Five songs take longer to type

Okay, there may have been other circumstances.  Namely, the arrival of Kate and I’s son Braeden.  If you want to see some pictures, I’ve posted some at this location.  So, for the first time, we’ll do this one together.

KKCK:

T.I. “Whatever You Like”
I’ve never been a huge fan of T.I., but this song has me reconsidering my stance on Mr. I.  It has a nice, smooth groove and a solid beat.  Braeden is…asleep.  Okay, movin’ on.

Tokio Hotel “Monsoon”
Female MTV viewers mad this band “best new artist” this year, so radio is finally getting hip the party that MTV has been having with this band.  They might be the most un-German sounding German band I’ve ever heard.  Braeden is…still asleep.

Coldplay “Lost!”
With every single, the memory of “Yellow” fades further into my mind.  I might even go so far as to say I am a fan of this band now, something I found hard to fathom when I wanted to run out to that beach and punch Chris Martin in the face for “Yellow”.  Maybe there is something in that adage, “time heals all wounds”.  Braeden isn’t impressed.  He’s still asleep.

Sarah McLachlan “U Want Me 2″
With her divorce taking up a large part of her thought process these days, Sarah doesn’t fight the urge to write about her marriage dissolving.  The first of two new songs on her upcoming “best of” collection is vintage Sarah, if by vintage I mean songs from Surfacing.  Yeah, like Sarah McLachlan will wake a baby up.

Lindsay Pagano “I Gotta Stop”
She had a minor hit back in 2001 with “Everything U R” that Disney pushed (and AOL used).  Since then, she’s been the victim of label politics, the changing musical landscape, and the stigma of being a one hit wonder, and one of lesser note than Jimmy Ray.  Still, she’s young enough to turn it around, and this song might be a good start.  I’m not sure it’s a song that can make her a star again, but like I said, it’s a start.  Braeden is skeptically asleep.

Pick to click: T.I.

It’s official.  KKCK isn’t a station for the day old set.  There goes that demographic.

I’m not sure what to say about the last 24 hours that others haven’t already said better in various works.  It has been scary, amazing, and I’ve had moments of bliss that I can’t even describe.  Give me a week and I’ll try to find the words to say.

Some songs and some linkage

More on that in a second.

KKCK:

Shontelle “T-Shirt”
When I get emails from record companies, and a lot of sites have huge banner ads for a song, it tells me one of two things.  The song is either a winner that needs some extra push because the artist is unknown, or the song is a stinker but they’ve invested too much in the artist for it to be a total disaster.  I always expect those songs to be disasters, but I’m happy to be surprised when they’re not.  The music behind Shontelle reminds me a bit of older pop songs from the 90s, but not in a bad way.  The lyrics aren’t super deep, but they have that universal “missing you” message that never quite gets old.  The next single should be telling if she’s a flash in the pan or has plans to fashion a long career.

New Kids on the Block w/Ne-Yo “Single”
The most unlikely comeback of ever continues, and even Ne-Yo is getting in on the action.  On my music news blog, I found a story that Ne-Yo is working with Michael Bolton.  That comeback would make NKOTB the second most unlikely comeback of ever.  Getting back to this track, the hip hop production at the beginning reminds me of how a NSYNC song would sound right now if they were to make an album.  Which is funny, because NSYNC were making what NKOTB would have sounded like in the late 90s.  So, rather than hearing a band that drove me nuts in 1990, I’m hearing the band that drove me nuts in 1990 trying to sound like a band that drove me nuts in 2000.  In other words, if you like the style of music made famous by boy bands, you’ll like this song.

Christina Aguilera “Keeps Gettin’ Better”
Remember the Jessica Simpson virgin kerfuffle?  Suddenly, Britney was a virgin too.  When asked if she was, Xtina’s response was along the lines of “ah HELL no”.  Britney is now known more for her life (which is getting back to normal, admittedly).  Jessica was on TV, revealed to the world she’s as dumb as a post, and now is flailing about in country music while making fans of the Dallas Cowboys nervous.  Xtina Aguilera just got married and kept making music, and taking chances that the other two wouldn’t.  She always had the best voice of the three females who emerged from the pop deluge of the late 90s, and it turns out she also was the most savvy of three.  Her new song is…good.  Really good.  I haven’t enjoyed a song by Xtina this much since “Dirrty”, and that was mostly due to Redman.  This song is part of her new best of CD, and as far as extra tracks go, it’s almost good enough to justify the purchase.  This could be the new female anthem, but I’ve said that about other songs and I’ve been let down.  As long as women stop calling for “Crazy B*#@!” I’ll be happy, especially since (A) we don’t play the song and (B) you should really think about what the song says about you if you’re that ga-ga for it, IMHO.

