There are nights where I get home from work, and I lose a couple of hours just going through my Google Reader headlines (Yuri, you feelin’ me?). It’s such a brain drain, and I need to go through and weed out some feeds that only show a gem once in a while. One website that will never get the heave-ho is ItsTheReal.com, one of the most consistently funny places on teh Interwebs. Eric and Jeff Rosenthal don’t play favorites, making sure that anyone that’s anyone in hip-hop gets chopped and screwed. Check out an interview with Eric here, and make sure you watch this week’s clip down below.
Evolution 101 with Mr. West from jeff on Vimeo
BTW…Kanye’s “Paranoid” aired on Radio One this evening. If this is what the new CD is about, he’s topped himself once again. Un-freakin-believable!
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All posts for the month November, 2008
As some of you guessed, the post from Friday was indeed about my arrival at the Broomfield Arena for the NKOTB/NBed/GaGa show, and no, I wasn’t pleased. I’ve talked about my love of opening acts before, and so it was with a mix of rage and sadness that I heard Lady GaGa FINISHING her set of three songs at 8:10 as I entered the arena. I would love to say it sounded good from what I heard, but it was literally the end of “Just Dance”, and the crowd was cheering (good sign, right?), so no review whatsoever. Boo to that! I ran into someone today who was there, and commented that GaGa was “interesting”. I’m wondering if Middle America is ready for her poker face, but it could happen.
Unlike a lot of arena shows, this one was surprisingly quick on the changeouts. Natasha took to the stage before 8:30 with a video montage to introduce her. Talk about a clever way to handle the “I’ve heard the name, but I’m not sure what she sings” dilemma. NB was actually in fine voice, cruising through a seven-song set with no glitz and glamour, just a great voice and good stage presence. “Pocketful of Sunshine” was a bit over the top live, but “Put Your Arms Around Me” was terrific, and “Unwritten” was the female anthem of the night. I’m sure that she won over some fans by the end of her set.
So let’s talk about the crowd a bit before we get to the main event. Easily 90% women, and of the men who were there, the majority were reluctant spouses trying to make their wives/girlfriends happy. As a matter of fact, my favorite text message up on the jumbotron was “my wife lied to me…she told me this was a Toby Keith concert”. That one was followed closely by “Donnie marry me. Love, Rob”. Classic. While there were some trashy 30 and 40 somethings there, still sluttin’ it up, the majority of the crowd were moms and aunts there with another generation of fans. I really felt a warm and fuzzy feeling about it all, until I realized that in some of these cases, the kids had no interest in the show, and the moms were just using them as an excuse. Lame.
Here’s the scene…lights down, crowd is screaming at the top of its collective lungs, and the “kids” rise out of the top level of the stage, while the opening chords of “Single” loop over and over. The crowd loses it, and instantly, my eardrums determine that their very survival is in jeopardy. This went on non-stop. It was as if the fans were trying to make up for every concert they SHOULD have been at for the past 15 years, all in one pop. I still feel a slight ring in my ears two days later. That’s not a good sign.
So how did the set list go? Surprisingly, it was a good mix of the old and new stuff. “Single” segued nicely into an updated version of “My Favorite Girl”, which now has a bit of a Freestyle flavor I didn’t recall in the original version. Once established in the past, they went straight for the jugular with “You Got It (The Right Stuff)”, and the crowd went ballistic. When the guys started their classic “side step” dance move, it was as if Oprah had shown up with Her Favorite Things. The hits kept coming….”Please Don’t Go Girl”, “Calendar Girl”, and “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind)” kept the crowd on its feet.
Momentum killer number one (besides their numerous costume changes) was the intro of Nicole of the Pussycat Dolls on the video screen for “Grown”. Obviously she’s not making anything off the royalties on the new CD, so she allowed herself to be pimped out in a pretty crappy lip sync montage. Killer number two came in Donnie’s five minute rambling monologue, which included a vaguely back-handed comment about being “loud for a small crowd” (there were several nearly empty sections at the back of the arena), and some stupid commentary about the Celtics losing to the Nuggets. They got to strike three when that monologue worked its way into “No More Games”, which is up there with some of the Christmas album as their weakest and corniest music. Fortunately, they pulled the plane out of its nosedive by trotting out “If You Go Away”, a personal favorite of mine. As much as I dislike Jordan Knight (I had a less-than-stellar interaction with him back in 1999 when he was attempting a solo career), the boy can sing, and he still can hit those high notes.
At this point, my notes become a little more vague. The problem was that while I wasn’t having a bad time, the screaming all around me was starting to get unbearable. Knowing the show wasn’t a sell-out, I’m sure that there was an attempt to keep the crowd as loud as possible, but it just wasn’t working for me. Maybe I’m old, maybe I’m a stick in the mud, but whatever my damage, I was quickly getting over the show.
After another interlude, the guys emerged from the back of the arena and took to a circular, rotating stage in the middle of the floor for “Dirty Dancing” and “2 In the Morning”, one of the stronger songs on “The Block”. I do like the idea that they really made the effort to put themselves out in the middle of the people that are making this comeback possible. Despite their maniacal screams, the fans around the turntable were very well behaved.
