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Tag: REM

  • 1991 MTV Video Music Awards – Funky Like Doo Doo

    I was looking through old video tapes some time ago and found a copy of the 1991 MTV VMAs. It reminded me how fun this show used to be. Let’s pretend it’s 1991 again and that I’m live blogging this thing. I’m 15 years old and ready to kick it like Arsenio.

    It’s now Arsenio’s third appearance in a row as host for the VMA’s and the dude is hot. Here’s to his Arsenio Hall Show being on the air until we’re all old and gray. Woof, woof, woof!

    Word on the street is that there’s a special guest to open the show. I wonder who it is?

    • It’s Pee Wee Herman!
    • Arsenio says it’s the 8th edition of the VMAs, but it’s the 10th anniversary of MTV.
    • He says everyone is in the back except Elvis and Rick James. Rick, did you have to burn her with the crack pipe? Couldn’t you have burned her with a cigarette or something?
    • Van Halen opens up the show. Time for me to use the restroom.
    • Everyone is wearing red ribbons for AIDS awareness. Where’s Magic?
    • Linda Hamilton has some big ass lips, but Steven Tyler might be skinnier than her.
    • REM wins for Best Group Video and I have a feeling they’ll be up many more times for Losing My Religion.
    • Downtown Julie Brown has a bright career ahead of her. I can just feel it.
    • Christian Slater just won the award for Worst Presenter At Reading Queue Cards.
    • How can C&C Music Factory steal Arsenio’s line for their new song? It’s just one of those things that make you go hmmmm …
    • Dude from C&C is wearing a see through blouse, biker shorts, nylons, and stirrups and keeps grabbing his package on stage. Maybe that’s to show us that he’s still a dude.
    • Hey, it’s Lenny Kravitz. Where’s Denise Huxtable?
    • REM wins again for Breakthrough Video and Michael Stipe just says, “Ok”. Great speech.
    • DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince are out to introduce the Best Dance Video. Our parents just don’t understand.
    • C&C Music Factory won by the way. Even that girl who can’t sing.
    • Mariah Carey is performing Emotions. Jeez, this girl is always wearing long sleeved blouses. She’s going to be 35 years old and wearing long sleeves. You can show some skin girl!
    • If REM wins one more award, I’m going to stop …. jeez, they just won Best Direction.
    • Cindy Crawford might be on my Top Five Women That I Want To Be “Romantically Linked” To If I Was Famous list. But wait, she’s going to be old one day. And maybe not so hot.
    • EMF aren’t that Unbelievable by the way.
    • I bet you anything that the lead singer of Color Me Badd gets really, really fat. Call it a hunch.
    • When did Janet Jackson get so hot? I didn’t even know she had breasts.
    • Who knew that MC Hammer had someone named Ho Frat Ho helping him with choreography?
    • Paula Abdul is looking a little chunky and she’s trying to sing live. I approve of lip synching here.
    • Why is Eazy E wearing little white shorts? That’s not gangster.
    • Woohoo! Rap Video Of The Year went to Double L who’s gonna rock the bells. That’s my man.
    • They should rename Queensryche, Queenswrongche.
    • Wayne’s World, party time, excellent!
    • Did I just say that LL was my man? Well, he is, but so is Brandon Walsh, who is presenting with Jennifer Connelly for Best New Artist. Hey, LL would let Brandon Walsh hang out in his hood. (Jesus Jones won by the way.)
      • LL just rocked the show with the performance of the night in a leather derby cap, leather pants, a big gold medallion, some nikes, and a silver belt, while shirtless.
      • The Video Vanguard Award is now the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. Really, this show should be called the MTV Michael Jackson Music Awards. (By the way, Bon Jovi won the MJ award.)
      • The censor is about a half second off on every curse word.
      • The drummer for Metalica is dressed exactly like LL, except without the hat and gold medallion.
      • That Daisy Fuentes from MTV Mexico is kind of cute.
      • James Brown and MC Hammer just gave it three times for Arsenio. Hey, hey, hey!
      • Queenswrongche just won the Viewer’s Choice Award. I can live with that as long as it wasn’t REM.
      • LL is still sweaty from his performance. Go take a shower man!
      • Is Don Henley right for this show? The song is great, but he’s not shirtless, doesn’t have a mohawk, and isn’t wearing a woman’s blouse.
      • Guns N’ Roses are live from London and Axl Rose is wearing a kilt, what looks like a mini wrestling belt, and is just as sweaty as LL is.
      • Let’s hope that Gerardo doesn’t win Male Video Of The Year. I’m rooting for George Michael, just to see if Cindy Crawford accepts with him. Damn, Chris Isaak won.
      • Let’s do a poll. Is Cher really all that sexy? I say not, even as much as she forces it.
      • If Janet Jackson doesn’t win for Female Video, this show is rigged. Woohoo! But she’s not even there to accept. Must’ve been because they didn’t name the Video Vanguard after her.
      • Prince is on stage with the New Power Generation and his first move was to fall flat on his stomach and have other men jump on top of him, while thrusting him from behind.
      • There are also several men and woman in thong underwear cavorting on stage.
      • And Prince himself is wearing pants where the parts covering up his butt are gone, so if you ever wanted to see Prince’s butt cheeks, this is your chance.
      • Arsenio just said it was funky like doo doo.
      • Well, I didn’t get George and Cindy winning an award together, but they are out to present the Video Of The Year.

