This is the 3rd single off of their sophomore album. After two uptempo singles, they have gone with a mid-tempo ballad that has been a fan favorite ever since the album was released. Adam Levine's vocals sound crisp and fresh on this one. The song's instrumental immediately calls to mind the AC radio staple "Every Breath You Take" by The Police. It has a very similar structure from the verses to the chorus and the bridge. It works very well though.
After the less than stellar performance and reception to her last two albums, Damita Jo and 20 Y.O. respectively, Janet is back with a new single and a new album. The lead single off of her appropriately titled album Discipline on Island Def Jam Records is "Feedback". She brings an uptempo R&B/Disco/Dance hybrid that is sure to fill the dancefloors in the clubs and burn up the radio. For the first time in nearly 4 years, she delivers a song that is an out-of-the-box favorite. No gimmicks or over-the-top trashy-sexy lyrics. Her vocals sound better than they have on the last two albums. There are plenty of vocoders and added effects in some parts, but it works well. The album is set to be released in mid to late February. Welcome back Janet!What's the hottest fashion show of the year? We all know the answer to that one: it's the VICTORIA'S SECRET FASHION SHOW. This year's show features the most beautiful women in the world wearing the very latest in Victoria's Secret lingerie. You'll also see performances by the Spice Girls, in their first television appearance since they reunited, will.i.am and Seal.
Rihanna recently mentioned her aspirations to be just as successful and iconic as Madonna is, and she has already shown some similarities. She has managed have 7 consecutive number one hits out of 7 singles that charted. Her 8th, "Breaking Dishes" has just debuted. Could she break Kristine W's record of 9 weeks? Let's wait and see.DANCING IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT:
Rihanna's latest dance single, "Shup Up and Drive" (SRP/Def Jam), shifts into first place on Hot Dance Club Play, giving the singer from Barbados her seventh chart-topper on this list. Rihanna now has a perfect record of seven out of seven No. 1 hits, stretching from her debut release, "Pon De Replay" in 2005, to her current song.
Rihanna is tied for second place with Janet Jackson and Madonna among artists with the longest strings of No. 1 hits on the Club Play chart. Jackson's streak began with a remix of "When I Think of You" in 1986 and ran through a remix of "Alright" in 1990, covering a period of three years, seven months and two weeks.
Madonna has two separate runs of consecutive seven No. 1 singles on the Club Play chart. From a remix of "Causing a Commotion" in 1987 to "Justify My love" in 1991, Madonna took three years, two months and three weeks to line up her first run of seven No. 1s. Her second string began in 1999 with "Nothing Really Matters" and ended in 2001 with "Impressive Instant," taking two years, eight months and one week.
Rihanna's seven chart-toppers were assembled in record time -- just two years and two months. Her latest single, "Breakin' Dishes," enters the chart at No. 40 this week. Should it become Rihanna's eighth No. 1 in a row, it will catapult her into second place all by herself. She'll need two more No. 1 hits to surpass the record-holder. Kristine W's first nine chart entries all spent time in the penthouse. The run began with "Feel What You Want" in 1994 and ended with "The Wonder of It All" in 2005. Kristine W's seventh No. 1 was "Fly Again" in 2003, which means it took her nine years, four months and one week to collect her first seven chart-toppers.
Here is a summary of Rihanna's seven No. 1 hits:
"Pon De Replay," one week (2005)
"SOS," one week (2006)
"Unfaithful," one week (2006)
"We Ride," one week (2007)
"Umbrella," two weeks (2007)
"Don't Stop the Music," one week (2007)
"Shut Up and Drive," one week (2007)
Hot on the heels of the commercial and critical disappointment that was 20 Y.O., a new album, on a new label will be released in the early part of 2008.November 27, 2007, 11:05 AM ET
Janet Jackson's as-yet-untitled debut album for Island Def Jam will be released in February. The artist is also prepping a worldwide tour to promote the follow-up to 2006's "20 Y.O." In addition, Jackson has signed with the William Morris Agency for representation in all areas.
Jackson comes to the company after a starring role in Tyler Perry's hit "Why Did I Get Married?" She will be repped by a team of agents led by Dave Wirtschafter and Charles King that will run across multiple divisions of the agency, including film, touring, licensing and merchandising, television, theater, publishing and new technology.
