REMEMBER THE PAST, But look forward to the future....
JANUARY: Beginning year number 15 on the blog, as I agree to do this thing yet another year.....It starts off on a local, talented foot with Roselle Park talent Charlotte Sessions topping the SNS 100 with "Should I Be the Man". I take a look at her influences as well as her many talents within the music industry.......Brenda Lee, by taking back the number one spot on the first Billboard Hot 100 of the year with "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", enables her to top Mariah Carey during the 2023, three weeks to two.....I also lament that the songs that monopolized the chart in late 2023 are all back after the holiday exit. Sound familiar?........Teddy Swims debuts with "Lose Control", which would score him the top Billboard song for the entire 2024.....Two ground-breaking female artists pass away this month: Mary Weiss from 1960's girl group The Shangri-Las, and early 1970's singer-songwriter Melanie Safka......Thee Sacred Souls set the neo-soul tone for the year as their "Easier Said Than Done" takes the SNS top spot.
 |
| Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs perform at the Grammys |
FEBRUARY: The Grammy Awards takes place. While I have learned to be allergic to these high-profile awards, and I don't tune in, I learned there were some great moments, with Tracy Chapman joining Luke Combs on the latter's cover of Tracy's "Fast Car". Tracy's 1988 classic briefly enters my chart....Billy Joel announces the end to his 10+ year residency at Madison Square Garden this summer but also releases a new song for the first time in 27 years as "Turn The Lights Back On", enters my chart. It would peak in the top 20 here........We lose country superstar Toby Keith......Scottish singer-songwriter Anna Lavigne releases her new album Guillemot Days; the first single "Edge Of the World" tops SNS....The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announces its nominees for 2024, amidst the usual criticism as to what constitutes "Rock and Roll". Among the nominees: Cher, who just a few months earlier slammed the Hall, saying she wouldn't accept induction. Of course, she later changed her mind......The original head of the Hall, Jann Wenner, it was revealed, was let go after his book published, which includes all white males in interviews, saying that both women and persons of color didn't "articulate" at that level....WOW.....Usher heads the Super Bowl halftime show, but Reba McEntire knocks 'em dead with her "Star Spangled Banner" performance...Beyonce scores with a country-themed album with the hit "Texas Hold 'Em"......Speaking of country, Elle King got in hot water. Seems that Ms. King appeared inebriated during hosting a Dolly Parton tribute at the Grand Ole Opry. She would face a backlash, although Dolly would later defend her, saying that she probably had a bad day...."Lose Control" hits #1 on SNS.
MARCH: Beach music singer Deb Browning releases her gospel album Give Me Gospel. Her single from that album, a cover of "Put Your Hand in the Hand" debuts and would eventually hit #2 here........As March is "Women's History Month", females account for all four SNS 100 awards: Charlotte Sessions (number one), Juliet Callahan (Impact), Beyonce (Mover) and SZA (Top Debut).....Speaking of Ms. Sessions, her second single "I've Fallen For a Dragon" becomes her second number one in just two months. No other artist would have more than one blog chart-topper in 2024... ...Singer-songwriter Eric Carmen passes away. I recount both his solo hits as well as the bands he was in, most notably 70s power poppers The Raspberries....Teddy Swims hits #1 on the Hot 100 with "Lose Control", matching the earlier feat on SNS. Although it was his only week on top of the big chart, it stayed in the top ten virtually the whole year, resulting in a year-end #1.
APRIL: Deb Browning stays in the news. In perhaps the "prognostication award of the year", she and her singing partner Marlisa Kay Small released "Sunshine and Summertime", a cover of a 2006 Faith Hill song. Previewed on Jim Quick's radio program, beach music deejays called it upon release, the "song of the summer". Turns out they were right on the money......Bruce Blackman, the voice of Starbuck, continues his renaissance by releasing "Spring Break Shake". He got an unexpected promotion when New Jersey experienced a 4.0 earthquake in early April. Talk about the "shakes". The track would hit #1 on SNS, breaking a beach music "dry spell" going back to last fall, when "On the Sand" by......Starbuck....headed the list......My wife and I take a road trip. While the destination was Alabama, we spent a few hours in Music City, aka Nashville and toured the bars, checking out some local, aspiring artists who played there.....The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announces their inductees. While rockers Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Dave Matthews Band and Ozzy Osbourne got in (as well as Cher....no word on her reaction), also Mary J .Blige which was a head-scratcher, although a friend sent me a song that showed Ms. Blige's rock sensibility. But does it matter at this point in time? ....Hozier's "Too Sweet" hits #1 on both SNS and Billboard; nine years after he came close to the top of the Hot 100 with "Take Me To Church".
