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Pop Rock Nation

Category: News

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

  • The Coldplay/Satriani Conundrum

    So I’m sure that you’ve all heard that guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani is suing Coldplay, contesting that their #1 hit “Viva La Vida” sounds like his “If I Could Fly”. Plagiarism suits have been commonplace in the music industry since at least the early Seventies. Remember the “My Sweet Lord”/”He’s So Fine” dustup? (actually, I wasn’t born yet, so I don’t). In the Nineties, the plagiarism suit hit a couple of my favorites. Michael Jackson was sued for lifting a minute and a half of a classical recording on his hit “Will You Be There” and not giving credit. Sister Janet and Des’ree had a little issue with Janet’s “Got ’til it’s Gone” having a similar melody to Des’ree’s “Feel So High”. And our very own NKOTB were accused of stealing “I’ll Be Your Everything” from Percy Sledge-Sledge lost, by the way. If I was Percy, I’d have spent more time suing Michael Bolton for fucking up my signature song).

    Anyway, the two songs have obvious similarities, but it begs the question: with only so many available notes and chord progressions and melodies in the world, wouldn’t it stand to reason that there would be songs that sound similar to one another? It’s entirely feasible that Coldplay had no idea the Satriani song existed, and if they did, they’re idiots because they should’ve known that Satriani would find out and sue. However, I’m surprised there aren’t more songs out there that just by coincidence wind up sounding like other songs.

    Here are the two songs: what do you think?

  • Not Necessarily The News – KFed, John Forte, 50 Cent and Britney Spears

    There aren’t many moments in life that you get to write about KFed and John Forte in the same blog. This is one of those moments.

    John Forte is trying to stay alive. (Billboard)
    John Forte hasn’t been seen since he was stayin’ alive with Wyclef Jean. You still a small timer. Drug trafficking charges put him behind bars, but thanks to President George Bush he will be released on December 22 after serving only half his sentence.

    KFed says he’s still rooting for Brit. (E! Online)
    What’s most interesting about KFed’s statement is that he admitted that the turning point in their marriage was when the kids were born.

    “For me, I’d become more concerned with my children. Not that I ignored Britney, but my kids are always most important…I mean, we were having complications.”

    Word to KFed just in case he ever gets married again. Your wife is most important my friend. If you put the kids above her, it’s no wonder that your marriage dissolved. What an admission for those kids to read when they get older. Yep, your birth is the reason your parents got divorced according to your dad. These people need to get a clue. Either that, or don’t have kids.

    Eminem is 50 Cent’s grandmother. (MTV.com)
    50 Cent was trying to say how special it was to work with Eminem. 50 is in the UK shooting a movie and the plan is to go to Detroit to work with Eminem for both of their upcoming albums. He said that Em is like a relative to him, someone who’s done something for him. “He’s like my grandmother.” Huh? What does that make Dre? Grandpa?

    Britney’s dancers are drug tested. (E! Online)
    Britney’s dancers are drug tested so that they are good influences for Britney. Shouldn’t Britney be the one that is drug tested? Well, she probably is too. Let’s just hope that they’re not testing for steroids, because all her male dancers would fail miserably. Oh, you thought they were natural? Don’t be so naive.

    Photo of 50 Cent by aleksey.const and shared via creative commons

  • …As The Best of Lists Come Floating In…

    Check out this list of iTunes and last.fm’s top downloaded singles of 2008. As you can see, it was quite the year for Coldplay and Rihanna, both of whom will probably figure heavily when the Grammy Award nominations are announced tonight. Every year, I predict the winners of the February award ceremony, and I generally call the winners pretty closely (which says as much for my prognostication skills as it does the Grammys’ predictability). Here are the artists and albums I think will be nominated in the three major categories.

    Record of the Year: Coldplay’s Viva La Vida is the front runner here. Leona Lewis and John Mayer are probably sure things for Bleeding Love and Say (which I also think is the front runner for Song of the Year), Rihanna will probably be nominated for either Take a Bow or Disturbia. Katy Perry could snag a nod for I Kissed a Girl. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kanye grab a nomination for Homecoming. We might see some love for Chris Brown’s With You, with outside shots for M.I.A.’s Paper Planes and Adele’s Chasing Pavements, and don’t count out Mariah Carey’s Touch My Body or Madonna’s 4 Minutes, despite the relative disappointment of their album sales.

    Album of the Year: Coldplay is again the front-runner in this category, far and away. Also look for Radiohead’s In Rainbows to score a well-deserved nomination. Lil’ Wayne had the year’s biggest selling album with Tha Carter III, but Grammy generally doesn’t roll out the red carpet for hardcore rap acts. Alicia Keys is almost certain to get a nod for As I Am, while labelmate Leona Lewis could score big here, too. Dark horses here include Jack Johnson, Metallica and Carrie Underwood, and we can’t forget The Eagles’ huge-selling Long Road Out of Eden.

    Best New Artist: Leona Lewis is the obvious front-runner here, but we could see love for a variety of different artists. Fellow Brit chanteuses Adele, Duffy and Estelle (whose American Boy could also see a Record of the Year nomination) could all follow in the steps of last year’s winner, Amy Winehouse. Indie faves Vampire Weekend and The Ting Tings could pop up in this category, as could Timbaland proteges OneRepublic. Also watch out for country group Lady Antebellum as well as American Idol’s Jordin Sparks and Jennifer Hudson.

    We’ll do a recap of the nominations tomorrow after the announcements have been made!!