Dave Matthews Band and Maroon 5 Rule the Charts

Grammy winning rockers Dave Matthews Band land their 6th consecutive # 1 album (a record for groups) on the Billboard 200 proving that 90′s nostalgia is in full swing following top ten albums earlier this year from that era by the likes of Soul Asylum and Alanis Morissette. (That’s good news for No Doubt and Green Day who will return to the charts in the next few weeks.) Dave and his cohorts beat out 6 other debuts in the top ten by Little Big town, Bob Dylan, ZZ Top, the xx, the Avett Brothers and newcomer Amanda Palmer. To see where they all landed, check out the top ten below and head to Billboard here for more info on all the charts.

Top Ten Albums on the Billboard 200:
1. Away from the World- Dave Matthews Band (debut)
2. Tornado- Little Big Town (debut)
3. Tempest- Bob Dylan (debut)
4. The Carpenter- The Avett Brothers (debut)
5. Coexist- the xx (debut)
6. La Futura- ZZ Top (debut)
7. Night Visions- Imagine Dragons (last week~ 2)
8. North- matchbox twenty (lw~ 1)
9. Now 43 compilation- Various Artists (lw~ 4)
10. Theatre is Evil- Amanda Palmer (debut)

Over on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, Maroon 5 pick up their third # 1 single as “One More Night” climbs to the top surpassing the #2 peak of their last single “Payphone”. The boys should enjoy their run because P!nk and fun. are hot on their tail. Take a look at the top ten below and for more on every chart, head back to Billboard here.

Top Ten Singles on the Hot 100:
1. “One More Night”- Maroon 5 (last week~ 2)
2. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”- Taylor Swift (lw~ 1)
3. “Some Nights”- fun. (lw~ 4)
4. “Whistle” -Flo Rida (lw~ 3)
5. “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)”- P!nk (lw~ 6)
6. “As Long As You Love Me”- Justin Bieber w/ Big Sean (lw~ 7)
7. “Lights”- Ellie Goulding (lw~ 5)
8. “Too Close”- Alex Clare (lw~ 10)
9. “Good Time”- Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen (lw~ 9)
10. “Everybody Talks”- Owl City (lw~8)

And here’s a fun little treat… please enjoy Little Big Town’s # 1 country hit “Pontoon” from their new #2 pop and # 1 country album. I saw this band open for Carrie Underwood a couple of years back and they’re great. Enjoy… Oh and tell me what you think this crazy song is actually about…
Little Big Town “Pontoon”

Flo Rida Whistles his Way Back to the Top of the Charts

Flo Rida is probably never ever gonna get together with Taylor Swift, that’s for sure. Especially since she booted him out of the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 two weeks ago. However, this week, he fights back as his great dance track “Whistle” returns to the summit pushing Swift’s ludicrous “We are Never Ever Getting Back Together” down to # 2…. We’ll see how the battle plays out next week with fun. and Maroon 5 hot on their heels not to mention a hot new contender with Neon Trees who grab their first top ten single as “Everybody Talks” flies up from # 11 to # 6…. For more on all these acts and the Hot 100, head to Billboard here and take a look at the new top ten below.

Top Ten Singles on the Hot 100:
1. “Whistle”- Flo Rida (last week~ 2)
2. “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”- Taylor Swift (lw~ 2)
3. “One More Night”- Maroon 5 (lw~ 4)
4. “Lights”- Ellie Goulding (lw~ 3)
5. “Some Nights”- fun. (lw~ 5)
6. “Everybody Talks”- Neon Trees (lw~ 11)
7. “Wide Awake”- Katy Perry (lw~ 7)
8. “Good Time”- Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen (lw~ 9)
9. “As Long As You Love Me”- Justin Bieber w/ Big Sean (lw~ 10)
10. “Call Me Maybe”- Carly Rae Jepsen (lw~ 6)

Over on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart, Christian artist TobyMac grab their first # 1 album debuting on top with Eye On It, the first Christian act to hit the top since 1997. Also debuting in the top ten this week are Slaughterhouse at # 2 and Alanis Morrisette at # 5 with her 6th top ten album. Returning to the top ten as well is Carrie Underwood‘s Blown Away and Adele’s 21 after a single week out of the upper region. This now gives her an astounding 79 non-consecutive weeks in the top ten landing her in third place for the longest running top ten albums (behind only The Sound of Music soundtrack and Bruce Springsteen‘s Born in the U.S.A.)…. For more on all these numbers and albums, head to Billboard here and check out the new top ten below.