Now, I could tell you how they grooved to “Summertime”, or incited the loudest screams of the night with “Hangin’ Tough”, but that wouldn’t be honest, because I jetted after “2 In the Morning”. Sometimes, you’ve got to hedge your bets and leave on a high note. While I won’t forget my earplugs for another concert for quite some time, it was definitely worth a few hours of my time on a Friday night.
I know it’s been a light weekend on here, but it’s been a crazy busy one in real life. Hopefully tomorrow, I will have a review of the NKOTB/Natasha Bedingfield/Lady GaGa show from Friday night. In the meantime, check out the opening song from the show (and current single) “Single”.
Have you ever gone to a concert, and the traffic getting to the venue was so rough that you ended up missing the opening act that you really wanted to see, because they only allowed that act 10 minutes?
Yeah…me too. More details later.
Want to see what the next generation of Claymates look like? Please, for all that is good in the world, watch this video!
– The big news this week is the debut of the “Twilight” soundtrack at #1, matching the achievements of “Juno” and “Mamma Mia” to become this year’s third #1 soundtrack. Too bad, so sad for “High School Musical 3”, although I’m pretty sure they will sell more total units than “Twilight” once all is said and done. Paramore’s “Decode”, which appears on the soundtrack, debuts on the Hot 100 at #34.
– Other debuts this week include Hinder at 4, Andrea Bocelli at 8, Brad Paisley at 9, Q-Tip at 11, and Sarah Brightman at #38, which leads several Holiday albums into the upper reaches of the chart. Faith Hill, Yo-Yo Ma, Harry Connick Jr, Amy Grant and Elvis are all looking for a piece of that fruitcake. “The Fame” plummets from #17 to 52, but that’s nothing compared to the 18 – 80 drop that Bloc Party takes with “Intimacy”.
– Pop Radio is about to say goodbye to P!nk and hello to Katy Perry at #1. “Hot N Cold” has the momentum, and looks poised to hold the top for a few weeks once it arrives. It’s only competition is T.I.’s “Whatever You Like”, but I don’t think that one will have enough juice to do the job. So look for “I’m Yours” (at #5) or “Live Your Life” (at #9, most increased plays this week) to hit the top next. Most added AGAIN this week is Lady GaGa’s “Just Dance”, which makes a 34 – 23 move, along with a 27 – 21 move on the Hot 100. This thing is turning into a MONSTER! Brandy also takes a big jump from 38 – 29, and David Cook debuts at #40. (Come on…I had to.) Top debut on the Hot 100 is Kanye’s “Heartless” mainly driven by the pre-orders for his new disc, dropping in two weeks, and “Love Lockdown” re-bullets at #13.
Have you ever waited for an album to come out, and you just knew it was going to be stellar, and then it doesn’t quite measure up to the hype? Yeah…me too. So it is with a bit of hesitation that I declare that the new David Cook CD due out next week doesn’t fully hit the spot. Now, having said that, “Light On” didn’t thrill me upon first listen, but it is now on my most played, so maybe that’s what will happen here. And there are some great tracks right off the bat…”Lie”, “Life on the Moon”, “A Daily Anthem”, and “Permanent” all show the promise of the Rocker Idol. Here’s hoping that by the time the full-length is available for my purchase that I’m good with the remainder of the CD. In the meantime, here’s the full-length video for “Light On”.
– If it’s Tuesday, it must be new releases, right? Today’s batch includes Taylor Swift (only $3.99 at Amazon), David Archuleta, Tracy Chapman, Seal, T-Pain, David Foster, and Deborah Cox. The cavalcade of reissues and re-releases include discs by the Smiths, New Order, Enrique Iglesias, Hilary Duff, Genesis and Abba. However, I predict a dark horse this week that may make a big splash is the new holiday release from Enya. I can’t think of an artist that is more appropriate for Christmas music than her. I’m not saying it’ll be GOOD, I’m just saying it makes sense.
– Looking ahead to next week, an interesting match-up appears. I doubt I have to remind regular readers that David Cook’s CD, but competing for your 19 Entertainment dollars will also be Il Divo, Simon Cowell’s Opera Boys. For most Idols, I would say this isn’t a big deal, but I think these two acts probably share a little more audience then Mr Cook would like to admit. “But they’re BOTH dreamy!”
– In other David Cook news, he has an AOL Sessions that will premiere on November 21st, he’s playing the Red Carpet party prior to the American Music Awards on the 23rd, and he’s currently appearing in ads for Sketchers (which I believe every Idol winner has done following their win). On the retail tip, we know so far that there are bonus tracks on the iTunes (“My Last Request”) and Wal-Mart (“Breathe Again”) versions. And finally, in the Continual Pimping Department (an artform we admire GREATLY around the PMN water cooler), Entertainment Weekly unleashes yet another feature on Mr. Cook. The cool thing about this feature is that it gets into the whole “how do I rock when the housewives/cougars made me what I am?” dilemma. My favorite quote (you KNEW there would be one):
”I do take music seriously. But I don’t take myself all that seriously. I’m kind of a goober from the Midwest who hit the lottery.”
