Music News, Reviews, and Gossip on Idolator.com » Phil Collins

The Morning Mix: More Bad News For Christina Aguilera

Becky Bain — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:00:27 +0000

Did You Hear?

:: A lawsuit was filed against Christina Aguilera, as well as Sony Music, for paying the wrong distributor for a sample used in her single “Ain’t No Other Man”. Can’t a girl catch a break? [MTV]

:: Robyn will headline Logo’s NewNowNext Awards on April 11. Oh Land is also performing. Give it up for the international blond ladies of pop! [EW Music Mix]

:: Diddy-Dirty Money and Adam Lambert will perform on American Idol’s results show this Thursday night. We can’t wait for Adam to shake hands with his fraternal twin James Durbin. [Just Jared]

:: Patrick Stump shares his favorite things, from Janelle Monae to shrimp vindaloo. Both are quite delicious. [Spin]

:: Phil Collins is retiring. “I look at the MTV Music Awards and I think: ‘I can’t be in the same business as this.’ I don’t really belong to that world and I don’t think anyone’s going to miss me. I’m much happier just to write myself out of the script entirely.” [Consequence Of Sound]

After the jump, find out which music acts are performing on the tube today.

Music On TV:
:: Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC) — Adele (repeat)
:: Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC) — Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (repeat)
:: Late Show with David Letterman (CBS) — the Script (repeat)
:: Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC) — Jimmy Eat World (repeat)
:: Conan (TBS) – Travis Barker
:: Lopez Tonight (TBS) – Steel Train
:: Live with Regis and Kelly (ABC) — Darren Criss

FRIDAY VIDEO TIME: The Highly Subjective Totally Debatable List Of The Best Songs That Start With The Letter “T”

Erika Brooks Adickman — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 22:59:00 +0000

Welcome back to our weekly series where we highlight the top songs over the last 50 years that start with a specific letter of the alphabet. We’re winding our list down as we reach the letter “T” this week. Our list this Friday includes a song that a big “Thank You” as well as a classic bar anthem we’re thankful came to us in the ’90s. And if you’re thinking that Michael Jackson’s mega hit “Thriller” is on this list—you should know by now that we’re never that obvious with our selections. Remember if you don’t agree with our picks, then leave your comments for us below.

Jump below to see the best “T” songs over the last 50 years.

’60s – “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” – Sly And The Family Stone

’70s – “Tusk” – Fleetwood Mac
(seen here from their 1997 VH1 taping of The Dance joined by the USC marching band)

’80s – “Take Me Home” – Phil Collins

’90s – “Tubthumping” – Chumbawamba

’00s – “Time Is Running Out” – Muse

FRIDAY VIDEO TIME: The Highly Subjective Totally Debatable List Of The Best Songs That Start With The Letter “E”

Erika Brooks Adickman — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 17:50:50 +0000

It’s time again our weekly series where we honor the top songs over the last 50 years that start with a specific letter of the alphabet. This week we move on to the letter “E”. Our list this week includes an “easy” song, an “evil” song, and a song that’s “en fuego”. And if you’re smugly guessing “Eleanor Rigby” is on this list, guess again. Don’t agree with us on our selections? That’s okay. Just leave your comments below, and don’t forget we’ll be doing the letter “F” next Friday. So if there’s a song you think deserves a slot, give us a shout.

Jump below to see the best “E” songs over the last 50 years.

60’s -”Elenore” – The Turtles

70’s – “Evil Woman” – E.L.O.

80’s – “Easy Lover” – Phil Collins and Philip Bailey

90’s – “El Scorcho” – Weezer

00’s – “Encore” – Jay-Z

Phil Collins: “I Can’t Drum”

Maura — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:00:08 +0000

Phil Collins has told the UK paper The Mirror that his drumming stance has ruined his chance of ever picking up the sticks again—basically his back become aligned in such a way that his vertebrae have slowly started crushing his spinal cord, and now sitting in drumming stance causes him great pain. But there sure was a weird bit of locution in the seemingly sympathetic Mirror piece that broke his plight!

