Once again, we present Rock-Critically Correct, a feature in which the most recent issues of Rolling Stone, Blender, Vibe, and Spin are given a once-over by a writer who's contributed to many of those magazines, as well as a few others! In this installment, he looks at the new issue of Vibe:
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Hey, look, it's a press release from Vibe: "International superstar Mariah Carey will grace the cover of VIBE Magazine's June 2008 issue, which hits newsstands on Tuesday, May 6th. The sultry songstress heats up the pages of the magazine's summer issue as she models some of the season's hottest swimwear revealing her recent weight loss." Gosh, I hope there are diet tips in there too! (And that they go beyond "Get someone well-versed in Photoshop to prep your cover shot!")
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Mariah Carey and former Nickelodeon star Nick Cannon—shown here in 2005, back when Nick was still playing to the green slime crowd—have tied the knot, according to reports. (Guess she didn't mind getting a slightly used engagement ring.) I'm hoping that this means I'll soon be heading to my local multiplex to see a Drumline 2, only it's also going to bring all the characters from Glitter (especially the disappearing cat!) into its world, have an awkward unplanned pregnancy "B" storyline, and end with a marching-band performance of "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On." [Rap-Up / Photo: Getty]
On first glance, the top four occupants of this week's album chart—Mariah Carey's E=MC2 (182,000 copies); Leona Lewis' Spirit (96,000); Flight Of The Conchords (52,000); and Ashlee Simpson's Bittersweet World (47,000)—are a testament to the importance of television in promoting albums; all four artists had their albums co-promoted on various chat and game shows last week (and, in the case of the mumble-funny Kiwis in Flight, their own HBO series). On second look, their sales totals are further evidence that the bar for a "successful" album is even lower these days, particularly if you count the sales of the No. 5 album, Atmosphere's When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold, which sold 36,000 copies last week. When life gives you lemons, indeed.
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New Yorkers know the feeling of walking down the street while not thinking about Mariah Carey. Most might consider it a comforting experience, maybe even the way one ought to walk around the city. But this weekend, the Mariah Carey publicity machine is making sure that every time you look up and in the general direction of midtown, your thoughts will turn immediately toward the diva; the Empire State Building will be "lit in pink, lavender and white all weekend to celebrate the album color motif of Mariah's new album E=MC2."
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Mariah Carey pulled in her highest sales week and the highest sales week of 2008 during the first week that E=MC2 was on shelves, but her tally didn't break the half-million mark; the album sold 463,000 copies, outpacing the first-week sales of Jack Johnson's Sleep Through The Static by about 90,000.
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Question
This month's two big record releases—Madonna's Hard Candy and Mariah Carey's E=MC2—were kept under super-secret lock and key by their record labels, but that didn't stop them from leaking approximately 10 days before they were scheduled to hit shelves, with both leaks being marked as the "retail" editions of the album. Somehow in my life I've never worked in a record store, so I'm wondering exactly why these retail editions have always seemed to show up at the same time on even the most protected albums. (Recall that even the Raconteurs record leaked, despite its much shorter lead time.) Wouldn't it make more sense to get the albums on store shelves as soon as the shipments arrive? Why is the music industry still so attached to the Tuesday release date, anyway? I realize that even in these hard times it's a large, lumbering beast, but you'd think that protecting a revenue stream would at least spur some sort of action. [Photo via Spojen?]
Ed. note: Chris "dennisobell" Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week's Billboard charts:
Forget that sleepy winter we just endured. We've got a horse race.
The top slot on Billboard's Hot 100 has turned into a revolving door, as Mariah Carey succumbs to the gal she replaced just two weeks ago.
Boosted by the U.S. release of her debut album, Leona Lewis rides her biggest week of digital sales yet (223,000 downloads) to recapture the top slot on the chart with "Bleeding Love." Back in March, when the song first rose to No. 1, we snarked about the power of Oprah to make this British reality-show ingénue an American pop star. But at this point, it's only fair to say that Lewis' song is pretty much doing the heavy lifting on its own.
Lewis shouldn't get too comfortable, however: Almost every other song in the Top Five could plausibly replace her next week, including "Touch My Body," the Carey song she replaced.
