For his first solo work in six years, Justin Timberlake has returned with "Selfish". This song, with production by Cirkut, Louis Bell and Timberlake, is a beat-heavy ballad that has him explaining his obsession with this woman he's interested in and if that makes him selfish, he just can't help it. I'm not sure about the message this is sending, especially in today's climate but perhaps this will be overlooked. This is the first release from his forthcoming sixth studio album, "Everything I Thought It Was" due out in March. Timberlake is in full promo mode, appearing last weekend as the musical guest on "SNL" (and debuting another song, "Sanctified"), hitting the talks shows, performing an intimate show at Irving Plaza in New York City on January 31st (which is also his 43rd birthday) before launching a world tour in April.
But fans of Britney Spears seemed to have wanted to have the last word on Timberlake's new song after the singer's revelations about her former boyfriend in her recent memoir. I still don't understand how they did this but the Britney stans managed to have a song also titled "Selfish" from Spears' 2011 album, "Femme Fatale" climb up and eventually reach number one on the US iTunes chart, knocking Timberlake off that spot. It's all silly and petty yet impressive work.
When I heard that actress Kate Hudson was dropping a new pop music single, I admit I was extremely skeptical of the outcome. I knew she could carry a tune after seeing her enjoyable performance in the 2009 filmed version of the Broadway musical, "Nine" yet it still remained questionable to me that the nepo baby of Goldie Hawn was an actual singer. However, after hearing "Talk About Love", I will now admit I was wrong. This pop-rock song, co-written by Hudson, her boyfriend, Daniel Fujikawa and musician/producer, Linda Perry, is pretty good, polished and catchy in a way that's very appealing with Hudson delivering a great vocal. The Oscar-nominated performer plans to release an entire album sometime in the near future and I am now curious to hear more.
I really don't understand the point of this Nicki Minaj/Megan Thee Stallion feud going on but here is the latest song from Megan Thee Stallion, "Hiss" which is delivering all she needs to say at this moment:
Finally, I would like to pay tribute to two gifted musicians we recently lost. The voice behind the Ashford & Simpson penned ode to the Golden State, "California Soul", Marlena Shaw has passed away on January 19th at the age of eighty-one. The New York artist (born Marlina Burgess) began her interest in music as a child through her uncle, Jimmy Burgess, a jazz trumpeter. Helping her develop skills as a vocalist, Marlina would sing with her uncle's band at the Apollo Theater at the age of ten.
Changing her stage name to "Marlena Shaw", she would continue to pursue a career as a singer, performing with several jazz bands before an opportunity came her way during a gig at the Playboy Club in Chicago. Representatives from Chess Records were in the audience and offered her a recording contract. Shaw made two albums for the label with "California Soul" appearing on her second release, "The Spice of Life" in 1969. And while she was not the first or the only artist to cover the song, Shaw's version was the one that made "California Soul" memorable. The track would go on to become popular in the British rare groove music scene, become heavily sampled by hip-hop musicians and used frequently for television commercials. Shaw recorded sixteen albums over the course of her career, largely jazz music but a few that combined blues, soul and some disco.
Melanie, who reached the top of the US pop chart with her composition, "Brand New Key", passed away on January 23rd. The New York singer/ songwriter, born Melanie Safka, was seventy-six with no cause of death revealed to date. She began as part of the counterculture, folk music scene in the village and managed to get signed with Columbia Records. Melanie recorded a couple of singles for them that didn't get much attention and moved on to a lower-profile label, Buddah Records. Two of her songs, "Bobo's Party" and "Beautiful People", became hits in Europe and this helped get Melanie an invite to perform at the 1969 Woodstock music festival, one of only three solo female musicians to perform there. The experience at the fest inspired Melanie to write the song, "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" which features the gospel group, the Edwin Hawkins Singers on backing vocals. This song became a hit in Europe and the US where it reached the top ten on the pop chart in 1970.