Jackson said she was attracted to the agency because of its long history. She continues to be repped by managers Johnny Wright and Kenneth Crear as well as attorney Don Passman.
As for Jackson's new album, it is being executive produced by Def Jam CEO Antonio "L.A." Reid rather than Jackson's boyfriend, Island Urban president Jermaine Dupri.
Dupri is working on Mariah Carey's new album, which should be out next spring. "We're going to make it seem like we're in competition to see who's going to have the biggest album of the year," he told Billboard in July.
After selling pretty well and earning several major awards, some had wondered if a re-release would ever happen. It did happen on November 27. In addition to the regular album, there are several additional remixes and a DVD. Noticeably missing are "Pose" and "Boutique In Heaven" which were bonus tracks on certain editions of the album when the initial release occurred in 2006. Remixes (read: non-Dance) are included for "Until The End Of Time" (now featuring additional vocals by Beyoncé Knowles), "Sexy Ladies" (now featuring 50 Cent), and "Sexyback" (featuring Missy Elliott and Timbaland). That's all, well, for the audio portion of the program. The DVD includes music videos for "Sexyback", "My Love", "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around", "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows"
"The Beat Goes On"
"Love Story" is the second single from the American Idol alumnus. The old school classic-sounding track has only done mildly well since its release earlier this Summer. It has been remixed as was her previous single "Over It."
After a false start in the U.S., the Pop/Rock group is back with a new single hoping to conquer the music world. "Hook Me Up" is a Dance-oriented Rock track. This thumping track is quite enjoyable. And the chorus is totally infectious. It's hard to not want to sing along. The instrumental production is thick and synthy with hard guitars and a not-so-well-hidden "Tainted Love" sample is present. Overall, this is a great track to get noticed with. While prior singles including "4Ever" and "Everything I'm Not" failed to strike a chord with U.S. audiences, let's hope this one does.
This is now the lead single off of J.Lo's highly anticipated album Brave. "Hold It, Don't Drop It" didn't get the warmest reactions, however, "Do It Well" did. This one is an uptempo Pop/R&B track. Jennifer sounds more in her element on this one. Uptempo club bangers are something she has a knack for delivering. A hot club-themed video directed by David LaChapelle premiered recently. And it's sexy sexy! There is also a remix aimed at Rhythmic stations with rap by Ludacris. It does what it's supposed to do, but it takes away from the song. No word yet on whether an alternate version with different melody, lyrics and vocals will be recorded a la "I'm Real" and "Ain't It Funny."
Adult film actor Colton Ford has occasionally recorded music for club consumption throughout the years. He's back with a new single called "The Way You Love Me." His previous singles haven't achieved the amount of success they deserved, but, this new one deserves all the success and praise it gets. Co-written by Ford and producer/remixer Quentin Harris, the lyrics are meaningful. And Ford's vocal performance is quite decent. The main version by Harris is a nice Summery, classic-sounding production. And the seemingly low budget music video is surprisingly sexy without being vulgar.
Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have become household celebrities after their stint on the MTV reality series The Hills. Are they striving to be Pop stars as well? Maybe. A song called "Body Language" featuring vocals by both of them recently surfaced. The song is a mixture of accessible 80's electro-pop and Timbaland-styled beats. One would swear that this was done in the same vein as Timbaland's recent hit "The Way I Are." The beats are almost identical, and there is synth-pop sound throughout from a very well-known song. Timba's sounded very much like "Push It" by Salt N' Pepa, and this one is directly from Yazoo's "Situation." Heidi's singing is surprisingly good. She may not be the best, but she sounds fine. Spencer's rap is a tad generic, but works fine. There's a version without rap as well. The lyrics are fun and simple. This song is perfect for radio and the clubs. This one was reportedly not a single, but given the general response to it, it should be.
Newcomer Melody is bragging about how she slept with the someone else's boyfriend because this other woman apparently doesn't know what to do to please him on her single "I Did Yo Boyfriend." Yes it is as bold as it sounds, but it comes off as more hilarious than angry. This song calls to mind "Don't Cha." It's fun for a little while, however, it gets boring fast. This one may work fine on the dancefloor, but that's about it. Buy it here.
