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Tag: Taylor Hicks

  • Chart Chat: 4/20/08

    Happy 4/20, ladies and gentlemen! (If I have to explain the significance of this date to you, then never mind). Here’s this week’s Top 20 singles and albums.
    Top 20 Albums:
    1) “Spirit” Leona Lewis
    2) “Troubadour” George Strait
    3) “Sunset Man” James Otto
    4) “Now That’s What I Call Music 27” Various Artists
    5) “Accelerate” R.E.M.
    6) “Alvin & The Chipmunks” Soundtrack
    7) “All I Feel” Ray J.
    8) “Trilla” Rick Ross
    9) “When Angels & Serpents Dance” P.O.D.
    10) “Welcome to the Dollhouse” Danity Kane
    11) “Midnight Fire: A Body & Soul Collection” Various Artists
    12) “Pretty. Odd.” Panic at the Disco
    13) “Taylor Swift” Taylor Swift
    14) ” Ghosts I-IV” Nine Inch Nails
    15) “Sleep Through the Static” Jack Johnson
    16) “Daughtry” Daughtry
    17) “Jordin Sparks” Jordin Sparks
    18) “Day26” Day26
    19) “Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings” Counting Crows
    20) “Consolers of the Lonely” The Raconteurs
    Top 20 Singles
    1) “”Bleeding Love” Leona Lewis
    2) “Lollipop” Li’l Wayne
    3) “No Air” Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown
    4) “Love in This Club” Usher
    5) “Touch My Body” Mariah Carey
    6) “Sexy Can I” Ray J.
    7) “4 Minutes” Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake
    8) “With You” Chris Brown
    9) “Love Song” Sara Bareilles
    10) “Low” Flo-Rida
    11) “See You Again” Miley Cyrus
    12) “Don’t Stop the Music” Rihanna
    13) “Stop & Stare” OneRepublic
    14) “Apologize” Timbaland feat. OneRepublic
    15) “No One” Alicia Keys
    16) “Superstar” Lupe Fiasco
    17) “Independent” Webbie
    18) “What About Now” Daughtry
    19) “Sorry” Buckcherry
    20) “Damaged” Danity Kane
    This week’s chart shows the sales bump provided by the “Idol Gives Back” special. Daughtry and Jordin Sparks both move back into the Top 20 on the albums chart, Sparks’ single reaches a new peak of #3, the fifth single from Daughtry’s 4X Platinum album debuts in the Top 20 (while the fourth single, “Feels Like Tonight”, sits at #24, and Carrie Underwood follows up last year’s version of The Pretenders’ Nineties hit “I’ll Stand by You” with a version of George Michael’s “Praying for Time”, which is new to the Top 100 at #27.
    Speaking of Sparks, her debut album surpasses Taylor Hicks in sales this week, meaning that she no longer has to worry about the dubious distinction of having the lowest-selling album by an “American Idol” winner in history.
    It almost pains me to say that the only artists who can boast a Top 10 single and a Top 10 album simultaneously this week are Leona Lewis (who’s vocally gifted but a complete cipher), and Ray J. (although I admit, “Sexy Can I” is kinda catchy!). In the process, Lewis becomes the first British female artist EVER to debut at #1 on the Billboard Albums chart. Take *that*, Winehouse!!
    I was just reading a “Vibe” article (one of many proclaiming Li’l Wayne as the best thing since color television) that mentioned the fact that Wayne had yet to live up to the hype by scoring a major pop hit. Welllll…with “Lollipop” making it to #2 (in a crowd of very successful singles) this week, I guess we can safely say that Weezy doesn’t have to worry about *that* anymore!
    Um…who’s James Otto??
    How the hell did one of those TV-advertised “Body & Soul” compilations (this one featuring Alicia Keys, R. Kelly, Mario and others) make it into the Top 20??
    Speaking of Mario, his third album “Go!” has been goosed slightly since he started appearing on “Dancing with the Stars”, but at only about 275K sold since it’s December release (and no major hit single), it’s got a long way to cover before it reaches the platinum-plus heights of his last album, “Turning Point”.
    Next week, Hurricane Mariah, who should leapfrog past the 500K mark with “E=MC2”, a number that will probably not only outsell the rest of the Top 10 combined, but will also immediately place her around #7 on the list of 2008’s Top 10 Albums (granted, it’s only April, but still…). It’s a long way from “Glitter”, eh?
    OK, the charts were boring this week, I promise something better next week.

  • What Kind Of Fu**ery Is This? Best Of Music 2007

    I hate putting these lists together. Ok, I lied. I love doing it. But it’s so hard. Putting all of the songs and albums together that I heard in 2007 into one conclusive list is tough. There are even things that came out in 2007 that I know are good, but that I haven’t even listened to enough to make a solid decision on.

    Vital Idol

    But let’s start with the American Idol stuff. I guarantee that I’m the only one thinks about Idol albums on “best of” lists like this. In 2007, a bunch of Idol albums came out with the best being Elliot Yamin’s self titled debut. Carrie Underwood followed up her big hitter rookie album with another strong album titled Carnival Ride. I’m certain more than one song on the album is about Tony Romo. Kelly Clarkson argued with Clive and released an album that’s emotional and all her own, but yikes, does that mean I have to listen to her downpour of depression? Even Katharine McPhee dropped an album that was actually decent. It bricked (and caused her to get dropped from her record deal), but it was much better than it had any right to be. In late 2006 (but they count here for me for being so late in the year), Fantasia and Taylor Hicks put out good albums, though both didn’t sell. And Hicks’ debut got him dropped from his deal. So much for the idea that all Idol winners are stars. Also, Ruben Studdard’s third album dropped and it was a mess and a half. Not surprisingly he was also dropped from his deal as well. There were others that I didn’t get a chance to listen to like Kellie Pickler and Bucky (that dude should just drop his last name).

    The two albums that dropped late in the year were from Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks and runner up Blake Lewis. While Lewis is going to get shredded because he doesn’t have a great singing voice, his album is the better of the two. It’s creative and in a style you’d expect from him. Sparks’ isn’t creative, and that’s the downfall. She’s at a weird age in which she’s too old to be Hannah Montana and too young to be a sexy songstress. I’d expect much better from her in the years to come. As for Blake, he’s probably not going to last long in this game, but he gets an E for effort. At least Break Anotha was hot.

    One Shot

    I still haven’t been able to give enough time to Lupe Fiasco’s second album, The Cool. I love the single, but in order to put it on a list like this, I have to give it more than just the random listen that I did. I apologize to Lupe. Next time, release your album a little earlier bruh.

    Big Ups

    There are a bunch of albums that I really liked, but didn’t love, or simply haven’t listened to enough to know if I love or not. Unless it’s something I know I’ll love immediately, music and me aren’t necessarily always love at first sight. Joni Mitchell’s Shine is impressive considering I wasn’t raised on Mitchell and thus haven’t heard a lot of her classic work. But when two of my closest friends both told me to give it a shot, I did. And when one of them decided to send me all the songs in e-mail, I really couldn’t say no. To say I was impressed is an understatement. I was also impressed with Bruce Springsteen’s Magic. It’s really the first album of his that I’ve given a hard listen to since The Rising. The single Radio Nowhere was genius. Chrisette Michele is an artist that didn’t get much love, and one can understand why. It’s not a pop album at all. Her I Am is an album that I had to listen to more than once in order to get it, and I don’t even think I’ve fully gotten it yet. It’s very much an R&B/soul/jazz clash that’s void of bubble gum. Joss Stone’s Introducing … is a fun album that takes advantage of her voice and gives her good material to work with. She does good stuff with not only Common, but Lauryn Hill, and no one did anything with Lauryn Hill except for her own ego.

    Maroon 5’s It Won’t Be Soon Before Long came strong out of the blocks with the funky Makes Me Wonder and stayed strong throughout. Talib Kweli and Common also hit with albums this year. Kweli’s Eardrum was consistent throughout and for rap fans, is right up there with the best hip hop releases of the year. But I thought there was definitely something missing. It might just be Kweli. I love his rhymes, but he lacks charisma, and that’s why I think I’d rather listen to a lesser rapper like Kanye, but also one who makes complete songs, even though toe to toe, he can’t flow with Kweli. Common’s Finding Forever wasn’t as good as Be, but it found many spins in my iPod. Spins? To me, The People was one of the bangers of the year. Timbaland took the “featuring …” to another level with Shock Value. It was chock full of radio ear candy. One of the things I love about Timbaland is that he simply enjoys getting people to go crazy in the clubs, but he is not afraid of experimenting with different types of artists. He’s not going to go completely left, but he’ll rock with One Republic and The Hives and then on the same album throw a bone to his old buddy Magoo. He still can’t rap though.

    Ne-Yo and Rihanna converged with Hate That I Love You and at that point, I pretty much considered them one and the same. I found Ne-Yo’s Because Of You superior to his first album. Maybe it was the title track that I loved so much. But I just found more reasons to listen all the way through. Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad was the one album that you could’ve thrown on at a party and not had to worry about changing the music for an hour. She had the biggest single in the world and seemingly grew up right before our eyes. Have you seen the video to Hate That I Love You? If not, go now. You can always come back here. I won’t mind.

     

    One Love

    The list of albums that I loved is much shorter. Though Alicia Keys hasn’t yet made that one near perfect album, she came closer to that goal with As I Am. It’s a much stronger album from a song writing perspective and as with any Alicia Keys song, you know you’ll get your goodie bag of awesome love songs. Like You’ll Never See Me Again was a brilliant second single. Jay-Z’s American Gangster and Kanye West’s Graduation were the two hip hop albums that I played most this year. With Jay-Z releases, I usually get a copy at least a week and a half before it comes out because someone had a bootleg and burns me one. Don’t worry y’all, I then go buy a copy when it’s finally released. With this one, I didn’t hear it until it dropped. I was slightly worried that it would be rushed, but after it was all said and done, it’s one of the best albums of his career. It’s on the soulful tip like The Blueprint, but is even more retro. And it also features the party jam of the year, Roc Boys (And The Winner Is …). We in the house, house, house. West’s Graduation came out of the gate with two singles that weren’t the type of radio song that you were used to. There was no Golddigger to be found. But he sampled Daft Punk and found his black Kate Moss. Stronger might’ve been my single of the year if I had a vote.

