98 Degrees To Cash In On Nostalgia By Reuniting?

Boy band 98 Degrees, who, let's face it, were always a subpar version of *NSYNC, but at least far superior to, say, O-Town, have the Internet in a whirl over the fact that their website was updated on Wednesday for the first time since 2004.

This caused the site RumorFix to report the following:

"Nick Lachey, Drew Lachey, Jeff Timmons and Justin Jeffre are set to go on a fifteen city tour this summer between July and August, a source close to the band tells RumorFix. Rumors of a reunion tour began Wednesday night when the band’s website –revealing a new design and logo — was updated for the first time in a decade — and our source says it’s because of the tour."

First things first: 98 Degrees landed a handful of utterly forgettable Top 10 hits between 1998 and 2000, the biggest of which were "Because Of You"(#3 on the Hot 100), "Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)" (#2) and the Mariah Carey team-up "Thank God I Found You" (#1). I vaguely remember the first one (only because I have the CD single buried somewhere in the closet), and have zero idea how "Give Me Just One Night" goes.

But their best song was "The Hardest Thing" (#5), which was a TRL staple in spring 1999, right around the time I moved to Los Angeles. Good memories.



Longtime Chart Rigger readers may recall that I stanned hard for Nick Lachey's 2006 solo hit "What's Left Of Me." But as for the band reuniting for a tour, better cash would be spent/made if they just joined Jeff Timmons as a member of Chippendales.

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US Chart Roundup: Fun. Have The Best Selling Single Of The Year To Date

Fun. and Janelle Monae's "We Are Young" is tops on the Billboard Hot 100 for a fourth week, thus giving the song the longest run at #1 so far this year. It's no surprise that the publication notes "We Are Young" is the best-selling single of 2012 to date, based on sales of 2.39 million paid downloads. Right behind it is Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)," which previously spent three weeks at #1 and stands at 2.25 million in sales so far. 

Looking at the rest of the Top 10 this week, it's snooze village, as no new songs make a dent in the upper tier of the chart. Just outside it, however, Billboard cover boys One Direction climb to #11 with "What Makes You Beautiful." Their album Up All Night gets bumped off the throne of the Top 200 by the arrival of the soundtrack to The Hunger Games, however, and slides down to #4.

Meanwhile, Calvin Harris' "Feel So Close" moves up three positions to #15 and Carly Rae Jepsen's addictive jam "Call Me Maybe" jumps to #18.

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "We Are Young" - fun. feat. Janelle Monae *4 weeks*
2. "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" - Kelly Clarkson
3. "Glad you Came" - The Wanted
4. "Somebody That I Used To Know" - Gotye feat. Kimbra
5. "Starships" - Nicki Minaj
6. "Set Fire To The Rain" - Adele
7. "Wild Ones" - Flo Rida feat. Sia
8. "Part Of Me" - Katy Perry
9. "Take Care" - Drake feat. Rihanna
10. "Turn Me On" - David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj

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The Wanted & One Direction Cover 'Billboard'

With The Wanted's "Glad You Came" currently at #3 on the Hot 100 and One Direction's Up All Night topping last week's Top 200 album chart, Billboard has inevitably slapped the UK boy band's on dueling covers of the publication. (The Wanted's debut US LP is out on April 24.)

It's been over 10 years since boy bands had the charts looking like a total sausage fest, and wise old sage Simon Cowell piped up on the resurgence of pop in Billboard's cover story:

"It's a track-oriented chart at the moment. When we used to put records out years ago, two singles was the norm, three singles was a lot. And you have these solo artists now who could be, with collaborations, putting out seven or eight singles a year. [Even if] you go back to the Motown days, every time, it always comes back to 12 o'clock. It felt like that time again."

Cowell, of course, manages One Direction, while Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun is in charge of The Wanted. (What happened to Jayne Collins?)

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Blake Want To Be Your Favorite Man Band With "Start Over"

UK quartet Blake, who found success by performing songs in the pop-classical fusion vein, are aiming to fill the gap created by Take That's current hiatus. They're even going a step further by working on straight-up pop jams with Diane Warren on music for their first US release.

Here's the album's first single, a fairly inoffensive, Take That-esque tune called "Start Over".

