Bret Michaels will return to Sunday-night TV this weekend, when his band–you do remember that the reality-show lothario has a band, yes?–performs on the Tony Awards with the cast of the Constantine Maroulis star vehicle Rock Of Ages. (Prepare for lots of weave-tossing, everyone.) Also on the performance docket: Dolly Parton, who’ll be accompanied by the cast of 9 To 5; Elton John, who’ll give the boys in Billy Elliot an assist; and Liza Minnelli, who has more than enough moxie to carry a show on her own, thank you very much. [Official site] MORE »
Posts Tagged ‘dolly parton’
everybody's a winner
100 and single
Lady GaGa Takes Slow and Steady Route to the Top
“Lady GaGa Scores Hot 100 Milestone,” a Billboard headline trumpeted yesterday upon the release of the new Hot 100.
What could this milestone be? you might ask yourself. Biggest self-aggrandizer since 50 Cent to reach the top slot? Most similar-sounding pair of hits since Rick Astley? Most successful pantsless act?
As it happens, GaGa’s achievement has to do with her Billboard batting average: two chart hits, two No. 1’s. This week, “Poker Face” follows January’s smash “Just Dance” into the top slot. She’s the first act to step up to the plate, swing just twice, and hit two homers since Christina Aguilera’s first pair of hits, “Genie in a Bottle” and “What a Girl Wants,” topped the Hot 100 in 1999–2000.
That’s nice for the Lady and all, but it masks a more notable achievement: her slowness in achieving those hits. The amount of time “Dance” and “Poker” took to reach No. 1 is literally unprecedented in recent chart history.
In a sea of hits that explode up the charts based on faddish bursts of iTunes sales, GaGa’s chart pattern is contrary to everything going on in pop music promotion right now, recalling the more languid runs by songs in the ’70s through the mid-’90s. It’s almost enough to make an old-school chart geek like me root for her. MORE »
Tell me something old
What Was The First 45 You Ever Owned?
Thanks to Nashville Cream for letting us know that today is the 60th birthday of the 45-rpm single, a format that debuted with Eddy Arnold’s “Texarkana Baby” b/w “Bouquet Of Roses” on March 31, 1949. They’re having readers delve into their record collections to find their favorite examples of that format, but I figured it would be fun to share our first vinyl-single purchases, and where they occurred. My first crush of 45s—all of which were purchased at Pathmark, back when grocery stores thought music was a viable income stream and back when I thought “b/w” was some weird code for the song on side “b” being in black and white (I was young, I dunno)—after the jump. MORE »
videodrone
At Long Last, Idolator Pays Tribute To Moonshinin’ Music
Lost in the shuffle over a whether or not Mark Mudd was threatening the life of Paula Abdul was the fact that someone auditioned for American Idol with a George Jones song about moonshine. And the related fact that Randy Jackson said it was a “great song.” Sure, Simon Cowell might not understand the appeal of music outside the Whitney Houston catalog, but there’s an entire segment of our American populace that enjoys hearing songs about backwoods distilleries, and that segment includes this part-time blogger. MORE »
top
The New Who? Britney’s Comeback Is On The Record Now
It looked for a moment at the beginning of Britney: For the Record that she might be making the full transition into this decade’s Courtney Love—that she might show us how the sausage was made, as it were, with a behind-the-scenes look not so much at her life but at the business of putting together a major-label pop release, with all the players present by name and all the machinations revealed. We didn’t get that, of course, but what we got was pretty good anyway. It wasn’t a puff piece or an installment of the E! True Hollywood Story, and if it wasn’t Truth or Dare either, that wouldn’t really fit with Britney’s character. What we got was a very well-made and mildly artistic documentary that was also an expertly crafted bit of rhetoric, taking Britney’s side but also making a surprisingly convincing case for it. How did For The Record pull off that trick? MORE »
reunions
A Party Affiliation That Pretty Much Anyone Can Get Behind
I went to PS 112 in Astoria to vote this morning, and while the school’s lobby was bake-sale-free, casting my ballot and walking to the subway put me in a good mood. The sun was shining, the air was crisp, and the promise of not being bombarded with election-related speculation was close on the horizon, at least until some idiot commentator utters the word “2012″ while scrambling to fill space on whatever cable-news channel has given him airtime. Which is probably why I had Andrew WK’s “Party Hard” in my head: Sure, it was barely after nine in the morning and I was on my way back to work, instead of heading out for the evening, but my heart felt right–like it was enjoying some wine, canapes, and total fucking raging. And isn’t that what matters? A counterpoint party song, and a rundown of some notable stories that got lost in the Election Day shuffle, after the jump. MORE »
Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”: A Popular Cover Choice For Musicians Ages 9-99
NPR’s All Things Considered took a look at Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” this week, which is not only the lone song my wife will sing at karaoke, but a popular target for actual musicians as well. (It was also performed by an unnamed fifth grader at my son’s elementary school talent show last week. When a song hits the talent show playlist, you know it’s moved into “classic” territory.) “It’s a great chord progression—people love that ‘Jolene’ lick,” Parton told NPR. “It’s as much a part of the song almost as the song. And because it’s just the same word over and over, even a first-grader or a baby can sing, ‘Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene.’ It’s like, how hard can that be?” Parton’s version, as well as some notable covers, below the cut. MORE »
New “9 To 5″ Musical Not Just A Step On The Boss Man’s Ladder
Popbytes has an extremely enthusiastic review of the Dolly Parton-assisted musical based off the workplace comedy 9 To 5, which is now playing in Los Angeles and scheduled to hit Broadway this spring. MORE »
leak of the day
Jessica Simpson And Dolly Parton Find Their Own Island In The Stream
ARTIST: Jessica Simpson featuring Dolly Parton
TITLE: “Do You Know” (from Do You Know)
WEB DEBUT: Aug. 28, 2008
RELEASE DATE: Sept. 9, 2008
MORE »
Dolly Parton: Not Dead
Just in case you heard the rumor this weekend that Dolly Parton had died from congestive heart failure, WBIR in Knoxville would like to let you know that Dolly is alive and well, according to her agent, Pete Owens. MORE »
