HAPPY Valentine's Day to everybody! By the time my boy the Editor gets this fine newspaper into circulation far too many people will have already wasted money on Valentine's Day and the many and varied material gifts that the annual marketing suggests one must purchase. But what is this celebration really all about and what should people do? More on this after the Top 20.

Holding it down at the top again this week is Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) by Beyonce. Jumping to number two is Sandcastle Disco by Solange, Beyonce's little sister. It's cool to see the Knowles girls atop a chart, together.

Tumbling to number three is Trading Places by Usher. Improving to number four is Pop Champagne by Jim Jones featuring Julez Santana. Up to number five is Miles Away by Madonna, who continues to impress and produce hits. However, she does bring controversy with her. Word on the street is that she is continuing with her philandering ways by parading around with her newest boy toy; this one a 22-year-old. Well, what did you expect Alex (Rodriguez)? She did it with you; now I guess she's bored again or you're suddenly too old at 32 for the 50 something MadgeJ! The irony of it all.

Up to number six is Keyshia Cole featuring 2Pac with Playa Cardz Right. One More Drink, the monster hit by Ludacris and T Pain, improves to number seven. I love the beat of this hip hop hit, which is so very well produced.

Up to number eight is Womaniser by Britney Spears. Slipping to number nine is Right Here by Brandy, thanks to the dance mix.

Tumbling to number 10 is Chopped and Screwed by T Pain featuring Ludacris, a former essential new tune.

Beyonce's new hit, Diva, improves to number 11. Up to number 12 is She Got Her Own, by Ne-Yo featuring Jamie Foxx and Fabolous. Jamie Foxx is back with a banging CD. He has three hits in the charts at the moment and is clearly now a triple threat - he can sing, act and do comedy.

Down to number 13 is Live Your Life by TI featuring the Bajan hot girl Rihanna. What the hell is going on with Rihanna and Chris Brown. Has anybody seen the pictures circulating in cyber space? Looks like he hit her and beat her up pretty badly, forcing her to cancel an appearance at the Grammy Awards.

Speaking of the Grammys, no self respecting music industry aficionado or writer can resist the urge to include some commentary about this event. It was an awesome show. Justin Timberlake was fantastic; did you hear him singing with the Right. Reverend Al Green? The boy can sing.

The Jonas Brothers are a good, wholesome band and it was really cool to see them perform with Stevie Wonder. I can see why the little girls like them.

Katie Perry's I Kissed A Girl (And I Liked It) is a hit and is consistent with the modern world's obsession with lesbians. I understand and I ain't mad at her; I kissed a girl and I liked it too, very much, as well as her cherry chapstick!

Adele's win of the best new artist was pleasing because it suggests that the world is moving away from its previous insistence that you had to be thin to make it in this business. Happily, it seems that artists are being required, more and more, to be able to actually sing! How refreshingly lovely is that? Adele has the fuller figure but she's got game and that is all that matters. Had to love her Cockney British accent, as well as that of yet another UK outfit, Coldplay, who also won a Grammy.

Speaking of the UK, has anyone noticed the flood of good acts from Britain lately? Leona Lewis is, as the Brits say, A STUNNER. Damn she is fine. I'm definitely an old fogey because I had to ask our gym's personal trainer Devrae who she was when her video played in the gym last week.

And how about Estelle's lovely, sultry and soulful voice, paired with rapper/producer extraordinaire Kanye West? Loved her voice and her live performance of her hit American Boy. Good stuff, great song. Too bad the crowd wasn't really into it; but it did seem like a bit more of a rock/country crowd. Oh well.

Still on a UK tip, the highlight of the evening for me was seeing Paul McCartney and Dave Grohl performing the Beatles' hit I Saw Her Standing There. The song absolutely rocked the house and kicked in 2009 as if it was just released last month. I don't know if there is some telepathy in the fact that it was released in 1964, the same year I was born, but I just love the all the Beatles' material. As much as I love dance music, R&B, Hip Hop, Soca, Reggae, Calypso, Jazz, Gospel and nearly all musical genres and groups, I am to tell you here today that the Beatles are in my estimation the best group of all time. The sound that these men created is nothing short of miraculous. I went to YouTube and saw a Beatles live performance of this track and it was unbelievable. The music industry has clearly been deprived because their time was cut short. McCartney performed it as if he was with the original band and the crowd ate it up; as did I. The Beatles are the best selling band of all time and I don't think any band or act will ever sell as many records as did the Beatles. They were really just that good.

I Hate This Part, by the Pussycat Dolls, falls to number 14. Falling into the number 15 spot is Miss Independent by Ne-Yo. I still love this track and am singing the words as I type. Slipping to number 16 is the hip and cool new track by John Legend and Andre 3000, entitled Green Light. Down to number 17 is the new one from Jazmine Sullivan entitled Bust Your Windows. It was cool to see her at the Grammys.

Down to number 18 is Whatever You Like by T.I. I went to a performance at my son's school, the Harrington Sound Primary School, the other day. The teacher had all the P1 kids perform a song using this beat, which was made about President Barrack Obama. It was cool and I'm a big Obama fan; but I'm not American - I'm Bermudian. Let's also teach them about Sally Bassett. Hopefully she did.

Now, this week's essential new tune. In at number 19 is Heartless by Kanye West. And rounding things out at number 20 is Just Like Me by Jamie Foxx featuring T Pain.

Now back to this week's word - Valentine's Day - how did it start and what does it mean? I went to the internet for answers and here is what I found.

Every February, across the world, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day - and its patron saint - is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men - his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl - who may have been his jailor's daughter - who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial - which probably occurred around 270 A.D - others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to Christianise celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout their interiors. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at the sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would then sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification.

The boys then sliced the goat's hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops with the goat hide strips. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D.

The Roman "lottery" system for romantic pairing was deemed un-Christian and outlawed. Later, during the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of February - Valentine's Day - should be a day for romance. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England. Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings. Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began to sell the first mass-produced valentines in America.

According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion Valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.)

The moral of this story and my intent for sharing this historical perspective is that we don't have to go out and spend ridiculous sums of money every February. We can show our love all year, not just on or just before February 14th. In addition, instead of spending or wasting money, especially during a recession, you can make a card yourself, write a letter, cook dinner instead of going out, there are many more things you can do to show love without breaking the bank and thus succumbing to the pressure of the marketing.

But, it's cool and smart to do something for the one (hopefully its only one) that you love.

Peace …