Covers Aren’t Just On Your Bed

There are currently a number of covers on the radio, and available via download on iTunes. There are a few I would like to highlight right now though, the many covers of Rihanna’s mega-hit “Umbrella,” and Cascada’s cover of “What Hurts the Most.”

What was Cascada thinking about when she decided to turn a country-pop hit into a dance-pop hit? While the Rascal Flatts version of “What Hurts the Most” was also a cover, at least it did change genres completely. “What Hurts the Most” has already been a #1 single in the United States on the country and adult contemporary charts. It even hit #6 on the Hot 100 charts. So to think that Cascada hoped that “What Hurts the Most” would rise up the charts again, is a little perplexing. Her version currently sits at #52 on the Hot 100 in the United States. (Although it was hugely popular in Sweden.)

Her cover however, demonstrates everything that is wrong with covers. She takes a song that has a great melodic rhythm, driven by the country twang of the Rascal Flatts and replaces it with boring vocals and electronic instruments. Cascada’s version captures the rhythm, and might even have the same notes, but it just sounds stale in front of the beat-box insanity that is her electronic pop. I also really miss the great guitar parts that the Rascal Flatts injected into the song. Basically, her cover is a dumbed down version of the song.

And then there’s “Umbrella.” Rihanna’s hit single was the #1 in the world in 2007, quite the accomplishment. So it has obviously created a number of copy-cats. There are some really good ones out there, personally I think Mandy Moore’s version is refreshing and original. There are also a couple of acoustic versions that I really don’t appreciate. The Marie Digby version that is slowly gaining radio airplay is like the rap song’s weaker cousin. Why listen to it when you could hear the original? Still, Rihanna seems to be appreciative of the flattery of having over 29 parodies and covers of the song produced.

Any discussion of covers would probably be incomplete without at least a passing mention of Fox’s American Idol. Every week, until the finale singers sing covers of relatively famous songs. Some do a great job, and some, well… let’s just say they need some help. David Cook could probably release an album that contained his covers from this season and have a commercially successful debut. His versions of “Eleanor Rigby,” “Billy Jean,” “Hello,” and “Always Be My Baby,” could form a very credible meat of an album. I guess he’s got something to fall back on if his own album doesn’t work out.

Still, sometimes covers are done right, and sometimes they are terrible. There’s truly a mixed bag. I guess it depends on the talent of the artist and the universality of the song. Good music can be sung well by any good singer.

American Idol - Top 7

(This post was originally posted on “College Grad Real World“, but is reproduced here by me, because I like being on the record with these things.)

This week on American Idol… Mariah Carey! She agreed to go on the show probably so she could promote her new album, E=MC^2, which seems like an awfully dorky title for a pop album. Apparently she gave some really good advice, because all the contestants raved about her. But no matter how much advice she gave, the girls just couldn’t be Mariah, so really… what was the point? The boys got a chance to dominate the show, which they should anyways because, well… they’re better. Here’s how I saw this week:

7. Brooke White - Man, I really liked the song “Hero”. Then Brooke White threw out all the other instruments besides the piano, sang an incredibly boring vocal, and absolutely slaughtered the song. The worst part was the piano playing. I think White needed to sit this one out, but she had to cover up her inability to hit the notes Mariah does during the former #1 single, so she sat behind the piano. Well, it didn’t fool me. I hope American didn’t buy it either.

6. Carly Smithson - I feel like, after last week’s narrow escape, Smithson knows she is living on borrowed time on American Idol. She definitely did not help herself last night by singing a boring rendition and not being able to connect with the song or her audience at all. Already a commercial failure, I think it’s time she got the boot.

5. Syesha Mercado - I thought she was a little shrilly in some places, but overall it was a better performance than White or Smithson. Mercado appears to have Paula Abdul in her back pocket. Abdul just could not stop raving about her. The end of the song, where Syesha managed to get two or three big power notes out is going to help her with the voters.

4. Kristy Lee Cook - Unlike Carly, I thought Cook really connected with her song. She turned the arrangement slightly country, sang more melancholy and it actually wasn’t too bad. I didn’t get goose bumps like Mariah did, but I felt the sadness. I agree with the judges, I think it could be a country hit. So she must have done something right.

3. David Archuleta - The $1,000,000 that Simon would have bet on Archuleta picking the inspirational ballad “When You Believe,” would have been the safest bet anyone has ever made. It’s like Archuleta is becoming a caricature of himself, and I don’t think that’s a good thing. He was drowned out at times this week by the music, and the parts I heard weren’t overly impressive, but he was better than any of the girls.

2. Jason Castro - I’m a big fan of artists like Jack Johnson, and I really enjoy the “singer-songwriter vibe” as Randy Jackson likes to call it. That’s why I enjoy Castro’s arrangements. The question is will America find that style pleasing enough to keep voting him to safety? It was much better than whatever luau Randy’s been to lately, I guarantee that. I’m glad even Simon agreed.

1. David Cook - The interesting thing was I didn’t especially like Cook’s version of “Always Be My Baby” until about halfway through the song when I finally abandoned thinking about the Mariah Carey version, which was part of a defining era in my pop music education, and just listened to Cook sing. I bet I would like the studio version about 1,000 times more and I’m going to download it. The end of the shortened version on stage was a little weird, but I thought he did a good job with a difficult song. It definitely was unique.

The Billboard Hot 100 (Week of April 14)

The Hot 100 this week has a unique bit of symmetry in the second 50 songs. It also has a relatively static Top 5. Which, quite honestly, is to be expected. Especially when it takes three to four weeks to even think about cracking the Top 10.

The most interesting part about the Hot 100 is that country artist Taylor Swift has three songs in the Top 50. All of them are bunched between 25 and 50. They are: #26 “Teardrops On My Guitar,” #28 “Our Song,” and #44 “Picture to Burn.” If you know anything about those songs, you might notice something extraordinary.

Swift has captured an entire relationship, in the perfect order, in the Top 50! “Teardrops On My Guitar,” is a song about longing for that perfect boy. She longs to be with some guy named Drew. Now, I wonder if Drew is the same boy she’s all of sudden writing a song for in “Our Song,” or the boy whose picture she’s burning after what seems like a rough breakup in “Picture to Burn.” It just goes to show you how fast relationships can change. But it really is impressive that she capture all three facets in three relatively popular tracks.

Everything else in the Top 50 is not nearly as inspiring. “Lollipop,” by Lil Wayne and featuring Static Major has unfortunately, jumped into the Top 5. Actually, this week it is #4 and the greatest sales gainer. The greatest airplay gainer is a little bit of shocker, until you remember that Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown were on American Idol last Thursday. The requests apparently started popping up again for their song “No Air,” which actually fell from five to seven while gaining in radio airplay.

Radiohead’s “Nude” is the highest debut this week. It’s the only debut in the top 50 songs. Other notable things on the top chart? Sara Bareilles’ “Love Song” has gone double-platinum. And Natasha Bedingfield has another song climbing the charts, “Pocketful of Sunshine.” More about that tune tomorrow.

The Miley Cyrus watch is now up to #12. Now that “See You Again” is starting to climb the charts, what will be the next super-Cyrus single? More speculation later in the week.

Friday News

On Fridays at Notable Notes we’re going to try and keep things light-hearted. You’ll see some links, some quick news and maybe an artist profile every once in a while, but mostly it’s a day for fun.

Unfortunately, we have to lead this week’s Friday News post with some sad news -

America got it wrong - Australian rocker Michael Johns got the boot last night from American Idol instead of Carly Smithson. Smithson looked like she thought she was going home the entire results show as she stood in the bottom three. But somehow Ryan Seacrest toyed with everyone while working on his hosting Emmy, until Johns finally got the boot. Afterwards, I tried to come up with a logical reason for Johns exiting the show before Smithson, Syesha Mercado or Brooke White and just couldn’t figure one out. How was Brooke White safe this week? Does Johns getting kicked off make fellow rocker David Cook feel better, or worse?

A photograph is worth 1,000 words, or about six albums - The New Kids On The Block are reuniting! The group is planning a new studio album and a concert tour. Their first photograph as a band together again was released exclusively to Yahoo! Why would you do that? Is Yahoo! really the best source to disseminate music news?

