Sunday, November 28, 2010

New Picks of the Week November 28, 2010

I am on the record saying that I am not a fan of “Glee”, the show. Although I think the premise is cool. I’m a music teacher so why would I not like a show about a school music program? Unfortunately, I think the writing is bad and quite shallow. But I always like to follow this with two other statements. I don’t like 95 percent of the shows on TV today. And quite honestly, Glee is better than many other shows I’ve sampled. Secondly, and more importantly, I love the music. They bring back great songs and do them very well. This mash up of “Singing In The Rain” and Rihanna’s “Umbrella” is awesome. What a creative mix. Great job Glee!

Speaking of Rihanna, she has another big hit. “Only Girl (In The World)” has already hit #1 on the Billboard chart. And it’s grown on me during its short time on the scene. I love the keyboard pads on the chorus coupled with Rihanna’s tuned up voice. The rest of the song is your typical high powered techno drum beat and trance like vocals. The bridge is a nice variation from the rest of the song as the Barbados superstar drops down into her lower octave. So I guess I’m trying to say that this song isn’t anything too special, but it’s a toe tapper.

Way to go Midwestern rock and roll. Stone Sour is from nearby Des Moines, Iowa and formed way back in 1992. After lead singer Corey Taylor left to join Slipknot in 1997, the group disbanded until reforming in 2002. It’s been since then that the band has enjoyed most of their success. Most of their music is on the edgier side, but “Hesitate” is a great rock ballad. I like the harmonies (Def Leppard reminiscent) and the nice guitar solo. A very well crafted pop rock song. Way to go guys.

Chart Update:

Rihanna continues to dominate the female R&B scene as she climbs to #1 for the fifth time in her career with “Only Girl (In The World)”. Her chart toppers date back to “SOS” in 2006 and also include “Umbrella”, “Take A Bow” and “Disturbia”. She also reached #1 in 2008 featured on T.I.’s “Live Your Life”.

Although Rihanna is the top female vocalist of the past four years, she better watch out for some other women closing in on the top. P!nk is up from 4-2 this week with “Raise Your Glass”. Ke$ha moves from 6-4 with “We R Who We R”. And Katy Perry (who doesn’t feel the need to put and shift-number characters in her name), moves from 9-6 with “Firework”. All three of these songs were performed on the recent American Music Awards.

Two big Top 40 debuts this week. And once again they are both by the Glee Cast. They come in at #11 with “Forget You” featuring Gwyneth Paltrow. At #18 they bow with the aforementioned “Singing In The Rain/Umbrella”. Glee is approaching 100 Top 100 hits which is third in the rock era behind James Brown and Elvis Presley. Of course, they are no where close to either in the number of weeks spent on the Hot 100. Of the 90-plus Glee hits, only 14 have spent more than one week on the Hot 100.

The big movers within the Top 40 this week include a big move into the Top 10 by 36-year old Atlanta R&B star Cee Lo Green. He is up from 22-9 with “Forget You”. His move is outdone by another R&B star, Bruno Mars who moves from 30-17 with “Grenade”.

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