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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Michael Jackson

  • Chart Chat 1/27/10: History Has Been Made

    This week’s Billboard albums chart brings a historic first. The “Hope for Haiti” benefit album, featuring selections from the telethon last Friday, debuts at #1 with over 171,000 units sold. It is the first completely digital release to debut at the top of the charts. I assume it won’t be the last.

    It’s also the fourth album to hold the #1 spot this month (following Vampire Weekend, Ke$ha and Susan Boyle), which is also a record. Also, it’s scan total means that this is the first January on record in which every #1 album has sold at least 100,000 copies-at least some good news for a hurting music biz.

    Indie rock favorites Spoon debut at #4 with their latest album, “Transference”, selling 53,000 copies. Right behind it is the compilation “Grammy Nominees 2010” with 49K. The other debuts in the Top 50 come from Motion City Soundtrack at #15, and an actual motion picture soundtrack (from the Jeff Bridges film “Crazy Heart”) at #38.

    SuBo’s hanging in a lot tougher than I thought she would. “I Dreamed a Dream” holds at #2 this week with a 12% increase over the previous week’s sales. An “Oprah” appearance was the reason for this increase, similar to the increase Lady Gaga (who is right behind Boyle at #3) enjoyed last week (when I didn’t publish a Chart Chat column. Boo, me).

    The biggest percentage increase on the chart went to another Oprah guest, Adam Lambert. His “For Your Entertainment” jumps fourteen spots to #21, with a 60% increase in sales. Lambert is now a week or two away from Gold status, and airplay picking up for the new single “Whataya Want from Me” should continue to keep sales steady.

    Next week, country trio Lady Antebellum is expected to debut at the top with the biggest first-week numbers of the still young year. A strong move is expected for Michael Jackson’s “This is It” soundtrack (with the DVD release yesterday), and we should also expect a few bumps from Grammy Award coverage, although the true increases won’t really come into play until the following week.

    Here’s this week’s Top 20:

    1) Various Artists “Hope for Haiti”
    2) Susan Boyle “I Dreamed a Dream”
    3) Lady Gaga “The Fame”
    4) Spoon “Transference”
    5) Various Artists “Grammy Nominees 2010”
    6) Vampire Weekend “Contra”
    7) Alicia Keys “The Element of Freedom”
    8) Ke$ha “Animal”
    9) The Black Eyed Peas “The E.N.D.”
    10) Taylor Swift “Fearless”
    11) Lady Gaga “The Fame: Monster (EP)”
    12) Soundtrack “Alvin & the Chipmunks 2: The Squeaquel”
    13) Justin Bieber “My World (EP)”
    14) Mary J. Blige “Stronger Witheach Tear”
    15) Motion City Soundtrack “My Dinosaur Life”
    16) Lady Antebellum “Lady Antebellum”
    17) Michael Jackson “This is It Soundtrack”
    18) Michael Buble “Crazy Love”
    19) Rihanna “Rated R”
    20) Owl City “Ocean Eyes”

  • New Release of the Week 1/26/10: Corinne Bailey Rae

    Corinne Bailey Rae’s self-titled 2006 debut was one of the surprise successes of 2006. Her amalgam of soul and acoustic pop won her 2 million fans here in the states and won her a ton of Grammy nominations, and she did it without the benefit of a huge radio hit.

    It’s pretty fair to say that a follow-up would have taken less than four years to complete, had Corinne’s husband not died from a drug overdose back in 2008. That event shook Corinne to her core, and she went through a period where she (justifiably) did not feel like writing songs and making music.

    Finally, two years after her husband’s tragic death and nearly four years since her debut album’s release, Corinne is back with her sophomore work, “The Sea”. Advance reviews have largely been positive, and I’m looking forward to hearing the album. You can check out my pal Jeff Giles’ review of “The Sea” over at Eat Sleep Drink Music right here.

    Also out this week:

    *Lady Antebellum “Need You Now”: This co-ed trio is the hottest thing in country music right now not named Taylor Swift. The title track has already been a huge country hit and it’s made its’ way into the Top Ten on the pop charts as well. Expect “Need You Now” to open at the top of the Billboard charts next week with huge numbers.

    *Michael Jackson “This is It” DVD: Those of you who didn’t get the chance to catch “This is It” in theaters really missed out. Despite the drug addict rumors, Michael was on top of his game as he was rehearsing for his run of shows in England. He also comes across as more human than anyone who’s followed him in the past two decades would think. Seriously-even if you’re not a super-fan, you’ll be impressed by the movie. There’s not a ton of bonus footage on the DVD, which kinda sucks.

    *Barry Manilow “The Greatest Love Songs of All Time”: Is it me, or has Manilow done about 30,000 different versions of covers albums? Isn’t this guy a songwriter? Can’t he write his own material?

    *David Sanborn “Only Everything”: One of the few horn players I can think of that I can immediately recognize when I can hear him-the others are Miles Davis and (sigh…) Kenny G, Sanborn is a legendary figure in jazz as well as pop, having played with everyone from David Bowie to Lenny Kravitz. I also have a soft spot for the guy because I was at one point co-workers (and friends) with his son Jonathan and he was surprisingly cool for a celebrity’s kid. His daddy raised him right. Anyway, the elder Sanborn’s new album features guest appearances from James Taylor and Joss Stone, among others.

    Get the complete list of new releases from the fine folks at Pause and Play here!

  • We Are The World 2010

    You had to think that this would happen eventually. But with the tragedy going on in Haiti, it probably couldn’t come at a better time.

    This news bit comes from The Hollywood Reporter.

    Reportedly, Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie are scheduled to do a sequel to We Are The World. It was originally scheduled to be a 25th anniversary project, but with the situation in Haiti, it’s now scheduled for the proceeds from the song (and video) to go to Haiti.

    So far, the artists who are scheduled to be included are Usher, Natalie Cole, and John Legend, but you can imagine that everyone and their mother is going to want to get on this, especially since it’s scheduled to be recorded after the Grammys.

    If only Michael Jackson was still alive to be a part of this. However, maybe somehow, his vocals from the original can still be used on the new song. Or maybe his brothers will be on the track.

    Here’s the original: