Another Year In Pop: 3

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

TOP BBC SOUND OF 2008 Adele makes her bustin' chart debut this week though it's not enough to deny Basshunter. In other news: how bad a band name is Courteeners?

[Poll #1124829]

The amazing advent of SOUND OF 2008 Adele reminds me that I should collate the results of our thrilling SOUND OF 2008 poll. Where did Adele end up in the Chump League? See below the cut:


1. CONGRATULATIONS GLASVEGAS who win the prize with their comment "There's something really authentic about a lot of doo-wop and '50s rock 'n' roll."
2. MGMT - "The album does address many similar themes dealing mostly with current apocalyptic confusion and post-apocalyptic survivalism."
3. Duffy - "I'm just learning about my voice at the moment, what I can and can't do so it's a discovery about me."
4. Foals - "We make music that tries to be progressive in some small way - in whatever way you can still do now."
5. Santogold - "Nina Simone and Bad Brains are my two biggest vocal influences."
6. Vampire Weekend - "People would be less interested in us if we were doing something they had heard before."
7. The Ting Tings - "We write a track, we record it and within the first hour if we're not feeling it we erase it, it's gone."
8. Jo Lean And The Jang Jong Jing - "The goal is to have a nine-year-old girl and an 80-year-old man in a different country dancing at the same time."
9. Adele - "I don't think I have to be all glamorous and lose weight and stop smoking to be a good artist."
10. Black Kids - ""We definitely take something away from every era. I realised a while back that pop music's all about theft." (How did this come last??? - shocked Ed.)

Comments

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

This is the first ever week I have ticked 'not heard any.'

Warning to alexmacpherson: next week may upset you more.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Yes next week is when I get angry at Mary J Blige getting, like, three ticks or something ridiculous.

Do you know, I looked up Mary J's UK chart performances...I'm scandalised and appalled.

'Real Love' - 26
'My Love' - 29
'Mary Jane (All Night Long')' - 17
'Not Gon' Cry' - 39 (!!!!! fxjh,zxchh)
'Be Without You' - 32 (aaagh)

These are fucking STANDARDS. How the hell did they chart so low? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRYYYYYYY

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Ms Blige doesn't tend to really promote over here, though, does she? (unless I'm v. mistaken -I can't remember ever really seeing any interviews with her etc.)

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I'm interviewing her on Wednesday! (Maybe!)

I don't know how much she was promoted in the 90s as I was too young, but I assume she did - she's famous enough now that everyone in my office knows who she is. I dunno, I know I've always had the impression that she was a mega-famous megastar, and before I looked at Wikipedia I'd assumed all of those songs were massive hits.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

*holds up hand*

OK when I was at Island I had to go through her press file fairly regularly (we handled lots of the MCA stuff too innit). It was tiny, and almost 100% of the few features she did have were focusing on her drug rehab, which was like MANY YEARS AGO HELLO (this was when Love & Life had just been released). I don't think she really gave a sh1t about the UK market then - this might have changed now.

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

I admit that I may have not been paying attention, but to be honest, MJB was one of those stars whose promotion was disproportionate to her success (ie., hits without seeing her face everywhere). Maybe just highly targeted marketing...

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

It's just bizarre to me how someone of such...immense stature, who is so revered, and who basically invented r&b as we know it, is so overlooked in this country. Basically, I appear to have taken on board a US recent history of pop music while growing up - no idea how! - and am only just learning that in the UK, things were...different. WORSE.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

Mary J wouldn't have got much BBC Radio love in the 90s. Heard her on good old Kiss FM tho. The chart positions aren't actually that bad considering higher general sales back then (for the early ones at least) - and you conveniently left off her biggest hits!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

There aren't all that many bigger hits though, that's the thing! She only had TWO top 10 hits in the 90s, and one of those was that dreadful George Michael duet which surely no one would rank as a Mary J essential.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

'As' is a good song. they didn't exactly fuck it up altho obv didn't surpass the original.

I'm Goin Down unlucky to miss out at #12

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of people would! Which is, y'know, why they bought it.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Oh come on, it's not even on the same planet as Mary J at her best. Those people are idiots.