 |
| Taylor Swift |
MAY: Taylor Swift's new album The Tortured Poets Department is released, and she owns the top of the charts as she dominated not only the top 10, but the entire top 14 as well. Can I anoint her the "superstar of the '20s" yet? Well Billboard would award her the "Top Artist" of 2024, so that's a start in the right direction. I take a look at her journey and why she has gotten accolades, and not just for her music.......Adam Reader, the "Professor of Rock" does a show about Bruce Blackman's making of his 1976 Starbuck smash, "Moonlight Feels Right".......Charlotte Sessions, still riding high with "I've Fallen For a Dragon", does a performance at Garwood NJ's Crossroads club......In what would be a common occurrence during the summer, Deb Browning and Marlisa Kay Small's "Sunshine and Summertime" takes the SNS #1 spot......South Jersey singer-songwriter C. Lynne Smith releases her first single in years, the topical-themed "Follow It Down". The song would hit top ten here.......Juliet Callahan, who topped SNS back in 2022 with "Burning" that hit #1, remixes the song as "Burning Up", resulting in the song going back into the top 20...... My wife and I binge watch Loudermilk and discover singer-songwriter Lissie. Her "Night Moves", released a few years ago, would top SNS.......Jalen Ngonda's "If You Don't Want My Love", tops SNS as well....Country star Morgan Wallen, who created controversy a few years back when he yelled out racial slurs in a drunk state, got in hot water once again, this time by throwing chair off the roof of one of Nashville's bars. As a result, he was not allowed to put his name on his new bar that opened in Music City. This time, however, it didn't affect his recordings as both his duet with Post Malone, "I Had Some Help" and later solo effort "Love Somebody" would top Billboard....... Abi Carter wins the latest season of American Idol, as it announces that judge Katy Perry would be departing. She would be replaced by Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood.
JUNE: The multi-talented E'lissa Jones performs at Roxbury's Horseshoe Lake.......Actress Kate Hudson releases a music album; the song "Gonna Find Out", while absent from national charts, would hit top 20 here....With Hozier's "Too Sweet" topping the Hot 100, SNS, the Alternative airplay chart AND John Hook's Beach Music Top 40 charts, I ask if alternative and beach music---two loves of mine---are compatible......
 |
| Sabrina Carpenter |
JULY: Sabrina Carpenter is one of the breakthrough artists this year. Three of her songs hit the Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten, two of them here on SNS, and she even scored on John Hook's Beach Music chart at #1.......Beach music is still a valuable commodity here. One of my hometown friends recently moved to Myrtle Beach and she took in a "Music on Main" show at North Myrtle to see the Cat 5 band.....I also state that I would rather see more intimate settings than pay hundreds of dollar to see a "name act".......On the same note, The Black Keys, scoring here with track from their latest album, Ohio Players, decide to cancel their North American tour due to low ticket sales. They say it was a change in management that led to its cancelation.
AUGUST: Geocaching friends and I headed to Ohio for a "Mega event", the Midwest Geobash, but on the way, we spend a day at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Some great displays there, definitely worth checking out even if you disagree with the inductions.......Dw Dunphy, the Red Bank, NJ resident and mastermind of the current incarnation of the Internet collective Orbis Max, is profiled......Deb and Marlisa are back on top with "Sunshine and Summertime" for a sixth and final week, the most in three and a half years.....A Spotify discoveryy is that of British singer Pip Millett,who sounds like a reincarnation of Amy Winehouse. I look at her career thus far. She is featured on Gotts Street Park's "Got to Be Good" which would hit the top spot in just four weeks.......History is in the making as Shooboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" has multiple weeks at number one, as I take notice and add the song......Roselle Park announces its 2024 Arts Festival lineup, which includes Charlotte Sessions, and Ryan Chatelain, both returning performers.......Scenes 'n' Soundwaves turns 14, and I look back at my musical tastes over the years
 |
| Charlotte Sessions |
SEPTEMBER: Despite Shaboozey's 8th week at the top for "A Bar Song", it wasn't enough to topple Post Malone and Morgan Wallen's "I Had Some Help" for Billboard's Song of the Summer honors...Meanwhile, later that month I announce mine....to no one's surprise, its Deb and Marlisa's "Sunshine and Summertime", fulfilling all those "song of the summer" prophecies......The "CAMMY" awards for Carolina Beach Music excellence nominations are announced........ Rain dampers the Roselle Park Arts Festival; however, both Charlotte Sessions still delivered a strong performance in spite of a rain-drenched sparse crowd. Ryan Chatelain's stint, however, was played to an audience of one---yours truly........
