Remember Lost in Space? What a timeless film: William Hurt, Mimi Rogers, Heather Graham, and TV greats Lacey Chabert and Matt LeBlanc. Back in 1998, there was such excitement for this cinematic recreation of the classic ’60s CBS series.
What’s that? You say you don’t remember this bit of Clinton-era movie magic? Or…you do, vaguely — but you seem to recall that it kind of blew chunks?
Well, how could that be? After all, Lost in Space was the movie that evicted Titanic, the highest-grossing and Oscar-winningest movie of all time, from the top of the U.S. box office after a record-setting, still unbeaten run.
This bit of throwaway trivia (regarding a movie that, all kidding aside, was a serious flop) leaps to mind as I consider the song that finally terminates the Black Eyed Peas’ half-year run atop the Billboard Hot 100.
Jay Sean’s “Down,” to be fair, isn’t half as bad a song as Lost in Space was a movie. It’s a pleasant little ditty, a Chris Brown‒like midtempo jam with a not-embarrassing supporting rap from prodigal chart hero Lil Wayne. London native Sean — born Kamaljit Singh Jhooti — also earns the happy status as one of the few people of South Asian descent to top our singles chart, after a successful half-decade career hitting charts in the United Kingdom and India.
Still, there’s no question that the Hot 100 win by “Down,” over a very competitive field of songs-in-waiting, has less to do with love for the track than with the Peas at last letting go. Jay Sean should enjoy the victory he’s eked out, because it will likely be short-lived. More »
This year’s installment of Farm Aid, the annual concert benefiting family farmers that was initially organized by Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Neil Young in 1985, will take place at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater outside of St. Louis on Oct. 4. Nelson, Mellencamp, and Young are all on the initial bill alongside the Dave Matthews Band; the four aforementioned men are all on the event’s board of directors. More »
Dave Matthews announced the free availability of… More »
Today’s “Yahoo Serious Film Festival” headline: “Dave Matthews Blu-Ray To Feature Dolby TrueHD.” I feel old. (Or maybe just too broke for new technology.) By the way, Dave Matthews still managed to go to No. 3 with yet another live album last week–the one that said “Blu-Ray” (lol) is taken from–despite the fact that he hasn’t had a studio album or a hit single or a public gaffe in a million billion years. (Okay, two or three years.) He is officially unkillable, so long as there is an audience willing to buy new versions of Busted Stuff album tracks. But that’s not the only technological treat arriving just in time for the school year:
Also, Billy Joel is going to keep next week’s gig “hit heavy.” People who shell out way too much money for shows: They’re just like the kids in my high school drama club! More »
From a commenter whose boss tried to buy discounted Dave Matthews tickets for this weekend’s $3,000-a-ticket show: “I forwarded this to my boss who is a fan of Dave Matthews and lives on Long Island. He said that they have pulled back the offer! Now it’s back up to $15,000. More »
This morning, tickets to Dave Matthews’ $3,000-a-seat show that’s part of the $15,000-a-pop Social@Ross series were going for $250 to members of Dave’s fan club. But if you’re affiliated with the Ross School, where the super-swanky, slow-selling series is being held, you have the opportunity to pay even less for your ottoman. An e-mail to “the Ross School community” is giving people affiliated with the school the chance to buy 100 pairs of tickets at a lowest-high-bid Dutch auction, where the 100th-highest bidder gets to set the price for the 99 bidders above him:
