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Pop Rock Nation

Category: News

music-news-from-breakups-to-the-lastest-buzz

  • R.I.P. Teddy Pendergrass

    It’s crazy to think that in the past seven or eight years, we’ve lost so many influential male soul singers: Barry White, Rick James, Luther Vandross, Gerald LeVert and Michael Jackson have all left us in the fairly recent past, and just last night, it was learned that the legendary Teddy Pendergrass passed away at the age of 59.

    Teddy was influential in several ways. As a vocalist, he brought some serious fire and brimstone to soul music. It figures that the man was a child preacher. If you listen to some of his early hits with Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes-“If You Don’t Know Me By Now” jumps out immediately-that man was testifyin’. He was definitely one of the genre’s most distinctive voices. He was also soul music’s first real unadulterated sex symbol-hosting “For Women Only” concerts and recording songs that spoke directly to his female audience. Remember the Eddie Murphy bit in “Delirious” about Teddy?

    Teddy was also one of the first male R&B superstars-he was the first male soul singer to have his first four albums go Platinum. Despite never having a big pop hit as a solo artist, he was a big enough name to co-host the American Music Awards back in 1981. His career was temporarily halted by an auto accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down, but he returned to recording in 1984 and remained a fixture on the R&B charts for another decade-scoring two #1 hits during that period.

    It seems that with each superstar we lose, the golden era of soul music fades further and further away. Thanks for the music, T.P. You’ll be missed.

  • Chart Chat 1/13/10: All About Ke$ha

    Susan Boyle has finally met her match.

    After a six-week run at the top, Boyle loses the #1 spot on the Billboard Albums Chart to another new female artist. Dance/pop singer Ke$ha opens at the top with her debut album “Animal”. The album scans 152,000 copies in its’ first week out-easily beating Boyle’s total of 93,000.

    As is customary for this time of the year, the chart is very quiet. The next highest debut comes all the way down at #27, where “American Idol” Katharine McPhee debuts with her latest, scanning 15,000 copies. Only a small handful of albums showed an increase over the previous weeks’ sales, with an iTunes promotion being responsible for the biggest increases-for Radiohead’s “Kid A” and Lenny Kravitz’ “Greatest Hits”. The two decade-old albums more than doubled in sales this week, and it’s not a stretch to think that Lenny’s involvement in the leaked Michael Jackson track that briefly lit up the internets last week was also a catalyst in his sales increase.

    Another increase this week occurs towards the bottom of the Top 200, where Vampire Weekend’s debut re-enters at #199, with an 11% increase in scans over the previous week. Look for VW’s sophomore release, “Contra”, to challenge for the top spot next week. However, with Ke$ha being a new artist and people just now finding out about her, she could maintain her stronghold on the top of the charts for a second week.

    Here’s this week’s Top 20:

    1) Ke$ha “Animal”
    2) Susan Boyle “I Dreamed a Dream”
    3) Lady GaGa “The Fame”
    4) Alicia Keys “The Element of Freedom”
    5) Mary J. Blige “Stronger with Each Tear”
    6) Soundtrack “Alvin & the Chipmunks 2-The Squeaquel”
    7) Taylor Swift “Fearless”
    8) The Black Eyed Peas “The E.N.D.”
    9) Justin Bieber “My World”
    10) Lady GaGa “The Fame: Monster”
    11) Rihanna “Rated R”
    12) Michael Buble “Crazy Love”
    13) Young Money “We Are Young Money”
    14) Owl City “Ocean Eyes”
    15) Glee Cast “Glee: The Music Vol. 2”
    16) Eminem “Relapse”
    17) Lady Antebellum “Lady Antebellum”
    18) Carrie Underwood “Play On”
    19) John Mayer “Battle Studies”
    20) Glee Cast “Glee: The Music Vol. 1”

  • First Look: Mike Doughty “(You Should Be) Doubly (Gratified)”

    I’ll admit-I sort of have a mancrush on Mike Doughty. The former Soul Coughing frontman-turned singer/songwriter/electronic musician/DJ/author/blogger has a certain relatability that actually seems to be quite prevalent among his generation’s spate of singer/songwriters. Anyway, Mike’s current album “Sad Man Happy Man”, which was released late last year, is quite a treat, as is the first video from the album-“(You Should Be) Doubly (Gratified)” (Mike is apparently a big fan of the parentheses, as am I). He shot the video in Cambodia (not the world’s most common video-shooting spot), and I think I can safely say that this video is the closest I’ll ever get to Southeast Asia. AOL spinner premiered the video yesterday, and we have it here for you today.