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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: James Morrison

  • Chart Chat 6/10/09: The GrooGrux King is On the Throne

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    It’s a good week to be Dave Matthews. His band’s album “Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King” makes a grand entrance at the top of the Billboard charts this week. DMB scores the 3rd biggest first week of the year (behind Eminem and U2), with over 424,000 folks picking the album up last week. It’s DMB’s fifth consecutive album to debut at #1 on the charts. Interesting to note that the three biggest sales weeks of the year have come from veterans, all with over 10 years in the industry. Are newer artists just not coming with good music, or is there just a different concept of fan loyalty with the newer generation?

    It’s a pretty big week for debuts, with 311’s new “Uplifter” coming in at #3, the supergroup Chickenfoot at #6, and the new one from Taking Back Sunday right behind at #7. Rancid’s return to the indie label world nets them a #11 debut, Elvis Costello pops in at #13, and Mitchel Musso (I don’t know who he is, but I guess I’ll find out) enters at #19.

    At this time last year, only one album had crossed the million-selling threshold (Jack Johnson’s “Sleep Through the Static”). In what must be good news for the ailing indistry, two albums have passed the million mark so far (Taylor Swift & the “Hannah Montana” movie soundtrack), and Eminem will jump past the million-sold mark next week.

    Speaking of Slim Shady, his much discussed incident with Sasha Baron Cohen wasn’t the only highlight of the MTV Movie Awards. Kings of Leon’s performance catapults them from #15 to #12 on a 50% increase in sales. This is the highest chart position yet for “Only by the Night”, which is already the band’s best selling album. Multiple award winner “Twilight”‘s soundtrack also shows some life, jumping two places to #15 on a 19% increase.

    Kings of Leon have the third biggest increase of the week, following singer-songwriter Matt Nathanson (with a 69% increase) and British soul singer James Morrison, whose sales jump a whopping 232% to send him back onto the chart for the first time in a couple of months.

    Is it too early to consider Green Day’s “21st Century Breakdown” a flop? I mean, in this day and age any album that crosses Gold territory in four weeks can’t be a total failure, but I think the general consensus is that better sales out of the gate were expected following the success of “American Idiot”. New single “21 Guns” is right in the pocket of pop and rock radio, so I wouldn’t count these guys out yet.

  • Win A Copy Of The New James (Not Jim) Morrison CD!!

    With all the attention being paid to the female Brit soul artists like Duffy, Estelle, Adele and Amy Winehouse, we’ve forgotten that the folks across the pond have a rich history of male blue-eyed soul singers. From Boy George and George Michael to Paul Young and Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet, there’s a long list of English guys who’ve got tons of soul.

    Add James Morrison to that list. He’s huge in his homeland, but barely made a ripple with his debut album “Undiscovered”. He’s aiming to correct that with his sophomore effort, “Songs for You, Truths for Me”. With self-penned songs and only one guest appearance (courtesy of Nelly Furtado), Morrison is aiming for critical as well as commercial success. And he’s tons better than James Blunt.

    Anyhow, we’ve got a copy of “Songs for You…” to give away so you can check Mr. Morrison out for yourself. All you have to do is answer this relatively simple question:

    Earlier this year, James appeared as a guest artist on the latest album by another successful singer-songwriter who shares his initials, J.M. Who is that singer? Send responses to musicpublisher@consumerhelpweb.com by Sunday 10/27 and a winner will be chosen at random. Of course, MHW and CHW employees and their immediate families are not eligible.

  • New Music In Stores & Online 9/30/08: Robin Thicke, Ben Folds, T.I. & More!

    Talk about ending with a bang. This last day of September 2008 (which, if I’m not mistaken, is also the last day for Grammy eligibility for next year’s ceremony) brings out some big guns (I just realized I made a bunch of firearm references in a column that strongly features an artist who just got sentenced to jail for firearms possession… I swear it was unintentional). Nevertheless, there’s something for just about everyone in stores this week. Here’s what you have to look forward to :

    Robin Thicke “Something Else” : You know, a lot of folks like to say “I loved (name artist) when no one else liked them”. Robin Thicke is one of those artists I can say that about. The blue-eyed soul singer broke through two years back with his second album, “The Evolution of Robin Thicke”. Although he had to tone down his sound a little bit to get a hit, it was a pretty solid album. His third album, “Something Else” hits stores today and promises yet another collection of uptempo soul thumpers (like the first single “Magic”) and romantic ballads. Not bad for the son of Jason Seaver.

    Robin Thicke's "Something Else" hits stores today.

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