Scenes 'n' Soundwaves: Farewell to the World's Biggest Chart Buff; Deb Browning 2 Songs in top 3; "Running Up That Hill" Top Debut (SNS week of 6/12/2022)

CHARTS: They're an essential part of everything that needs to be measured. In all walks of life and work, you definitely have come across some sort of chart. And the music industry, especially, revolves around them.

If you're a true music buff, chances are you have read and referenced a chart in your travels. It could be a radio station survey, or a trade magazine listing of the most popular songs of a given week, month or year. More often or not, it is a great indicator of a song's popularity.

Chart historian Joel Whitburn poses with just a portion of his record collection. He has hundreds of thousands of records, including every song to chart on Billboard's Hot 100. Whitburn passed away last week at age 82..

I was always a fan of music charts. When I really started following popular music in the mid 1960's, I listened each Tuesday night as WABC-AM disk jockey Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow, counted down the week's top 20 songs. Often, I would write them down as well. A few years later, my mother started working for Ampeg, which made amplifiers that were used by many of the recording stars of the day. As part of the music industry, the company got issues of the trade magazines such as Billboard, Cash Box and Record World, which listed one hundred songs each week. Eventually I subscribed to Record World until the magazine went out of business in 1982, then to Billboard which I kept up until 2003. Recently I had subscribed online to Billboard until a few years ago. It's not a coincidence that when I started writing this blog that I feature my own favorite one hundred songs in a given week.

But, while my fascination with music charts has lasted a good chunk of my lifetime, it paled---very much---in comparison to a man named Joel Whitburn. He was the ultimate chart historian, to the point that it became a lifetime job of his, to research every song and album that made the Billboard charts for well over six decades.

Joel Whitburn passed away last week at the age of 82.

And while many of us have rather extensive record collections, Whitburn's collection was the most extensive ever. Many radio stations have huge record libraries, but his own collection featured EVERY song to make the Billboard Hot 100 (and its prior incarnations), as well as the album chart listings. And while much of us file these records away alphabetically by artist, genre or perhaps by era, Whitburn filed it by peak chart position!!!! His collection was estimated to be in excess of 200,000 albums, singles (both 78 and 45-rpm vinyl) and CD's.

Just two of the Whitburn books in my collection.

Born in 1939, by his teens he was collecting many records, even those issued before the "rock and roll era" began, subscribing to Billboard magazine in 1953 while only 14 years old. When the Billboard Hot 100 was established in 1958, he, as a hobby started tracking the progress of these songs, with index cards, noting the chart positions, their peak position and the number of weeks listed on the chart. By the mid 1960's, he was working for RCA records with distribution before his chart documentation really kicked into gear. He soon made a deal with Billboard to provide research of all the songs that made the charts, something that the magazine never did, and his first publication came out in 1970.

Soon, he formed, in conjunction with Billboard, his own company Record Research, and a myriad of books were published in various formats and music genres. Some listed top 10 hits by week, some of them were listed alphabetically by artist with a chronological list of the act's records, peak position and weeks on chart. Another series consisted of reproductions of the Hot 100 from the 1950's to 2000's; yet another compared peak positions on the three trade charts, including Cash Box and Record World.

I own several of his books, including the Hot 100 reproductions from the Sixties thru 2000-2009, the trade comparison book, as well as a summary of songs on the mainstream rock and alternative charts.

By publishing these chart history books, it prevented many record labels and artists from claiming false information, by saying these artists topped the charts when in actually, they perhaps only made the top five or top ten.

While many music fans weren't aware of Joel Whitburn, those in the music business very well knew his name. And while the charts will continue on, those left to document them will owe a great deal to him.

THE SNS 100: It's a close race for the top spot this week, but Deb Browning & Six Piece Suits' "Take Me By the Hand" holds off a challenge by My Morning Jacket's "In Color" to remain at #1 for a second week. Meanwhile, Ms. Browning's "3 More Minutes" is within striking distance of the top as well, and conceivably, any of the three could grab the brass ring next week.

