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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Aretha Franklin

  • Chart Chat 8/17/08: M.I.A., ABBA…and a Bad Joke About Miley Cyrus’s Dad!!!

    Happy Sunday all. After skipping a week due to technical difficulties, we are back!! Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) the charts remain more or less the same. Read on, my friends…(all chart information courtesy of Billboard magazine)

    The cover of Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A\'s hit album \"Kala\"
      Top 20 Singles

    1) “Disturbia” Rihanna
    2) “Forever” Chris Brown
    3) “I Kissed a Girl” Katy Perry
    4) “Take a Bow” Rihanna
    5) “Paper Planes” M.I.A.
    6) “Viva La Vida” Coldplay
    7) “Dangerous” Kardinal Offishall feat. Akon
    8) “A Milli” Li’l Wayne
    9) “Burnin’ Up” Jonas Brothers
    10) “Closer” Ne-Yo
    11) “A Little Bit Longer” Jonas Brothers
    12) “American Boy” Estelle feat. Kanye West
    13) “When I Grow Up” Pussycat Dolls
    14) “Leavin’” Jesse McCartney
    15) “Bleeding Love” Leona Lewis
    16) “Get Like Me” David Banner feat. Chris Brown
    17) “Lollipop” Li’l Wayne feat. Static Major
    18) “Put On” Young Jeezy feat. Kanye West
    19) “Lolli Lolli (Pop That Body)” Three Six Mafia
    20) “Pocketful of Sunshine” Natasha Bedingfield

      Top 20 Albums:

    1) Various Artists “Mamma Mia Soundtrack”
    2) “Breakout” Miley Cyrus
    3) “Love on the Inside” Sugarland
    4) “Rock & Roll Jesus” Kid Rock
    5) “Tha Carter III” Li’l Wayne
    6) “Viva La Vida or Death & All His Friends” Coldplay
    7) “Lessons in Love” Lloyd
    8) “Camp Rock Soundtrack” Various Artists
    9) “Good Girl Gone Bad” Rihanna
    10) “What Am I Waiting For” Heidi Newfeld
    11) “Jonas Brothers” Jonas Brothers
    12) “C’mon” Keith Anderson
    13) “Now That’s What I Call Music Vol. 28” Various Artists
    14) “Kids Bop 14” Various Artists
    15) “Conor Oberst” Conor Oberst
    16) “Taylor Swift” Taylor Swift
    17) “Untitled” Nas
    18) “Only Through the Pain” Trapt
    19) “Revelation” Third Day
    20) “One of the Boys” Katy Perry (more…)

  • Grammys 2008: Really?!? Herbie Hancock?!?!

    So, I braved the NYC elements (it’s 17 degrees over there), hopped on a plane West, checked into my hotel and cleared up some work so I could be back in my hotel room to view the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in their entirety. Considering I shut it off before it even finished, color me a little underwhelmed by a show (and a voting committee) that has gotten better than they were, but still leads all award shows in WTF decisions?

    First of all, I was a little upset by what didn’t happen at the show. A rumored Michael Jackson performance commemorating the 25th Anniversary of “Thriller” didn’t happen (presumably because Michael refused to perform unless he received some kind of award), and an expected fireworks fest between Aretha Franklin & Mary J. Blige didn’t happen due to Mary somehow not appearing on the show (despite wearing two Grammys last night). Not sure what happened, but it’s possible Aretha (who’s back to looking like a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day float after losing a pretty decent amount of weight) ate her.

    The highlights were expected. No one that I didn’t expect to wow me already wowed me. Those “wow” moments? Kanye West’s futuristic performance of “Stronger” with Daft Punk followed by an emotional performance of “Hey Mama” that proved dude could potentially have a singing career as well, and Amy Winehouse’s excellent medley of “You Know I’m No Good” and the now completely ironic “Rehab”. Both also had the best acceptance speeches of the night. Winehouse was quite overwhelmed (and bringing her parents on stage with her was a nice touch), and West was deservedly surly as he started to get played off the stage in the middle of his speech. Vince Gill and Prince also provided chuckles (Prince DOES have a sense of humor) with subtle knocks on Kanye and Sinatra, respectively.

    Everything else was just kind of standard and boring, honestly. I hereby pronounce a future ban on all Beatles tribute unless John and George come back from the dead. I hereby pronounce a moratorium on ANY performances of “No One” by Alicia Keys (who performed the same song on the VMAs in September and the AMAs in November). I fell asleep during the performance by Lang Lang and Herbie Hancock. Musical virtuosity is great, folks. Now try to give us some excitement, k?

