It was a total aPOPcalypse today! Ugh! My poor debit card!
First, the debut album by Carley Rae Jepson, singer of "Call Me Maybe" THE most infectious pop song in like... forever! (Although those One Direction guys gave her a run for her money.) Her follow-up, "Good Time" with Owl City is damn near close! One of those rare artists that can score two "songs of the summer" in the same summer. (Kinda like... well, we'll get to that...)
The new album by P!nk, the baddest bitch in pop music. I don't think she gets enough credit. "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)" is poppy and radio-friendly, but this lady has depth and one of the most soulful voices around. Done! (Also both these albums are available at target with four extra songs a piece!)
Finally, speaking of having two songs of the summer, this artists is practically synonymous with that expression...
Katy Perry's behind-the-scenes documentary Part of Me also came out today. I saw it in theaters and it was VERY good. It's surprisingly emotional, because she doesn't hold anything back and you really get a look at her struggle to get where she is and... well, of course you get to see the breakdown of her marriage to Russell Brand, who is tellingly absent from most of the film. The drama is punctuated with live performances from her "California Dreams" tour which lasted roughly a year and took her all over the world. Definitely two thumbs up!
Here's the trailer:
Rewatching it, I just realized that they guy dancers' pants are totally designed to draw attention to their butts. And the dancer in teal is totally hot.
You may or may not know, that I am obsessed with One Direction. Y'know that boy band from England that all look like they're twelve. My favorite is Niall the blond one on the left. I was starting to worry I was turning into some old creeper, when yesterday in trying to come up with a theme for today's blog, I was checking out some celebrity blogs, when I cam across a picture of Niall shirtless and my reaction was horror not excitement. So whew! Not a pedophile! That's a relief.
But on that note, I already knew that Harry Styles the "one with the hair" had just turned 18 and also just broken up with his 32 year-old girlfriend. You do the math. Well, turns out that he also had an afair with another 32 year-old woman, who was married! And he was apparently the one that pursued her and according to a "source" "the sex was amazing. He knew exactly what he was doing despite the fact he was only 17." Raaaaooow!!! I don't know how to feel about that! Guess he has a type... and that's COUGARS! (Well, 32 is a cougar to a 17 year-old, I suppose.)
Moving on, the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon make great meaningless crap that you can just put on in the background and basically ignore. Wizards of Waverly Place was the best but I think it's over now. I guess there are still reruns, though. Another one I kind of like is Zeke and Luther. Yeah, I just like the Zeke half of the equation.
He's adorable and has pretty eyes. Oddly hairy, though. I shudder to imagine how he'll look at like 35. Like a sasquatch, probably.
Final semi-teen news:
This is alledgedly Josh Hutcherson's ass. DAAAAAAAYUUUUUUM!!! Can you say ghetto booty?! I'm not sure it's really him, though. The arms seem too small. Whoever it is looks great walking away!
Is it just me, or do stores have some weird-ass, time machine Spotify hooked up to their sound systems that just root out, obscure but awesome songs that have been relegated to the fringes of my mind? At Kroget today, i was treated to this blast from the past:
She's back! The Golden Girl! Aphrodite herself, Kylie! Her new single "Time Bomb" is destined to be a MASSIVE (club) hit in the US! But hey, maybe she'll tour here again to promote it! I missed her "Aphrodite: Les Folies" tour (money issues), so I'd love to make up for that!
And that's not all! Fellow British chanteusse, Cheryl (formerly Cheryl Cole formerly Cheryl Tweedy) has returned, post-divorce, post-getting-shitcanned from the X-Factor, with "Call My Name." (And she's wearing the UGLIEST pants ever!)
If only these Brit Girls had a chance of striking it as big over here as Brit Boys One Direction and The Wanted!
This is going to a strange one! I saw this kid on TV and was astonished to learn... well, first of all that he was in fact, 20 years old. I mean look at him! He looks more like 12! He's a country artist, so I can't say I LOVE his music. It's more along that poppy side of country so it's okay. But what I found surprising is that he plays over 30 instruments, played every instrument on his album, co-wrote and co-produced the entire thing! That's mind-boggling! Plus, he's way cuter than The Biebs, so that should help him out. So, y'know, check it out. Not my favorite style of music, but I'm still impressed by his ability!
