Poppedy Popped Culture » Music

Alicia Keys Could Have Been "Wild" Without Mom's Input

ph. diddy — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:10:12 +0000

If it weren’t for her mother, Alicia Keys might have a radically different image. Keys, who has a new album titled “As I Am,” says that when she was trying to choose a professional name she went through a dictionary and stopped on the word “wild.”

She tells Newsweek in the magazine’s November 19th issue that she asked her mother how Alicia Wild sounded to her.

“She said “It sounds like you’re a stripper,’” Keys said.

After that, she decided to use Keys.

“It’s like the piano keys. And it can open so many doors,” said the singer born Alicia Augello-Cook.

Has the Movie Theme Song Died?

ph. diddy — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:01:34 +0000

There was a time around 1997 when no matter where you were — in the car, on the StairMaster, at the dentist’s office — you couldn’t help but hear “My Heart Will Go On,” the soaring Celine Dion ballad from “Titanic.”Resistance was futile. It did go on, and on, and on — an example not just of great marketing, but of the kind of movie theme song that no longer exists.

These extinct songs were big and poignant on their own, but also used skillfully within their films. They became “a souvenir” of the theatrical experience, as six-time Oscar-nominated songwriter Diane Warren puts it.

So, has the movie theme song disappeared? Or has the way movies and music are blended changed?

Anyway, here are a few highlights from the Oscar winners for best original song since the 1970s. I bolded the ones I liked. What are some of your favorite movie songs???

1971 “Theme from Shaft” from “Shaft”

1972 “The Morning After” from “The Poseidon Adventure”

1973 “The Way We Were” from “The Way We Were”

1976 “Evergreen (Love Theme From A Star Is Born)” from “A Star Is Born”

1977 “You Light Up My Life” from “You Light Up My Life”

1978 “Last Dance” from “Thank God It’s Friday”

1980 “Fame” from “Fame”

1981 “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” from “Arthur”

1982 “Up Where We Belong” from “An Officer and a Gentleman”

1983 “Flashdance … What a Feeling” from “Flashdance”

1984 “I Just Called to Say I Love You” from “The Woman in Red”

1985 “Say You, Say Me” from “White Knights”

1986 “Take My Breath Away” from “Top Gun”

1987 “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” from “Dirty Dancing”

1988 “Let the River Run” from “Working Girl”

1991 “Beauty and the Beast” from “Beauty and the Beast”

1992 “A Whole New World” from “Aladdin”

1993 “Streets of Philadelphia” from “Philadelphia”

1994 “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from “The Lion King”

1997 “My Heart Will Go On” from “Titanic”

1999 “You’ll Be in My Heart” from “Tarzan”

Winners From the 2007 Country Music Awards

ph. diddy — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 05:34:30 +0000

Entertainer of the Year - Kenny Chesney
Female Vocalist of the Year - Carrie Underwood
Male Vocalist of the Year - Brad Paisley
Horizon Award - Taylor Swift
Vocal Group of the Year - Rascal Flatts
Vocal Duo of the Year - Sugarland
Single of the Year - Carrie Underwood “Before He Cheats” Produced by Mark Bright
Album of the Year - It Just Comes Natural by George Strait
Song of the Year - “Give It Away” Bill Anderson / Buddy Cannon / Jamey Johnson
Musical Event of the Year - Tracy Lawrence featuring Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney “Find Out Who Your Friends Are”
Music Video of the Year - Brad Paisley “Online”
Musician of the Year - Jerry Douglas – Dobro

Prince Alienates Fans With Threat of Lawsuits

ph. diddy — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 03:24:24 +0000

Once considered on the cutting edge for his use of the Internet, Prince has become enemy #1 to some of his fans:

Fan sites dedicated to Prince say they have been served legal notice to remove all images of the singer, his lyrics and “anything linked to Prince’s likeness,” and have vowed to fight what they said was censorship.. by targeting fan sites directly, Prince risks a backlash, and the sites have vowed to unite under the banner “Prince Fans United” and take the matter to court if necessary.

“We strongly believe that such actions are in violation of … freedom of speech and should not be allowed,” said a statement from the three sites — www.housequake.com, www.princefams.com and www.prince.org.

