Always look forward, but it's okay to look back once in a while.
JANUARY: The year starts off on several sad notes, as four artists pass (it's five if you count The Rascals' Dino Danelli back in December after I had published my final 2022 blog). We lost Jeff Beck, Lisa Marie Presley, Robbie Bachman and David Crosby in a span of two weeks......My blog gets under way on January 15 and the first number one is Say She She's "Trouble". The Brooklyn femme trio was just getting started.....Miley Cyrus comes out with "Flowers". While I thought she was "washed up", the singer debuts at #1 with the song on the Hot 100(her first there in ten years), and also reaches the top of SNS for the third time.....Beach music is still strong to start the year: Rick Strickland and Lesa Hudson's "Got it Right (The First Time)" debuts at #25, the second highest arrival in my 13-year blog history.....We had watched the season finale of the Netflix series Ginny and Georgia, which featured a retro tune "Until I Found You", which happened to be on the Billboard top 30. Who knew? As a result, the song jumps up my chart......
FEBRUARY: I discuss where this blog goes from here. As usual, I don't really pay attention, and it's the "same old, same old"......British artist Tim Izzard is probably the hardest worker when it comes to various projects. He releases an EP, Deepfake 99, and then will go on to be a part of three other collaborations by year's end.....After the second highest debut of my blog all-time, "Got It Right (The First Time)", the song ties another record by hitting #1 in its third week. It wouldn't be the only song to do that this year......Rihanna performs the halftime shows at this year's Super Bowl, amidst my friends unleashing criticism at her artistry in spite of me being a fan. Turns out they kind of were right as the show, as usual was "over the top" and really didn't bring out her talents. Lesson learned.....
MARCH: For the second time this year, a song debuts in the top 30. This time, it's the long-awaited new song from Colorjoy, consisting of two members of the now--defunct ScreenAge. It's the title trick from their debut Golden Age and will quickly rise to #1,,..,much of the blog is devoted to Emily and Sam's history....Beach music outfit The Castaways enter with the Jerry Butler R&B chestnut "Mr. Dream Merchant". The song was revealed to originally be released back in 1981 and was a beach hit in Atlanta then......Another hot debut in the top 30 from the singer-songwriter who was coming off last year's #1 song of 2022, Deb Browning, with "Think I Found Forever", complete with an award-winning video......I devote a whole blog to her talent...... Rev Bubba D. Liverance and the Cornhole Prophets hit #1 blog with the two-year old "Ti Ta Ti Ta Ti Ta Ta" due to new beach music airplay on the song......We have bands called The Heavy and The Heavy Heavy on the list simultaneously. Way to distinguish yourselves, guys!....Fifteen of the beach music songstresses gather together for a charity record to raise awareness of two issues. The Ladies of Beach Music, or "The Carolina Queens" as they became referred to, under the production of Tim Sidden, remake "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)". Benefitting are Marlisa Kay Small's "Wigs for Cancer" and Mitzi Love's "For the Love of Vitiligo".....
 |
| Say She She |
APRIL: The year is barely a quarter over, but Say She She notches its second blog #1, with "In My Head".....Possibly the highlight of the year was a trip down to Ocean Isle Beach, NC to visit friends, and in particular one evening to catch Deb Browning and Marlisa Kay Small performing at the American Legion Hall in Little River, SC. I got to meet both of these awesome artists and people in person and enjoyed watching them immensly.....Unfortunately, cold and rain the following day canceled a performance by two other beach music favorites, Rick Strickland and Lesa Hudson, at the Duplin Winery....Remember the Cowsills, the successful late 1960's family band? Three of the siblings reunite for an album and one of the tracks, "Rhythm of the World" makes the SNS 100......It's a battle for blog #1 between Deb Browning and Colorjoy.....Deb gets there first with "Think I Found Forever"; the song at the end of the year is still picking up beach airplay.....2023 marked the first year I had 'given in' and joined the streaming generation, having subscribed to Spotify at the beginning of the year. I blog about the playlists I've set up based on the SNS 100.....
 |
| Marlisa Kay Small |
MAY: Colorjoy knocks Deb Browning out of the top spot with "Golden Age", but Deb retakes the lead position the following week. Not to be outdone, Colorjoy comes back with "Beautiful People". That makes the ninth straight #1 song for Emily MacMahon, including six with ScreenAge and one solo outing.......The "pop 'n' roll" Hall of Fame inductees are announced, and I devote that blog to why Kate Bush, in spite of just one big pop hit last year due to Stranger Things, deserves her induction, and I recall my statements two years prior as to why she didn't belong. What did I know?......
