Posting Away

Posted by John on November 30, 2010
Posted in: about.com, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , , , . 2 Comments

Hey all…I know the silence has been deafening around here, but I promise you that I haven’t been living the life of luxury these past few weeks. In fact, it’s been a pretty busy time for me writing for about.com. While I do still plan on posting more personal items here, my main gig at the moment is providing content of a more Adult Pop nature. Here are a few of the posts I’ve recently written:

An Interview with Wilson Phillips

Top 10 New Holiday Songs for 2010

Michael Buble – Hollywood EP Review

Review of Ingrid Michaelson’s “Parachute”

And my favorite so far…an interview with Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls

As I joked yesterday, I don’t know where I go but down after interviewing Amy and the ladies of Wilson Phillips, but it has been a blast so far. Hope you all are doing well, and that the holiday season is one for recharging and relaxing. There’s too much hustle and bustle the rest of the year to waste such a great time of the year running yourself ragged. Make sure you check out Paul’s list of new Christmas music, and also take a listen to one of my favorite solo Amy tracks, “Bus Bus.”

This Song Is “Priceless”

Posted by John on November 15, 2010
Posted in: singles, videos, youtube. Tagged: . 7 Comments

For all of you who slept on Melanie Fiona’s first CD The Bridge, shame on you. Sadly, I’m one of you. I came around this summer, but it was too late, and the project is done from a promotion standpoint. One missed opportunity of epic proportions is that “Priceless” was not a worldwide #1 hit. You would think that I wouldn’t want to go that far out on a limb, but it’s the truth. “Priceless” checks all the boxes for a classic soulful pop tune that should be catapulted up pop charts all over the world, but it only saw a limited release and promotion in North America. Enough of my praise, though. Time to put my money where the music is.

With all of the music that’s out there right now, you would think I could let go of an album cut, but this song keeps rising to the surface, begging for attention. Melanie has been keeping busy in advance of her sophomore CD The MF Life dropping in 2011, including an appearance on John Legend and the Roots’ “Wake Up Everybody,” which seems very appropriate. Wake up, everybody. Melanie Fiona is not going anywhere, so you might as well just give in now.

The Next “Need You Now”

Posted by John on November 14, 2010
Posted in: awards, singles, videos, youtube. 5 Comments

Fan Cover from www.aiewblog.comIt was a year ago this week that Lady Antebellum performed “Need You Now” on the Country Music Association (CMA) awards show, and we all know what happened after that. Fun fact…the song went top 10 in seven other countries beside the United States. I can’t think of a country artist that has done something close to that since Shania Twain ruled the pop and country charts in the late 1990s/early 2000s.

In the music business, it’s all about finding the next (fill in the blank). So where do you go when you have a country song that becomes such a smash that it goes 4x Platinum on sales of well over 4 million singles? I’ve been wrong before, but my money right now is on the next single from Jason Aldean’s fourth CD My Kinda Party entitled “Don’t You Wanna Stay”. And go figure, the song was performed on the CMA awards this past week…

I’ve been a fan of Jason Aldean’s way back since “Hicktown,” but it was “Amarillo Sky” that cemented the idea that this guy could connect with a country song with some depth. It is very clear that Aldean connects with “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” and big props to him for having the vision to ask Kelly Clarkson to take a song written for a solo artist and turn it into a killer duet. While I don’t know if this song will go worldwide, I don’t think it’s a big stretch to hear this song on Adult Pop stations, with an outside chance of Top 40 stations coming along for the ride. I saw the song get as high as #18 on iTunes, but it currently sits at #31.

The arrangement from the live performance buried almost every trace of “country” in the song, allowing the song to stand on its own as a well-written and well-sung song. You can call it country, country pop, modern country, whatever. At the heart of the song, it’s a pop song, and I mean that with as much respect as I can gather. Let’s see how John the Swami does this time around.

What It’s About

Posted by John on November 10, 2010
Posted in: personal. Tagged: . 8 Comments

So remember that thing about the thing with the thing?

I have been putting pen to paper about music as long as I can remember. In art class, I tried my hand at an album cover. When I discovered the joy of countdown shows and charts, I kept a file box with index cards following the chart positions of every song. And if you’ve ever read this blog prior to today, you know where that love of expressing my opinion of music has taken me. Well, as of this week, I now get paid to write. It’s not enough to quit my day job, but it is still amazing to my mind to make money off of something I do for free in my spare time.

The new gig is with about.com, and I will be writing alongside Bill Lamb, whose Top 40/Pop blog I have been a fan of for several years. One of the first cool moments of recognition of this blog came when Bill linked to a post I made about Sara Bareilles’ “Gravity” video, and we’ve kept tabs on each other ever since. When the opportunity to write for about.com came along, I jumped right at it, and fortunately they decided I was a good fit. Where my focus here is a lack of focus, my area of writing at about.com will be on Adult Pop. If Susan Boyle has an album out (which she does this week), I’ll be all over it.