I haven't done one of these in a while, but this new group I'm diggin' on has their debut album out today, Fitz & The Tantrums. It's kind of a retro-60s R&B kinda psychedelia sound! Check it out:
Money Grabber:
Breakin' The Chains of Love:
L.O.V.:
Enjoy!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
First of all, Happy Birthday to Donna Troy, Wonder Woman's younger sister/magical avatar/adopted younger sister she rescued as an infant from a fire/whatever the fuck she is this week! And while not the latest, certainly the greatest Wonder Girl! (In the 1978 DC Comics Calendar, they actually gave each hero a birthday!) I've been obsessed with Donna since I first learned of her existence... Wonder Woman has a sidekick too?!... and her depiction in New Teen Titans won me over for life! Too bad she'd one of the most fucked over characters in comics (had her origin completely scrapped and redone, then undone again, lost her husband and infant son, DIED, came back to life, has been forced to star in shitty books...
But... I still luv ya, baby!
So today saw the release of "Til The World Ends (The Femme Fatale Remix)" by Britney Spears featuring Nicki Minaj and Ke$ha. The hell?! This is the second week in a row that Brit Brit's been involved in a fairly nonsensical collaborative remix, after last week's "S&M" remix with Rihanna. I'm getting tired of getting a rapper to spit a rhyme on your album track and calling it a remix for the single release. Why can't you just get the rap on the album version to start with? Then, in a reversal, just as Britney simply re-sang Rihanna's second verse and chorus on "S&M," Ke$ha just re-sings the bridge on "Til The World Ends." She doesn't really add anything! Anyway... see for yourself:
Once again, Britney's album just came out a couple of weeks ago! You're telling me this couldn't have been arranged before that?
I can see the "remix" being necessary for Katy Perry's "E.T." because that's the fourth single from that album, which came out last summer/fall. PS, did you catch her and Kanye on American Idol? (See yesterday's blog. I DO NOT WATCH American Idol willingly!)
At least, every so often someone talented pops up on it.
Anyway, not much else going on, so I'm leaving it at that!
Ugh. I have been struck down by a mysterious malady. I thought it was the flu, but a. I got a flu shot this year and b. it's the weirdest assortment of symptoms I have ever had before. I'll spare you the icky details, but it's kinda the yuckiest kinda sick you can be. Physically, I feel better than I did yesterday, so that's good, I suppose. Anyhoo...
My complete apathy toward the ingrained-in-our-culture experience that is American Idol is well documented. DO. NOT. CARE. I just don't get it. It's like the pop culture Super Bowl, like EVERYONE in America gets all hyped up on it and it's the finale is always like the highest rated show of the year, and then everyone stops caring and six months later when the winners put out their albums, no one buys them. The End! But David and Dylan love the shit out of it. Dylan for the strangest reason. I noticed this before, that he'd fast forward through the songs and just watch the judges! WHA-?! (Then again, the singing kinda blows... but why watch it at all, then?) There do tend to be some cute guys on it, though. That one year, there was the bromance between Chris Richardson and Blake Lewis. At least Blake has put out a couple of songs that I actually liked.
But there's one former Idol that I think is downright HAWT, David Cook:
It may be the eyes. He has cute eyes. And round baby cheeks. And sexy lips. He does not have great hair, but I can live with that.
Tummy!
NICE!!!
I just wish his music didn't suck so bad! I'd be all over that!
Musically, I think my favorite Idols are the women and then... I think I only like two, Kelly Clarkson ("Since U Been Goooooooooooone!") and Jordin Sparks. So I'll leave you on that note:
Today, I will be showcasing my hands down, favorite pop group from when I was in high school... The Party!The Party are also the group that I mention and no one knows what I'm talking about. Sigh! Every so often, someone will know them and that makes us friends for life! The Party were, from the top of the above picture, going clockwise, Albert Fields, Deedee Magno, Damon Pampolina, Chase Hampton and Tiffini Hale. All five had starred on the Disney Channel's The New Mickey Mouse Club in 1989 before being spun off as a pop group. This was the height of New Kids on the Block mania, and The Party emulated their format with five singers and dancers, but gave the concept a twist by including two female members. (Rumor has it, two other female cast members, Rocqui Herring and Damon's real-life girlfriend Brandy Brown were also considered.) Their eponymous debut album was the first release by Hollywood Records, a Disney-owned company that today is the home of Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato... as well as less mainstream artists like the Plain White Ts, Breaking Benjamin, Atreyu and Marie Digby. The Party's first single, "Summer Vacation" was a poppy rap song that only made it to #71 on the Pop chart, but managed to hit #21 on the Dance Chart. Disney heavily promoted the song and it even received plays on MTV.
