Mama-say, Mama-sa, Ma-Ma-Hard-Sell: Rihanna Throws Michael Jackson A Lifeline - Idolator Comments

Mama-say, Mama-sa, Ma-Ma-Hard-Sell: Rihanna Throws Michael Jackson A Lifeline

Michaelangelo Matos — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:05:52 EST

meaning "Don't Stop the Music" might have lost its club momentum if they'd put it out on the radio instead of letting it play out its dancefloor string.

then again, Def Jam may have just been smart enough to figure out they'd need something monster to keep the album and airplay going in the desolate winter months. I imagine they're saving "Livin' a Lie" to stomp all over things once spring rolls around.

Michaelangelo Matos

Mama-say, Mama-sa, Ma-Ma-Hard-Sell: Rihanna Throws Michael Jackson A Lifeline

Michaelangelo Matos — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:03:47 EST

@dennisobell: My Hot Club Play column was weird for me because I seldom encounter any serious dance-music fans who even know the stuff in that Top 10, just like a diehard KEXP listener would find Top 40 fans alien. Still, I'd guess even the most mainstream of dance-music fans to feel similarly: broadly speaking, club-culture denizens are protective of their hits, not wanting to dance to stuff they're already overfamiliar with from radio, etc.

Michaelangelo Matos

Mama-say, Mama-sa, Ma-Ma-Hard-Sell: Rihanna Throws Michael Jackson A Lifeline

Al Shipley — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:54:42 EST

Foo Fighters kinda-sorta defeat Linkin Park on this week's Modern Rock chart. It looked like last week's No. 2, LP's U2 homage "Shadow of the Day," would be the song to evict Seether's "Fake It" from No. 1, but instead the Foos' "Long Road to Ruin" sneaks up to No. 2 and is poised to take the top rung. Seether has been No. 1 on Modern Rock for six weeks and on Mainstream Rock for (no joke) 13.

And if "Shadow Of The Day" continues to slide, it'll be Linkin Park's 2nd single in a row to stall at #2 on Modern Rock, after 7 consecutive #1's (and their first single ever to miss the Mainstream top 5). They're still huge, but this could the first sign of waning popularity. Or not, who knows.

Al Shipley

Mama-say, Mama-sa, Ma-Ma-Hard-Sell: Rihanna Throws Michael Jackson A Lifeline

Chris Molanphy — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:49:30 EST

@Matos: Right, thanks, should have mentioned that.

It's pretty typical label behavior to prime radio for a club-friendly single by releasing it to clubs first and letting them have at it (Madonna's been warming up radio-bound singles that way for years). In fact, I think the Club Play run last summer is just further evidence that the decision to switch from "Don't" to "Hate" was last-minute in nature. I smell something having to do with intralabel Ne-Yo synergy. My wild guess: singles from his second album were flopping, and they needed to get him back on pop radio, pronto.

Chris Molanphy

Mama-say, Mama-sa, Ma-Ma-Hard-Sell: Rihanna Throws Michael Jackson A Lifeline

Rob Murphy — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:35:49 EST

Excellent job as always, Sir DENNISOBELL. And props for the love of "Don't Stop The Music". I've been saying for six months this was the number 2 track from that record.

I spent a lot of time in cars this week listening to Top 40 radio. And I must've heard every song in the Top 10 above a dozen times. Also, "Bubbly" [ugh!].

But the other thing I heard seemingly every five minutes was P!nk's "Who Knew". This song was all over my listening experience, even though I'm Not Dead is nearly two years old. And by the way, that was/is a fantastic record.

Maybe we need a "P!nk Award For Explicable Durability"???

Rob Murphy

Mama-say, Mama-sa, Ma-Ma-Hard-Sell: Rihanna Throws Michael Jackson A Lifeline

Michaelangelo Matos — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:08:08 EST

"Don't Stop the Music" was a hit several months ago--on the dance charts. [idolator.com]

Michaelangelo Matos