What were the 80 most important musical recordings, artists, trends, events, and performances of 2008? What were the eight things this year that broke our hearts—or, at least, our ears? We're happy to announce 80 '08 (and Heartbreak), Idolator's year-end overview. The list is below the jump.
More »
Oh, sure, the phenomenon of "rickrolling"—in which an unsuspecting Web browser is led to an online rip of Rick Astley's Stock/Aitken/Waterman-penned hit "Never Gonna Give You Up," for the sole purpose of bringing lulz—originated in 2007. But it wasn't until 2008 that shocking people with a little bit of gleaming, synth-drum-laden blue-eyed soul really took on a life of its own outside of the Internet's echo chambers, perplexing baseball fans, Thanksgiving parade watchers, and other people who were inadvertently reminded of the redheaded British crooner's existence by the ever-increasing hordes of people who were in on the joke.
More »
A few news items that you might have missed while sleeping off your cranberry-sauce-and-stuffing coma:
• Ne-Yo is going to bring his grown sexiness to the next Marilyn Manson album. [Hollywood Insider]
• There's a Grammy Museum opening! It'll be like a Hard Rock Cafe, except more self-important and with fewer franchises. [Variety]
• The latest '90s band to have reunion rumors swirl around it: Faith No More. Don't mess with my heart, you guys. [Blabbermotuh]
• And finally, lots of American breakfast tables were no doubt filled with confusing conversations about "this Internet thing" as Rick Astley came out to lipsync "Never Gonna Give You Up" during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, much to the delight of the Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends cast. Clip after the jump.
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.
More »
Earlier this week, MTV Europe announced the nominations for the European Music Awards, and I got halfway through a post about the nods before I got completely, utterly bored. Duffy's Rockferry as a potential Album Of The Year? A shoehorned-in nod for the huge-in-Europe 30 Seconds To Mars? Well, apparently I wasn't the only person on the Internet to be a bit underwhelmed by the nods, because in an effort to rally the troops via the employment of a meme that died six months ago, MTV has decided that Rick Astley—he of the Internet gotcha known as the "Rickroll"—should be one of the potential winners of the "Best Act Ever" award. And to further ensure that Internet attention would be forthwith, one of the other nominees is the way-more-popular-online-than-in-real-life German act Tokio Hotel. Yes, that's for the best act ever, and not of that three-month period during sophomore year when you wrote in your journal a lot and thought hard about life's unfairness. The full slate of potential all-time winners after the jump.
More »
Ashley Tisdale's cover of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" has finally hit the web in its entirety. Naturally, some YouTube yuksters are rickrolling Tisdale fans, claiming to have the new track while offering the old, but we're looking out for our Degree Girls out there. You can hear the track here and grab it at Bittersweet Lullaby. [Previously]
High School Musical star Ashley Tisdale is releasing an EP of '80s cover songs titled Degree Girl: OMG! Jams which is probably my favorite album title since Romeo! TV Show (The Season), if not The Big Problem ≠ The Solution, The Solution = Let It Be. "Time After Time," "Too Many Walls," "Heaven Is A Place On Earth," "Shadows Of The Night," "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," and the legendary "Never Gonna Give You Up" are all essayed on this effervescent turd, which lacks the thoughtful shadings and deconstructive allure of a DJ Sammy track.
More »
I spent this afternoon at the Mets-Phillies tilt that opened Shea Stadium's final season (FYI to any Phillies fans in the audience: just don't), and the one thing I was looking forward to—aside from my thwarted hopes of a Metropolitans victory—was the eighth-inning spin of "Never Gonna Give You Up." Last week, the Internet had decided that Rick Astley's late-'80s hit was the choice for Shea's eighth-inning singalong, after learning that the Mets had opened the choice for said song to an online poll, and apparently that movement had been successful: According to statistics flashed during the eighth inning and confirmed to me by an MLB operative, more than five million people wrote in Astley's song as their singalong pick. Which would, in normal times, have made the song the winner. But the Mets, being as Internet-savvy as a Major League Baseball team could be these days, had a trick up their "Final Season At Shea"-patched sleeves!
More »
Good news, Mets fans: Those of you who are, like me, personally offended at the way the Shea Stadium PA takes "inspiration" from Fenway Park and plays "Sweet Caroline" for the whole stadium to sing along with in the middle of the eighth inning may have a reprieve. Like the Nationals before them, the Mets have launched a balloting campaign where Mets fans can vote on their pick for the eighth-inning singalong, with the candidates including "Movin' Out," "Livin' On A Prayer," the theme from freaking Friends, and (sigh) "Sweet Caroline." Given my intimate knowledge of the Mets' demographics, I was pretty sure that "Movin' Out" would be the winner of this particular contest—that is, until I received an e-mail with the subject line "RickRolling Shea Stadium."
More »
Idolator