The group's second single, "I Found Love" produced by Jellybean Benetez, only made it to #79 on the Pop Chart.
Their third single was the R&B flavored "That's Why":
They performed "I Found Love" and "That's Why (The Power Remix)" on Nia Peeples' Party Machine, for the two people who might remember that!
Finally, a fourth single, "Sugar Is Sweet" was released, but failed to chart:
In 1991, they released In The Meantime, In Between Time, a ten-track disc featuring cover songs and remixes (including the That's Why remix above). While not a real "album" it actually ended up being their greatest success, spawning their only Top 40 hit, "In My Dreams" a dance-y cover of the Dokken hair metal song.
This video was released before En Vogue's "My Lovin' (Never Gonna Get It)" video, but there are a lot of similarities, with the colors and the lights in the background. Of course, En Vogue's song was a classic and "In My Dreams" sort of faded into the ether. It did make it to #34 on the Pop Chart and #35 on the Dance Chart. The deejay at one of my favorite bars when I was in college used to play it for me every time I went there, though so YAY!
The rest of the album was poorly produced. The second single, "Private Affair" was heavily remixed before its release.
A third single, a cover of Elvis Costello's "What's So Funny About Peace, Love & Understanding?" was released, with The Party shortening the name to just "Peace, Love & Understanding."
The group enjoyed touring as the opening act for Hi Five, Vanilla Ice and Taylor Dayne. In 1992, they released their second studio album, Free, which showcased a more mature sound. Super producer Teddy Riley wrote three songs on the album, including the title track, which was the first single.
Dr. Dre... yes THAT Dr. Dre, pre-The Chronic, wrote and produced the song "Let's Get Right Down To It" which was not released as a single. The second and last single from the album, "All About Love" like "Private Affair" was heavily remixed in its single form. The smooth R&B track would have been a perfect match for the radio at the time, but it failed to take off and Hollywood stopped pushing the album.
Despite the great production on the Free album, the group's connection to Disney and their poppy image ultimately kept older fans from embracing them. Also, pop and dance music started to fade by this point and hip hop, R&B and post-grunge rock had become the driving forces in pop music. Damon was the first to leave the group. Damon was clearly the heart throb of the group, having been the most popular boy on the Mickey Mouse Club. His presence drew the majority of their fan base, but Damon was also the least musically inclined. He rapped on "Summer Vacation" their first single and also had a solo semi-spoken rap called "Ton of Bricks" on their debut, but as time went on, his contributions were less and less. The majority of solos went to the other members of the group, especially Deedee and Albert, definitely the two strongest singers. They continued performing as a quartet, notably at Disney World, before calling it quits.
After their breakup, Hollywood Records released The Party's Over, Thanks For Coming, like InThe Meantime..., a collection of leftover tracks including two more covers, "Hot Fun In The Summertime" and "You Dropped A Bomb On Me" as well as several tracks that were actually solo songs done by the remaining individual members without the others' involvement. Chase and Tiffani actually returned to host The Mickey Mouse Club in its final two seasons, featuring newcomers Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera. Chase later formed the band Buzzfly, formed his own label and has since released a solo album. Tiffani, many years ago, was rumored to be hosting a revived Mickey Mouse Club, but that never materialized and she has remained out of the public eye. Albert released an album under the name Jeune (half of his middle name Jeunepierre) and continues making music. Damon lived in New York and pursued acting along with his long-time girlfriend Brandy Brown. He recently formed a website hoping to discover new talent and has formed an entertainment agency with his father. His relationship with Brandy lasted 10 years, but he is now married to a woman named Jennifer and has a son named Roman. He and Albert reunited as a hip hop group N'Decent Proposal. Deedee has been the most high profile, starring on Broadway in Miss Saigon in the role of Kim. Deedee was the longest running actress to play that part. She recently starred in the touring production of Wicked as Nessarose opposite her husband Cliffton Hall who played lead Fiyero. The two have a son, Kaeden. Eeeeee! Here I am with Deedee after seeing her in Wicked! With my bedazzled Party shirt! She was so super sweet and signed all the crap I brought along! Also, she's TINY! Swoon!
