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  • Michael Jackson And Taylor Swift Lead 2009 American Music Award Nominations

    The nominations were released today for the American Music Awards, and we wouldn’t usually make such a big deal about the nominations. But, when word came out today that Michael Jackson had five posthumous nominations, it became very newsworthy.

    You may wonder like I did, how Jackson could be up for an award being that he hasn’t released a new album in many years. According to The Rolling Stone, it’s because of the sales racked up by Jackson’s Number Ones, which was released some 6 years ago.

    According to a press release, the nominees “were selected from data supplied by the Nielsen Company’s Broadcast Data Systems, which monitors radio airplay performance, and SoundScan, which tracks retail music sales.” This pretty much explains why Michael Jackson and his Number Ones are included on the nominees list: Even though the greatest-hits compilation was originally released in 2003, it’s sold almost two million copies since the King of Pop’s death on June 25th, making Jackson’s eligible for a posthumous Artist of the Year award.

    Taylor Swift at the Sydney Factory Theatre
    Taylor Swift at the Sydney Factory Theatre
    Taylor Swift and Eminem are also up for three awards. Jackson, Swift, Eminem, Lady Gaga, and the Kings of Leon were all nominated for the Artist of the Year award. Swift leads all artists with six nominations, while Jackson had five and Eminem received four.

    American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert is scheduled to perform his first single from his upcoming album at the awards show, alongside Alicia Keys, the Black Eyed Peas, and Jennifer Lopez.

    The show is set to air live on November 22.

    You can see a full list of the categories and vote for who you think should win at ABC’s website.

    Photo of Taylor Swift by Girl.in.the.Green.Scarf and shared via creative commons

  • New Releases of the Week 10/13/09

    This week’s major new releases run the gamut from pop-punk to sexy R&B. Here are the highlights:

    Bowling for Soup “Sorry for Partyin’”: These guys originally turned heads when they were nominated for a Grammy some years back. Since then, they’ve scored minor hits with “1985” and “Almost” and been relatively successful despite the fact that they’re essentially the love child of blink-182 and “Weird Al” Yankovic. All you need to know about these guys to get where they’re coming from is the fact that their new song is called “My Wena”. Moving on…

    Dead by Sunrise “Out of Ashes”: Dead by Sunrise is the solo project of Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington. Not to be confused with The Dead Weather, which is a solo project of The White Stripes’ Jack White, or Fort Minor, which is a solo project of Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda. I’m not ashamed of the fact that I’m a Linkin Park fan, but I will say that I was infinitely more excited for Shinoda’s side project (which was actually quite good) than I am for Bennington’s. The guy’s whining can grate on the nerves after a while.

    Five for Fighting “Slice”: Five for Fighting’s John Ondrasik has 9/11 to thank for his career, as radio stations turned to his “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” and used it as a dedication to the brave cops, fireman and civilians who helped out with the rescue effort. Since then, Ondrasik has been fairly content to Xerox that song to diminishing returns. Color me surprised that the guy still has a major label recording contract. Anyhow, if Coldplay is a little too aggro for you, 54F should be right up your alley.

    Hall & Oates “Do What You Want, Be What You Are: The Music of Daryl Hall & John Oates”: All I have to say about this box set is ABOUT FUCKING TIME!!. This 4-CD set collects all of H2O’s hits, and adds a healthy share of live and previously unreleased material. Nothing too revelatory here (where’s Daryl’s solo material? Shouldn’t “Dreamtime” be available on CD?), but definitely worth the scratch if you don’t already have the 2-disc “Essential” set.

    Mario “DNA”: Mario’s definitely one of contemporary R&B’s more anonymous sorts, with his major claims to fame being his singing interpolation of Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend” and his #1 hit “Let Me Love You”, which established Ne-Yo as a songwriter. He recently scored a huge R&B hit with “Break Up” (a song I’ve heard all of one time), which sets the stage for his fourth album. Those of you, like me, who can’t tell Mario from an Omarion from a Trey Songz will probably pass over this one.

    There’s also a handful of Christmas albums out this week from the likes of David Archuleta and Bob Dylan. Yes, Bob Dylan is releasing a Christmas album.

    While you ponder that, check out the rest of this week’s new releases here.

  • Breaking: Paul Anka Co-Writer on This Is It, CNN Reports

    LAS VEGAS - MAY 09: Producer/composer David F...
    Paul and David Foster in Las Vegas in 2009. Image by Getty Images via Daylife

    CNN is reporting that legendary crooner Paul Anka co-wrote and performs on Michael Jackson’s This Is It, the late singer’s final release.

    Anka, a powerful songwriter also had chart success dating back to 1951’s Diana.  He last appeared as an artist on Billboard’s Hot 100 charts 26 years ago singing Hold Me ‘Til The Morning Comes, a song he co-wrote with producer David Foster.    Anka also penned songs for Buddy Holly and multiple Spanish artists in addition to his own tracks, but his compositions My Way and The Tonight Show Theme.

    Anka told reporters yesterday that he wrote This Is It in 1983, and that he and Jackson recorded the song together a decade later in Anka’s studios.  The 69 year old singer, a week away from returning to the charts more than 50 years after he too struck gold as a teen singer, has told multiple media sources that the Jackson camp has acknowledged the song’s pedigree and the album will feature Anka’s piano as well as show the appropriate songwriting credit.