      • Cindy just said Prince stole her yellow pants. If they were really Cindy’s pants, Prince would’ve had to roll them up about three or four times.
      • And guess who wins for Video Of The Year? If you guessed anyone but REM, you’d be wrong.

  • Chart Chat: Radiohead, Van Morrison and More!

    Hey kids, courtesy of the good folks at Billboard magazine, here’s this week’s Top 20 singles and albums!!
    Top 20 Albums:
    1) Troubadour-George Strait
    2) Accelerate-R.E.M.
    3) Now That’s What I Call Music 27-Various Artists
    4) Day26-Day26
    5) Alvin & The Chipmunks-Soundtrack
    6) Still Da Baddest-Trina
    7) Welcome To The Dollhouse-Danity Kane
    8) Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings-Counting Crows
    9) Trilla-Rick Ross
    10) Keep it Simple-Van Morrison
    11) Shine a Light (soundtrack)-The Rolling Stones
    12) Pretty. Odd.-Panic at the Disco
    13) Sleep Through the Static-Jack Johnson
    14) Attack & Release-The Black Keys
    15) Mail on Sunday-Flo Rida
    16) Taylor Swift-Taylor Swift
    17) Little Voice-Sara Bareilles
    18) Consolers of the Lonely-The Raconteurs
    19) Vol. 7: Hope & Sorrow-Sevendust
    20) Good Time-Alan Jackson
    Top 20 Singles:
    1) Touch My Body-Mariah Carey
    2) Bleeding Love-Leona Lewis
    3) 4 Minutes-Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake
    4) Lollipop-Lil’ Wayne feat. Static Major
    5) Love in this Club-Usher feat. Young Jeezy
    6) Sexy Can I-Ray J feat. Yung Berg
    7) No Air-Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown
    8) With You-Chris Brown
    9) Love Song-Sara Bareilles
    10) Low-Flo Rida feat. T-Pain
    11) Don’t Stop The Music-Rihanna
    12) See You Again-Miley Cyrus
    13) Stop & Stare-OneRepublic
    14) Apologize-Timbaland feat. OneRepublic
    15) You’re Gonna Miss This-Trace Adkins
    16) Superstar-Lupe Fiasco feat. Matthew Santos
    17) Independent-Webbie, Lil’ Boosie & Lil’ Phat
    18) No One-Alicia Keys
    19) Beat It-Fall Out Boy feat. John Mayer
    20) Sorry-Buckcherry
    It’s a good time to be a Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Famer on the album charts this week: R.E.M. debut at #2 and score their highest charting week and biggest sales week since 1996’s “New Adventures in Hi-Fi”. Meanwhile, Irish troubadour Van Morrison scores the highest chart position of his 40-year career with “Keep it Simple”.
    On the singles chart, it’s worth mentioning that “Nude”, at #37, is Radiohead’s first Top 40 single since “Creep”, their debut single back in 1993!!
    The TV was on while I was doing chores yesterday, and I swear that between VH1-Soul, MTV Hits, MTV Jams and VH-1 proper, I saw the videos for “No Air” and “Love in This Club” a grand total of 1,000 times.
    Here’s the American Idol performance of “No Air”. Back when Chris first came out, I was unsure if he had staying power, but this kid is the real deal. I’m not sure why they felt the need to lip-sync only the pre-chorus though.
    …and the video for “Love in this Club”, which looks remarkably similar to the video for “Yeah!”. I love this song (even though I can definitely do without Young Jeezy). However, given the box office receipts for “In The Mix” and “Light it Up”, should someone send Ush the message that he should maybe stop acting?
    Elsewhere, “Beat It” enters the Top 20 via Fall Out Boy, marking the third cover/major sample of a “Thriller” song to hit the Top 20 this year, following Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop The Music” and Kanye West’s “Good Life”. For those playing at home, if the year was to end today, “Thriller” would be 2008’s 6th best selling album.
    Hmmm…maybe Panic at the Disco (who plummet 2-12) should have changed their album title to Pretty. Over.
    Next week, there’s a good chance Brit Leona Lewis will debut at #1 on the album charts as well as re-planting herself at #1 on the singles chart, making her the first British female ever to score a #1 album! Stay tuned…

  • "Chinese Democracy", "Detox" And More: New Releases 4/1/08

    Haha…April Fools!!