In one sense, at least they’ll smell good - The TAG brand is teaming up with Island Def Jam Music Group to launch a new hip-hop music label. The label will be responsible for launching two artists per year during their three-year contract. I guess TAG really is looking to hit that younger demographic. Teens are definitely the spark behind this idea. I hope the artists don’t get attacked on stage like those boys in the commercials.

Squeaky voices aren’t just for American Idol’s opening rounds - The soundtrack to “Alvin and the Chipmunks” was this week’s greatest gainer on the big charts for albums. It rose from 16th to fifth place thanks to the release of the DVD version of the movie on April 1. While we’ll definitely bring you more highlights from the Billboard Charts on Monday, this seemed like vitally important information. (Here’s last week’s recap of the Hot 100.)

Listening to - Mike Oldfield - Music of the Spheres (US Version)

Radio Waves Across the Country

The Top 40 radio stations across the country still have a huge impact on what consumers are listening to in the music industry. Now, many stations declare which songs got the most requests sometime during the evening hours. Whether it is a Top 9 at 9 p.m. or a Top 8 at 8 p.m. these countdowns are designed to show what’s hot. So every week on Thursday, I will bring you some of those top charts from around the country.

This week’s top lists are from New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Houston and Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Z100 - New York
9. Leavin’ - Jesse McCartney
8. Love In This Club - Usher
7. You Love Is A Lie - Simple Plan
6. Sexy Can I - Ray J
5. When You Look Me In The Eyes - Jonas Brothers
4. Break The Ice - Britney Spears (Jason Nevins Remix)
3. Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis
2. Damaged - Danity Kane
1. 4 Minutes - Madonna

Kiss 108 - Boston
They run a Top 30 countdown every week, but post the results each day, here are the results as of April 9.
9. Take You There - Sean Kingston
8. No Air - Jordin Sparks
7. Touch My Body - Mariah Carey
6. Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis
5. When You Look Me In The Eyes - Jonas Brothers
4. What Hurts the Most - Cascada
3. Teardrops on My Guitar - Taylor Swift
2. Love Song - Sara Bareilles
1. See You Again - Miley Cyrus

Kiss 103.7 - Milwaukee
8. Damaged - DK
7. Love In This Club - Usher
6. When You Look Me In The Eyes - Jonas Brothers
5. Sexy Can I - Ray J
4. Superstar - Lupe Fiasco
3. Our Song - Taylor Swift
2. Independent - Webbie
1. Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis

WPST 94.5 - Philadelphia
9. Stop and Stare - OneRepublic
8. With You - Chris Brown
7. Leave Me Alone - Pink
6. Your Love Is A Lie - Simple Plan
5. When You Look Me In The Eyes - Jonas Brothers
4. Don’t Stop The Music - Rihanna
3. See You Again - Miley Cyrus
2. Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis
1. 4 Minutes - Madonna

WKZL 107.5 - Winston-Salem, NC
8. Sexy Can I - Ray J
7. Calling You - Blue October
6. With You - Chris Brown
5. Say - John Mayer
4. No Air - Jordin Sparks
3. Superstar - Lupe Fiasco
2. Whatever It Takes - Lifehouse
1. Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis

KRBE 104.1 - Houston, TX
5. No Air - Jordin Sparks
4. Touch My Body - Mariah Carey
3. Superstar - Lupe Fiasco
2. See You Again - Miley Cyrus
1. Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis

Some interesting trends can be found by looking at this list. “Bleeding Love” is in every top list. It has dropped as far as sixth on the Boston station, but it’s still on the chart. No other song is on the top list of all six cities.

The most interesting chart from last night is definitely Milwaukee. “Our Song” by Taylor Swift is a really good song, that I know some people really like, but it isn’t getting strong radio airplay on Top 40 stations yet, the list is an amazing compilation of Rap, R&B, Country and Pop. There must be some awfully unique listeners out there.

The most disturbing trend in my opinion - the Jonas Brothers making the top list on two-thirds of the stations I sampled, including all three in the northeast. Just goes to show that maybe people aren’t that smart after all.

American Idol Top 8

Since this week is all about Idol Gives Back, it was time for the inspirational performances of the season. Some were actually a revelation unto themselves, and it one of the favorites may find himself standing in the Bottom 3 this week. As always, this is from worst to first. Prior week’s results do not factor into the decision, just what the performer did this week on stage.