R. Kelly continues his quest to be King Of Singing "It's The Remix" by adding a few verses to Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body." It's probably best for all involved that his wide-reaching remixing style means that the song's "I'd best not see this clip on YouTube" line is nowhere to be found in this new version. [Prefix]
From time to time, we like to round up the all-important, all-summarizing last sentences of the biggest new-music reviews. Under consideration today is the latest album by Mariah Carey, E=MC2, which hits stores tomorrow:
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Ed. note: Chris "dennisobell" Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week's Billboard charts:
For all their popularity the world over, songs by Radiohead haven't exactly set the charts alight. (Even in their homeland: they've never scored a U.K. No. 1.) In part that's due to their status as a top-tier album act; fans would sooner buy the full-length than an individual track.
But it's also a function of Radiohead's erratic approach to singles. Sometimes they pack singles with invaluable B-sides for collectors; sometimes songs are only serviced to radio—and that includes some of the band's catchiest tunes ("Let Down," "Bodysnatchers").
This week, we have evidence that Radiohead should release singles more often—or at least, release them in pieces. They score only the second U.S. Top 40 hit of their career, with one of the least catchy songs on the catchier-than-usual In Rainbows.
"Nude" debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 37, instantly becoming their biggest hit since "Creep" made No. 34 in 1993. Honestly, though, the two hits aren't remotely comparable in terms of popularity. "Nude" achieves this high chart placement thanks to Radiohead releasing the song as a remix project, and asking rabid fans to pay 99 cents for each piece of the mix. Which they dutifully did.
Like the Timex Social Club, I spend a lot of time lamenting the rumors that surround me every day. How do they get started? And where do they get crazy? In Truthmongerer, I'll try to suss out the kernels of truth in the rumors that are taking up airspace in gossip columns, blogs, and our tips inbox.
THE RUMOR: Ashlee Simpson's camp is so nervous about Mariah Carey getting all the press—and the sales—when Ashlee's long-delayed album Bittersweet World comes out at the end of April that they've actually leaked E=MC2 in an effort to make its release "less newsworthy."
TRUTH THRESHOLD: 20%.
Details from last night's taping of "Idol Gives Back," which I didn't make the press-list cut for and which is one of three episodes of American Idol airing this week, thus ensuring that the producers won't pull the same "we're not sending anyone home because that would ruin the feel-good vibe of the night" shenanigans that they engaged in last year:
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Ed. note: Chris "dennisobell" Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week's Billboard charts:
So momentous was the news of Mariah Carey's triumph on the Hot 100 with "Touch My Body" that Billboard leaked it on Wednesday, a day early. Chart freaks talk about acts beating small records all the time. But it's not every day that someone beats a mark on the all-time list that involves something as iconic as career No. 1 hits. And it's even rarer when that record is four decades old and involves the King of Rock & Roll.
And hey, Elvis was only ranked second on the list for total No. 1 hits. (He was, until this week, first place among solo acts.) Even sadder for Presley fans, this same week, another lady bests a record he had all to himself—this time, for most Top 10 hits. As "4 Minutes" makes a 65-point leap to No. 3, Madonna pulls out of a tie with the King, leaving him all shook up with 17 No. 1's and 36 Top 10s, to Carey's 18 chart-toppers and Madge's 37 smashes.
There's no joy in Graceland today. And if you're near Abbey Road right now, don't be surprised if folks there look a bit twitchy, too.
With "Touch My Body" taking the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart this week, Mariah Carey now has 18 No. 1 singles to her record, more than any act except the Beatles, unless the estate of Elvis Presley tries to get some celebrity remixers on that, stat. "Vision Of Love," "Someday," "Emotions," "I'll Be There," "Hero," "Fantasy," "One Sweet Day," "We Belong Together"—over the last 18 years she's made a lot of blockbusters. But surely there are some of these smashes that people have forgotten. I know I don't know all seventeen of the King's.
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Ed. note: Chris "dennisobell" Molanphy, our resident chart guru, looks at the upward, downward, and lack of movement on this week's Billboard charts:
As we previewed yesterday, Leona "Limey Mariah" Lewis has fulfilled our prediction from last week and shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with her debut single, "Bleeding Love."
But she's not the only newsmaker in the winners' circle. After one of the most stagnant winters in pop-chart history—just last week, the top seven records were unchanged—music lovers welcome spring by throwing a grenade into the middle of the Top 10, where songs scatter everywhere. The results: Lil Wayne has his first Top 10 hit as a lead artist, Lil Mama has her second, and an exceedingly tacky Ray J song is hurtling toward the top.
He'll have to wait, however, if he expects to crown the chart. Lewis is going to be replaced at No. 1 next week, but not by him.
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.jpg "This Year, \"American Idol\" Will Be Won By A Dude Named David (But You Knew That Already)")
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