I came into today's post not really knowing what song I was going to put up. I took a look at the iTunes chart for the day and it is teeny bopper city, that is all Taylor Swift and One Direction (I know, they're not really teeny boppers anymore!). I mean, who seems to own the heavy consumer hand in the music world? You? Me? Eh eh, it's the good ole fashioned American teenage girl, who's got a crush on the boys from across the pond and wanna be just like their All American grown-up pop star.
Okay, okay, so I put up a couple of Taylor Swift songs in the past couple of weeks. I didn't say I hated her, or One Direction for that matter, but please...they're not the only thing out there! So since I've been going strong on a lot of new stuff lately, I've been forgetting that I can post an older tune anytime and not just on Friday. So the other night, while my pal Kyle and I were eating dinner, the song I Can Only Imagine, by David Guetta with Chris Brown, came on and our conversation turned for a minute to the bad-ass imaged singer.
I like Chris Brown's music, my buddy mused. His dance stuff is great!
I believe the same thing...Brown does have a voice that lends itself well to the dance floor. And here's one that Kyle mentioned by name, one of my favorites of Brown's which I hadn't heard in a long time. So yeah, it's Thursday, and we can definitely get lost on the dance floor in our minds as we plod through our days...Forever...
Here's a steamy tune for your hump day, courtesy of Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj, and it's still steamy even though it's the clean version. I'll say it again, love him or hate him, even though he started out singing R&B, he fits perfectly within the dance music world and here's another reason why...
This 5th track on #willpower is pleasing enough, and even though many out there hate Chris Brown, he does undeniably have talent. The tune is upbeat and catchy, though there are better songs on the album, so I'd be surprised to see this become a single. Check out Let's Go:
Music News Bytes is a collection of short news items that I follow on the Web. If you're into the same type of music I am, that is pop, dance, R&B, and such, check it out... Adele Spanks Mr. Brown
Well the big story of the day today, of course, was the Grammy Awards and all the little side stories that came out in its aftermath. I found one particularly interesting, one that involved the unlikely trio of Chris Brown, Frank Ocean, and Adele.
A photo appeared today on the Facebook page of my friend Dane McFadden, one that was taken last night just after Ocean had won an award for Best Urban Contemporary Album, a category in which Brown had also been nominated. The photo shows Ocean getting up to accept his Grammy, with everyone else around him standing and applauding, that is everyone else except Brown, who can be seen directly behind the winner in his seat with a not-so-happy look on his face.
It was after that when the British songstress confronted the sore loser, apparently giving him a good scolding for being so rude. Though cameras never picked up what Mama Adele said to the brat, you can clearly see that Brown had met his match. You go girl! (For more on the story, check out metro.co.uk)
J.T. Does R&B in B&W
Looking all dapper in suit and tie, and magically transformed into black and white, Justin Timberlake did a two-song set that made me even more nervous about how I'm going to like his upcoming The 20/20 Experience. The first song he did was the album's debut single, Suit n Tie, which to me is not very memorable and waaaayyyyy too much rhythm and blues. I'm not saying I don't like R&B, but I prefer dancey stuff, like a lot of what he put out on FutureSexLoveSound.
The second song, called Pusher Love Girl, was very similar. Oh it's smooth and it's good for what it is, but it doesn't make me as excited as I was upon hearing that JT was back. Anybody else feel that way? Anyway, the performance was good, with Jay-Z joining in on the first and some smooth moves by JT throughout.
By the way, I came across a review, with audio, of another new song by Justin called Mirrors. The track is 8 minutes long, but as the reviewer says, this one sounds much more like old Justin. Check out the review, and the song, on Popcrush. Justin did another song at his pre-Super Bowl gig last week...another R&Bish ballad called That Girl, which I kinda like. Check that one out here. Ooh, I can't wait to review this album!
New Music
I love the prospect of new music, especially when everything I've got in my iTunes library seems old. More tidbits have leaked out on new stuff from J-Lo, Destiny's Child, Eminem, and a brand new song by Depeche Mode, Heaven, which you can check out on zap2it. It's a little dark, not unlike old Depeche Mode stuff, but maybe just a wee bit darker...
