Released on Ed Sheeran’s 2014 album x, “Thinking Out Loud” became a top hit, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the UK chart. On an album featuring numerous producers, this track was produced by Peter Gosling, who had worked with Sheeran on his first album.
Stewart Copeland’s Isolated Drums For The Police’s ‘Synchronicity II’
The third single from their album Synchronicity, ‘Synchronicity II’ was written by lead singer and bassist Sting. It was released as a single in the UK and the US by A&M Records, it reached number 17 in the UK Singles Chart and number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1983. This is ripped from Rock Band, but it’s still pretty accurate.
https://youtu.be/XJ0eGFOENsE
Nicky Jam & Enrique Iglesias’ “El Perdon” Breaks Billboard Record
Nicky Jam and Enrique Iglesias’ collab tallies a 30th week on the Hot 100, setting a peculiar record: the most weeks spent on the chart without reaching the top 50. It returns to its No. 56 high.
Here’s an updated look at the songs to spend the most time on the chart without cracking its upper half:
Weeks, Peak, Title, Artist, Peak Year
30, No. 56, “El Perdon (Forgiveness),” Nicky Jam & Enrique Iglesias, 2015
29, No. 53, “HeadBand,” B.o.B feat. 2 Chainz, 2014
27, No. 76, “The Rockafeller Skank,” Fatboy Slim, 2000
23, No. 81, “Cold,” Crossfade, 2004
22, No. 51, “Like a Wrecking Ball,” Eric Church, 2015
22, No. 53, “Drinking Class,” Lee Brice, 2015
22, No. 59, “Someday,” Rob Thomas, 2010
22, No. 84, “Take a Walk,” Passion Pit, 2013
Via Billboard
Europe’s “The Final Countdown” Hits #1 On Billboard Chart…Wait…What?
Heritage rock band Europe is enjoying an honor that eluded it during its original heyday nearly three decades ago: a No. 1 on a Billboard chart.
Wait, what? No No. 1 until 2015?
It’s true: the group’s signature hit “The Final Countdown” logs its third week atop Billboard’s Hard Rock Digital Songs chart dated Oct. 31, revitalized by its synch in a new GEICO commercial that features the band performing the classic, which rose to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1987. The GEICO ad is the latest in the insurance company’s “It’s What You Do” series.
https://youtu.be/iH1biQdyiQI
Via Billboard
Elvis Costello’s disastrously failed Japanese publicity stunt
Elvis Costello told Conan O’Brien about a disastrously failed Japanese publicity stunt early in his career; it involved Costello and his band driving through Tokyo on the back of a flatbed truck, playing their music to a distinctly uninterested audience.
Via The Current
Adele’s new video for “Hello” has a BIG Canadian connection
Four weeks ago superstar singer Adele quietly flew into Montreal and took a car to the eastern townships for a film shoot with award-winning Quebec film producer Xavier Dolan. It was a hush-hush affair with no entourage, no media tip-offs and the results of that shoot were released worldwide early this morning as the lead video single “Hello” from the multiple Grammy winning singer’s November 20th album release, simply entitled 25. Without question, Adele’s five-years in the making sequel to 21 is the year’s most anticipated album and one that is almost certain to remain glued to the number one spot on the Albums chart for the balance of the year.
Via FYI Music
Hear Previously Unreleased Alanis Morissette track “The Bottom Line” Tonight At Midnight!
Alanis Morissette was just a few months shy of her 20th birthday when she started recording Jagged Little Pill. This year, the legendary album has reached that same landmark. To celebrate the double-decade milestone, the multiple Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has curated a special collector’s edition of her debut, an album that’s sold more than 33 million copies around the world and ranks as one of the best-selling albums of all time.
This new four-disc JAGGED LITTLE PILL: COLLECTOR’S EDITION includes remastered audio of the original album plus an entire disc of 10 unreleased demos from the era handpicked by Morissette from her archives, offering a deeper and more personal look at the classic album. Also included is a previously unreleased concert from 1995 as well as 2005’s Jagged Little Pill Acoustic. Limited to 30,000 copies worldwide, JAGGED LITTLE PILL: COLLECTOR’S EDITION will be available from Rhino on October 30th. Also available on the same day is a two-disc DELUXE EDITION that includes the remastered original album and the second disc of unreleased demos. Both collections will also be available digitally.
“I’m super excited to share this music with a whole new generation of peeps, as well as people who have grown along with me over the last two decades,” says Morissette. “Thankfully, these songs have stood the test of time for me, and in their timelessness, I am thrilled to honor and reflect on them as well as the last twenty years of my life and career.”
In addition to selecting music for the set, Morissette dug into her personal collection to include never-before-seen photos and other ephemera from the time. She also contributes a new essay reflecting back on this time in her life along with stories behind the 10 demos she recorded between 1994-98, all of which are making their official debut here. The track “The Bottom Line” is possibly the most historically significant—it’s the first song Morissette and album producer Glen Ballard wrote together within an hour of their very first meeting in 1994. Other early tracks from those sessions include “Superstar Wonderful Weirdos” and “Closer Than You Might Believe.” Also featured are several tracks Morissette wrote while touring the world and ascending into a global phenomenon following the album’s release including “King Of Intimidation” and “Death Of Cinderella.”
Ballard also oversaw mixing and mastering for this collector’s edition. “Twenty years has not diminished the energy and excitement we captured on these recordings from 1994,” says Ballard. “It’s been a joy to sit with these tracks after two decades and to find them in such good shape. The power of digital recording gives us this time machine and, although we are twenty years older, this music still sounds fresh!”
The third disc of JAGGED LITTLE PILL: COLLECTOR’S EDITION features Jagged Little Pill Acoustic. Released in 2005 to celebrate the album’s 10th Anniversary, this collection finds Morissette delivering “unplugged” and alternate interpretations of every song from the original album.
The set concludes with an unreleased complete concert from the Jagged Little Pill tour. Recorded in London at Subterranea on September 28, 1995, the show captures Morissette at the peak of her success as she makes her highly anticipated UK concert debut. For this powerhouse performance, she was backed by her touring band (dubbed Sexual Chocolate), which featured a stellar rhythm section with bassist Chris Chaney (Jane’s Addiction) and drummer Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters).
Since 1995 Alanis Morissette has been one of the most influential singer-songwriter-musicians in contemporary music. Her deeply expressive music and performances have earned vast critical praise, 14 Canadian Juno Awards, 7 Grammy® Awards (with an additional 14 nominations), a Golden Globe nomination and sales of over 60 million albums worldwide. Morissette’s 1995 debut, “JAGGED LITTLE PILL,” was followed by such eclectic and acclaimed albums as “SUPPOSED FORMER INFATUATION JUNKIE” (1998), “MTV UNPLUGGED” (1999), “UNDER RUG SWEPT” (2002), “SO-CALLED CHAOS” (2004), “JAGGED LITTLE PILL ACOUSTIC” (2005), her greatest hits album, “THE COLLECTION” (2005), “FLAVORS OF ENTANGLEMENT”(2008), HAVOC AND BRIGHT LIGHTS (2012), as well as musical contributions to theatrical releases, some of which include “The Chronicles of Narnia,” “Prince of Persia,” and “City of Angels.” Alanis has acted on the big and small screen with roles in “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Dogma,” “Sex and the City,” “Weeds” and “Up All Night,” and has appeared as a celebrity guest mentor on the 2nd season of “The Voice.” In 2015, Alanis was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Outside of entertainment, she is an avid supporter of female empowerment, as well as spiritual, psychological and physical wellness. She has contributed her writing to a variety of outlets and forums, and leads workshops, special speaking and keynote speaking engagements worldwide. Alanis has also donated her time to a number of causes that help raise awareness and funding on a number of issues including Equality Now which benefits international female and human rights, Music for Relief, UN Global Tolerance for which she was honored for her contributions for promoting tolerance internationally through the arts, “Every Mother Counts” CD for which she contributed her song “Magical Child” to help prevent needless maternal deaths, and P.S Arts which has worked tirelessly to provide access to the arts through in-school programs to thousands of children in some of the most under-served neighborhoods in California. Alanis has also been outspoken on the issue of home child birth, its benefits and challenges for mothers across the world. In addition to music, she is working on her first book, which will be released in early 2016.
JAGGED LITTLE PILL: COLLECTOR’S EDITION
Track Listing
Disc One: 2015 Remaster
1. “All I Really Want”
2. “You Oughta Know”
3. “Perfect”
4. “Hand In My Pocket”
5. “Right Through You”
6. “Forgiven”
7. “You Learn”
8. “Head Over Feet”
9. “Mary Jane”
10. “Ironic”
11. “Not The Doctor”
12. “Wake Up”
13. “You Oughta Know” (Jimmy The Saint Blend) / “Your House” (A Capella)
Disc Two: Demos (Previously Unreleased)
1. “The Bottom Line”
2. “Superstar Wonderful Weirdos”
3. “Closer Than You Might Believe”
4. “No Avalon”
5. “Comfort”
6. “Gorgeous”
7. “King Of Intimidation”
8. “Death Of Cinderella”
9. “London”
10.”These Are The Thoughts”
Disc Three: Jagged Little Pill Acoustic
1. “All I Really Want”
2. “You Oughta Know”
3. “Perfect”
4. “Hand In My Pocket”
5. “Right Through You”
6. “Forgiven”
7. “You Learn”
8. “Head Over Feet”
9. “Mary Jane”
10. “Ironic”
11. “Not The Doctor”
12. “Wake Up / Your House”
Disc Four: Live At Subterranea, London 09/28/95 (Previously Unreleased)
1. “All I Really Want”
2. “Right Through You”
3. “Not The Doctor”
4. “Hand In My Pocket”
5. “Mary Jane”
6. “Ironic”
7. “You Learn”
8. “Forgiven”
9. “You Oughta Know”
10. “Wake Up”
11. “Head Over Feet”
12. “Perfect”
Van Morrison’s ‘Astral Weeks’ And ‘His Band And The Street Choir’ Gets Remastered With Bonus Tracks
Van Morrison’s early years at Warner Bros. Records were revisited in grand form in 2013 with the epic deluxe edition of Moondance packed with unreleased studio outtakes. Now the bookends to that classic album, Morrison’s legendary 1968 label debut ASTRAL WEEKS and 1970’s HIS BAND AND THE STREET CHOIR, get honored with expanded and remastered versions.