JUNE: Pop and soul legend Tina Turner passes. I review her extraordinary, if somewhat underrated career......With the Carolina Queens' "Shoop Shoop" at the top, there are other great beach music remakes in the pipeline, like "Love Makes the World Go Round" (Main Event/Sharon Woodruff), and "Love Really Hurts Without You" (Marlisa Kay Small and Jerry West), both of which would also reach the blog chart summit......Deb Browning's "3 More Minutes" becomes only the fifth song to chart on the SNS 100 for fifty weeks or more.......While on the surface the two styles may be different, I devote a blog to make a case that Carolina beach music and the Jersey Shore sound aren't that far apart...Meanwhile Colorjoy and Say She She continue the assault on the blog chart. Colorjoy crams four songs into the top 20 at the same time, while Say She She gets its third number one with "Don't You Dare Stop"......Meanwhile on the Hot 100, Morgan Wallen, while no one was looking, started his assault on the top spot with "Last Night", eventually accumulating 16 non-consecutive weeks at the top, and leading a country music renaissance. It was the first country #1 on the big chart since 1981. Luke Combs would hang in there at #2 for a total of eight weeks with a remake of Tracy Chapman's 1988 hit, "Fast Car"......
JULY: Meanwhile on YouTube, "Chart History" videos are the new thing, showing week-by-week positions on the Hot 100 in a continuous line graph. As a result, I go make my own, either based on the Hot 100 or my SNS 100......Hozier releases "Francesca". Although the song had nothing to do with it, at the same time an old friend who I dated in 1985 with that name passes away and I devote a blog to her life, overcoming a youth religious cult to become a registered nurse, in the naval reserves who served overseas, and a book author and movie producer......Hozier's song would hit the top in August.......Country continues its dominance but in a rather controversial way: Jason Aldean's "Try That In A Small Town" was just a minor country hit until the video was released, which featured Aldean in front of a building that hosted a lynching of a Black man in 1927 as well as clips from the likes of various protests including Black Lives Matter. It divides the country again, infuriating the left, but after debuting at #2, moves to #1 for a week before dropping out of the top 20. The song still hung around the chart for 18 weeks. However, demonstrating the right's short attention span, his album was a disappointment sales-wise.......Legendary crooner Tony Bennett passes away. I take a look at his long and distinguished career as a performer almost right up to his passing....Tim Izzard is at it again. This time he teams up with Gregory Dobbins of the Internet station Dandy's Stardust Dive to create the medieval-themed cartoon band Sir Prize and the Twomorrow Knightz.
AUGUST: Michael McMeel, former drummer for Three Dog Night as well as one for the 1970's Saturday morning kid Krofft Supershow featuring "Kaptain Kool and the Kings", cuts a song with Marlisa Kay Small, a cover of The Spinners' "I'll Be Around".....The Carolina Beach Music Awards nominees are announced. The familiarity of not only the nominated songs, but the artists as well shows that I've come a long way to get on board with the genre. .....Irish singer-songwriter Sinead O'Connor passes, and I take a look at her rather controversial career......While it's pretty much expected that pop stars like Taylor Swift and SZA, whose music continuously resided in the Billboard top 10 much of the year would be successful, somehow it eluded Kesha. Despite her awesome song "Only Love Can Save Us Now" (in part, about her situation with a former producer) hitting the top spot here for three weeks, it fails to chart nationally.......More controversy with country music as completely unknown Oliver Anthony, who never made any chart in his career, suddenly debuts at #1 with the protest song "Rich Man North of Richmond". He reportedly turned down millions of dollars in offers to remain sort of a grassroots-type artist.......
 |
| Orbis Max |
SEPTEMBER: Another legendary performer, Jimmy Buffett, passed. He exemplified the "beach bum" life that we all yearned for. He was able to make a resort franchise based on his biggest hit "Margaritaville".......Yet another country song, "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan and Kasey Musgraves debuts at #1, making it four straight country songs at the top. While I opined that it's the new big thing and that hip-hop/rap hadn't had a #1 song in over a year, that became short-lived when Doja Cat's "Paint the Town Red" broke that streak by landing on top......The SNS Song of the Summer is announced, and that award goes to "R U OK', a change-of-pace sentimental ballad by the Internet band Orbis Max. Led by Dw. Dunphy, it was one of many songs by the contingent to be released in 2023, as the outfit's self-titled album was released. "R U OK', aside from the band's regulars, featured Lisa Mychols of The High Frequencies and guitarist Ed Ryan.......I provide a rundown of the annual Roselle Park Arts Festival, in particular singer-songwriter Charlotte Sessions. While I was unable to make the festival (thank you, vertigo....it was a rough month for me health wise anyway), her "Should I Be the Man" was added, which as of the end of the year, was still rising on the chart....Steve Harwell, lead singer of the late 1990's alt-pop band Smash Mouth, passes away.
