I Want My Music Television: 6/3/13

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


I Will Steal You Back - Jimmy Eat World


Jimmy Eat World have a new album coming out next week. Who knew? I still want to like the new song more than I do.


People Like Us - Kelly Clarkson


I think it is official, Kelly Clarkson is content with cheesy pop songs that range somewhere from boring to crappy. I am beginning to forget that last time she released a song that was any good.


Little Numbers - BOY


Is it too soon to just declare Little Numbers by Boy the catchiest indie pop song of the summer? Seriously, who could have guessed a song about memorizing phone numbers could be so good? Who even memorizes phone numbers anymore?


Boy – Emma Louise


Not to be confused with the duo Boy above, this Boy is a song Emma louise who is jumping on the wave of moody songstresses (Daughter, Cat Power, Bat for Lashes) which I have been getting into a lot lately.

We On Award Tour: 2013 Grammy Nominations

The Grammy’s hit primetime again to announce next year’s nominations, or at least to the categories that anyone cares about (you will have to hit the internet to see if you were nominated for Best Hawaiian Album) with some performances by artists not good enough to perform on the actual show (sorry Ne-Yo, no major nominations for you). Oddly one of the big four (Song of the Year) was relegated to search the internet. The big news this year is they unsegregated the categories by genre which did not favor male pop performers (all chicks), RnB or country chicks (only one nominated in each). Here are the categories that were televised:


Pop Vocal Album
Stronger – Kelly Clarkson
Ceremonials – Florence + the Machine
Some Nights – Fun.
Overexposed – Maroon 5
The Truth About Love – P!nk

Should Win: Some Nights
Will Win: Stronger
Should Have Been Nominate: Little Broken Hearts - Norah Jones – Norah Jones

Kind of a boring category, but pop has been boring lately so I guess it is apropos because I had a hard time think something else that deserve to be nominated, maybe Norah Jones who I do not think qualifies as pop anymore, or possibly Kimbra, but she did not have much success except for singing with Gotye.


Record of the Year
Lonely Boy – The Black Keys
Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) – Kelly Clarkson
We Are Young – Fun featuring Janelle Monáe
Somebody That I Used to Know – Gotye featuring Kimbra
Thinkin Bout You – Frank Ocean
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together – Taylor Swift

Should Win: Lonely Boy
Will Win: Somebody That I Used to Know
Should Have Been Nominated: Ho Hey – The Lumineers

Just throw out Clarkson and Swift for being extremely cheesy and the final four is extremely competitive category, any of which are deserving of winning. The only way they could have made it tougher had they added the much deserved Ho Hey or Norah Jones Happy Pills.


Best New Artist
Alabama Shakes
Fun.
Hunter Hayes
The Lumineers
Frank Ocean

Should Win: The Lumineers
Will Win: Frank Ocean
Should Have Been Nominated: Gotye

Best New Artist is the only category that seems to have quotas so Hunter Hayes took the token country spot that should have gone to the more deserving Gotye who got the shaft because Fun. took the token pop slot probably because they were able to score a second hit (sorry teen girls, no love for the crappy Carly Rae Jepsen and / or One Direction). The big surprise was the inclusion on Alabama Shake who put out a good album but it was little listened to outside of rock critics. And since this is always the most shocking category, do not count them out.


Best Country Solo Performance
Home – Dierks Bentley
Springsteen – Eric Church
Cost of Livin' - Ronnie Dunn
Wanted – Hunter Hayes
Over – Blake Shelton
Blown Away – Carrie Underwood

Eh, do not care.


Album of the Year
El Camino – The Back Keys
Some Nights – Fun.
Babel – Mumford and Sons
Channel ORANGE – Frank Ocean
Blunderbuss – Jack White

Should Win: El Camino
Will Win: Babel
Should Have Been Nominated: Handwritten – The Gaslight Anthem

Over the last couple years the Grammy’s usually likes to throw in some crappy pop artist to make them seem cool (see Katy Perry) so it was shocking that they actually nominated five really good albums. Really any of them deserve to win, I think Mumford and Sons have a slight edge because they are the biggest artist right now not named Adele. But aparently rock is not dead with three of the five come from that genre, four if you count Fun. because they do play their own intraments.


If you go through all 100 plus categories, six artists tied with six nominees each: Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys (he also got nominated for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical along with all his band’s nominations), Frank Ocean, Fun, Mumford and Sons, while Jay-Z and Kanye West racked up all theirs in the not cool enough for prime time. You will have to head over to Grammy.com for the full list, but here is the other big catergory that was missing from the live telecast.


Song of the Year
The a Team - Ed Sheeran, songwriter (Ed Sheeran)
Adorn - Miguel Pimentel, songwriter (Miguel)
Call Me Maybe - Tavish Crowe, Carly Rae Jepsen & Josh Ramsay, songwriters (Carly Rae Jepsen)
Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) - Jörgen Elofsson, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin & Ali Tamposi, songwriters (Kelly Clarkson)
We Are Young - Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost & Nate Ruess, songwriters (Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe)

Should Win: We Are Young
Will Win: Stronger
Should Have Been Nominated: Anything but Call Me Maybe

I now understand why they did not televise this category: Call Me Maybe was nominated. Keep in mind this is a songwriter’s award. “I just met you, and this is crazy, so here's my number, call me maybe.” Seriously. You know there is something wrong when Kelly Clarkson quoting Nietzsche is not the most absurb nomintion for a songwriting award.

We on Award Tour: 2012 Grammy Awards

It seems like the Grammys always get a major chunk of their awards wrong, but in 2011 there was no denying Adele and even with the Grammys track record, it is still no surprised that she hauled in the most awards this year. Here are some other thoughts on the night:

- I am a little shocked that Bruce Springsteen went with the new song that most people won’t even remember by next year instead of a song that highlighted a Clarence Clemmons sax solo.

- Can’t say I was ever a Whitney Houston fan (a grand total of two songs made it on my iPod), but it is also sad to see someone go that quickly and unexpectedly. But once again it shows, just like Whitney said it was: crack is wack. Another example as to never start using the stuff and if you do, it is time to get yourself help.

- Why even bring in LL Cool J as host if his entire monologue consists of a prayer and then shouting out people in the front row?

- It is never a good sign when they mentioned Bruno Mars is up for Album of the Year and I completely forgot he was. Granted the category was always Adele and the four other people since they announced the nominees.

- I can’t believe they actually brought Chris Brown back to the Grammys considering the last time the two were in the same sentence he had to cancel an appearance after brutally beating Rihanna. What’s worse (aside from not even bother to sing) was that he totally ripped off Rihanna’s We Found Love for the song he lip-synced.

- It is nice to see after sporting bad mom hair for the last couple months, Kelly Clarkson decided to actually do something with her hair tonight. Unfortunately she passed on her bad hair to Taylor Swift.

- Couldn’t they just give an entire half an hour block to The Beach Boys? That just did not seem long enough.

- Paul McCartney, Diana Krall and… Joe Walsh?

- It was enough that they were snubbed for Best New Artist, which they should have won, but only sixty seconds for The Civil Wars?

- It is ironic that Taylor Swift performed Mean on the Grammys considering the song was inspired by the critics who had some mean things to say following her performance with Stevie Nicks on the show a couple years ago.

- Katy Perry fooled me; I thought she pulled an Ashlee Simpson, although maybe she should have lip synced because it was pretty poor performance.

- After a year of hearing everyone butchering the song, it is weird hearing a great performance of Rolling in the Deep.

- Bon Iver, your Best New Artist of 2009.

- Roy Orbison’s widow gets mentions in the In Memoriam package but not Jani Lane?

- You really have to be high to enjoy electronic music.

- Can we please end the Nicki Minaj era please? Seriously, did she really work Oh Come All Ye Faithful into her abomination of a performance?

Dumb Plus Dumb Equals You

Trends are so powerfully, even big time rock stars like The Rolling Stones were recording disco songs at the height of the genre. With the explosion of Adele this year as the most buzzed and bought artist, I bet record labels are already signing clones for the last couple months. You would think one artist who would love to jump on the Adele bandwagon would be Kelly Clarkson. After her most personal album My December bombed with critics and the public alike, she was resigned to recording what sounded like leftovers from Katy Perry and P!nk albums for the follow up All I Ever Wanted.