I respect his right to protect his copyrights. But he is teetering on being just another old fart in a doo rag, and should tread lightly when dealing with folks actually promoting his music,

Read all about it on the web:

Beyonce Knows How to Work a Crowd

ph. diddy — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 23:11:56 +0000

Love her or hate her, Beyonce is a worldwide force to be reckoned with:

Some 5,000 adoring fans in Ethiopia — a country normally unimpressed by Western music — turned out to see Beyonce. In this country, even teens tend to be loyal to music in the national language, Amharic. But Beyonce got a hysterical welcome when she came onstage.

“I want to thank you,” the R&B star told the screaming crowd Saturday evening in return. “You have been one of the best audiences of my lifetime.”

In September, at the start of the year 2000, Addis Ababa hosted Los Angeles-based hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas in a new, multimillion-dollar but temporary concert hall. But the reception for the internationally popular group was tepid, if respectful.

Beyonce’s opening act, rapper Ludacris, also got a lukewarm reception Saturday.

But the crowd appeared to genuinely enjoy the 26-year-old Beyonce, who sang many of the ballads on her latest album, “B’Day.”

Click on thumbnails for full-view of photos:

Cover Art for New Britney Blackout

ph. diddy — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 21:54:13 +0000

“Blackout,” Britney Spear’s first album in more than four years, will come out in the United States on October 30 via Jive Records, and a day earlier internationally. I wonder how many albums she will sell. Hmmm…

Britney Train Hasn't Yet Crashed

ph. diddy — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:22:12 +0000

Wow, I really didn’t think that Jive would actually release Britney’s new CD. But not only are they going ahead with plans to release the new CD, they are moving the release date up by two weeks.

Britney Spears’ “Blackout” is coming sooner than expected.

The pop star’s eagerly anticipated new album will be released Oct. 30, Jive Records announced Wednesday, citing Internet leaks as the reason the date was moved up from Nov. 13.

Watch the video for her single “Gimme More” at your own risk.

Artist Site

RadioHead Practically Giving It Away

ph. diddy — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:04:21 +0000

Radiohead said its seventh studio album “In Rainbows” would be available from Radiohead.com from October 10 in MP3 format, meaning it can be played on all digital devices. In the latest twist in the move to digital music, fans can choose how much to pay, or can pay nothing if they prefer. source

Chaka Khan Creates a Funk

ph. diddy — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:22:01 +0000

After nearly a decade away without releasing an album, Chaka Khan is poised to make a return to the music scene:

Khan teamed up with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to make “Funk This,” which is being released by the Sony-distributed Burgundy Records imprint.

The album mixes originals and covers, the latter including Prince’s “Sign O’ the Times,” Mitchell’s “Ladies Man,” Hendrix’s “Castles Made of Sand,” a Rufus medley of “Pack’d My Bags” and “You Got the Love,” and a duet with Michael McDonald on “You Belong to Me,” which he co-wrote with Carly Simon.

Khan also duets with Mary J. Blige on the track “Disrespectful,” and she hopes “Funk This” fills what she feels has been a void since her last album, the 1998 Reprise release “Come 2 My House.”

“I went to about three companies (after Reprise),” she said. “We almost got to the point where we were gonna record and things got funky so I left. I just figured when it happens it’ll happen, y’know?”

Her voice is singular. I hope this album doesn’t disappoint.

Who Isn't Releasing an Album in November?

ph. diddy — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 21:33:53 +0000

A lot of divas and others have decided that November is the month to release an album:

Rumored releases:

Mariah Carey
Mary J. Blige
Britney Spears
Madonna
Jay Z

Locked in dates:

November 13th

Celine Dion “Taking Chances”

November 26th

Kylie Minogue “X”

Britney Backlash in Full Effect After Dismal VMA Performance

ph. diddy — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:09:56 +0000

So the Britney Spears backlash is in full effect.

As in most train wrecks, it was hard to focus on just one thing as the Britney Spears disaster unfolded. There was just so much that went wrong.

An out-of-shape, out-of-touch Britney Spears delivered what was destined to be the most talked about performance of the MTV Video Music Awards — but for all the wrong reasons. Kicking off the show Sunday night with her new single, “Gimme More,” Spears looked bleary and unprepared — much like her recent tabloid exploits…

And the comments only get worse. Definitely the media is chomping at the bit to let the former pop princess have it.