I'm very excited to announce that Rihanna has debuted her new video for the song Stay, which is one of my favorites off of Unapologetic. The video for the haunting duet with Mikky Ekko features our star nekkid in a bathtub for mostly all of the four-minute clip, and it's somehow pretty poignant. Check it out on Eonline.
Welcome and thank you for checking out another edition of Music News Bytes. I subscribe to new music on Google Alerts and I read a lot of blogs, such as the ones on the left pane of John's World, so whenever I see new music items I find of interest, I like to share them here.
In this edition, I throw my two cents in on the new Destiny's Child and Justin Timberlake records and I've got some more new and exciting news about some new music heading your way. So please read on...
The first song from Beyonce, Kelly and Michelle in a long, long time is a 90's-stye, R&B jam. The track has a much more mature sound than earlier stuff from the girls, and reminiscent of some of the stuff off Bey's 4 album. I'm not loving it, perhaps because I'm partial to the fast n funky stuff I'm used to from them. Check out Nuclear.
The girls will be performing the song as part of Beyonce's Super Bowl Halftime Show set on February 3rd, along with old faves Survivor and Bills, Bills, Bills. Should be fun to watch.
I'll be on my suit n tie, suit n tie, suit n tie...
Okay, now that I've had about two weeks to digest Justin Timberlake's newest song, I've concluded that I'm still not crazy about it. Compared to SexyBack from his last album, FutureSexLoveSound, this one's a real sleeper. Oh, it's not a bad song, but hardly a jump-out-loud, must-have song that one might expect from such a huge comeback. The track is a little too slow for my taste, and like the new Destiny's Child record, it is very R&B. I've still got confidence, though, that the new record's gonna be slammin! Check out Suit & Tie if you haven't heard it already.
Robyn on the Horizon
One of my favorite singers over the past couple of years, Robyn, has finally reached the end of a long round of touring in support of her Body Talk trilogy of stellar albums, and she's finally settling in to working on her next project. She told Idolator's Pitchfork that she's been listening to a lot of Balearic House music for inspiration. I for one, cannot wait! Check out the interview at Idolator, and check out the club version of her Indestructible:
Idolator is also reporting that Rihanna and Chris Brown are working on a new song together. The former flames have been making a lot of music together over the last couple of years, including RiRi's Unapologetic track, Nobody's Business, and the remix for her Talk That Talk song, Birthday Cake. No one knows when the song will come out just yet, but stay tuned...
The iconic Prince is making a return to the spotlight in a big way this month, as Billboard Magazine will be honoring the singer with a Billboard Icon Award for his contributions to the music industry. Prince was a huge thing in the 80's, and even though he had faded from the spotlight, he's been continually making new music. I featured his hit Erotic City as Song of the Day yesterday, and I've always been a fan, having seen him perform twice (both fantastic shows!). I'm planning a piece on him and his music, but there's plenty of other stuff out there on the man these days, so in the meantime check out some of the links in this portion of the post.
The next song would be noteworthy if only because it reunites Rihanna with Chris Brown, her former boyfriend with whom the singer shared a notoriously fiery and controversial relationship. Regardless of anyone's opinion of the two, this one's pretty good. The song is upbeat and it reminds me of one of those cool 80's R&B jams. And the lyrics, well... Check out Nobody's Business:
Thank God for DVR's! I tell ya, I was really looking forward to watching the 40th Annual American Music Awards last night, but I had an engagement and couldn't be around to watch it live, so voila! DVR! Watching any awards show on DVR is always better anyway because I can watch three hours worth in less than half that (no commercials and I get to skip the parts that don't interest me).
Any-who, some great performances were scheduled to be performed last night and so I really was looking forward to seeing some of them. Of course, I was looking forward to P!nk the most, but also The Wanted, Kelly Clarkson, Psy, and Ke$ha were all on my 'to watch' list as well.
The Wanted - I Found You
After a ho hum performance of her new song, This Kiss, and a lil bit of Call Me Maybe came The Wanted, putting on an energetic performance of their latest I Found You. Check it out:
Anyone who follows me knows how much I love me some P!nk. In fact, I just spent the last couple of months feverishly reviewing her latest masterpiece track by track for this blog. P!nk is not only a master songwriter and singer, she's also a great performer. Who could forget that touchingly beautiful performance of Glitter in the Air at the Grammys awhile back? Well, last night she recreated her video for her latest, Try, and to me, solidified her stature as one of music's greatest performers. Watch:
I know there are many people out there who hate Chris Brown, but I really enjoyed him with Ludacris and Swizz Beatz giving a high-energy rendition of Everyday Birthday. I'm not posting the video, but if you like hip-hop and dance, a mixed genre in which Brown seems to have found his niche, click the title to watch it.