Frustrated by her label's controlling demand for new music on their timetable, Melanie, with her producer husband, Peter Schekeryk, formed their own indie label, Neighborhood Records. From her fifth album, "Gather Me" in 1971, "Brand New Key" became the biggest hit of her career, charting across the globe. While not reaching these heights again, Melanie continued to record (releasing twenty-six albums) and tour extensively. She married Schekeryk in 1968 and were together until his passing in 2010. The couple had three children; daughters, Leilah and Jeordie and son, Beau who are all working musicians.
For her first foray back to music since her emancipation from a fourteen year long involuntary conservatorship, Britney Spears has come back in a major way with a duet with Sir Elton John. It has been seven years since her well-received ninth studio album, "Glory" that Spears released any new recorded music, largely due to her recent refusal to continue her career while under complete control by her father. "Hold Me Closer" is a dance-pop song that combines elements of John's songs, "Tiny Dancer", "The One" and "Don't Go Breaking My Heart". John's husband, David Furnish actually suggested this collaboration and it certainly was an inspired idea. While it's wonderful how John has been very supportive in helping Spears get her footing back into music, the song feels like tiny, baby steps forward from both singers. The pop princess and the veteran musician's wispy, over-processed vocals are heavily buried in the dance mix and "Hold Me Closer" is far too similar to John's previous remixed hit with Dua Lipa, "Cold Heart" from last year. It's great that Spears is feeling comfortable to resume her career and this should give her the encouragement to continue but "Hold Me Closer" remains a disappointing endeavor, lacking the fireworks you would have expected from this team-up.
CHAKA KHAN
Chaka Khan has dropped a new song, "Woman Like Me" and it's a very welcome return by this legendary r&b performer. The edgy ballad (produced by Gregg Pagani who also co-wrote it with Francesca Richard and Jeffrey Anderson) is a stirring anthem on female empowerment, a powerful reminder to men that women should mean more to them than just a sexy plaything, deserving their complete admiration and respect. Khan, who has been dazzling us with her sassy, sultry voice since the the mid '70's, first with the funk band, Rufus before venturing out as a solo artist, just signed a deal with SRG-ILS Group to release her music so hopefully a new album is on the horizon.
LOLAHOL
IfLolahol looks familiar, she probably should. She is Lourdes Leon, the oldest child of pop superstar, Madonna who is following her mother into music. Released through her own record label Chemical X, "Lock & Key" is Lolahol's debut single, a dance-club ready tune with Leon providing breathy, sensual vocals. The music video for the song features Lolahol traveling through New York City and moving seductively on the beach that will certainly make her mother proud. And while the twenty-five year old artist doesn't necessarily plan on making music her career, also having interests in modeling and dance, she is curious to see where this will take her.
First up, we have Britney Spears who has just dropped a new song, "Make Me" which is the first release from her upcoming ninth studio album. With an obligatory guest appearance by a rapper (here we have G-Easy), this beat-heavy, sexy ballad has Spears cooing seductively about having her man make her do whatever he'd like. I think this just might be the hit that will bring her back to the top of the charts.
With the 2016 Rio Olympics just a few weeks away, it's time to hear an inspirational anthem to help get everyone pumped up for the event. Katy Perry has been assigned that job and "Rise" is the song. This Max Martin produced ballad is intended to lift up and inspire and does so with Perry's robust vocals and lyrics with an encouraging positive message. The music video drives it all home with powerful images from past Olympics.
Finally, we have Tinashe with "Superlove", an '90's inspired, throw-back jam. The track is a part of "Joyride", her highly anticipated follow-up to her 2014 studio debut, "Aquarius" that featured the million-selling smash, "2 On". This hypnotic song, produced by The Dream and Tricky Stewart, may feature a familiar vibe that will certainly remind you of the great Aaliyah yet Tinashe manages to make "Superlove" stand out as a modern classic.