Fall Out Boy “I Don’t Care”
Am I detecting a Depeche Mode vibe from this song?  I am.  The beginning reminds me a bit of “Personal Jesus” but a lot more upbeat.  In fact, the beginning sounds so much like DM I’m having a hard time thinking about the rest of the song.  After bouncing around the song, I now know why.  The rest of the song loses some of that Depeche Mode sound, so I lost a bit of interest.  Don’t get me wrong about Fall Out Boy.  I enjoy them as much as anyone.  I also enjoy the occasional song by Depeche Mode.  This song gets me excited for Depeche Mode then gives me Fall Out Boy.  That’s like asking me if I want an ice cream bar, and then giving me a freezy pop.  Sure, I like freezy pops (especially the green ones) but while I’m chewing on ice I’ll be thinking about the ice cream bar.  Speaking of Depeche Mode, our station only has two of their songs in the system, “Enjoy the Silence” and “Policy of Truth”.  I went to my iPod on appeal but…I only have one song, “It’s No Good”.  I hope iTunes can help me out later, because I need some more Depeche Mode up in here.  For any patient Fall Out Boy fans out there, the song is a solid number but it may not be quite as catchy as their last few lead singles.  If it gets a chance, it could outlast them by sounding a bit less gimmicky.

Clique to pick: Xtina Aguilera

Normally, I type lot here about other things like TV, movies, baseball, and other things.  Since what I’m putting here is less musical and more personal, I’m moving part two of this blog to one where that’s more appropriate.  Namely, my russ4life blog.  The MySpace version of this blog will have both parts.

400 Posts and 1,200 songs? Well, not really…

[I tend to double post my MySpace weekly music blog here, but I've only been doing that for a few months.  That blog just hit post #400, and my inner comic book geek still feels the need to do something when I hit a big, round number.  So, most of the blog won't make sense here.  I've chopped off the nostalgia content, but if you want to read it anyway just click on over.]

KKCK:

Jason Mraz “I’m Yours”
Signed, sealed, delivered, he’s…not doing that song.  Every single time I see the title, I think he’s covering that song.  Couldn’t you hear Jason doing that song, and totally nailing it?  I think his voice would fit it very well.  That being said, this song isn’t too bad, and it’s nice to have Mr. Mraz back on the air.  He’s a tireless worker, and to see someone with his persistence chart CHR again is a welcome sight.  That, and I never need to hear “The Remedy (I won’t worry)” ever again. 

The Ting Tings “Shut Up and Let Me Go”
We jumped on the Ting Ting craze a bit early, and with a different song.  I’ve heard a lot of hype about this band, but don’t expect another single.  I’ve listened to the album a few times, and I’m not hearing another song that will do as well as this one.  This song is plenty catchy, and it both makes me want to crank it to rock out and crank it to dance around very badly.  Not many songs can do that to my old bones lately.

Colbie Caillat “The Little Things”
It’s the little things that kill?  Colbie isn’t covering the Bush song, and I think that’s a good thing.  I’m not sure she’s the right person to do that nugget from Sixteen Stone.  It’s also not the new Danny Elfman song, that should be a much bigger hit than it currently is.  That song has a great riff and a killer hook, but since he’s the Oingo Boingo guy who scores movies, nobody is giving it a chance.  Getting back to Bush, there are a lot of Bush songs that still get a spin or two, but “Little Things” isn’t one of them.  It suffers from “second single syndrome” since it came between “Everything Zen” and “Comedown”.  Anyway, this is Colbie’s third single, which makes “Realize” her “Little Things” but not her “Little Things”.  Right?