I was kinda meh about "Born This Way." I liked it, but it was underwhelming, coming from the artist that gave us "Poker Face" and "Paparazzi" and "Bad Romance." And usually, the lead single from an album is like the BEST song on it, so that was kind of a red flag. But "Judas" is a complete BANGER!!! It ROCKS!!! This should have been the lead single, I think! It leaked last week, so the label rushed it out on iTunes. It's AMAZING!
Next up, they remixed Rihanna's "S&M" making it a duet with Britney Spears. I liked the Rihanna version just fine, but I like the duet version as well. It just seems... off. Like... why, first of all? I'm dying for Rihanna and BFF Katy Perry to do something together, but as far as I know, RiRi and Brit Brit have never even met. It's not like anyone was thinking, "You know who need to do a collaboration? Those two!" Also, the timing is odd. "S&M" was released ages ago (she's already released a follow-up single "California King Bed"). And Ri's album didn't come out that long ago and Brit's album just dropped. They couldn't put this together before that? They could have put it on Brit's album and maybe it would have done better. But, yeah, I still like it. I want to hear it in a club! (And clubbing may very well figure in my near future... hopefully this'll still be popular by then!)
Beth Ditto, the lead singer of The Gossip has released a solo EP of electro pop songs. Her first single is "I Wrote The Book" and was iTunes free song last week. Yeah, I know, great timing asshole. It's great! The video is an homage to Madonna's "Justify My Love."
I can't wait for the club mixes! From angry rocker chick to disco diva! She can do it all! The rest of the EP is fun too, very 80s synth pop, a la Depeche Mode. But be warned "I Wrote The Book" is the fastest of the songs. The rest are still worth a listen, though! Finally, I couldn't NOT buy this shizz!!!
Is it mind-blowing? Nah. But it's fucking NKOTBSB, BITCHEZ!!!
Oh, iPod Shuffle mode! I love when you throw out old gems that I was once obsessed with that I haven't heard in ages and had kinda forgotten about! Recently, it threw out two boy poppy delights... first cutie pie Jesse McCartney's "How Do You Sleep" featuring Ludacris (the SMASH MODE Radio Remix):
Yeah, the video's not much to look at. Here's the real video for the regular version of the song:
I'm not going to write a lot about these songs, as I don't have anything really deep to say. They're cute pop songs that I like dancing to. Jesse McCartney is soooooo cute! How was he not a bigger teen idol? He's way fucking cuter than Justin Beiber has any hope of ever being! Hell, he's actually cuter than Justin Timberlake! And all three Jonas Brothers put together! Eh, oh well. And next we have "Love Struck" by V Factory. Who the hell are V Factory? Well... nobody, basically. This song came out in 2009 and I was obsessed with it and made it my ring tone and ring back! I would listen to it over and over. It may very well be my favorite boy band song of ALL TIME! I'm not even kidding! Sadly, it just never broke through. It was heavily promoted and was actually pushed heavily in the gay community, with the video being a regular fixture on Logo's Poplab and various club remixes made available. Sadly, it peaked at #70 on the pop chart, so it's relatively obscure even today. (I never changed my ring tone or ring back, but I know it's no longer my ring back, so I guess it got deleted.) Anyway, since then, two members have left the group. Allegedly, the remaining three are carrying on, but they've been working on their debut album for 3 years now, so... y'know, good luck with that. Even so, I LOVE "Love Struck!"
