M10 and T20, and some other stuff

I did this with Laurie real-time (and real-music) New Years day, and I am going to try to share the experience here.  What I did was weave together this week's M10 update, the top 20 M10 songs of 2019- and the top 10 ACTS of M10 2019- into one smooth flowing story.  Sit back, relax, prepare for a lot of links, a few videos, and a usual amount of confusion!

We start out with a lead off M10 debut at #10 on this week's chart.  The act is Pure Bathing Culture, and they have done a new acoustic EP called Equinox.  From their Bandcamp page:

While on tour with Lucius this year, Pure Bathing Culture performed for the first time as a duo, and rediscovered the power of their songs in their simplest form. The experience inspired an acoustic EP that includes selections from Night Pass, as well as two of their most-streamed songs in revealing new arrangements, “Pendulum” and “Pray for Rain.”

Pendulum was their first hit on the M10, and one of the recent songs from Night Pass was the #3 hit Devotion.  The new hit, another Night Pass reconversion, comes in first in our story...





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At this point, I'm going to do a 2-for-1, 2 of the year's top 20 for one of the current M10- with the top ten acts of 2019 being worked in along the way.  With that, I start with our #20 of the year- it was #1 for 2 weeks in March...

...Anna Burch with St. Adelbert!

Following her was one of a couple of songs that scored despite overlapping into 2018.  And no surprise here- after all, they ARE the Decemberists with Travelling On, #1 for 2 weeks in January.

Back in the M10, I recently stumbled onto a song by an act called Temples.  I never ended up putting that song into the 10, but it did lead me to a much better song- their first single, in fact, from 2012!  And in 2020, it debuts at #9 on this week's 10...





The new psychedelic era continues on the M10!

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At #18 on the year's best is a tune by the #1 act of 2019- and one of 2 #1s this summer for Geowulf- Lonely, from early October.

We lost tons of stars this past year, and one of them was Scott Walker of the Walker Brothers.  And the best tribute came when The Explorer's Club, recorded a cover of The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore, which was #1 at the September/October divide.  It makes #17 on the year's list.


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Speaking of the best of 2019, as of October- the latest info I could find- Elton John raked in the most money on his farewell tour, edging out Pink by less than a million bucks.  Fleetwood Mac, KISS, and Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band also scored in the top 10.

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I have two places I keep track of my M10 songs- a file on the computer, and the notebooks I write up each week's M10 in.  I'm on the third notebook, and I put all the songs from the others alphabetically (well, almost) in the back of each new book.  The curious thing is, in the books I always give separate entries to the original ELO and the new Jeff Lynne's ELO; online, though, I don't.  So while it is original ELO who places #5 on the top acts top 10...

...it 's JLELO (jello?) who moves up 2 spots to #8 with his/their latest, Goin' Out On Me.

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I believe I mentioned we have entered a new psychedelic era in the M10, and one of the bands that made it happen is at #16 on the top 20 of the year- they are also #8 on the biggest acts list!  And that would be Idlewild, whose Dream Variations spent early April at the top.

And it continued into the summer when one of my year's biggest earworms- Drugs by M.A.G.S.- spent a week at the top in August.  Not to mention the video bumped Horace Bellbottom off the wagon...

One of the tragedies of the last few years was a condition that had left Huey Lewis functionally deaf for a time.  But slowly, day by day, he improved, and managed to record an lp scheduled to be released early this year, called Weather.  The second single released from it, While We're Young, moves up one spot to #7 on this week's countdown.


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I thought I would check out Billboard's end-of-year charts to see how the M10 might have done, and got a lesson in why it's my chart and not anyone else's.  The M10's most success was on the hot rock chart, where Beach Bunny's Prom Queen hit #81, Foster The People's Worst Nights was at #71, and the Black Keys' Lo/Hi was #15.  On the other hand, if you're a Queen fan, their stuff recycled because of the movie hit that chart 14 times, including 2 versions of Radio Gaga...

