This video has been making the rounds on the Internet all day, but one more destination can’t hurt.
“Empire State of Mind” (Jay-Z’s version) is easily the defining song of 2009. I can’t remember a single this ubiquitous since Outkast’s 2003 hit “Hey Ya!” Surprisingly, “Empire” is the first chart-topper of Jay-Z’s lengthy career. Alicia Keys even recorded a sequel, “Empire State of Mind, Pt. II (Broken Down)”, for her new album. Together, Jay-Z and Keys have dished out mesmerizing performances of the song at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, 2009 American Music Awards, and the 2009 World Series.
Now we can add “The Colbert Report” to that list. Filling in for Jay-Z, watch as MC Stephen Colbert breaks it down. He even accompanies Keys on harmony.
After getting snubbed seven times, The Stooges finally scored an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Swedish rock group ABBA, avant-garde rockers Genesis, British Invasion act The Hollies, and reggae musician Jimmy Cliff will join the group as the Hall’s 2010 class.
Led by the Iggy Pop, The Stooges came sneering out of Ann Arbor, Mich., in the late ’60s with a primal, growling sound that paved the way for punk, new wave, grunge and other, edgier music genres.
The Rock Hall also announced that its Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performers would go to music industry executive David Geffen, the songwriting teams of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, and individual songwriters Jesse Stone, Mort Shuman and Otis Blackwell.
Ertegun, the founder and chairman of Atlantic Records, died in 2006.
“We’ve been rejected seven times, and we would have set a record, I think, if it happened again. It started to feel like Charlie Brown and the football. I had about two hours of a strong emotional reaction after hearing the news. It felt like vindication. Then I kind of scratched my head and thought, ‘Am I still cool? Or is that over now?'”
The ceremony goes down on March 15 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. FUSE will broadcast the event live, which is actually pretty cool.
Following the success of “The Beatles: Rock Band”, Harmonix announced they were developing a version for The Who. But why stop there? Harmonix and publisher MTV Games will unveil “Green Day: Rock Band” in 2010.
“We’ve worked with the Rock Band team in the past year to enable our fans to play tracks from 21st Century Breakdown, and we’re excited to now be working on a game, spanning our entire career,” Billie Joe Armstrong said in a statement. “We want people to fire this up, choose their favorite Green Day tracks, and play along with us as Rock Band avatars so they can feel what it’s like to perform onstage as Green Day.”
Like The Beatles: Rock Band, the Green Day game will allow players to put themselves in venues and environments specific to the NoCal trio, and will feature key moments from the band’s three-decade career.
A specific release date and the game’s track list are unknown. They should just take the songs from International Superhits! and the singles from the last two albums. Better yet, “Green Day: Rock Band Dookie” is good enough.
I sincerely wanted Paul Westerberg to find success with his digital albums, but he really made it tough on those who wanted to purchase them. In 2008, he released the 49:00 on Amazon and TuneCore, but it was quickly removed, supposedly because of the cover medley. A new song, “5:05,” was put up in its place. Three songs followed — also in mp3 format — to little or no fanfare.
Nearly a year later, “PW & The Ghost Gloves Cat Wing Joy Boys” emerged, available exclusively on Amazon. Rather than work with labels, Westerberg was becoming a bit too comfortable releasing music on his own. It’s all well and good to have the rights to your songs, but this guy deserves some decent promotion and representation.
Now he does. Westerberg has joined forces with publishing powerhouse Bug Music.
Under the terms of the deal, Bug Music and Westerberg have entered into a publishing agreement encompassing Westerberg’s recordings with The Replacements, solo works and future recordings.
“We look forward to working with Paul’s Replacements and solo catalogs,” said Eddie Gomez, Sr. VP of Creative Services, Bug Music. “Paul is a major link in a respected chain of modern songwriters and his songwriting continues to resonate and influence a whole new generation of listeners.”
To be a musician, performer, and songwriter is a juggling act,” said Westerberg. “Throw in the bowling ball of publisher and it becomes downright work. The good people at Bug Music – I hear only of their imagination and proficiency – have stepped in to facilitate with Dry Wood, Elegant Mule, and Nah Music, leaving me free to augment my juggling feat with the flaming chain saw of snooker.”
Since I’ve yet to catch an episode of George Lopez’s new talk show, “Lopez Tonight,” having a musical act such as Morrissey might be the norm. I assumed the show would go for current chart-toppers and shy away from the veterans. Earlier in the decade, “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” used to be the only talk show to feature acts with more of a cult following. Now they all do it.
Anyway, how about the stage and sound system on this show? Both are overpowering.