After recently completing a very successful international tour with Queen, Adam Lambert is ready to release some of his own music. Now on a new record label, "The Original High" is the title of the "American Idol" runner-up's third studio album. With Swedish producers Max Martin and Shellback back on board (they produced tracks on his debut), Lambert is downplaying some of the theatrics of the past and offering some dance-influenced power pop. The first single, "Ghost Town" is a solid track that starts slowly before building to a pulsating beat, perfectly displaying his amazing voice. The album is due out on June 16th in the U.S. so in the meantime, take a look at the great video directed by Hype Williams where Lambert is serving a retro George Michael feel:
GIORGIO MORODER
Excitement is building for the first collection of new music by electronic dance pioneer, Giorgio Moroder in over thirty years. We had already gotten a very tasty taste of the album (now called "Déjà Vu" and due out June 12th) with the Kylie Minogue assisted single but now here comes another scorching track; the title song featuring the publicity-shy, vocal dynamo, Sia. Other artists confirmed to be lending their voices to the project are Kelis, Charli XCX, Mikky Ekko and the one and only Britney Spears. The Spears track is particularly interesting as it's an unlikely cover of the Suzanne Vega classic, "Tom's Diner". The duo give this song a fresh spin and it really works. Listen to the two songs below:
"Déjà Vu" - Giorgio Moroder featuring Sia (2015) mp3
"Tom's Diner" - Giorgio Moroder featuring Britney Spears (2015) mp3
"No Place In Heaven", the fourth album from Euro-pop star Mika won't arrive until June but we have an excellent video for his latest single "Talk About You" to enjoy in the meantime. Looking handsome and quite dapper, we see Mika playfully going through a colorful cardboard cut-out world filled with back-up dancers. It's quite charming and a lot of fun:
You might think this music video is simply the latest by Sia for "Fire Meet Gasoline", a track off her successful album, "1000 Forms of Fear" but you would be wrong. This is actually an ad for Heidi Klum's new line of lingerie and features the super model and actor, Pedro Pascal from "Game of Thrones". It's beautifully strange and sensual, just like you would expect from a commercial but also works to promote the music:
Finally, here is Todrick Hall covering Beyonce's entire musical career in just four minutes. Nothing more to say as this amusing clip impressively speaks for itself:
World famous pop star turned Vegas show girl, Britney Spears has returned to her musical roots and she's teamed up with the hottest female rapper that's not Nicki Minaj. The new song is called "Pretty Girls" and features Aussie Iggy Azalea providing her trademark rap. Produced by the hot British production team, The Invisible Men (who are responsible for many of Iggy's hits including her biggest-to-date, "Fancy"), "Girls" is a slick dance-pop track with a great sing-a-long chorus that just might help it become one of the big songs of the summer. The most noticeable (and refreshing) thing about this track is that Brit delivers an inspired, playful vocal and we actually hear her singing with minimal auto-tune.
Icona Pop burst on to the scene in 2012 with their worldwide smash, "I Love It" , although the song didn't reach these shores until this year. This tasty bit of Europop has the duo sing-shouting together that makes them sound like this generation's version of Bananarama. The group, made-up of Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo, released their self-titled debut in their native Sweden two years ago and have just delivered their official international first album, "This Is . . .". The album includes three tracks form the "Icona Pop" debut while the rest consists of new material that features production from fellow hit-making Scandinavians, Stargate and Shellback. If you love big electrobeats and wild, party-anthems, this is a record you should definitely check out.
"All Night" - Icona Pop (2013)
"NOTHING WAS THE SAME" - DRAKE
With his third full-length album, "Nothing Was The Same", Drake has made a thrilling work of bold artistic achievement. The twenty-six year old Canadian performer has confidently merged hip-hop and classic r&b to create a slick production that offers sounds that are richly textured and musically adventurous. Lyrically, Drake has even made some advancements as he has touched more on personal views in addition to the usual self-aggrandizing found in rap.
"For Time" - Drake featuring Jhene Aiko (2013)
"YOURS TRULY" - ARIANA GRANDE
Ariana Grande first achieved fame as a child star on the Nickelodeon television series, "Victorious" and the now twenty-year old has found recent success as a singer. Her first album, "Yours Truly" has been released and debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot 200 Chart, thanks to her first two singles, "Baby I" and the top-ten hit, "The Way". Ms Grande has stated that her musical influences included such artists as Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, so it's no surprise that you hear that on this record. While the young vocalist is not exactly in the same league as her idols, she shows great potential and delivers a strong set of songs.