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King Leg was the #2 act this year, and one of his 2 #1s, the tremendous cover of Running Scared, made #14 on the year's biggest.  He is one of 3 acts with 2 songs in the 20.

One of the hardest songs for me this year was the Tame Impala original of Eventually, because the lyrics seemed to be Scrappy and me- singing to each other after he passed.  As we enter 2020, though, I am healing, lovin' on Misty, and putting this tune in at #13 for the year.It was #1 in May- one year and one month after the cover by Lucius hit #1.

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There were three of the biggest acts who didn't have songs in the top 20.  Two of them will be coming up in the M10.  The other?  Well, they were at #9, and had the song at #21, as well as #28-

.... The Japanese House!


Another of those acts was at #4 on the biggest acts, and drops just this week out of the #1 spot to #6- Criminal Hygiene and Incompletely.

And the big act at #6 is Silversun Pickups, whose Neon Wound topped the chart in late October and finished the year at #12.

At #11 in our top 20 is Beauty Contestant Joy Downer and Stranger Places, which topped the list mid September.


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So in trying to diversify our story I came upon a list of the top 100 streaming stations, and wondered what they were playing.  The results?

Top 40/pop 25
News/talk 18
Sports 13
Oldies/70s 10
Classical 8
Electro/techno, Ambient/chillout 5 each
80's, 90's 4
Classic Rock, Hip-hop  3
Blues, Christian, World 2
And single votes for Business, Jazz, Country, and... film?

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A funny anomaly of this week's M10 is that #s 10 and 9 are in their first week, #s 8 and 7 in their 2nd, #s 6 and 5 their 7th, and #s 4 and 3 their 5th!  Well, I found it funny.  The other 7-weeker at #5- for a second week- is the former #1 by the Derevs, It's The Love.

The Dig not only claim the #3 act of the year spot, but are the only ones to place two songs in the year's top 10!  The first of those is You're Not Alone, which ruled the roost for 3 weeks in February and March, and come in at #10.

The biggest lap-over is Castlecomer's cover of She's So High, taking the #9 spot for the year.  If it got both years points, it would have made top 5.


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I forgot for months to share this one with you!  Rather than having me explain, just enjoy...






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Saint Asonia grabbed the 7th spot on the biggest acts list, and their latest, This August Day, slips a spot to #4 on the week's M10.

Original ELO chalked up the longest (time-wise) of M10 #1s when a track from 1973's ELO II, Mama, spent 4 weeks in June and July at the top.  They not only claim that 5th spot on the biggest acts list, but Mama takes #8 for the year.

And it's The Dig again at #7 with their 3-week late May #1, Moonlight Baby.

And the last of the biggest acts of 2019 goes to Maybird, who's first hit was the 2-week #1 Don't Keep Me Around.

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Tennis has taken a song that I thought would be a one-week wonder, Runner, up to the #3 spot this week.

Agnes Obel's tune off her first lp, Riverside, took the Song of the Summer in 2019, and a week at #1 in June, to grab the #6 spot for the year.

And in February, Liz Cooper and the Stampede spent 3 weeks at the top with Outer Space to take #5.

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So who won the M10 year-end in years past?  Try these hits out:

2015- Time Crash, I Don't Want To Go
2016- Jayhawks, Quiet Corners And Empty Spaces
2017- Mo Kenney, Unglued
2018- Mikaela Davis, Little Bird

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Khuarngbin and Leon Bridges hold at #2 this week with Texas Sun... leaving us one to go there...

And on the top 20 of all time, we have three standing between us and the top:

Geowulf's He's 31, #1 3 weeks in August and September for our #1 act, placing 4th...

The Orwells and Last Days In August, the year's second biggest earworm for me, at #3...

King Leg's Seeing You Tonight, the second biggest act in the second highest slot...


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And now, the #1 this week on the M10...

...MGMT with In The Afternoon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And the biggest song of 2019- no surprises here...except that I'm giving you the original, guitar version...








Next week, back to a normal Time Machine!