Lenka “The Show”
Lenka is new to these parts, and her song is so new I had not even heard it until the call came in that it was going in.  She has one of those sounds that kindareminds you of someone else at first, but the more you listen to it the less you can think of who she sounds like.  The song has some 70s sweep to it, along with some horns and what sounds like generous use of the triangle, compared to other songs.  I wish her luck with her first foray into the American CHR world.

Pick to *CLICK*: Ting Tings

The rest is all MySpace blog stuff. Read it here, or just check back next week for a new song list and whatever else comes to mind.

The 2008 VMAs: through the eyes of an old CHR jock

Tonight, for the first time, I plan to update this blog during every commercial break during the MTV VMAs.  No second guessing what I write, and no time to fix weird spelling errors.  Yes, this includes the *groan* Pre-show.

7:00 PM

Sway’s in a chopper.  Well, that means no Sway interviews.  I’m down for that.  Danity Kane has a big DK on their limo, so they’ll find it in the lot afterward pretty easily.  Jay-Z is sporting a…Toronto Blue Jays hat?  Is it because the Jays passed the Yanks or what?  Did I see Mya?  I’m glad to see she’s still invited.  Man, I’m out of the loop.  Who is this guy?  Where’s my Kurt Loder?  Where’s John Norris?  Geez, did I just ask where John Norris was?  I sort of know who Lauren Conrad is, thanks mainly to egotastic.com and not at all from watching the hills.  It just clicked with me that they’re at Paramount.  The one time I was in L.A. I took the studio tour.  It was actually really cool, but mainly because I saw them building the Borg cube set for Star Trek: First Contact.  Katy Perry has GPS in her car, so all the girls will be ready to avoid her kisses.  Wait, everybody has one?  That seems…oddly creepy.  Taylor Swift is the fashion consultant?  If they don’t have cowboy boots and denim she won’t like them, and if she says she does she’s lying.  She seems totally out of her element.  T.I. does look sharp, I’ll give him that.  Taylor Swift looks like she dressed in gold tinfoil, in a bad way.  I bet Taylor Swift is dreaming about the CMAs.  Back to Sway in the chopper, and he did a prom show with Taylor Swift?  Is Nashville going to let her back in the city?  Wait, all the limos are labeled.  Holy crap, Sway asked Katy Perry a good question about the backlash about “I Kissed a Girl”, and she gets a dig on Lil’ Wayne.  Nice.  I like the cut of her jib.  Oh, John Norris time.  Uh, monster truck?  Tokio Hotel?  Wow, I’m glad to see Dead or Alive’s singer is getting work.  John Norris isn’t looking quite so silly tonight.  I think every year he gets thinner and his hair gets thicker.  Soon, he’ll be a singularity that will swallow MTV whole, or maybe I’m hoping.

7:14 PM

For one, I won’t be watching the Hills.  Is it Furry Pride week in L.A.?  Worse, it looks like Slipknot.  Wait, the elephant has bling.  T-Pain makes enough to bling to bling his elephant.  Wait, he owns an elephant?  Huh?  Oh, it ties into his new CD.  If he actually owned an elephant, that would make for a good part of his future “Behind the Music”.  New poindexter alert, and he has a snappy Amy Winehouse joke.  I bet he spent all night writing that.  Verizon tie in time.  Woo.  Seriously, a paparazzi type tie in?  Do we want to train the future camera-dogs to do their job?  Oh, this new tool only is available if I text.  I’m about to toss my phone across the room.  Hmm, I lost my phone somewhere.  Oh well.  Pink is looking snazzy, and her set sounds…interesting.  This could be a good show.  I’d read that some of the shows are happening at some movie sets, which  could lead to some interesting shows.  I’d hope for a Star Trek one, since they are at Paramount, and Paramount takes any chance to take a dump on Star Trek.  Sway in the chopper time, saving Jordin Sparks from an awkward interview.  Wait, not just GPS stuff in the limos, some have cameras.  Seriously, will anyone be surprised at anything anymore ever at this rate?  Dang, this blog is sounding more and more curmudgeonly all the time.

7:23 PM

A quick apology right now about spelling errors.  I’ll fix them when it’s all over. Kim Stolz…where have I heard that name before?  I have no idea.  I found my non-Verizon phone, so I can now properly ignore all this text junk.  Is Sway flying the copter?  I don’t see anyone else there. Panic at the Disco took a van instead of a limo.  Props to that.  Why am I watching Panic at the Disco wave to a chopper?  Is this Action News circa 1983?  BTW, Kate hates the chopper.  I agree.  Katy Perry is wearing some not-so-hot hot pants.  Katy at least looks good from the neck up.  Katy Perry is actually wearing something she made that she got at a thrift shop.  I’ve found my mom’s long lost daughter.  Kate tells me Katy doesn’t match.  I’ll take her word for it, since I’m not one to notice/care about clothes matching.  Kiss her.  KISS HER!  C’mon Katy, do it!  She’s making her own moonman if she doesn’t win.  That’s pretty cool.  Kid Rock and Michael Phelps?  Whiskey-tango-foxtrot?  “You’ve won eight gold medals, so you get Kid Rock’s limo.”  That seems more like punishment for the Canadian pentathlon guy.  I think Kid Rock wears the same outfit every year.  Hat, husband beater, jeans…yep.

7:32 PM

America’s Best Dance Crew?  Time for a soda.  I like Diet Pepsi for a show like this.  It’s smooth and doesn’t lent itself to slamming.  Seriously, does any network love the smell of it’s own $#!* like MTV?  I heard Fanny Pak announced and thought “but the song Camel Toe came out years ago” but it must be the name of this dance troupe.  The cross promotion is worse than ever.  If they’d shown the dance from the chopper, that  might have been interesting.  Time to talk to the Jonas Brothers.  I’ll try to keep my brain from checking out.  Y’know what Jonas song I like the most?  “My Name is Jonas” by Weezer.  It really gets the first Weezer album going strong.  That guitar lick really gets it going and sets a tone.  Wait, commercial?  Um…oops.

7:40 PM

Oh, that was a quick break.  Just a commercial for the…VMAs.  Oh, also a promo for a show on Verizon moble phones.  AND A REAL WORLD ROAD RULES SURVIVOR RIP OFF?  This and Daria gets cancelled.  I must go bang my head against a wall.  BRB.

7:43 PM

Xtina is looking pretty good tonight.  I have permission to say that (I think).  Why does Paris Hilton have a vehicle with a GPS?  Oh, THAT’S what BFF stands for.  Thanks Paris, I wasn’t aware of that one.  Here I thought maybe it was some new music project (and I use that loosely).  Only one Jonas Brother got his suit shined for tonight.  Lame guys, lame.  Slipknot is getting interviewed?  They’re wearing suits even?  They’re creeping my wife out, so that’s amusing.

7:51 PM

Ashlee and kid to be named later are in the house.  She’s looking all right.  I thought she would have popped by now.  Is Kobe Bryant doing a Shaq style album?  If not, why are they talking to him?  Is KG too busy polishing his trophy?  Somebody drove a fuel efficient car or two, and it was Paramore?  That took me by surprise.  I never thought of them as a band that would do that, but lead singer Haley Williams mentions that her hairspray cancelled it out.  Man, the new guy sucks.  He’ll be on text detail for years.  Taylor Swift called Ciara “Ciaras”.  Further proof she’s wishing she was in Texas or somewhere like that.  It’s almost time to finish the pre-show, so we’ll finally see what this Britney thing is.

7:58 PM

They didn’t say who was in the Obama limo with the John McCain style driver, but it was pretty amusing.  Time to check with Sway again?  Nope, the Brit guy is still hogging the TV time.  All right, let’s tie this one on!

8:00 PM

who is this guy?  He sounds familiar.  Is he the guy from Superbad?  She seems like she’s having fun with this bit, which is good.  Nice enthusiastic product placement.  I had to pause to LOL a bit.  Seriously, it’s worth seeing just for the look on his face.  Time to see what her trick is.  And her big thing is to…say the show is starting.  Okay then.  ZOMBIES!  All right, time for some Rihanna up in here.  I like Rihanna’s dress tank.  It looks like one that Cobra had back in the 80s.  However, she’s not dressed like the Baroness.  She is actually singing!  That’s a nice touch.  Well, at least the lead singer parts are being sung.  No backup zombie singers.  Boo that.  The not-zombie back up dancer girls remind me of the post-apocalyptic Kiss video for “Lick It Up”.  I’m going to go on a limb and say that’s not what they were going for.  I just heard a “Seven Nation Army” breakdown in the middle of “Disturbia” and it worked really well.    So far, the show is catching my eye.  Maybe this show will turn things around.  Let’s see how this Brit host does.  Was Forgetting Sarah Marshall a bigger hit than I remember?  The British dude just endorsed Obama?  Okay…fine.  Wait, it was a joke set-up?  What will we joke about when Bush isn’t in office?  His jokes are falling a bit flat, but he’s going for it.  He keeps going for the political stuff, and since they edit some of that out for rebroadcast…there won’t be much monologue.  Jamie Foxx is out to intro the female video category, and he’s almost getting as many laughs as the host.  Best female video goes to Britney, and she agreed to show up…isn’t that convenient?  Her lack of surprise is pretty telling.  The host won’t let up on the political stuff.  The house band is a DJ and a drummer?  Okay then.  At least Travis Barker is getting some work somewhere.

8:25 PM

BFF is hosting a new show about people trying to be her BFF.  Wow.  That idea is so bad I felt myself die a little inside?  Okay, that’s harsh, but I won’t watch it, nor will anyone I know…I think.  Demi Moore arrives, w/o Ashton, for the Best Male Video category.  Chris Brown makes both the wife and I…wrong.  He’s looking dapper as always.  The blue tie with the white suit works.  The Brit keeps making jokes about (A) sex or (B) politics.  Those are his only two settings so far.  Taylor Swift introduces the Jonas Brothers, who are performing on one of the back lot street scenes.  They actually don’t sound to bad.  Nice transition!  Wow, I never thought I’d type this, but I’m impressed with how they pulled off this performance.  Katy Perry takes us to the break singing Madonna?  It works.

8:39 PM

Katy is back, and she’s gone from feeling “Like a Virgin” to “I Kissed a Girl”.  Her voice isn’t too bad live.  This just in…the Brit guy still sucks.  Michael Phelps can swim like a fish, but he has the stage presence of a fish as well.  Ugh.  Leona Lewis takes the stage, and Lil’ Wayne follows.  My wife is begging Lil’ Wayne to stop grabbin’ his junk.  Truth be told, it isn’t doing much for me either.  Why even wear pants at this stage?  Just wear underwear and leg warmers.  On the bright side they aren’t tighty whities.  It seems Lil’ Wayne didn’t get the memo about editing his songs.  The censor button seems to be getting a workout.  T-Pain is out now, and this duo can do no wrong of late.  I’m not a big fan of Lil’ Wayne, but I’ll give him props for really going all out for his performance.  Lindsay Lohan name checks AC/DC, so I won’t make any Lohan comments.  Fanny Pak is the winner of some dance off thing that I think I mentioned earlier.  No speech for them, as we get right to the “best dancing in a video” category, instead of “best dance video”.  Once again, Kate and I blow it.  PCD takes it, but I barely recognize them since they’re not dressed like go-go strippers.

8:55 PM

Pete Wentz shows the vote counters for “Best New Video”, and it’s Danty Kane.  Dear gracious, this Brit guy isn’t that funny at all.  Am I missing something?  Time for some Paramore at the Whiskey a Go-Go, or a reasonable look-alike, since they keep saying that “nothing is as it seems” this year.  I’m not sold on Paramore live.  The music is solid, but the vocals sound too forced and more like yelling than singing.  Now the Whiskey is revealed to be…the main stage?  Worst surprise yet, and maybe the worst performance yet.

9:07 PM

The longer this goes on, the more I don’t like the host.  He’s just not that funny.  Ugh.  Shia LeBeouf and Slash?  Does LeBeaof have to be everywhere?  It would be cool if Slash’s hat transformed.  Linkin Park takes best rock video.  I didn’t even see them on the red carpet, but they aren’t exactly wearing Gucci.  Nice Transformers reference by the Linkin Park DJ guy.  Miley Cyrus is backstage playing Rock Band with Tokio Hotel.  I liked her singing Bon Jovi.  It was actually cute.  Now it’s Pink time, and this should be good.  This just in…Pink has pasties on, and she needed them.  The performance wasn’t as big as I was expecting, but she did say earlier she broke a rib in rehearsals, so maybe that caused some changes.  I’d say it’s the best performance of the night so far.

9:20 PM

The Ting Tings join DJ AM and drummer guy for a bit of “Shut Up and Let Me Go”.  Pete and Ashely are making a joke about voting for best new artist, but they forgot to mention Verizion or Pepsi.  They’ll be punished later.  Slipknot is coming out.  Please tell me they’re going to kill the host.  Nope, they’re going to kill some random drunk guy in a bad mask.  Best hip-hop video?  Is that the best way to utilize Slipknot?  Lil’ Wayne and Slipknot?  There’s a combo.  Wayne gets points for brevity, and we go to John Legend and Jordin Sparks.  Jordin Sparks takes the host to task about promise rings, and good for her.  They intro T.I., and it is another video on some old movie set.  T.I. opted for lip-syncing the way it sounds, and that was a poor choice.  Since everyone else has either sung or pulled it off convincingly, T.I. gets a heapin’ helping of fail for this one.  Wait, it wasn’t his performance, but rather a set up for his duet with Rihanna.  Now he’s really rapping.  Methinks I commented too soon.  At the end, it wasn’t a bad performance.  I hate to say MTV pulled one off on me, but they did.  DJ AM takes us out with a-ha.  A-ha?

9:36 PM

Vanessa Hudgens is dressed, and Ashley Tisdale’s new nose is on the scene as well.  The HSM 3 cast intros Xtina’s performance, but I don’t think Fred Durst will show up this time.  I didn’t Xtina was auditioning for Catwoman.  Get Chris Nolan on the phone.  I think it would work.  Anyway, she’s doing a new song, and she’s lip-synching.  I can’t blame her a lot, as she’s really dancing up a storm.  I hope Britney is taking notes.  This is how one performs at the VMAs.  Kate has noticed crotch grabbing a plenty tonight.  It must be what all the kids are doing.  I think Xtina just dropped the phrase “superbitch”, and she’s doing a bit of singing now.  Kate wasn’t sold, but I dug Xtina’s new song and her look.  Sadly, we’re back to Brit non-com, who doesn’t mind calling out politicos but won’t name drop R. Kelly when talking about…ew.  Some actors from the Hills are introducing the “Best new artist” category.  Your winner is Tokio Hotel, thanks to their insanely rabid fan base.  Wow, I thought Evanescence was up for this years ago…no wait, that’s the Tokio lead singer/former Dead or Alive singer?  I’d love to see these guys on “Sprockets” if only Mike Myers could do that skit again.

9:49 PM

LL Cool J brings us back with “Goin’ Back to Cali”, which instantly ramps up the cool in my book.  Sadly, the cool in a 34 year old male’s book is not the cool MTV is going for.  LL Cool J is funnier than Russell Brand.  Ouch.  Paris arrives for “Best pop video”.  The winner goes to…Britney.  She’s got two of them, and I’m still thinking the fix might be in.  MTV needs Brit-brit, and they’re doing their best to help her back to where she was.  Lupe takes us to break from a very plain segment. That segment was almost more VH1 than MTV.

9:59 PM

Russell Brand apologized for a few things, but not for sucking.  Maybe next time.  Kid Rock is performing tonight?  I had no idea.  Well, let’s hope it lives up to his older performances, like the year Aerosmith and Run DMC came out.  Kid Rock and Lil’ Wayne?  Why not.  Wayne will record/sing/show up for anything.  He really doesn’t care, and it’s a strategy that seems to be working.  I just hope he doesn’t nuke his brain too badly in the next few years.  Kid Rock’s performance is very ordinary.  I’m feeling let down.  “All Summer Long” is a good song, but it doesn’t bring out Kid’s energy and fury really well.  Dare I say “snoozer”?

10:10 PM

Kobe brings us back, and I almost wish he’d hosted.  Time for video of the year.  Can Britney do the three-peat?  Yep, she wins again.  Seriously.  I mean, seriously?  She’s barely trying to fake it that she’s surprised.  Plus, they had things pretty planned out to take her out during the new Kanye song.  Kanye’s song was pretty good, but you could tell at the end he wished he had won something.  His broken-heart flashy pin was really keen.  Russell Brand takes it out, and into the post-show credits, with more Russell Brand.  Ugh.  Well, that’s a show.  Time to wrap things up and repost this to MySpace, with a few extra words.

songs of four, to bore, nevermore

At least not yet.