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Madonna's 12 Studio Album Covers, Ranked From Worst To Best

I've assessed Ye Olde Vampyre's 12 studio album covers over at Idolator. Particular fun was had by riffing on Hard Candy.

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UK Chart Roundup: Katy Perry's Worst Single Yet Is #1 In Another Country

Katy Perry earns her third UK #1 this week with "Part Of Me," a song that I'm annoyingly finding is growing on me. To be quite honest, the song is utter shit, and Max Martin, Dr Luke, etc. were smart to leave it off Teenage Dream that first time around. But, you know how it goes — hear something enough times and your ears start to give in. It's Katy Perry's trashy snatch, and we're all just traveling through it.

Perry's previous #1s over yonder were "I Kissed A Girl" and "California Gurls".

Meanwhile, JLS' sell-by date must have finally arrived. Their new single "Proud", off their upcoming fourth album, squeaks in at #6.

The UK Top 10:

1. "Part Of Me" - Katy Perry *new* *1 week*
2. "She Doesn't Mind" - Sean Paul *new*
3. "Somebody That I Used To Know" - Gotye feat. Kimbra
4. "Last Time" - Labrinth *new*
5. "Starships" - Nicki Minaj
6. "Proud" - JLS *new*
7. "Titanium" - David Guetta feat. Sia
8. "Wild Ones" - Flo Rida feat. Sia
9. "Next To Me" - Emeli Sande
10. "Turn Me On" - David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj

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Steps Promote Hit Factory Live Concert At PWL Studios With Pete Waterman

Steps update #1: That Hit Factory Live concert featuring all the PWL acts you can shake a stick is going full-steam ahead. Here's a video of Steps and Pete Waterman doing a press conference and various promo about it:



Steps update #2: To tie in with the band's tour next month, Sky Living will air a whole new series of Steps Reunion titled, aptly enough Steps Reunion: The Ultimate Tour. This will later be followed by Steps Reunion: The Next Step.

Steps update #3: Still no word on new music from the band. And I'll no longer be going to their gig in London on April 19, due to a scheduling conflict. Sigh. But I will be going to Paris in June, so there is that.

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13 Iconic Pet Shop Boys Images By Eric Watson, Who Has Died

Eric Watson, photographer of Pet Shop Boys from the very beginning (and former pre-PSB Neil Tennant colleague at Smash Hits), died of a heart attack on Sunday at age 56.

There are so many iconic photographs Eric took of the Boys and videos he directed — images that were imprinted on my mind from a pre-teen age and on — and this roundup really doesn't do it justice. But they're some of my favorites. (For a complete look at Watson's work with the Boys up through 2005, pick up the coffee table read Catalogue.)

 

From the Guardian's obituary:

Eric Watson, who has died of a heart attack aged 56, was an important shaper of 1980s pop photography. His work for Smash Hits during a key era in British pop helped create the glossy image of the age. In particular, Watson's collaboration with Pet Shop Boys – Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe – defined the notion of image-making as a vital part of the way the post-punk generation took control of its own marketing.

Writing in the Guardian in 1993, Dave Rimmer noted: "Everything one now thinks of as the Pet Shop Boys – silent Chris walking two steps behind singing Neil, and so on – stems from discussions the group had with photographer/videomaker Eric Watson at the very beginning of their career."

"His aesthetic and our aesthetic pretty much coincided," Tennant says now. "We had endless discussions about the way we wanted to look. We didn't want to be smiley pop stars. We spent lots of EMI's money on endless photo sessions."

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US Chart Roundup: I Stan For Carly Rae Jepsen

Sia cracks the Top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100 chart for the first time via her feature on Flo Rida's "Wild Ones" this week. It's a shame this accomplishment didn't occur through something far classier, i.e. one of her own songs.

That said, with his rotating lineup of divas singing the chorus on his songs, Flo Rida really has become the modern day equivalent of the anonymous German rapper on some '90s Eurodance tune, a la this hot trash I just stumbled upon over the weekend by 2 Brothers On The 4th Floor:



Seriously, how have I never heard that derivative 1994 jam until now? It's like a Snap!/U.S.U.R.A/Real McCoy sandwich.