The Top Ten is stagnant this week, with no new entries; the only significant move is Harry Styles' "As It Was" (10-7); the song is still number one on the Hot 100 for a sixth week. My Chemical Romance leads the entries in the top 20 with "The Foundations of Decay" (Impact, 26-12), but the other three entries are all by beach music artists: Jerry Powell and the Carnival Band, Rick Stickland and Don Dixon; there are now six songs in that genre in the top 20. Outside the top 20, the biggest advancer is Lizzo, who moves 80-38 to grab the Mover award with "About Damn Time".

STILL RUNNIN' UP THAT HILL: As I had possibly hinted at last week, I added Kate Bush's 1985 song "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)", which debuted on the Hot 100 last week at #8. This week it moves up to #4 and actually tops several streaming charts. It is also the Top Debut on Billboard's alternative airplay listing, and thus grabs Top Debut here at #40. The song, which is featured in season 4 of the Netflix series Stranger Things, becomes the first song in the blog era to land on my chart that was recorded and released in the last century. Two other songs--"Scarlet" by The Rolling Stones (#41 in 2020), and "Killer Life" by Sheryl Crow (#100 on my year-end 2010 list) were recorded in the last century (1973's Goat's Head Soup in the former; 1994's Tuesday Night Music Club in the latter), but weren't released until mmch later in deluxe, expanded editions of those albums.

Ms. Bush's song becomes the second version of the song to chart here, following Meg Myers' cover in 2019 which hit #4 on my blog chart.

The song heads a list of eight debuts. Next is the new one from Panic! at the Disco, "Viva Las Vengeance". It is the first output since Panic! scored with the crossover smashes "High Hopes" (a #1 blog hit and top 5 on the Hot 100), and its follow-up "Hey Look Ma, I Made It" (#37 here, top 20 on the Hot 100). While Panic! was originally a band, since 2015 it has been a solo project with its sole remaining member Brendan Urie. Similar to the recent Portugal. The Man song which also followed a crossover pop hit, Urie doesn't try to pander to the lowest common denominator. This one is a driving new-waving rock concoction that may have a bit of Elvis Costello mixed with some 90's and 2000's textures. Of course, it won't duplicate the pop success of the last outing, but that's a good thing. This should be a top 10 blog hit as well as on alternative, which is off to a good start there.

Another band with a blog #1 hit, Foals, returns with "2am". This versatile band, which topped my list with the somber "Give It All" in 2016, as well as six other top 20's, keeps this one up-tempo, indie pop with a rock flair. A persistent, driving poppish beat keeps this one going and in that alt-rock arena. A worthy follow-up to the #6 "Wake Me Up" earlier this year.

The lone beach music entry this week is "Tequila on Ice", by Wayne Free. Free is a member of the legendary band The Embers and this one is a good mix of contemporary country (similar to the Thomas Rhett song I added last week), with of course, the shuffling shag beat. The song is on many of the beach music lists already, so expect this one to have a good chart run to it.

Another from the alternative lane is the blog debut by a band called Courting, with "Tennis". This one is another chugger in the new wave/post-punk alley, mostly spoken lyrics. Definitely classic alternative that is making some noise.

It's been a while since a band from the classic rock era made my list, but at #100 are The Doobie Brothers, with "Easy". The Doobies, of course have had many memorable songs in the 1970's like "Listen to the Music", "China Grove", "What a Fool Believes", and several others. The band had two "eras", the pop-rock stylings of lead singer Tom Johnston, followed by the more soulful Michael McDonald. Turns out that both of them lead this incarnation of the band, now a quartet, augmented by original member Patrick Simmons, and John McFee, who joined the band for its final album in the classic era, One Step Closer. McFee has also been a session musician, notably playing lead guitar on Elvis Costello's "Alison". The Doobies have released four albums since 2000, with "Easy" coming from a 2021 release Liberte. The song is currently on the Adult Contemporary chart. With Johnston singing lead, the song has many of the elements of the classic early Doobies sound. It should spend a good amount of time on my chart as the band was one of my favorites of the seventies.

