I lost touch with pop music for years it seems. When I was a young kid, aside from the Weezer, Candlebox, and Green Day albums I bought, I also had Mariah Carey’s entire collection, up until her “Butterfly” release. It could have been that I was a young kid that was just attracted to her but I don’t believe that. I was into the music, I was into her voice, I could appreciate what she was doing. That voice…I knew nothing of the technicalities of singing but I knew she was talented. Her range is ridiculous, she very well could have been more of a legend then she is seen as now. There are people to blame for that, but as I lost touch with her when I got to high school, I wouldn’t know where to place it. Maybe it was her producers trying to make her fit in to a less talented pop scene. Artists like Britney Spears and N’Sync… who yeah maybe they could sing, but it was more about the song, not the voice. Whatever, this blog is not about Mariah Carey.

When I got to Berklee, I stepped more out of my “guitar music” that learning guitar had made me get into. I got back into appreciating all kinds of music. I bookmarked Billboard.com so I could be in touch with the industry more. I wanted to know what I was getting into. Mind you, When I was in Berklee, this was on the cusp of MySpace and Purevolume. I’m not sure, they could have existed but they certainly weren’t as big as they are now. They weren’t as useful, they hadn’t made a difference in underground and indie music yet. In the same vein, the Mac computer I had just received through Berklee was not yet quite as desirable as it is now. iTunes barely existed, or at least how it does now. What I’m trying to say is that the industry hadn’t quite made it around the bend.

So, to keep in touch with Pop music and the music industry as it was still known world wide, I was visiting Billboard.com every day. I was reading the articles, I was checking the charts, seeing who was on top.

Then all of a sudden, I joined a band, a year passed, and the industry was changed. Myspace and Purevolume took over. Digital music took the money and ran. I found myself in an underground, indie band, and that was all that mattered to me. I was off pop music again… Billboard.com meant nothing to me… I dropped out of Berklee. Who needed to know about that shit? Indie bands were doing it. They were succeeding.

Well I’m wrong. I need to know what’s going on in all aspects of the music industry. It’s just me… its what keeps me interested. So Billboard.com is back and you’re gonna be in trouble, hey la, hey la, Billboard.com is back. There are still chart toppers… there are still things that affect the charts… Sure the numbers are lower…but there is still a ranking, we have a digital chart too.

Here are the top 5 Billboard 200 artists:

1. Jack Johnson – Sleep Through the Static
2. Amy Winehouse – Back to Black
3. Alicia Keys – As I am
4. Various Artists – 2008 Grammy Nominees
5. Herbie Hancock – River: The Joni Letters

Here are the Top 3 Digital Artists:

1. Jack Johnson – Sleep Through the Static
2. Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
3. Herbie Hancock – River: The Joni Letters

First I want to say… do you see what this means? It means that the digital world hasn’t really done anything to really change the industry for worse. It hasn’t made selling records harder, its just another way for the charting artists to sell. This also means that Alicia Keys must be selling physical CDs because she isn’t even top 10 on the digital charts.

Now for what made me write this blog. Jack Johnson? Did anyone even know he had an album out? Apparently. But I hadn’t heard a thing about it until I hit the Billboard charts again. Has anyone listened to this CD yet? Apparently. But beating out last weeks biggest Grammy winners? I’m pretty sure that Jack Johnson’s album did not win a Grammy. Yet it is holding the number one spot over the Grammy boom. Four out of that top 5 are Grammy related. While Alicia Keys had been number three last week, Herbie moved up to number the number five spot from 159! Amy Winehouse, after winning five Grammys went from number 24 last week, to number two.

But Jack Johnson? Who is his audience? I’m not going to say I dislike his music, and I’m not going to say he doesn’t deserve the number one spot. But it is confusing. To me his music is perfect for playing on my iPod the day I move into my new beach home in Hawaii. Other than that…I just cant find a place for him in my daily music listening. But clearly he is reaching people and I would have never known that if it weren’t for Billboard.com.

I think the moral of this blog is that the mainstream is still alive. Pop is still alive. Things [the Grammys] are still having an impact on sales. Indie artists are successful thanks to Myspace and Digital downloading… but they are still not on Top. The top physical sellers are the top digital sellers.

