The Cure have dipped into double-album territory before, and the "light" 4:13 Dream apparently has a "dark" counterpoint in the can So why weren't the two records released as one double album?

Robert Smith recently told me the rather shocking factors behind the release strategy. Basically, Geffen were only prepared to pay them royalties equivalent to a single album, even if the album was priced as a double. In effect the label were penalising the band for wanting to give their fans more music for less. Smith insisted he didn't care about making any more money but the principle was paramount; he was furious at the idea of a major label conning him out of making the record he wanted. So he held back the second half of the album for six months and one day later, the earliest moment that his contract permitted. The concept would be intact, it would just be up to the fan to Sellotape the two "episodes" together.

While Mark Beaumont might be shocked—shocked, I say—over the label's cheapskatery with the legendary Robert Smith, double albums have most recently have been priced at either the single album pricepoint or a slightly elevated album-and-a-half price, so it wouldn't make much sense to pay Smith a doubled royalty rate. At this point, it's a wonder artists are getting paid for one album at this point, to be honest.

Still, the larger question is whether these "double the music, double the fun" releases are a good idea anyway, or just labels catering to the artistic indulgences of those temporarily lacking the ability to edit. The entire nature of the album is likely disintegrating before our eyes, with artists just as likely to release tracks in batches before getting into two-hour territory. But when double albums have come out in recent years, practically all of them could have been hacked down to a seventy-minute opus, or in the case of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium, possibly just not released at all. Speakerboxx/The Love Below was a nature of the two artists in one group dynamic of Outkast at the time, so they have an excuse, but otherwise, can we just declare a moratorium on the concept? Sure, it would have been unfair to ask Judas Priest to hack down their 102 minute opus on the life of Nostradamus, but even Kate Bush, whose 2005 album Aerial was her first since 1993, could have hacked down eight minutes of music to squeeze things on to a single sliver of plastic. Even you, Patrick Wolf. If you're a new-ish artist whose options are "retire from music" or "release a double album collaborating with Alec Empire", it might be a good idea to rethink your career.

Is the music industry calling time on the double album? [Guardian Music Blog]

Last month, the Hot 100—the big cheese of Billboard's singles charts—turned 50, and the publication's been rolling out the red carpet in honor of that golden anniversary. But today, another Billboard milestone is passing by with a little less fanfare: the 20th birthday of the Modern Rock chart. The late-'80s college rock explosion resulted in more and more commercial radio stations playing a variety of young bands and singer-songwriters that didn't quite fit into the Pink Floyd/Van Hagar-heavy format covered by the Album Rock Tracks chart (now known as Mainstream Rock) Billboard responded to that trend on Sept. 10, 1998, when it published the first Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.

In the two decades since, the alternative rock format has exploded—in terms of both stations and listeners—and then shrunk some, all the while going through an aesthetic identity crisis seemingly every five years. I've occasionally implied that the chart may have outlived its usefulness, given the dwindling listenership and its increasing crossover with the Mainstream Rock chart. But those arguments are largely facetious, and I hope Billboard never takes my suggestion to heart. (I'd have a lot less to follow or write about.) Two months ago, the trade mag actually added a third rock singles chart, Triple-A (as in Adult Album Alternative); the music on that chart more resembles Modern Rock's jangly early days. So with Triple-A at one pole and Mainstream Rock at the other, the Modern Rock chart is now, more than ever, effectively the center of Billboard's rock charts and its most important one, which assures that it should be alive and well for as long as there's terrestrial radio data to track.

A couple years ago, former Idolator regular Anthony Miccio counted down all of the Modern Rock No. 1s on a highly entertaining blog called modernrock4eva, which I've looked at from time to time as inspiration for this column, and to remind myself of just how silly and mercurial this chart has always been. For every No. 1 that could be praised as the harbinger of a new era along the lines of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," you have a handful of novelty hits, flukes, and bizarre mid-career diversions. I have no interest in honoring the canon, so I thought I'd go through the chart's first 21 calendar years and pick one No. 1 from each: not the best song, but the one that was most likely forgotten, never heard, or be classified as a "surprising" hit:

1988: Siouxsie and the Banshees - "Peek-a-Boo"

This isn't the most obscure of the five songs that topped the chart in its first four months of existence. But it was the chart's very first No. 1, and I can think of no more auspicious a beginning for this institution than a bonkers dance-pop crossover full of backmasked accordion.

