But the reason why I bring this up was because of the format of the awards show. Presumably to make it more "pop friendly", they featured Country stars performing with Pop stars together, usually doing a country song, then maybe a pop item as well.
As I am still a fan of the long-running reality show "Survivor", I missed the first hour of this awards telecast, but when I joined it at 9 PM, they were announcing that currently country star Chris Stapleton was going to perform with none other than Justin Timberlake. I figured that Stapleton and his multi-piece band would be playing and singing, while JT would just be up there strutting his stuff, providing a background vocal or two.
Now, don't get me wrong. I like Justin Timberlake. Let me clarify that, I like Justin Timberlake the entertainer and the person. His music? That's a different story. I know that he is on the pop side of hip-hop, which, perhaps is the predominate style in pop music these days, but much of it is rather uninspired. And JT really doesn't do much to make it more palatable. But I admire the guy. Coming along on the wave of the most recent Mickey Mouse Club along with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, he joined the boy band 'N Sync and had much success there, before going solo, and becoming a total pop star. And he was never tabloid news, as was the case with his ex-girlfriend and former Club-mate Spears.
He often pokes fun at himself and does crazy things, like on many of his commercials, stints on Saturday Night Live, or more recently on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show. I also like his acting, in movies such as The Social Network, among others. He is a total entertainer.
Timberlake definitely shocked me then, when he was up there with a guitar in his hand, and playing it, and seeing the heartfelt and melodic vocals along with Stapleton. I was blown away, by his abilities. Friends on Facebook and television talk shows were talking about this as well. Who knew?
The point I am trying to make of all this was, why couldn't Justin play this kind of multi-dimensional music on his own albums? While his hip-hop stuff was well received, he can be so much beyond that! And he isn't the only one who has deep talent beneath the pop success.
Earlier this year, pop diva Lady Gaga delivered a knockout rendition of songs from The Sound of Music, much to the delight of its star Julie Andrews as well as the listening public. And although her pop hits are infectious, again, like JT, it only showed one dimension of her talent. This performance, along with her recent duets with legendary crooner Tony Bennett, gave her much more respect than her outrageous pop costumes and performances.
And then there is Fergie. If you remember her, (real name Stacy Ferguson), she is a member of the Black Eyed Peas, one of the most successful hip-hop bands of the millennium. She had many solo efforts as well, in that style, too. But when she appeared in the remake of one of my all-time favorite movies The Poseidon Adventure, as a lounge singer (the Carol Lynley role), she knocked it out of the park as well.
So the big question is, why do these performers release sometimes mindless pop stuff when their talents can run very deep? I guess the answer is obvious: money! Contemporary top 40 stations play pop music, and for the most part turn their backs on anything creative (with the exception of Adele; see blow), and with an exception of one token rock-ish song from an artist, won't even consider any change in music. Gaga's duets with Bennett didn't land on the charts, and even Pink--once of the most talented and successful pop/rock artists today, recently did a side project called "You and Me". It was very artistic, but didn't chart. You basically need to grind out bland, run-of-the-mill songs to get played on the radio and for young listeners to gobble it up. Artists used to be rewarded for changing their style, and in some cases, give them new life on the charts. This doesn't seem to be the case anymore. If an artist decides to reinvent themselves, they'll just be replaced by another artist doing the same old, same old.
FIGHT AT THE TOP: It is basically a dead heat at the top spot this week on my chart, with "S.O.B." and "Someone New" having the same number of favorite points. But because the former led the list last week, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats retain the number one position this week, while Hozier's song--number one for a week two weeks ago--stays at #2. Both songs have been going through my head recently, with Hozier's song doing that for me more, and I had thought about putting that song back at the top. That might've have happened next week, except it probably won't matter at all because....
ROLLING UP THE CHARTS: Adele takes a big jump from #34 to #4 with her new single "Hello", which will be from her forthcoming 25 set, due November 20. She also jumped from #24 to #2 (behind the Rateliff song) on the Triple-A chart. But more importantly, she has the 24th song to debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. She set an all-time record for song downloads, with 1.1 million of them (including me). It also blocked Justin Bieber's "Sorry" which debuted at #2, denying him the chance to have two number one debuts in a row. The song has been the most talked about subject the last couple of weeks, and it's great to see a true, down-to-earth (in spite of all this record success), succeed on all levels. Unless something bad happens and I get every tired of the song, it should rise to the top of my list next week. It should definitely be interesting to see what other songs will be on her album.
BUT IT'S NOT THE ONLY ONE: The top debut this week goes to "Wolves (You Got Me)" by The Dreamers, a trio from the always dependable Brooklyn Scene. As you probably guess, it had a soulful, driving retro beat. You can dance to it and it does not stop at all. They will be at their native Brooklyn's Knitting Factory on December 5.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
November 1,
2015
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 1 | NUMBER ONE:
"S.O.B."
Album: Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
(2 Weeks at #1)
|
7 |
| 2 | 2 | Hozier - Someone New | 13 |
| 3 | 3 | Ed Sheeran - Photograph | 15 |
| 4 | 32 | TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
"Hello"
Album: 25
|
2 |
| 5 | 4 | Fitz and the Tantrums - Last Raindrop | 16 |
| 6 | 6 | Matt Weiss - Black Magic | 14 |
| 7 | 7 | Brandon Flowers - I Can Change | 9 |
| 8 | 26 | MOVER OF THE WEEK:
"Queen of Peace"
Album: How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
|
3 |
| 9 | 5 | Leon Bridges - Coming Home | 10 |
| 10 | 9 | Foals - Mountain At My Gates | 12 |
| 11 | 10 | Elle King - Ex's and Oh's● | 23 |
| 12 | 17 | Palma Violets - Danger in the Club | 8 |
| 13 | 11 | Hippo Campus - Suicide Saturday | 11 |
| 14 | 16 | X Ambassadors - Renegades | 19 |
| 15 | 8 | Phases - I'm In Love With My Life | 15 |
| 16 | 18 | Best Coast - Feeling OK | 6 |
| 17 | 13 | The Arcs - Outta My Mind | 17 |
| 18 | 15 | Golden Void - Dervishing | 10 |
| 19 | 23 | Mac Demarco - The Way You'd Love Her | 11 |
| 20 | 14 | Demi Lovato - Cool for the Summer | 11 |
Tremors:
| 101 | 102 | Cold War Kids - First |
| 102 | ---- | Panic! At the Disco - Victorious |
| 103 | 94 | Chvrches - Leave A Trace |
| 104 | ---- | Maia Sharp - Nothing But the Radio |
| 105 | 103 | Taylor Swift - Wildest Dreams |
| 106 | 104 | Dawes - All Your Favorite Bands |
| 107 | ---- | Big Grams - Lights On |
|
|
Songs
with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.
● Songs
with 25 or more plays on my iPod.
▲ Songs with 50 or more plays on my iPod.
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