 |
| Orbis Max |
OCTOBER: With Shaboozey now in double digits at #1 on the Hot 100 (and it would spend a few weeks here as well), I notice that once again, there is no movement to the Top Ten on the big chart; the stagnation would continue until both Kendrick Lamar, and then the holiday songs would finally scour it out.......I take a look at the indie artists who have been part of Internet collectives, and the several bands they are associated with. That includes Daniele Silvestri, Richard Bradley, and others......another "newcomer" to the top is Chappell Roan, and thus take a look at her journey to the upper echelon......Having joined "last.fm", I am now able to track the number of plays (or "scrobbles") on Spotify, thus precipitating a change in my "gold" and "platinum" awards from monthly rankings back to actual plays......Canadian femme quartet The Beaches hits number one with "Take One to Know One", and would in fact, the first under the new system to achieve "gold" status with 25 or more plays.......Shaboozey racks up his 15th week atop Billboard with "A Bar Song".....My wife and I check out another talented artist: Dani Zanoni, who performed with her band at Denville's Diamond Spring Brewing. Her song "I Know" would hit my top ten......
 |
| Shaboozey |
NOVEMBER: Morgan Wallen interrupts Shaboozey's streak, albeit only temporary, with "Love Somebody" but the "A Bar Song" singer would resume the top spot, at month's end tying the record for most weeks at #1 with 19.....I analyze his chances of breaking the record, but it would have to happen next year with the holiday entries depart, if at all.......Orbis Max, after releasing new songs every few weeks, release their album Tilt-A-Whirl, containing all those tracks...... Legendary music performer and producer Quincy Jones passes; I take a look back at his accomplishments.......The Carolina Beach Music awards are held; Gary Lowder and his band dominated the proceedings, winning ten awards....Deb Browning releases her new holiday single, "Christmas in the South"......
DECEMBER: Because of Thanksgiving being late, the holiday perennials are delayed a week. While that might be great news for Shaboozey, rapper Kendrick Lamar rudely interrupts the proceedings, garnering the Top 5 on the Hot 100. With Mariah taking the top spot the following week, "A Bar Song" will have to wait.......The onslaught of Christmas music permeates the chart. New music, especially by Carolina beach music artists are among the releases: Aside from Deb Browning, new holiday music from Sylvia Johns Ritchie and Rivermist, Steve Cheek, Lesa Hudson, and Mike Taylor are also released.......At year's end, I ponder what I am going to do with my blog and wonder if people still listen to new music. I discuss a possible podcast or Internet show for the possible future......Spotify "Unwraps" my listening trends for 2024, with Orbis Max garnering Top Group, and "If You Don't Want My Love" by Jalen Ngonda as Top Song......Meanwhile Billboard announces its year-end list, with Teddy Swims' "Lose Control" beating out "A Bar Song" for #1, and Taylor Swift as Top Artist for the year.....Morgan Wallen gets a reprieve as the denial to put his name on his new Nashville bar got overturned.......Legendary Jersey Shore band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, after 50 years of performing, have decided to retire from live shows......finally, Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" is back at the top. Talk about full circle.
Be sure to catch my Top 100 of 2024 which I expect to have out after Christmas, along with a video montage.
Have a very Happy Holiday Season, Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.
BILLBOARD HOT 100 UPDATE: Mariah Carey takes round three of the 2024 holiday season sweepstakes, holding off Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" once again for the chart with week ending December 28.. "All I Want For Christmas Is You" thus logs a 17th overall week, putting it two off the record for the most weeks at the top. Ms. Carey thus clinches the 2024 holiday season, avenging a close loss to Ms. Lee in 2023, three weeks to two. As there is just one more chart for the holidays, dated January 4, 2025 (encompassing sales, downloads and radio airplay between December 20-27), Mariah is close to making a clean sweep of the holidays.
