Remember Lost in Space? What a timeless film: William Hurt, Mimi Rogers, Heather Graham, and TV greats Lacey Chabert and Matt LeBlanc. Back in 1998, there was such excitement for this cinematic recreation of the classic ’60s CBS series.
What’s that? You say you don’t remember this bit of Clinton-era movie magic? Or…you do, vaguely — but you seem to recall that it kind of blew chunks?
Well, how could that be? After all, Lost in Space was the movie that evicted Titanic, the highest-grossing and Oscar-winningest movie of all time, from the top of the U.S. box office after a record-setting, still unbeaten run.
This bit of throwaway trivia (regarding a movie that, all kidding aside, was a serious flop) leaps to mind as I consider the song that finally terminates the Black Eyed Peas’ half-year run atop the Billboard Hot 100.
Jay Sean’s “Down,” to be fair, isn’t half as bad a song as Lost in Space was a movie. It’s a pleasant little ditty, a Chris Brown‒like midtempo jam with a not-embarrassing supporting rap from prodigal chart hero Lil Wayne. London native Sean — born Kamaljit Singh Jhooti — also earns the happy status as one of the few people of South Asian descent to top our singles chart, after a successful half-decade career hitting charts in the United Kingdom and India.
Still, there’s no question that the Hot 100 win by “Down,” over a very competitive field of songs-in-waiting, has less to do with love for the track than with the Peas at last letting go. Jay Sean should enjoy the victory he’s eked out, because it will likely be short-lived. More »
In addition to the cavalcade of new albums coming out tomorrow, we’re also going to have debuts of new singles by Britney Spears (the Max Martin-assisted, cryptically titled “3”), the newly penitent Chris Brown (“Transformer,” which had better not have a Brian Austin Green reference), and the still-soldiering-on Foo Fighters (“Wheels,” which from the snippet sounds sort of, um, old-dudeish). Which will be the most successful? Which will probably inspire the most hand-wringing? (OK that one’s a given, I guess.) [RS / Inn The Basement / FMQB] More »
That midnight show at Chicago’s Metro on Sunday will be a performance by Them Crooked Vultures, featuring Josh Homme, Dave Grohl, and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones. So yeah, start exercising your mouse-clicking finger now. [Antiquiet / Earlier] More »
