Adele: From "who's she?" To A Huge Fan in 18 Hours (Sound-raves week of 5/23/2011)

Adele continues on a tear once again this week, earning top honors for a second week on the SoundRaves 100 with "Someone Like You".    She also spent a second week on top the Billboard Hot 100 with "Rolling In the Deep", and her second album 21, is in week nine atop the Billboard 200 Album chart.   She certainly has come a long way, baby.

Especially for me, since that fateful day in October of 2008 when I became a fan.   And I wonder what would have happened had I slept late or turned in early that night.

To appreciate this story, one has to go back over a year before that, however.    I had been, for the most part, disenchanted with the current music scene, and, aside from downloading and burning 20 songs to a CD each month, just basically rolled out the oldies, classic rock, and 80s and 90s alternative tunes.  I was a lurker, if not a full time poster on something called The New York Radio Message Board, as well as the Oldies Message Board, discussing with fans even bigger than me, how great the music (and Top 40 radio) was back in the day.

One of the topics that came to mind was Amy Winehouse.   The Brit songstress had taken the world by storm with her song "Rehab", which had a sort of retro style to it, leading to a debate  "should an oldies station play a song like this".   The answer, of course, was "no" simply because it was a new song, but that didn't stop me from exploring the subject further.    My wife also loved her music as well, and we bought her album Back to Black, and realized that the whole album was awesome.   Retro soul had gotten back into the mainstream, if only across the pond.    Also in 2007, I was wowed by Lily Allen's "Smile", and Duffy's "Mercy", enough to perhaps create another British invasion...

Unfortunately, little did I know that "Rehab" was autobiographical in nature; that Winehouse would have problems with substance abuse as well as constant troubles with the law; watching her performeon TV in 2008, expecting her to self-destruct at any time.   And so it went.

Which brings us to October 18, 2008, a Saturday.   Again, feeling out of touch with what I expect to be good music (I rarely listened to radio anymore, and I was, for the most part bored with the scene; only looking at the charts and radio playlists each week did I have an inkling of what was out there).     I got up pretty early, and I really didn't know what compelled me to do so, but I turned on VH-1 which on early Saturday mornings actually still played videos.   Perhaps I would have some ideas on new music that was out there, and I'd actually *hear* it first.    So there I was in the den at six o'clock in the morning.

P!nk's new song "So What!" came on first.    I had lost track of her for a few years, but realized this song, her first #1, was sort of a comeback for her....I loved it.    Next was "Green Light" by the talented John Legend...great as well.   But then came something called "Chasing Pavements", by an artist named Adele.   I sat, watched, listened to this talented young lass from Britain sing this bluesy ballad.     Winehouse would have been lucky to write and sing a similar song.    All I can say is...WOW!.   

I wrote down the song and the artist, with the intention of looking her up on the online store sometime next week, and went ahead with the business of the day.     As it also was the middle of a Presidential election year which would pit Barack Obama against John McCain, all eyes were on the political races, including the intriguing Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who, among other things, could see Russia from her house.

On the show Saturday Night Live, former cast member and head writer Tina Fey had made guest appearances playing Palin in comedy skits, but there was now an announcement that tonight, Palin herself would be on as well; causing a swell of interest in the long-running late-night comedy.   And then, they announced the music guest:  Adele!    The same artist who I heard this morning for the first time.

So 11:30 PM came, and I made the decision to stay up and watch.    Skits involving Fey and Palin were the source of many discussions both that night and the next week.    And then Adele, a young, 19-year-old singer, who like me, nobody on this side of the Atlantic had really heard from, played her single, "Chasing Pavements".  She was very poised and steady, and she knew what she was doing.    Later in the show, another song from her 19 album, "Cold Shoulder" drew rave reviews from the audience, whose numbers were already high from the Palin appearance.   Adele was a success, and her album and track sales skyrocked the week after ther performance.  Winehouse may have gotten the publicity (most of it bad), but Ms. Adele Adkins got a heap of praise.

In October 2008, I had been on Facebook only a month and a half, but Adele marked the first artist that I "liked" (although I believe it was still "became a fan" in those days, but you get what I mean.   We bought 19, and both my wife Barb and I loved it.    It would set up her current success with "Rolling in the Deep" and 21 to make her where she is today.    One of these days, we hope to catch her in concert.   As for Winehouse?   She still has not made a follow-up to Back to Black; Adele, by releasing two albums had moved out from behind her shadow and in turn has eclipsed Winehouse.

And for me, I was just glad to get up early on that Saturday morning in 2008.

TOP 100:  As mentioned earlier, Adele tops the list with the ballad "Someone Like You", along with two other entries from her chart-topping set, 21.   But it was a very close race, as the song just barely beat's out "Two Against One", by Danger Mouse and Daniele Lippi.   The song features vocals by the ubitiquous Jack White (The White Stripes, Raconteurs, The Dead Weather).   Danger Mouse's real name is Brian Burton and he hails from White Plains, NY.    He is also a member of Gnarls Barkley, and the current album is entitled "Rome" which also features Norah Jones.

New in the top 20 this week are Foster the People's follow-up to "Pumped Up Kicks", "Houdini", from their new album Torches; "Please Ask for Help" by Telekinesis, from Seattle, which is really Michael Benjamin Lerner; and Britpop band Brother, with "Darling Buds of May"

Compared to last week, it's a quiet week for debuts, with the nod given to "Holdin' On to Black Metal" by My Morning Jacket, from Louisville KY.  They're described everything from jam band, indie rock to psychedelic rock.  The real jam this week is "Repo Man" by Ray Lamontagna and the Pariah Dogs, with its running time of 6 minutes.  It debuts at #95.

Noted:  Zep Fest, the Washington DC music festival which was to featured some seasoned bands (hence the name) from the past as well as a few new acts (like Rachel Allyn), has been canceled.   Our own Rachel Allyn, who launched her summer schedule last weekend at Kabob's, will be at the Jefferson House on Lake Hopatcong this Monday.   She has a date at Mohican Sun next month....Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, who are all over the map these days, did a gig last week at The Stony Pony.   Potter had two SoundRaves top 20 hits last fall, one of these, "Paris" is still rising on the chart.    "American Idol" pits two teen country comers against each other, Lauren Alaina and Scotty McGreery.  Lauren was my original pick seven weeks ago, but Scotty has shown amazing poise.... two long running songs fall off the chart this week:  "Firework" by Katy Perry (26 weeks), and "Forget You" by Danger Mouse's sometimes-partner Cee Lo Green (29 week), the latter is noteworthy since it, despite a few attempts, never got higher than #30. 

This weekend is my annual Roscoe camping trip with my buddies; always a hotbed of music heard as many of the guys bring their own music to the proceedings.   Next week I will report of what we've heard.

SOUND-RAVES for week of May 23, 2011

TW	LW	ARTIST-Title	WOC
1	1	ADELE "Someone Like You" Album: 21 (2nd week)	5
2	5	Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi-Two Against One	7
3	2	Florence + the Machine - Dog Days are Over	12
4	3	The Raveonettes - Recharge and Revolt	8
5	6	Adele - Rumour Has It	5
6	7	The Wombats - Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)	6
7	4	Adele - Rolling In the Deep	24
8	8	The Vaccines - Post Break-up Sex	11
9	11	Death Cab for Cutie - You are A Tourist	7
10	13	Dom - Living In America	7
11	18	Cage the Elephant - Around My Head	4
12	14	Lucinda Williams - Buttercup	14
13	15	The Cars - Sad Song	9
14	17	The Drums - The New World	5
15	10	Mt. Desolation - Bitter Pill	15
16	9	Rachel Allyn - Gettin' By	19
17	12	Leila - Hush Little Baby	14
18	22	TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:   FOSTER THE PEOPLE "Houdini" Albums: Foster the People (EP)/Torches	4
19	23	Telekinesis - Please Ask for Help	7
20	26	Brother - Darling Buds of May	6

21	16	TV On the Radio - Will Do	10
22	25	Bell X1 - Velcro	5
23	24	Michael Franti & Spearhead - I'll Be Waiting	9
24	21	Dark Sacrament - Realm of Unlight	7
25	20	Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks	18
26	28	Chk Chik Chick - Wannagain Wannagain	9
27	29	Ben Harper - Rock n' Roll is Free	7
28	19	Foo Fighters - Rope	12
29	30	Rihanna - S&M	9
30	70	MOVER OF THE WEEK: FLORENCE + THE MACHINE "You Got the Love" Album: Lungs	2
31	53	Lady Gaga - Judas	3
32	61	Lykke Li - Get Some	2
33	54	Plan B - She Said	3
34	34	Helvetia - Arise Pt 1	12
35	35	Scars on 45 - Give Me Something	14
36	27	Peter Bjorn & John - Second Chance	16
37	31	Superhumanoids - Malta	9
38	41	Neon Trees - Your Surrender	5
39	66	Train - Save Me San Francisco	3
40	32	Cold War Kids - Louder Than Ever	20
41	40	Duran Duran - All You Need Is Now	7
42	62	Kate Voegele - Heart In Chains	2
43	46	Beastie Boys - Make Some Noise	6
44	48	Augustana - Steal Your Heart	6
45	68	Fleet Foxes - Battery Kinzie	2
46	44	Redlight King - Old Man	6
47	51	Alexander - Truth	8
48	73	Peter Bjorn & John - Dig A Little Deeper	2
49	58	Drive-By Truckers - Everybody Needs Love	4
50	60	Andrew Allen - Loving You Tonight	4
51	33	Ra Ra Riot - Too Dramatic	16
52	42	The Band Perry - You Lie	11
53	45	Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues	16
54	85	The Strokes - Taken For A Fool	2
55	57	Cake - Long Time	5
56	65	Middle Brother - Me Me Me	4
57	74	Fleet Foxes - Grown Ocean	2
58	77	Cold War Kids - Skip the Charades	2
59	36	Company of Thieves - Death of Communications	9
60	52	The Sounds - Something to Die For	9
61	59	The Holidays - Moonlight Hours	18
62	67	The Kills - Satellite	10
63	50	Fitz and the Tantrums - Money Grabber	25
64	75	The Thermals - Not Like Any Other Feeling	3
65	38	Devotchka - 100 Other Lovers	11
66	78	The Raveonettes - Forget That You're Young	2
67	37	Kings of Leon - Pyro	17
68	49	Jack Johnson - From the Clouds	15
69	56	Acrylics - Sparrow Song	13
70	76	Interpol - Try It On	3
71	39	Colbie Cailat - I Do	15
72	43	Richard Ashcroft - Are You Ready	10
73	47	Tamar Kaprelian - New Day	12
74	55	Yuck - Get Away	14
75	64	My Chemical Romance - Bulletproof Heart	7
76	83	Eddie Vedder - Longing to Belong	4
77	69	Two Door Cinema Club - What You Know	16
78	86	Zac Brown Band f Jimmy Buffet - Knee Deep	3
79	91	Arcade Fire - Month of May	2
80	63	The Decemberists - This Is Why We Fight	17
81	71	He Is We - Happily Ever After	10
82	----	TOP DEBUT:   MY MORNING JACKET "Holdin' On to Black Metal" Album: Circuital	1
83	79	Incubus - Adolescents	5
84	93	Austra - Beat and the Pulse	2
85	96	Boxer Rebellion - The Runner	2
86	----	Noah & the Whale - L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.	1
87	82	R.E.M.- Oh My Heart	4
88	84	The Black Keys - Howlin' For You	21
89	----	Ke$ha - Blow	1
90	72	The Beets - Dead	8
91	80	Downtown Crossing - Seventy 4	14
92	----	Mumford and Sons - Roll Away Your Stone	1
93	88	The Decemberists - Down By the Water	29
94	90	Marianas Trench - Good To You	16
95	----	Ray Lamontagne & the Pariah Dogs - Repo Man	1
96	----	Sam Roberts Band - The Last Crusade	1
97	87	Downtown Crossing - Translation	17
98	----	Sixx: AM - Lies of the Beautiful People	1
99	RE-ENTRY	Los Lonely Boys - Fly Away	5
100	----	Christina Perri - Arms	1