Idolator: mercyme

Barry Manilow: Rickroller

Maura Johnston — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:30:00 EDT

In the latest mission of his quest to milk the nostalgia of any group that has disposable income, Barry Manilow is releasing an all-covers album of songs from the 1980s next month. Manilow will take on "Careless Whisper," "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)," "Islands In The Stream" (with Reba McEntire), and... "Never Gonna Give You Up." Yes, that's right: We've evolved as a society in such a way that even Barry Freakin' Manilow has to pander to those people on the Internet who still think the phenomenon of "Rickrolling"—in which you make yourself laugh by surprising whoever you're engaged in instant-messenger chatter with a link to a clip of Rick Astley singing his 1987 hit—is funny. You'd think that the man who sang on many a McDonald's ad would deserve a break today, but I guess this is the time we live in. Anyway, it's time to figure out how Manilow will fare against other people who have tried to hop on the Rickrolling bandwagon! I've placed five other covers of Astley's signature track after the jump.

First off, here's the original, which you've probably heard at least once in the last year since you're currently using the Internet.

Now we have the covers.

High School Musical starlet Ashley Tisdale:

Christian pop act MercyMe:

Rosso Barocco (more of a remix than a cover, but it's better than the Tisdale version for sure):

Deep-voiced Internet sensation Tay Zonday:

Safe-as-milk pop act Kids Incorporated (featuring Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson on backup dancing):

I doubt Manilow's vocal range will allow him to beat Astley at his own song, but something tells me he'll be more than able to out-croon any of these Astley-come-latelies. And who knows, maybe he could even best this version:

Greatest Songs Of The Eighties [Amazon]

The Soft, Sanctified Sounds Of The Lord: We Listen To The Christian AC Hits, So You Can Read Along

Dan Gibson — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:45:00 EDT

Since apparently I have "no soul", I've decided to embark on a journey to better myself. But since the likelihood of finding a replacement soul at my local Target is dicey at best I've decided to do the next best thing: I'm going to listen to the top five songs at Christian adult contemporary radio, in hopes that I can learn something from them.

No. 1: MercyMe,"You Reign"

WHAT I LEARNED: Before we breathed, God was on his throne.
WHAT I THINK: The lyrics to this one—which was played 1,221 times this week on Christian A/C radio—are something of a cut-and-paste job from a classic hymnal, for better or worse. Also, this whole project is going to be difficult if every song sounds like this. Also, I'm pretty sure I prefer Sonseed.

No. 2: Brandon Heath, "Give Me Your Eyes"

WHAT I LEARNED: All around me, every day, there are people hurting.
WHAT I THINK: While this verges on serious John Mayer-ish territory (it is adult contemporary radio, after all), this is definitely more my speed. Plus, the way things are going, the line about the guy in a suit who lost his job is pretty appropriate.

No. 3: Chris Tomlin, "Jesus Messiah"

WHAT I LEARNED: Jesus was not just someone's friend, but the Messiah.
WHAT I THINK: I'm really not the ideal audience for this sort of thing, since I find most modern worship music a bit tedious to listen to, but I appreciate the sincerity, even if the track sounds like original material from a Snow Patrol tribute act.

No. 4: Third Day, "Call My Name"

WHAT I LEARNED: This "all that your heart could ever want" bit sounds interesting. Sign me up!
WHAT I THINK: I'm pretty sure the narrator in this song is supposed to be Jesus. But sung with a different inflection, this could be one of the creepiest stalker-songs of all time. I don't think Third Day's Mac Powell, who studied at the Hootie school of tone, is the right guy for these lyrics' job.

No. 5: Francesca Battistelli, "I'm Letting Go"

WHAT I LEARNED: It used to take years before the CCM market ripped off secular trends; now it's only taking a few months for Christian music to find its own Sara Bareilles, which is a significant improvement.
WHAT I THINK: The name "Sara Bareilles" should hold a clue.

So far, I feel like the healing is starting to happen, but it might take more time, and I'm not willing to queue up the next song in the countdown (by Big Daddy Weave!) in order to keep on the path. Would God ask something that severe of me?

Christian AC National Airplay [R&R]

Info You Didn't Really Want To Know: 2007 In Christian Adult Contemporary

dangibs — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 15:00:00 EST

Of course, you, the Idolator reader, are anxiously awaiting the results of the Idolator poll so you can wrap up 2007 with a tidy bow and move on with your life. But in te meantime, you get the Top 5 tracks on Christian Adult Contemporary Radio for the year now fading in the rear view mirror of your sensible minivan. And consider this fact: each of these tracks were played at least 32,000 times on radio this year. That may seem like nothing compared to the 600,000+ spins "The Sweet Escape" pulled in 2007, but in our new Huckabee nation and with a much smaller pool of stations, 32,000 spins should make us collectively afraid. Deeply, deeply afraid.

1. Rush of Fools - "Undo"

2. Big Daddy Weave - "Every Time I Breathe"

3. Lincoln Brewster - "Everlasting God" (not the video, but a sort of sanctified sing-a-long, it appears)

4. Jeremy Camp - "Give You Glory" [Curse you, BEC Recordings and your disabled embedding]

5. MercyMe - "Bring The Rain" (again, not the official video, but some sort of contest winner)