Fear not for the future of this here blog. My love of all forms of pop music will not be constrained, so I will still be posting here occasionally with the more personal posts that many of you have said you appreciate. My hope is the quality of those occasional posts will outweigh the lack of quantity. Now that I have a bit more clarity about my mission, writing for pleasure will become much easier to do. It sure doesn’t hurt that I am wrapping up my Masters degree after two years either.

I sit here a humbled man tonight. The last two and a half years have been a lot to bear, and yet I still have a life I would never trade. I love where I live, I have people I love who love me back, and I have music. There isn’t much more that I could ask for from this good life.

“Do It Like a” Star

Posted by John on November 9, 2010
Posted in: upcoming, videos, youtube. Tagged: , . 2 Comments

The buzz on Jessie J has reminded me of early Lady GaGa coverage, and we all know how that turned out. The interesting thing about having early exposure to an artist like this is that you can see the evolution of the image and the PR as the date of release gets closer. She’s a natural-born star, and the voice isn’t too bad either, is it?

Having said all of that, I’m not a fan of “Do It Like a Dude.” While the first US single is supposed to be ballad “Who You Are,” the money track for me is “Price Tag,” which she just announced a couple of weeks ago will feature B.o.B on the final version. Anyone hearing any Natasha Bedingfield up in here?

And what the heck…let’s get “Who You Are” up in here as well…

An Extended Absence

Posted by John on November 2, 2010
Posted in: upcoming. Tagged: . 4 Comments

As usual, sorry for the lack of posting. For once, I have a good reason for this, and I will update that in the next few days. But until then, here’s someone else who has had an extended absence…

Adele’s second album, entitled 21, will be released January 24th in the UK, February 22nd in the US. Is it February yet?

FEM Owns the Night

Posted by John on October 17, 2010
Posted in: new artist, reviews. Tagged: , , . 1 Comment

There are CDs that you wait weeks, months, and even years for, and then there are CDs that you decide to check out on the spur of the moment. Chalk up my purchase of Far*East Movement’s debut CD Free Wired to the latter. I’ve been loving “Like a G6,” although it hasn’t been a track that I’ve gone out of my way to hear. The hook for me was hearing that the second single was going to be a collaboration with Ryan Tedder called “Rocketeer.” They’ve got somebody’s ear, and they are on Cherrytree, which is the hot label at the moment, so why not? Besides, I was upset to have missed them when they opened for Robyn in San Francisco.

The album is seriously all that, and then some. Is it a critic’s choice kinda CD? Well, probably not. But when a new group hooks up with as many great artists as FEM has and makes it work, you’re in for a bumpin’ ride. While “Like a G6” brings back old-school bass funk, the previously mentioned “Rocketeer” has a much more contemporary pop sound thanks to Tedder and should do well at pop radio upon its release. The following track “If I Was You” has just enough of Usher’s “OMG” vibe to fit in on the radio, but with the bonus of a vocoder-fabulous Snoop Dogg bringing some of that “Sensual Seduction” delivery.

I’m torn on making comparisons between Free Wired and other contemporaries because I think it may push some away, but highlight “Don’t Look Down” with Keri Hilson is very reminiscent of the Black Eyed Peas’ “Meet Me Halfway”. In fact, a good chunk of this record could be a demo of tracks the BEPs would probably jump at recording themselves. Having said that, closing track “2gether,” which finds the guys collaborating with Roger Sanchez, is potentially the most original sampling track this year simply by using the B-52s “Love Shack.” Never thought I’d see that track used on a record, let alone as effectively as it is here.

Overall, the CD is solid, with just enough filler thrown in to keep at great instead of amazing, but I’m not complaining. If you like a variety in your party mix, then Far East Movement are the guys for the job. Next time, I’m not showing up late for the show if they are opening.

Get Your Facts Straight

Posted by John on October 10, 2010
Posted in: charts, commentary. Tagged: , , . 6 Comments

Just a preface to say that autumn has finally decided to show up after an overly extended summer. I love looking up at the foothills here and seeing the golden trees reflecting the early morning sunrise. It has nothing to do with music, but I wanted to share.

As I am finishing up my Masters degree this semester, I am finding that I need occasional distractions so I don’t completely burn out on it. One distraction that has quickly taken hold thanks to the Internet is watching the X Factor as it unfolds over in the UK. In case you’re wondering, my money is on a Matt/Mary/Cher finale, although I think Aiden has a chance at upending Matt depending on how the two of them develop. Anyway, on the first live broadcast, Simon berated Louis for picking “One Sweet Day” for a contestant, saying that it only went to #1 in New Zealand. Louis rightfully came back and said it was #1 in the US, but Simon debated that fact. For the record, “One Sweet Day”, which was released by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men in 1995, was not only the biggest song of 1995-96, but remains the biggest pop record in the history of the US pop charts. “One” stayed at #1 for 16 amazing weeks, a record which remains to this day.

