"Ordinary" by Alex Warren holds at #1 for a 5th week in a row. Halfway through the year, we've had three songs holding on to #1 for more than 4 weeks now, which doesn't leave much space for other songs to hit the top.
Only one song debuts on the chart this week. "Sapphire" is the latest single by Ed Sheeran to chart. It's at #20 while Ed's two other tracks are posted at #12, "Old Phone" and #4 "Azizam," which is a former #1 record.
A couple more videos appear below:
Iam Tongi's "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" from the Lilo & Stitch movie soundtrack moves up to #9 this week.
Marina's "Butterfly" moved from last week's #20 debut position to #13 this week. The track is off her new album Princess of Power.
This week's Current Top 20 can be heard on Spotify! It is presented in countdown mode, starting at #20 and counting down to #1.
I'm happy that BRENDA LEE made it to #1 with her 65 year old holiday hit, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree". The song came out in 1958 and has shown up on every Billboard Hot 100 chart since Christmas music was regularly listed during the holiday season.
The song also charted on the 1960 and 1961 Hot 100s. "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree" has never been a number one record until the Billboard Hot 100 was released on December 5, 2023.
With that accomplishment, Brenda Lee became the oldest person to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, eclipsing a record Louis Armstrong had since 1964's "Hello Dolly" when he was 64. Today (December 11) Brenda Lee turned 79.
In 1960 she had two #1 songs... "I'm Sorry" and "I Want To Be Wanted" both ballads in a lush, country crooning style. Most of her early records were produced by Owen Bradley, who also produced country music records for Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn.
My favorite Brenda Lee song is "Sweet Nothins'" a rock n roll track reached #4 on the Hot 100 in 1959. That track along with "I'm Sorry" and several others appeared on her great 1960 album release, Brenda Lee. We had that record in our family's collection since the 1960s. The whispering intro of "ah ha honey, alright..." grabbed it for me on "Sweet Nothins'".
This year a new video was produced for "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree" which appears in the link below (YouTube). She also sang the song at the Grand Ole' Opry on December 2023 telecast shown on NBC TV.
They are happy for “Angry”... the first single off their new, upcoming album Hackney Diamonds, scheduled for release this coming Friday, October 20.
The Rolling Stones hit song “Angry”, the first single off Hackney Diamonds, is holding the #1 position for the sixth consecutive week on Mel’s Current Top 20 chart. It shows no signs of slowing down.
It’s worth noting that “Angry” made an impressive debut at #1 six weeks ago and has maintained its top spot ever since. This achievement is particularly noteworthy because no other song has ever debuted at #1 on the Current Top 20, except for The Rolling Stones’ 2020 hit “Living in a Ghost Town.” At that time, the chart was reset after a few years of inactivity.
This week’s Current Top 20 features an impressive lineup of rock tracks, with five of them claiming spots in the Top 5. Alongside “Angry” at #1, we have The Linda Lindas “Resolution/Revolution” at #2, Stephen Sanchez’s “Be More” at #3, U2’s “Atomic City” at #4, and The Dollyrots’ “Night Owl” at #5. This abundance of rock hits in the top 5 is a rare occurrence for the chart.
In addition to “Angry”, The Rolling Stones also placed the second single, “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” on the chart last week, debuting at #18. This week the song moved up to #14. Accompanied by Lady Gaga on additional vocals and Stevie Wonder on keyboards, “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” is destined for the Top 10 on Mel’s Current Top 20 chart.
Some fresh additions to the Current Top 20 include *NSYNC’s “Better Place” debuting at #19 and Lauren Daigle’s “These Are The Days” entering at #20. These new singles bring a fresh dynamic to the chart and offer listeners a diverse range of musical styles.
Overall, The Rolling Stones’ “Angry” continues to reign supreme on Mel’s Current Top 20 playlist, showcasing the band’s enduring popularity. With a strong presence of rock hits in the top 5, this week’s chart reflects the diverse musical landscape and the ongoing evolution of the chart.
In the meantime the wait is almost over for their new Hackney Diamonds album.
I was only 12 back in 1969. The biggest event of that year was the manned landing on the moon by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins.
Music wise 1969 was another year of great rock and pop music that wrapped the decade of the 1960s up. We had some great big classic hits by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival and many others.