It's Monday... a RAINY, STORMY Monday, so why don't we have a little dance party to lift our spirits? Released in 1985, "Oh Sheila" was Ready For The World's breakout single, skyrocketing to #1 on the US Pop, R&B and Dance charts. I'm not sure what else to even say, this song RULEZZZZZZZ!!!! It has a very Prince-y sound, which was fine because Prince was one of the biggest stars in music at that time, probably second only to Michael Jackson in fame and popularity. So while Prince was busy attempting to replicate his sound with his shiteous proteges like Apollonia 6 and Jill Jones, and other artists like Jesse Johnson were also freely ripping from the Prince playbook, Ready For The World came along and out-Princed them all... well, not the real Prince, but all the knock-off! (Speaking of, rumors abounded that "Oh Sheila" was about Prince-protege/girlfriend Sheila E, but lead singer Melvin Riley denies this saying it wasn't about anyone in particular.)
The video is crude, but how can you criticize a band that also does choreography while playing their instruments?
The band had one more smash, classic slow jam "Love You Down" which hit #1 on the R&B Chart and #9 on the Pop Chart before the band broke up in 1991. (They reunited in 2004 and have released two additional albums.) "Oh Sheila" was covered by Euro dance "group" Angel City as "Love Me Right" (the chorus was dropped in this version). This version hit #1 on the US Dance Chart and actually hit #11 on the UK Pop Chart... the exact peak position that Ready For The World's hit!
Oh... and this song was also covered by... ME! It's one of my karaoke greatest hits!
Damn, lot of deaths lately! I CANNOT believe this hasn't been more widely reported! Soul diva/gay icon Loleatta Holloway passed away last week and the ONLY report of it I saw was in Entertainment Weekly! This powerhouse vocalist had a string of hits including "Vertigo/Relight My Fire" with Dan Hartman, but will forever be best remembered for her disco anthem "Love Sensation!"
That fro is off the hook! "Love Sensation" was a number one dance hit in 1980 as disco waned. But that shizz was so good, it came right back! In 1989, Black Box sampled STOLE it and re-released it as "Ride On Time" lipsynched in the video and onstage by Katrin Quinole. Oh PS, Loleatta is singing "Right on time," those silly Itallians just didn't understand her, which is why their version is entitled "Ride On Time!"
"Ride On Time" bad spelling, lipsynching and all, was the #1 selling single in the UK in 1989! In the US, it was released as "Black Box featuring Loleatta Holloway" which is better than poor Martha Wash got, when she provided the vocals to ALL of their other songs! But wait! There's more! "Love Sensation" was sampled a second time in 1991 as the hook to gay pin up Marky Mark's "Good Vibrations!"
Unlike Black Box, Marky Mark had the decency to showcase Mz. Holloway in both the music video and in live performances! (I thought Marky Mark was THE. HOTTEST. GUY. EVER. Now I can't stand him. Weird.) The song was a #1 smash and Holloway's only pop #1 in the US.
And finally, the original track, "Love Sensation" was remixed by The Freemasons in 2006 and this new club version became a hit all over again!
Strangely, although the track is credited to Loleatta, the video shows some skinny tramp lipsynching her lines. Shades of Black Box!
She also redid her former hit "Relight My Fire" first with Take That and then with Ricky Martin.
This is going to a strange one! I saw this kid on TV and was astonished to learn... well, first of all that he was in fact, 20 years old. I mean look at him! He looks more like 12!
He's a country artist, so I can't say I LOVE his music. It's more along that poppy side of country so it's okay. But what I found surprising is that he plays over 30 instruments, played every instrument on his album, co-wrote and co-produced the entire thing! That's mind-boggling!
Plus, he's way cuter than The Biebs, so that should help him out.
So, y'know, check it out. Not my favorite style of music, but I'm still impressed by his ability!
First of all, Happy Birthday to Donna Troy, Wonder Woman's younger sister/magical avatar/adopted younger sister she rescued as an infant from a fire/whatever the fuck she is this week! And while not the latest, certainly the greatest Wonder Girl! (In the 1978 DC Comics Calendar, they actually gave each hero a birthday!) I've been obsessed with Donna since I first learned of her existence... Wonder Woman has a sidekick too?!... and her depiction in New Teen Titans won me over for life! Too bad she'd one of the most fucked over characters in comics (had her origin completely scrapped and redone, then undone again, lost her husband and infant son, DIED, came back to life, has been forced to star in shitty books...