But don’t worry, I can still sing.”

The news will be heartbreaking for Phil’s millions of fans worldwide.

Yes, I know the quotation mark changes the intent, but there must have been a better way to transition out of that quote, no?

Exclusive: Phil Collins reveals he will never drum again due to spine injury [Mirror via twentyfourbit]
Genesis – Abacab [YouTube]

Tiny Masters Of Today Might Grow Up To Be As Jaded As Phil Collins

Maura — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:30:25 +0000

Oh, Tiny Masters Of Today. When will you learn that the “videos making fun of the pop-star-making process” trope is one that’s at least twice as old as your already-wizened teenage souls? (And probably older?) Let it also be known that my first exposure to the clip for “Pop Star”–a song based around a riff wholesale borrowed from “Brimful Of Asha,” which isn’t a bad idea–was via MTV Hits, the digital-cable channel devoted to… oh, you know. For some reason, it’s airing an installment of Subterranean right now, which I’m sure some blog-band triumphalist out there will see as a “victory,” even though its videos have concepts directly influenced by the biggest, baddest arena rock of the past. [YouTube]

I Guess People Still Really Hate Phil Collins

Maura — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:00:30 +0000

The unkindest part of this quickly revised edit? “Eating babies” came before “drumming.” [Wikipedia]

Fergie Power: How the Spun-Off Diva Dragged Her Homeboys to No. 1

Chris Molanphy — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:30:32 +0000

Let’s imagine that in 1992, just after Nevermind peaked, Dave Grohl took a break from Nirvana to form Foo Fighters. I mean, why not? Grohl was a gun for hire, at least the sixth drummer to sit in with the band before they finally broke big. And let’s say he scored some of those juicy Foos radio hits right away: “This Is a Call,” “Big Me,” maybe “Monkey Wrench” too.

And then imagine he came back in ’93 to Nirvana in time for In Utero, making them even bigger than they already were—not just reliable album-sellers but the kind of band able to score regular Top 40 radio hits. Grohl would be transformed, from Kurt Cobain’s potent-but-silent sidekick, to coequal band focal point.

It’s a little hard to imagine for all sorts of reasons, not least the fact that Grohl was too respectful of Cobain to form his own project until both Kurt and the band were dead and gone. But the scheduling is also fanciful—who has that kind of time, to get a successful solo career going while keeping up with a best-selling group?

The fact is, it’s exceedingly rare for a successful side project to not only coexist with the original group but bring that stalwart act to new pop-chart heights. In fact, in chart history, it’s only happened three times (really, more like two and a half).

The third of these three acts is this week sitting atop Billboard’s Hot 100, in the form of the Black Eyed Peas*. “Boom Boom Pow” is, oddly, the act’s first No. 1—but it’s gun-for-hire Fergie’s fourth.

While I was off last week, the Black Eyed Peas set a digital-sales record for most downloads in a single week by a group: they sold 465,000 copies of “Boom Boom Pow,” nearly doubling the previous record, 253,000, set by Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida” last June. (Again, this is for groups; after Flo Rida’s still-inexplicable record in February selling 636,000 copies of “Right Round,” all sales marks pale in comparison.)

The Peas’ fat first-week sales total hurtled “Boom” from No. 39 to No. 1, as predicted; and while the song’s sales are down by more than a quarter this week, their second-frame total of 335,000 still gives them a massive advantage over any other challenger for the penthouse. Not even Eminem, currently racking up big sales at iTunes for his just-dropped single “We Made You,” stands much of a chance of evicting the Peas next week or anytime soon.

“Boom Boom Pow” is the first Peas release since Fergie stepped away for the multiplatinum solo project The Dutchess, which spawned five Top Five hits, including three No. 1s: “London Bridge,” “Glamorous” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” When “Boom” ascended to No. 1 last week, the Peas became the first group to score their first chart-topper after a solo member had already done so since 2000—and, again, only the third in the entire Rock Era.