BRIEFLY: Over the last month, we had lost some notable musicians. Jim Seals, half of the folk-rock duo Seals & Crofts, who had hits such as "Summer Breeze", "Diamond Girl" and "Get Closer", died at the age of 79 after a long illness. He was also the brother of Dan Seals, who himself was one half of a successful 70's duo England Dan & John Ford Coley, who passed in 2009.....Alec John Such, who was a member of Bon Jovi during that Jersey band's 1980's heyday, who grow up in Perth Amboy and who left the band in 1994, passed away at age 70. Finally, Andy Fletcher from the synth-pop band Depeche Mode, died last month, aged 60.

AND FINALLY: This past weekend, Paul McCartney celebrated his 80th birthday and played MetLife Stadium in New Jersey's Meadowlands. Several friends of mine were at the show. Sir Paul played for almost three hours, and was joined onstage for a couple of songs by Bruce Springsteen. Also, Jon Bon Jovi came on stage and sang "Happy Birthday" to the former Beatle. I had seen McCartney back in 2009 and he played about the same length of time. You gotta give kudos to him for still getting up there. It was the last leg of his latest tour.........Some great local news in that Emily MacMahon is still very active. Emily leads the local cover band, August Rage which had an awesome debut show back in April at Garwood's Crossroads, will return there with her bandmates including Stephen DeAcutis on June 25.....and if you're wondering what happened to Colorjoy, her project with her former ScreenAge cohort, Sam Notovny (there had been some silence for several months after the duo's initial announcement), fear not: The duo make their first live appearance on July 2 at Triumph Brewing in Red Bank. Emily and Sam will play some Harry Styles and Olivia Rodrigo covers as well as introduce new songs from Colorjoy's debut album Golden Age to be released this summer.

Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist

June 12, 2022 (week ending June 18)