So today saw the release of "Til The World Ends (The Femme Fatale Remix)" by Britney Spears featuring Nicki Minaj and Ke$ha. The hell?! This is the second week in a row that Brit Brit's been involved in a fairly nonsensical collaborative remix, after last week's "S&M" remix with Rihanna. I'm getting tired of getting a rapper to spit a rhyme on your album track and calling it a remix for the single release. Why can't you just get the rap on the album version to start with? Then, in a reversal, just as Britney simply re-sang Rihanna's second verse and chorus on "S&M," Ke$ha just re-sings the bridge on "Til The World Ends." She doesn't really add anything! Anyway... see for yourself:
There do tend to be some cute guys on it, though. That one year, there was the bromance between Chris Richardson and Blake Lewis. At least Blake has put out a couple of songs that I actually liked.
It may be the eyes. He has cute eyes. And round baby cheeks. And sexy lips. He does not have great hair, but I can live with that.
Tummy!
NICE!!!
I just wish his music didn't suck so bad! I'd be all over that!
The Party are also the group that I mention and no one knows what I'm talking about. Sigh! Every so often, someone will know them and that makes us friends for life! 
The Party were, from the top of the above picture, going clockwise, Albert Fields, Deedee Magno, Damon Pampolina, Chase Hampton and Tiffini Hale. All five had starred on the Disney Channel's The New Mickey Mouse Club in 1989 before being spun off as a pop group. This was the height of New Kids on the Block mania, and The Party emulated their format with five singers and dancers, but gave the concept a twist by including two female members. (Rumor has it, two other female cast members, Rocqui Herring and Damon's real-life girlfriend Brandy Brown were also considered.)
Their eponymous debut album was the first release by Hollywood Records, a Disney-owned company that today is the home of Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato... as well as less mainstream artists like the Plain White Ts, Breaking Benjamin, Atreyu and Marie Digby. 
The Party's first single, "Summer Vacation" was a poppy rap song that only made it to #71 on the Pop chart, but managed to hit #21 on the Dance Chart. Disney heavily promoted the song and it even received plays on MTV.
In 1991, they released In The Meantime, In Between Time, a ten-track disc featuring cover songs and remixes (including the That's Why remix above). While not a real "album" it actually ended up being their greatest success, spawning their only Top 40 hit, "In My Dreams" a dance-y cover of the Dokken hair metal song.
In 1992, they released their second studio album, Free, which showcased a more mature sound. Super producer Teddy Riley wrote three songs on the album, including the title track, which was the first single.
Damon was the first to leave the group. Damon was clearly the heart throb of the group, having been the most popular boy on the Mickey Mouse Club. His presence drew the majority of their fan base, but Damon was also the least musically inclined. He rapped on "Summer Vacation" their first single and also had a solo semi-spoken rap called "Ton of Bricks" on their debut, but as time went on, his contributions were less and less.
The majority of solos went to the other members of the group, especially Deedee and Albert, definitely the two strongest singers. They continued performing as a quartet, notably at Disney World, before calling it quits.
Chase and Tiffani actually returned to host The Mickey Mouse Club in its final two seasons, featuring newcomers Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera. Chase later formed the band Buzzfly, formed his own label and has since released a solo album. Tiffani, many years ago, was rumored to be hosting a revived Mickey Mouse Club, but that never materialized and she has remained out of the public eye. Albert released an album under the name Jeune (half of his middle name Jeunepierre) and continues making music. Damon lived in New York and pursued acting along with his long-time girlfriend Brandy Brown. He recently formed a website hoping to discover new talent and has formed an entertainment agency with his father. His relationship with Brandy lasted 10 years, but he is now married to a woman named Jennifer and has a son named Roman. He and Albert reunited as a hip hop group N'Decent Proposal. Deedee has been the most high profile, starring on Broadway in Miss Saigon in the role of Kim. Deedee was the longest running actress to play that part. She recently starred in the touring production of Wicked as Nessarose opposite her husband Cliffton Hall who played lead Fiyero. The two have a son, Kaeden.
Eeeeee! Here I am with Deedee after seeing her in Wicked! With my bedazzled Party shirt! She was so super sweet and signed all the crap I brought along! Also, she's TINY! Swoon!
