UK Chart: Cascada Does 'Lady GaGa' Quite Well!

Shockingly, Cascada debuts at #1 this week on the UK Singles Chart with "Evacuate the Dancefloor". What's so funny is that Cascada is pulling a Lady GaGa bigger than life! In fact, if you never knew it was Cascada, one would guess it was indeed Lady GaGa!

Since "Paparazzi" stalled out at #4 last week and is on its way down the chart (at #5 this week), there'll be no 3rd straight #1 for Lady GaGa this go round.

And I think it's a shame that La Roux did not retain the #1 spot on the chart. She slips to #3, right behind MJ's "Man in the Mirror" (#2).

The UK Singles Chart, Top 5:

1. "Evacuate the Dancefloor" / Cascada (New) [1 week]
2. "Man in the Mirror" / Michael Jackson (11)
3. "Bulletproof" / La Roux (1)
4. "When Love Takes Over" / David Guetta & Kelly Rowland (2)
5. "Paparazzi" / Lady GaGa (4)

"Billie Jean" and "Thriller" zoom to #10 and #12 respectively, as pretty much every MJ single is doing very well in the UK right now. Who knows how long they will keep selling so well? The "MJ Effect" could potentially affect the UK chart for weeks to come.

Oh, and "Work" by the Saturdays works its way up to #22; it was #29 last week. C'mon girls, werk it!

Scattered Thoughts

Just a few thoughts about the music this week:

Fire your stylist: Kelly Clarkson's performance was literally "phoned in" on So You Think You Can Dance last night. And homegirl needs to FIRE her stylist! Kelly sang (live, yes) "I Do Not Hook Up" - which has already reached it's Top 20 peak (#20) and is on the way down. She sings "Already Gone" - the far superior track - as the "going home" song on SYTYCD. Why she did not sing that one is beyond me.

Crackilicious: The new Whitney track? Not so much. Crack-Diva sings a run-of-the-mill ballad. I kept waiting for a Thelma Houston moment that never happened. When was the last time a straight-up ballad hit the Billboard Top 5? Chalk this one up to Clive Davis again.

Got "Feeling": And finally, the Black Eyed Peas still are at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Not with the "Boom" but with "I Gotta Feeling". The only other interesting bit on the chart this week was Katy Perry's return-from-Flopsville hit "Waking Up in Vegas" enters the Top 10 at #10.

UK Chart at Midweek: MJ Takes OVER!

Unlike the US Charts this week, Michael Jackson's biggest hits are not limited to the digital charts or the pop catalog chart in the United Kingdom.

Nope! The UK Singles Chart does not have a rule on the age of a song and limitations on where it can chart.

With that said, "Man in the Mirror" is #1 at Midweek with over 31,000 units sold since Sunday. #2 belongs to Cascada's "Evacuate the Dancefloor" with just over 26,000 units sold.

Where does that leave La Roux? At #3 - on the heels of Cascada - is "Bulletproof". Only 100 units separate #2 and #3! So close!

David Guetta and Kelly Rowland occupy #4 with "When Love Takes Over", and "Paparazzi" by Lady GaGa is #5.

The UK Singles Chart, at Midweek:

1. "Man in the Mirror" / Michael Jackson (31.1k)
2. "Evacuate the Dancefloor" / Cascada (26.2k)
3. "Bulletproof" / La Roux (26.1k)
4. "When Love Takes Over" / David Guetta & Kelly Rowland (20.8k)
5. "Paparazzi" / Lady GaGa (15.2k)

MJ is actually EVERYWHERE else on the chart too!

Top 10 - "Billie Jean" and "Thriller"

Top 15 - "Smooth Criminal" and "Beat It"

Top 20 - "Black and White"

Top 30 - "'You Are Not Alone", "Earth Song", and "The Way You Make Me Feel"

Top 40 - "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough", "Bad", "They Don't Care About Us", and "I Want You Back"

Some crazy stuff!

The "La Roux"-ness Continues!

Guess what came in the mail today -- all the way from the UK?

And that is indeed a "bullet" keychain that came with the deal.

How cool is it that I got #875, signed by "La Roux" itself!

See, Elly = La Roux... f'realz!

A Love Letter to the '80s

La Roux, the electronic duo comprised of Elly Jackson and Ben Langmaid, are getting around of late. A debut single peaking at #2 ("In for the Kill") and the second single debuting at #1 (of course, the masterful "Bulletproof") in the UK - Elly and Ben are on fire! Not to mention, their self-titled debut album has been burning up my ipod for over a week now.

One treasure I've discovered is the above-youtubed track "As If By Magic".

It's not just the uber-chic way Elly pronounces "box" or "locks" - the song for me is a happy little track that not only replicates the synth-goodness of the 80's but also transcends the genre she's emulating. Lemme 'splain. Lots of really great '80s tracks have the cold blips and chirps of a synth. "As If By Magic" has them, but the song is not cold at all, even though the characteristic sound of the '80s is present.

In fact, "Magic" is quite hopeful and jubilant. Elly croons, "And I know / I'm keeping my head in the clouds / And it's not so tragic / If I don't look down". I nearly leaped out of my seat when I first got that. You know how you are listening to something but not hearing it? That happened with this track. I loved the melody and the chorus, but you hear box and locks and think "some strange lady living in a box?" Oh no, not a literal one. A metaphorical box that Elly comes out of and finds the strength to move on, quite literally "as if by magic".

I cannot recommend this song enough. It's already on the short list for my Top 5 songs this year. For that matter, so is La Roux for artist of the year. I have been blown away with the entire album.

La Roux at #1 in the UK

Hooray, La Roux's smash hit "Bulletproof" debuts (as expected) at #1 on the UK Singles Chart. It even seems to be Michael Jackson proof too.

With the huge surge in interest after his death, the UK chart is littered with MJ's hits. The highest MJ re-entry is "Man in the Mirror" at #11.

"When Love Takes Over" drops 1 to #2, and "Paparazzi" powers into the Top 5 (#4). Good stuff!

Here's a list of the MJ re-entries on the UK chart this week:

11. Man in the Mirror
23. Thriller
25. Billie Jean
28. Smooth Criminal
30. Beat It
38. Earth Song

Oh, and Paloma Faith's "Stone Cold Sober" drops to #27. Womp womp

Us Against the Music: Michael Jackson

John from Pop Music Notes and I are kicking off a regular joint blog series where we chat about whatevrah--but always about something music related.

This week, we talk about the passing of Michael Jackson and the aftermath.



me: You wanna kick off the MJ discussion now?

John: sure!

me: Lots of MJ reactions across the blogoverse today. Mixed ones! I read a vicious one that took me back a bit...

John: There always have to be haters.

me: Yeah, whatever happened to the 24 hour "nice" rule?

John: I've called three people on that. Sadly, the window of niceness is about to expire. Here's my take on it...we may never know what happened behind the scenes, but at this point, how does the negativity help anyone?

me: Great point. I've heard that drugs were most certainly involved. I choose the high road, brutha

John: Focus on the positive things, ya know? The guy did a ton for charities. And he's the reason pop radio is as integrated as it is now. Autopsy is being done today. I hope it wasn't drugs, but it wouldn't surprise me.

me: Yes, I read he was actively involved/giving money to 39 charities. Who does that these days? That's great. Ah, the drugs. I wonder if it will all come out or not?

John: I think the more compelling thing will be the finances. They are estimating that his estate is $400 million in debt right now.

me: He got paid for all those dates at the O2 that nobody thought he'd be able to do, right?

John: Dunno. But AEG is in a world of hurt at the moment. $85 million in refunds.

me: I wonder if they started the refund process last night or have yet?

John: They haven't. Details will come in due course. They're paying tribute to the man at the moment. More like finding a lifeboat big enough for all of their employees.

me: OMG..get this. Guy Oseary, Madonna's manager, tweeted today that she was planning a surprise performance with MJ at one of his London shows.

John: Had she ever said anything nice about him prior to yesterday?

me: Madge was a big fan. Apparently cried a lot. Not sure if I believe that but I want to.

I don't recall Madge bashing him. She did say the he didn't know the meaning of "In the closet" when he recorded the song.... Naive much?

John: Yeah. Well, it's still good to hear good things being said. My favorite, which I'm ashamed to admit, was from Diddy.

"Michael Jackson showed me that you can actually see the beat. He made the music come to life!! He made me believe in magic."

me: I read that. And how Billboard misspelled Britney's name! LOL.. "Brittney Spears" ... hilarious

John: You caught that, too, eh? Can you say "music dorks"?

me: How could my MA in English-brain miss it?! LOL... I wonder if they took those comments unedited from a website somewhere? Perhaps Ms Spears doesn't know how to spell her own name??? Imma believe that!

