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Tag: Usher

  • No Plastic – At This Moment

    As I stated in February, I decided to stop buying actual CDs and buy all my music through iTunes. Let me update you on my iTunes journey.

    Money Mike and I had the same memory of Billy Vera’s hit song. I remember watching Family Ties and hearing this song and immediately thinking that Billy Vera really wanted his woman back. It was probably the first song that I actually not only heard the lyrics, but felt them. Well, maybe except part where he wonders if his old girl thought he was going to raise his hands to her.

    (I remember either watching The Grammys or the American Music Awards from that year and waiting to see Billy Vera and the Beaters perform. My dad and I saw that Bruno and the Heaters were scheduled to come up next and we laughed because we figured they just got the name wrong. Nope, that was Bruce Willis’ band.)

    My girlfriend Jessica didn’t know if she’d heard this song before. And then I went into the whole bit about the song being a major part of one of more memorable story lines of Family Ties. Then I went, wait, let me go to iTunes. Digital music folks. Digital music.

    If I could just hold you, again.

    The man was hurtin’.

    Usher’s latest and newest “grown up” album Here I Stand didn’t necessarily set the world on fire. I guess people wanted to hear more about him sleeping around on Chili. But this is a more mature Usher which means songs about fatherhood, his lack of a father, and marriage. I don’t think there’s any songs about him dissing moms as his manager though. And maybe on his next album he’ll mention hiring her back after the album didn’t sell like hot cakes.

    It’s definitely a good next step in his career. Even though his sales didn’t increase (and let’s be serious, Confessions sold a ton and topping that was going to be near impossible in this day and age) it was a strong move in my opinion. He needs to grow with his audience, but at the same time, also continue making new fans. I’m not sure he knocked it out of the park, but it was a solid record.

    It may be a bit long winded though. The CD version is 17 tracks long which is already too long. And the iTunes version is 18 tracks, with the cheesy Will Work For Love as the bonus song. Here’s his second video from the album, Moving Mountains.

    I only picked up one other thing in May, and that was the comeback single by the boys from the city. The New Kids On The Block comeback has been tracked step by step (ha!) here, with Money Mike and I both contributing. If their comeback was going to be a step back into 1990 pop music, I would’ve called it for what it was. But so far, it’s been a really smart comeback with them growing in sound and choosing songs with good harmonies. I still don’t think Jon Knight or Danny Wood do much other than show up at the studio and wave pom poms, but I think the New Kids are going to surprise some folks. Both singles have been strong and sit right between R&B and pop music, which is necessary in this day and age.

    Summertime isn’t a remake of the DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince song. No buying new kicks for the basketball court because there are girls there. It’s a song about a girl from their past who they think about in the summertime. It’s hilarious because even my kids enjoy it. And their mom was about 11 years old when the New Kids originally hit. Though my oldest can’t remember their name and keeps calling them “New Kids By The Block”. Oh well.

  • Chart Chat 7/13/08: The Midyear Analysis (Oooohhh…)

    It’s a mellow Sunday morning. The sun is shining, I’ve got the next week off from my day job, and the relaxing, dulcet tones of Courtney Love are coming from my stereo. Nothing like a little Hole to smooth out the 7th day, eh?

    All that because I don’t really have an intro for this week’s Chart Chat. Here are the charts, as usual provided by the lovely ladies and gentlemen of Billboard Magazine.

    You know what? Screw that (partially because this week’s charts are dead boring and I can’t really find much to talk about beyond G-Unit scoring a mighty flop and putting yet another nail in the coffin of 50 Cent’s career).

    Even though we’re a week or so past the official halfway point of the chart year, now might be a good time to take a look at the Top Albums of the Year so far. Since I have no way of finding out what the year’s top singles are (I would imagine either “Lollipop” or “Low” tops the chart), I’m stretching the list from 20 to 40. Ooh, good times, right?

    Anyway:

    Lil Wayne's "The Carter III"

      The Top 40 Albums of 2008…so far

    1) “The Carter III” Lil’ Wayne
    2) “Sleep Through the Static” Jack Johnson
    3) “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends” Coldplay
    4) “E=MC2” Mariah Carey
    5) “As I Am” Alicia Keys
    6) “Taylor Swift” Taylor Swift
    7) “Spirit” Leona Lewis
    8) “Here I Stand” Usher
    9) “Juno Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” Various Artists
    10) “Now That’s What I Call Music Vol. 27” Various Artists
    11) “Growing Pains” Mary J. Blige
    12) “Alvin & The Chipmunks Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” Various Artists
    13) “Exclusive” Chris Brown
    14) “Thriller” Michael Jackson
    15) “Trilla” Rick Ross
    16) “Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus” Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus
    17) “Little Voice” Sara Bareilles
    18) “Hard Candy” Madonna
    19) “Back To Black” Amy Winehouse
    20) “Coco” Colbie Caillat
    21) “In Rainbows” Radiohead
    22) “Jonas Brothers” Jonas Brothers
    23) “Daughtry” Daughtry
    24) “Carnival Ride” Carrie Underwood
    25) “Now That’s What I Call Music Vol. 28” Various Artists
    26) “Just Like You” Keyshia Cole
    27) “Welcome To the Dollhouse” Danity Kane
    28) “The Ultimate Hits” Garth Brooks
    29) “Indestructible” Disturbed
    30) “Camp Rock Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” Various Artists
    31) “Troubadour” George Strait
    32) “Good Time” Alan Jackson
    33) “Enjoy the Ride” Sugarland
    34) “Rock & Roll Jesus” Kid Rock
    35) “Good Girl Gone Bad” Rihanna
    36) “Jordin Sparks” Jordin Sparks
    37) “Now That’s What I Call Music Vol. 26” Various Artists
    38) “Dreaming Out Loud” OneRepublic
    39) “Long Road Out of Eden” The Eagles
    40) “Discipline” Janet Jackson

