Tag / Moulin Rouge

by admin

Fifty Years Of Music – 2001

Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth.  In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.

We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 2001, the year the world changed on a Tuesday morning in September, I celebrated my 27th birthday, and Danny joined the family.  22 of these songs remain familiar to me today, with just nine of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.

#99: Enrique Iglesias – Hero
iTunes stats: N/A

Released less than two weeks before 9/11, it peaked at #3

#75: U2 – Beautiful Day
iTunes stats: N/A

The lead single from the group’s tenth studio album, it reached #21 on the Hot 100.

#47: Aerosmith – Jaded
iTunes stats: 26 plays

Topping out at #7, the song made Aerosmith the first act to have an actively charting single when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

#44: 3 Doors Down – Kryptonite
iTunes stats: N/A

The group’s debut single, it spent nine weeks atop the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, eleven weeks on top of the Modern Rock Tracks chart, and went to #3 on the Hot 100.

#43: Nelly Furtado – I’m Like a Bird
iTunes stats: 22 plays

The debut single from the Canadian singer-songwriter, it became her first top ten hit, peaking at #9.

#39: Creed – With Arms Wide Open
iTunes stats: N/A

Spending a single week atop the Hot 100, it remains the group’s sole #1 hit.

#35: Missy Elliot – Get Ur Freak On
iTunes stats: 20 plays

Reaching #7, the track was the lead single from her third studio album.

#33: Moby featuring Gwen Stefani – South Side
iTunes stats: 15 plays

Spending 32 weeks on the Hot 100, it topped out at #14 in May.

#29: Crazy Town – Butterfly
iTunes stats: N/A

The group’s third single, it spent two non-consecutive weeks at #1 in the spring.

#27: Faith Hill – The Way You Love Me
iTunes stats: N/A

The song spent four weeks atop the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in May, becoming her eighth #1 hit on that chart, while later peaking at #6 on the Hot 100 in December.

#26: Jennifer Lopez – Love Don’t Cost a Thing
iTunes stats: N/A

The lead single from her sophomore effort, it reached #3 for two weeks.

#25: Outkast – Ms. Jackson
iTunes stats: 25 plays

The Grammy winner for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, it spent a single week at #1 in February.

#24: Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya, and Pink – Lady Marmalade
iTunes stats: 26 plays

Recorded for the soundtrack to Moulin Rouge!, it spent five weeks atop the Hot 100, making it just the ninth song to hit #1 when recorded by different artists.

#23: Destiny’s Child – Survivor
iTunes stats: N/A

Inspired by a joke that compared the group, who had already lost three members, to the reality show Survivor. it went to #2 on the Hot 100.

#19: Uncle Kracker – Follow Me
iTunes stats: N/A

Peaking at #5, it was the debut single for the former Kid Rock hanger-on.

#18: Nelly featuring City Spud – Ride wit Me
iTunes stats: 14 plays

The third single from his debut studio album, it reached #3.

#17: Shaggy featuring Rayvon – Angel
iTunes stats: N/A

His second straight chart-topper, it spent a single week at #1 in March.

#14: Staind – It’s Been Awhile
iTunes stats: N/A

The group’s sole top ten hit, it went to #5.

#12: Shaggy featuring Rikrok – It Wasn’t Me
iTunes stats: N/A

The lead single from his fifth studio album, it spent two weeks atop the Hot 100 in February.

#8: Dido – Thank You
iTunes stats: 17 plays

Sampled for Eminem’s hit Stan, it spent three weeks at #3, her first and only top ten hit to date.

#7: Eve featuring Gwen Stefani – Let Me Blow Ya Mind
iTunes stats: 31 plays

Eve’s highest charting single, it peaked at #2 in August.

#4: Train – Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)
iTunes stats: N/A

The lead single from the group’s sophomore album, it reached #5.

by admin

Fifty Years Of Music – 1975

Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth.  In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.

We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 1975, the first full year of my life.  Given my first birthday took place in late-October, I have no knowledge of these songs from their original release.  Only fifteen of the Hot 100 are familiar to me now, with only six of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.

#98: Bachman-Turner Overdrive – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
iTunes stats: N/A

Released in September of 1974, the song peaked at #1 on the Hot 100 charts in just seven weeks.

#67: Joe Cocker – You Are So Beautiful
iTunes stats: N/A

Released in November of 1974, the track, originally performed by Billy Preston earlier that year, became Cocker’s highest-charting solo hit, peaking at #5 on the charts.

#65: KC and the Sunshine Band – Get Down Tonight
iTunes stats: 18 plays

The beginning of the disco influence on the charts, the song, released in February of 1975, became the band’s first of five #1 hits.

#61: Styx – Lady
iTunes stats: N/A

Originally released in 1973 on a small, local label, the song was re-issued in November of 1974 after the band moved to A&M Records and made it to #6 in March of 1975.

#49: Barry White – You’re The First, The Last, My Everything
iTunes stats: 14 plays

Originally written as a country song in the early 1950s, White re-worked the lyrics and turned it into a disco song, which became his fourth top ten hit.

#39: Harry Chapin – Cat’s In The Cradle
iTunes stats: N/A

Chapin’s only #1 song, it was nominated for the 1975 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011.

#36: Barry Manilow – Mandy
iTunes stats: 21 plays

Switching from the original name of Brandy, the song became Manilow’s first #1 hit on the Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts.

#24: War – Why Can’t We Be Friends?
iTunes stats: N/A

The song, which required eight credited songwriters for its highly repetitive lyrics, managed to top out at #6 on the Hot 100 chart in the summer of 1975.