Other notable notes...
Other performances that I didn't chose to feature here included Ke$ha performing her new Die Young, which I absolutely love, though really to me the song does not translate live. Hmmm, that voice!?!? Nicki Minaj sang Freedom, which did not quite get my juices flowing. Maybe because it's a little soft for Ms. Thing. She returned a little later to join the Biebs on stage for something I didn't really get...??? No Doubt and lead singer Gwen Stefani did a nice performance of their latest, Looking Hot, and Ryan Seacrest and Stevie Wonder did a nice job paying a well deserved tribute to the late, great Dick Clark to cap off the performances I found to be of interest.
The Grand Finale - Who'd a Thunk?
The final and most entertaining performance of the night was that Korean sensation Psy, who's all over the place these days, and he brought on a special guest. Somewhere towards the middle of the song, Mr. Too Legit to Quit, M.C. Hammer made a long-time-coming appearance on stage with the Gangnam Style singer. Check this out:
Well there's been a lot of chatter and guessing about Rihanna's newest collaboration the past couple of weeks and now finally we all know who it is. As people have been guessing, the guest vocalist on the remix of "Birthday Cake" is none other than Chris Brown, Rihanna's former boyfriend and current who-the-hell-knows-what.
When the Chris Brown/Rihanna began to swirl last week, the Internet was all abuzz because...well, of course...that would be bona fide news. But as of last Friday, those Brown rumors were purportedly quashed, as "Birthday Cake" producers Da Internz "confirmed via ... tweet that it would not be Chris Brown featured on the song," and silly me, I believed em! I wouldn't have cared if it was Brown or not guesting on the new remix," but after listening too it, I have to say I lost some respect for the two of them.
The two singers took to their Twitter pages on Monday to announce their collaboration on one another's songs (Rihanna also appears on a remix to Brown's "Turn Up the Music."). They expressed an "f-you" attitude over what people might think:
Rihanna: They can say whatever, Ima do wahtever... No pain is forever <----- YUP! YOU KNOW THIS
Brown: Let them be mad!!!!! We make music. Don't like it, don't listen! Turn up the music remix is coming soon too! Guess who's on it?
So, Rihanna's forgiven Chris. That's just fine. I never went along with judging him anyway...I leave judging to a higher power. I think the man is talented and yes, I even like some of his songs, and I never let that incident interfere with that. It's RiRi's prerogative how she wants to proceed in her relationship with Brown, but what I'm having trouble with here is the song itself.
To me, this "shocking" collaboration is like a big middle finger to the world, especially from Rihanna. Working together is one thing, but using such vulgarity in the new lyrics is mocking the past, and that's without even mentioning the tweets. Take a look at Brown's part in the song:
"Girl I wanna f**k you right now Been a long time I been missing your body Lemme turn the lights down When I wanna go down it's a private party Ooh, it's not even her birthday But I wanna lick that icing out Give it to her in the worst way I can't wait to blow the candles out I want that...."
Do they really need to be that nasty? I know the song is 'dirrrty' already, but these lyrics are just too downright explicit and real life...way too much information for us. I've always been a big fan Rihanna's music, but not this. It's being dirty for vulgarity's sake and it's totally unnecessary, and to me it's as if they're saying to us, "Yeah, that's right. Something really bad happened between us once, and y'all got all worked up about it, but you know what? We don't care and we just wanna get down and nasty with each other , no matter what you all think."
I never mind a little naughtiness in music...there's already plenty of it on "Talk That Talk," but this goes way beyond for me and is, in my opinion, in poor taste. Whether they like it or not, both of them serve as role models for youngsters, and in this remix, they serve as poster boy and girl of how not to be. This is one Rihanna record I will not be downloading!
I put collaborator on it, who would u wanna see lick the icing off????? #CAKE...I need somebody #DIRRRTY on my Birthday #CAKE ;) lol.