    The release date on Elliot Yamin’s debut album wasn’t circled on everyone’s calendar. But when Wait For You dropped, I knew I’d love probably everything on this album. He waits for his girl in Wait For You, sees warning signs in their relationship in Train Wreck, and then kicks her to the curb and wants to date her friend in Movin’ On. But he makes it all better with the iTunes only In Love With You Forever. Dreamgirls was probably my second favorite movie of 2006 (why Rocky Balboa of course) and even if the acting sucked (which it didn’t, and Eddie Murphy was robbed), I would’ve still loved it because of the awesome soundtrack. Even though technically the soundtrack was released in late 2006, I listened to it more than any other album in the first half of 2007. From Jennifer Hudson’s roaring rendition of Jennifer Holiday’s And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going to the bad a** Steppin’ To The Bad Side, it’s the shortest hour car ride ever. And I’ve probably listened to it no less than 35 times.

    My favorite album of the year isn’t a surprise. It’s not an original choice, but oh well. Amy Winehouse may be locked up at a looney bin with Britney Spears pretty soon, but at least someone in the looney bin will be able to sing. Ok, that was mean. I enjoyed Brit’s Blackout more than I probably should’ve and still think Break The Ice should be sent to the clubs immediately. Winehouse and producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi created soul music that simply isn’t created these days unless your name is Anthony Hamilton. Though Rehab was the hot single, Love Is A Losing Game and Tears Dry On Their Own are the real head turners. Back To Black is one of the few anythings I gave 5 stars to this year.

    Favorite Song Of The Year

    It’s true that I live in a whole different house
    But that doesn’t mean I won’t come around
    I’m still best friends with your mom have no doubt
    We’ll still make time to hang out
    I promise I won’t let you down

    I will admit to liking things that others won’t even dare listen to. One of my favorite songs of the year was the Carrie Underwood song I’ll Stand By You, which was only found on iTunes I believe. My favorite sing isn’t earth shattering and it’s not going to hit the charts anytime soon, but it was the most meaningful to me. Not simply Babyface anymore, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds penned a song that could’ve been written for me. Not Going Nowhere is a love letter to his son about why he and his ex-wife Tracy Edmonds (Edmonds-Murphy?) decided to be best friends. It really touched home with me because my ex-wife and I made a promise to each other that we would put away any hard feelings we have for each other and work to keep our family together. Our two sons are too important for pettiness and so far, we’ve done that. I live 2 minutes away from my boys, have them whenever I want, and life isn’t really all that different. The boys will have to deal with us having new significant others (and they’ve really done great in that area), but having a family with divorced parents is much better than having a divorced family. Thanks ‘Face.

    I know you feel a little scared
    I know you think it’s not fair
    And you think it’s all your fault
    But it’s not I swear
    If it wasn’t for you things could never be so cool
    So I thank you
    For being the one in our life
    That showed both of us we did something right

    (forgive the ads in the beginning)


  • Soul Patrol! What Will Tay-Tay Do Next!?!?!??!

    For the record, I was one of the folks that *liked* Taylor Hicks.
    American Idol Season 5 was the first season I watched, and despite the fact that Taylor looked nothing like the typical “American Idol” looked like, I cheered him on and was happy that he won. I wasn’t impressed by Daughtry (but apparently 4 million other people saw what I failed to), and I thought Kat McPhee was a stuck-up bitch. Elliott Yamin, Paris Bennett and Taylor were my favorites. You could tell Taylor didn’t want to be a *star* per se, but he was in it for the chance to get his music heard by as many people as possible.
    I even liked the guy’s album! Granted, as a child of Eighties pop (think Steve Winwood or Michael McDonald), I would. But his album, from a qualitative standpoint, is better than any “Idol” winner’s debut, with the possible exception of Carrie Underwood’s. Unfortunately, it also sold the least (roughly 700,000 units moved), which means that shortly after one winner has been put out to pasture (Ruben Studdard was dropped about a week ago), Taylor has lost his contract with Arista Records. So two of the six American Idol winners are now label-less, and it’s more than likely due to lack of malleability more than it is talent.
    Let’s face it, Ruben’s fat. And his weight was a hindrance to his “image”. As a male R&B singer, the assumption is that no one cares about you unless you either dance like Michael Jackson or are capable of taking your shirt off and doing a few hundred pelvic thrusts. And Taylor’s “old”…granted, he looks a few years older than he actually is (at 30, he’s younger than I am), but a prematurely grey, slightly pauncy singer (no matter how talented he is) is not gonna fly in this “i want millions sold now”/”Idol”-disposable music world. While Rube is headed for Boradway (and I see a Weight Watchers/Jenny Craig deal in his future), Taylor goes back to being a bar musician, screaming his lungs out for the love of music. And something tells me that suits him a lot better than selling himself out for Clive Davis and his minions.