In retrospect my favorite songs from 1969 are those by The Beatles. My #1 song of the year is "Get Back" and I list it with its 45 rpm B-side "Don't Let Me Down". My #2 song of the year is another Beatles song that was never released as a single. It is George Harrison's greatest song of all time... "Here Comes The Sun" from the Abbey Road album. He also showed up with The Beatles at #12 with "Something". John Lennon had Beatles tracks on my top 100 with "The Ballad of John & Yoko" at #9, "Come Together" at #21 and his first solo track, "Give Peace a Chance" at #58, which is shown on the record's label at John Lennon / The Plastic Ono Band.
The Rolling Stones had a couple of big hits in 1969, with my favorite being "Honky Tonk Woman" at #3 for the year.
Several songs in my Top 100 of 1969 were not in the Billboard Top 100 of 1969. They include It's a Beautiful Day's "White Bird" at #4, The Youngbloods' "Get Together" at #11 (originally released in 1967), and "The Boxer" and "Baby Driver" 45 from Simon & Garfunkel. Several other songs that did not score high enough on the year end Billboard Chart of 1969 made this chart.
Cannons' "Hurricane" turned out to be my favorite song of 2022, despite ending up only at #6 for my Top 100 Hits of 2022 chart.
Songs Per Year From the Start of My Life
Once again re-visiting my list of Top Songs per year of my life. I took the opportunity to revise the list once again, adding the 2022 entry and replacing the one from 2016.
It was very hard choosing just one song, per year since the start of my life. Many classic songs from every year had to be left off. Some songs you may know and recognize as classics. Many were big Top 40 hits, with several going to #1.
Others were just #1 in my mind, but I love em to this day. So check the list out and listen to the Spotify Playlist provided at the end of the chart.
Have a great day!
Top Songs of My Lifetime
One song for each year of my life: 1957 to 2020.
Personal favorites or significant songs to pop music history.
Updated March 12, 2023.
Year - Title - Artist
1957 - Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley
1958 - Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran
1959 - Sweet Nothins - Brenda Lee
1960 - The Twist - Chubby Checker
1961 - Travelin' Man - Ricky Nelson
1962 - Soldier Boy - The Shirelles
1963 - Rhythm of the Rain - The Cascades
1964 - A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles
1965 - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
1966 - I Fought the Law - Bobby Fuller Four
1967 - Let's Live For Today - The Grass Roots
1968 - Hey Jude - The Beatles
1969 - Honky Tonk Woman - The Rolling Stones
1970 - Let It Be - The Beatles
1971 - Joy to the World - Three Dog Night
1972 - American Pie - Don McLean
1973 - Crocodile Rock - Elton John
1974 - Band On The Run - Paul McCartney & Wings
1975 - Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John
1976 - Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win) - Fleetwood Mac
1977 - Dreams - Fleetwood Mac
1978 - Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees
1979 - My Sharona - The Knack
1980 - (Just Like) Starting Over - John Lennon & Yoko Ono
1981 - The Break Up Song - Greg Kihn Band
1982 - I Love Rock n Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
1983 - Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
1984 - When Doves Cry - Prince & the Revolution
1985 - Money For Nothing - Dire Straits
1986 - Papa Don't Preach - Madonna
1987 - Just Like Heaven - The Cure
1988 - Sweet Child o' Mine - Guns And Roses
1989 - Lovesong - The Cure
1990 - Black Velvet - Alannah Myles
1991 - Valerie Loves Me - Material Issue
1992 - Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
1993 - Dreamlover - Mariah Carey
1994 - Because the Night - 10,000 Maniacs
1995 - Kiss From A Rose - Seal
1996 - Don't Speak - No Doubt
1997 - Tubthumping - Chumbawamba
1998 - The Way - Fastball
1999 - Maria - Blondie
2000 - Smooth - Santana featuring Rob Thomas
2001 - Island in the Sun - Weezer
2002 - Hella Good - No Doubt
2003 - Stacy's Mom - Fountains Of Wayne
2004 - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams - Green Day
2005 - Love In A Trashcan - The Raveonettes
2006 - Dani California - Red Hot Chili Peppers
2007 - Phantom Limb - The Shins
2008 - Pork and Beans - Weezer
2009 - I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
2010 - Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
2011 - Paradise - Coldplay
2012 - Drive By - Train
2013 - Change - Churchill
2014 - Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
2015 - Hello - Adele
2016 - Spirits - The Strumbellas
2017 - Shape of You - Ed Sheeran
2018 - Perfect - Ed Sheeran
2019 - Someone You Loved - Lewis Capaldi
2020 - Living in a Ghost Town - The Rolling Stones
2021 - Save Your Tears (remix) - The Weeknd with Ariana Grande
2022 - Hurricane - Cannons
Whatever song emerges in 2023 as my favorite will be added to this list later.