This Week	Last Week	ARTIST-Title	Weeks on List
1	1	NUMBER ONE: DEB BROWNING and SIX PIECE SUITS "Take Me By The Hand"● (Single Only) (2 weeks at #1)	13
2	3	My Morning Jacket - In Color	9
3	4	Deb Browning - 3 More Minutes	6
4	2	Curtis Harding - I Won't Let You Down	10
5	5	Tim Izzard - Glam Rock Star (Tribute)	10
6	6	Lesa Hudson - Sunny Days	9
7	10	Harry Styles - As It Was	10
8	7	The Black Keys - Wild Child	14
9	9	Anna Lavigne - Lavender Days	11
10	8	Hegazy - Do You Want Me Now	8
11	15	beabadoobee - Talk	9
12	26	TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK: MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE "The Foundations of Decay" (Single Only)	4
13	20	The War On Drugs - Change	6
14	19	The Palms - Fire	9
15	12	LP - Angels●	20
16	11	Train - AM Gold	13
17	27	Jerry Powell and The Carnival Band ft. Dave Sandy - Merry-Go-Round	5
18	13	Florence + The Machine- My Love	13
19	22	Rick Strickland - Dream Come True	6
20	24	Don Dixon ft Dip Ferrell and the True Tones - Young Love	12
21	16	David F. Porfirio - Dreamscape	15
22	14	Milky Chance - Synchronize	11
23	32	Main Event Band ft Sharon Hyler - Poor Side of Town	3
24	17	Cat5 Band ft Tim Sidden -Ain't Nothing Better	16
25	28	Lesa Hudson - Breathless	6
26	18	Parquet Courts - Watching Strangers Smile	14
27	31	Terri Gore - Summer's Gonna Last	4
28	30	Jack White - What's the Trick?	6
29	29	Zac Brown Band - Old Love Song	17
30	25	Donna Missal - (To Me) Your Face Is Love	26
31	23	Avi Wisnia - Catching Leaves	15
32	21	Deb Browning - Dancin'	14
33	35	Vance Joy - Clarity	8
34	34	Einstein's Dad - Back To You (Tribute to George Harrison)	9
35	50	Maneskin - Supermodel	3
36	33	Adele - Cry Your Heart Out	11
37	43	Sia - Unstoppable	6
38	80	MOVER OF THE WEEK: LIZZO "About Damn Time" Album: Special	2
39	39	Ed Sheeran ft. Taylor Swift - The Joker and the Queen	14
40	---	TOP DEBUT: KATE BUSH "Running Up That Hill" Albums: Hounds of Love / Stranger Things:Music From the Original Netflix Series, Season 4	1
41	42	Joy Again - What Lovers Do	10
42	54	Orbis Max with Tim Izzard - Back of the Shelf	3
43	59	Main Event Band ft Sharon Hyler - Hello Stranger	4
44	38	The Offspring - Behind Your Walls	7
45	51	Eavesdrop - Now You Know	8
46	53	Ava Max - Maybe You're the Problem	4
47	58	Sam Hunt - 23	5
48	37	Einstein's Dad - Here to Home●	20
49	44	Deb Browning - In My Dreams	23
50	36	Joy Again - Looking Out for You	15
51	55	Nick Waterhouse - Place Names	9
52	40	Hegazy - Maybe If We Try	13
53	61	Lady Gaga - Hold My Hand	5
54	62	R. Mark Black- Let Me Make Love To You	4
55	45	Eliza and the Delusionals- Bed Song	8
56	49	Interpol - Toni	7
57	60	Cat5 Band - Drive	5
58	71	Sharon Van Etten - Mistakes	3
59	73	Mitski - Love Me More	3
60	74	Huntergirl - Red Bird	3
61	47	Cannons - Hurricane	10
62	65	Caamp - Believe	11
63	---	Panic! At the Disco - Viva las Vengeance	1
64	69	Teddy Swims - Blowin' Smoke	5
65	75	The 502's - Just a Little While	3
66	41	Christina Taylor- Somebody Will	12
67	52	Arlo Parks - Softly	6
68	48	Band of Horses - Lights	15
69	56	Wilco - Falling Apart (Right Now)	5
70	---	Foals - 2am	1
71	46	Heartless Bastards - You Never Know	13
72	66	Babeheaven ft. Navy Blue- Make Me Wanna	14
73	79	Debbie Gibson - Me Not Loving You	5
74	94	Winnetka Bowling League & The Knocks - I Like to Hide in the Bathroom at Parties	2
75	68	The Regrettes - Anxieties (Out of Time)	7
76	91	Rick Strickland - Sandy	2
77	78	Deb Browning - Stop Messin' With My Man●	40
78	84	The Interrupters - In the Mirror	4
79	72	Anna Lavigne - Mindblown●	19
80	89	The Tonez - Me and My Music	2
81	67	Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats- I'm On Your Side	7
82	83	Bob Moses - Love Brand New	18
83	90	Salt Luvs Pepper ft David Cornelius - Lovin' Arms	3
84	57	Mitski - The Only Heartbreaker	15
85	86	Maggie Rogers - That's Where I Am	8
86	95	Thomas Rhett - Slow Down Summer	2
87	98	Christina Taylor - Till the Wheels Fall Off	2
88	70	Portugal. The Man - What, Me Worry	16
89	77	Tim Izzard - Empty My Head●	19
90	88	Arcade Fire - Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)	4
91	63	Bakar - Free	9
92	64	Brandi Carlile - Broken Horses	8
93	76	Red Hot Chili Peppers - Black Summer	17
94	81	SadGirl - Goodbye Queenie	8
95	82	SadGirl - Little Queenie	20
96	97	Ripe- Settling	2
97	---	Wayne Free - Tequila On Ice	1
98	99	Too Much Sylvia - That You Hear In a Song	2
99	---	Courting - Tennis	1
100	---	The Doobie Brothers - Easy	1