#23: Labelle – Lady Marmalade
iTunes stats: N/A

The track, which I only became aware of due to the 2001 cover featured in Moulin Rouge!, hit the top of the charts for one week in the spring of 1975.

#22: Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony – The Hustle
iTunes stats: N/A

A staple of weddings for the last 40-some odd years, the disco track hit #1 during the summer of 1975 and took home the Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

#18: B.J. Thomas – (Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song
iTunes stats: 26 plays

Winner of the 1976 Grammy award for Best Country Song, the song became Thomas’ second #1 single in April.

#15: Carl Douglas – Kung Fu Fighting
iTunes stats: 20 plays

Owing its initial popularity to dance clubs, the tune, which ranked #100 in VH1’s listing of the greatest one-hit wonders, was released in the US after topping the British charts in September of 1974.

#11: John Denver – Thank God I’m a Country Boy
iTunes stats: N/A

The live version of the song released as a single became one of six songs released in 1975 that topped both the Hot 100 and the Hot Country Singles charts.

#2: Glen Campbell – Rhinestone Cowboy
iTunes stats: 11 plays

A cover of a song Campbell had heard on the radio while on tour in Australia, his version spent two weeks atop the Hot 100 during the summer of 1975.

#1: Captain & Tennille – Love Will Keep Us Together
iTunes stats: N/A

Originally recorded by Neil Sedaka in 1973, the title track from the duo’s debut album spent four weeks at #1 in June and July of 1975.

by admin

Mix Tape Monday – Pop

After my tape deck crapped out in 1997, I was stuck listening to either the radio or full albums in whatever order the artist intended. That all changed in 2001, when the new-fangled MP3 technology got combined with my new CD burner.

In addition to the occasional series of CDs I had burned in order to keep abreast of new music, I had created a bunch of genre-specific mixes that could be used both in the car and at the gym. This week we will take a look at the first disc covering the world of pop music by female singers.  This disc is probably the one that I put the least amount of effort into, as it covers a whole 7 different main performers and is ordered by their first name.  So, without further ado, I bring you Pop Music, volume 1.

Britney Spears – …Baby One More TIme

The debut single from the young Ms. Spears.

iTunes stats: 4 plays, most recently on 6/9/2012

Britney Spears – (You Drive Me) Crazy

The third single from the young Ms. Spears was featured in the Melissa Joan Hart vehicle Drive Me Crazy.

iTunes stats: Never played

Britney Spears – Oops, I Did It Again

The first single from the young Ms. Spears second album.

iTunes stats: 2 plays, most recently on 4/1/2012

Britney Spears – I’m A Slave 4 U

The first single from the young Ms. Spears third album.

iTunes stats: 4 plays, most recently on 3/14/2013

Britney Spears – I Love Rock And Roll

An ill-conceived cover of the song made famous by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

iTunes stats: Never played

Christina Aguilera – Genie In A Bottle

The debut single from the young Ms. Aguilera.

iTunes stats: 4 plays, most recently on 6/13/2012

Christina Aguilera featuring Redman- Dirrty

The first single from the young Ms. Aguilera’s second album.

iTunes stats: 7 plays, most recently on 11/29/2012

Christina Aguilera, Pink, Lil’ Kim, Mya – Lady Marmalade

The theme song for the Nicole Kidman vehicle Moulin Rouge.

iTunes stats: 7 plays, most recently on 7/9/2011

Pink – Get This Party Started

Written by former 4 Non Blonde singer Linda Perry, this was the first single from Pink’s second album.

iTunes stats: 5 plays, most recently on 1/4/2013

Continue reading →

by admin

Mix Tape Monday – August 2001

After my tape deck crapped out in 1997, I was stuck listening to either the radio or full albums in whatever order the artist intended.  That all changed in 2001, when the new-fangled MP3 technology got combined with my new CD burner.

I obviously didn’t know it at the time, but this CD would be the last I would make before the world changed on that early September morning.  This edition featured new music from Nelly Furtado, Weezer, Smash Mouth, and Eve.

Nelly Furtado – I’m Like A Bird

Prior to her current incarnation as a pop music princess, Furtado hit it big with this soulful hit that relied more on her voice than a producer’s computer.

iTunes stats: 2 plays, most recently on 7/30/2012

Mazzy Star – Hallah

After Fade Into You went huge, radio programmers looked to their previous album and found this gem.

iTunes stats: 8 plays, most recently on 2/7/2011

Bif Naked – Lucky

One of the highlights of the Buffy soundtrack that led to me buying her debut CD.

iTunes stats: 4 plays, most recently on 8/10/2011

Joey Scarbury – Believe It Or Not

The theme song from The Greatest American Hero became far more successful than the show from which it was spawned.

iTunes stats: 5 plays, most recently on 5/1/2012

John Sebastian – Welcome Back

Another theme song, this one from Welcome Back, Kotter.  This MP3 was ripped from the album, which you can tell from a little skip towards the end.

iTunes stats: 9 plays, most recently on 11/19/2012

Liz Phair & Material Issue – The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)

Yet another television theme song, covered for a compilation of cartoon hits.  I apparently never imported this CD into iTunes, a mistake I have now rectified.

iTunes stats: Never played

Material Issue – Kim The Waitress

The one big hit for the local band that seemed to be going places before singer Jim Ellison committed suicide in 1996.

iTunes stats: 7 plays, most recently on 9/19/2012

Weezer – Islands In The Sun

The latest single from Weezer’s comeback album.

iTunes stats: 1 play, on 3/28/2012

Foo Fighters – Learning To Fly

One of my least favorite Foo Fighter songs.

iTunes stats: 1 play, on 12/1/2010

Continue reading →