Two big movers leap 10 points in their second week. The first is "Catalonia" by Vance Joy, up from #19 to #9. Right behind him is the revival track of "Running Up That Hill," from Kate Bush, also up ten from #20 last week to #10 this week.
Right behind them is Envy of None with "Never Say I Love You" which was #18 last week and now #11 this week.
Two debut songs: "Break My Soul," the latest from Beyoncé is at #19. The lyric video for that is below. The showcase video this week is from Demi Lovato. It's her rock track "Skin of My Teeth, " first week on at #20.
THE CURRENT TOP 20 CHART
TW
Song Title
Artist
LW
1
Hurricane
Cannons
1
2
Heat Waves
Glass Animals
3
3
My Love
Florence + The Machine
4
4
Hold My Hand
Lady Gaga
2
5
Bones
Imagine Dragons
5
6
Out of Time
The Weeknd
7
7
This Hell
Rina Sawayama
10
8
Enemy
Imagine Dragons x J.I.D.
6
9
Catalonia
Vance Joy
19
10
Running Up That Hill
Kate Bush
20
11
Never Say I Love You
Envy of None
18
12
2Step
Ed Sheeran
8
13
No One Dies From Love
Tove Lo
15
14
Jiggle Jiggle
Duke & Jones &
12
15
One Life
Ed Sheeran
17
16
About Damn Time
Lizzo
9
17
When You're Gone
Shawn Mendes
11
18
Western Wind
Carly Rae Jepsen
13
19
Break My Soul
Beyonce
new
20
Skin of My Teeth
Demi Lovato
new
For Beyoncé, we only have the lyric video for her chart debut.
Cannons hold at #1 for a second week with "Hurricane," a track from their album Fever Dream. Lady Gaga's former #1 hit "Hold My Hand" from the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack album holds at #2 this week.
As stated at the top of this post Rina Sawayama released a new video to her current hit "This Hell, " which moves up this chart from #13 to #10.
One of my favorite new songs this week is "Catalonia" by Vance Joy making its debut at #19.
Our second debut song is more than 30 years old. The Netflix TV series Stranger Things which I have never watched is responsible for the revival of this great oldie from Kate Bush... "Running Up That Hill" makes a very late debut to this chart just like the revival of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" back in 2020. "Running Up That Hill" originally came out in 1985. Wow!
I am all for old songs making a chart comeback when new audiences discover them.
As compiled from Mel’s Current Top 20 Weekly Charts
CHART NOTES
This year's Top 100 Hits of 2021 chart had a fairly good mix of genres ranging from mainstream pop to rock, country, electronic, dance, hip hop and indie music tracks.
“Save Your Tears” is #1 - The Weeknd / The Weeknd featuring Ariana Grande: The two versions of “Save Your Tears” a song originally recorded by The Weeknd in 2020 and included on his album After Hours became a #1 hit on Mel’s Current Top 20 for two weeks near the beginning of 2021. It held the #1 spot for 2 weeks before falling off and staying at #2 for four weeks.
In the meantime while it bubbled at #2, another version of “Save Your Tears”, a remix by The Weeknd coupled with singer Ariana Grande gave the song a fresh start. Since the original was still on my chart, I decided after 4 weeks to push the remix back up to #1 where it lingered for 6 additional weeks in the months of April and May.
The song spent a total of 31 weeks on the Current Top 20, more than any other to become 2021 Song of the Year.
Vocal Group of the Year: This has to go to the R&B group SILK SONIC who gave us three huge top 20 singles in 2021. Led by vocalist/musicians Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak they led 2021 off with a great 1970s sounding throwback single, “Leave the Door Open”. That song held oon to the #1 spot for 4 weeks on the Current Top 20, and spent 23 weeks on the chart to put the single at #2 for the year.
Silk Sonic wrapped the year up with two more Top 3 singles that included “Skate” and “Smokin’ Out The Window”, both of which peaked at #3 and stayed on the chart for a dozen weeks each.