Of the other two acts, one of them barely counts: Matchbox 20, who spent a single week at No. 1 with the unmemorable “Bent” in 2000, one year after frontman Rob Thomas received featured-artist credit on Santana’s über-smash “Smooth.” Sure, Thomas deserved the Santana credit—he cowrote the song and sang it. But it’s dubious to claim his solo career began in earnest in 1999; it took him another half-decade to record a solo album. Plus, the only reason Matchbox 20 hadn’t scored a chart-topper earlier was the Billboard chart rule in effect prior to 1998 that required a song to be released as a single to appear on the Hot 100. When the band had its biggest radio hits in 1997–98, album-only tracks like “Push” or “3 A.M.” likely would have been chart-toppers had the rule not been in effect. Bottom line, Matchbox 20’s inclusion on this short list of solo-career-stoking chart-toppers feels like an accident.

The other act, however, is basically indisputable: Genesis, who finally went to No. 1 in 1986 with “Invisible Touch,” after Phil Collins had already scored his first four No. 1 hits in 1984–85 (“Against All Odds,” “One More Night,” “Sussudio” and “Separate Lives”). Collins had arguably the most successful dual-track career in pop history, as his megaplatinum solo career coexisted with that of Genesis for about a dozen years.

It’s not unusual for a singer to break away from his band for a brief solo project and return. John Lennon did so in 1969 before the Beatles dropped Abbey Road, for example, and in the ’70s both Michael Jackson and Donny Osmond scored chart-toppers before returning to their respective bands of brothers. It’s also not all that rare for a coexisting side project to improve the home team’s fortunes—a recent example would be Jack White, who, after his first Raconteurs album, came back to the White Stripes and produced Icky Thump (No. 2, 2007), the duo’s highest-charting (if not highest-selling) album.

But Collins-Genesis feels like the signal historical example, because there’s such an obvious correlation between Collins’s ever-increasing chart profile in the ’80s and the band’s subsequent success. Collins wrote the group’s first Top 20 single (“Misunderstanding,” No. 14, 1980), then sang their first Top 10 (“That’s All,” No. 6, 1983) after scoring one of his own (“You Can’t Hurry Love,” No. 10, 1982). By ’86, when he came back to Genesis to record its sole chart-topper, the group was fully primed by his general ubiquity to shoot to the top—not unlike the Fergie-Peas situation.

One other thing Phil Collins and Stacy Ferguson have in common is their arriviste status. Both Genesis and the Black Eyed Peas were two albums into their respective existences when Collins and Fergie showed up. And Collins took longer to have an obvious impact. Fergie was vocalizing upon arrival in 2003; but Collins joined Genesis in 1970 mainly as a drummer—he sang no more than a few backing vocals until Peter Gabriel departed the group in 1975, giving Collins the frontman spot by default.

(In one other bit of weird chart convergence, in the summer of ’86, it was Gabriel who booted Genesis from the No. 1 spot when “Sledgehammer” replaced “Invisible Touch.” Call it the last ass-kick.)

Now, at this point I should probably acknowledge what some of you are probably thinking: Isn’t it a little incongruous, maybe even insulting, to compare Phil Collins to Fergie? (Of course, to you Collins-haters out there, he and the Ferg are probably just two forms of schlock-making evil.) I admit, in most ways, they’re apples and oranges. I don’t want to be condescending to Fergie; she does (supposedly) cowrite much of her material, and she paid her dues in the near-hit ’90s pop act Wild Orchid. But at the risk of sounding like an unbridled rockist, it’s hard to regard her solo career as anything organic. Collins famously recorded most of his 1981 debut Face Value alone, at home, and dithered about releasing it until legendary Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun encouraged him to do so. By contrast, Fergie’s 2006 debut The Dutchess was produced by a multidisciplinary team at Interscope Records with premeditation that’d make the D-Day planners gasp.