    (yeah, OK, that was lame)

    So, no, you won’t be getting the new Guns ‘n Roses or Dr. Dre albums today (or anytime soon, I don’t think). However, this particular April Fool’s Day brings forth a plethora of new music releases. Here are a couple of things you might be interested in checking out.

    R.E.M. “Accelerate”: Simply put, R.E.M. are the greatest American rock band of the past quarter-century. Albums like “Murmur”, “Document” and “Automatic for the People” are almost universally regarded as classics. However, the band lost the plot when drummer Bill Berry exited in 1997, after being stricken with a brain aneurysm while on stage. While the remaining three members of the band (vocalist Michael Stipe, bassist Mike Mills and guitarist Peter Buck) have soldiered on, the music has suffered and the band, to me, anyway, is a shell of what it once was. “Accelerate” is rumored to be the band’s return to a harder-rocking style. Will it be as good as their last “rocking” effort, 1994’s “Monster”? I’ll let you guys find out. I’m probably gonna pass.

    http://www.remhq.com

    Moby “Last Night”: In 1999, Moby’s “Play” was the little album that could. Despite a lack of radio play and traditional promotion, the album went on to sell 2 million copies via the then unique practice of licensing almost every one of the album’s tracks to a TV show, movie or commercial. Moby’s not equalled that level of success since, but he’s continued to put out interesting music since, and he’s also one of pop music’s most unique personalities. “Last Night” allegedly harkens back to a more club-friendly sound, an acknowledgment of Moby’s early days as a cutting-edge techno/electronic artist.

    http://www.moby.com

    Van Morrison “Keep It Simple”: It’s been 40 years since Van Morrison exploded onto the scene with the band Them and the hit “Gloria”, and at this point, you know what to expect from the man widely considered one of the greatest blue-eyed soul singers and one of the greatest songwriters in history. A mix of folk and traditional Irish flavorings, a touch of blues, a pinch of jazz and a whole lot of that still inimitable voice. While none of his recent work has exactly been “Moondance”, any artist would be hard-pressed to top that classic, and Van remains one of the few artists of his era who is still worth listening to.

    http://www.vanmorrison.co.uk

    Kylie Minogue “X”: British pop tart Kylie Minogue returns with her first album of new material since fighting and beating a breast cancer diagnosis in 2005. While she is practically royalty in her home country, she’s only been intermittently successful here in the States, and with American customers currently preferring their British singers of the soulful variety (Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis), it’s hard to tell whether this album will mark a commercial comeback for Kylie. An eclectic lineup of guest performers on this album includes Boy George, The Scissor Sisters, and former BLACKstreet member/ace producer Teddy Riley.

    http://www.kylie.com

    George Michael “Twenty Five”: Despite being released in the U.K. nearly two years ago, this double-CD hits compilation by George Michael is only being released in the States now. Of course, with a double-CD compilation by George already on the market, many folks would say this is a bit unnecessary, but hold up a second. “Twenty-Five” is the first album to compile all of George’s hits with Wham! (like this classic: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Hksil-KkebQ) in addition to his solo smashes. In addition, it contains his hit duet with Mary J. Blige, “As”, which scored big on R&B radio a decade ago but Mary’s label refused it’s official release in the States. Add in a couple of new tracks, George’s upcoming summer tour (his first in the U.S. since 1991) and his ubiquity via the TV show “Eli Stone”, and this might be one to watch.

    http://www.georgemichael.com

    My pick of the week is “Matthew Ryan vs. The Silver State”. Matthew is a singer/songwriter, originally from Pennsylvania but currently based in Nashville. To my ears, he sounds like Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska” meets Ray LaMontagne. His music is almost painfully intimate (I mean that in a good way) and beautifully sung and performed. I had the pleasure of witnessing an intimate acoustic performance by him and I was completely blown away. Give this album a shot. You will not be disappointed.

    http://www.matthewryanonline.com

    And for this week’s “Huh”? Factor:
    Remember Donna Lewis? No? How about that song “I Love You Always Forever”? NOW do you remember? Well, she’s BACK (and I don’t remember anyone inviting her). For those interested, she’s got an album out today.

    Also hitting stores today: A new set from The Black Keys (intriguingly produced by Gnarls Barkley’s Danger Mouse), former “American Idol” finalist Josh Gracin (the country-singing dude from season 2 who was in the military), a new set from country music mainstay George Strait (who seems to release albums every 9 months, and all of them sell like hotcakes), a Dream Theater 2-CD best of, and “Shine a Light”, the soundtrack to the new Rolling Stones documentary, which was notably directed by Martin Scorcese. Look at the way Mick’s wrinkles were filmed! Such Clarity!

    Happy shopping!!