Top Ten Albums on the Billboard 200:
1. Eye on It- TobyMac (debut)
2. Welcome to Our House- Slaughterhouse (debut)
3. Chapter V- Trey Songz (lw~ 1)
4. Now 43- Various Artists (lw~ 3)
5. Havoc and Bright Lights- Alanis Morissette (debut)
6. Overexposed- Maroon 5 (lw~ 6)
7. Based on a T.R.U. Story- 2 Chainz (lw~ 2)
8. Blown Away- Carrie Underwood (lw~ 21)
9. Some Nights- fun. (lw~ 11)
10. 21- Adele (lw~ 12)

And here’s a little treat for you…. Enjoy Alanis Morissette’s fantastic new single “Guardian” from her new album Havoc and Bright Lights.

Frank Ocean, the Zac Brown Band, P!nk and, yes, Adele, make Noise on the Charts

Proving they can pull a Mariah Carey or a Sheryl Crow and beat the Best New Artist Grammy curse, country crooners the Zac Brown Band land at # 1 on the Billboard 200 this week with their sophomore release, Uncaged. They also top the country charts. Debuting big right behind them is the first out and proud gay R&B hip hop artist Frank Ocean with his major label debut, Channel Orange. Ocean’s debut is also of note because the record beat out much more highly promoted recent releases by Usher and that bastard Chris Brown…. The other album making noise in the top ten was Adele‘s 21 which extended its run in the top ten to an astonishing 73 weeks giving it the record for the longest weeks in the top ten for an album by a female artist. Adele beats out Alanis Morissette’s debut album Jagged Little Pill which had reigned for the past 17 years with 72 weeks. Congrats Adele…. For more on these albums, head to Billboard here and check out the new top ten below.

Top Ten Albums on the Billboard 200:
1. Uncaged- Zac Brown Band (debut)
2. Channel Orange- Frank Ocean
3. Believe- Justin Bieber (last week~ 3)
4. Fortune- Chris Brown (lw~ 1)
5. Overexposed- Maroon 5 (lw~ 4)
6. Living Things- Linkin Park (lw~ 5)
7. Up All Night- One Direction (lw~ 11)
8. 21- Adele (lw~ 9)
9. Teenage Dream- Katy Perry (lw~ 2)
10. Welcome to the Fishbowl- Kenny Chesney (lw~8)

Over on the Hot 100 Singles chart, P!nk blasts into the top ten with her brand new single “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)” which sails up from 58-9. This song gives P!nk her 12th Hot 100 top ten. She previously hit # 1 on the Hot 100 with “So What”, “Raise Your Glass” and “Lady Marmalade” with Christina Aguilera, Mya and Lil Kim. P!nk could hit the top soon but she will have to fend off Carly Rae Jepsen whose “Call Me Maybe” extends its run to 6 weeks at # 1 this week. For more on this chart and all the charts, head to Billboard here and scroll down for this week’s new top ten.

Top Ten Singles on the Hot 100:
1. “Call Me Maybe”- Carly Rae Jepsen (last week~ 1)
2. “Payphone”- Maroon 5 w/ Wiz Khalifa (lw~ 2)
3. “Wide Awake”- Katy Perry (lw~ 4)
4. “Somebody that I Used to Know”- Gotye w/Kimbra (lw~ 3)
5. “Lights”- Ellie Goulding (lw~ 5)
6. “Where Have You Been?”- Rihanna (lw~ 6)
7. “Whistle”- Flo Rida (lw~ 12)
8. “Titanium”- David Guetta w/ Sia (lw~ 7)
9. “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)”- P!nk (lw~ 58)
10. “Scream”- Usher (lw~ 1)

The Stars of NBC take you to Broadway!