1989: Public Image Ltd. - "Disappointed"

There are some perfectly valid reasons that this band is revered by some much more than John Lydon's other, more famous band. But this backup singer-aided ball of cheese, one of PiL's last gasps before Lydon entered an endless cycle of Sex Pistols reunions, is most likely not one of them.

1990: David J - "I'll Be Your Chauffeur"

Before embarking on this column, I had no idea that being a Bauhaus alum was apparently all it took to top this chart in its early days. Love And Rockets reached No. 1 in '89, and the next year both Peter Murphy and David J reached the summit as solo artists.

1991: U2 - "The Fly"

There were more obscure No. 1's from this year, but this wins by virtue of being one of the least-known lead singles from an established band's blockbuster album ever released. It's kind of amazing, in retrospect, that U2 managed to release this song first with future Achtung Baby smashes like "One" and "Mysterious Ways" waiting in the chamber. In light of how well they got away with this gamble, it's easier to understand where they got the balls to release "Numb" and "Discotheque" as lead singles later on.

1992: Lou Reed - "What's Good"

1992 was, for many people and especially for my 10-year-old self, ground zero for the alt-rock explosion. It was also the year I became aware of the Modern Rock chart—MTV's 120 Minutes would run through the top 10 before a commercial break each week. But even as some of the decade's biggest bands were scoring their first hits, the chart was still being dominated by oldsters enjoying their final glimpses of serious rock airplay, including Peter Gabriel, The B-52's, XTC, and ol' Lou.

1993: Tears For Fears - "Break It Down Again"

It's hard to compare this song to any of the Songs From The Big Chair megahits, but this one still sounds tremendous to me.

1994: Counting Crows - "Einstein on the Beach (For an Eggman)"

Their 1993 debut August And Everything After yielded three Modern Rock top 10 hits, but the only Counting Crows song to ever top the chart was this bouncy outtake, which was tossed on the DGC Rarities compilation.

1995: Red Hot Chili Peppers - "My Friends"

I may not particularly like the many, many power ballads RHCP has recorded since reuniting with John Frusciante. But they all beat the hell out of the one they did when Dave Navarro was in the band.

1996: The Cranberries - "Salvation"

The Cranberries' metamorphosis from the winsome Irish balladeers of "Dreams" to the creepy doomsayers of "Zombie" and this peppy anti-heroin screed is one of the more fascinating transformations of the mid-'90s alt-rock era. Some of Rihanna's fashion and artistic choices of late make me wonder if Dolores O'Riordan is her spirit animal.

1997: Live - "Lakini's Juice"

Along the same lines as "Salvation," this is a fascinating instance of an overexposed band becoming somewhat interesting at the exact moment that its career took a nosedive. It's a shame Live's ensuing commercial decline was full of more pap like "The Dolphin's Cry" than riffs as fucking nasty as the one here.

1998: The Goo Goo Dolls - "Slide"

1998 was a truly dire year for Modern Rock: It began with the 15-week reign of Marcy Playground, who were succeeded by the seven-week reign of Fastball (you can probably guess the songs). Things didn't get much better from there, and I can honestly say every single one of the 11 songs that topped the chart that year holds at least one unpleasant memory for me. And while this one isn't as good as "Iris," it's still the least overplayed of these songs that I could choose.

1999: Limp Bizkit - "Re-Arranged"

Most of Limp Bizkit's fun songs shoehorned in incongrously slow, serious bridges, so it was pretty shocking that they managed to make a whole song out of one of those brooding grooves that turned out to be one of their best hits.