No, the reason I’m digging through all this Collins-Fergie trivia is trying to identify the peculiar set of circumstances that allows a late-arriving group member with solo potential to help, not hurt, the band he/she joins.

The arriviste thing, I think, matters—when a singer’s identity is hardwired from the start by the group’s identity, being able to float in and out of a solo career becomes impossible. Call it the Nicole Scherzinger principle: Interscope couldn’t do with her what it did with Fergie, because the Pussycat Dolls were the brand, not her. Or, going back 40 years: Diana Ross couldn’t conceivably have returned to the Supremes after 1970 (not that she needed to), because her persona had completely eclipsed the group. But Collins, the drummer-turned-accidental-singer, or Fergie, the starlet-turned-accidental-frontwoman, had malleable enough personas to permit them to form solo identities and then bring that brand value back to the group.

What all this means for Gwen Stefani—who’s back with No Doubt this year for a tour but hasn’t tried to record with them since her solo explosion—I can only guess.

Here’s a rundown of the rest of this week’s charts:

• Speaking of D-Day-like release strategies: Disney’s unstoppable Operation Miley Cyrus is marching onwards. In the wake of the release of Hannah Montana: The Movie, six songs from the box-office topper post iTunes increases and rise on the Hot 100. That crop is led by the No. 8–ranked “The Climb,” the soundtrack’s lead single, which sells 190,000 downloads; that’s 37% more than the prior week and 14% higher than the track pulled when it debuted in March. Even if the movie cools this week, Cyrus’s performance of it on Wendesday’s American Idol results show might give it another boost next week. (It’s also continuing to… er, climb, very slowly, on the Country list, where it’s at No 41.)

Cyrus has scored multiple Hot 100 placements before, when she’s released a TV soundtrack or new pop album, but this time she’s sharing the wealth. In addition to her own Top 10 hit, the bounty includes songs from Cyrus pal Taylor Swift, one more from Cyrus herself and two more from alter ego Hannah Montana, and a duet with daddy Billy Ray. All told, the six charting soundtrack songs move 445,000 digital copies this week.

• This is the first chart week that includes digital sales data recorded after the April 7 launch of the $1.29 iTunes price point, and the results so far are encouraging for the industry. The top-selling 200 tracks—of which roughly half were at the new price and half at the old 99 cents—shifted a total of 5.81 million copies during the tracking week, as opposed to 5.74 million during the week prior. The labels probably shouldn’t start popping champagne yet, since Easter fell during the most recent tracking week, and holidays generally boost sales at music retailers (even digital ones). I would argue that word of the new price is just getting around to music buyers, whose behaviors might take some weeks to shift; it’ll take at least a month or two to get a read on how the higher price is affecting purchase patterns. But for now, the industry that fought Steve Jobs for half a decade for variable pricing can declare a small early victory.

• What is it with mook-rock bands and George Michael covers? Exactly a decade after Limp Bizkit’s remake of “Faith” introduced the world’s most hated band to the Modern Rock chart (No. 28, 1999), Seether’s equally head-scratching cover of the Wham!-era “Careless Whisper” makes the list’s Top 10. After a rise into the winner’s circle last week, this week the single’s up two notches to No. 6.

Billboard’s own Chart Beat column noted last week that “Careless” is “the first cover to reach the [Top 10] since 311’s reinvention of the Cure’s 1989 classic ‘Love Song’ rose to No. 1 in April 2004.” That’s interesting, but what if the Seether track goes all the way to the top? It would become only the fourth remake to top the list in its 20-year history. The other three No. 1 Modern covers were Sinéad O’Connor’s definitive redo of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2U” in 1990; Alien Ant Farm’s smirky Jacko remake “Smooth Criminal” in 2001; and the aforementioned 311 desecration of Robert Smith’s boudoir jam.