Elsewhere in the top 10, Wham!'s "Last Christmas" and Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock" once again switch places, the former back at #3, the latter at #4, while Burl Ives' maintains the usual #5 ranking. After a delay thanks to Kendrick Lamar and Shaboozey, holiday songs populate positions 7 to 10. "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year "by Andy Williams, delayed at #11 for two weeks, takes the #7 position; Dean Martin's "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow" is at #8...no surprise there. What is surprising are the 9 and 10 songs: Ariana Grande's "Santa Tell Me", and Kelly Clarkson's "Underneath the Tree", respectively. Both songs, that previously peaked at #11 are new to the top 10, and both were released in the 2010's. The change may be subtle, but slowly the Hot 100 around the holidays is evolving. We've seen that with "Last Christmas", and now with Ariana and Kelly. Meanwhile previous top 10 songs like "Feliz Navidad" by Jose Feliciano have been well below their peak from prior years.
SNS 100: If you noticed, I left out #6. That's because "Die With a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars is hanging tough at this position, despite the other non-holiday entries vacating the top part of the chart. The song, which originally peaked at #2, held back by Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" is now in good position to finally reach the top in two weeks. But here on SNS, the song logs a 5th week at #1, holding off holiday entries from Deb Browning and Melinda Lindner in the final blog chart of 2024. The five weeks at the top are the second longest this year only to Deb Browning and Marlisa Kay Small's "Sunshine and Summertime" which logged six weeks.
As this is the final chart of 2024, it appears that Deb Browning's "Christmas In the South", at #2, will make it three consecutive years that she has had the top holiday song. 2022's "Here Comes Amazon" held the top spot for three weeks; last year, her cover of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" reached #12 for the highest ranking of that season. But it was a close race with Melinda Lindner as "Come On a Sleighride" leaps 11-3. One other holiday song entered the top 20, that being Kelly Clarkson's "You For Christmas" at #14 which also takes Impact honors.
Sylvia Johns Ritchie and Rivermist are next among the holiday entries, ,at #22 with "Down Home Old Fashioned Christmas", followed by the Mover of the Week, Lindsay Stirling's "Jingle Bell Rock" (58-34). As this is the end of the year, I only added one song, that being Moon Soul's "I Really Do".
Hopefully next week, I will be publishing my Top 100 of the year. I will try to have an update then about whether Mariah goes for the holiday sweep as well.
With that, it's time to close out a year of blogging. I want to with everyone who celebrates the season a very Merry Christmas, Solstice, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and of course a Happy New Year.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist
December 22, 2024
|
This Week |
Last Week |
ARTIST-Title |
Weeks on List |
||
|
1 |
1 |
NUMBER ONE:  (Single Release) (5 Weeks at #1) |
17 |
||
|
2 |
4 |
7 |
|||
|
3 |
11 |
5 |
|||
|
4 |
2 |
13 |
|||
|
5 |
3 |
18 |
|||
|
6 |
6 |
10 |
|||
|
7 |
8 |
10 |
|||
|
8 |
10 |
8 |
|||
|
9 |
5 |
16 |
|||
|
10 |
7 |
13 |
|||
|
11 |
13 |
6 |
|||
|
12 |
16 |
4 |
|||
|
13 |
14 |
5 |
|||
|
14 |
25 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:  Album: When Christmas Comes Around...Again |
