Ba Humbug!

Nearly two months ago I was catching up on some retail therapy when I happened to take notice of something very annoying and abysmal being played throughout the stores: Christmas music. Now I want you readers out there to pay attention to today's date, and then notice how long ago I heard said music. Two months ago would have put the date not even to Halloween, thus making it way to early in the year to be busting out holiday jams.

With that being said it was no surprise to learn that seasonal album sales are at an all time low- lacking fans and buyers across the United States. 2007 was the last successful year for seasonal music which included noteworthy releases from artists such as Josh Groban, whose album 'Noel' held steady on the Billboard 200 chart for five consecutive weeks. Currently vendors have seen a multitude of substandard holiday releaes which have failed to attract an audience. At this point not even a popular artist has been able to captivate retail shoppers.

Currently, the biggest new holiday release is country singer Faith Hill's "Joy to the World," which slipped one place to No. 17 on the Billboard 200 in the week ended November 30. Other Christmas titles on the Billboard 200 include Irish singer Enya's "And Winter Came..." at No. 18, Elvis Presley's "Christmas Duets" at No. 28, Harry Connick, Jr's "What a Night! A Christmas Album" at No. 33, and the multi-artist compilation "The Essential NOW That's What I Call Christmas" at No. 40.

It is unfair to blame the lack of sales entirely on the artists; many factors have affected the dwindling interest in seasonal music. The beginning of December brought about an announcment from The National Bureau of Economic Research that America has officially been suffering from a recession for a year, garnering fear and anxiety in holiday shoppers. Many have drastically cut back splurging on luxueries such as cds, "the decline comes amid a dearth of big Christmas album debuts, as well as a slide in overall music sales and an economic recession."

Yes, the economy is bad, really stinking bad. But even if that weren't a factor is there really a need to actually purchase a Christmas c.d? Listeners can hear their favorite holiday tunes before the time to celebrate has even approached. If it's not being broadcast at the local shopping mall or grocery store it is played 24/7 on radio stations- literally. Take, for instance Houston's own Sunny 99.1- they begin their non-stop holiday broadcast the day after Thanksgiving. For an entire month they cram holiday music down the throat of those so inclined to listen. I am by no means a Scrooge. I love the holiday season and all of the festivities that go along with it. And yes when the time is right I will break out my soundtrack to 'A Charlie Brown Christmas', but not before Thanksgiving and certainly not before it is cold (ok may be holding my breath on that requirement.) Bottom line: October is for Halloween, November is for Thanksgiving, and December is for Christmas. Any other order is unnecessary and makes me cranky!

¿Yo quiero lawsuit?

Peanut butter and jelly, milk and cookies, Taco Bell and 50 Cent? Does one of these seem out of place? Yeah, I thought so too. It doesn't appear that Taco Bell and 50 Cent will be joining forces anytime soon seeing as the two are once again tangled up in a law suit with each other.
The Beef
The dismal fall out began in July of 2008 when 50 Cent "Fiddy", the popular rapper and freshman business mogul sued fast food chain Taco Bell for $4 million claiming trademark infringement. The basis of the lawsuit began when Taco Bell wrote 50 Cent (born Curtis Jackson) a letter requesting he change his name for one day to help publicize and honor Taco Bell's value menu. Taco Bell requested in the letter to, "find a little loose change and make his name 79 cent, 89 cent, or 99 cent for one day." In return for the publicity Taco Bell offered to donate $10,000 to one of Jackson's favorite charities. Taco Bell admits that the promotion was intended to poke fun at Jackson's serious 'gangsta' persona, but were quite serious about the offer to donate to a charity of Fiddy's choice.
Gonna sue you like it's ya birthday
Aapparently not all musicians have a light- hearted sense of humor, even if it is for charity! Unfortunately for Jackson his claim really has no legal ground considering the basis of the first amendment or the fact that Taco Bell never used Jackson's name to promote any of their ads. The lawyer for Taco Bell also had this to add, "Jackson has used his colorful past to cultivate a public image of belligerence and arrogance and has a well- publicized track record for making threats, starting feuds, and filling lawsuits."

In the end, Bell's lawyers say 50 could have simply responded yes or no to the offer, and if he'd said yes, both would have benefited from the publicity for his good deed. Instead, though, the suit claimed he launched an "aggressive, offensive attack on Taco Bell in the press", including threatening legal action against the chain in a widely distributed sound bite in which he warned, "when my legal team is finished with them, Taco Bell is going to have a new corporate slogan: 'We messed with the bull and got the horns.' "

Really Fiddy?
We get it- you're tough. You're the toughest rapper on the block. You've been shot nine times and lived to rap about it, you have on going feuds with other hip hopsters such as Ja Rule and Fat Joe, but come on- lighten up and have a sense of humor! I am positive when I say that no one will take you for less of a serious gangsta if you help a good cause which will donate to a charity. In fact being charitable is the right thing to do because you're in the position of being famous and can promote well being and kindness. Sure there aren't many gangsta philanthropists to speak of so wouldn't it be something of a trend to be the first one? Try and be nice, Fiddy. You never know- you might like it.

As of now no decisions have been made in the case. The lawsuit is still in the early stages of some good old fashion trash talking. Personally, I would like to see the two battle it out beat box style- winner takes all, loser has 'yo mamma' insults hurled at them.

HEY! You can't do that here!

His music can be heard at sports venues all across the world. It starts with slow drum beat along with the gradual build of base and guitar, then the crowd burst into a unanimous and enthusiastic "HEY!" Gary Glitter emerged in 1972 at a time when rock and popular music were hardly recognizable- 'glam rock' as it was referred to was the lattest trend, and "Rock & Roll/The Hey Song" was one of the many songs that dominated the airwaves. However, on Friday, November 14th the Cavern's Club in Liverpool, England had Gary Glitter's brick removed from their wall of fame.


Downward Spiral
Over the years Mr. Glitter, aka Paul Francis Gadd fell in to some legal troubles and his legacy of fame in the UK was soon over-shadowed by the mess that had become his personal life. In 1999 the United Kingdom publicly listed Glitter as a sex offender after he was convicted of downloading a plethora of child pornography. In 2002 Glitter was permanently deported to Cambodia after being suspected of child abuse- from there he took up permanent residency in Vietnam. Three short years later and Glitter was once again in trouble with the law. June of 2005 brought about a conviction of sexual abuse of a child, and Glitter was sentenced to three years in a Vietnamese prison. His recent 2008 release from prison took Glitter back to England, but only because both Thailand and Hong Kong refused him entry as a resident.
Smashing Demons
The Cavern Club, self titled as ' The Most Famous Club in the World' made history by serving as a host for some of the earliest performances by The Beatles. The exterior of the club located in Liverpool, England displays the wall of fame which includes almost 2,000 names of famous perfomers spanning from 1957-1973. Gary Glitter was one of the performers until recently when his name was chiseled away- diminished along with his reputation and his career. "Management originally refused to remove the singer's brick, stating it was an "historical document." However, many protested the singer's continued fame at the club. Victims of the singer saw it as a mission to make sure his brick was removed, and according to police officer Bob Wareing Glitter is "not a good role model."

Mr Heckle and his business partner have owned the Cavern for 18 years and the club’s wall of fame boasts names including the Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, and Gerry and the Pacemakers. He also removed the brick bearing Jonathan King’s name. The singer and record producer was jailed for committing sexual offences against young boys in 2001.

Now what?
It is apparent that music fans in Liverpool do not tolerate such devious behavior from their musicians, but is the treatment of Glitter fair? I'm going to take a stand and say yes, it is fair because Glitter is an offense to all men, children, and famous people. Behavior such as child abuse is not something that should be glorified or even tolerated, and certainly not by someone famous because then it seems as though it is more accepted or allowable because of social status. Ok Glitter- you gave us one fun song to sing along with when we are cheering on The Astros at the bottom of the fifth, but your time is up- you are now recognized for something completely horrid and wrong. Your contribution to music was a glitch in time and now it is time to fade away.