• lastweek anewsongby Musiq Soulchild enteredthe r&bchart top10. “sobeautiful” ishiseighth songtoreach thewinnerscircle, andhisseventh chartinghitoverall tohavealowercaseletteredtitle withallthewordsrunningtogether likethis. thisaffectation beganwith thenameof hisdebutalbum, Aijuswanaseing (2000), buthedidnt titlehis songsthatway backthen—thatalbum spawnedhitslike “Just Friends (Sunny)” and “Girl Next Door.” itwasntuntil hissophomoredisc, Juslisen (2002), thatallhissongs wentthatroute, includinghitslike “halfcrazy” (No. 2) and “dontchange” (No. 3). despiteremarkableconsistency onther&bchart since2000, Musiq hasneverhada No. 1, anditdoesntappearthat “sobeautiful” willchangethat; itsdown onespaceto No. 10 thisweek. soheresa suggestionfor Musiq: maybeitstime todropthis lowercaseandnospacesshtick andseeifsending radioprogrammers ahit theycanpronounce doesthetrick. worthatryright?

Top 10s
Last week’s position and total weeks charted in parentheses (Digital Songs chart includes total downloads/percentage change in parentheses):

Hot 100
1. The Black Eyed Peas, “Boom Boom Pow” (LW No. 1, 5 weeks)
2. Lady GaGa, “Poker Face” (LW No. 2, 17 weeks)
3. Flo Rida, “Right Round” (LW No. 3, 11 weeks)
4. Soulja Boy feat. Sammie, “Kiss Me Thru the Phone” (LW No. 4, 16 weeks)
5. Jamie Foxx feat. T-Pain, “Blame It” (LW No. 5, 13 weeks)
6. T.I. feat. Justin Timberlake, “Dead and Gone” (LW No. 6, 19 weeks)
7. Kid Cudi, “Day ‘N’ Nite” (LW No. 7, 13 weeks)
8. Miley Cyrus, “The Climb” (LW No. 10, 6 weeks)
9. The Fray, “You Found Me” (LW No. 9, 21 weeks)
10. All-American Rejects, “Gives You Hell” (LW No. 8, 22 weeks)

Hot Digital Songs
1. The Black Eyed Peas, “Boom Boom Pow” (LW No. 1, 335,000 downloads)
2. Lady GaGa, “Poker Face” (LW No. 2, 204,000 downloads)
3. Miley Cyrus, “The Climb” (LW No. 5, 190,000 downloads)
4. Flo Rida, “Right Round” (LW No. 3, 180,000 downloads)
5. Kid Cudi, “Day ‘N’ Nite” (LW No. 6, 141,000 downloads)
6. Soulja Boy feat. Sammie, “Kiss Me Thru the Phone” (LW No. 4, 128,000 downloads)
7. Jamie Foxx feat. T-Pain, “Blame It” (LW No. 7, 122,000 downloads)
8. The Fray, “You Found Me” (LW No. 12, 111,000 downloads)
9. T.I. feat. Justin Timberlake, “Dead and Gone” (LW No. 10, 106,000 downloads)
10. All-American Rejects, “Gives You Hell” (LW No. 8, 104,000 downloads)

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
1. Jamie Foxx feat. T-Pain, “Blame It” (LW No. 1, 18 weeks)
2. T.I. feat. Justin Timberlake, “Dead and Gone” (LW No. 3, 14 weeks)
3. Keri Hilson feat. Lil Wayne, “Turnin’ Me On” (LW No. 2, 21 weeks)
4. Soulja Boy feat. Sammie, “Kiss Me Thru the Phone” (LW No. 5, 16 weeks)
5. The-Dream, “Rockin’ That Thang” (LW No. 4, 19 weeks)
6. Ne-Yo, “Mad” (LW No. 6, 26 weeks)
7. Rick Ross feat. John Legend, “Magnificent” (LW No. 8, 11 weeks)
8. Soulja Boy, “Turn My Swag On,” (LW No. 15, 13 weeks)
9. Pleasure P, “Boyfriend #2″ (LW No. 13, 11 weeks)
10. Musiq Soulchild, “sobeautiful” (LW No. 9, 19 weeks)

