Curtis Harding fights off a serious challenge from Deb Browning & the Six Piece Suits, to claim the top spot on this week's SNS 100 playlist for a second week. The artist who hails from Saginaw, Mich (the hometown of another great R&B singer named Stevie Wonder), spends a second week in the pole position with "I Won't Let You Down", a song that in the classic soul style that could have come out in the 1960's. The 42-year-old musician has had three solo albums out dating back to 2014 and has also been influenced by blues, psychedelia, gospel, R&B and rock and has even performed in a hip-hop group called Proseed. The current leader, taking from his third album, 2021's If Words Were Flowers, is a perfect example of retro-soul. Another such song, Leon Bridges' "Coming Home", spent three weeks at #1 back in 2015. Michael Hann of the British daily newspaper The Guardian that year cited both Harding and Bridges as "the new stars of classic soul", although Bridges has since gone in a more contemporary direction as of late.
 |
| Curtis Harding spends a second week atop my playlist with "I Won't Let You Down", a song which harkens back to the classic soul era. |
With Carolina Beach Music making inroads lately (five songs in the Top 20 this week), can you count "I Won't Let You Down" as beach music? Sure, it's a much slower tempo than your usual, bouncy, shuffling shagging song, but listening to it, especially in the beginning keyboard progression, reminds me of the classic "I'm Your Puppet", a 1966 hit by James & Bobby Purify. That particular song is usually included on classic beach music playlists; in fact, a remake of that song, by a band called The Tyn Tymes, is on a couple of beach music charts currently.
So, while "I Won't Let You Down" isn't considered beach music (perhaps, not yet...can I actually break a song with this blog?), it surely invokes that throwback sound of that bygone era, but one in which current acts of that genre are still actively capturing.
"Take Me By the Hand" holds at #2 but is very close to the top; it is top five on many beach music charts already. It could, maybe next week, be the first "official" beach song to hit my #1 position in over ten years, since Mayer Hawthorne's "The Walk". With "3 More Minutes" at #6, and her 2019 debut "Dancin'" sneaking into the top 20 (grabbing the Impact Award and being the only new entry in that upper echelon), Ms. Browning becomes only the fifth artist to place three or more songs simultaneously in the Top 20, following Adele in 2011, The Revivalists in 2019, ScreenAge in 2021, and Anna Lavigne earlier this year. In addition, another beach music songstress, Lesa Hudson, grabs her first top ten with "Sunny Days", moving to #8, and the Cat5 Band holds at #17 with "Ain't Nothing Better". It should also be noted that both Ms. Hudson and the Cat5's already have follow-ups moving up the list, with "Breathless" and "Drive", respectively.
But it's not all beach music making noise this week. Across the pond, Tim Izzard moves into the top five with "Glam Rock Star (Tribute)' at #4, and My Morning Jacket's blues-influenced jam, "In Color" is the biggest mover in the top 10, going from 9-5. In addition, Harry Styles' "As It Was", moving 18-15 here, is back to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, along with two other top ten debuts of his, and a #1 debuting album on Billboard. Styles is also making inroads on Triple-A.
Rock and beach music are competing in the middle part of the list as well, as we have, for the first time, TWO Mover of the Weeks: Last week's debut, My Chemical Romance's "The Foundations of Decay", and Terri Gore's "Summer's Gonna Last " (71-47).
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| The Main Event Band, featuring Sharon Hyler Woodruff on vocals, has the Top Debut this week with a cover of Johnny Rivers' "Poor Side of Town". |
SECOND CHANCES: Eight adds this week, plus a re-entry in a myriad of genres and styles. Last year, on May 2, 2021, I added "Hello Stranger" by The Main Event Band featuring Sharon Hyler, which debuted at #86. As a fan of both the Barbara Lewis original from 1963, and especially the Yvonne Elliman cover from 1977, I was quick to add the song, in which lead singer Sharon Hyler Woodruff's pleasant vocal takes the style from both of those versions. As many of my readers know, a song has to be available either by purchase or a complimentary copy, and either on mp3, or CD, in order to make my chart. Many times, I get excited and just add the song to my playlist then go back and look for a download. Unfortunately, there was none available for that song. It appeared to be on a compilation CD, but I couldn't find that either, so sadly, the following week I had to remove it from my list. Bummer!
In the ensuing weeks, I added beach music songs by such artists as The Catalinas, Too Much Sylvia, R. Mark Black, and Deb Browning's "Stop Messin' With My Man", with the latter breaking into my top 10 last summer, opening up the door to some more beach music.
This past week, I got a text message from Sharon Hyler Woodruff. She introduced herself as well as the background on The Main Event Band, and sent me some tracks by them. Sharon sent me "Hello Stranger", as well as their new single, "Poor Side of Town", which was a hit by Johnny Rivers in 1966, as well as their 2020 song "If I Could Build My World Around You" (the Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell classic). I was ecstatic! As a result, "Poor Side of Town" is this week's Top Debut at #67. The song is one of my favorites by Johnny Rivers, and Sharon adds much to the song and pretty much makes it her own. It is very high on beach music lists, and even tops a couple of them. The Main Event band, headed by Al Woodruff looks like a really fun outfit; the members seem to be really into playing live gigs around the Carolinas. And since I didn't get to enjoy the song the first time, "Hello Stranger" returns to the list, coincidentally at the #86 position. But this time, I expect the song to be on there for quite a while. A really big "thanks" to Sharon, for contacting me and sharing her band's music.
The one other beach music add this week is "Lovin' Arms" by Salt Luvs Pepper featuring David Cornelius. The song sort of starts off as a swing thing a la Swingadelic, but the familiar beach beat merges in and it's a great hybrid of sorts, straddling both genres. A nice soulful vocal by Cornelius keeps things moving, not to mention the horn section.
MEANWHILE, AWAY FROM THE STRAND: Aside from the Carolina sound, there' s a variety in the other debuts this week. Italian rock band Maneskin follows "Beggin" which was #1 both here and on Billboard's Alternative chart, with "Supermodel". The song stars with a "Smells Like Teen Spirit"-like riff, albeit a bit lighter, and goes on from there. A nice pop slant of a song firmly in the rock lane, but an appealing one. If "Beggin'" was sort of a freak hit, this one should establish them in the alt-rock field, although sadly, it probably won't repeat the Top 20 Hot 100 success the predecessor had. Their loss.
Another high debut is "Back of the Shelf" by Orbis Max. This outfit is very similar to Einstein's Dad in that the band is composed of members scattered around in many places, united thanks to the Internet. The group features Tim Izzard from the U.K. on vocals, and includes members from San Diego, Dallas, North Carolina and Wickenberg, AZ. Like Einstein's Dad, they have released several records with various lineups, the one common thread is that they are all scattered around the map and thanks to modern technology, they were able to "unite" together and make some great music. Izzard's now-familiar vocal leads this song which still retains some of his glam leanings but is augmented by power-pop oriented 70's style rock guitar work, yet it is very original in nature. The combination works very well and chalk up another blog hit for Izzard. The song is already garnering airplay on some stations here in the States.
Japanese American singer-songwriter Mitski follows her #3 blog hit "The Only Heartbreaker" with "Love Me More", also from her latest album, Laurel Hell. A bit more of a techno beat than the prior song and definitely has that 80's flavor to it, but Mitski sings with her heart out. This one certainly has the same potential as "Heartbreaker" and should do well, at least on my blog.
New Jersey's Sharon Van Etten follows her "Porta" with "Mistakes". This one is more beat punctuated than the prior song. The vocals are still understated, but the song as a whole has more potential than "Porta", which fell just short of the Top 20. There is more emotion to this, and overall, the song as getting a better reception than the last one. Ms. Van Etten has several blog successes and this one should add to that list.
For the first time in years, we watched American Idol (largely due to The Voice not being on this cycle). While Noah Thompson was the ultimate winner, it was the runner-up, Hunter Girl that stole our hearts. Part of that reason was that she had previewed her new single, "Red Bird" on the show. An original composition, it is very personal in nature, in the singer-songwriter lane on the country side of things. The song is gaining some popularity, and a heartfelt song like this, should garner some support. It definitely will here.
Finally, making its blog debut are the 502's, out of Maitland, Florida. The band has been around since 2015 and have released two albums. "Just a Little While" has been getting much buzz and is on the Triple-A charts. With a banjo-fied lead in, the song is in the indie-folk lane, which was popular a decade ago, but it's never too late for this kind of music. A nice up-tempo foot stomper.
AND IN CLOSING: I want to give a shout-out to Pat Gwinn, who is a DJ at several oldies and beach music-based radio and internet stations, which include "Carolina Gold", 93.9 and 106.3 FM in the Myrtle Beach area. New Jersey listeners can listen on WOLD (yes, that's a real radio station, Harry Chapin would be so proud), in Central Jersey on 107.9 and 95.1 (out of Edison), as well as streaming on 95.1 WOLD - Home Of New Jersey's Greatest Hits (woldradio.com) Pat made several new beach music songs available to me for listening. A big "thank you!".