Elsewhere, The Wanted move up one position to #3 with "Glad you Came" while two notable singles crash into the Top 20: Calvin Harris' "Feel So Close" at #18 and One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful" at #19. Meanwhile, the latter becomes the first UK act to enter at #1 on the Top 200 album chart with a debut LP. One Direction's Up All Night sold 176,000 copies out of the gate to take the top spot.

Back on the Hot 100, One Direction's "One Thing" debuts at #90.

That brings us to Carly Rae Jepsen. It's inevitable that every spring some young ho will grab my ear with an irresistible pop offering. Most notably, this happened two years ago with Selena Gomez and "Naturally." And now, cue up "Call Me Maybe" (#23 on the chart), which I seriously can not stop playing.



Damn you, Carly Rae Jepsen! And, gotta love how the object of her affection turns out to be a gayer in the vid.

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "We Are Young" - fun. feat. Janelle Monae *3 weeks*
2. "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" - Kelly Clarkson
3. "Glad you Came" - The Wanted
4. "Set Fire To The Rain" - Adele
5. "Somebody That I Used To Know" - Gotye feat. Kimbra
6. "Starships" - Nicki Minaj
7. "Turn Me On" - David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj
8. "Take Care" - Drake feat. Rihanna
9. "Wild Ones" - Flo Rida feat. Sia
10. "Part Of Me" - Katy Perry

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Katy Perry Joins The Marines In Her "Part Of Me" Video

Katy Perry joins the few and the proud in the video for her recent chart-topping single "Part Of Me". The plot it simple: she sees her man getting flirty with some blond broad, dumps him and joins the Marines.

We get it, Katy — it's your tell-off video for Russell Brand. But why not turn lemons into lemonade (or at least cash)? Maybe the military can license this boot camp epic and use it as their next recruitment ad?



This song is slightly growing on me. Only slightly.

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It's Madonna's "Girl Gone Wild" Video

 

Madonna's "Girl Gone Wild" video, her second from MDNA, was directed by photographers Mert and Marcus, and very much has the feel of a fashion spread.

Madge is clearly feeling iconic again, or at least aiming to assert her queenly status in this era of pop wannabes gone wild. And when Her Madgesty is feeling iconic, Her Madgesty goes black and white and straight to the sex (see: "Vogue,""Justify My Love," "Erotica," etc.).



Not a bad addition to Ye Olde Vampyre's catalog of visuals, overall, and the song — a lesser trifle compared to some of the other superb tracks lying in wait on MDNA — is not nearly as entertaining on its own.

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Hit Factory Live To Bring Steps, Jason Donovan, Bananarama To London's Hyde Park In July

Bloody hell! PopJustice posted the official press release this morning for Pete Waterman's Hit Factory Live event at Hyde Park in London on July 11.

On the roster:
Steps
Rick Astley
Bananarama
Jason Donovan
Dead Or Alive
Pepsi &Shirley (!!)
Princess (!!!)
Sinitta
Hazell Dean
Sonia
Sybil (!!!!)
2 Unlimited (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Lonnie Gordon
Brother Beyond

Jesus. That kind of makes the Stock Aitken Waterman Gold night at G-A-Y (Sonia, Sinitta, Jason Donovan) I flew to see back in November  of 2005 look like dinner theater in Leeds.

There is also mention of a "very special duet 23 years in the making." Hmmmm. Kylie Minogue and Jason's "Especially For You" was released 23 years ago, were it not?

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Throwback: Everything Went From Wrong To Right (My 'Instinct' Anniversary)

Ten years ago today I began working at Instinct Magazine. I kind of took the long way around with a writing career, and even when I began at the mag, I took the non-editorial position of business manager, working directly with the publisher. That classy pic above is me (with my eyes closed) in my old office there, circa 2003, when the publication was based in Sherman Oaks in the Valley.

Of course, I wanted to be in editorial, and when you put your mind to something, it eventually all works out. Here's basically how I went about getting the job: I had been working at the E! channel for over a year (so I was broke as shit), was dating a guy who had a subscription to Instinct (a publication I'd never heard of), picked a copy of the latest issue up off his bedroom floor one morning in January 2002 and thought, well, I could surely write for this.

I emailed the general office address listed on the masthead and, surprisingly, heard from the publisher pretty quickly. We spoke on the phone, and he asked if I was interested in a career in editorial or the publishing side. Well, this was the publisher, so figured I should say publishing, right? An in-person interview and a few weeks later,  my career at Instinct began. That swimsuit issue to the right there (April 2002) was the one that had just hit newsstands when I started. 

Anyway, I'm glad I started out in publishing, because one of my best friends, Alex, began the same day I did. He got the editorial position that was open — that of managing editor. We're still pals today, 10 years, later, and I even crashed with him in Austin this past week (where he's getting his PhD) while I was attending South By Southwest.

****

It was a fun era for me when I started at the mag, and it really felt like a new beginning. I had been in Los Angeles for just under three years at that point, and had bounced around aimlessly from job (delivery assistant at Summit Entertainment) to job (production assistant at E!). I was finally working at a place where I basically went in, did my duties — which included paying all the company's bills, managing payroll, invoicing advertisers and acting as one-man collections agency — walked out the door at 5 p.m. and didn't take any work home with me.

Of course, as I mentioned, I was completely broke. So here's the story with that: I'd done that fucking stupid thing you do in your 20s where you move to the big city, charge the shit out of your credit cards and then go into debt. The year before, I struggled with two choices — either file for bankruptcy or consolidate my cards and go into a debt management program. I did the latter at the suggestion of my better half, cut up my cards and, by rule, wasn't permitted to open another one until the program ended and I paid off the $15,000 I'd racked up. And so, for five years, I had to live off only what I had in my checking account.

****

Kylie Minogue's Fever, an album I recently wrote a 10-year-anniversary piece on for Idolator, had just been released in the States a few weeks before I started at Instinct. I couldn't believe she was having a major American resurgence. The LP had debuted at #3 and it produced the Top 10 hit "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" and Top 25 hit "Love At First Sight". Needless to say, Fever was totally my jam that whole year.

Other stuff I was listening to then: Michelle Branch's Spirit Room, Daniel Bedingfield's Gotta Get Thru This, Natalie Imbruglia's White Lilies Island and Darren Hayes' Spin.  

Parker, the editor in chief of Instinct at the time, had just been mailed a promo of Pet Shop Boys' Release, and I remember being massively disappointed in it. Still, that first week at the magazine, I bought the import CD single for "Home And Dry" at the Virgin Megastore on Sunset Blvd. and played both it and the burned copy of Release I'd made religiously. Maybe the latter would grow on me? Yeah — it didn't.

When Release was finally, uh, released, I bought the two-disc version with the blue cardboard sleeve. Cheap-ass packaging. The BF and I caught the Boys live on that tour, at the Universal Ampitheatre, later that year.

****

One total downer that spring was when I got pulled into jury duty. And it wasn't like it was jury duty down the street — it was jury duty in Compton. The requirement in Los Angeles is that if you live within 20 miles of the courthouse you're assigned to, you gotta go. It just so happened that the Compton courthouse was 19 goddamn miles from my apartment.

What made matters worse was the fact that the Instinct office at that time was 11 miles from my place...in the opposite direction. But surely I'd show up that first day and would get dismissed and be done with it, no? Riiiiiight. I got put on a two-week trial.

The case, some traffic violation drama where a Mack truck had run over some dude's car at a stop light, was being played out in court in the afternoons, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. And it went the entire two weeks. So I had to work at Instinct during the morning, split at noon to drive the 30 miles and make it to Compton in time.

Two things I remember from that time period: Kylie's "Love At First Sight" had a different mix on US radio (the Ruff And Jam Vocal Mix) from the album version and I was pissed that you couldn't find it anywhere (these were pre-iTunes days), and drinking a lot.



In fact, I was so stressed from the long commute each day and missing so much work at a job I had just started that I drank heavily from the time I got home till late at night. Kahlua and cream. Watermelon martinis. Straight vodka. One night I went over to my friend Mike's house, got completely hammered and puked in his bathroom. I began to cry and hugged the poor guy and wouldn't let go. He probably thought about losing my number that night.