Hot Country Songs
1. Rascal Flatts, “Here Comes Goodbye” (LW No. 6, 12 weeks)
2. Jake Owen, “Don’t Think I Can’t Love You” (LW No. 2, 35 weeks)
3. Jason Aldean, “She’s Country” (LW No. 5, 21 weeks)
4. Rodney Atkins, “It’s America” (LW No. 4, 22 weeks)
5. Carrie Underwood feat. Randy Travis, “I Told You So” (LW No. 9, 13 weeks)
6. Tim McGraw, “Nothin’ to Die For” (LW No. 8, 17 weeks)
7. Darius Rucker, “It Won’t Be Like This for Long” (LW No. 3, 26 weeks)
8. Sugarland, “It Happens” (LW No. 10, 9 weeks)
9. George Strait, “River of Love” (LW No. 1, 23 weeks)
10. Taylor Swift, “White Horse” (LW No. 7, 20 weeks)

Hot Modern Rock Tracks
1. Kings of Leon, “Use Somebody” (LW No. 2, 13 weeks)
2. Anberlin, “Feel Good Drag” (LW No. 2, 28 weeks)
3. Papa Roach, “Lifeline” (LW No. 4, 13 weeks)
4. Rise Against, “Audience of One” (LW No. 5, 15 weeks)
5. Pearl Jam, “Brother” (LW No. 3, 8 weeks)
6. Seether, “Careless Whisper” (LW No. 8, 7 weeks)
7. Blue October, “Dirt Room” (LW No. 7, 15 weeks)
8. The Airborne Toxic Event, “Sometime Around Midnight” (LW No. 6, 36 weeks)
9. Silversun Pickups, “Panic Switch” (LW No. 14, 5 weeks)
10. MGMT, “Kids” (LW No. 9, 22 weeks)

* I hereby apologize for mentioning Nirvana and the Black Eyed Peas in the same post.

Hold On, Heart Of Texas: Phil Collins’ New Love Is The Alamo

Maura — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 02:30:00 +0000

Phil Collins has renounced his life of overly self-referential videos and mugging for the camera for a new passion: The Alamo, the former Roman Catholic mission that was the site of the Texas Revolution’s Battle of the Alamo in 1836. Collins is in Texas for the anniversary of that battle, and he took some time out to tell a San Antonio News-Express reporter that he’s basically given up on his music career so as to fully indulge his obsession with the structure. Luckily, his esteemed stature went unnnoticed by a lot of Alamo enthusiasts who had no idea who he was!

What began as a boyhood passion as he saw actor Fess Parker portray Davy Crockett now is a full-time pursuit for Collins, 58.

“He’s very well read,” said Jim Guimarin, who owns the History Shop and has traveled with Collins to battle sites.

Last year, standing under a moonlit sky among the walls at Mission La Bahía in Goliad, it was as if he and Collins had been transported back to 1836. Collins was given a private tour of the San Jacinto battleground, where the Texans defeated Mexico and won independence April 21. This year, they may visit a historic site near Corpus Christi where 35 Texans were killed or captured.

Collins also plans to attend Friday’s commemorations of the Alamo battle and is set to speak to the Alamo Defenders Descendants Association on Saturday.

Some Alamo history enthusiasts who weren’t familiar with Collins’ hits – such as “In the Air Tonight” and “One More Night” – didn’t know who he was when he appeared unexpectedly at last year’s events on the battle’s March 6 anniversary.

Tom Jackson, president of the Travis chapter of the Sons of the Republic of Texas, was a featured speaker that day. He said he knew who Collins was, but was shocked to see him there.

Jackson said Collins’ zeal could help stimulate an interest in Texas history in others.

“Phil has a strong passion, and I think that’s wonderful. There’s a great deal of well-written history for anyone with a desire to learn,” Jackson said.