– Despite the King of Fizz not giving them their proper due (I blame him personally for “Boyfriend” not going to #1), “What Is Happening” will get a physical release on November 24th. It looks like they will be releasing some sassy remixes (including a techno Ultrabeat remix), so here’s hoping that might help get them back into the UK Top 10. The Feist-ish video couldn’t hurt, either…
For some amusing Alphabeat visuals, check out the BBC Chart Blog’s latest addition to their “How To Destroy…” series.
– On a personal note, I’d like to thank all of you that have supported me over the past few months. This started off as a little experiment and hobby, but has really turned into a passion. I set a goal a few weeks ago to do a post a day for a month, and so far, so good on that. Due to a search engine find, the blog has exploded in the page view department, with over 1,000 views in the past two days. It’s a little humbling when folks you read and admire compliment your work, but I am grateful for any and all feedback. Thanks for your support…while it’s cool to document this for myself, it’s even better to have a dialogue with voices other than the ones in my head.
I’ve mentioned my music retail roots before, and while I can’t imagine ever going back to managing record stores (they’re already on the Endangered Species list), I miss aspects of it. It was cool to experience some of the insider dealings about how the retail aspect of the music industry works, but some business practices really never made much sense to me. For example, Tuesdays are new release days in North America. Why?
I did some digging, and came across this article, which confirmed reasons I’d heard in the past. Allow me to cut to the chase:
Albums used to be released on Tuesdays to take advantage of two factors. The first is that music industry magazines used to come out on Monday thus creating a buzz that consumers would act on the next day. Also according to one source radio stations used to change playlists on Tuesday so while new music was being heard on the radio you could also go to the store and buy the album.
I won’t go off on a rant, but let’s just say that retailers (and labels) need to sell as many records as possible these days. Why would you put new releases in your Sunday adverts, which are designed to bring in business, but tell customers “sorry, you can’t have the Kanye until TUESDAY”? Well, it looks like someone might be coming to their senses on this. Universal Music has announced that they will release blockbuster CDs from the Killers, Ludacris, and Kanye a day early to maximize sales before Thanksgiving and “Black Friday”. Instead of Tuesday the 25th, they’ll hit on Monday the 24th, keeping up with Best Buy’s move to release Guns N Roses’s “Chinese Democracy on the 23rd. Folks, you’ve just seen the first nail in the coffin of Tuesday releases, especially if these four CDs do well. No crystal ball, here…just a guy with a hunch.
[Side note…as I was typing this entry up, “On the Radio” by Martine McCutchen came on my iTunes. While I know that “Radio” is a “signature” Donna Summer song, there is something infectious about this version. Just thought I’d share.]
Talking about my musical past always seems to involve Michael Jackson, so I figured I’d go in that direction in a little more detail. The King of Pop wasn’t really in my line of sight musically until the 80’s. I remember “Rock With You” from the late 70s, and it really holds up well with time. But like so many others in the early 80s, “Thriller” won me over, despite it’s first single, the sickeningly saccharine “The Girl Is Mine”, which makes me a little nauseous just thinking about it. The moment I knew that music was not just entertainment, but an art form, was watching “Motown 25” on a Sunday night, when Michael busted out in a big way:
(If you want the abbreviated version, just go to 4:06 of the clip. You’ll know it when you see it.)
That moment blew me away. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when it happened, which is pretty amazing, considering I barely paid attention to the rest of the show. It was on like Donkey Kong from there. I bought the LP, and I wore that bad boy out! Even the fold-out cover fascinated me. But even better than the packaging was the music. With the exception of “Baby Be Mine”, which I would argue is the ONLY B-side on the album, and “The Girl Is Mine”, every song was amazing. Even the non-released “Lady In My Life” is now a classic, and among my favorite songs of all time.
While I enjoyed the more pop tracks on the album, including “Beat It” and “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'”, it was the R&B-leaning tracks that captured my impressionable musical attention. “Human Nature” and “PYT”, as well as “Lady In My Life”, were the heart of this record, and despite his attempts to capture that lightning in a bottle in following releases (I’d argue “Dangerous” was the R&B compensation to the pop leanings of “Bad”), he’s never hit the R&B trifecta again.
So how did “Thriller” change my life? Well, I never looked at music the same way again, literally. The videos he created for this album were spectacular at the time, and raised the bar for the entire industry in the process. “Thriller” also helped bring out my R&B tendencies. Artists like Rene & Angela, the Dazz Band, Prince and Five Star would have had a much harder time hitting my radar if I hadn’t been prepared for them by the R&B influence of this record.
More than anything, though, was a realization to I needed to be open to other types of music, and that has served me well over the years. Granted, I didn’t have to work at “Thriller”, since it was everywhere at the time. There is no such thing as a purely-born musical genre these days. Everything evolves from something else. And if you look at the last 25 years, I think you’ll find a lot of the music to come out of that timeframe evolved from “Thriller”.
I’ll leave you with a live version of “Human Nature” from the Victory tour in 1984. No matter what you think of his stage presence, I doubt you can argue with the song being classified as a classic.
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