Tatiana represented her native country of Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004. She placed 17th. But that's not where it ended. She went on to be quite successful in Poland. And now she hopes to become established outside of her country with the song "Don't Hold Back." The album version is a mid-tempo Dance-oriented vocal track. This one calls to mind NY-based electronic music duo iiO's "Is It Love" (the original album version, not the new main version that became the single version). Tatiana's vocals are slightly accented, but it gives it some distinction. Her voice is very rich and controlled. The backing vocals for the pre-chorus and chorus are almost choir-like. They really add to the song and give it an inspirational feel. There are some remixes for this one. The main one is the NY Dance Mix which was done by Tony Moran with Jody Den Broeder and Warren Rigg. The mid-tempo is transformed into a thundering club anthem. All vocals are intact, and the new loops and effects that were added make it even better. It is absolutely stunning.
After releasing a cover of the song "Save My Pride" originally recorded by fellow Swedes Alcazar, they are back with a mid-tempo followup called "Let It Rain." The overall vibe of the song calls to mind Robbie Williams' "Millenium", however, it works here. The simple lyrics and gentle vocal delivery are nice. Remixes of this would work well, however, no remixes have been planned. However, the followup single to this one, "Rhythm Drives Me Crazy" has plenty of remixes. Both singles from their 3rd studio album Fabricator will be released on August 22 in Sweden.
This is the second single off of her forthcoming album Kala. She draws upon yesteryear's Bollywood for the instrumental portion of her song. Recreating the hypnotic instrumental from the 80's Hindi song "Jimmy Jimmy Aaja Aaja" from the movie Disco Dancer, M.I.A. is ready to go to the clubs, not that she needs much help in the at area. Alternating between talk-singing and actually singing, she also takes time to sing with the original melody of the song. She even uses a little bit of the Hindi refrain from the original. It's very fresh and fun. And her colorful Bollywood-esque music video goes perfectly with the song and pays homage to the classic original.
With the opening vocals of the song, many may swear they are listening to an iiO/Nadia Ali song, but they're not. Inez's voice has the same ethereal, earthy quality that Nadia's has. After having seen a small release over a year ago, "Stronger" finally gets the proper release it deserves via Tommy Boy Records.
After "Sumthin Serious" only did slightly well on radio earlier this Spring, Audio Club are back with a decent followup. New York's Z100 had been giving plenty of airtime to their first single, however, the rest of the country didn't catch on. Given that it was on Ultra Records, a New York-based dance label, the song would have gotten airplay on the dance stations, however, the song only gained some attention. With the release of this new single and a forthcoming debut album on major label Interscope, there could be renewed interest in the previous single while simultaneously playing this new one. This song is in a similar vein as there previous single, but not as contrived. Audio Club is best described as a Fergie-type singer plus a rapper with dance-leaning beats and productions. Could this be the beginning of a whole new "he raps/she sings" revolution as there was throughout much of the 90's? Perhaps. It has almost become a pre-requisite for female-sung uptempo tracks to feature an alternate mix with a male rapper on it. They just took it one step further. This one is much better than their previous single and is a lot more fun. Listen to it on their MySpace.
They first gained attention with "The Rejection" over a year ago and followed it up with an EP featuring several tracks. No proper album yet, but hopefully one is in the works. Of the Dance/Rock-oriented EP, "Give Me Danger" became the next single. It has the feel of a Depeche Mode or Erasure track. The vocals definitely will call to mind Dave Gahan. Not a bad thing though. This similarity could hopefully cause fans of Dangerous Muse to check out Depeche Mode and Erasure if they have not done so already.
Definitely not by a long shot, however, she has gone in the 70's Disco direction with her latest single "Hold It, Don't Drop It" which is currently the lead single off of her much-anticipated new English-language album. This is just one of many other 70's/80's-sounding singles that are currently burning up radio airwaves. And this one is quite nice. It definitely calls to mind Beyoncé's first, true solo hit "Crazy In Love" with the old school-styled orchestral elements as well as Christina Aguilera's retro throwback "Ain't No Other Man." This is is not a carbon copy of either songs, but one can't help but think of those two songs. This may not be an indicator of what Ms. Lopez's forthcoming album may sound like, but if it is, it's not bad at all.