6 |
||
|
15 |
15 |
7 |
|||
|
16 |
12 |
16 |
|||
|
17 |
21 |
10 |
|||
|
18 |
23 |
8 |
|||
|
19 |
9 |
14 |
|||
|
20 |
27 |
6 |
|||
|
21 |
26 |
8 |
|||
|
22 |
34 |
Sylvia Johns Ritchie and
Rivermist - Down Home Old Fashioned Christmas |
4 |
||
|
23 |
17 |
11 |
|||
|
24 |
19 |
18 |
|||
|
25 |
18 |
9 |
|||
|
26 |
29 |
9 |
|||
|
27 |
30 |
10 |
|||
|
28 |
33 |
4 |
|||
|
29 |
22 |
Sylvia Johns Ritchie -I Don't
Care Who Knows ( I Love My Baby) |
13 |
||
|
30 |
35 |
5 |
|||
|
31 |
20 |
21 |
|||
|
32 |
37 |
6 |
|||
|
33 |
36 |
7 |
|||
|
34 |
58 |
MOVER OF THE WEEK:
Album: Warmer in the Winter |
3 |
||
|
35 |
24 |
18 |
|||
|
36 |
28 |
15 |
|||
|
37 |
43 |
7 |
|||
|
38 |
42 |
6 |
|||
|
39 |
52 |
3 |
|||
|
40 |
44 |
8 |
|||
|
41 |
45 |
5 |
|||
|
42 |
47 |
6 |
|||
|
43 |
56 |
5 |
|||
|
44 |
57 |
4 |
|||
|
45 |
48 |
6 |
|||
|
46 |
53 |
Sir Prize and the Twomorrow
Knightz - Classic Cartoon Christmas |
4 |
||
|
47 |
49 |
7 |
|||
|
48 |
31 |
12 |
|||
|
49 |
39 |
19 |
|||
|
50 |
32 |
15 |
|||
|
51 |
55 |
5 |
|||
|
52 |
38 |
17 |
|||
|
53 |
46 |
9 |
|||
|
54 |
63 |
5 |
|||
|
55 |
60 |
5 |
|||
|
56 |
41 |
16 |
|||
|
57 |
40 |
11 |
|||
|
58 |
67 |
4 |
|||
|
59 |
66 |
4 |
|||
|
60 |
68 |
4 |
|||
|
61 |
50 |
13 |
|||
|
62 |
54 |
16 |
|||
|
63 |
80 |
2 |
|||
|
64 |
51 |
11 |
|||
|
65 |
69 |
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night
Sweats - Call Me (Whatever You Like) |
5 |
||
|
66 |
59 |
20 |
|||
|
67 |
72 |
5 |
|||
|
68 |
79 |
4 |
|||
|
69 |
70 |
4 |
|||
|
70 |
61 |
17 |
|||
|
71 |
78 |
5 |
|||
|
72 |
83 |
2 |
|||
|
73 |
76 |
7 |
|||
|
74 |
82 |
3 |
|||
|
75 |
62 |
13 |
|||
|
76 |
64 |
9 |
|||
|
77 |
84 |
2 |
|||
|
78 |
86 |
2 |
|||
|
79 |
65 |
17 |
|||
|
80 |
74 |
10 |
|||
|
81 |
--- |
TOP DEBUT:  (Single Release) |
1 |
||
|
82 |
73 |
6 |
|||
|
83 |
88 |
3 |
|||
|
84 |
77 |
10 |
|||
|
85 |
90 |
3 |
|||
|
86 |
71 |
15 |
|||
|
87 |
81 |
15 |
|||
|
88 |
75 |
9 |
|||
|
89 |
85 |
21 |
|||
|
90 |
89 |
21 |
|||
|
91 |
87 |
20 |
|||
|
92 |
91 |
10 |
|||
|
93 |
92 |
17 |
|||
|
94 |
93 |
6 |
|||
|
95 |
99 |
26 |
|||
|
96 |
94 |
10 |
|||
|
97 |
95 |
12 |
|||
|
98 |
97 |
17 |
|||
|
99 |
96 |
12 |
|||
|
100 |
98 |
11 |
Murmurs:
The Cure - A Fragile Thing
Billy Strings - Gild the Lilly
Sharon Van Etten - Afterlife
Jelly Roll - Liar
Fitz - Wind in My Sails
Seth Storer - Hungover You
Michael Kiwanuka - The Rest of Me
Jalen Ngonda - Anyone In Love
Pale Jay - Under the Magnolia Tree
Samizdat - Reasons That Require Cleaning (EP)
Barry Walsh - Rescue Me/The Sound
SupaPurple - This Is Our House (various album cuts)
Lainey Wilson - 4X4XU
Sabrina Carpenter- Bad Chem
Murmurs: Songs which are in the
queue for future adds onto the Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist.
|
|
Songs
with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week
|
|
Holiday
Songs
▲Song garnered most plays
on Spotify, for the month, with a
superscript following the symbol if most played for multiple months; or if a
song was among the top 5 most plays for two 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. (Until September 2024)
●Songs garnering 25 plays
on Spotify (“Scrobbles”) according to Last.Fm (effective October 2024)
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 From 41-100 that are moving up the
chart that have not reached the top 40
Scenes
Down and Going: Song formerly in the top 40 that are
descending but still on the SNS 100.
Scenes
Recurrents: Songs which had been in
the top 20 and/or songs on the chart 25 weeks or more, that have dropped off
the SNS 100.
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