"You'll Never Know" - Ariana Grande (2013)
"PURE HEROINE" - LORDE
A sixteen year old singer from New Zealand has come out of nowhere and made the most unlikely pop hit of the year. Ella Yelich-O'Connor or as she is known professionally, Lorde has taken the world by storm with her dark and moody tune, "Royals". What makes the song stand out is the minimalist sound, quirky, poetic lyrics and Lorde's mature vocals. "Pure Heroine" is the title of her first album and features a captivating collection written by Lorde and her producer, Joel Little. This is an impressive debut and one of the best records of the year.
"Ribs" - Lorde (2013)
Here is the U.S. version of the music video for "Royals" with the major difference between this and the original is that we see much more of the singer:
"THE DIVING BOARD" - ELTON JOHN
Elton John has returned to making the spare, reflective music that first made audiences stop and take notice of his amazing talent over forty years ago. He has re-teamed with producer, T-Bone Burnett and his long-time writing partner, Bernie Taupin and together have made "The Diving Board", his thirty-first (!) studio album. Mr. John has got nothing more to prove and has made a refreshing record that moves and inspires him with no interest in catering to the current trends in pop music.
"Take This Dirty Water" - Elton John (2013)
While we're still waiting for the release of her first full-length CD, Sky Ferreira has dropped another hot single. "You're Not The One" is a guitar-driven, electro-tune that has a sexy music video to enhance this great song:
The thing that amazes me the most about the career of Britney Spears is that she's managed to achieve so much by offering so little. There's no need to add any more to that statement and just present the video for "Work Bitch" the first single from her next musical endeavour due out in December. This is around the time Ms Spears will begin her residency at Planet Hollywood in Vegas:
Alicia Keys has recently become a wife and mother, which has unavoidably changed the musician and that is reflected on her fifth studio album, "Girl On Fire". She's ready to explore new sounds as she's taken the classic soul structure that is her claim to fame and mixed in experimental textures that fits in to the alt-r&b movement currently in the works.
While many have responded favorably to this latest recording by Ms Keys but unfortunately I am not one. Although I've warmed up slightly to the title track but otherwise, I'm not really feeling this album and I'm very disappointed to say that as I am a big fan. The singer has once again written songs that are deeply personal and thoughtful but musically, this ballad heavy set fails to - well, catch fire.
This track, "Fire We Make" features Maxwell and while it's fine but when these two powerhouses came together, I expected something with more fireworks:
"Fire We Make" - Alicia Keys Featuring Maxwell In the video for the title track, Alicia looks absolutely amazing and the more I hear "Girl On Fire", the more I enjoy it:
"UNORTHODOX JUKEBOX" - BRUNO MARS
First, let me say that I think Bruno Mars is a truly gifted talent and he has a long future ahead of him. Now, having said that, I have to admit that I haven't really gotten in to much of his music. That opinion may have changed as the twenty-seven year old Hawaii native has just released his sophomore effort, "Unorthodox Jukebox" and all of the songs (which he co-wrote) on the record certainly reflect that.
The album is an eclectic collection that features touches of all of the different musical styles that the artist likes. The first single, "Locked Out Of Heaven" brings to mind the early songs of ThePolice while "Treasure" has some nice tasty funk, and "Show Me" features some pretty convincing reggae. I have a feeling we will be hearing plenty of Bruno Mars in 2013.
"Treasure" - Bruno Mars I love this music video for "Locked Out Of Heaven":
"UNAPOLOGETIC" - RIHANNA
You can probably call pop superstar, Rihanna many things but one thing you can't say is that she's lazy. The singer from Barbados has released a new album every year in November for the past four years with her recent seventh, "Unapologetic", surprisingly, has become the first to reach number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart.