I’m a chart geek…that’s one of several crosses I bear in this life, and I do so willingly. A small piece of me dies when a man as ingrained in the music business as Simon Cowell biffs something that major, especially since he is seen as an expert on the pop environment in the US as well as in the UK. I start ranting at the TV or computer screen, and then my better half is left to either talk me down or leave the room. However, I was already primed to rant, as earlier in the day I watched VH1’s 100 Biggest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s.

Besides the fact that there was no rhyme or reason to the list, my brain slowly started to boil over as I heard one inaccurate description after another. First off, while Josie Cotton’s “Johnny Are You Queer” became a cult classic, it was never a hit. Didn’t happen. No way, no how. Now, some fan of Josie Cotton can add the distinction that she was the 81st most successful one-hit wonder of the 80s to her Wikipedia page simply because VH1 said so. The biggest oversight, however, came with General Public. Technically, they were a one-hit wonder in the 80s in the US, because “Tenderness” was the only single to make any significant impact. However, the narrator said that they never had another hit, and ended up breaking up. FALSE! They actually had a bigger hit in the 90s by remaking the Staples Singers’ classic “I’ll Take You There”, which got all the way to #22 after being included on the soundtrack to the movie Threesome.

So what’s the moral of this story? Well, first, don’t believe everything you read on Wikipedia and hear on VH1. More importantly, don’t say on live TV something that’s blatantly false. Even if the politicians do it all the time, let’s pretend that someone in the audience might know the answer.

“In for the” Remake

Posted by John on October 7, 2010
Posted in: videos, youtube. Tagged: . 1 Comment

Why? Why would the group La Roux think that remaking their video for “In for the Kill” will help propel the single to the top of the American pop charts? Faithful readers know that I have a fascination with videos remade for release in the US after having been huge hits elsewhere. Not that the video is bad…in fact, it’s funky fresh. But a) is it better than the original, and b) will it even help its chances for success? Let’s go to the videos!

Video #1 – Clearly made on a shoestring budget, but works in a Berlin “Metro” tribute kind of way. Elly as both murderous motorist and arc-angel. Gotta love it.

Video #2 – Miles ahead of the original, both in budget and in impact, although I have no clue what a wacky hotel has to do with the song. Now if they had gotten John Cleese in there to give it a Fawlty Towers vibe, then I’m right on board.

So will this video get La Roux more exposure in the US? Well, the video is a shoo-in for VH1. They pretty much eat this stuff up. I doubt it helps the chart prospects of the single, but I also was a bit leery of “Bulletproof” breaking through, and it did so in spades. It would be great if they didn’t go down in the record books as another one-hit wonder, so any trick helps.

Shayne’s “Gotta Be”…

Posted by John on September 24, 2010
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: . 4 Comments

…a remake?

Digital Spy has the exclusive preview of Shayne Ward’s new single, and normally that would be a cause for celebration. However, the initial internet reaction has been less than receptive.

Let’s be honest…Nickelback doesn’t exactly spell credibility with the folks that are rooting for Shayne to succeed, let alone a Nickelback song that has recently been a hit. It would be one thing if he covered a song by another artist that didn’t make it big (see Joe McElderry’s “Ambitions” or Kris Allen’s “Live Like We’re Dying“), but unless Shayne’s bringing something so earth-shattering to the song that it’s basically a new song, the record-buying public probably won’t respond too enthusiastically. Part of the excitement in relaunching an artist is hearing NEW music, and that’s not what Shayne’s team has brought to the table, despite all of the promising leaks we’ve heard the past few months.

So here’s the deal…we are judging 60 seconds of a song that we haven’t heard in full, and feeling let down. And by “we”, I mean the folks who have already posted their opinions on forums like Digital Spy and Popjustice. Sex sells, and so the pics that have come out recently, combined with reports of a sexy video being shot next week, are taking Shayne in that direction. Who am I to complain about that? But at the end of all this, it’s a music career, not a modeling career. Unless he’s planning to be the new Calvin Klein model (which he’s very qualified to do), all of this is for naught if the music doesn’t deliver. Let’s just hope that happens.

[Update: The full version has now surfaced, and if you didn’t know the Nickelback version of the song, you might not be as jaded. It’s definitely a more contemporary arrangement, and not nearly as bad as the moaners would have you believe. In fact, it fits his voice pretty well.]

“Gotta Be Something” comes out November 7th in the UK, followed by the full-length Obsession on November 15th.