decades to the seventies, I discuss how much those songs are still heard all over in spite of being half a century old. Classic rock lives on...... Anna Lavigne releases her second album, and her partner and mentor, Martin Stephenson also releases a new album with his band The Daintees...... Taylor Swift releases Red (Taylor's Version), the second in a series of albums she is re-recording, having lost the original rights to her music.....Elton John and Dua Lipa score with "Cold Heart", which is, in effect a mash-up of four of Sir Elton's classic songs......It's time for the holiday songs to come out. First out of the chute is "Christmas Isn't Cancelled (Just You)" by Kelly Clarkson, but Shannon Marsyada and Carrie Underwood are close behind...... The day after Thanksgiving, of course, begins the holiday season, and with it, the "Wrappie Award", for the first person to hear "Christmas Wrapping" by The Waitresses in a mall or on the radio. The winner was Becky Bose; writer and band member Chris Butler donates $500 to the Akron Ohio's Children's Library in her name.
 |
| Dua Lipa |
DECEMBER: Dua Lipa's "Levitating" is Billboard's #1 song of 2021, I do a comparison to all of Billboards year-end toppers from 1964 on, and compare them to my lists......more cool Christmas music, led by Kristin Chenoweth's "Why Couldn't It Be Christmas Every Day", and a quartet led by Christina Taylor, remaking "Jingle Bell Rock".......Michael Nesmith of the Monkees dies, leaving only Micky Dolenz as a surviving member of that made-for-TV band. I look back at Nesmith's surprising (for some) full career....and in perhaps summing up 2021, yet another ScreenAge song, "Like Fine Wine", hits #1, their fifth of the year...and yes, Mariah Carey is back at the top of the Hot 100 with her ubiquitous Christmas song. There are at least two things you can always count on!
YOU CAN'T STOP MARIAH: Well, you knew that she'd win in the end. Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You", as pretty much expected, hits #1 for the third holiday season in a row, moving from the 2 spot, with Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" once again in the runner-up spot. Adele drops to #3 with "Easy on Me". Overall, six holiday songs are in the top 10, and over a quarter--26--are on the Hot 100.
ON MY PLAYLIST: Meanwhile, Anna Lavigne's "Dance the Last Goodbye" displaces ScreenAge's "Like Fine Wine" for my #1 slot in this, the final blog tally of 2021. The Scottish singer joins another from across the pond, Jade Bird, and New Jersey's ScreenAge to have multiple blog #1's this year. "...Wine" drops to #3, behind Fleet Foxes' "Featherweight" which moves back up to its #2 peak. Ms. Lavigne's other song, "This Time" holds at #4 but is still gaining points.
RECORDS, WE HAVE BLOG RECORDS: It appears that "Why Can't It Be Christmas Every Day", by Kristin Chenoweth is the winner of my highest-charting holiday song for 2021. It holds at a bulleted #5 but joining it in the top 10 are "Jingle Bell Rock" (Christina Taylor, et al, 19-9), and "Hear the Angels" (Shannon Marsyada, 16-10). The three Christmas songs are the most in my top 10 since I started my blog in 2010. In fact, only once, in 2013 were even two yuletide-oriented songs in my top ten: The Killers' "I Feel It in My Bones" (#1), and "Christmas Is Forever", by Paul Czekaj at #9. Kelly Clarkson's now-standard "Underneath the Tree" just missed the top ten at #11 that year.
But that's not the only blog record set this week. Zac Brown Band's "Same Boat" rises from 11 to 8 for its third blog top 10, in its 23rd week on the list. That breaks the record for the longest climb into the upper echelon. The previous record was 21 weeks by Christina Alessi's "The Truth's Upon Us". While "Same Boat" has a ways to go to get to #1, for reference, the record for the longest trip to the top spot is "Keep You" by Wild Belle, which took 26 weeks to get there. Also entering the top ten are Babeheaven and Kacey Musgraves. Movers in the second ten are Glass Animals' "I Don't Wanna Talk" from 17-11 and Tim Izzard's "Life in a Day", which garners the Impact award in a 21-16 advance. Speaking of Glass Animals, their prior song, "Heat Waves" swims against the Yule tide and advances from 9 to 8 on the Hot 100. Here, it enjoys a resurgence, having been re-added a few weeks ago and rising 82-70 on the SNS 100.
Only two new adds on my final regular blog of 2021: David F. Porfirio, who had quite a blog year, enters one more time, with "Havana Sunset". Unlike past outings, this is a straightforward smooth jazz entry, very relaxing, without any changes midway through the song. Very nice. The other is another holiday entry, by Norah Jones, "Christmas Don't Be Late". This is another jazzy song, a straightforward cover of a novelty song that hit #1 back in 1958 by David Seville & the Chipmunks, which was also known as "The Chipmunk Song".
There are two re-entries on the list, Blake Shelton's "Come Back as a Country Boy", and one last holiday song, Taylor Swift's 'Christmas Tree Farm", which had spent three weeks on my list back in 2019. The impetus of the re-entry is that Ms. Swift re-recorded this (as she has been doing recently). Except that the new one is subtitled "Old Timey Version" rather than "Taylor's Version". But the song I re-added here was the original.