The lead single, "Diamonds" is a smash-hit (that went to number one in fifteen countries) but the rest of the new material while adventurous, feels slightly scattered and unfocused. The usual suspects are on board: David Guetta, Stargate, The Dream along with Australian pop artist, Sia (who co-wrote, "Diamonds") and Chris Brown shows up on a duet so the two can flaunt their "truelove" to the world.
After her 777 Tour, where she flew on a Boeing 777 with her hardcore fans and journalists from around the globe to perform in seven different cities, in seven different countries in seven days to promote the album, look for Rihanna on the road next year for her Diamonds World Tour.
This track spells out what Rihanna and Chris Brown wants the world to know about their relationship:
"Nobody's Business" - Rihanna featuring Chris Brown "KALEIDOSCOPE DREAM" - MIGUEL
Miquel is one of the current artists out there pushing the boundaries of soul music by offering unexpected beats and sounds which he has done on his second studio album, "Kaleidoscope Dream". This confident collection, written and produced by the twenty-seven year old Southern Californian native, has incorporated thoughtful ideas of love and sexuality combined with slinky rhythms of funk, rock, electronica and dub-step.
Just like another member of the alt-r&b movement, Frank Ocean, Miguel has received critical praise and Grammy love by garnering four nominations this year including the prestigious Song Of The Year category for, "Adorn".
Have a listen to the title track:
"Kaleidoscope Dream" - Miguel "WARRIOR' - KE$HA
When Ke$ha first came on the scene in 2009 with her international smash, "Tik Tok", her rap-pop sound combined with her wild-child, party girl antics was highly entertaining. Now, a few years in and she's (more or less) still doing the same shtick and it has grown a little tiresome.
"Warrior" is her second studio album, following a couple of EPs , and features the same producers (Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Shellback and Benny Blanco) that she has used previously as well as every other current pop star out right now. However, the singer has attempted to freshen her sound by adding some rock elements which has her teaming-up with punk legend, Iggy Pop on the tune, "Dirty Love" as well as contributions from rock bands, The Flaming Lips and The Strokes with the results being semi-successful. She's even covers a track, "Old Flames Can't Hold A Candle To You", which was a number one country hit for Dolly Parton and co-written by her mother, Pebe Sebert. The song is on another EP, "Deconstructed" that features acoustic versions of Ke$ha's songs and only available on her website.
Here is the title track:
"Warrior" - Ke$ha"
After a less than stellar appearance as a judge on the U.S. version of "The X Factor", Britney Spears has returned to music and back to the top of the charts. She provides backing vocals to will i.am's latest tune, "Scream & Shout" and shows up in the music video:
Britney Spears is sizzling hot right now, so she has decided to team-up with a few of her fellow pop darlings in a couple of remixes of two songs topping the charts right now.
The first one is Rihanna's hit song, "S&M" which is now a duet with Ms Spears.The presence of two of pop music's current powerhouses on this song sounds much better on paper than the actual record as Britney's additional vocals really doesn't add much to make this song truly an event. They would have been better off coming together on a brand new song.
"S&M (Remix)" - Rihanna & Britney Spears (2011)
The next is Britney's own hit song, "Till The World Ends" that has been remixed with not only Ke$ha but hip-hop's new sensation, Nicki Minaj, who has just been announced as Britney's opening act for her upcoming tour. Ms Minaj adds her trademark clever rap to the song and as for Ke$ha's appearance . . well, let's just say that three is an unnesscary crowd.
"Till The World Ends" - Britney Spears featuring Nicki Minaj & Ke$ha (2011)
And as a bonus, here are the music videos for the original versions of these songs:
This wildly talented and eccentric artist was born Prince Rogers Nelson in 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His father, John was a jazz musician and Prince was named after his father's stage name, Prince Rogers. As a child, Prince developed an interest in music, which his father encouraged, and he wrote his first song at the age of seven on his father's piano.
Prince's parent split up when he was ten and he would go and live with them both, having to go back and forth between them. He would eventually move in with the family of a close friend, Andre Anderson who would later become musician, Andre Cymone.