He was in the final 3 during the 5th season of singing competition American Idol. His first post-Idol album and single have been out for some time now. "Wait For You" has been doing pretty well on the Pop radio format and has begun to get some play on Rhythmic stations as well. The song is an in-between R&B/Pop ballad. It has the feel of some of Brian McKnight's music.
In some interviews, Israeli singer Maya Simantov had mentioned that Mariah Carey had been one of her musical influences. It was only a matter of time before she would cover a Mariah song either for a performance or one of her and Offer Nissim's albums. The song she did was "My All." There's no word on whether her take on the song will be on Offer and Maya's forthcoming studio album. A few weeks back, Maya performed a cover of the song from Mariah's 1997 album Butterfly. While she has been known primarily for doing the vocals on dance-oriented tracks, her cover was completely true to the original and even did away with some of the percussion that comes in later in the song. The guitars from the original were present for her cover. The minimal instrumentation created the perfect conditions for Maya's ethereal voice to take center stage. Her delivery was very controlled and powerful. She did channel Mariah in her delivery, however, she held her own. Watch the performance here.
Keep on dreaming kids. But to the Gym Class Heroes, this is a great idea. Their latest single "Clothes Off" is a pseudo remake of the Jermaine Stewart dance classic. Just the chorus and the ad-libs are similar. The lyrics in the Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy-sung chorus now say "we have to take our clothes off." Yes. Jermaine's abstinence song has been changed into "harmless", sexy fun. The rapped verses are quite good though. With its set of dance remixes, this is all ready for packing dancefloors. Watch the video here.
This song became an Ibiza anthem almost overnight in 1999 when it was released. It was based on the song "Theme From Harry's Game" by the folk group Clannad. Lead singer Maire Brennan from Clannad provided the vocals for this lush track. The main versions were in a similar vein as Chicane's previous hits "Offshore" and "Sunstroke", however, this one was a lot more mellow. The remixes by the Thrillseekers, in both Ambient and House versions were absolutely stunning. And Tomski vs. Disco Citizens' mix was quite amazing as well. Check out the great video.
If you follow music, you have probably heard of rising star Mika. After the runaway smashes of "Grace Kelly" and "Love Today", his next single is a colorful ode to full figured women appropriately titled "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)." This one is very much in the same vein as "Love Today" with the Giorgio Morodor-eque instrumental production. The lyrics are rather witty and cute. The group sing along vibe of the track just adds to its appeal. It may be a little cheesey, but this is the good kind. This song could get some mainstream attention as it is prominently featured in the TV spots for the Oxygen television program Mo'nique's Fat Chance which is a pageant for larger women. Check out the music video.
She has been part of the highly successful girl group The Pussycat Dolls for some time now. Is she leaving the group for a solo career in clubland? No. But she has been featured on a couple of new dance tracks which will be quite huge in the clubs and on dance radio very soon.
Rihanna is everywhere right now! She just released her third studio album Good Girl Gone Bad, has a number one single in the U.S. ("Umbrella"), an already huge second single "Shut Up & Drive", and an upcoming club smash "Don't Stop The Music."
It was never written in stone that Country music needs to be serious all the time. Country music lends itself very well to humor. Country crooner Brad Paisley has illustrated this on his latest single "Online." He sings about being "so much cooler online." Many can relate to his tale about creating a much more attractive version of themselves online. This simple, true-to-life song stands out in that it is a Country song, but in the conventional sense. This is a good first song for those getting into Country music. Must listen. And check out the hilarious music video. Buy the song here.
Kanye West doing Dance music? Okay. It's sort of true, but not really. Mr. West has creatively sampled from French Electronica duo Daft Punk's 2001 club hit "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger." The robotic vocal hook from the chorus makes a very regular appearance in Kanye's empowerment song "Stronger." This may seem like an unlikely marriage of Kanye's fierce rhymes and these robotic vox, but it works. In fact, it works very well. This is not the first time Daft Punk's music has inspired a hip hop/rap track. A few choice vocals from "Technologic" became the basis for the chorus of "Touch It" by Busta Rhymes which burned up the radio and music video channel airwaves.
