the-hottest-songs-on-the-charts
Lost in “Mumbo Jumbo”: The Triumphant (?) Return of Air Supply
In what may be an indication that a critical mass of the “adult” radio listening audience now has no first-hand memory of the band’s creamy cheeseball ballad 80s heyday, Billboard.com today reported that “Dance With Me”, the latest single by the Australian duo Air Supply, has reached #28 on the Adult Contemporary chart. This is their first appearance on that chart since the summer of ’93, and their highest placing on the chart […]
Big In Europe: Stromae’s “Alors On Danse”
When I was a kid, most of the music I loved best was coming from Europe, and so I loved it when Casey Kasem would occasionally mention on his weekly American Top 40 broadcasts which songs were topping the charts in places like Belgium and Norway (and, yes, of course, the U.K.). Most of the time, this would be in the context of introducing a song that was a current hit in the […]
Zac Brown Band Shreds All-Stars – Grammys 2010
JoBros in the house, and the screams start early. Need You Now and Lady Antebellum take the stage. They're not really country no matter how much music companies want to slot them there. Brilliant harmonies.
CBS shills The Big Bang Theory during Best Comedy Album. Six nominees and Colbert wins for a cute skit that turned into a record. And for this we've given up a Kings of Leon or a jazz or a blues performance? Or maybe even that, whaddya call it? Classical.
Off of commercial, Norah Jones and Ringo Starr. Remember, Norah's dad and Ringo go way back. Bobby Darin gets a Lifetime Achievement Award as Mack The Knife plays. Ringo pumps up the audience for Norah. Beyonce's Halo, I Gotta Feeling by the Peas, Use Somebody by Kings of Leon, Gaga's Poker Face and Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me are the nominees. Kings of Leon pull off another huge upset. Peas and Swift were safe here. Good for the Academy voters.
Robert Downey, Jr. is introduced as the most self-important actor of his generation which is a joke gone bad or a horrible intro. He is Sue's main dude. Gotta give it to Jamie Foxx who can make an intro. Autotune at The Grammys is a big no-no in my book especially when we all know Jamie can sing. Some weirdness when Jamie's mic seemed to cut in and a different timbre was heard. I'm just saying... T-Pain who is never losing AutoTune regardless of venue prances a bit. The whole thing is a bit muddy for stars this talented.
It's the big jam as Slash enters with hat and blazing guitar.
Katy Perry, kind of looking like his daughter, shows up with Alice Cooper. Florence Greenberg wins a Trustee Award. Best Rock Album, whatever that means anymore, goes to Green Day. That's a strange award with Dave Matthews and the album I thought had won, AC/DC's Black Ice. Butch Vig and Chris Lord-Alge get name checked by Billie Joe Armstrong who doesn't let anyone talk.
Chris O'Donnell shills one of the NCIS show. He throws a lifetime award to Harold Bradley. He gives way for Zac Brown Band and Leon Russell. I would say Leon looks great, but between the shades, big white hat and beard, I couldn't say. He sounded great though as did the protracted acapella version of America that opened the segment. Brilliant, brilliant band. Harmony. Lyrics. America. Shredding acoustic guitar solo. These guys will be around on a decade.
Zac Brown Band stands with Pink as the night's top performers. Unfortunately, Green Day didn't keep the names-with-colors streak alive.