****

A crazy project I took on in 2002 was making a series of CD mixes, for both myself and my good buddy Moogaboo, that basically covered the prior 10 years in Eurodance music chronologically. Like I mentioned earlier, it was the days before iTunes, and a lot of this stuff wasn't easily found through online file-sharing services. So, what I didn't already have in my own music collection, I would seek out by scouring the used record stores of Los Angeles. And I mean sifting through CD bins for effing hours.

I, of course, had the essentials — Snap!'s "Rhythm Is A Dancer," Real McCoy's "Another Night," Livin' Joy's "Dreamer,"Alex Party's "Don't Give Me Your Life," Corona's "The Rhythm Of The Night," Amber's "This Is Your Night," etc.

But all summer long, between buying used CDs in stores and on eBay, I began to track down lesser known shit like First Base's "Love Is Paradise," Alex Party's "Wrap Me Up," Dreamworld's "Movin' Up," Urban Cookie Collective's "Feels Like Heaven" and Praga Khan's "Injected With A Poison."



When all was said and done, Moog came to visit me in L.A. over Halloween weekend in 2002, and I gave him The Collection, as we called it — all 12 CDs!

****

It was somewhat fitting that another one of my great friends, Steve Espinosa, had emailed me this past January to see if I'd be interested in writing his cover story for the current (March) issue of Instinct. The funny thing was that, like Alex, I met Steve 10 years ago today, since he was the magazine's art director then.

Steve had kept in touch with Instinct's publisher, JR, and, being a handsome guy, the day had come where he was offered to appear on the cover.

Steve is actually the one who pulled me into the editorial department of the magazine once there was an opening, back in January 2004. I took on the role of full-time photo editor once the guy who had been doing it part time left. Steve and I worked on every photo shoot together for the next 15 months, including Rufus Wainwright (May 2004 issue, which we shot at the House Of Blues at Disneyland) and future Kylie Minogue backup dancer Jason Beitel (June 2004 issue). I've written before about our Malibu shoot with the latter.

It really was a golden time for me that I'll never forget. We won two Western Publishing Association "Maggie"Awards for Best Alternative Lifestyle Magazine, in 2003 and 2004. (Here's a pic of Steve picking up the second one in April 2004.) And I made lifelong friends with several of my co-workers in those days. Sure, Instinct was constantly in competition with the other national gay mags at that time (Out, Advocate, Genre), but I never paid much mind to that. I was always just focused on what we were doing, and how we could do it best.

Of course, nothing lasts forever. Alex left the magazine in April 2004 and was replaced very briefly by a guy named Mario — who would go on to become this person. Once Mario left that fall, I became the magazine's managing editor. Steve left in March 2005. I stayed on until June 2008, and by that time, it was a whole new crew, for the most part. It just felt like my time to make a graceful exit.

Anyway, I wrote above that it was fitting that Steve asked me to write his cover story. It's funny how things work out — and he could hardly have remembered — but the issue that he appears on just happens to mark my 10-year-anniversary of being involved in some way or other with Instinct, since I still do their music reviews.

I started Chart Rigger while I worked there. I became a published writer thanks to the magazine. I became a way better writer there.

And tonight I'm thanking the universe that I picked that issue up off the floor in January 2002 and thought, well, I could surely write for this.

THIS PIECE IS A CONTINUATION OF:
* Mix Tapes, CD Singles And Being Boring—Tales Of A Lonely Teenage Nobody
* This Used To Be My Playground
* Coffee, Drugs, Death And Ace Of Base 
* I'll Remember
* Return To Innocence
* Threesomes, Term Papers, Erasure And The Book-End of Gen X
* All I Really Want Is You
* Someone Who Won't Leave Me Feeling...
* You Can Depend On Me

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UK Chart Roundup: Alexandra Burke's Auto-Tuned Thong Is A Drag

The UK chart continues its trend of being an utter snooze for another week as "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye and Kimbra racks up a fifth stint at #1. That's not to say that the song itself is a bore — quite the contrary, I love that offbeat breakup jam! It's just that all the subsequent positions need a jolt of something new.

And sorry, Alexandra Burke's semi-shit "Elephant," which lumbers in at #3, ain't that jolt. Broad, there's an elephant standing in the room, and it's the fact that this trash sounds like a Rihanna knockoff.



Blah.