But instead of filling her latest album with Adele like tracks that more highlight the voice over cheep production effects that are meant to hide the limitations of lesser singer, Clarkson’s latest album Stronger is just a retread of her last album which sounds even more dated now two years later. Just how overplayed is her title track What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)? It actually inspired someone to compile a video of all the pop songs that have overused the Nietzsche quote.



From the title track, you get another twelve forgettable tracks. It is never a good sign when you go through a whole album and not one song sticks out from the mediocrity. They just sound like leftovers from her last album (which sounded like leftovers themselves and no one likes still eating turkey the Sunday after Thanksgiving). Okay, one song actually stick out, but not in a good way. Einstein features lyrics so painfully lame they would make Ke$ha songs read like something out of the Bob Dylan songbook. Not only is “Dumb + Dumb = You” a line in the song, it is the actual chorus. C’mon, you could not come up with a second insult that you had to add dumb to itself? Why not then just say “Dumb Squared = You” then? Hopefully Clarkson recorded Stronger before Adele had her success and we will have to wait for her to capitalize on Adele’s domination of the charts for her next album, because songs like Einstein are embarrassingly bad.

Song to Download – You Love Me

Stronger gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

The 100 Greatest Mash Up's of All Time

1. God's Gonna Cut You Down - DJ Schmolli
Johnny Cash - God's Gonna Cut You Down (vocals), Led Zeppelin - When the Levee Breaks (drums), Beastie Boys - Sabotage (bass), Ted Nugent - Cat Scratch Fever (guitar), The Beatles - Come Together (lead guitar)



2. 99 Problems - Danger Mouse
Jay-Z (99 Problems) vs. The Beatles (Helter Skelter)




3. Boulevard of Broken Songs - Party Ben
Green Day (Holiday / Boulevard of Broken Dreams) vs. Oasis (Wonderwall) vs. Travis (Writing to Reach You) vs. Eminem (Sing for the Moment)



4. Ecstasy of Gold - dj erb
Nas (One Mic) vs. Ennio Morricone (L'estasi dell'oro (The Ecstasy of Gold))



5. You're The One I Want in the Next Episode - Disfunctional DJ
Grease (You're the One That I Want) vs. Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg (The Next Episode)



6. Spending One of These Nights with Kelly - Aggro1
The Eagles (One of These Nights) vs. Kelly Clarkson (Since U Been Gone)

7. Miracles - Norwegian Recycling
Bruno Mars (Just the Way You Are) vs. Michael Jackson (Black or White) vs. Gnarls Barkley (Crazy) vs. Taylor Swift (Fearless) vs. Jason Derulo (In My Head) Survivor (Eye of the Tiger) and more

8. Chasing the Broken Hearted - Phil RetroSpector
Snow Patrol (Chasing Cars) vs. Jimmy Ruffin (What Becomes of the Brokenhearted)

9. Dip it Joe - Pheugoo
Christina Milian (Dip It Low) vs. Jimi Hendrix (Hey Joe)

10. I Wish I had the Eye of the Tiger - Soulwax
Skee-Lo (I Wish) vs. Survivor (Eye of the Tiger) vs. the Breeders (Cannonball)

11. Keep the Car Crazy - DJ ViC
Beyoncé (Crazy In Love) vs. Arcade Fire (Keep the Car Running)

12. Use the Same Old Song - Mighty Mike
The Four Tops (It's the Same Old Song) vs. Kings of Leon (Use Somebody)

13. Shoot the War Pigs - inhumanz
Nas (Made You Look) vs. Black Sabbath (War Pigs)

14. How Six Songs Collide - Norwegian Recycling
Jason Mraz (I'm Yours) vs. Howie Day (Collide) vs. Five for Fighting (Superman (It's Not Easy)) vs. Angela Ammons (Always Getting Over You) vs. Boyzone (All That I Need) vs. 3 Doors Down (Here Without You)

15. Everybody's Everyday Girl - DJ BC
Fleetwood Mac (Everywhere) vs. Pharrell featuring Snoop Dogg (That Girl) vs. Dilated Peoples and Kanye West (This Way) vs. Common featuring Q-Tip (Come Close Remix (Closer)) vs. Capleton

16. Left You a Closing Lullaby - BigBadBaz
Avalanches (Since I Left You) vs. Semisonic (Closing Time) vs. Shawn Mullins (Lullaby)

17. 50 Ways to Kill Your Lover - DJ Topcat
Morcheeba featuring Slick Rick (Women Lose Weight) vs. Paul Simon (50 Ways to Leave Your Lover)

18. Papa Was a Clock - Go Home Productions
The Temptations (Papa Was a Rollin' Stone) vs. Coldplay (Clocks)

19. Behind these Immigrant Eyes - Aggro1
Led Zeppelin (Immigrant Song) vs. Kelly Clarkson (Behind These Hazel Eyes)

20. Driving With a 40 Oz - DJ BC
D12 (40 Oz.) vs. The Cars (Drive)

21. Born to Make You Bling - Pie Remix
Britney Spears (Born to Make You Happy) vs. B.G. featuring Lil' Wayne (Bling Bling)

22. Thunder Busters - Wax Audio
Ray Parker, Jr. (Ghostbusters) vs. AC/DC (Thunderstruck)

23. (Are You Gonna Be My) Dirrty Girrl? - Soundhog
Christina Aguilera featuring Redman (Dirrty) vs. Jet (Are You Gonna Be My Girl)

24. Clock a Minute – pheugoo
Coldplay (Clocks) vs. the Pussycat Dolls (Wait a Minute1)

25. Drive By with Vanilla Ice - Aggro1
Vanilla Ice (Ice Ice Baby) vs. Drive by Trucker (Never Gonna Change)

26. Light Your Fat Bottom on Fire - Aggro1
Busta Rhymes featuring Pharrell (Light Your (Expletive Deleted) On Fire) vs. Queen (Fat Bottomed Girls)

27. If I Were a Boy) vs. Tom Petty (Free Fallin')

28. You Don't Know My Sweet Emotion - Aggro1
Aerosmith (Sweet Emotion) vs. Alicia Keys (You Don't Know My Name)

29. My Name is Back in Black - Sean Cunningham
Eminem (My Name Is) vs. AC/DC (Back In Black)

30. Yoshimi Battles Snoop Dogg - DJ BC
Snoop Dogg (Not Like it Was) vs. The Flaming Lips (Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1)

31. Crushed Pony - DJ Fac
Ginuwine (Pony) vs. Paramore (Crushcrushcrush)

32. Party in the B.I.G. - Hatbanger
Notorious B.I.G. (Party and (Expletive Deleted)) vs. Miley Cyrus (Party In the U.S.A.)

33. Acoustic Alchemy - Norwegian Recycling
Jack Johnson (Taylor) vs. Green Day (Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)) vs. Josh Rouse (Quiet Town) vs. Wyclef Jean featuring Akon, Lil Wayne and Niia (Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)) vs. Christina Aguilera (Genie In a Bottle) vs. Atomic Kitten (Eternal Flame) vs. Black Eyed Peas (Don't Lie)

34. Folsom Prison Gangstaz - DJ TOPCAT
Eazy-E (Luv 4 Dem Gangsta'z) vs. Johnny Cash (Folsom Prison Blues (Live))

35. The Weather Episode - Go Home Productions
Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg (The Next Episode) vs Crowded House (Weather with You)

36. Notorious Trick - Go Home Productions
Kellis (Trick Me) vs. Duran Duran (Notorious)

37. The Trooper Believer - DJ Schmolli
The Monkees (I'm a Believer) vs. Iron Maiden (The Trooper)

38. Walk Away and I'll Wait - Aggro1
Kelly Clarkson (Walk Away) vs. Van Halen (I'll Wait)

39. No One to Squeeze - DJ FOX
Alicia Keys (No One) vs. Red Hot Chili Peppers (Soul to Squeeze)

40. The XX Gon' Give it to Ya - The Hood Internet
DMX (X Gon' Give It to Ya) vs. The xx (VCR)

41. M.I.A. Wanted Dead Or Alive - DJ Schmolli
M.I.A. (Paper Planes) vs. Bon Jovi (Wanted Dead or Alive)

42. Lord Move Me on Up - locK3Down
DMX (Lord Give Me a Sign) vs. Primal Scream (Movin' on Up)

43. Crazy Times - Team9
Gnarls Barkley (Crazy) vs. Prince (Sign 'O' the Times)

44. Dirt on Your Crown - DJ O-Face
Jay-Z (Dirt Off Your Shoulder) vs. Sleigh Bells (Crown On the Ground)

45. The Wavin' Flag Mashup - Mashup-Germany
K'naan (Wavin' Flag) vs. Counting Crows (Mr. Jones) vs. Kings of Leon (Use Somebody) vs. Whitney Houston (<My Love Is Your Love) vs. Matisyahu (One Day) and more

46. Dreadlock Child - Soulwax
Destiny's Child (Independent Women, Pt. I) vs. 10cc (Dreadlock Holiday)

47. House of Klezmer - DJ Faroff
House of Pain (Jump Around) vs. Amsterdam Klezmer Band vs. Pa Brapad

48. How Soon Is Independence? - Go Home Productions
Destiny's Child (Independent Women, Pt. I) vs. the Smiths (How Soon Is Now?)

49. No Taylor, No Scar - Norwegian Recycling
The Fugees (No Woman, No Cry) vs. Jack Johnson (Taylor) vs. Missy Higgins (Scar) vs. Honeywagon (When I Come Around) Colin Hay (Down Under)

50. Careless or Dead - The Kleptones
Wham! (Careless Whisper) vs. Bon Jovi (Wanted Dead or Alive)

51. Duffy Train Running - DJ Y alias JY
Duffy (Mercy) vs. the Doobie Brothers (Long Train Runnin')

52. United State of Pop 2008 (Viva La Pop) - DJ Earworm
Billboard's Top 40 Songs of 2008

53. Always With You - Divide and Kreate
Willie Nelson (Always On My Mind) vs. U2 (With or Without You)

54. Jenny's Superstitious – Djlobsterdust
Stevie Wonder (Superstition) vs. The Killers (Jenny Was a Friend of Mine)

55. Casbah Wonder - Dunproofin'
Stevie Wonder (Uptight (Everything's Alright)) vs. The Clash (Rock the Casbah)

56. Imagine One Day (So Far Away) - Mashup-Germany
Matisyahu (One Day) vs. John Lennon (Imagine) vs. Blink-182 (All the Small Things) vs. Bob Marley (No Woman, No Cry)

57. Relm and Josie with Attitude - Relm
N.W.A. (Something 2 Dance 2) vs. the Outfield (Your Love)

58. Mashups in Heaven - Norwegian Recycling
Eric Clapton (Tears In Heaven) vs. Lionel Richie (Say You, Say Me) vs. Bob Dylan (Workingman's Blues #2) vs. Aphrodite's Child (Rain and Tears) vs. Blues Traveler (Hook)

59. War Bombs - Voicedude
Gap Band (You Dropped a Bomb On Me) vs. Edwin Starr (War) vs. Black Sabbath (War Pigs) vs. Outkast (B.O.B.)

60. Rock with Hurt - Aggro1
Johnny Cash (Hurt) vs. Ashanti (Rock Wit U (Awww Baby))

61. For the Love of C.R.E.A.M. - DJ BC
Wu-Tang Clan (C.R.E.A.M.) vs. The O'Jays (For the Love of Money)

62. Wicked Wedding - DJ Schmolli
Billy Idol (White Wedding (Part 1)) vs. Chris Isaak (Wicked Game)

63. Drop It Like It's A Whole LottLed Snooppelin - Party Ben
Snoop Dogg and Pharrell (Drop It Like It's Hot) vs. Led Zeppelin (Whole Lotta Love)

64. Rock In Black - Go Home Productions
AC/DC (Back In BlackWe Will Rock You) vs. Led Zeppelin (Black Dog) vs. Outkast (Ms. Jackson) vs. Crowded House (Weather with You) vs. Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg (The Next Episode)

65. Listen Twice - DJ BC
Talib Kweli (Listen!) vs. the Doobie Brothers (Listen to the Music)

66. Brick (Expletive Deleted) - dj magnet
Mickey Avalon (My (Expletive Deleted)) vs. Beastie Boys (Root Down) vs. the Commodores (Brick House) vs Jimi Hendrix (Purple Haze)

67. About a Girl in My Dreams - Team 9
Nirvana (About a Girl) vs. Depeche Mode (Dream On)

68. Feel Like Making La-Di-Da - FiDELSKi
Bad Company (Feel Like Makin' Love) vs. Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh (La Di Da Di (Live))

69. Four Twenty - Voicedude
Luniz (I Got 5 on It) vs. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Mary Jane's Last Dance) vs. Afroman (Because I Got High)

70. Lonely Brother - Mysterious Producer
The Police (So Lonely) vs. Jungle Brothers (The Brothers)

71. Bumble Star Galactica - DJ Le Clown
Wilson Pickett (Bumble Bee (Sting Me)) vs. Prince (Sign 'O' the Times) vs. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (Boom! Shake the Room)

72. My Favorite Name - LOO and PLACIDO
Destiny's Child (Say My Name) vs. the Cardigans (My Favourite Game)

73. RiverBad – djlobsterdust
Meat Loaf (Two Out of Three Ain't Bad) vs. Morcheeba featuring Thomas Dybdahl (Riverbed)

74. This Tightropes Made For Walkin' - Party Ben
Nancy Sinatra (These Boots Are Made for Walkin') vs. Janelle Monáe featuring Big Boi (Tightrope)

75. Feel Good Roboto 2 - Victor Menegaux
Gorillaz (Feel Good Inc) vs. Styx (Mr. Roboto)

76. Are You Gonna be My Next Episode - cheekyboy
Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg (The Next Episode) vs. Jet (Are You Gonna Be My Girl)

77. Decode Rude Boy – A plus D
Rihanna (Rude Boy) vs. Paramore (Decode)

78. Get that Rocky Mountain High - DJ Erb
John Denver (Rocky Mountain High) vs. Method Man & Redman (How High)

79. The Dog Smells Like Roses - 99x
Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg (The Next Episode) vs. Guns N' Roses (Paradise City)

80. Intergalactic - Soulwax
Beastie Boys (Intergalactic) vs. Herbie Hancock (Rockit) vs. INXS (Need You Tonight) vs. AC/DC (Back In Black

81.  Funny Bizniz - The Abrahammer
M.I.A. (Paper Planes) vs Beastie Boys (Body Movin') vs. Nas (I Can)

82. Paperlong - Mighty Mike
Foo Fighters (Everlong) vs M.I.A. (Paper Planes)

83. Red Umbrella - DJTOPCAT
Rihanna featuring Jay-Z (Umbrella) vs UB40 (Red, Red Wine)

84. Dirt Off Your Shoulder - Danger Mouse
Jay-Z (Dirt Off Your Shoulder) vs. The Beatles (Julia)

85. Stand Up and Ring My Doorbell - DJ Riko
Ludacris (Stand Up) vs. The White Stripes (My Doorbell)

86. Maggie's 64 - locK3Down
Mike Jones featuring Bun B and Snoop Dogg (My 64) vs. Rage Against the Machine (Maggie's Farm)

87. Can't Tell My Wonderwall Nothing - Clinton Sparks
Kanye West (Can't Tell Me Nothing) vs. Oasis (Wonderwall)

88. Dancing Since U Been Gone - A Plus D
Robyn (Dancing On My Own) vs. Kelly Clarkson (Since U Been Gone)

89. Good ol' Fashion Rump Shaker - The Hood Internet
Beastie Boys (Shake Your Rump) vs. Matt and Kim (Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare)

90. We Will Rock and Roll You - DJ Matt Hite
Joan Jett (I Love Rock 'N Roll) vs. Queen (We Will Rock You) vs. 50 Cent (In da Club)

91. I Want You Closer - ToToM
Nine Inch Nails (Closer) vs. George Michael (I Want Your Sex)

92. Machine Gun Shelter - Party Ben
Commodores (Machine Gun) vs. Rolling Stones (Gimme Shelter)

93. Regulate Dust in the Wind - DJ Erb
Kansas (Dust In the Wind) vs. Warren G featuring Nate Dogg (Regulate)

94. Forget You, Santa! – Voicedude
Cee-Lo Green (Forget You) vs. Jackson 5 (I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus)

