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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Chic

  • Chart Chat: Singles Version: 10/30/08

    01-Whatever You Like (T.I.)
    02-Live Your Life (T.I. feat. Rihanna)
    T.I. continues to commandeer the top spots of the singles chart, fending off a serious challenge from Beyonce (see below). “Whatever You Like” is the first song to return to #1 on three separate occasions since Chic’s “Le Freak” 30 years ago. Induct Chic into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, y’all!!

    03-If I Were a Boy (Beyonce)
    Beyonce jumps 66-3 with “If I Were a Boy”, the first single from her upcoming “I Am…Sasha Fierce” (God, it kills me to type that out). By reaching this position, Beyonce has already outperformed the first single from her last album, “B-Day”. “Deja Vu” (remember that?) peaked at #10.

    04-So What (Pink)
    05-Womanizer (Britney Spears)
    06-Hot N Cold (Katy Perry)
    07-Let it Rock (Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil’ Wayne)
    08-Miss Independent (Ne-Yo)
    “Miss Independent” is Ne-Yo’s first EVER #1 single on the R&B charts, coming after he scored three #2 singles. Hard to believe, given Ne-Yo’s dominance over the R&B scene these past three years, but true!

    09-Disturbia (Rihanna)
    I’m still trying to get over the fact that Ne-Yo said Rihanna has a big head. Isn’t that a little like Michael Jackson saying “Damn, you’re pale!!”

    10-I’m Yours (Jason Mraz)
    Mr. A-Z returns to the Top Ten with what is now by far the biggest hit of his career. Guess now that cold weather’s approaching, people need to feel a little more of that summer magic.

    11-Can’t Believe It (T-Pain feat. Lil’ Wayne)
    12-Love Lockdown (Kanye West)
    13-Better in Time (Leona Lewis)
    14-Right Now (Na Na Na) (Akon)
    15-Love Story (Taylor Swift)
    16-Mrs. Officer (Lil’ Wayne)
    17-Paper Planes (M.I.A.)
    Is it me, or is “Paper Planes” one of the ODDEST songs to ever hit the Top 20? Also, doesn’t M.I.A. remind you a little bit of Neneh Cherry? Do you even REMEMBER Neneh Cherry?

    18-Closer (Ne-Yo)
    19-Gotta Be Somebody (Nickelback)
    20-Crush (David Archuleta)
    OK-I give, I give. I liked David Cook more this past season, but Archuleta’s new song has grown on me to the point where it now blows everything Cook’s put out so far out of the water. Damn generic pop songs, why do you torture me so??

  • Out There!- “Spacer” by Sheila / “Crying At The Discoteque” by Alcazar

    I will admit I am a sucker for a song with a great dance beat.  Back in 2001 during my clubbing days, I was a real big fan of dance music and spent a few days a week listening to KTU radio or buying dance compilation albums.  I used to think One More Time from Daft Punk was the greatest dance song of all time.  Okay, I’ll admit I was wrong.  The best song was an obscure tune from a Swedish pop group called Alcazar with the title of Crying At The Discoteque.  The song was the group’s biggest hit in America, peaking at #44 on the U.S. mainstream dance chart in 2000.  I first got wind of the song from a dance compilation CD I bought so I could proudfully acclaim that I owned Lady by Modjo for my music collection. I ended up almost crying at the discoteque because I never heard this great song played while I was doing my disco disco!  The song has a distinctive melody and some of the cheesiest lyrics of all time.  Check these out: The golden years, The silver tears,You wore a tie like Richard Gere!   Back in those days, my brother and I would ride down the highway blasting this tune as we bopped our heads  like the Night At The Roxbury guys played by Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell.  It wouldn’t be until a few years later that I realized that Alcazar had actually sampled the track from an obscure Swedish pop star of the 70’s.  Considering most great dance and hip hop melodies are stolen, how can I have been so blind?

    The original melody actually was from a super hot 70’s disco queen from France known as Sheila.  The song’s title was Spacer, and the tune was as or if not more cheezy than Alcazar’s tune.  Sheila oddly enough got her stage name from the title of her first release which was a cover of Tommy Roe’s classic tune.  Sheila was actually a folk singer until she changed her music style to disco in 1977.    You know what, she was kind of hot and ranks up there with Agnetha from ABBA as my favorite blondes from overseas.  Spacer was actually written and produced by the team of Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic.  The song never charted in the US, although it was a big hit overseas and peaked at #18 on the British charts.  I’m sure most people don’t even know what this song is.   You probably won’t find it on any disco box sets or compilation albums.  Just like Crying At The Discoteque, I’ve never heard Spacer at a 70’s night or club which is an outrage.  Listen to the song below, and I’m sure you’ll have that melody in your head for the rest of the day.  If not, at last you’ll never forget the images from the video.  “Because he’s a spacer, a starchaser!”  Yah!

    And here’s the Alcazar tune for you to make the comparison which song is more funky for ya!

  • MisenPOPic: The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Is A Fuckin’ Joke!

    Every year around this time, the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame nominating committee submits their list of finalists of which five artists will be selected for future induction.  I always get excited each time but then always forget that the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame is a fuckin’ joke.  Instead of inducting bands that have truly made an impact on popular music, what seems to happen is that Jann Wenner and his cronies go with the bands on their personal favorites list.  If they don’t like the artist,  accomplishments like album sales and influences on other artists still won’t matter.  Jann Wenner is such an egotistical bastard that he even inducted himself into the Hall Of Fame.  I won’t discredit his contributions as founder and editor of Rolling Stone, but shouldn’t he be inducted when he’s bit older, or maybe when he’s dead?  I understand that listening to music is very subjective, and we all love to argue about who’s deserving to be in the hall of fame as much as we do about best songs of a decade, or greatest guitarist, etc.  But of any shrine to an art form or sport, the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame has totally missed the boat.  I respect the following artists, but of any bands in the Hall Of Fame, they are the best examples of musicians whose overall impact is questionable: Traffic, Frank Zappa, Buffalo Springfield, Sex Pistols, and The Talking Heads.   Traffic introduced the world to Steve Winwood, but have they really ever produced a meaningful song?  Frank Zappa might have been innovative, but for a guy whose best known song is Valley Girl, does he really deserve to be in the hall?  Buffalo Springfield only had one album with Stephen Stills and Neil Young and have only one relevant song (For What It’s Worth)!  The Sex Pistols are also known for one album, and it’s a fact that Sid Vicious wasn’t even good enough to play bass, so he performed without his guitar even plugged in.  I personally like the Talking Heads, but they are more known for their unique videos on MTV than their actual music. Only the creme de la creme should be in the Hall Of Fame: those that no sane person could argue such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Michael Jackson.

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