You know you’re large when Disney hires you to do songs for them, and Ne-Yo is the latest artist to be contacted by the mouse. “Never Knew I Needed”, the video of which premiered yesterday, is the first song from the soundtrack of the upcoming movie “The Princess & The Frog”.
Thankfully, it’s not as sappy as Disney themes usually are. That said, it’s definitely more on the pop end of the spectrum for Ne-Yo. Nevertheless, he’s an enjoyable, if not exactly powerhouse vocalist and the dude knows how to write a song. Let us know what you think.
While most people in my age group either know of Tom as a kitsch icon or Carlton’s hero on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”, I grew up in a house where Tom Jones was not only appreciated from a musical standpoint, but appreciated by the womenfolk (OK, appreciated by my grandmother). Of course, a lot of the guy’s appeal has always had to do with the fact that he practically radiates sex, but have you heard the man SING? Now THAT is a voice. That chesty tenor can move boulders. If you believe the rumors, there are *other* parts of the man that can move boulders (and apparently do damage to the lady parts of future Mistresses of the Dark), but that’s another story for another time.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a healthy dose of camp, and Tom has been trading in that for decades. Whether it’s the wink-wink, nudge-nudge lyrics of “What’s New Pussycat?” or songs like “Sex Bomb”, his music has always been delivered with a raised eyebrow and an implied grin. However, camp doesn’t work without talent, and this guy’s got the goods. That gets reinforced every time you hear him tackle a standard or a country song or…well, you get the idea. Listen to the guy sing “Green Green Grass of Home” (which might be the first song I heard of his) and you will get chills. And even at retirement age, the man still blows ’em away (and still gets panties tossed at him) when on stage!
Tom did an album in 1994 called “The Lead & How to Swing It”. It was his attempt at a contemporary pop album, with guests ranging from Seal producer Trevor Horn to the king of new jack swing, Teddy Riley. One of the two videos I remember from the project was a duet called “I Wanna Get Back With You”. I’m including the video here, but if you are cruising a used bin and happen to see a copy of this album, I strongly advise you to pick it up!
Surprising absolutely no one, Michael Jackson rules the Billboard Album Charts this week. The soundtrack to the movie “This is It” opens at the top spot with an impressive 373,000 units sold. An additional 6,000 units of the iTunes only collection of the album’s demos were also sold. The buzz around “This is It” was so intense that even the debut album by the intended tour’s guitarist, Orianthi, debuts at #125 this week with over 4,000 units sold. The King of Pop leads a busy pack of debuts this week, followed by the return of Creed. “Full Circle”, the band’s first studio album since 2002, opens at #2 with just under 110,000 copies sold. That’s barely 300 more units than the expanded edition of Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” sold, catapulting the already 4X Platinum album to #3 on this week’s chart. “Fearless” also becomes the second album to cross the 2 million barrier in sales so far in 2009, joining MJ’s “Number Ones” collection. The new songs on “Fearless”, all of which have been made available a la carte via download services, litter the Top 20 of the digital singles sales chart this week. For a second week, that particular chart is led by Christian synth-pop outfit Owl City with “Fireflies”.
Also entering the charts this week, the new collection of soul standards by Rod Stewart (#4), holiday collections by The Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Sting at numbers 5 and 6, and a live album by Jack Johnson at #11.
In the “all publicity is good publicity” column, we have Lil Wayne. “Tha Carter III” increases 3% in scans this week, no doubt due to the headlines surrounding Weezy’s upcoming jail term.
Next week, Carrie Underwood is expected to debut at the top with her new album “Play On”. Strong debuts are also expected from “Now That’s What I Call Music 32”, the “Glee” cast album, Weezer’s new one, and a Greatest Hits collection from the Foo Fighters.
Here’s this week’s Top 20 albums.
1) Michael Jackson “This is It”
2) Creed “Full Circle”
3) Taylor Swift “Fearless”
4) Rod Stewart “Soulbook”
5) Trans-Siberian Orchestra “Night Castle”
6) Sting “If On a Winter’s Night…”
7) Michael Buble “Crazy Love”
8) Various Artists “Twilight: New Moon Soundtrack”
9) Tim McGraw “Southern Voice”
10) Jay-Z “The Blueprint 3”
11) Jack Johnson “En Concert”
12) Miley Cyrus “Time of Our Lives EP”
13) Michael Jackson “Number Ones”
14) The Black Eyed Peas “The E.N.D.”
15) Tech N9ne “K.O.D.”
16) The Swell Season “Strict Joy”
17) Wolfmother “Cosmic Joy”
18) Train “Save Me, San Francisco”
19) Atreyu “Congregation of the Damned”
20) Owl City “Ocean Eyes”