    *A telling note on the state of the music business. At this point in the year: only 4 albums have crossed the million mark in sales, and only the Top 29 albums have crossed the 500,000 mark. Typically, 90-100 albums a year sell more than half a million copies.

    *Kid Rock’s one of the artists who will most likely jump over the half million mark next week, and his “Rock & Roll Jesus” has sold 1.1 million copies in it’s chart life (soon to surpass the 1.4 million that his last studio album pushed), and he has sold not one copy of this digitally (Jay-Z moved a million copies of “American Gangster” last year the same way). So there are still folks shuffling their lazy asses into record stores (or at least ordering hard copies through Amazon or wherever).

    *I love how Jack Johnson sells a shit-ton of records year-in and year-out without whoring himself. When was the last time you saw the dude on TMZ or even a morning talk-show? On top of that, he’s never on MTV, barely on VH-1, and can you say he’s ever really had a radio hit?

    *From the list of Top 40 albums, it’s pretty obvious what’s catching the public’s attention. Lots of soundtrack action this year, with all 4 of the titles in the Top 40 skewing to a younger audience (well, three of them appeal to straight-up kids, with “Juno” inappropriate for that age range, but attracting plenty of older teens and younger adults).

    *Also, plenty of country (6 titles, not including the country-esque Kid Rock & The Eagles), “Now That’s What I Call Music” compilations (3 of ’em), R&B divas (8, including R&B-esque Leona Lewis & Rihanna), “American Idols” (3), and somewhat, improbably after all these years, the kids of Joe & Katherine Jackson (2).

    *In this Top 40, you’ll see the artist who had the #1 album of 2004 (Usher), the artist who had the #1 album of 2005 (Mariah) and “Hannah Montana 2” and “Camp Rock”, Disney soundtracks just like the #1 album of 2006 (“High School Musical”). I bet ya if Josh Groban (who had the #1 album of 2007) releases an album this year, he’ll pop up on this list before December 31st.

    *Back to the Jacksons for a sec…Janet’s “Discipline” will most likely exit the Top 40 next week, but “Thriller”‘s numbers are pretty amazing, especially since Michael Jackson has not lifted a finger promotionally. I don’t know that a reissue album has ever finished a year in the Top 40 of a year-end chart, and it’s entirely possible that “Thriller” will hit the million mark by year’s end (right now, it’s about 3/4 of the way there with Michael’s 50th birthday a month and a half away).

    *And, OK, I’ve gotta admit that it’s funny seeing “Thriller” at #14 and Rick Ross’s “Trilla” at #15.

    *Nice year to be a female artist of mixed racial heritage, eh? In a year where we might see a mulatto get elected President of the United States, bi-racial honeys Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey and Leona Lewis are all in the Top 10, with Rihanna and Jordin Sparks also in the Top 40. Where’s Faith Evans when you need her?

    *With Lil’ Wayne and Coldplay hitting their marks in four and three weeks respectively, I’d imagine it’s a fairly safe bet that they’ll end the year in the top two spots, yes?

    *Not a bad time to be a new or developing artist, as of the 33 albums in the Top 40 that are not compilations, 9 are debuts (counting Winehouse, whose “Back to Black” was her first Stateside release), and another 5 are sophomore albums.

    *One thing to note is the surprising amount of flops from previously unassailable artists this year. Looking through the rest of the Top 100, you find rapidly sinking albums from the likes of Snoop Dogg (#49), Sheryl Crow (54), Panic at the Disco (63), and Counting Crows (82). This is in addition to the relative failures of the Madonna and Janet Jackson albums. Ahh…and we’ll soon be adding G-Unit to this list. Have I mentioned them before? God, I hate 50 Cent.

    Anyhoo, if you missed me actually talking about THIS week’s charts, you can find them over at http://www.billboard.com.

    Look for a list of my favorite albums of the year so far (screw sales) coming soon…

  • MHW Liveblogs The 2008 BET Awards

    If I was Don Cornelius, I’d be really mad at the BET folks. In 2001, the cable network introduced it’s own show that essentially took the Soul Train Music Awards out of business. The shows themselves have been a mixed bag. There have been a couple of major moments-Michael Jackson & James Brown dancing together, Jay-Z & Beyonce tearing up “Crazy in Love”, a Destiny’s Child mutual lap-dance extravaganza on “Cater 2 U”. However, there have been just as many forgettable performances from (name untalented rapping one-hit wonder here). This year’s show promises to be a typical mixed bag. On the plus side, performances from Usher and Kanye West, and a Lifetime Achievement Award to Al Green. On the bad side? Lil’ Wayne. And I’m sure there’ll be a T-Pain performance somewhere. Keep your eye here, as we’ll be updating every half hour or so.

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