I was kinda meh about "Born This Way." I liked it, but it was underwhelming, coming from the artist that gave us "Poker Face" and "Paparazzi" and "Bad Romance." And usually, the lead single from an album is like the BEST song on it, so that was kind of a red flag. But "Judas" is a complete BANGER!!! It ROCKS!!! This should have been the lead single, I think! It leaked last week, so the label rushed it out on iTunes. It's AMAZING!
Next up, they remixed Rihanna's "S&M" making it a duet with Britney Spears. I liked the Rihanna version just fine, but I like the duet version as well. It just seems... off. Like... why, first of all? I'm dying for Rihanna and BFF Katy Perry to do something together, but as far as I know, RiRi and Brit Brit have never even met. It's not like anyone was thinking, "You know who need to do a collaboration? Those two!" Also, the timing is odd. "S&M" was released ages ago (she's already released a follow-up single "California King Bed"). And Ri's album didn't come out that long ago and Brit's album just dropped. They couldn't put this together before that? They could have put it on Brit's album and maybe it would have done better. But, yeah, I still like it. I want to hear it in a club! (And clubbing may very well figure in my near future... hopefully this'll still be popular by then!)
Beth Ditto, the lead singer of The Gossip has released a solo EP of electro pop songs. Her first single is "I Wrote The Book" and was iTunes free song last week. Yeah, I know, great timing asshole. It's great! The video is an homage to Madonna's "Justify My Love."
Finally, I couldn't NOT buy this shizz!!!
I'm not going to write a lot about these songs, as I don't have anything really deep to say. They're cute pop songs that I like dancing to. Jesse McCartney is soooooo cute! How was he not a bigger teen idol? He's way fucking cuter than Justin Beiber has any hope of ever being! Hell, he's actually cuter than Justin Timberlake! And all three Jonas Brothers put together! Eh, oh well.
And next we have "Love Struck" by V Factory. Who the hell are V Factory? Well... nobody, basically. This song came out in 2009 and I was obsessed with it and made it my ring tone and ring back! I would listen to it over and over. It may very well be my favorite boy band song of ALL TIME! I'm not even kidding! Sadly, it just never broke through. It was heavily promoted and was actually pushed heavily in the gay community, with the video being a regular fixture on Logo's Poplab and various club remixes made available. Sadly, it peaked at #70 on the pop chart, so it's relatively obscure even today. (I never changed my ring tone or ring back, but I know it's no longer my ring back, so I guess it got deleted.) Anyway, since then, two members have left the group. Allegedly, the remaining three are carrying on, but they've been working on their debut album for 3 years now, so... y'know, good luck with that. Even so, I LOVE "Love Struck!"
Released in 1985, "Oh Sheila" was Ready For The World's breakout single, skyrocketing to #1 on the US Pop, R&B and Dance charts. I'm not sure what else to even say, this song RULEZZZZZZZ!!!! It has a very Prince-y sound, which was fine because Prince was one of the biggest stars in music at that time, probably second only to Michael Jackson in fame and popularity. So while Prince was busy attempting to replicate his sound with his shiteous proteges like Apollonia 6 and Jill Jones, and other artists like Jesse Johnson were also freely ripping from the Prince playbook, Ready For The World came along and out-Princed them all... well, not the real Prince, but all the knock-off! (Speaking of, rumors abounded that "Oh Sheila" was about Prince-protege/girlfriend Sheila E, but lead singer Melvin Riley denies this saying it wasn't about anyone in particular.)
Damn, lot of deaths lately! I CANNOT believe this hasn't been more widely reported! Soul diva/gay icon Loleatta Holloway passed away last week and the ONLY report of it I saw was in Entertainment Weekly!
This powerhouse vocalist had a string of hits including "Vertigo/Relight My Fire" with Dan Hartman, but will forever be best remembered for her disco anthem "Love Sensation!"
That fro is off the hook! "Love Sensation" was a number one dance hit in 1980 as disco waned. But that shizz was so good, it came right back! In 1989, Black Box 
But wait! There's more! "Love Sensation" was sampled a second time in 1991 as the hook to gay pin up Marky Mark's "Good Vibrations!"