The UK Top 10:

1. "Somebody That I Used To Know" - Gotye feat. Kimbra *5 weeks*
2. "Starships" - Nicki Minaj
3. "Elephant" - Alexandra Burke *new*
4. "Next To Me" - Emeli Sande
5. "Wild Ones" - Flo Rida feat. Sia
6. "Titanium" - David Guetta feat. Sia
7. "Hot Right Now" - DJ Fresh feat. Rita Ora
8. "Turn Me On" - David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj
9. "Love Me" - Stooshe feat. Travie McCoy
10. "Turn Me On" - David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj

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Kylie Minogue's Anti Tour Clips From Melbourne Are Effing Amazing

Two years ago I interviewed Kylie Minogue for Instinct, and she told me this: "I can totally see the day when I do a performance of all my unreleased songs in a very small club for a limited run, and perhaps that would be recorded."

Well, lo and behold, that day has come. Kylie kicked off her Anti Tour in her hometown of Melbourne, Australia, today, and the setlist looks absolutely amazing. I'm re-posting it below, courtesy of ONTD.

Here's a clip of Kylie, who looks absolutely stunning in her cute jean shorts and Marilyn Monroe tee, doing the old-school Stock Aitken Waterman jams "Made In Heaven" and "Always Find The Time" (I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE DID THESE!!!), plus B-sides "Cherry Bomb" and "BPM," and the unreleased '90s tune "You're The One".

I'm also not over the fact that, according to the setlist below, she does "Things Can Only Get Better"!



Anti Tour Setlist

1. Magnetic Electric (X bonus track)
2. Made in Heaven ("Je Ne Se Pourqois" b-side)
3. Cherry Bomb ("Wow" b-side)
4. BPM ("I Believe in You" b-side)
5. Mighty Rivers (Aphrodite bonus track)
6. Over Dreaming (Over You) (Enjoy Yourself album track)
7. Always Find the Time (Rhythm of Love album track)
8. You're The One (unreleased track from Impossible Princess)
9. Tightrope ("In Your Eyes" b-side)
10. Paper Dolls ("Spinning Around" b-side)
11. Stars (X album track)
12. Drunk (Impossible Princess album track)
13. Say Hey (Impossible Princess album track)
14. Too Much (Aphrodite album track)
15. Bittersweet Goodbye (Light Years album track)
16. Disco Down (Light Years album track)
17. I Don't Need Anyone (Impossible Princess album track)
18. Got to Be Certain (Kylie single)
19. Things Can Only Get Better (Rhythm of Love album track)
20. That's Why They Write Love Songs (KylieX2008 track)
21. Tears On My Pillow (Enjoy Yourself single)
22. Enjoy Yourself (Enjoy Yourself title track)

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Madonna 'MDNA' Previews: "Best Friend", "I Fucked Up", "Beautiful Killer" & "Superstar"

Trying to keep up with Madonna's MDNA song leaks is like trying to contain a ant invasion. (Sorry, I'm having a problem at home with the pesky little pests — ants, I mean. Not Madonna songs.) But as I sit here, post-SXSW, finally wading through the new clips from Ye Olde Vampyre, I'm pretty much like what I hear.

Last week we took a listen to "I'm Addicted,""Love Spent" and "Gang Bang." Below is the latest crop, ahead of the March 26 release of MDNA.

"Best Friend": Love the synthy, staccato production here from the Benassis and Demolition Crew. The lyrics aren't even that bad! Another stab at Guy Ritchie?




"Superstar": "I'll give you a massage when you get home"?"You're Abe Lincoln, 'cause you fight for what's right"??? Okay, okay — cheeseball lyrics aside, it's nice to hear Madge doing a straight-up happy pop song.



"Falling Free": Thank Christ this broad is working with William Orbit again. Beautiful ballad that annihilates her last album, the two Celebration singles and "Give Me All Your Luvin'".



"I Don't Give A": Take that, Guy. Not to sound like a broken record, but imagine if this had been the first MDNA single? I guess you could say that about any of these tracks. Another one that features Nicki Minaj, as well as a defiant Madge and production by Martin Solveig. I'm officially going to love this album.



"Beautiful Killer": More Martin Solveig, more allusions to praying and shooting, more awesomeness. Something about this song sounds very '90s to me. The lush production is great.



"I Fucked Up": Madge lays it on the line and owns up to her mistakes. Solveig's production here is sort of reminding me of "Nothing Fails" a bit. Really sweet track.

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The Wanted's US Album Cover Looks Familiar

With The Wanted's self-titled US debut album out on April 24, the band have unveiled the cover art. It's got that worn-photo look — kind of old-timey, and (speaking of old timers), let's face it, very reminiscent of the cover for Backstreet Boys' 2001 collection The Hits - Chapter One.

As mentioned before, The Wanted are set to head back to the States in a couple weeks for a March 20 performance on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno, April 2 gig on the mtvU Spring Break Las Vegas stage, performance on the Today Show on April 24 (day of the album's release) and then a cougar-rattling appearance on The View on April 25.

Anyway, guess the naked pics of Max George must be tucked inside the CD booklet?

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US Chart Roundup: The "I Was Trapped At SXSW" Edition

First of all, I'm writing this actually on Friday and back-dating it for Thursday, because on Thursday I was winding down my marathon 24-hours Austin South By Southwest cameo. I rolled down that way for the Idolator Pray For Pop Party, where we had Cher Lloyd, Penguin Prison and Wallpaper. perform (starting at midnight on Wednesday). You can see pics and then read my review of the showcase.

Here's Penguin Prison at the Idolator shindig. Isn't he cute?

Here's Cher Lloyd at the Idolator bash. Isn't she cute? I should mention that I also met Cher's manager, Craig Logan — i.e. former Bros member Craig Logan. And previous Dannii Minogue fiance Craig Logan. Super sweet guy.

It was rad. But I got no sleep. And I'm still recovering.

So anyway, I step away for two days and Billboard has gone and changed their Hot 100 chart rules again. The gist is that on-demand services such as Spotify and Rhapsody now factor in.

Says Billboard:

"As previously announced, the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart undergoes a major renovation this week with the addition of a host of streaming services to its formula, including those that contribute to the newly-launched On-Demand Songs chart.

"On-Demand Songs measures every on-demand play request and plays from unlimited listener-controlled radio channels on subscription services MOG, Muve Music, Rdio, Rhapsody, Slacker and Spotify. The plays tracked for On-Demand Songs include streams and tethered downloads by both paying and free/trial tier users.

"The Hot 100 will also include non-demand radio streams from Rhapsody and Slacke, audio on-demand streams from MySpace and Guvera and plays on video request service Akoo. Yahoo! radio streams and Yahoo! on-demand video plays, which were previously part of the Hot 100 formula, will continue to contribute to the chart's rankings.

"Additionally, the Hot 100's sales/airplay ratio has been adjusted to both accommodate the influx of additional streaming services to the chart's data pool and to slightly lessen the influence of sales, as the volume of digital downloads had increased exponentially since the chart's last formula modification in 2007.

"The chart's new methodology continues to place the greatest weight on sales, with radio the next most influential component, followed by streaming. (Under the chart's new recipe, on-demand streams will be weighted twice as much as passive/online radio streaming)."

So there you have it. 

Couple things of note on the chart this week: Rihanna and Calvin Harris' "We Found Love" drops out of the Top 10 (to #11) after nearly six months, while the latter's "Feel So Close" climbs 12 positions to #22.

Meanwhile, Drake and Rihanna's "Take Care" hops in the Top 10, at #7, while RiRi's "Talk That Talk" climbs into the Top 40 at #36. I'd care more if I wasn't completely effing burnt out on her.

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "We Are Young" - fun. feat. Janelle Monae *2 weeks*
2. "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" - Kelly Clarkson
3. "Set Fire To The Rain" - Adele
4. "Glad you Came" - The Wanted
5. "Somebody That I Used To Know" - Gotye feat. Kimbra
6. "Turn Me On" - David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj
7. "Take Care" - Drake feat. Rihanna
8. "Young, Wild & Free" - Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa
9. "Starships" - Nicki Minaj
10. "Part Of Me" - Katy Perry

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Madonna's New 'MDNA' Promo Pics

 

Madonna got her tits out for new album MDNA. Hoo-ray.

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