Scenes 'n' Soundwaves: It IS Gonna Getcha! (3/15/2015)

Drifting behind so this one will be (relatively) brief.

RHYTHM IS GONNA GETCHA:   OK, this "Uptown Funk" phenomenon has finally gotten to me.   I'm not really sure how.   But when you hear a pop song so many times and people constantly reference it, post the video and even as background music to light news pieces, well let's just say that you can't run and hide from it.

This week, "Uptown Funk" jumps from #15 to #6 on my SNS 100 blog chart.    In the most recent Billboard Hot 100 chart, the song remains at #1 for the 11th week.    In spite of this blog being mostly an alt-rock centric chart, as many of you well know, I keep an eye on the pop charts as well as nobody seems to care about Alternative (or at least makes a big deal about it).   Pop music is always as the forefront of what is happening in the world out there.   And to be honest, there have been many catchy tunes, going back to Pharrell Williams' "Happy" a little less than a year ago.   That song, by the now-coach of The Voice reality talent show, reached #2 on my blog (and #1 on Billboard for weeks), while landing at #6 on my year-end list for 2014.    Then we had "Blurred Lines", "Shake it Off" and "All About That Bass", big #1 national songs also landing in my top 10.   But believe me, I am not going soft.    And if you ask the average music listener out there what they recognize most: "Uptown Funk" or my #1-for-the-third week "Weight of Love" by the Black Keys, I'm sure it's no contest.   That's why the song is on my list that high.   And it doesn't help that the damn thing is going through my head right now.

Still, I haven't heard any backlash against "Uptown Funk" yet, as opposed to the other songs (or the artists that perform them) I mentioned.   I don't know much about Mark Ronson, but he is getting rock airplay on another song called "Daffodils" which I am considering to add next week. That would suggest he is a versatile artists (perhaps n the vein of Calvin Harris, maybe).   Then of course, there's the featured artist Bruno Mars, not stranger to anyone into current pop music, if anything, he is getting the spotlight on this.

Still, I take my time in considering pop singles; "Uptown Funk" was already at the top of the Billboard charts for two weeks before I even added the song to my blog playlist. Eight weeks later, it's finally in my top 10, but STILL #1 on Billboard.    Do you think that if it stays there, I will finally catch up to the rest of the listening public. I guess we shall see.

SUE ME SUE YOU BLUES:   Speaking of Pharrell and two of the above mentioned pop song involving him, it appears that the family of Motown legend Marvin Gaye is striking again. As you may remember, the estate sued Parrell and co-writer Robin Thicke, alleging that "Blurred Lines" (a top 5 song last summer on SNS) bears a striking resemblance to Gaye's 1977 "Got to Give It Up".    Gaye's family won that contest.   But they are not stopping there.   This time, a suit was filed again Pharrell, claiming that "Happy" sounds a lot like Gaye's hit "Ain't That Peculiar".

While I agree that "Blurred Lines" and "Got to Give It Up", I extremely disagree regarding "Happy" and "Ain't That Peculiar".   Yes, "Happy" is pretty positive and upbeat and has a retro-soul vibe to it (as does "Peculiar"). But that's where any comparison ends.   The songs sound nothing like each other.   And yes, while many songs sound like others, remember that music only has so many chord progressions, and in the 100 years or so of recorded music, it's bound to happen. But the fact that both of those songs were enormously popular just inspires some to get a piece of the action.   If Sam Smith's "Stay With Me" wasn't a huge hit, I'm sure Tom Petty could give a rat's ass about wanting to get co-writing credit for that song.

Marvin Gaye is a legend and he lost his life way to early and tragically so.   His music will live forever as one of the greats.   But if this family keeps throwing lawsuits at anything that even vaguely resembles his records, I wonder if that image would begin to be tarnished. Something to think about.

NEW: A quiet week for debuts, but Avi Buffalo's final single (the band broke up in late January), "Think It's Gonna Happen Again" is the top entry at #79. A good song, the melody is there, although perhaps not as much as their other SNS hits but still a viable way to go out.   The band shot a video for this song just before their break up.

Kongos had a nice long run with the infectious "Come With Me Now" which stayed on my list for 39 weeks.   The follow-up "I'm Only Joking", not so much.   Their latest, "I Want to Know" will bring them back to the upper regions of my chart.   No, it doesn't sound like the industrial chants of their hit, but this one is much soulful and even has somewhat of a reggae beat, somewhat reminiscent of Wild Belle's 2013 SNS hit, "Keep You".   A change of pace for the South African quartet.

Locksley, the Madison, Wisconsin outfit who had the distinction of being on my first SNS top 20 back in August 2010 with "The Whip" are back with a new single, "Let It Ride". The band's stripped-down sound is a throwback to the garage-rock sound of the mid-60's but the music itself is more in the current spirit of acts like The Black Keys.    Very worthy of some plays.

Courtney Barnett's "Pedestrian At Best" is a recent Brian Sniatkowski "Song of the Week". Barnett is from Australia and this song is pure rock and roll harkening back to the New Wave age, yet it has a friend sound to it.     Also debuting this week is pop singer/songwriter Christina Perri's follow-up to "Burning Gold", "The Words".   Houndmouth, an alt-country band from Indiana with the trance/rock hybrid "Sedona", and finally, I add the big alt-rock hit "Shut Up & Dance" by Walk the Moon, which has topped the alt charts and has entered the Billboard top 20.

Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100

March 15, 2015

This Week	Last Week	ARTIST-Title	Weeks on List
1	1	NUMBER ONE: THE BLACK KEYS "Weight of Love" Album: Turn Blue (3 weeks at #1)	6
2	3	Florence + the Machine - What Kind of Man	5
3	4	Belle and Sebastian - The Party Line	6
4	2	The Raveonettes - Killer in the Streets	10
5	7	White Arrows - We Can't Ever Die	8
6	15	Mark Ronson f. Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk	8
7	8	Calvin Harris f. John Newman - Blame	8
8	5	Foster the People - Are You What You Want To Be	14
9	16	Alabama Shakes - Don't Wanna Fight	4
10	6	Lucius - Hey, Doreen	12
11	11	Ariana Grande - Love Me Harder	9
12	13	The Kooks - Bad Habit	7
13	9	Cage the Elephant - Cigarette Daydreams	14
14	14	Meghan Trainor - Lips are Movin'	9
15	10	St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Call Me	16
16	12	Foxygen - Cosmic Vibrations	9
17	17	Fall Out Boy - Centuries	8
18	19	Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You)	7
19	22	TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK: WATERS "I Feel Everything" Album: What's Real	11
20	23	Hozier - Angel of Small Death and the Codiene Scene	5

21	21	Taylor Centers - Wild	6
22	20	Alvvays - Archie Marry Me	9
23	31	Phoebe Ryan - Mine	6
24	48	Omnia Hegazy - Dust	2
25	26	Fremont - All That I Needed	10
26	29	Fitz and the Tantrums - Fools Gold	17
27	30	Catfish & the Bottlemen - Kathleen	9
28	34	Launderettes - Red River	7
29	35	TV on the Radio - Happy Idiot	9
30	38	Modest Mouse - Lampshades on Fire	6
31	42	Sir Sly - You Haunt Me	6
32	36	Kelly Clarkson - Heartbreak Song	5
33	43	Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do	5
34	18	Cold War Kids - All This Could Be Yours	13
35	33	The Big Takeover - Children of the Rhythm●	20
36	37	Kjband - Man of Few Words	8
37	41	The Big Takeover - Dolphins	4
38	46	Maroon 5 - Sugar	3
39	28	Hozier - Take Me To Church●	28
40	39	Interpol - My Desire	8
41	32	The Decemberists - Make You Better	16
42	40	Stater-Kinney - Bury Our Friends	11
43	27	Arctic Monkeys - R U Mine●	25
44	24	Wizards of Winter - Gales of December	12
45	59	Corinne Bailey Rae - Bluebird	4
46	83	MOVER OF THE WEEK: JUNGLE "Busy Earnin'" Album: Jungle	2
47	25	The Black Keys - Gotta Get Away	13
48	52	Fitz and the Tantrums - 6AM●	26
49	44	Vivian Girls - Take It As It Comes●	26
50	47	The Fresh & Onlys - Animal of One	24
51	56	The Drums - I Can't Pretend	4
52	45	Meghan Trainor - All About that Bass	17
53	49	Colony House - Silhouettes	16
54	50	The Orwells - The Righteous One	13
55	57	Yelawolf- Till It's Gone	8
56	51	Taylor Swift - Shake It Off	15
57	61	Lana Del Rey - Shades of Cool	14
58	64	Django Django - First Light	3
59	68	Alice Russell - Breakdown	3
60	66	The Mowglis - Through the Dark	3
61	69	Glass Animals - Gooey	4
62	82	Rihanna, Kanye West, Paul McCartney - FourFive Seconds	2
63	54	Kendrick Lamarr - I	10
64	53	Foxygen - How Can You Really?	17
65	65	Deers - Bamboo	8
66	67	Jungle - Time	24
67	95	Madonna - Living For Love	2
68	76	Death Cab for Cutie - Black Sun	3
69	60	Yast - Heart of Steel	15
70	62	Brick + Mortar - Hollow Tune	7
71	73	Ed Sheeran - Think Out Loud	4
72	58	SomeKindaWonderful - California Love	14
73	63	Maroon 5 - Animals	13
74	72	Shakey Graves - Dearly Departed	11
75	77	The Wombats - Greek Tragedy	3
76	75	Blondfire - Waves	5
77	81	The Griswolds - If You Wanna Stay	3
78	55	Christina Perri - Burning Gold	10
79	---	TOP DEBUT: AVI BUFFALO "Think It's Gonna Happen Again" Album: At Best Cuckloid	1
80	70	Sam Smith - I'm Not the Only One	8
81	74	SomeKindaWonderful - Reverse●	32
82	91	Zella Day - Hypnotic	2
83	80	George Ezra - Budapest	6
84	86	My Goodness - Cold Feel Killer	4
85	---	Kongos - I Want to Know	1
86	71	Train - Cadillac, Cadillac	9
87	89	U2 - Every Breaking Wave	3
88	---	Locksley - Let It Ride	1
89	79	Taylor Swift - Blank Space	6
90	87	Damien Jurado - Ohio	4
91	96	Vance Joy - Mess Is Mine	2
92	---	Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian At Best	1
93	88	Milky Chance - Flash Junk Mind	4
94	97	Matt & Kim - Get It	2
95	---	Christina Perri - The Words	1
96	94	The New Basement Tapes - Kansas City	2
97	78	Jessica Lea Mayfield - I Wanna Love You	24
98	101	Linus Young - Fun In the Sun	1
99	---	Houndmouth - Sedona	1
100	---	Walk the Moon - Shut Up & Dance	1