What does the 11th hour cancellation of Usher’s wedding to future baby momma/former stylist Tameka Foster have to do with his music? Well, if you’re the cynical sort, it could be plenty. Usher has an album coming out this fall (a very important one, actually, considering that his last album, “Confessions”, sold 10 million copies in the U.S.). Remember the gambit Usher’s publicity folks ran prior to “Confessions”‘s release, suggesting that Usher’s relationship with TLC’s Chilli was put on ice because he got another woman pregnant? While no hard facts suggest that it’s the case, I can’t help but wonder if this whole young man/older woman/Usher’s upset mom thing is just a publicity stunt set up to create awareness about Usher’s upcoming CD. If so, it’s sort of genius and sick at the same time…I mean, come on, do they really expect the general public to believe that the wedding was cancelled because Usher wanted a finely catered wedding and Tameka wanted barbecue to be served??
Category: News
music-news-from-breakups-to-the-lastest-buzz
-
The Ongoing Saga Of Kelly & Clive: Kiss & Make Up?
After trading barbs in the press with her boss, RCA executive Clive Davis, Kelly Clarkson has decided to patch things up. For the past several months, the two have been locked in a tug of war over the fact that Clarkson bristled at (and ultimately refused) Davis’s suggestion that Clarkson’s current album, “My December”, be adjusted a bit (by outside songwriters) to make the album more pop-friendly. Kelly, who co-wrote every one of the album’s tracks, has hit below the belt several times, referring to Davis’s fairly advanced age (74) in a few interviews. Perhaps Clarkson’s worried about the effect her comments have had on sales-while “December” (which is actually a solid piece of work, think Pat Benatar with a little splash of Pink) has sold a solid half-million copies in a month, the two singles from the album have failed to make a significant dent at radio, and the album will have a long way to go before even coming close to the 6 million sales recorded by her last album, 2004’s “Breakaway”.
-
R-Tel Way Better Than K-Tel
Rob Thomas, who still insists matchbox twenty (or however we’re spelling it this year) is an ongoing enterprise, is ready to be a music mogul. Having already proven that he can write a hook better than any other songwriter this decade, that’s probably a good call for Thomas’ Sony BMG Epic backer.
The new label is called RTel Records, which is too retro for words. The label’s first signing is Garfield Mayor. Remember Garfield’s name. We’ll be profiling him on the main site when he cuts his tracks, but you can listen to some nice low-key alt sounds. The vocal dynamics are reminiscent of Thomas at times, but as Garfield’s page points out, there are a lot of sounds in there, including David Gray, Ben Harper and Paul Simon. All good there and I definitely hear some David Gray, but like Thomas, Garfield apparently can rip into a song, listing Zeppelin and Foo Fighters as well.
Take a listen at his MySpace page for now and enjoy. I’m putting in an advance order with the man himself.
Spinning In The CD
Check out Shop Boyz and Party Like A Rock Star. If anything has summer hit written on it, this may be the one. Go explicit. We double dog dare you.