With a much needed vacation coming up, I thought it would be nice to go through my fan mail and answer some musical questions.  Some answers are based on opinion and may not hold must truth but you can always verify anything using Wikipedia.

Will it ever be cool to listen to the Dave Matthews Band again?

Yes, on August 8, 2026 it will be cool to listen to DMB again.  By this time, no one will care about insects proceeding in an orderly fashion and maybe you won’t get berated for not seeing him in concert 12 times.  If you hold off long enough, people will forget and you’ll be in the clear.

Did Justin Timberlake really bring sexy back?

No, sexy never left.  Sexy might have taken a sabbatical or been in a coma for a few years but it never went any place that people couldn’t find it.  JT constructed the illusion that sexy left and he was bringing it back.  The only person that could bring sexy back is Prince and we’ll just have to wait.

What did Fred Durst do for the nookie?

Well, I can tell you what he didn’t do for the nookie.  He didn’t move to a remote island and take Scott Stapp with him only to never return.  While on the island they decide to remake the movie Castaway with Fred as Tom Hanks and Scott as Wilson.  After the production flops, the pair resort to cannibalism and it just gets ugly.

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

Go past the muffin man on Drury Lane then make a left before Blueberry Hill.  After a few blocks turn right on Baker Street and you should see it right after Alice’s Restaurant.

Those are all the questions we have for today, thanks and keep them coming.

There is no better ‘get rich quick’ scheme in the music business than soundtracks.  I can understand why people buy soundtracks for musicals; that makes sense to me.   However, shelling out money for a movie or TV soundtrack is obscene, which is why I do it rather infrequently.

I hate to admit it, because I’ll lose my street cred, but I did buy the soundtracks for True Blood and Eclipse.  I had no plans on endorsing either until I read up that Beck and several other interesting artists were contributing original material.  And there is the ploy: original.

Why buy a soundtrack for a few songs you already have on an album?  There is no point.  Now, when you use phrases like: obscure B-sides, original material, rare tracks, etc. I begin to salivate.  One of my favorites is the Coneheads album since it is the only place you can get ‘Soul to Squeeze’ by Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Stubbs the Zombie is a video game I’ve never played but the track listing is 50’s songs redone by Indie bands.  Pulp Fiction needs no explanation.  X-Files, Singles, Clerks and Mallrats are all out of print and had some great mid-90’s alt rock.  Until recently, Mallrats was the only place to get the classic ‘Susanne’ by Weezer.  O Brother, Where Art Thou?, is great and the Dexter album has some nifty Latin music.  Charlie Brown, need you question it?

Soundtracks are a clever way to suck money out of loyal fans, or tweens that don’t know any better.  For the most part I buy these albums for a handful of songs that you can’t get anywhere else.  It is a rare occurrence that I enjoy most of the material.  Of course, the evil twin of the soundtrack is the compilation but we’ll get to that another time.

For a few years I worked as an aide at a high school.  Graduation was a tough time for some students and joyous for others.  I would make mix CDs for some students to help them get through and prepare for the next step.  Steering clear of Third Eye Blind, or Vitamin C, I found tunes that had some real meaning and could speak to the students.  Here is 2010’s mix:

Talking Heads- ‘Once in a Lifetime’ – You never know where you’ll end up; any chance is one you may never get again.

Flaming Lips- ‘Fight Test’ – “There are things you can’t avoid/you have to face them when you’re not prepared to face them.”

U2- ‘Zoo Station’ – Life can be crazy, and you have to be ready for anything and everything.

Yeasayer- ‘Ambling Alp’ – Stand up for yourself: if you don’t, no one else will.

Kinky- ‘Snapshot’ – Take a picture of this moment and hold on to it, you’ll have new moments and memories to add.

Ben Folds Five- ‘One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces’ – Everyone grows up from the kid they were back at home.

Green Day- ‘Welcome to Paradise’ – Home is what you make of it, give anything a chance, and it could end up becoming what you need it to be.

Arcade Fire- ‘Wake Up’ – Accept adulthood, or be stuck as a child and left behind.  You have that power to grow up.

Hootie and the Blowfish- ‘Time’ – Never let time get the better of you, and spend your time the best you can.

Pearl Jam- ‘Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town’ – Travel the world, but come back to visit and tell us.

Foo Fighters- ‘New Way Home’ – Don’t be afraid to try a new street, or anything new, you have to explore.

Looking at a current list of the top ten* songs, I started wondering how it would compare to one from a few years back. Then, I thought it would be cool if there were a Web site that archived all of the top 10 songs lists. Naturally there was: www.top10songs.com.

You can use Top10Songs.com to compare lists from each year since 2004. You also can check out a specific month or even a specific week! Last week, Lady Antebellum‘s “Need You Now,” Train‘s “Hey, Soul Sister,” and Taio Cruz‘s “Break Your Heart” topped the charts, whereas in 2005, during the same week, we saw Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl,” Will Smith‘s “Switch,” and the Black Eyed Peas‘ “Don’t Phunk With My Heart.” The only artist that appears on both the lists is the Blacked Eyed Peas, with “Imma Be” at number 6 this week.