Collins is narrating a 13-minute “diorama light and sound show” at the site’s attached shop, as well as working on a collection-themed book, at least one chapter of which will be devoted to the making of the book.

Alamo is new passion for singer Phil Collins [My San Antonio; HT bg5000]

The VII Greatest Super Bowl Halftime Shows Of Never

Lucas Jensen — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Prince, The Rolling Stones, Sir Paul McCartney: After this Sunday, this list will be the answer to the question “Who were the last five Super Bowl halftime show performers?” Boomer-friendly and safe-for-TV in the wake of Nipplegate, these big five have conspired to make the Super Bowl Halftime Show a Big Deal, water cooler fodder, something you might actually watch on TV. Some might point to 1993’s Super Bowl XXVII Michael Jackson show as a turning point, but the year after that brought America Rockin’ Country Sunday with Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, and The Judds—certainly big stars, but not exactly a glitzy, over-the-top spectacle. I’ve been a lifetime Super Bowl watcher, and I can’t remember most of the halftime shows I’ve seen. In fact, despite its billing as an annual entertainment extravaganza, most Super Bowl Shows have been forgettable, banal, or just plain awful. Seven examples, after the jump.

7. Super Bowl XXXV: The Kings of Rock and Pop featuring Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Aerosmith, ‘N Sync, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, and Nelly

Aerosmith by themselves, as much as I love/hate them, would have been a fine Super Bowl halftime choice. Thank God the folks at MTV, who produced the 2001 show, decided that would make too much sense and added N’Sync, Britney Spears, and Mary J. Blige to the bill, complete with semi-funny opening skit by Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, and Adam Sandler. None of it works. I’m sorry, but N’Sync just looks embarrassing now, and the “medley” that they perform is downright execrable. Like so many Super Bowl halftime shows, it’s overstuffed and to eager to please multiple demographics. Sure, the new picks aren’t imaginative, but at least they put on, you know, good shows with competent performances. More than that, they don’t feel so ADD and variety show-esque.

6. Super Bowl XXXIII: Celebration of Soul, Salsa and Swing feat. Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and Savion Glover

In 1999, the medley bug bit again, as Gloria Estefan, Stevie Wonder, and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (they’ve played the Super Bowl and I haven’t) celebrated “Soul, Salsa, and Swing.” It’s certainly better than the Aerosmith atrocity, and Estefan’s inclusion befit the Miami setting, but the stage is filled to bursting with people, and the shoehorning of the different songs over that incessant salsa beat just doesn’t work. Once again, wouldn’t you rather see Stevie Wonder perform by himself for 12 minutes? This was the second halftime show for Gloria Estefan, whose 1992 Super Bowl XXVI show was called “Winter Magic” and featured Dorothy Hammill and Brian Boitano. Yep.

5. Super Bowl XXV: Walt Disney World Small World Tribute to 25 Years of the Super Bowl feat. New Kids on the Block, assorted Disney characters, Warren Moon, 2,000 local children, and a card trick

In 1991, the halftime show was preempted by breaking news coverage from the Persian Gulf, so the above spectacle aired during post-game coverage. That’s probably for the best. This Disney-produced affront to human decency is bathed in sugar and syrup, and features the New Kids on the Block honoring our Armed Forces with “Step By Step” while Mickey (dressed in an Uncle Sam outfit) and pals bounce around with a bunch of kids. Later on, Warren Moon and some Boy Scouts showed up and the audiences did some card stunt. I’m sure the troops loved it. This is the kind of thing that really gets you going when you’re being shot at.

