It’s been a while since we’ve done one of these: enough for the usually slow-moving charts to change appreciably, thank goodness. Anyway, here’s the latest action on the singles and albums chart, with the charts (as usual) used courtesy of the good folks at Billboard magazine.
Top 20 Albums:
1) “Fearless” Taylor Swift
2) “I Am…Sasha Fierce” Beyonce
3) “Dark Horse” Nickelback
4) “808s & Heartbreak” Kanye West
5) “Twilight Soundtrack” Various Artists
6) “A Different Me” Keyshia Cole
7) “Circus” Britney Spears
8) “Intuition” Jamie Foxx
9) “Notorious Soundtrack” Various Artists
10) “The Ballads” Mariah Carey
11) “Now That’s What I Call Music 29” Various Artists
12) “Noble Beast” Andrew Bird
13) “Merriweather Post Pavillion” Animal Collective
14) “David Cook” David Cook
15) “Funhouse” P!nk
16) “Blood Bank (EP)” Bon Iver
17) “Freedom” Akon
18) “Paper Trail” T.I.
19) “Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack” Various Artists
20) “The Fame” Lady GaGa
Top 20 Singles
1) “My Life Would Suck Without You” Kelly Clarkson
2) “Just Dance” Lady GaGa feat. Colby O’ Donis
3) “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” Beyonce
4) “Heartless” Kanye West
5) “Love Story” Taylor Swift
6) “Gives You Hell” The All-American Rejects
7) “Live Your Life” T.I. feat. Rihanna
8) “You Found Me” The Fray
9) “Circus” Britney Spears
10) “I’m Yours” Jason Mraz
11) “I Hate This Part” The Pussycat Dolls
12) “Let it Rock” Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil Wayne
13) “Hot ‘n Cold” Katy Perry
14) “Dead & Gone” T.I. feat. Justin Timberlake
15) “Womanizer” Britney Spears
16) “Sober” P!nk
17) “Untouched” The Veronicas
18) “Whatever You Like” T.I.
19) “Mad” Ne-Yo
20) “Gotta Be Somebody” Nickelback
*First thing I notice is that the amount of artists who repeat themselves on the singles chart has decreased significantly. Only T.I. (three songs) and Britney Spears (two songs) have more than one song in the Top 20.
*Taylor Swift spends a seventh consecutive week at the summit of the Albums chart, the longest run in quite a few years (I think the last album to spend that much time at the top was Usher’s “Confessions”). Springsteen’s debut next week will end that run, but either way that’s Pretty impressive.
*Check out Andrew Bird, Animal Collective and Bon Iver in the Top 20…making a great showing for indie music and artists.
*Kelly Clarkson zooms to the top with “My Life Would Suck Without You”. Jumping from 97-1, it’s the largest move to the top in history. It’s also Kelly’s first #1 single since her debut, “A Moment Like This”. It also means Clive Davis is in an office somewhere, smiling smugly.
*Who are The Veronicas?
*Well, I was right in assuming that they were an all-female band. Let’s hear it for educated guesses. They’re not very good, though.
*Mariah makes an impressive showing at #10 with a collection of older ballads. Only one track on this compilation dates from this decade, proving in the light of the blah chart showing of “E=MC2” that folks still love Mariah, they just love her more when she’s making good music.
*Err…I got nothing left. Enjoy the charts,the videos,and the Super Bowl! No titties this year!!
Grammy has had an interesting relationship with hip-hop over the years. They didn’t institute a rap category until 1988, and for those first few years, it seemed like the rap categories were some kind of joke. They went to safe-rap artists like Young MC and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, while unquestionably more talented artists like Public Enemy went winless. Hell, I’m not sure if Ice Cube, an undisputed hip-hop legend, has ever even been NOMINATED for one of those statues.