KKCK:

Katy Perry “Hot N Cold”
After stirring things up with songs like “I Kissed a Girl” and “Ur So Gay”, Katy shows her versatility by releasing a single that is painfully normal for the reputation she’s worked so hard to sully.  Really, there isn’t much controversy in this song.  Well, she does use the term “P.M.S.”.  Does that count?  I have a feeling that this is the bulk of what we can expect from Ms. Perry going forward, and if you dig it, dig it.  I must confess I picked up her CD at Best Buy, since it was only eight bucks, and for eight bucks I’ll take a chance.  It’s worth about eight bucks, but not much more.  She might be an interesting singer to watch in the future. 

Artists Stand Up to Cancer “Just Stand Up!”
The star power on this song is tough to top.  I didn’t even try to flag it for artist separation.  In the last decade or two (mainly since “We Are the World”) charity singles like this never do much on the charts.  However, this one seems to have bust out of the “charity all-star” genre and right into the mainstream.  The multi-network “Stand Up to Cancer” special has helped it as well, but the real test is to see if the song has legs after the special.  A song like this is also helped a great deal by the internet, as the last really good all-star charity song (2001’s “What’s Going On”) didn’t amount to major radio chart success.

Jesse McCartney “It’s Over”
That’s what I thought of Jesse’s career after the album before the current one totally flopped.  I didn’t think his crash would be a total Jimmy Ray disappearance, but I thought he’d fade to the background and release AC albums that get played at coffee shops and bookstores.  Instead, he pulls a near Justin Timberlake makeover and hits back at radio in a big way.  Well played Mr. McCartney.  This song doesn’t have the big hook that “Leavin” does, but it should be good enough to get him in the top ten, and maybe the top five.  “Leavin” was such a big radio hit that the next single should do a minimum of top ten by default, no matter what it sounds like.

Shinedown “Second Chance”
The subject matter of this song caught my ear more than the music.  That’s pretty rare, since I’ve often said “if the music is good the lyrics can be gibberish” or something along those lines.  Rather than do a cut/paste of the whole song, I’ll just hit you with the chorus:

Tell my mother,
Tell my father
I’ve done the best I can
To make them realise
This is my life
I hope they understand
I’m not angry, I’m just saying…
Sometimes goodbye
Is a second chance

For some reason, the thought of “goodbye” being a second chance caught my ear, and got me thinking about how many of my goodbyes were really second chances I didn’t know I was getting.  I realize the implications of a song on KKCK that made me think.  It’s not really what we go for, but a bit here and there can’t hurt, right?

Pick to cliz-ick: Shinedown

The babywatch is in full effect.  It could be any day now.  I just don’t know the day, and no matter how many times I ask him, he won’t answer.  Yesterday at work I referred to him as “a living, breathing alarm clock I can’t set” as opposed to what I have now, which are “furry alarm clocks I can’t set”.  I’m still curious as to how our cats will react to the new arrival.  Kate is worried most about Weevil and Eileen.  Weevil is kind of a bastard, but he’s shown unusual patience when other children have come to visit.  Eileen is an attention whore, so her attention being cut could be a cause for alarm.  Mac is pretty indifferent about most everything, and Logan is so stupid he might not realize there’s a baby until it’s chasing him around.  Our new big fear is that the baby will be allergic to cats.  That means we’d have four friends who would need new homes, and while I’d never pick a cat over my child, saying goodbye to them, especially Weevil, would be heartbreaking. 

Most everything else around here is going well.  The house is in good order, work is going great, and there’s new AC/DC on the horizon.  “Rock N Roll Train” is a better song than any of the singles off Stiff Upper Lip, so I’m quite excited to hear the rest of the new CD Black Ice.  I just hope they stop taking eight years between CDs.  They can’t have that many left in them. 

Speaking of waiting, why is 30 Rock not coming back until almost Halloween?  Fox will debut and cancel at least three shows before then.

That’s all for today.  I must go type here, or here, or here, or here, or here.  I type a lot.