Of course, the folks at the Post and many others would have believed it to be "Dirrrty" singer Christina. Since that time, though, the rumors have been swirling up big time about this 'surprise' guest spot on the album, and X-Tina's name hasn't come up again. Instead,the biggest name being thrown around is none other than Chris Brown, RiRi's infamous ex. Brown's name began to circulate after Rihanna's production team, Da Internz, tweeted that the featured guest vocal on the track would "shock the world."
Of course, that would definitely be a shock, especially after what transpired between the two a little over three years ago. In the week surrounding the Grammy Awards, at which they both performed, it was reported that Brown had attended Rihanna's birthday party, and so came the fuel for the rumors.
There have been reports on both sides of this story, with and without Brown guesting on the track, but Da Internz confirmed via another tweet that it would not be Chris Brown featured on the song. At this point, it's all just speculation. We'll just have to wait for the song to be released to find out who the guest vocalist will really be, which could come as early as this week. I'm still pulling for Christina...or Madonna...Nicki Minaj, maybe, lol...
Today's Song of the Day is by perennial bad boy and now Grammy Award winner Chris Brown. Brown took home a nod for Best R&B Album at last night's awards ceremonies, where he performed a short medley of songs from his "F.A.M.E." album, including this one. I included it in my Top 30 Dance Songs of 2011 because I think it's a great dance song and that's why I honor it again today with a Song of the Day post.
Of course, Brown was not nearly the biggest story at this year's show. Adele, whom I wrote about yesterday, was the big winner last night, taking home all six Grammy's that she was nominated for and making a triumphant return to singing with a nice rendition of "Rolling in the Deep." For a complete listing of last night's winners, check out a wonderful piece by a writer friend of mine, Victoria Leigh Miller:
Hello and welcome back to Part II of John's World's Top 30 Dance Songs of 2011. So far we've seen several good club tracks from the past year and now we're really getting down to the really good stuff. Each of these tunes have given me a good workout during the year and I hope you enjoy my selections.
#20 - Only Girl in the World - Rihanna
This is the first of three Rihanna songs to make it to my list this year. It came off of RiRi’s 2010 “Loud” album and it’s Euro dance music at its best. A great song deserving of the word “anthem!”
#19 - Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO
This official jam of the summer 2011 got played out way too much and frankly I’m really over it. I’m only including it here because it was a giant smash and should be recognized for its success. It was great fun while it lasted! Check out my original "Song of the Day" post featuring the song back in July right here, and you can even buy it here:
#18 - Give Me Everything – Pitbull, featuring Ne Yo, Afrojack and Nayer
I really wanted to place Pitbull a little higher on the list. After all, he really came into his own in 2011 with several songs and collaborations. This one, though the message isn’t as sweet and innocent as the melody, is a really great sing-a-long and very easy on the ears!
#17 - I Wanna Go – Britney Spears
This was an early favorite of mine off of “Femme Fatale,” with a catchy, whistly background and a fun track. Great song!
#16 - Rolling in the Deep – Adele
Even though the original version of this song was such a big, albeit, depressing kind of hit, it worked pretty good on the dance floors, as well, serving as one of the summer’s hottest anthems. Here's a short clip of one of the many remixes out there:
#15 - Born This Way – Lady Gaga
Yeah, yeah, so all the Gaga haters claim that this one is a rip off of Madge’s “Express Yourself.” Even though I disagree, isn’t imitation the sincerest form of flattery? All criticisms and hype aside, this is a great dance anthem and it inspired quite a few young LGBT’s, so I give it props for that alone!
I featured this one during Pride Week back in June, as it was THE song played over and over again the entire day of the Parade...check out the post right here. Buy it here:
#14 - Yeah 3X – Chris Brown
Even though Mr. Brown’s image will forever be tarnished because of he and Rihanna, he’s still a very talented young man with a knack for making radio and dance floor-friendly tunes. This feel good song is a lot of fun too dance to!
#13 – Blow – Ke$ha
I really didn’t like Ke$ha too much until this one came out earlier in the year. So sassy, so dancy!
#12 - Hey Hey – Dennis Ferrer
Just an ordinary day Till you came around I had my feet on the ground...
This one is a longtime favorite, and many people love it when they hear it. It’s not played too often in the clubs, but when it is, everybody’s jamming! Click play...