2000: Green Day - "Minority"

Reminding myself that Green Day had such a popular "political" song shortly before American Idiot makes me marvel at how well they succeeded at selling that album as both a comeback and a change of pace.

2001: Sum 41 - "Fat Lip"

2001 was the year that Staind, Nickelback, Linkin Park and Incubus all became power ballad superstars, but at least one band was having some goofy, sloppy fun at No. 1 (well, two, if you count those guys that covered "Smooth Criminal").

2002: Unwritten Law - "Seein' Red"

Every time I read this song's title and tried to remember what it sounded like before looking it up on YouTube, all I could think of was Chevelle's "The Red," which reached No. 4 at almost the exact same time that this song topped the chart, features a refrain of the phrase "seeing red," and has remained a much stronger radio staple in the years since.

2003: Jane's Addiction - "Just Because"

A perfunctory one-week chart-topper from a hollow, pointless reunion. And thanks to Entourage's really, really annoying theme song, it isn't even the best-known track from its parent album.

2004: The Offspring - "Hit That"

This seems to be about the point where The Offspring decided to back off from the antics of novelty hits like "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)." But before getting fully serious with their recent hit "Hammerhead," they had to wean themselves off the silly shit by making a song with farting ska horns, awkwardly deployed hip-hop slang, and a video starring an animated dog.

2005: Audioslave - "Be Yourself"

Audioslave was an ugly marriage of convenience always headed for an inevitable divorce, but this song marked one time they seemed almost convincingly compatible.

2006: The Foo Fighters - "DOA"

Even though it's just three years old, it's not even the 10th-most-played Foo Fighters song on radio now. A shame, since it's just about their only recent single that follows through on the unfulfilled promise of muscular new wave glimpsed on early singles like "This Is A Call" or "Monkey Wrench."

2007: Incubus - "Anna Molly"

"Megalomaniac" could've been their "Lakini's Juice," but instead these guys kept at it and made leaner, better hard-rock hits.

2008: Staind - "Believe"

I leave you with the current No. 1, partly to give symmetry to our journey, and partly because I hope someday soon we'll all have long forgotten that gooey Diane Warren bullshit like "believe in me, 'cause I was meant for chasing dreams" ever topped a chart that's championed much weirder, better stuff.

Chickenfoot's been in the works for a while; in 2007, after some jam sessions between Smith, Anthony and the Red Rocker, Hagar made this bold statement to Spinner.com: "The band is like Cream, without the jazz, and with funk mixed in. We'll get up, do a verse of a song and then just go for 20 minutes. It's pretty great." Maybe Led Zep will let this funky, jazz-free Cream open for them!

Think they got the name from Prison Break?

SAMMY HAGAR Talks Tequila; Video Available [Blabbermouth]
Chicken Foot Sammy [YouTube]

While it may not score them points at their next performance review, the men of Microsoft's a cappella group, the Baudboys, have met their goal.

About five years ago, the programmers-cum-pop singers started reinventing their sound with an eye on the Harmony Sweepstakes, billed as the "premier American showcase for vocal harmony music."

They won the Northwest regional event and will compete Saturday in the national tournament in California.

The group, which split off from another company group called the Microtones in the early 1990s, performed to a packed atrium on the corporate campus Wednesday.

"How cool for Microsoft to have something like that coming from within the ranks," said Shari Fowler, an employee who spent her lunch hour watching the concert.

No comment.

Microsoft's Baudboys singers scoring big with their gigs [Seattle Times; HT mackro]
Baudboys at NW Harmony Sweeps 2008 [Youtube]

42. Morrissey, Your Arsenal

"Morrissey appears topless and vulnerable, neither dispelling nor confirming rumours surrounding his sexuality as his posture is effete while his body toning is masculine. His microphone looks extremely phallic too."

28. Herbie Mann, Push Push

"Flouting his thick curly chest hair and ominously holding his flute as if it's some kind of sex toy, to us at least, it's stomach-churningly cheesy. Mr Mann seems to be pleased with himself. The dirty bugger."

