So, Michael, the first posthumous release of unreleased material by The King of Pop, hasn’t exactly lived up to expectations. While certified Platinum in the U.S. for shipments of in excess of a million copies, the reality is that it’s sold about half of that. It’s hard to breathe life into a project when the artist isn’t here to promote it, but bless their hearts, Michael’s record company and management are trying. “Hollywood Tonight” is the second video release from […]
R.I.P.
Blerd Appreciation: Teena Marie
Teena Marie, soul legend, passed away on Sunday December 26th at the age of 54.
R.I.P. Gregory Isaacs
Gregory Isaacs was easily one of the reggae genre’s Top Five vocalists all-time. His smooth tones were capable of mastering material that was explicitly political as well as explicitly personal-much like Motown legend Marvin Gaye. Which is why it makes sense that Isaacs’ most popular song on American shores was the 1982 classic “Night Nurse”, a song that bears more than a passing resemblance to Gaye’s comeback smash “Sexual Healing”. Since it’s release, it’s been covered by a sea of […]
The Idiot Box: Lisa Marie Presley Talks MJ on Oprah
Just because I’m a Michael Jackson fan doesn’t mean I subscribe to the whole “MJ was the greatest person on Earth and I love him! Squeeeeeeee!!!” posts that I see all over the internet. I don’t speculate on what kind of guy he was for one simple fact: I never met the man and I never spent time with him. I’ve worked around famous people long enough to know that public personas and private personalities can often be very, very […]
Imagine…Lennon at 70
On this day in 1940, John Lennon, one of the 20th century’s most important cultural icons, was born in Liverpool, England. Had he not been murdered in December 1980, today would have been his 70th birthday. I’d imagine at this point, a Beatle as a senior citizen is not a foreign concept-both Paul and Ringo are quite active to this day. And perhaps because of the circumstances by which I became familiar with John, he’s always had an old sage […]
R.I.P. Rich Cronin of LFO
No shade? This seriously made me sad. Rich Cronin, of the pop group LFO, passed away yesterday after suffering a stroke-reportedly a complication of leukemia, which he’d been suffering from for the past several years. Cronin was 35. Now, LFO might be little more than a blip on the pop culture radar, originally scoring overseas as Lyte Funkie Ones before (thankfully) shortening their name and scoring American success smack dab in the middle of boy band madness. However, in comparison […]
Unraveling the Complicated Legacy of Tupac Shakur
Tupac’s been on my mind for a couple of reasons. First off, yesterday (September 7th), marked the 14th anniversary of the night he was shot in Las Vegas, an event that led to his passing six days later. Two, a lot of blog and news outlets were buzzing about what I originally thought was a seemingly offhand comment made by Mike Tyson in which he regretted never having smoked weed with ‘Pac. It wasn’t until earlier this morning that I […]
The Boss is Gone: R.I.P. George Steinbrenner
He may have been born in Ohio, and his primary home base might have been in Florida, but George Steinbrenner was the personification of New York. Loud and blustery, but determined to win at all costs. For better or worse, Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees for nearly 40 years, set the template for the modern day sports team owner. It would be hard to imagine, say…a Mark Cuban without George Steinbrenner. That letter than the Cavaliers owner sent […]
Chart Chat 6/30/10: Eminem’s Comeback Mission Accomplished
Eminem’s “Recovery” scores the biggest first week sales of 2010. So says this week’s Billboard chart. Slim Shady bows with over 741,000 units sold, incredibly marking an increase of over 100,000 units on the first weeks sales of his last album, 2009’s “Relapse”. If you were to compile the year’s top selling albums, “Relapse” would be at #8 after just 6 days in stores. This is interesting on any number of levels. First of all, it’s incredibly rare for an […]
MJ Appreciation Week: MJ All Day
It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since MJ passed. I think what bothers me most is that he almost got his shot at redemption. Judging from the footage that was shot of the “This is It” rehearsals, he was legitimately poised for a comeback. Look, I’m not gonna be like the other MJ stans out there and say he was a saint or even a good person. I didn’t know the guy, and you can’t make that kind […]
More MJ Week: The Popdose Guide to Michael Jackson, Part 3
The Jacksons’ best material was still to come in 1975, but a lot of folks out there probably thought they left their magic behind when they left Motown. Fortunately, Michael and his brothers found their footing, and their Epic albums, specifically 1978’s “Destiny” and 1980’s “Triumph”, are excellent albums. I continue my trip through Michael’s discovery on Popdose with Part 3 of the Popdose Guide to Michael Jackson. This covers the entirety of The Jacksons’ post-Motown work and we snazzed it […]
R.I.P. Marvin Isley
I know I’ve said this before, but MAN, famous people are passing away at an alarming rate. Marvin Isley, bass player for Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Isley Brothers, passed away yesterday at the age of 56. The musician had been ill with diabetes for quite some time, and the disease ultimately cost him both of his legs. Along with his guitar-slinging brother Ernie (a disciple of Jimi Hendrix who should be acknowledged as one of the […]