Search Results for: pop

The British pop charts are warming up for a struggle between good and evil as American Satanic rocker Marilyn Manson releases an album on the same day as stammering, squeaky-clean ‘Pop Idol’ runner-up Gareth Gates. Drawing up the battlelines on Wednesday, Manson said his years of drug and alcohol abuse were just as much of a handicap as Gates’ stammer, and he deserved a Number One hit. Manson, who bases his act around devil worship, releases “Tainted Love” on Monday, the same day as former choir-boy Gates cover version of “Unchained Melody.” But in an interview with music magazine NME,… Read more »

“Rocket Man” Elton John rued on Wednesday the thrust for instant success among undistinguished and indistinguishable modern pre-fabricated pop bands. “It is like packets of cereal. There are too many of them, and too many of them are just average and mediocre,” he told BBC television in an interview filmed during his current tour in the United States. “It is just fodder. It doesn’t sound. It has no distinguishing marks. A lot of it you can’t tell one from the other. There is too much of it, just too much of it,” the high-spending flamboyant rock legend lamented. The 54-year-old… Read more »

The manufactured pop group Hear’Say is seeking a replacement for Kym Marsh – and the winner will have to look good, dance great and sing a capella. The band, formed last January after an exhaustive search that was carried live on television, has since sold 1.2 million albums and 1.5 million singles. Now, after Marsh’s abrupt departure for new pastures, remaining members Danny Foster, Myleene Klass, Suzanne Shaw and Noel Sullivan hope they can re-create the right mix. Hear’Say manager Chris Herbert, giving details of the February 3 auditions in Brixton, said: “We will be doing a visual selection as… Read more »

Pop music fans will want to pick up a copy of “Longshot,” due March 26 on DVD from Spartan Home Entertainment. The film features cameo appearances by some of the biggest names in teen pop, including Britney Spears, ‘N Sync, O-Town, and LFO, among others. The film was produced by Trans Continental Pictures, a company owned by Louis Pearlman, the man who launched the careers of the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync, among others. He’s also the creator of the ABC/MTV series “Making the Band,” which spawned the act O-Town. Pearlman co-wrote and co-produced the feature, which was released last… Read more »

ARTISTdirect Records has named Michael Whited Vice President of Pop and Crossover Promotion, it was announced today by Marc Benesch, the label’s Executive Vice President, Promotion. Whited starts his new post immediately and reports directly to Benesch. “Michael’s track record speaks for itself. His ability to develop and break new artists at the pop and crossover formats is second to none. His relationships in the radio community, along with his ability to direct a field staff, will prove a tremendous asset in spearheading our efforts in the marketplace in 2002.” In his new capacity, Whited will oversee promotion of all… Read more »

Hoobastank’s “Crawling In The Dark” is currently working its way from the rock charts to the pop mainstream, checking in at Number 13 in its second week on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. Hoobastank guitarist Dan Estrin said about the moment in which he realized that they were on to something good with “Crawling In The Dark.” “I went to the studio one night by myself and just sat there and started playing and I kind of put it together,” he says. “It was a little different. I brought it to the guys the next day and… Read more »

The music industry finally received the holiday gift it had been hoping for this week, as the album charts got a formidable one-two punch from alt-rock superstars Creed and the perennially popular “Now That’s What I Call Music” compilation series. “Weathered” (Wind-Up), Creed’s follow-up to the platinum blockbuster “Human Clay,” sold nearly 900,000 copies its first time out, according to SoundScan data for the week ended Nov. 27. Those numbers made “Weathered” the biggest bow since ‘N Sync’s “Celebrity” shifted 1.9 million out of the gate last summer. Nipping at Creed’s heels was the eighth installment of the “Now” series… Read more »

Rock ‘n’ roll will never die. Unless it is being made by classic rockers like Rolling Stone frontman Mick Jagger and former Beatle Paul McCartney, whose new albums are barely registering a pulse at cash registers in the United States. The very youth culture that propelled these music legends to stardom back in the 1960s is now discarding them in favor of a new generation of fresh-faced youngsters, such as perky teen queen Britney Spears and spiritual rockers Creed. According to sales data issued on Wednesday, Jagger’s new album “Goddess in the Doorway” (Virgin) debuted at No. 39 on the… Read more »

Music video pioneer MTV says it is just a matter of time before Asian pop idols make their presence felt on an international stage. “I think we are starting to see an awakening of interest in the West about what’s going on in Asia, spiritually, musically, creatively. You have Madonna singing about Asia, Alanis Morissette singing about India,” Frank Brown, president of MTV Networks Asia, told Reuters in a recent interview. For years now, western pop singers such as Michael Jackson, Madonna and Robbie Williams have been idolized by fans across Asia. But that trend may be changing. “The flow… Read more »

Britney Spears, a former Mousketeer, is at the center of an aggressive drive into the movie business by a handful of young pop stars molded by the music industry and MTV. Not since the 1960s, when singers like Elvis Presley, Frankie Avalon, Fabian and Johnny Cash crooned their way onto movie screens, have studios produced as many star vehicles to showcase the hip-shimmying musical talents of the day’s teen idols. Their holy grail is “The Bodyguard,” starring Whitney Houston, which grossed $122 million and relaunched a pop song that became a perennial hit. The soundtrack is one of the best… Read more »