I did catch a clip of her performance and I must say it wasn’t the total train wreck that I expected. She looked relatively decent, although I must concede that her performance was lackluster. It wasn’t full-out “train wreck” but it did have a middle school flavor to it - she didn’t dance or even try to convincingly lip-synch.

But seriously, is one performance by a pop star really that big of a deal?

(shrugs)

Photos of her performance or simulation of one:

Update: I just have to add that Britney is NOT fat. Maybe she needs to work on her stamina in order to make it through a routine, but there is no way that this girl has a stomach or is a fatty. And people wonder why young girls become anorexic, when average girls like Britney are called fat. Stop it people.

U.S. Estimated Weekend Box Office, August 24 -26, 2007

ph. diddy — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 19:09:57 +0000

Rank	Movie Title	Estimated Weekend Gross	Cumulative Gross
1	Superbad	$18,000,000	$68,572,000
2	The Bourne Ultimatum	$12,361,000	$185,143,000
3	Rush Hour 3	$12,250,000	$109,013,000
4	Mr. Bean’s Holiday	$10,121,000	$10,121,000
5	War	$10,000,000	$10,000,000
6	The Nanny Diaries	$7,811,000	$7,811,000
7	The Simpsons Movie	$4,400,000	$173,437,000
8	Stardust	$3,954,000	$26,455,000
9	Hairspray	$3,450,000	$107,456,000
10	The Invasion	$3,140,000	$11,515,000
11	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	$2,480,000	$283,309,000
12	Underdog	$2,243,000	$36,637,000

Walmart Mini-Launches Sale of DRM-Free Music

ph. diddy — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 22:45:12 +0000

This may be the beginning of a beautiful relationship:

Wal-Mart’s online music store started selling songs free of copy-protection technology today for 94 cents per tune.

The songs from the Rolling Stones, Coldplay and Maroon 5, among others, will play on most portable media devices, including Apple Inc.’s iPod.

Anyway, after taking a closer look at Walmart’s music site, it appears that they don’t offer a lot of DRM-free MP3’s downloads - looks like 1 of 10 songs, if that.

PLUS, it looks like they only sell censored music.

Chris Rock is Not Your Baby's Daddy

ph. diddy — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 01:39:35 +0000

Taking from a line from the Maury Povich show, “Chris: You are not the father”.

A lawyer for Chris Rock said Monday that a court-ordered DNA test proved Rock is not the father of a 13-year-old boy whose mother tried to sue the comedian for support earlier this year.

Rock’s attorney, John Mayoue of Atlanta, said a Bulloch County judge sent results of the paternity test to lawyers on both sides of the case.

“The results of the test are that Chris Rock is not the father of this child,” Mayoue said. “It is conclusive.”

I feel for the kid as the mother in the case is not letting the issue go. This ship has sailed. Let it go.

I'm Going Out With a Microphone in My Hand

ph. diddy — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:35:55 +0000

Since the young broads can’t seem to get it together, the old broads are stepping up to show us how it’s done.

On one side, Ms. Dolly Parton:

Dolly Parton will release her first “mainstream country” album in 17 years next February, and will promote it with a world tour, her manager said. The first single, “Better Get To Livin’,” will reach radio September 24. Touring will begin in the first quarter of next year.

On the other, Cher:

Says Cher: “The truth is I’ve got this album I’m supposed to be working on. The truth is the songs are great. I’m totally into this album, the songs are the hardest songs. I don’t know why, but I picked the hardest songs that I’ve ever had to do on an album. I just picked them because I love them and didn’t think about actually having to sing them and they are very very difficult.” …. “I haven’t started the album yet, but I have all the songs. I was supposed to start it, but I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t good enough. I have to really buckle down. I’ve got to do some serious, serious work. I should have done it when I got off the road, but we didn’t have all the songs.” …”I picked the songs song-by-song. It’s not any kind of real music. It’s not a genre. Just great songs. More with a rock feeling to them, but not necessarily rock. Just with a great beat and also some of them sound really country.” from the Japanese magazine, Chrome Hearts.