    While it was nice to see The Time together, I grinned at the irony of the band playing the instruments on “Jungle Love”, a song that no Time member (except guitarist Jesse Johnson and Morris Day) played on individually. Not to mention the fact that I thought Morris and co-performer Rihanna had no chemistry whatsoever. Ditto for Beyonce and 69-year old Tina Turner, although Tina surprised me by performing with the energy of a woman 1/3 her age.

    My personal biggest offense was this. Since the Grammys appeared on tape delay here at West, I decided to fight temptation and not check any news sites for a winners list. Curiosity got the best of me and I finally broke down and went to cnn.com, where I saw a picture of Herbie Hancock’s grinning mug accompanied by the words “Album Of The Year”. Don’t get me wrong, I dig Herbie Hancock. Although I’ve only heard parts of the winning album, “River” (a Joni Mitchell tribute), I don’t think it’s bad. Besides, how can you be mad at someone who played with Miles Davis? Still, though, in light of excellent albums by West and Winehouse being nominated, the night’s major prize went to the height of fuddy-duddyness, highlighting a problem that’s been Grammy’s Achilles heel for as long as I can remember.

    If you want to bring this show into the 21st century and resonate with music listeners today, it might be time to stop making this show a back-slapping fest for record executives and older artists (especially in light of slumping music sales), and figure out some way to get the voting and nominating committees a little more in step with the times.

    I had high hopes for this show, but in the end, the Grammys turned out to be just another tired award show, and this year’s show was one of the most boring ones I’ve ever had the misfortune to watch.

  • New Releases 11/13/07

    Welcome, folks, to the biggest New Release Tuesday of 2007, where big-name artists in several genres enter a steel cage match for chart supremacy. Well, no, it’s not that serious, but there is a lot of music coming out today. Here’s what you should (or should not, depending) be looking for.
    It’s a good day to be a diva. Alicia Keys unleashes her third studio album, As I Am today. Preceded by the Top 5 hit “No One” and containing collaborations with John Mayer and 4 Non Blonde Linda Perry, this album has more of a pronounced singer/songwriter feel to it than her previous albums. Also in diva-dom, Celine Dion returns from a longer-than-normal absence with her new album, Taking Chances. Once the biggest-selling artist in the world, this album represents a comeback try after laying dormant (or just performing in Vegas) for the past four years. Now for a diva that likely influenced both the aforementioned artists: Aretha Franklin. Big Ree is releasing a highly publicized duets album called Jewels In The Crown. This set contains previously released hits like the #1 “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” with George Michael, and also contains new songs with the likes of Fantasia, Mary J. Blige and John Legend.
    Speaking of returning veterans, it’s hard to believe, but Duran Duran is closing in on their 30th Anniversary. Red Carpet Massacre is the name of their new album, and it contains boldface collaborations with the likes of Justin Timberlake and Timbaland. While we’re on the topic of funky Brits, you might wanna check out System, the fifth album from Seal. While his last couple of albums found him perfecting the ethereal ballad thing, this album teams him with producer Stuart Price and returns him directly to the dance floor. On the country side, Trisha Yearwood follows her hubby by a week, releasing a new album entitled Heaven, Heartache & The Power of Love.
    Greatest hits albums more your thing? Check out the two-CD best of Led Zeppelin called Mothership. David Gray’s Greatest Hits also arrives today, featuring all the hits from his ATO/RCA tenure, including “Babylon”, “Please Forgive Me” and “The One I Love”. There’s also a compilation summing up the past decade or so in the land of The Goo Goo Dolls. This album contains the massive hits “Iris”, “Name” and “Slide”. Stretching the definition of “hits compilations”, there’s also a live CD/DVD set from James Taylor called One Man Band, and the 26th edition of the venerable Now That’s What I Call Music! series.
    Finally, if you have a jones to relive the Nineties, two albums might interest you. First off, there’s the return of Boyz II Men with an album of Motown covers. Might this be enough to restore interest in the biggest-selling R&B group of all time? Well, it debuted in the Top 10 overseas, so this just might do the trick. If not, you can always pick up the new album by Shaggy, called Intoxication. As with every R&B, reggae or hip-hop album released in 2007, it contains an obligatory Akon cameo.
    Get a complete list of new releases here: http://www.pauseandplay.com/cdfront.htm