Prince formed a band in high school called Grand Central with Andre on bass and Prince's cousin, Charles Smith on drums. Prince handled piano and guitar and the group performed covers songs at parties and clubs. Morris Day (who would later become the lead singer of the band, The Time) replaced Charles on drums and the band renamed themselves, Champagne and started performing original music.
Prince worked on creating his own demos, trying to get signed to a record label. At seventeen, he signed with Owen Husney to manage him and help get him a recording contract. Prince was teamed up with David Z to produce a slick new demo and several labels became interested. Prince eventually signed with Warner Bros. Records where the label agreed to give him creative control on his first three albums and ownership of the publishing rights, which is not exactly a common arrangement for a new artist.
"For You" was Prince's debut album, which was released in 1978. He would write, arrange and produce the entire record as well as play all of the instruments. However, during the recording of the album, he went over double the amount of his initial advance. While the album had one single, "Soft And Wet (LP Version)' hit number twelve on the r&b charts, it didn't do anything on the pop charts. The album sold slightly under a half a million copies but created some buzz for the musician.
He released his next album in 1979, simply titled, "Prince" and now everyone started to take notice. It was a much more diverse record, covering pop, rock, funk, dance and sexy ballads. The first single, "I Wanna Be Your Lover" went to number one on the r&b charts and hit number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100. That single alone sold over a million copies and the album would also go platinum.
He would go on to release two more successful albums, "Controversy" (1981) and "1999 [Explicit]" (1982) before becoming a full fledged superstar by starring in a popular semi-autobiographical film, "Purple Rain" in 1984 and the hit soundtrack,"Music from the Motion Picture "Purple Rain"" which would go on to sell thirteen million copies in the U. S. alone. Prince would win two Grammy Awards and an Academy Award for Best Original Score for this project.
Prince is one very busy and prolific musician, releasing thirty-five albums to date and selling well over 100 million copies worldwide as well as writing and producing for many other artists including Chaka Khan, The Bangles, Madonna, Shelia E, The Time, Sheena Easton and Sinead O'Connor.
Enjoy the first single that introduced Prince to the world:
"I Wanna Be Your Lover" - Prince (1979)
BRITNEY SPEARS - ". . .BABY ONE MORE TIME" (1999)
Britney Jean Spears was born in 1981 and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana. She began performing at a very young age where she won local singing competitions and children's talent shows.
At eight, she went to audition for the revival of the television show, "The All-New Mickey Mouse Club" but was rejected because she was too young but the casting director was so impressed by Britney that he introduced her to a talent agent. The agent helped get her commercials and theater work as well as a shot on the television talent program, "Star Search". Britney finally got an opportunity to appear on "The Mickey Mouse Club" during the show's sixth season in 1993 but the show was cancelled after one more season.
In 1997, Britney's mother, Lynne gave family friend and entertainment lawyer, Larry Rudolph a tape of Britney singing. He decided he wanted to pitch her to record labels and a professional demo was made. Britney later went to New York with the tape and met with four record labels. She was rejected by three of the labels but Jive Records was interested. They were impressed by her singing ability at such a young age and saw her potential commercial appeal. The label teamed her up with producer, Eric Foster White to work on some demos and help shape her sound. Jive's president, Clive Calder liked what he heard and ordered a full album. Britney was flown to Sweden to work with several producers (including Max Martin) there to record part of the album.
"...Baby One More Time" was written by Max Martin and was originally given to the r&b/hip-hop group, TLC but they turned it down. The tune became Britney's first single, where it went straight to number one and topped the charts for two weeks.This song would go on to hit number one in fifteen different countries, sell an astonishing nine million copies and earn Britney a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Her debut album, also entitled "...Baby One More Time [ENHANCED CD]" was released after Britney did a mini-tour at shopping malls across the country and the album entered the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart at number one. Three more singles were released, "Sometimes", "(You Drive Me) Crazy" and "From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart" and they all became top forty hits. The album would go on to sell a total of twenty-five million copies around the world.
This was just the beginning as Britney would become a media sensation and continued to have many hit songs and concert tours but the pressure of fame and success took it's toll on the young singer. She had issues with substance abuse and depression which eventually lead to a public emotional meltdown in 2007 where she would wind up shaving her head. She sought treatment and soon got her life back in order.
