Another week on top for Taking Back Sunday, another week I smell like teen spirit. Melancholy is quickly approaching the top in the form of Band of Horses though.
New this week at 30 is Jet's Put your money where your mouth is. Sounds a bit different than their last album, but time will tell if they progress past their derivative-based rock and roll. Local heroes Storm and the Balls are the other new entry at 34 with Ladylike. I can only find this on their myspace page (in both PG and R rated versions - how considerate). I stream this at least once a day.
I am very glad to see Storm doing so well on Rock Star right now. She goes out each week and delivers one of the top two or three perfomances. Hard to say if she will win, but if not, she is getting much more publicity for her band and that is a beautiful thing.
The only other major movement comes from The Game who flies from 37 last week to 9 this week. I gots me some love for the dude with the teardrop tat.
In the real world, Fergie has found her way to Billboard's #1 with London Bridge. That is a no-brainer. I called that one a few weeks ago...someone needs to call Gwen Stefani and tell her that her Hollaback Girl got hijacked. I am still waiting for Justin Timberlake's Sexyback to fly into Billboard's top 10. Hurry up and release the song on I Tunes already. I would much rather see an ex Mousketeer on top than a Kids Incorporated alumni. But that is me.
This week saw a little movement at the top, most significantly Taking Back Sunday seeing the top spot. Further down the chart, it looked like the last gasp for the Arctic Monkeys this year (A Certain Romance was just about to fall off, ending this year's domination of the 40 by the Brit stars) but then they release a new single.
Leave Before the Lights Come On is not on any album, but is just being released on its own with a few B sides as well on Aug. 14. I saw AM do this one live last June and it sounds like it could have been on their debut, but here it is, a new single and an extension to their longevity on the chart this year.
Not a week has gone by this year that at least two Arctic Monkey track wasn't lurking somewhere in the 40. Leave before... is actually the 7th song to find its way into my heavy rotation. This is their track record (no pun intended at all) since the year started.
Title / Peak / Total weeks on 40
I Bet U Look Good on the Dance Floor / 9 / 13 (this year), 25(overall) When the Sun Goes Down / 2 / 30 Fake Tales of San Francisco / 1 (10 wks) / 28 From the ritz to the rubble / 3 / 22 A Certain Romance / 4 / 17 (currently on chart) Who The Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys? / 6 / 14
AM have definitely logged some serious ear time and if they keep releasing EPs and one-off singles I can only oblige them to listen more. England went nuts over them, but we here in the states tend for our "alternative" to veer more towards Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, and All American Rejects than a bunch of kids from the UK banging out their version of garage rock. They did get a little play with I Bet U Look Good on the Dance Floor and it was a modern rock hit so to speak, but they certainly aren't getting love from MTV. Just keep making your music boys. I, for one, will be more than happy to buy it and see you in concert.
Today is MTV's 25th birthday. Wow! Saying that statement out loud makes me realize just how fast life flies by. It doesn't seem that long ago I was watching a rash of new wave bands (and their new wave haircuts) parade about on my 13" tv. Now 25 years later, I chuckle at the imitable images many of that genre's bands purveyed to a generation of viewers looking to stand out from the crowd. What can't be laughed at though is the immense influence MTV has had on the musical tastes and culture of a nation.
I was the impressionable age of 12 when I saw Donna Summer's She Works Hard for the Money. It was the first video I recall ever seeing on MTV (we didn't get cable until '83). I still recall watching the dancing ladies in the street, marvelling at the concept of music and image complimenting each other so well. That's what I say now about it; at the time it was more along the lines of "Why is that waitress dancing in the street?" All I really knew was that from that point forward, I wanted my MTV.
I got it and what followed was a lifetime of education and influence that far surpasses any teacher I ever had in school. I learned about the plight of third world poverty through the channels coverage of Live-Aid. I was exposed to a reality just 850 miles south of me through the early videos of Dr. Dre and NWA. Through the "little video channel that could", I also discovered my first real celebrity crush, VJ Martha Quinn. This proved to be gateway to a string of MTV crushes to follow. There was Kari, Jenny, and of course Daria.
Innocently innocuous female fixations aside, MTV taught me the importance of diversity. I hadn't been introduced to the concept of recess when Bowie brought androgyny to music. I did, however, discover the notion of sexual ambiguity through Culture Club's video for Do You Really Want to Hurt Me. The first time Boy George danced onto the screen, any idea I had of what constituted gender had been forever altered. MTV was providing a medium, not only for entertainment, but also for discovery of the unknown both visually and musically.
While I can credit MTV instilling within me a strong acceptance and appreciation of the uniqueness of humans, I also thank them for leading me down a path of musical diversity that continues to this very day. Though mainly focusing on new wave bands at first, MTV eventually gave life (or at least validity and social acceptance) to the then largely subterranean genres of rap, metal, and "alternative" music. Watching shows like Yo! MTV Raps, Headbanger's Ball, and 120 minutes provided me with a wider arsenal of music to appreciate and in turn cultivated my love for that which resides outside of the normal flow of popular music.
Time brings change and as MTV got older, it strayed away from showing videos in favor of actual shows. Remote Control, Beavis and Butthead, The State, and Liquid Television still reside among my favorite shows of all time from any network. As the nineties progressed, it became increasingly obvious that MTV had traded the medium that provided the channel's iconic status for structured programming.
As the channel had done with the way America saw music, it also revolutionized what America watched on TV. With the premiere in 1991 of The Real World, MTV brought the "reality show" to the masses, planting the seeds for how a culture would watch television. I even admit the only programming I'm watching this summer consists exclusively of reality-based shows. What once was thought of as a phase has become a staple in television-viewing culture and MTV is largely responsible for it, just as they are for the glut of shows that followed their lead (Night Tracks, Friday Night Videos, and Night Flight to name a few.)