Punk Band of the Year: Definitely goes to The Linda Lindas who broke out with a huge viral video hit called “Racist, Sexist Boy” that was shot live in a library within the Los Angeles area. That song put them on the map and spent a few weeks on the Current Top 20 peaking at #14, which was enough to squeak in a position #100 on this chart.
In the summer their first official single “OH!” issued by Epitath Records hit my Top 20 chart and soared to #1, staying there for four weeks. It spent a total of 15 weeks on the top 20 which was good enough to land at #4 for the year.
Darling of the Media Award: That has to go to Olivia Rodrigo, a young singer who probably help put rock music back on the map. Her first breakout song was “Drivers License”. It quickly picked up streams, video views and radio airplay. It climbed my chart to make it to #1 in the first half of 2021. It spent 2 of its 15 week chart run at the top, making it to #14 for the year.
She released four more singles after that, with one more going to #1. “Good 4 U” is a good rock song that held on to the top spot for 4 of its 15 week chart run. It ended up at #3 for 2021.
All of her charted singles were taken from her debut album Sour.
A Big Year for Elton John: Did you know Elton John is 74 years old? Well he came back in a big way in 2021. Elton has always had some kind of song on the charts since he first started in the business in 1970.
For 2021 he managed to put five singles into the Current Top 20. They include “After All,” a duet with Charlie Puth that went to #13, “Finish Line” that pared him with Stevie Wonder, with the song going to #12 at the end of the year. He was featured on “Nothing Else Matters” a Metallica cover song fronted by singer Miley Cyrus in which Elton, Yo Yo Ma and several other musicians had prominent roles as back-up musicians. That record peaked at #8 on the Current Top 20.
I thought in mid 2021 his big comeback was with singer Rina Sawayama, whom he did a duet with on her track “Chosen Family”. That record put Elton John and Sawayama into the Current Top 20 Top 5. “Chosen Family” peaked at #2 for two weeks, spending a total of 12 weeks on the chart, which was enough to land the single at the #19 spot on the Top 100 chart.
Elton John’s biggest hit of 2021 was to come later in the summer when a PNAU remix called “Cold Heart” which moshed several of his older hits together into a medley, was done as a duet with pop diva Dua Lipa. That record came out in August, peaked for 3 week at #1 in September and has managed to hang on to the chart for 18 weeks and still listed going into 2022. For the year “Cold Heart (PNAU remix) ends up at #5 for 2021.
All of the Elton John tracks are featured on his 2021 album titled TheLockdown Sessions.
Elton John was not done. In mid December he released a holiday track with Ed Sheeran. That song, “Merry Christmas” got to #5 after three short weeks on the chart, and is still listed as we move into 2022. Therefore it will likely show up on next year’s Top 100.
Other Comebacks:Adele came back with a new album in late 2021 called 30. It yielded the #1 hit “Easy on Me” which ended up at #8 for the year. Two more singles came off the album charted in the final weeks of the year.
ABBA returned to making a few more hit records this year with the release of their first album Voyage since 1982. Three singles made The Current Top 20 chart. They were “Don’t Shut Me Down” (#2 peak), “Just a Notion” (#7 peak) and “I Still Have Faith In You” (#10 peak). All three are in this year’s Top 100 Hits of 2021. This is probably the last songs we’ll ever get from the aging pop group, who have mostly been in retirement since 1982.
Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, AC/DC and the Foo Fighters all had comeback hits for 2021. At least one song from each of them are on the Top 100.
Finally K-Pop: Several K-Pop songs made an impact on the Current Top 20. They included “My Universe” which is a Coldplay single featuring the boy band, BTS. That went to #1 for a few weeks here.
BTS also scored a top 20 hit with their track “Butter” which peaked at #9 and ended up at #68 for 2021.
Two members from Blackpink scored solo top 20 hits. First up it was Rosé who went to #9 with “On The Ground” giving her the #76 hit on the Top 100. A few months later Lisa scored a #2 solo hit called “Money” that ends up at #24 on the Top 100.
Those are my highlights for 2021. The entire Top 100 of 2021 is a highlight in its own right and a good memory jogger for the year gone by.
It is hopeful that more good music will be released in 2022. The songs are out there.
The Top 100 Hits of 2021 chart appears below. You can watch all of the videos in the video player that appears below the chart. Marvel and enjoy!
