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  • Mandy Moore Does “Umbrella”

    You know how Rod Stewart’s latest albums have been those Great American Songbook titles where puts his touches on “classic” songs of yesteryear? Well, this isn’t exactly that.

    There are certain songs that are horrid, yet hit so big and are so catchy that you eventually like them even though you’ll deny it to everyone. Think Black Eyed Peas’ My Humps, Fergie’s London Bridge, Patrick Swayze’s She’s Like The Wind, or Nick Lachey’s What’s Left Of Me. Ok, maybe only I like those last two. But you get the picture. I think Rihanna’s single, Umbrella, was headed that way except that everyone figured that it was actually good and even though they thought they were supposed to hate it, even music snobs kind of dug it, so people could joyously singing it aloud without worry that they’d get hated on. Even Mandy Moore likes it.

    Mandy Moore has covered Rihanna’s hit single Umbrella. And I have proof. Thanks to Speeddeezy for sending this to me.

  • A Mocha Latte And A Case of You

    Paul mcCartney on stage

    I guess these two interesting things are sort of related…
    Well, folks, in a lead up to iTunes’ most popular holdouts-The Beatles-finally allowing their music to appear for purchase on the site (my spidey sense tells me that it’ll happen right before the lucrative holiday season), John Lennon’s solo work is now available. This follows Paul McCartney’s Apple/Capitol work being made available earlier this summer. The countdown to being able to download “Hey Jude” (and make Paul, Ringo, Olivia Harrison, Yoko Ono and Michael Jackson a LOT more money) begins now…

    Joni Mitchell

    Speaking of Paul, there was quite a hubbub earlier this year when Paul jumped from Capitol, which had (aside from a stint with Columbia in the early/mid Eighties) been his recording home for 40+ years to Starbucks’ Hear Music imprint. It proved to be a smart move for Macca, as his latest album, “Memory Almost Full” has, in about 10 weeks, almost outsold what his previous albvum, “Chaos & Creation in the Backyard” has sold in two years. Of course, where one starts, others follow, and fellow legendary artists Joni Mitchell and James Taylor are now both signed to Hear Music, after lengthy stays with Warner/Reprise and Columbia, respectively. This should be an interesting litmus test, especially with a notoriously prickly artist like Joni (it strikes me as kind of strange that she would align herself with a company like Starbucks, but then again, despite her grande dame singer/songwriter status, she has complained long and hard about her treatment in the record industry). At any rate, while JT could probably sign to any label in existence and sell hundreds of thousands of albums to his fervent (and record-buying) fan base (which includes me), I scratch my head wondering whether Joni will do the promotional work that would be needed to make her album a success.
    These three career artists jumping ship (along with the rumor that Madonna will be parting with Warner Brothers after a quarter century) makes me wonder who the next artist to move to Starbucks will be. And with McCartney’s success still fresh, will other companies follow suit? Is it too farfetched to think of McDonald’s or Radio Shack forming record companies and selling CDs? Who knows??

  • The Year Of The Comeback (With More To Come)

    2007 has been chock full of comebacks and reunions (The Police?? Genesis?? The Spice Girls!!). Now, it looks like two more are headed towards us this fall.

    New Kids On The Block

    The Backstreet Boys (remember them?) have a new single hitting radio at the end of the month. It’s pretty ballsy of BSB to return at a time when they’re essentially the last boy band standing. Also hard to believe that it’s been a decade since they exploded onto American airwaves with “Quit Playing Games With My Heart” and “As Long As You Love Me”. Not sure where they fit in today’s pop environment, not sure how they’ll do as a quartet (Kevin Richardson has split from the band), and REALLY not sure, based on one publicity photo I’ve seen, how their imagery is gonna work. Do the little girls who bought their alGarth Brooksbum ten years ago and are now young women still care? I guess we’ll see!!

    More interesting, in my opinion, is a series of rumors that suggests that Garth Brooks will officially be returning to the scene after a five-year hiatus. A new Garth release is sure to breathe some new life into the music industry-after all, he was the biggest selling artist of the Nineties. I’m sure country radio will welcome him back with open arms, as will any label he decides to sign to…if he chooses to go that route. A couple years back, Garth released a set of B-sides and unreleased tracks via a deal with Wal-Mart, and there are rumors that Garth might be distributing this one himself. Hell, it’s not like he needs the money, right?
    Makes me wonder what other reunions or comebacks could be in the offing…