8. Brooke White - The song was pleasant and the vocal alright, but White has just stopped doing what made her a good performer. Her song choice has deteriorated to the point of being ridiculous, and since she can’t move comfortably on stage, she’s forced to stand idly behind a microphone. To be honest, she didn’t look like an American Idol last night.

7. Carly Smithson - Carly could also be in danger of going home this week. Her and Brooke definitely had the weakest performances. If you’re going to sing, “The Show Must Go On” why not sing the Moulin Rouge version instead of the Queen original. I think that might have helped her control the song, which obviously instead controlled her. The song was awfully dark and dreary too, I wasn’t too pleased to see it on the inspirational night. Also, Simon thought she looked good? I couldn’t disagree more, she looked like an Amazon on stage in those first few awkward moments. (Unless he’s into that kind of thing.)

6. David Cook - What was that? Cook did the super-desperate move of walking into the crowd. There’s a reason performers don’t do that on American Idol, it reeks of not being able to perform the song well enough on stage. The performance which started off with the gritty bottom notes and the jump all over like a ping-pong ball definitely showed off his vocal range, but maybe not in the most positive light. In another weird wardrobe comment, why was there a fight over the white jacket?

5. Kristy Lee Cook - Cook turned in her best performance of the season when everyone was expecting her to pack her bags and go home. Vote for the Worst is still supporting her, which is weird, because I think it is pretty obvious that Smithson and White have been much worse over the past three weeks or so. The vocal was not great at the beginning, but as Cook hit the bridge and headed for home, the part the listeners will remember, she was spectacular. It certainly doesn’t hurt that she’s the best looking contestant still remaining in the competition.

4. Michael Johns - His version of “Dream On” was actually pretty darn impressive. When I saw that was his song choice I worried about him taking on a Aerosmith tune, but Johns delivered. He certainly benefited from some excellent guitar playing by the band in the middle of the song, thankfully he didn’t have to try and do it. The ending vocal though was once again excellent.

3. David Archuleta - He picks really strange songs. Sometimes I wonder if helps or hurts himself with his song choices. While some of the other performers are tackling industry standards, he’s doing things the common fan might never have heard before his performance. Still, at the refrain he opened up the vocal and it washed over you like a tidal wave. Archuleta’s performance was the first one on this list that gave me the chills you should get from an inspirational song.

2. Syesha Mercado - This girl just keeps taking on huge songs and keeps getting better and better. She’s really tuned into what the American Idol fan wants to hear I think. Those big songs by Whitney and Fantasia are the way to score votes, especially if you have the voice to sing them convincingly. She’s into her groove now and she’s starting to surprise us with things like that impossibly high note at the end. The judges might not always agree with her decisions, but I think it’s the right move for her. If there’s going to be a woman in the Top 3, it’s Mercado.

1. Jason Castro - Before last night started, I probably would have guessed that Castro would be in the bottom three this week. He had failed to deliver a single solid performance since singing, “Hallelujah” back before the competition really started. And then, he took out his ukulele and sang, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. Oh my goodness, it was beautiful. His jump to the falsetto in the middle was perfect. He just found the exact right song to sing. For one night at least, it was possible to believe that Castro’s dreams of becoming American Idol just might come true.

Song of the Week (Week of April 8)

This week’s Song of the Week is a single by a former British band headliner who is married to another pop-star. So much for staying under the radar.

Gavin Rossdale is the former lead singer and guitarist for the band Bush. He also played for the short-lived Institute. Now, Rossdale, who is married to Gwen Stefani, is coming out with his first solo album.

The album, entitled Wanderlust, is scheduled to be released on June 3, 2008. But on April 1, he released his first solo single, “Love Remains the Same”.

The 30-second sample on iTunes fails to capture the full musical breadth of the song. The track manages to accommodate a number of textures, including piano, guitar and vocals, into a refreshing tonality that falls somewhere between rock and alternative.

While the lyrics are terribly melodramatic in the fashion you’d expect from a song with such a forlorn title, they don’t come off cheesy, although they might sound a little desperate the first time through. For example: “Half the time the world is ending, truth is i am done pretending.” Still, the song itself is definitely worth downloading and makes me excited for the album. All-in-all it is a solid solo debut.