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist
May 29, 2022 (Week ending June 4)
|
This
Week |
Last
Week |
ARTIST-Title |
Weeks
on List |
|
1 |
1 |
NUMBER ONE:  Album: If Words Were Flowers (2 weeks at #1) |
8 |
|
2 |
2 |
11 |
|
|
3 |
3 |
12 |
|
|
4 |
6 |
8 |
|
|
5 |
9 |
7 |
|
|
6 |
8 |
4 |
|
|
7 |
4 |
11 |
|
|
8 |
13 |
7 |
|
|
9 |
5 |
11 |
|
|
10 |
10 |
18 |
|
|
11 |
7 |
13 |
|
|
12 |
11 |
9 |
|
|
13 |
12 |
6 |
|
|
14 |
14 |
12 |
|
|
15 |
18 |
8 |
|
|
16 |
16 |
9 |
|
|
17 |
17 |
14 |
|
|
18 |
19 |
7 |
|
|
19 |
21 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:  "Dancin'" (Single Only) |
12 |
|
20 |
15 |
13 |
|
|
21 |
24 |
7 |
|
|
22 |
26 |
24 |
|
|
23 |
32 |
4 |
|
|
24 |
30 |
10 |
|
|
25 |
36 |
4 |
|
|
26 |
23 |
18 |
|
|
27 |
20 |
11 |
|
|
28 |
31 |
10 |
|
|
29 |
25 |
13 |
|
|
30 |
22 |
11 |
|
|
31 |
38 |
15 |
|
|
32 |
35 |
9 |
|
|
33 |
27 |
13 |
|
|
34 |
34 |
21 |
|
|
35 |
39 |
7 |
|
|
36 |
43 |
4 |
|
|
37 |
28 |
8 |
|
|
38 |
53 |
Jerry Powell and The Carnival Band ft. Dave Sandy - Merry-Go-Round |
3 |
|
39 |
52 |
4 |
|
|
40 |
44 |
6 |
|
|
41 |
41 |
5 |
|
|
42 |
29 |
7 |
|
|
43 |
65 |
CO-MOVER OF THE WEEK:  (Single Only) |
2 |
|
44 |
48 |
12 |
|
|
45 |
33 |
13 |
|
|
46 |
49 |
6 |
|
|
47 |
71 |
CO-MOVER OF THE WEEK:  (Single Only) |
2 |
|
48 |
51 |
8 |
|
|
49 |
56 |
4 |
|
|
50 |
37 |
14 |
|
|
51 |
55 |
6 |
|
|
52 |
57 |
5 |
|
|
53 |
47 |
17 |
|
|
54 |
60 |
4 |
|
|
55 |
59 |
6 |
|
|
56 |
58 |
7 |
|
|
57 |
40 |
15 |
|
|
58 |
42 |
10 |
|
|
59 |
45 |
18 |
|
|
60 |
50 |
17 |
|
|
61 |
61 |
12 |
|
|
62 |
68 |
3 |
|
|
63 |
54 |
15 |
|
|
64 |
67 |
5 |
|
|
65 |
64 |
9 |
|
|
66 |
72 |
3 |
|
|
67 |
--- |
TOP DEBUT:  THE MAIN EVENT BAND featuring SHARON HYLER (Single Only) |
1 |
|
68 |
66 |
5 |
|
|
69 |
63 |
5 |
|
|
70 |
74 |
3 |
|
|
71 |
75 |
3 |
|
|
72 |
88 |
2 |
|
|
73 |
62 |
38 |
|
|
74 |
78 |
3 |
|
|
75 |
70 |
6 |
|
|
76 |
90 |
2 |
|
|
77 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
78 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
79 |
46 |
10 |
|
|
80 |
87 |
3 |
|
|
81 |
69 |
7 |
|
|
82 |
86 |
16 |
|
|
83 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
84 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
85 |
81 |
6 |
|
|
86 |
RE ENTRY |
2 |
|
|
87 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
88 |
82 |
4 |
|
|
89 |
89 |
3 |
|
|
90 |
91 |
2 |
|
|
91 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
92 |
93 |
2 |
|
|
93 |
80 |
25 |
|
|
94 |
73 |
20 |
|
|
95 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
96 |
76 |
17 |
|
|
97 |
79 |
16 |
|
|
98 |
85 |
6 |
|
|
99 |
83 |
9 |
|
|
100 |
77 |
10 |
|
|
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.
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