4. Super Bowl XXI: Salute to Hollywood’s 100th Anniversary feat. George Burns, Mickey Rooney, Disney characters, and a bunch of high school drill teams and dancers

Most people don’t realize this, but for the first twenty years of the Super Bowl’s existence, the halftime shows featured marching bands, cheerleaders, and shows with names like “Carnival Salutes the Caribbean”. Carol Channing showed up a few times. The first really boldfaced names to perform were… George Burns and Mickey Rooney, who dropped by the above salute to Hollywood’s centennial in 1987. Disney strikes again. I swear that the crowd sounds like it’s booing. I would if I’d dropped a few bills on tickets and had to sit through this putridity. Watch this and try not to hate. This marks Indiana Jones‘ first of two appearances in a Super Bowl.

3. Super Bowl XVI: Salute to the 1960s and Motown feat. Up with People

Perpetually happy neo-hippies Up With People made four halftime appearances. In 1982, a year when the NFL could have been totally getting Journey to headline an Arthur-themed Super Bowl, Stepford Children Up With People chirped they way through a godawful medley of faves from the 1960s. Billed as a tribute to the “60s and Motown,” what’s ironic about this, or maybe just sad, is that Diana Ross, hot off “Endless”, diana, and Why Do Fools Fall In Love?, sang the national anthem. That bill couldn’t have been juggled a bit?

3a. Super Bowl XXX: Take Me Higher: A Celebration of 30 Years of the Super Bowl feat. Diana Ross

Ross did get her Super Bowl chance…in 1996. It’s actually not a terrible performance, once she finds her footing after a timid beginning. Plus: helicopters.

2. Super Bowl XXXIV: Tapestry of Nations featuring Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton, and Edward James Olmos as narrator

One of the greatest Super Bowls ever, the 2000 tilt between the Titans and the Rams, yielded one of the more bizarre pairings ever, indicative of the throw-it-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks philosophy of the ’80s and ’90s. Just writing its title out seems wrong. Apparently, hiring throwing three people of Hispanic descent along with Toni Braxton and Phil Collins constitutes a tapestry—a tapestry of shame.

1. Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye: Indiana Jones & Marion Ravenwood, Patti LaBelle, Tony Bennett, Arturo Sandoval, Miami Sound Machine

[Embedding disabled; click here to experience the horror]

Unfortunately, embedding is disabled for maybe the worst Super Bowl halftime show ever, Super Bowl XXIX in 1995, wherein a non-Harrison Ford Indiana Jones and a non-Karen Allen Marion Ravenwood (I cannot overstate how “non-” these two are) “perform” a salute to failure.

After watching all of these in a row, a nice 12-minute performance by the same artist seems so simple and so nice—hell, two Up With People halftime shows, and I’m all, “Bring on the Eagles!” (The band, that is.)

Would You Be Willing To Get Arrested Over Phil Collins?

Dan Gibson — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0000

While Maura’s favorite sport seems to have its fair share of music related content, my deep love of soccer doesn’t seem to work its way into posts too often. But thanks to Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard’s Monday arrest in a Southport, England, bar, my dream of melding my two ridiculous passions into one post has come true!

I mean, there’s not much news in Gerrard’s arrest for a fracas with a nightclub DJ, despite my desire as a Chelsea fan for him to be locked up until June or so. But look at what the fight was over! It seems Steven wanted the DJ to put on something by his favorite artist, and the DJ refused.

One report suggested Gerrard and a group of his friends were involved in an altercation after the man refused to allow them to choose the songs played on the venue’s sound system. Gerrard is a big fan of Phil Collins and counts the singer’s greatest hits as his favourite album. He is also partial to Coldplay.

I’m not entirely sure what the Coldplay reference was thrown in, except for the article’s author to have an opportunity to reiterate that Gerrard’s taste sucks, but I just can’t imagine what amount of alcohol it would take to have me ready to break a bottle over my inability to hear “One More Night.”Guess I should wait to hear… wait for it… “Both Sides of the Story”.

That being said, nothing will ever diminish my love for “Easy Lover”:

While it doesn’t relate to the post except under the most tangential of circumstances, here’s Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s take on “Sussudio”, although I’m not entirely sure he was aware of what was going on.

Steven Gerrard faces assault charge over bar fracas [Guardian]