Special Thanks To: Brother

Have a new or under-the-radar song you think should be the “Song of the Week”? Email me!

American Idol Ending?

For about ten seconds last night on Larry King Live, it appeared that American Idol was over. Simon Cowell, who was once again was the only person worth listening to on the four person panel, delivered a deadpan lie when he said the popular show was in its final season. But before the uproar could commence, or not happen, he broke down and admitted that the ratings monster, which tries to find singing talent, will probably continue for another “two or three” seasons.

Other important things that could be gleamed from the interview, that was done in order to promote Wednesday night’s charity fund raiser, Idol Gives Back, include:

• The judges apparently agree on a Top 3. While Paula hedged after revealing this juicy piece of information, nobody directly contradicted the statement afterwards. David Cook, David Archuleta and who? Syesha Mercado? She is the most talented girl. Or is it Michael Johns?
• Contrary to what host Ryan Seacrest has been saying on the show, Simon does not think that this season is the Most. Talented. Group. Of. Idols. Ever. Besides trying to annoy Ryan, Simon claims that the group isn’t that great, because it doesn’t have a superstar talent in the remaining eight. He said there is no Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson in this year’s group of performers.
• Interestingly enough, Simon also took time to comment on his relationship with Ryan. Simon compared the AI host to a mosquito, but said that when not on the show, “There are times when I like him.”
• Finally, Simon also said that some of the performances get over hyped because they were on American Idol. “I think we’re in a bubble on this show,” said Simon. “In other words, within the bubble of this show, people can start believing things are great when they’re not.” He went on to say that he listens to recordings after every show, and he is not always as impressed the second time around.

Overall, it was a very good interview. Larry King did a good job of asking questions, although at some points it was obvious he had never seen American Idol in his life. (He was amazed that the judges didn’t get to have any say in the final outcome.) This week is a very special week of American Idol with Tuesday’s performances, Wednesday’s Idol Gives Back, and Thursday’s results show. Catch the Top 8!

The Billboard Hot 100 (Week of April 7)

In our first ever look at the Billboard Hot 100 there is a fast-rising #1, a British gal who couldn’t stay at the top and a platinum song which you could’ve downloaded for free on iTunes before last summer began.

Mariah Carey’s “Touch My Body” jumped from 15th last week on the Hot 100 to #1 this week. The catchy song skipped up over a number of songs to reach the top, including Usher and Young Jeezy’s “Love In This Club”.

Carey’s single needed all the help it could get though to avoid getting run over by the commercially successful combination of Justing Timberlake and Madonna. In only its second week on the Hot 100 Chart their song “4 Minutes” climbed to #3. The song is getting steady radio airplay, and might just be a little too addicting. Although Timberlake’s “Madonna… Madonna” at the end of the song strikes me as just a bit creepy.

“Touch My Body” knocked British starlet Leona Lewis, and her single “Bleeding Love” off of the top spot. This is a good thing, because now Simon Cowell does not have to buy her anymore “presents”. (If that’s what you want to call the $5 million mansion he bought her.) Lewis dropped all the way to #4.

The rest of the Top 10 is not terribly exciting. “No Air” by Chris Brown with Jordin Sparks is #5 and Ray J & Yung Berg’s “Sexy Can I” is incomprehensibly #6. Chris Brown still has two songs in the Top 10 as “With You” is #8, just behind this week’s biggest airplay gainer, Lil Wayne featuring Static Major and “Lollipop”.

At the bottom of the Top 10 are two completely different singles, both of which have been certified platinum by the RIAA. Sara Bareille’s “Love Song”, which was once a free download on the iTunes website, is in itsn 22nd week on the chart. The singer-songwriter has definitely come a long way. Contrast that with Flo Rider featuring T-Pain and their hit single “Low”, the rap track has been on the chart for 23 weeks and is certified Triple Platinum! Of course, you never could get that one for free.

Other songs of note on this week’s chart -

• Trace Adkins’ country song “You’re Gonna Miss This” is the top country track on the Hot 100 at #12
• Miley Cyrus and “See You Again” holds steady at #14
• Fall Out Boy (featuring John Mayer) was the highest debut single at #22, it’s the only new song in the Top 50.