In addition to remastered audio, each album also features previously unreleased versions of several album tracks. These single-disc expanded and remastered versions will be released on October 30. Both albums will be available digitally as well.
Astral Weeks failed to make the charts when it was released in the fall of 1968. But 47 years later, the album has achieved a near-mythic status across generations of listeners who have “ventured in the slipstream” and fallen under the music’s spell. “Any best-of list is unthinkable — and worthless — without it,” writes Cory Frye in the album’s liner notes.
The four unreleased recordings that debut on this deluxe edition highlight the interplay between Morrison and the quartet that joined him in the studio – bassist Richard Davis, guitarist Jay Berliner, percussionist Warren Smith, Jr., and Modern Jazz Quartet drummer Connie Kay. These bonus tracks include the first take of “Beside You,” the full version of “Slim Slow Slider,” and a stripped back version of “Madame George” that emphasizes the vibraphone.
Following Moondance’s breakthrough success, His Band And The Street Choir arrived in November 1970. While Astral Weeks and Moondance contemplate the cosmos and love’s rich conundrums, Street Choir resonates with a purposefully loose ebullience on songs like the Top Ten hit “Domino,” “Blue Money,” and “Call Me Up In Dreamland.”
This remastered version of the album is expanded with five unreleased bonus tracks, including an early, raw take of “Give Me Kiss” without piano, horns or backing vocals. Morrison’s impressive falsetto gets a workout on Take 3 of “Gypsy Queen,” while the band turns up the funk on the greasy alternate version of “I’ve Been Working” that’s featured here.
ASTRAL WEEKS
Track Listing
1. “Astral Weeks”
2. “Beside You”
3. “Sweet Thing”
4. “Cyprus Avenue”
5. “The Way Young Lovers Do”
6. “Madame George”
7. “Ballerina”
8. “Slim Slow Slider”
Bonus Tracks – Previously Unreleased
9. “Beside You” (Take 1)
10. “Madame George” (Take 4)
11. “Ballerina” (Long Version)
12. “Slim Slow Slider” (Long Version)
HIS BAND AND THE STREET CHOIR
Track Listing
1. “Domino”
2. “Crazy Face”
3. “Give Me A Kiss”
4. “I’ve Been Working”
5. “Call Me Up In Dreamland”
6. “I’ll Be Your Lover, Too”
7. “Blue Money”
8. “Virgo Clowns”
9. “Gypsy Queen”
10. “Sweet Jannie”
11. “If I Ever Needed Someone”
12. “Street Choir”
Bonus Tracks – Previously Unreleased
13. “Call Me Up In Dreamland” (Take 10)
14. “Give Me A Kiss” (Take 3)
15. “Gypsy Queen” (Take 3)
16. “I’ve Been Working” (Alternate Version)
17. “I’ll Be Your Lover, Too” (Alternate Version)
In Celebration Of Underoos
Underoos were developed as a product idea in 1977 by an independent entrepreneur, Larry Weiss, who obtained licenses for the four major comic character groups (DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Hanna-Barbera, Archie Comics) which included Superman, Batman, Shazam, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Captain America. The product idea was first offered to Hanes, but was rejected. Scott Paper company pursued development, but ultimately decided to not market the product. Fruit of the Loom had been engaged as supplier of the blank underwear and another vendor engaged to apply transfers. Informed of Scott Paper Company’s decision to not market this novel product, Fruit of the Loom inquired if they would be permitted to market the product, now fully developed. Weiss agreed, and in 1978 Fruit of the Loom bought Underoos. The product was tested in three markets including the New York Metropolitan area, and then quickly spread to national distribution.
Adele reveals November 20 street date of “25” album
After waiting four years, the world will finally have a new Adele album this year. 25 will drop on Nov. 20. It’s the follow-up to 21, the biggest selling musical release for both 2011 and 2012, and helped revitalise lagging sales of the UK and US music industry. By July 2014, the album had sold 30 million copies worldwide. Get ready.