Never gonna give you up- never gonna go away...

My best friend in high school had parents who were from England. I have never been overseas, but I had the fortunate experience from that family of discovering a different culture of music and food. Each year my friend's Uncle would send her a compilation c.d. that featured all of the chart toppers and hits from the UK- think "Now That's What I Call Music!", but British. I always found the music fascinating because for the most part it is totally different than what US music fans are used to; sure there would be songs from American artists, but a good majority of the music was totally foreign to me.

I don't have to talk up the UK in terms of music because their roster of artists speaks for itself. Since the British invasion in the early 1960's, Americans have been entertained by European artists for nearly fifty years. Artists such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Dave Clark Five opened up the flood gates of creativity and the music has continued to inspire generations over and over again. Most recently artists such as Prodigy, Coldplay, and Radiohead have dominated the airwaves.

Of course there has been a string of quirky one hit wonders over the years that music fans can not get enough of with bands such as Bow Wow Wow and A Flock of Seagulls making the list. One such artist, Rick Astley had a popular hit in 1987 with 'Never Gonna Give You Up'. Does that name sound familiar? It should! Rick Astley was centered around the popular youtube phenomenon 'Rick Roll'd' which began in the spring of 2008 and is still unexpectantley popular . Explaining the concept of 'Rick Roll'd' is a hard to task if it hasn't been experienced first hand, but I will try my best. The most popular method of Rick Roll'ing was to do it through email or by posting a myspace bulletin. The body of the email would usually discuss a serious subject matter where the writer would then prompt the reader to click on a link to read more about the issue discussed. For example, I once received an email that appeared to be from the Houston SPCA asking for donations that would go toward new cages and food. When I clicked on the link titled donations this is what appeared.

So you may be asking yourself what the point of all this is. Why do people find this so funny? Why after all these years has Rick Astley re-gained popularity and notoriety? I'd like to think I could help with this dilemma, but unfortunately for the rest of us it gets much, much more weird.
This past Friday, November 7th the MTV Europe Music Awards named Rick Astley 'Best Act Ever'.
"The singer, who has been the theme of online prank "Rickrolling"--where purportedly serious links actually take users to YouTube clips of the singer's videos--beat the likes of Green Day and U2 to claim the most votes from viewers."

Funny how a prank such as this can resurrect a person from obscurity. Rick Astley himself finds the internet sensation hard to get over.

“If this had happened around some kind of rock song, with a lyric that really meant something -- a Bruce Springsteen, "God bless America" ... or an anti-something kind of song, I could kind of understand that,” Astley said. “But for something as, and I don’t mean to belittle it, because I still think it’s a great pop song, but it’s a pop song; do you know what I mean? It doesn’t have any kind of weight behind it, as such. But maybe that’s the irony of it.”

Alas, long live Rick Roll'd.

MTV Games: getting by with a little help from their friends

Nearly forty years after their break up ,The Beatles are still finding ways to reach new generations of loyal fans. This time around their music will be featured in a new video game by the same creators of 'Rock Band' which will transform The Beatle's catalog to digital form. A press release was issued on October 30 which detailed the arrangement made between MTV and Apple Corps- the license holder for The Beatles music.
"The project is a fun idea which broadens the appeal of the Beatles and their music," Paul McCartney said in a statement.
The game will include an interactive performance feature that will allow users to play the tunes in a traditional style or make personalized music.

The game is being described as a "journey" through the band's career, from its first album to its last, though whether that means the project will encompass every Beatles song was not something the reps were willing to divulge. Reps also did not comment on whether gamers would be able to play as the musicians themselves.

The new video game has received blessings and creative input from the remaining members of the Fab Four, McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison- the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison. At this point little detail has been revealed about the upcoming video game except for a possible release date slated for the 2009 holiday season.

And so with that I must pose the eternal question any true Beatles fan finds themselves asking: What would John Lennon think?