26. Lords Of Acid, Crablouse

"A curious male naked form, with a female hand seemingly coming out of nowhere and grabbing the genital region, it's just plain baffling."

15. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Abbey Road EP

"We just wonder what they're hiding?"

13. Prince, Lovesexy

"The site [sic] of Prince unclothed is enough to send many-a-woman or gay man weak at the knees, and that's exactly what we got back in 1989: the pint sized music icon completely bollocks naked."

8. Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers

"The well-endowed chap in question is apparently Joe Dallesandro and not Mick Jagger who is apparently hung like a mouse."

7. Kevin Rowland, My Beauty

"While many claimed it was merely a publicity stunt, the former Dexys man denied saying he was trying to display his 'soft, sexy, feminine side'. It sold about two copies upon its 1999 release. Literally."

1. Liars, It Fit When I Was A Kid

"Although we don't think Angus Andrew and co are into sexing each other up, they sure look like they're enjoying themselves."

Naked men! So funny! Within this group, there are arguably three covers (Morrissey, Prince, Rolling Stones) where male nudity isn't taken as absurd, intentionally or otherwise. The same can't be said of most the boob, butt, and beaver shots that compile the rest of the list. So what would a list that didn't find chest hair inherently ridiculous include? Al Green's Greatest Hits? Raw Power? Uhh, umm... a little help?

Sex Sells: The 50 Dirtiest and Sexiest Album Covers Ever!! [Gigwise]

The lawsuit alleges unfair competition, dilution of the value of the name and unjust enrichment, claiming the title is "inherently distinctive, famous ... and immediately associated in the mind of the consumer" with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

"Californication is the signature CD, video and song of the band's career, and for some TV show to come along and steal our identity is not right," said the band's lead singer, Anthony Kiedis, in a statement.

The AP had no luck in tracking down Tom Kapinos, the show's creator, whose only other major credit seems to some writer/producer involvement with Dawson's Creek. (Did you check the picket lines, guys?) But wait, isn't "Under The Bridge" the Chili Peppers' signature song? Maybe a troll should sue them for unfair competition.

Red Hot Chili Peppers Sue Showtime [AP]

The Red Hot Chili Peppers will entertain visitors to California's Disneyland Resort during the first few months of 2007 by helping to transform two of the resort's most popular rides with their music. ...

Space Mountain—which opened in 1976 and was recently given an extensive rebuild from the bottom up—will become Rockin' Space Mountain during the promotion's run, with the band's 1989 cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" accompanying riders as they soar through the ride's virtual outer space setting.

Rockin' California Screamin' will also feature a new soundtrack in the form of the Chili Peppers' 1999 hit single "Around the World." The four-minute ride—which takes guests from zero to 55 miles per hour in a mere four seconds—is the world's longest steel-looping coaster, according to a press release.

Rejected by the Disneyland people: Wax dummies of all four Chili Peppers, wearing nothing but socks, greeting visitors to "It's A Small World."

Red Hot Chili Peppers to rock Disneyland Resort [LiveDaily]

Apparently that Stadium Arcadium money has not yet trickled down to the lower echelons of the Chili Peppers' staff, as two of the group's roadies are auctioning off the privilege of placing a custom-made advertisement on the backs of their T-shirts:

Here is the deal if you win the auction:
* You email us a Jpeg or Gif of the advertisiment you would like displayed.
* We will then print the graphic onto two 8-1/2" x 11" pieces of paper and
* At the agreed upon show date, the Pepper's roadies Scott the Lampi and Dave Rat will afix the ad to the back of our shirts for the duration of the Peppers live perfomance, approximately 90 minutes.

So far, they're at $172.50. We're not sure if they're obliged to take whatever ads they get, but we're hoping the winner opts for "Enough With The Solo Muckity-Muck, Frusciante!" or "Kabbalah? Really?"

Advertise on a roadie at Red Hot Chili Peppers concert [eBay]