Search Results for: Thursday

High School Musical officially graduated at the top of its class. The surprise monster hit soundtrack accompaniment to the Disney Channel’s tween song-and-dance fest, finished as 2006’s chart valedictorian, selling more than 3.7 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures released Thursday. In the SoundScan era, the only other soundtracks to finish atop the yearend chart were The Bodyguard in 1993 and Titanic in 1998. Remarkably, High School Musical debuted on the charts way down at number 143 in January 2006. The disc increased its position each week, eventually hitting the top spot on two nonconsecutive weeks in March. It… Read more »

LOS ANGELES – U.S. album sales, which include CDs and digital albums, fell 4.9 percent in 2006 as an increasing number of consumers preferred to download individual songs from the Web, Nielsen SoundScan said on Thursday. While data from the music tracking company showed overall music unit sales rose 19.4 percent last year due to digital downloads, the growth momentum of that category also disappointed some market watchers. “Not only did year-end 2006 digital sales fall short of our expectations, more concerning is the deceleration in growth during the fourth quarter,” Richard Greenfield, an analyst with Pali Research, wrote in… Read more »

Apparently when the bell tolled for Marissa Cooper, it also spelled curtains for the entire O.C. After ordering up an abbreviated season of what was once TV’s hottest prime-time teen drama (Beverly Hills, 90210 with even more beach time, if you will), Fox announced Wednesday that it has officially deep-sixed The O.C. The finale will air Feb. 22 after a non-stop run of new episodes starting Thursday. “The O.C. season four finale will also be the series finale. This feels like the best time to bring the show to its close,” O.C. creator and executive producer Josh Schwartz said in… Read more »

It was only fitting that James Brown’s funeral turned into a concert Saturday afternoon (December 30) as he was laid to rest in his hometown of Augusta, Georgia. More than 8,000 people – Brown’s family, friends and fans – watched from the floor of James Brown Arena as the singer’s celebrity friends including Michael Jackson, MC Hammer and Bootsy Collins gave tribute onstage at the public “homegoing” service for the singer, who died of congestive heart failure early Monday morning . Although Reverend Al Sharpton – who said the iconic musician was like a father to him – gave a… Read more »

When Ronald Simmons first heard James Brown’s hit “Cold Sweat,” he was blown away, especially by Brown’s command, “Give the drummer some!” “When I was a kid I would go crazy when I heard that!” said Simmons, 53. “It did something to me: I’ve been drumming for the last 35 years.” Simmons was among thousands of fans waiting Thursday outside the Apollo Theater to pay their respects to Brown, who died on Christmas Day at age 73. As they stood in the cold, many spoke passionately about Brown’s impact on their lives. “He is our royalty, our music royalty,” said… Read more »

The upcoming closure of New York’s famed punk-rock club CBGB is lamented by locals as the loss of a legendary venue; for others it symbolizes another Manhattan neighborhood becoming corporate and bland. Standing underneath the club’s red awning on Thursday evening, several young musicians smoked cigarettes and bemoaned the loss of the dank, grimy club that began in 1973 and will have its last show on Sunday, featuring Patti Smith. The venue — its full name is CBGB & OMFUG, or Country Bluegrass Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers — spawned the Ramones, Talking Heads and Blondie, whose lead… Read more »

The Canadian Recording Industry Association suffered yet another blow Thursday in their perennial mission to deter online file sharing. The Canadian Press reports the Federal Court Of Appeal dismissed a challenge issued from the group that requested Internet service providers release the names and addresses of 29 individuals allegedly responsible for sharing outlandish amounts of music via the Internet. Suspected to have made 43,541 songs available to the general public, the 29 individuals in question will have their identities remain a secret due to the court ruling. As a result, the CRIA will be unable to sue the alleged pirates.… Read more »

Las Vegas – Officials are complaining that tickets given away for a city-sponsored centennial concert by the bands the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Weezer are being sold on the Internet. “You get a couple of bums who take advantage of the situation, and what starts off as a very nice gesture… turns into a sleazy methodology of trying to make a buck from it,” Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said. The July 2 show in a parking lot near the Las Vegas Convention Center is to mark the city’s 100th anniversary. About 35,000 free tickets were quickly snapped up… Read more »

Simple Plan’s somber video for their song “Untitled” – which shows the far-reaching affects of drinking and driving – has been embraced by fans and program directors alike, having captured the #1 spot on Thursday’s edition of “TRL.” And now they’re getting props from a somewhat unlikely source. The band has entered into a partnership with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and will attach a message from the organization to the end of the “Untitled” video, according to a spokesperson for SP’s label, Lava Records. “Traffic crashes are the #1 killer of teens, and nearly one-third of teen traffic deaths are… Read more »

Temecula, California, emo quintet Finch have been plenty busy since exchanging fisticuffs with bro-rockers Disturbed at last summer’s Rolling Rock Town Fair. The group has finished a new album, Say Hello to Sunshine, and is scheduled to kick off a tour this week. Guitarist Alex Linares said Say Hello to Sunshine – Finch’s first full-length for Geffen and the successor to their 2002 debut, What It Is to Burn – will signal a change in direction for the band. Those expecting What It Is to Burn, Vol. 2 might be in for a bit of a shock on the June… Read more »