John: Yeah...Britney writes her own press releases. Sure. So what's your favorite Michael moment?

me: Perhaps Brit felt this time, she must! MJ moment? That's hard to say because I was a young man during the Thriller era. I thought the video was genius - albeit a bit long. I think my fave MJ song is "Billie Jean". Yours?

John: Favorite moment...Motown 25. That was pop culture lightning. You won't see that ever happen again quite that way.

me: I agree. Magical.

John: Song? Tough one, but I think it's a toss-up between "Human Nature" and "Rock With You". While I loved a lot of MJ's later music, the stuff he did with Quincy Jones was just brilliant.

me: Both are excellent. I've read that "Human Nature" is what pop aspires to be and should be. That's from XO, I believe. (holla)

John: Big ups to XO. His response was dead-on.

me: I had totally forgotten about the ET Soundtrack. Quincy worked with him on that before Thriller. Something like 4 months in the studio all together.

John: There's a reason you forgot about it, Yuri.

me: LOL...I'm sure there is! Quincy is quite proud of it to give it a holla today

John: "Buy any of his records I put my name on!"

me: Shameless! Could he really be meaning that? PROBABLY!

John: So what do you think Michael's legacy is?

me: Did you have the red leather zipper jacket as a kid? Legacy? Dancing can be cool and the "relaxing" of MTV's "all white" standards. At the time, MTV was quite the exclusive white men's club.

John: I wanted one, but no.

me: Oh, let's not forget "We Are the World". MJ sang the backing track!

John: I actually would say MTV as well. Prince owes a LOT of his success to Michael having paved the way.

me: Yeah, what MJ lacked in sexuality, Prince brought that shit on in spades!

John: MTV, which trickled down to radio and other media as well. Michael had sex? No!

me: Olga swears those kids he has are not "his" .. if you catch my drift...

John: 24 hour rule, Yuri.

me: And I think it is very safe to say that MJ lacked something in sexuality. And I am being nice!

John: But that made him safe and accessible to a lot of people that wouldn't have accepted him if he had been more "virile". So maybe that's what progress required at that point.

me: True. I think to many the lack of sexuality translated into innocence. He was extremely safe and thus appealed to masses of folks. That is the magic trick. If Grandma and grandson can enjoy the same songs and artist, then you have made it.

John: And my grandmother loved him. There's a warm and fuzzy note to end it on.



Well, that is a good place to end it for this week. Join us again next week when we talk about whatevrah.

Evolution

First up, let me say that I am a chart fanatic. I have been posting the Billboard Top 5 songs ever since the blog began in 2006. I've had a membership (up until this week) to Billboard.biz for at least as long as the blog has been around.

That being said, I'm no longer going to post the complete Top 5 songs from Billboard going forward. Honestly, it's been a drag lately, and why continue to do stuff when others on my blogroll do it so well and will continue to report on them?

Does that mean I won't ever have an opinion about the charts? Heck no! I will still be checking the charts (the FREE ones at Billboard.com) on Thursdays to see what's shaking. If I feel led to talk about some songs there, I will. But the regimented Thursday "chart post" is a thing of the past. I canceled Billboard membership this week because, frankly, $600 per year for a magazine and online access to the archives is a bit much for an amateur like myself. Especially in these credit-crunchy times. Granted, it's very cool to be able to look up the chart history of an artist whenever I like, but is that worth $600? No.

I will also be waving goodbye to the (Australian) Aria charts on Sundays. Will I still check them out? Yes, but I will not be posting them on a regular basis.

What about the UK chart? I feel more connected to the UK chart, I will most likely have more to say about that chart each week. I will be keeping my eye on songs I like and will report on how well they are doing, so that much will not change. And I do plan to continue the Midweek glance at them. I enjoy the peek at what Sunday could look like, so that's a full-on keeper.

With all these changes, you must be asking "What will this blog look like going forward?" More commentary on music, a really cool dialogue feature I'm developing with another blogger buddy, and more fun. I've been told that once I "let go" and write about things that interest me, I connect and engage others. That's what I aim to do. More fun and less stuff that nobody likes to read. Admittedly, charts are not for everyone, but then again, the chart chat is not going away. It will just look and feel different.

So hang on with me while the dust settles, and we can talk music more. Sound good?