OCTOBER: Those who wished that Billy Joel would "update" his #1 song "We Didn't Start the Fire" as it was now 34 years old would get their wish...sort of. Fall Out Boy comes out with their new version, which would hit #1 here for five weeks, and top three on the alternative chart, although not everyone is impressed.......The SNS 100 has a pop slant once again as songs by Taylor Swift, Doja Cat and SZA gain the upper reaches......The Voice season 24 begins, without Blake Shelton for the first time. He is replaced by country queen Reba McEntire, but in the blind auditions, contestant Nini Iris belts out "I See Red" by Everybody Loves An Outlaw. The song, a few years old, would be added to my chart by the original artist and would eventually hit #1 there.......
NOVEMBER: There is a "new" Beatles song released. "Now and Then", originally a 1977 demo by John Lennon had been made available by his widow Yoko Ono, in which the surviving three members of the Fab Four tried to produce for their 1990's Anthology albums, but the technology at the time prevented them from releasing a quality product. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, thanks to new technology worked on the song, with guitar parts from the since-deceased George Harrison, and it was released. It debuted and peaked at #7 on the Hot 100, and #1 on Triple-A as well as a four-week chart topping run here, copping the top spot in just three weeks, the second song this year to do the trick......Combined with The Rolling Stones' release of the single "Angry" from their new album Hackney Diamonds, the top of the chart looked more like 1965 rather than 2023.......Meanwhile moving to 1970's bands, Starbuck, with its original lead singer, songwriter Bruce Blackman hits the top spot on SNS with "On the Sand" which also scored on the beach charts......Thanks to "Christmas creep", the annual influx of holiday songs once again invade the Hot 100, with Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" again leading the way. I wish that perhaps for even one week, Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" would sneak in there.......I also lament that it's always the same songs that make the charts each year when there's plenty of them, some no longer heard from, sadly. Christopher Butler once again holds his "Wrappie Award" for the first person to hear The Waitresses' gem, "Christmas Wrapping" in public or on the radio.
 |
| Brenda Lee |
DECEMBER: Well, whaddyaknow? Brenda Lee's song hits #1, holding off Mariah in the process, not only for one, but TWO weeks. She becomes the oldest (and in a way, youngest) singer to have a #1 song, 65 years after release......Spotify sends out the "Unwrapped" playlist showing my most played artists and songs on the streamer in 2023. The winning performer, perhaps not surprisingly, was Say She She. The song? That would be Orbis Max's "R U OK"......Anna Lavigne, after a brief hiatus releases her third album Guiillemot Days, and the first track from the Scottish songstress, "Edge of the World" storms into the top 10.....Finally, Mariah Carey's Christmas song does eventually hit the top. Some things just never change.
HO-HO...HUM: Order has been restored on the Hot 100. As mentioned above, Mariah Carey recaptures the #1 spot on the Billboard chart with "All I Want...", after playing second fiddle to Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" for two weeks, and setting records. But Mariah's song, by hitting the top for the fifth straight holiday season, also sets and extends records. It's a cumulative 13th week at the top, and the song has been off and on the chart for 63 weeks which is the longest that a song was in the number one position, breaking a record set over a year ago by Glass Animals.
With one more full week (chart date of December 30, encompassing sales, streams and airplay from December 15 to 21), and another with significant activity (January 6, 2024 with metrics from December 22 to 28), Mariah could nab a possible two additional weeks. By next year, if this keeps up, records for most weeks at #1 (Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus' "Old Town Road", 19 weeks) and eventually, most weeks on the chart (91 weeks for Glass Animals' "Heat Waves") will be threatened.
NOTHING NEW? But where are the new Christmas songs? There are 30 vintage holiday songs on the Hot 100, all in the top 50, which because of chart policy must be in that upper half in order to chart; new songs can debut anywhere on the list. However, there is still none. That is despite two big songs released this season getting airplay: Cher's "DJ Play A Christmas Song" and Jimmy Fallon and Meghan Trainor's "Wrap Me Up". They are 1-2 on the Adult Contemporary chart but nowhere to be found on the Hot 100, a chart which seems to emphasize streaming over radio airplay these days.