95. I Wish My Doorbell Rang - Sam Flanagan
Skee-Lo (I Wish) vs. The White Stripes (My Doorbell)

96. Marilou on Fire - Mighty Mike
Serge Gainsbourg (Marilou reggae dub) vs. Kings of Leon (Sex On Fire)

97. More Than on Point – DJ Topcat
House of Pain (On Point) vs. Boston (More Than a Feeling)

98. Rolling Confusion - Go Home Productions
The Rolling Stones (Street Fighting Man) vs. the Temptations (Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today))

99. Penthouse Temperature – Essexboy
Sean Paul (Temperature) vs. Alan Braxe and Fred Falke (Penthouse Serenade)

100. When the Pussycat Dolls Cry – Pheugoo
Prince and the Revolution (When Doves Cry) vs. The Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes (Don't Cha)

For more on this list, check out Breaking Down the 100 Greatest Mash-Up's of All Time.

Recasting We Are the World

When Michael Jackson passed away, like most people I went back and listened to the music of his on my iPod which included We Are the World. That got me to thinking it that there was still plenty of poverty in Africa and it may be time to remake the song for a newer generation (especially considering Do They Know it's Christmas? is already on it'd third version). While doing research, I realized the twenty-fifth anniversary was this year so I sat on the suggestions I made at the time so I could release it to coincide with the anniversary. Then new came out last week that the co-writers of the song Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones (along with Jackson) were planning on doing so after the Grammy’s next week to benefit Haitian relief (so I guess they will be renaming the group USA for Haiti). So here are my suggestions next to those that did the original part. And as a point of reference, here is the original song:




Lionel Richie – Ne-Yo

Stevie Wonder – Maxwell

Paul Simon – John Mayer

Kenny Rogers – Taylor Swift

James Ingram – John Legend

Tina Turner - Beyoncé

Billy Joel – Norah Jones

Michael Jackson – Michael Jackson

Diana Ross – Christina Aguilera

Dionne Warwick – Alicia Keys

Willie Nelson – Keith Urban

Al Jarreau – Justin Timberlake

Bruce Springsteen – dude from Green Day

Kenny Loggins – dude from Fall Out Boy

Steve Perry – dude from Maroon 5

Daryl Hall – Robin Thicke

Michael Jackson – Michael Jackson

Huey Lewis – dude from The Fray

Cyndi Lauper – Lady Gaga

Kim Carnes – Kelly Clarkson

Bob Dylan – Dave Matthews

Ray Charles – Jamie Foxx

Stevie Wonder – Stevie Wonder

Bruce Springsteen – Bruce Springsteen

Dan Akroyd – Adam Sandler

Jackson Family Chorus – Jonas Brothers and other Disney stars Chorus


Naturally the hardest singer to recast was Michael Jackson himself and came I up with three alternatives; Bono, who technically is not American; Prince, who was actually supposed to duet with Jackson in the original but didn’t show up the first time; or have a chorus do all his part. But maybe it would be best to just pipe in his original vocals. And even though I recast their earlier parts, I still have to bring back Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder to recreate their duet which was the highlight the orginal. Not bringing them back would have been like not asking Bono to sing "Tonight thank God it's them instead of you" for the new Do They Know it's Christmas? versions.

I Want My Music Television vol. LIX

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Already Gone – Kelly Clarkson



A pretty boring video, but the true entertainment comes from behind the scene. For those that listened to the song an d though that sounded like Beyonce’s Halo, well there is a reason, the same guy wrote both songs (the dude from One Republic) and was too lazy to come up with different backing tracks. Due to the similarities, Kelly Clarkson didn’t want Already Gone released as a single, but as Clarkson puts it “In the end, they’re releasing it without my consent.” Of course if you look close at the video, you can see Clarkson make a cameo despite her protest. And no word on Clarkson’s thought of Since U Been Gone completely ripping off The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Maps.


Nothing but a Miracle – Diane Birch



Been listening to this song a lot lately, a very seventies vibe to it with Diane Birch sounding like a more soulful version of Norah Jones.


Every Day – Ten Second Epic featuring Lights



No one does power pop quite like those pesky Canadians, and you can add Ten Second Epic to that list.


Brand New – Amie Miriello



Is it wrong that a busted up laughing at the sight of the random Nick Lachey sighting in the new video from Amie Miriello. And that was really my only thoughts on the video. Well that and this chick is moderately attractive.