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Above: the top three albums on the latest album-sales chart put together by industry rag Hits, which tallied sales through Sunday. Michael Jackson took all three of the top spots, with Thriller notching 106,956 sales, the 38-song compilation Essential Michael Jackson selling 105,648 copies, and the more pared-down Number Ones collection moving 104,163 units. These numbers will likely be at least somewhat different than the ones proferred by Billboard tomorrow–and the release dates of these albums, as well as Jackson’s other catalog, will result in them landing on the all-encompassing Billboard Comprehensive Albums chart, as opposed to the newer-skewing Billboard 200–but they’re still worth noting, particularly since (as Chris Molanphy pointed out to me) these numbers might eventually represent a moment when lots of casual music consumers hit up digital-music outlets for the first time. Late last night, Billboard ran an item presaging Jackson’s return to pop-chart dominance, and it noted that the potential for digital sales were high: More »
Archive for June, 2009
U2 Stage Design To Turn Band Into Individually Wrapped Prizes
Michael Jackson To Lie In Repose At Neverland This Friday
CNN is reporting that Michael Jackson’s body will be laid out for a public viewing this Friday at his longtime home Neverland Ranch; it’ll be transported there on Thursday. The spectacle that will inevitably arise from this event was assured to be bonkers; add to that the fact that on Friday many Americans’ workplaces will be granting their employees a day off to celebrate Independence Day, and one could say that this event will assuredly be mind-bending at the very least. I wonder how many people started camping outside the ranch as soon as this story broke? [CNN] More »
Mr. Hudson Is Feeling The Heat Of A Thousand Stars
The video for Mr. Hudson’s Kanye West-assisted “Supernova” takes West’s British protégé out of a dropping-with-fanciness hotel and into the heavens, with a brief homage to Lost In Translation along the way. It’s not the deepest video in the vault, for sure, but it’s pretty enough to look at, and the song’s synth-tastic puffery makes for a nice bookend with Kanye’s similarly over-the-top “Paranoid.” [Vimeo] More »
“Vibe,” R.I.P.
Vibe, the urban-culture magazine founded by Quincy Jones in 1993, is ceasing publication, according to media reporter Jeff Bercovici (who confirmed the news with an assistant to editor-in-chief Danyel Smith). The mag had announced that it would be reducing its publication schedule, adding a gossipy offshoot, cutting workweeks to four days, and raising subscription prices earlier this year. [Daily Finance via The Awl] More »
Jewel Following Her Culinary Intuition, For Better Or Worse
Jewel moves from soothing babies to upsetting stomachs today as she takes a spin around the Denny’s test kitchen and test-drives an item for the restaurant chain’s Rockstar Menu, which has so far spawned the likes of the Hooburrito and the Sumwich. But what on earth could she be making? A larger version of her in action after the jump. More »
Simon Cowell To End Up Richer Than You No Matter What
Buried in a Guardian piece on Simon Cowell’s plans for world entertainment domination, which he hopes to achieve through the creation of a company that will create and own TV shows in the U.S. and Europe was a tidbit about just how much the acid-tongued Brit might be paid for a season of American Idol when (and if) he re-ups his contract at the end of the show’s forthcoming season. Whatever number you’re thinking he might have been offered? It’s way, way too low. More »
Rob Thomas Has Some New Lullabyes Up His Sleeve
Our look at the closing lines of the week’s biggest new-music reviews continues with a roundup of reactions to cradlesong, the second solo album by Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas: More »
Drake Was Paying Tribute To Michael Jackson Seven Years Ago
From the When News Cycles Collide Seven-ish Years In Advance File: Above, a compilation of Aubrey “Drake” Graham paying homage to Michael Jackson during an episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation that’s all about a 1980s-themed dance at the Canadian high school. Not as weird as rock scribe Steven Wells signing off his final column for the Philadelphia Weekly with a Jackson 5 lyric last week, but given that Drake’s torn ACL and newly signed deal with Lil Wayne’s Cash Money Records have resulted in his Google Alerts being pretty lively this week, it’s still a noteworthy coincidence. [WorldStarHipHop via Shawn M. Smith] More »
