Dan Aykroyd’s Nothing but Trouble might be a forgotten film, but it’s notable for one key scene for music fans. Aykroyd decided that Oakland hip-hop group Digital Underground should be in it. That means a cameo by a young Tupac Shakur, making his big-screen debut.
https://youtu.be/jGVZISx-oWs
The poster features the celebrated U.S folk singer and political activist Joan Baez, along with her sisters Pauline and Mimi. They sit together on a couch, above which a slogan reads “Girls Say Yes To Boys Who Say No”.
Early on, before rock ’n’ roll, I listened to big band music: Harry James, Russ Columbo, Glenn Miller. But up north, at night, you could find these radio stations that played pre-rock ’n’ roll things — country blues. You could hear Jimmy Reed.
Then there was a station out of Chicago, played all hillbilly stuff. We also heard the Grand Ole Opry. I heard Hank Williams way early, when he was still alive. One night, I remember listening to the Staple Singers, “Uncloudy Day.” And it was the most mysterious thing I’d ever heard. It was like the fog rolling in. What was that? How do you make that? It just went through me.
I managed to get an LP, and I’m like, “Man!” I looked at the cover, and I knew who Mavis was without having to be told. She looked to be about the same age as me. Her singing just knocked me out. This was before folk music had ever entered my life. I was still an aspiring rock ’n’ roller. The descendant, if you will, of the first generation of guys who played rock ’n’ roll — who were thrown down. Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis. They played this type of music that was black and white. Extremely incendiary. Your clothes could catch fire.
When I first heard Chuck Berry, I didn’t consider that he was black. I thought he was a white hillbilly. Little did I know, he was a great poet, too. And there must have been some elitist power that had to get rid of all these guys, to strike down rock ’n’ roll for what it was and what it represented — not least of all it being a black-and-white thing. – Bob Dylan, AARP magazine
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Certification is not automatic; for an award to be made, the record label must request certification and pay a fee to have the sales of the recording audited. The audit is conducted against net shipments after returns (most often an artist’s royalty statement is used), which includes albums sold directly to retailers and one-stops, direct-to-consumer sales (music clubs and mail order) and other outlets.
Catalog product, specifically pre-1972 album releases, are eligible for certification by meeting either the unit shipment or manufacturer’s dollar requirement for each award level. The purpose of this rule is to make certain exceptions for older albums that have very little supporting documentation substantiating that they meet both the unit requirement and the dollar requirement. Without the rule, these titles would potentially be unable to meet the dollar requirement based on the limited documentation available from sales that occurred decades ago.
Multi-disc albums are counted once for each disc within the album if it is over 100 minutes in length or is from the vinyl era. For example, each copy of The Smashing Pumpkins’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (running time of 121:39), OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (running time of 134:56), and Shania Twain’s Up! (145:44), all double albums, were counted twice, meaning each album was certified diamond after 5 million copies were shipped. Pink Floyd’s The Wall and The Beatles’ White Album, both vinyl-era, are also counted double even though their running times are under the minimum requirement.
#/Millions Title Artist Label
29 EAGLES/THEIR GREATEST HITS 1971 – 1975 EAGLES ELEKTRA
29 THRILLER MICHAEL JACKSON EPIC/LEGACY
23 LED ZEPPELIN IV LED ZEPPELIN ATLANTIC
23 THE WALL PINK FLOYD COLUMBIA
23 GREATEST HITS VOLUME I & VOLUME II BILLY JOEL COLUMBIA
22 BACK IN BLACK AC/DC EPIC
21 DOUBLE LIVE GARTH BROOKS CAPITOL NASHVILLE
20 COME ON OVER SHANIA TWAIN MERCURY NASHVILLE
20 RUMOURS FLEETWOOD MAC WARNER BROS.
19 THE BEATLES THE BEATLES APPLE
Moving ahead to a problem posed in the 17th century, we’ve got one of many paradoxes related to infinity and geometry.
“Gabriel’s Horn” is formed by taking the curve y = 1/x and rotating it around the horizontal axis, as shown in the picture. Using techniques from calculus that make it possible to calculate areas and volumes of shapes constructed this way, it’s possible to see that the infinitely long horn actually has a finite volume equal to π, but an infinite surface area.
As stated in the MathWorld article on the horn, this means that the horn could hold a finite volume of paint but would require an infinite amount of paint to cover its entire surface.
Via Business Insider
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the great heroes of the civil rights movement. Watch as LeVar Burton reads you a story about Dr. King’s life from the Friendship Baptist Church in Pasadena, California. The Story Time video focuses on teaching children about the importance of the acceptance of others, no matter differences in personal, religious, political, or physical dissimilarities.
Not only is this Story Time video tremendously personal and meaningful for LeVar, who in 2000, proudly received a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Album: The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr., but the video is embedded with a positive message of the value of human kindness and resiliency that both children and adults can find relatable.
https://youtu.be/hC-RyrakaQM
From Songtrust:
Submit your Songs into Songwriting Competitions:
Yes, there are scams out there, but don’t let that stop you. Many songwriting competitions can help your songs gain exposure to top music industry executives. They can also help you meet other writers which may lead to potential new collaboration opportunities. The International Songwriting Competition has a panel of judges ranging from Grammy-Winning artists and songwriters to CEOs of major record companies. We also recommend Song Of The Year, The U.S.A Songwriting Competition, and The Great American Song Contest.
Schedule a Co-Writing Session:
Working with others may sound daunting, but collaborating with other writers can sometimes be the best way to come up with fresh ideas you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. Not only could your co-written songs end up better, but the more people you collaborate with, the more people will be actively playing and advocating for your songs. Don’t be scared to reach out to well established artists and songwriters about co-writing sessions – It never hurts to ask! Always remember that 1% of something is better than 100% of nothing.
Join a Writer’s Round or Open Mic Night:
Writer’s rounds are great places to network with other writers and try out your songs in front of a crowd. If you have stage fright, performing at these places can also give you invaluable experience playing in front of people. Artists like Michelle Branch and Ian Axel (of A Great Big World) started at New York Songwriters Circle, a monthly songwriter’s circle at The Bitter End in NYC. Open mic nights are everywhere and also great places to get exposure to new people.
Read more advice here.
We’re still living in a world where elders need to be respected, and good thing for that. Seniors all around the world were all asked the same question: “If you could tell one thing to a young person, what would it be?” The consistency among all of these different people, different countries, and different cultures won’t surprise you. It’s the advice you already know, but sometimes need to hear from time to time.
Nielsen SoundScan’s Canadian Operations Director, Paul Tuch pulled more data for FYI Music showing the week following sales for Juno winners and performers.
The data conclusively show significant strengthening of sales around key artists in the post-period, spanning March 15 -22. As follows:
