News Roundup: 6/30/2009
June 30th, 2009 | 3:55 pm est |
The weekend after Michael Jackson’s death saw the King of Pop take over the Billboard charts. Though the numbers aren’t final yet, it’s estimated that Number Ones, The Essential Michael Jackson and Thriller each sold 100,00 copies last week; the week before, his entire solo catalog sold 10,000 copies total. Jackson may hold six to nine of the slots in the Top 10; the Beatles and AC/DC have both had five albums in the Top 10 at the same time. In other Jackson news, photos from Jackson’s final tour rehearsal taken two days before his death have been released. His body will be returned to Neverland Ranch on Friday for a public viewing. [Billboard.com, PopEater.com, CNN.com]
Aerosmith played a nearly two-hour long set on Friday night at New York’s Jones Beach that featured all of their classic album Toys in the Attic, as well as big hits including “Cryin’” and “Love in an Elevator”. For the encore, guitarist Joe Perry defeated his Guitar Hero doppelganger and the band closed with “Come Together.” [RollingStone.com]
Another band playing an entire album on tour: The Pixies, who will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Doolittle by performing all of the album and its B-sides on a European tour this fall. [Gigwise.com]
The Flaming Lips’ upcoming album Embryonic keeps getting more interesting. MGMT and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O are both contributing to the double album, which Wayne Coyne described as more “groove-oriented” than the band’s typical sound. Coyne also mentioned that a “weird mathematician guy from Germany” would be doing “some spoken word stuff” on Embryonic, which is due in September. [Guardian.co.uk]
Vibe Magazine is closing its doors. The magazine, which Quincy Jones founded in 1993, tried raising subscription prices and decreasing the amount of issues published to no avail. [Idolator.com]
Two of hip-hop’s best-known women will have shows on VH1 next year. Pepa of Salt-N-Pepa will be looking for love on her show, discussing her life with three of her friends over brunch. Meanwhile, TLC’s Rozonda “Chili” Thomas will also be searching for that special someone with the help of relationship expert Tionna Smalls on her series. [AllHipHop.com]
Indie artists who want their music included on Pandora’s streaming radio will have to meet new packaging and artwork standards and are strongly encouraged to pay a $29.95 yearly fee to join the Amazon Advantage Program. [Hypebot.com]
Michael Jackson will be remembered, in turns, as one of the most inspiring and dynamic performers who ever lived, a heroic figure to the black community, roughly on par with Muhammed Ali, and one of the most tormented, troubled souls who ever moonwalked on planet Earth. The way his life evolved is eerily similar to the text of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: a baffling boy/man who sings with the soul of a Smokey Robinson at age 10, and has a fascination with all things childish at age 40. I think the world will remember him at the apex of his life, at age 25, releasing hit after hit from Thriller throughout 1983, and amazing his fans with the way the soul of the greatest singer and dancer in the world seemed to jump into the body of the shiest, most socially awkward kid ever. He remains mysterious, even in death, and the world will not see his like again. RIP MJ!
Michael will be missed. It’s too bad the music industry has never since put so much money into an artist, since. There would be more Michaels if they did…