Another observation: Where's Taylor Swift's "Christmas Tree Farm"? It's no secret that Ms. Swift is the hottest artist of 2023, what with many top 10 songs including "Cruel Summer" which was the last #1 before the holiday invasion. Add to that her many #1 albums and the hot-grossing "Era's" tour, and there's no stopping her. But "Christmas Tree Farm", originally released in 2019 and charted twice, is nowhere to be found. A possible reason is that the original version was re-recorded as "Taylor's Version" (Old Timey Version) in 2021, and sales and streams could have been split between the two.
TURNING TO THE SNS 100: The final blog chart of 2023 shows Everybody Loves An Outlaw's "I See Red" staying on top for a second week, with a slim lead over Charlotte Sessions' "Should I Be the Man?" moving 3-2. Thee Sacred Souls move 4-3 with "Easier Said Than Done" with The Beatles' former #1 "Now and Then" slipping 2-4. Marlisa Kay Small and U2 enter the top 10.
As this is my final weekly blog of 2023, it looks like two holiday entries made the top twenty. Deb Browning's version of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" will be the winner this year, moving 17-12. It's Deb's third holiday top 20. Fitz and the Tantrums grab their second Christmas entry, with "Give Love This Christmas" (27-20); the band had scored in 2017 with "Santa Stole My Lady".
The two hot national songs fall short of that region but make impressive moves: "Wrap Me Up" by Jimmy Fallon and Meghan Trainor advances 33-21 while Cher's "DJ Play A Christmas Song" after a slow start here, grabs the Mover of the Week award going from 97 to 41. Other holiday winners include Starbuck's "Winter Wonderland" (35-28), Sir Prize and the Twomorrow Knightz' "A Glittering Christmas" (48-37), and Lindsey Sterling's "Sleigh Ride" (49-39).
There were two re-entries from last year: Deb Browning's "Here Comes Amazon", which held the top spot for three weeks last year, returns and reaches #25 this time around, while Cat5's take on "Little Drummer Boy" is at #49; it had reached #34 last year.
DEBUTS: It's a light week for debuts, as is per usual for the last blog of the season, with just three entries. It's led by yet another holiday entry, this one by beach music artist Jerry Powell, with "Old Christmas Songs". It's a awesome song that I wished I knew about sooner. Apparently, Powell released this late in the season last year thus it didn't gain traction, and coincidentally it's now late in THIS season that it debuts. It's a melodic, looking-back song that is sentimental, and definitely deserve some last-minute spins.
Perhaps one of the biggest blog acts in 2023 was Colorjoy. The duo's Golden Age set yielded two #1's and four other top tens. Emily MacMahon and Sam Novotny have been inactive since their last gig in late September, but I add one of the most requested songs from their album, "Cigarettes and Vanilla". It's in the style the band is noted for, with a bit of ambience amidst the up-tempo nature of the song. Looks like another winner. Finally, Juliet Callahan has a quick follow-up to the current "Beacon" with "Venom". She employs the current pop-nature of what's out there now, with her strong voice reaching out there.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS: As I had mentioned, this is my final regular blog of 2023. I have to say it's been an awesome year for music, even though not all of it was "successful", whatever that means. I was pleasantly surprised, as I was ready to give it up (then again, I say that every year). Be on the lookout for my Christmas 100 - 2023 Edition on my YouTube channel, and of course, coming soon is my Top 100 of 2023 which has already been compiled!
WISHING EVERYONE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS, A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON and a HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!!