You don’t have to subscribe to Billboard if you don’t have the money, but if you are at all interested in the music industry, bookmark Billboard.com… Even if you can’t stand whats going on in the mainstream today… you need to know what you’re fighting against to be able to change it. And lastly, if you’re ignoring pop music, at least give it a try…you might be surprised like I was with Amy Winehouse… Alicia Keys is at the top of her game, and Herbie Hancock! The “Watermelon Man” himself! This man won Album of the Year, up against the Foo Fighters, Vince Gill, Kanye West and Amy Winehouse! And he is top 5 on the Billboard 200!

the end.

Currently listening to:

Pearl Jam – No Code

First let me start by saying that I am way behind the ball with Amy Winehouse… I took my sweet time to give her a chance and it was for the exact reasons I’ll be discussing in the upcoming paragraphs. I’ve been waiting for a while to post this but I wanted to wait until I heard her whole CD and saw some performances of her before some of her lows.

I heard stories of her being too intoxicated to perform, getting booed off the stage, in and out of rehab, a mutually abusive relationship with a now incarcerated husband. Frankly when I heard the name “Amy Winehouse” for some reason I pictured another Indie chick with a Takamine and a necklace made from weird rocks or something. Fair? No. But as I tend to do with everyone I hear of that makes music, I decided to give her a chance.

After not watching all of the Grammys for whatever reason it may be, I got on the computer the next day and did a YouTube search for “Grammys 08.” I was hoping to find a bunch of the performances (the only thing I cared about). I ran across the link for Amy Winehouse’s performance. I was curious what this was like because when I first heard she was performing via satellite, I almost felt bad for her. Not to mention that she took home 5 awards that night…so I think I finally realized I need to see what is so good about his “crackwhore” that I heard about all over E! News.

I started watching the performance and with the opening shot of the full band, a very bandstand-ish looking stage, a horn section and three male back-up singers [choreographed dancing of course], I was very shocked. The sound was that of an old Soul band bridging the gap between then and now. As for Amy’s appearance, she is clearly a drug/alcohol abuser. Her actions back that up, as well as her shaky but still intact soulful singing.

However, her talent was visible, both in performance and in her voice. Pretty much everything in life is deeper than the surface. To someone who isn’t giving Amy that benefit…she is a junkie putting on a terrible performance. To someone like me who had the benefit of shock value (thinking I was about to hear Indie Singer/Songwriter but hearing this Soul Pop), and who has decided Amy deserved that chance, I saw something different. I saw this talent, this woman obviously struggling in her personal life and putting it to music in a format that has really been lost in the past years. An artist who bridges a gap between soul and the pop mainstream. Someone who can take top 40 to where it used to be.

But her addictions are a big problem and she needs to get them under control. But so is almost every influential artist we’ve seen in the past. Without being accused of comparing Amy Winehouse with already established musical icons, let me just throw out some names. Starting with one of the most influential artists in Rock and Roll. Elvis. I don’t think I need to explain that one. Then theres Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, John Bonham, Keith Moon, John Entwistle (have you caught on that I’m naming dead people? How bout people who died as a direct result to a struggle with addiction).

Do you understand where I’m going with this? People are so quick to disregard her talent and call her a junkie. Natalie Cole and Janet Jackson say she doesn’t deserve rewards for her addictions. I understand what they are saying but getting praise and awards has nothing to do with people supporting her lifestyle… these are praises and awards for her music. And she deserves it.

So I urge people to stop whining about how Amy Winehouse is not a true artist and a true talent because she struggles with addiction. Realize that addiction is a part of life and has been a part of music specifically since the day the first note was sung. It’s a driving force behind a lot of music in our history and will be for the rest of life. No I’m not supporting the use of drugs or consumption of alcohol. I myself have never done a drug in my life and plan to keep it that way, music career or not. All I’m saying is…

This is rock and roll people. It’s a mess, it’s controversial, it’s provocative, it’s dirty, it’s sexual, it’s drugs, it’s your parents worst nightmare…

It’s a beautiful thing.

Currently listening to:

Amy Winehouse – Back to Black