Producer Rodney Jerkins (aka “Darkchild!”) posted a 50-song medley of some of his biggest hits on his blog, and—damn!—talk about a 8o mph joyride down memory lane.
All of the usual suspects are there (Brandy and Monica’s “The Boy Is Mine,” Pussycat Dolls’ “When I Grow Up,” Jennifer Lopez’s “If You Had My Love,” Destiny’s Child’s “Say My Name”). But there are also the Ohhhh…right! moments, as when we suddenly remembered that Rodney produced the original version of Whitney Houston’s “It’s Not Right, But It’s Okay” before Thunderpuss got their hands on it.
“Thanks to the fans for all the love and support over the past 15 years,” Jerkins wrote on his blog. “This is a gift from me to you! I hope you enjoy it.”
And fear not—even the Spice Girls’ “Holler” made the cut. Have a listen to the “Darkchild Single Medley 50” after the jump! More »
Mariah Carey managed to validate her acting career by dressing down and taking a humble, supporting part in depress-o-rama indie flick Precious, which opened this past weekend. We can’t believe the reigning champion of Pop Stars Pretending to Be Actresses has done on-screen work people can actually enjoy non-ironically. Brava, Mariah. Our little hoochy-dressed girl’s all grown up.
Mariah’s earned our respect, but there are tons of other pop acts who, to paraphrase Mean Girls, keep trying to make this “acting” thing happen. It’s not going to happen!
After the jump, our Top 5 picks for pop stars who seriously need to leave acting to the professionals: More »
Behind the Sugababes’ latest lineup machinations, which make one wonder if the group is shape-shifting into a sort of female British Menudo, is a trend piece about enough slant histrionics to make Ken Russell films wilt. There’s even something telling in the yearlong break rival girl group Girls Aloud announced in July, following on the heels of some of their strongest offerings yet. If the crown jewels in Britain’s pop tiara are wont to defect so quickly—and leave us with The Saturdays—shouldn’t it be time to reassess the girl group as a business model? Perhaps, with pop going the way of our economy, we probably shouldn’t be turning to something as volatile as singer-stuffed girl groups for a bailout.
Boybands and even male-fronted rock bands seem to enjoy some sense of longevity. But why do their female counterparts seem to have all the reliability of AIG? After the jump, a categorical look at five iconic girlb(r)ands for whom dissolution was all but foretold. More »
Every person to whom I’ve sent the Spice Girls’ video for their underappreciated 1997 single “Stop” has responded with something akin to a “yay,” so I figured I’d pass it along as a way to make up for both the ickiness unleashed in that previous post about the latest batch of Oprah-revealed unpleasantness and all the total bummer Sugababes news that’s been breaking this week. Feel free to comment with your favorite video from the five-headed pop hydra, although anyone who tries to say that “Holler” is any good at all is fired. [Dailymotion] More »
After flying Victoria Beckham to Boston so she could once again fill American Idol‘s fourth judge’s chair for the second round of auditions there, the show’s producers have decided to switch things up for Round Two in Atlanta: Frequent Idol cover-ee Mary J. Blige will join Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, and Kara DioGuardi and take over Paula Abdul’s spot. (And lest you think that reports of Beckham being “icy and wooden” during judging led to her getting the heave-ho, a mole inside the show has said that Posh was actually “warm with the contestants.” Good old People, always allowing the celebrity-industrial complex to stay on-message!) [People] More »
Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham sat in the American Idol judges’ chair formerly occupied by the departed Paula Abdul during last week’s second round of auditions in Denver, and anonymous meanies had their knives out: “It didn’t go too well,” a tipster told Radar. “She tried to hard to be ‘nice,’ but came off as icy and wooden.” And this is different from her Posh Spice persona how? I mean, come on. It’s not like we’re talking about one of the outgoing Spice Girls here! Tell me that Geri Haliwell was “icy” and I’d be surprised. More »
The numbers for the year’s biggest tours are in, and it looks like Bon Jovi’s country-tinged Lost Highway Tour is 2008’s top grosser, pulling in $210.6 million and two million fans. And they didn’t just drive back and forth in New Jersey! They totally left the state!* In fact, New Jersey kept on rocking at No. 2: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band’s Magic Tour conjured $204.5 million dollars (plus $31 million not counted from last year). That’s a lot of Camaros! Full list after the jump:
A music exam given to high-school students in the UK is causing quite the row for suggesting that the kids listen to a song by Gary Glitter, who just returned to the country after spending 27 months in a Vietnamese jail on sex-with-minors charges, to prepare for writing a track of their own. “Leader Of The Gang” (above) was recommended to students as an example of a song that changed tempo and/or style alongside “Reviewing The Situation” from Oliver! and Meat Loaf’s “I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).” The organization that administers the exam has since ordered that all references to the track be removed, although given that said exam is aimed at teenagers–the demographic that loves to figure out what’s behind the bleeps more than any other–and the news about this song being included is splashed all over the papers, the exact opposite of the ban’s desired result will probably happen.
