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  • ClashBack: “Sugar Don’t Bite”

    You know how random things pop into your head with absolutely no rhyme or reason? Well, that’s how I found myself on the internets over the weekend, looking for “Sugar Don’t Bite” by Sam Harris.

    For those of you who are wondering who the hell Sam Harris is, well, the simple answer would be that he was the Kelly Clarkson of the 1980s. Sam won the first season of “Star Search” back in 1983, performing songs like “Over the Rainbow” with lungs that rivaled Patti LaBelle’s. After wowing audiences on the syndicated talent contest, Sam went on to sign with Motown Records, releasing two albums and scoring a Top 40 hit in 1984 with “Sugar Don’t Bite”.

    After his contract expired, Sam went on to Broadway, where he’s become an in-demand actor and performer. He’s worked with artists from Wayne Brady to Michael Jackson over the years, and is still in demand today.

    That’s all well and good, of course, but the main reason I’m writing this column is to show you the video for “Sugar Don’t Bite”. Now, even if the video was set in a boxing ring and starred Mike Tyson, the song would still be the campiest thing in the world. Add in what might be one of the gayest videos of all time (even by 1984 standards) and you end up with a spectacle so queer that pink triangles practically float out of your television set.

    It’s also worth mentioning that the chorus is very melodically similar to Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach”, which arrived two years later. Is it possible that Madge, always a friend of the gays, had the melody of “Sugar” stuck in her head when she wrote “Preach”? Well…no, because Madonna didn’t write “Papa Don’t Preach”. But there *is* a similarity. I’m just saying.

    Although no one can deny the man’s vocal talent, I’d imagine that Sam looks at this video nowadays and either has a hearty laugh or hides his head in shame.

  • New Releases 10/27/09: Michael Jackson Monday

    Sony Music has bumped the date of the “This is It” soundtrack one day. So all of you who were waiting for this project to be unveiled tomorrow? You can get it a day early. As you all know, the “This is It” movie, which contains footage from the rehearsals for what would have been a 50-date run at the O2 arena in London, opens wide on Wednesday.

    This appears to be more of a collector’s item than anything else. I mean, let’s face it. Most people own Michael Jackson’s greatest hits already. I found out from GG that the unreleased stuff (a spoken word poem and a few demos) are available separately on iTunes. However, for those of us that are record collectors, I hear the set has a SWEET booklet and the packaging is really stellar. For someone like me (who already owns MJ’s greatest hits in 4 or 5 different configurations), this is a no-brainer. I’ll have my copy by the end of the day.

    You can preview the demos on Michael Jackson’s website.

  • Chart Chat 10/22/09: Buble-Licious!!

    That may have been the worst pun I’ve ever made in my life.

    So, as the headline suggests, Canuck crooner Michael Buble holds at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart with “Crazy Love”. The album sells 203,000 units in it’s first full week of release. It debuted early after his label pushed the release date up 4 days. I remember reading somewhere (of course, I can’t find the article now) that said that he and Norah Jones are the only artists in history to debut at #1 without having had a single Top 40 hit. Interesting.

    Three albums debut in the Top 20 this week. The “New Moon” soundtrack enters at #2 with 115,000 copies sold. Of course, “New Moon” is the latest edition in the “Twilight” series. The “Twilight” soundtrack was a smash, selling over 2 million copies. It will be interesting to see if this soundtrack does as well. All indications point to it, considering the sales numbers are this high with a month till release. The other debuts in the Top 20 come from alt-rock legends The Flaming Lips (at #8) and R&B singer Mario (#9).

    The Black Eyed Peas return to the Top Ten with a flourish. “The E.N.D.” jumps from #23 to #6 this week, thanks to rapidly increasing airplay for their latest single, “Meet Me Halfway”, which is #9 on the singles charts this week. Another act with a hot single to watch out for is Owl City. Thanks to the success of the single “Fireflies” (which my buddy Paul turned me on to, thanks!!), the one-man band project jumps from #32 to #20 this week.

    It’s beginning to look a LOT like Christmas! Holiday albums from Bob Dylan (#23) and David Archuleta (#30) debut on this week’s chart.

    On the singles side of things, Britney Spears drops out of the top spot after a single week with “3”. The racy single slips to #5 in its second week on the charts. Jay Sean’s “Down” advances one spot to reclaim the #1 spot after yielding to Britney last week.  Aside from the previously mentioned Black Eyed Peas jump, the other major news comes from John Mayer, who scores his highest Hot 100 debut ever with “Who Says”. John’s gonna have to count on a lot of downloads if he wants this to hit the top-radio’s not gonna be so crazy about a song whose first line is “who says I can’t get stoned?” Somewhat strangely, although many people think of John as a radio darling, he has never had a Top 10 hit. “Say” peaked at #12, “No Such Thing” stalled at #13 and “Waiting for the World to Change” ran out of gas at #14.

    Below the Top 20, Chris Brown blasts 52-27 with his latest single, “I Can Transform Ya”.  We forgive easy, don’t we?

    Next week, the “New Moon” soundtrack will do battle with Tim McGraw for the chart crown. We’ll see who wins in our next Chart Chat column.

    Oh, here’s this week’s Top 20 albums. Scroll down to the end to see a special treat.

    1) Michael Buble “Crazy Love”

    2) Various Artists “Twilight-New Moon Soundtrack”

    3) Jay-Z “The Blueprint 3”

    4) Barbra Streisand “Love is the Answer”

    5) Miley Cyrus “Time of Our Lives EP”

    6) Black Eyed Peas “The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies)”

    7) “Fearless” Taylor Swift

    8) “Embryonic” The Flaming Lips

    9) “D.N.A.” Mario

    10) “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel” Mariah Carey

    11) “Sonic Boom” Kiss

    12) “American Ride” Toby Keith

    13) “Dear Agony” Breaking Benjamin

    14) “Foundation” Zac Brown Band

    15) “I Look to You” Whitney Houston

    16) “Brand New Eyes” Paramore

    17) “Number Ones” Michael Jackson

    18) ‘Black Gives Way to Blue” Alice in Chains

    19) “Only by the Night” Kings of Leon

    20) “The Fame” Lady Gaga

    In honor of the Black Eyed Peas’ new single, let’s retreat back to the year 1987, when another singer scored a huge hit with a song called “Meet Me Halfway”. That singer? Mr. Kenny Loggins.