As I have mentioned, this is the last regular blog of 2021. Will I continue this into next year? It remains to be seen, but coming up is my Top 100 of 2021, which I have already compiled. The list is pretty interesting this year, with something that hasn't happened since 1964 (and 1965).
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist
December 19, 2021
|
This Week |
Last
Week |
ARTIST-Title |
Weeks
on List |
|
1 |
2 |
NUMBER ONE:  Album: Angels in Sandshoes |
10 |
|
2 |
3 |
12 |
|
|
3 |
1 |
8 |
|
|
4 |
4 |
7 |
|
|
5 |
5 |
4 |
|
|
6 |
14 |
6 |
|
|
7 |
12 |
7 |
|
|
8 |
11 |
23 |
|
|
9 |
19 |
Christina Taylor, Haley Mae Campbell and Brenna Bone ft. Kaylee
Rose - Jingle Bell Rock |
4 |
|
10 |
16 |
5 |
|
|
11 |
17 |
12 |
|
|
12 |
6 |
14 |
|
|
13 |
9 |
13 |
|
|
14 |
15 |
13 |
|
|
15 |
7 |
10 |
|
|
16 |
21 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:  Album: Starlight Rendezvous |
7 |
|
17 |
8 |
15 |
|
|
18 |
10 |
10 |
|
|
19 |
13 |
15 |
|
|
20 |
20 |
10 |
|
|
21 |
22 |
8 |
|
|
22 |
24 |
5 |
|
|
23 |
36 |
4 |
|
|
24 |
23 |
7 |
|
|
25 |
27 |
6 |
|
|
26 |
29 |
8 |
|
|
27 |
31 |
7 |
|
|
28 |
40 |
MOVER OF THE WEEK:  "Bite Me" (Single Only) |
4 |
|
29 |
18 |
9 |
|
|
30 |
33 |
5 |
|
|
31 |
25 |
11 |
|
|
32 |
41 |
6 |
|
|
33 |
38 |
6 |
|
|
34 |
47 |
3 |
|
|
35 |
28 |
22 |
|
|
36 |
42 |
6 |
|
|
37 |
26 |
12 |
|
|
38 |
32 |
21 |
|
|
39 |
30 |
11 |
|
|
40 |
35 |
23 |
|
|
41 |
37 |
11 |
|
|
42 |
34 |
12 |
|
|
43 |
46 |
10 |
|
|
44 |
56 |
Courtney Barnett - Write A Listing of Things to Look Forward To |
4 |
|
45 |
48 |
6 |
|
|
46 |
49 |
5 |
|
|
47 |
55 |
4 |
|
|
48 |
50 |
6 |
|
|
49 |
45 |
32 |
|
|
50 |
52 |
5 |
|
|
51 |
39 |
17 |
|
|
52 |
53 |
7 |
|
|
53 |
54 |
8 |
|
|
54 |
71 |
2 |
|
|
55 |
43 |
12 |
|
|
56 |
60 |
4 |
|
|
57 |
59 |
5 |
|
|
58 |
44 |
9 |
|
|
59 |
51 |
16 |
|
|
60 |
67 |
4 |
|
|
61 |
66 |
9 |
|
|
62 |
57 |
28 |
|
|
63 |
58 |
8 |
|
|
64 |
75 |
3 |
|
|
65 |
76 |
2 |
|
|
66 |
78 |
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats - Face Down in the Moment |
3 |
|
67 |
68 |
18 |
|
|
68 |
70 |
5 |
|
|
69 |
--- |
TOP DEBUT:  (Single Only) |
1 |
|
70 |
82 |
25 |
|
|
71 |
84 |
2 |
|
|
72 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
73 |
65 |
19 |
|
|
74 |
69 |
22 |
|
|
75 |
62 |
16 |
|
|
76 |
74 |
28 |
|
|
77 |
77 |
30 |
|
|
78 |
87 |
27 |
|
|
79 |
64 |
18 |
|
|
80 |
83 |
19 |
|
|
81 |
88 |
3 |
|
|
82 |
63 |
19 |
|
|
83 |
61 |
11 |
|
|
84 |
72 |
10 |
|
|
85 |
93 |
14 |
|
|
86 |
94 |
2 |
|
|
87 |
73 |
19 |
|
|
88 |
RE ENTRY |
4 |
|
|
89 |
79 |
17 |
|
|
90 |
81 |
14 |
|
|
91 |
80 |
12 |
|
|
92 |
85 |
11 |
|
|
93 |
86 |
19 |
|
|
94 |
101 |
4 |
|
|
95 |
89 |
11 |
|
|
96 |
90 |
Christina Alessi and the Toll Collectors - Stone Meets the Sea |
20 |
|
97 |
91 |
9 |
|
|
98 |
92 |
8 |
|
|
99 |
96 |
22 |
|
|
100 |
95 |
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.
|
|
Holiday Songs
Absolutely delighted and honoured to be in this list amongst such talented songwriters and musicians. Bless you Rob for keeping our spirits up and the music flowing.
ReplyDeleteWishing everyone a safe and happy time ahead, xxx Anna