#11 - Time (Dirty Bit) – Black Eyed Peas
Even though this one technically came out in 2010, it was played a lot earlier in the year, though I think the straight-up version is much hotter than the mix they play in the clubs!
So there you have it, the middle ten of my Top 30 Dance/Club Songs of 2011. Ii hope you enjoyed reading and took the time to check out at least a couple of the videos. Stayed tuned for my top ten coming real soon... In the meantime, check out Part I here.
Happy New Year 2012 to all of my readers and fellow music fans. The following posts are a first for me. They’re something I would normally put out on Yahoo Voices, but since they’re taking so long these days to get things approved and published, I figured I’d try my luck out here. Besides, I can add photos and videos to make them more interesting, and so we shall see how they do on here.
As many of you already know, I love dance music. Ever since I was in my late teens and started going to the clubs, it has almost always been my genre of choice. Though many people go to clubs to meet people, I often go for the love of dancing, and the songs I share here are some of my favorites from the past year.
I’ve done many “Top Ten,” “Top Twenty,” and such lists in many places before. I just had one published on Yahoo that you can see here: The Top Pop Songs of 2011. I originally called it “John’s Top Pop Songs of 2011,” but they made me change it, even though last year’s piece was titled as such. I have another one still in their queue since Wednesday or so (albums) and I’ll share that if and when it finally gets published.
In the meantime, I present, in three installments, my Top 30 Dance Songs of 2011. I’m counting 30 because I wanted to include all of the one’s I really enjoyed this year and that was the closest number. I could have done 40, but that would have been pushing it, and I could have done 20, but then I would have left out some really good ones. So sit back, relax, and take a look and listen at some of the songs many have danced to in 2011. I hope you enjoy, and if you have any suggestions that I may have left out, please leave a comment.
#30 - Beautiful People – Chris Brown, featuring Benny Benassi
Chris Brown’s kind of soft, kind of melodic and very danceable song is one of those tunes that you know, but often you don’t realize you know it.
#29 - One Hot Pleasure – Erika Jayne
I recently featured this one as “Song of the Day.” It’s one of those sexual songs with plenty of raw club energy!
#28 - Turn Me On – David Guetta, featuring Nicki Minaj
This song off of Guetta’s latest was written by Nicki Minaj and features the rapper actually singing, though her rap part makes the song even better. I haven’t heard this one in the clubs yet, but hopefully soon enough!
#27 - Take Over Control – Afrojack, featuring Ava Simons
This one’s a hypnotic, frenzied, dance floor filler…great fun!
Come take my hand I won't let you go I'll be your friend I will love you so deeply I will be the one to kiss you at night I will love you until the end of time
Oh, this one should be a single! The song is so inspiring, so beautiful, and so much fun. The deejay upstairs at Ritz loves Beyonce a lot and plays this one almost every week!
Buy it here:
#25 - Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor) – Pitbull, featuring T-Pain
A great, fun song by Pitbull, with a smooth chorus!
#24 - Waka Waka – Shakira
This one was from the World Cup back in 2010, but I didn’t learn of it until earlier this year. It still gets played in the clubs a lot and its “Song of the Day” post still gets plenty of hits. It’s one of those really great feel good songs I love so much, with a great message and a great sound!
#23 - Tonight I’m Loving You – Enrique Iglesias, featuring Ludacris and DJ Frank E
This one was always a surefire dance floor filler, and I like the dirty version much better than the clean one! It just sounds better…
#22 – Superbass – Nicki Minaj
This one is for the boys with the booming system Top down, AC with the cooling system When he come up in the club, he be blazin' up Got stacks on deck like he savin' up
The year 2011 was a coming out party for Nicki Minaj, and this was her first big solo hit that worked really well in the clubs, too!
Check out Superbass on John's World Song of the day from July 15th right here.
Buy it here:
#21 - Where Them Girls At – David Guetta, featuring Flo Rida, Nicki Minaj
This was one of the lead singles off of “Nothing but the Beat” and it features two of my favorite hip-hop stars. Fun!
Well that's the first part of John's Top 300 Dance/Club Songs of 2011. I hope you've enjoyed these songs as much as I have in the past year. Stay tuned for Part II coming soon...