Enough about the shows. The most important part of music television was the videos and their contributions to popular culture. Videos themselves progressed from simple performance-based clips into mini-epics directed by a group of rogue auteurs who utilized the medium to its potential. Russel Mulcahy directed the first video ever shown on MTV, The Buggles' Video Killed The Radio Star, but was more famously known for his work with Duran Duran. Duran Duran arguably benefited the most of any band with the advent of music videos. Mulcahy's work with D-squared included Rio and Hungry Like The Wolf. Both of these vids were conceptual in presentation and immersed the viewer in a cinematic world, a feat rarely achieved if ever, with music videos. Michael Jackson (in his brilliant pre-Neverland days) embraced the cinematic ideology with Beat It, Billie Jean, and ultimately with what many call the best video ever, Thriller, enabling him a level of fame only previously matched by Elvis and The Beatles.
It is through videos that MTV created icons and destroyed barriers. My youth is forever scarred (in the most excellent of ways) with the images of Madonna writhing around in a wedding dress singing about being "Like a Virgin"; the Beastie Boys introducing themselves to the world as party crashers willing to "Fight For Your Right"; Aerosmith and Run-DMC literally and figuratively breaking down the walls in Walk This Way; Axl Rose stepping off the bus from anonymity into the jungle, Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg bringing the hood to the world, and Kurt Cobain and Nirvana starting a rock revolution with one little song and video. I can't imagine my life without these iconic moments. I can't imagine my past 20-odd years without MTV.
Through all the musical trends and myriad fashion statements, through the launching of a thousand careers and the entry of unplugged into a nation's venacular, MTV looks pretty good for 25. The channel remains young in terms of demographics and programming choices. It is clearly more a calculated investment than innocent visionary now and it has paid off for them as the channel has spun off VH1, MTV2, and various international versions of MTV. I have a strong affinity for its younger days, but the same could be said for my own life at times. My adolescence will be forever known as my MTV years. Life was much simpler, music seemed more adventurous, and the world seemed an okay place as long as there was a VJ on the tube.
Happy Birthday MTV. Now start playing videos again....
What a crazy couple of weeks. Not a lot of time for blogging unfortunately but I am back and ready to let 'er rip. Last week, AFI took over the top spot from Gnarls (We've been number one for years) Barkley. Other than that, business as usual. The Friday 5 is not really an accurate title for this feature anymore. Despite having limited time to devote to my frivolities, I am going for broke this week. Here's hoping it continues.
Those four songs have been at the upper reaches for the last 2.5 months. That's 10 weeks if you are doing the math. Something to be said for consistency.
5. Sexy Back / Justin Timberlake Out of nowhere comes the former N'Sync-er with a perfect summertime jam. I can't even fake the hate on JT. Nor can I consider him a guilty pleasure. He is an artist pushing himself forward and not looking to the past to inspire his future. This track is totally different than any of his other hits, but just as catchy.
15. Don't Wake Me Up / The Hush Sound Another band bringing to mind Duran Duran (Killers, Lovemakers, etc...). At least in the chorus
16. Original Fire / Audioslave New entry here. The band is saying that the new album, Revelations, sounds like Led Zeppelin meets Earth Wind and Fire. I think that description is accurate for this first single from it. Audioslave has rarely lived up to my expectations. Perhaps I am expecting too much from a band formed by two of my favorite groups of the 90s - Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden. This track is doing it for me right now though. 17. Knights of Cydonia / Muse Bohemian Rhapsody-like track from brand new album, Black Holes and Revelations. 18. Love Train / Wolfmother 19. Black Swan / Thom Yorke A little something to hold us until Radiohead releases their new one next year. Couldn't agree more with the chorus. 20. Woman / Wolfmother 21. Level / The Raconteurs 22. A Certain Romance / Arctic Monkeys 23. It's Going Down / Yung Joc My only rap entry right now. Not a big fan of a lot of the stuff out there in hip hop land, but that is probably me showing my age. Young Joc...what about Young MC? "Bust a Move" this ain't.
I guess by not posting a "Friday Five" yesterday I am brazenly breaking the rules that I had set for myself. In doing this, I am also making commentary on not being confined to self-appointed parameters (not to mention those from others). If you read my other blog, you know that I am going through some serious times right now. With the incredibly busy week I have had being an advocate for my mom and a witness to her failing health, I am keeping this week's 5 short and sweet.
1. Crazy / Gnarls Barkley (10 weeks @ #1) 2. Miss Murder / AFI 3. Wet Sand / Red Hot Chili Peppers (from the new album, just not being played on radio) 4. Phenomena / Yeah Yeah Yeahs 5. Lay Low / My Morning Jacket
Not too much different from last week. The Chili Peppers' song has grown on me signficantly over the last few weeks. Anthemic at times, formulaic at others, sweet guitar throughout. The best thing about Stadium Arcadium is John Frusciante's guitar. Makes me tempted to pick up one of his old solo albums. Wet Sand to me is a journey where the music takes two steps forward, one back, then two more until this slow progression of sound gives way to a sweet Frusciante solo backed by what I would call circus music.
Here is a bonus 5. Given my life situation right now, these are songs I should definitely not listen to.
1. Cancer / Joe Jackson 2. The Funeral / Band of Horses 3. The Show Must Go On / Queen 4. Tha Crossroads / Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony 5. I Will Follow You Into The Dark / Death Cab For Cutie