NBC is pretty much an unmitigated disaster area these days. Despite having two of the best and award-winning comedies on television. 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation, the network is mired at the bottom of the ratings heap. However, they are hoping two new rays of light will save the network, the singing competition show The Voice and the new Broadway musical show Smash. I think those two shows are a fantastic start. While The Voice grew into a disastrous mess last year, it was quite fun to watch and the judges are very entertaining. Plus they will be adding great mentors like Lionel Richie, Miranda Lambert, Alanis Morissette and Kelly Clarkson (hello defecting from her alma matter!) to the mix; so, I’m cautiously optimistic…. And looking at the new show Smash, I’m overjoyed. The pilot is wonderful, hilarious, moving and intoxicating with a great cast (Debra Messing, Angelica Huston, Katharine McPhee and  Wicked’s Megan Hilty to name a few) tackling the making of a new Broadway musical. I gave the pilot an “A” grade and I can’t wait to see where it goes.
So, with both of those shows in mind, the NBC brass is taking to the Broadway stage again to publicize its shows. Check out this fantastic promo (airing during today’s Super Bowl) which features the stars of the network’s shows from The Office to SNL, Parenthood and beyond singing “The Brotherhood of Man” from the current hit revival of How to Succeed in Business without Trying. Enjoy it below and catch the season premiere of Smash tomorrow night at 10pm on NBC.

NBC “Brotherhood of Man” Promo

Alanis takes on the Prince of Persia!

One of my favorite 90′s rocker chicks, Alanis Morissette is back and she’s taking on Jake Gyllenhaal and the The Prince of Persia. More precisely, she’s doing the theme song to the upcoming summer blockbuster. The film based on the video games looks like cheestastic awesomeness and features a cast that includes Gyllenhaal, Oscar winner Ben Kingsley and Bond babe Gemma Aterton plus lots of action and some seriously cool looking special effects. For more on the film, click here.

Getting back to Ms. Morissette, you can hear her new single from the movie “I Remain” below. Also watch for her to return to the Showtime comedy Weeds this summer and she’ll be doing some concert dates as well. Welcome back, Alanis, you oughta know we missed ya.

Alanis’s new single “I Remain” from Prince of Persia~ The Sands of Time

The Prince of Persia~ The Sands of Time trailer

And here’s a couple of my fave Alanis tracks for you~
“Underneath”

“That I Would Be Good” (live)

And here’s Alanis performing “Wunderkind” at the Closing ceremonies of the recent Vancouver Winter Olympics:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/assetid=f693a8d3-b4e3-4d6b-b435-291cba89c050.html?chrcontext=ceremonies

As an extra special bonus, check out my Kelly Clarkson’s cover of Alanis’s “That I Would Be Good” and Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody” live.
“That I Would Be Good/Use Somebody”

Oh No You Didn’! … The Best Angry Girl Music…

So, this morning I kinda woke up angry. Not sure why, it’s not like I was upset over who got the boot on Project Runway last night or anything…. Maybe it was just the really loud trash people waking me up. Nonetheless, I decided to work it out with a little cardio at the gym and, like magic, my iPod played Orianthi’s kiss off song “According to You” which she recently played on the American Idol results show. It got me thinking… I love me some angry girl music! I mean Pink and Kelly Clarkson are two of my favorite artists, for goodness sake! … And all of that brings me to this post. I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite angry girl “oh no you didn’” songs. From rock to country and a little R&B, these dissed divas will let you have it. Take a look, enjoy the videos, sing along and then let me know what your favorite angry rock chick songs are in the comments below…

Pink: “U & Ur Hand”

~ the you’ll never get a piece of this anthem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUtHjOvPKT0

 

Kelly Clarkson: “Never Again”

~ the I’m gonna sing my face off anthem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVYesEpMr84

 

Jazmine Sullivan: “Bust Your Windows”

~ the I’m gonna get you and your little car too kiss off anthem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOzdfaEPaR0

 

Dixie Chicks: “Not Ready to Make Nice”

~ the political kiss off anthem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pojL_35QlSI

 

Alanis Morissette:“You Oughta Know”

~ the quintessential 90’s kiss off anthem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPcyTyilmYY

 

Beyonce: “Irreplacebale”

~ the three words anthem… “to the left”…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EwViQxSJJQ

 

Heart: “Who Will You Run To?”

~ the 80’s girl rock anthem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmK3zloXfs0

 

Pat Benatar: “Hit Me with your Best Shot”

~ the ultimate karaoke kiss off anthem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JRgHol94Xc

Carrie Underwood: “Before He Cheats”

~the country queen kiss off anthem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaSy8yy-mr8