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist
December 17, 2023
|
This Week |
Last Week |
ARTIST-Title |
Weeks on List |
|
1 |
1 |
NUMBER ONE:  "I See Red"▲ Album: I See Red (2 weeks at #1) |
10 |
|
2 |
3 |
15 |
|
|
3 |
4 |
7 |
|
|
4 |
2 |
8 |
|
|
5 |
5 |
12 |
|
|
6 |
8 |
4 |
|
|
7 |
7 |
11 |
|
|
8 |
6 |
10 |
|
|
9 |
11 |
6 |
|
|
10 |
12 |
8 |
|
|
11 |
16 |
8 |
|
|
12 |
17 |
5 |
|
|
13 |
18 |
6 |
|
|
14 |
13 |
11 |
|
|
15 |
9 |
16 |
|
|
16 |
20 |
8 |
|
|
17 |
15 |
14 |
|
|
18 |
10 |
9 |
|
|
19 |
14 |
13 |
|
|
20 |
27 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:  Album: Perfect Holiday (EP) |
5 |
|
21 |
33 |
4 |
|
|
22 |
25 |
9 |
|
|
23 |
24 |
7 |
|
|
24 |
26 |
6 |
|
|
25 |
32 |
17 |
|
|
26 |
23 |
10 |
|
|
27 |
21 |
22 |
|
|
28 |
35 |
4 |
|
|
29 |
28 |
10 |
|
|
30 |
34 |
5 |
|
|
31 |
19 |
15 |
|
|
32 |
22 |
13 |
|
|
33 |
30 |
9 |
|
|
34 |
31 |
7 |
|
|
35 |
39 |
6 |
|
|
36 |
51 |
7 |
|
|
37 |
48 |
Sir Prize and the Twomorrow
Knightz - A Glittering Christmas |
4 |
|
38 |
43 |
6 |
|
|
39 |
49 |
5 |
|
|
40 |
37 |
8 |
|
|
41 |
96 |
MOVER OF THE WEEK:  Album: Christmas |
2 |
|
42 |
29 |
17 |
|
|
43 |
46 |
5 |
|
|
44 |
36 |
10 |
|
|
45 |
47 |
7 |
|
|
46 |
58 |
3 |
|
|
47 |
52 |
7 |
|
|
48 |
64 |
2 |
|
|
49 |
61 |
10 |
|
|
50 |
40 |
13 |
|
|
51 |
42 |
30 |
|
|
52 |
38 |
13 |
|
|
53 |
41 |
8 |
|
|
54 |
44 |
17 |
|
|
55 |
56 |
7 |
|
|
56 |
50 |
20 |
|
|
57 |
45 |
16 |
|
|
58 |
62 |
5 |
|
|
59 |
60 |
10 |
|
|
60 |
74 |
2 |
|
|
61 |
63 |
17 |
|
|
62 |
65 |
4 |
|
|
63 |
69 |
3 |
|
|
64 |
53 |
15 |
|
|
65 |
57 |
24 |
|
|
66 |
54 |
16 |
|
|
67 |
55 |
39 |
|
|
68 |
77 |
1 |
|
|
69 |
--- |
TOP DEBUT:  (Single Only) |
1 |
|
70 |
59 |
17 |
|
|
71 |
73 |
3 |
|
|
72 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
73 |
82 |
2 |
|
|
74 |
67 |
7 |
|
|
75 |
81 |
3 |
|
|
76 |
90 |
2 |
|
|
77 |
70 |
10 |
|
|
78 |
85 |
3 |
|
|
79 |
89 |
3 |
|
|
80 |
66 |
9 |
|
|
81 |
72 |
21 |
|
|
82 |
101 |
2 |
|
|
83 |
71 |
11 |
|
|
84 |
84 |
33 |
|
|
85 |
93 |
4 |
|
|
86 |
102 |
1 |
|
|
87 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
88 |
68 |
18 |
|
|
89 |
78 |
37 |
|
|
90 |
90 |
1 |
|
|
91 |
88 |
4 |
|
|
92 |
94 |
8 |
|
|
93 |
103 |
1 |
|
|
94 |
79 |
19 |
|
|
95 |
83 |
25 |
|
|
96 |
76 |
11 |
|
|
97 |
97 |
27 |
|
|
98 |
80 |
19 |
|
|
99 |
95 |
23 |
|
|
100 |
75 |
13 |
Tremors:
101. Brittany Howard, "What Now"
Tremors:
Songs which have steady or increasing points but not enough to chart on the SNS
100.
|
|
Songs
with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.
▲Song garnered most plays
on Spotify, for the month, with a
superscript following the symbol if most played for multiple months ● Song
among top 5 most plays on Spotify.
Awards given during the last blog of each month. To qualify, the song must be currently or
have peaked in the top 40.
|
|
Holiday
Songs
Songs
on the SNS 100 are included on the following public Spotify playlists
Scenes
‘n’ Soundwaves Top 40: Contains songs in positions 1-40 on the SNS
100
Scenes
Up and Coming: Songs below #40 that are moving up the chart.
Scenes
Recurrents: Songs which have
dropped below the top 40 but are still on the SNS 100
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