She married childhood friend, Jason Alexander in January of 2004 in Las Vegas but the marriage was annulled two days later due to a "lack of understanding her actions". She would later marry her back-up dancer, Kevin Federline after knowing him for five months in September 2004. They would have two sons together, Sean and Jayden but the marriage ended in 2006.
Britney Spears has sold over one hundred million records during her career and her upcoming seventh album, "Femme Fatale" is due to be released on March 15th of this year. The first single, "Hold It Against Me" has already topped the charts here in the U.S.
"...Baby One More Time" - Britney Spears (1999)
This is the music video for her first single where Britney dances around as the naughty school girl:
"OUTLANDOS D'AMOUR" - THE POLICE (1978)
Drummer, Stewart Copeland formed The Police after his progressive rock band, Curved Air disbanded in 1977 with Henry Padovani on guitar and Gordon Sumner, who would later become professionally known as "Sting" on bass guitar and vocalist. The punk rock sound was taking hold in London at the time, so the trio would release a single called "Fall Out" and toured as a support act. Guitarist, Andy Summers joined the band later that year and they all performed briefly together before Henry Padovani left the band and this would become the permanent line-up.
The Police struggled to make their first album because they had little money and no record deal but when Stewart's older brother, Miles Copeland III, an entertainment manager, heard the band's song, "Roxanne" he was determined to get them signed to a label. Miles got The Police signed to A&M Records (and with the label's help, created his own record company, I.R.S. Records in 1979) and they released, "Outlandos D'Amour" in 1978. "Roxanne" was the band's first single but it did not chart. After extensive touring around the globe, the single was re-released and it reached number twelve in the U.K. and number thirty-two in the United States.
The group released their second album, "Reggatta De Blanc" later in 1979, which became a major seller in the U.K. reaching number one and gave The Police their first number one singles there with "Message In A Bottle and "Walking On The Moon". Although the songs didn't do as well here in the U.S., The Police were enjoying emerging awareness and popularity throughout the rest of the world.
The group would release three more chart-topping albums with "Synchronicity" in 1983 being their most popular with four singles reaching the U.S. top forty including "Every Breath You Take" which went to number one for eight weeks and won The Police a Grammy that year for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.
By the end of the "Synchronicity" Tour in March 1984, each member went their separate ways and spent time pursuing solo projects but this was more seen as the band just taking a break however, "Synchronicity" would end up being The Police's last studio album due to a clash of egos, the pressure of fame and financial success that increased tension and strain amongst the band mates and they officially ended as a group.
The Police did eventually reunite for a world tour to mark the 30th anniversary of the group in 2007 and to kick things off, they opened the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, performing "Roxanne" as a way to announce their return.
During their career, The Police released five studio albums which have sold over fifty million copies worldwide, had seven top ten U.S. hits, won six Grammy Awards and would be inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
The presence of two of pop music's current powerhouses on this song sounds much better on paper than the actual record as Britney's additional vocals really doesn't add much to make this song truly an event. They would have been better off coming together on a brand new song.
but hip-hop's new sensation, Nicki Minaj, who has just been announced as Britney's opening act for her upcoming tour. Ms Minaj adds her trademark clever rap to the song and as for Ke$ha's appearance . . well, let's just say that three is an unnesscary crowd.
. It was a much more diverse record, covering pop, rock, funk, dance and sexy ballads. The first single, "
superstar by starring in a popular semi-autobiographical film, "
" in 1984 and the hit soundtrack,"
This song would go on to hit number one in fifteen different countries, sell an astonishing nine million copies and earn Britney a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
and the album entered the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart at number one. Three more singles were released, "
The album would go on to sell a total of twenty-five million copies around the world.
The first single, "
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" later in 1979, which became a major seller in the U.K. reaching number one and gave The Police their first number one singles there with "
Although the songs didn't do as well here in the U.S., The Police were enjoying emerging awareness and popularity throughout the rest of the world.
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.