The Top 10 list that I find the most intriguing is “Top 10 Songs to Date”, which pulls information from July 2004 to today to calculate the most-purchased songs over the past six years. Black Eyed Peas‘ fairly recent hit “I Gotta Feeling” is first. In fact, the Black Eyed Peas also take 4th and 6th with “Boom Boom Pow” and “My Humps,” respectively.

It makes me wonder if the Black Eyed Peas simply have very good marketing, because if you think about it, they haven’t been making the Top 10 lists in many other areas (though I suppose, in the end, retails is where it counts). The group did win three Grammys this year but had won only three Grammys total prior to that (in 2005, 2006, and 2007). How do they do it? (And does it bother anyone else that none of the songs follow regular English conventions? Maybe that’s their secret!)

*I’m always a bit skeptical about Top 10 lists because music is such a subjective topic. To clarify, these Top 10 lists are based on the top weekly downloads. In other words, it is calculated based on weekly sales, taken from online song retailers. These are not the same songs that were the most-requested on the radio during a certain month.

I decided to start a series for Tunes News. I’m going to write about my top 7 songs of the week (a song for every day). With summer right around the corner, I’ve already started making playlists for the different activities that my friends and I do over the break (go to the pool/beach, 6 Flags/Hershey Park, etc…)

Since final exams for my school start in a little less than 2 weeks, the 7 songs will help with studying and getting ready for the impending doom of finals…LOL!

7. “Blah Blah Blah” –Ke$ha
This song, personally describes my current state of mind right now. It’s the last full week of classes, and all I can think about is getting to finals week, being done, and heading to the beach. Due to this minor case of school-itis, pretty much everything coming out of my professors’ mouths is to the tune ‘blah blah blah.” For everyone else feeling that way, put this song on repeat for a little bit. It should help get you back on track!

6. “Telephone” – Lady Gaga feat. Beyonce
My cell phone is vibrating non-stop. When finals come around, I have to tell people that I’m unavailable for about a week since I’m studying for exams. “Stop telephoning me” is a lyric straight out of the song, and trust me, sometimes that’s what you want be shouting out to the world when you need to be studying.

5. “In My Head” –Jason Derulo
This song is perfect for studying. It will keep you tapping your toe and singing along. You can make sure you know the difference between regression analysis for Statistics or all the parts of the human body for Biology.

4. “Your Love Is My Drug” –Ke$ha
So, I’m going to admit that most students, out of desperation, turn to prescriptions of all sorts to help enhance the brain when studying for finals. Instead of that, turn on this song and think of that certain someone and use her or his love as your drug of choice, so you can have a clear mind when studying.

3. “Forever Young” –Jay Z feat. Mr. Hudson
As you continue to study, you’re feeling like you haven’t seen sunlight in days! Turn this song on to help remind you that you’re almost done and that you haven’t fallen off the face of the world just because you have your nose in a book. Keep holding on!

2. “I Made It” –Kevin Rudolph feat Cash Money Heroes
FINALS ARE OVER!! Put this song on blast! For the graduating seniors, this song will have double meaning. Look to the sky and know the world is yours…YOU MADE IT!

1. “Rock That Body” –Black Eyes Peas
Now that finals are over, grab your dancing shoes and head out to the club. After a long year, you have 4 months to live it up This song is perfectly combined with a sample from Easy E and the talented producing from Will.I.Am. This club-banger will have you dancing long into those summer nights!

We all know that Lady Gaga has some ridiculous outfits, dance moves, lyrics, and more. However, have you seen her latest video? Telephone came out on March 11th, and people are still whispering about it.

It was a highly anticipated video– especially because it featured Beyonce. “Telephone” is the second single taken from Lady Gaga’s latest album The Fame Monster. A few days after the video came out, Billboard announced that “Telephone” had reached number one on the pop chart. Once that happened, “Telephone” became Lady Gaga’s sixth consecutive number one on the chart. Believe it or not, but she is the only artist in history ever to do this. I was extremely surprised to learn of this fact, mostly because considering that it is 2010, you would assume that at least one other person had done this before her.

The video is directed by Jonas Akerlund, a Swedish film and music video director who is best known for his music videos that are pretty much movie trailers or short films. He is famous for his video for Madonna’s “Ray of Light,” which won a Grammy for Best Music Video. This video features and displays all that is the Haus of Gaga–Lady Gaga’s creative team that collaborates with her on her clothing, stage sets, and sounds.

It is nine and a half minutes long and has attracted over 18 million viewers. The video created a lot of buzz and probably deserves a PG-13 or higher rating.It is a little ridiculous, but then again, people accept it because, well, “It’s Gaga.” Some describe the video as edgy, sexy, and refreshing, while others dislike the video because they think it’s just plain weird. CNN even claimed that MTV banned the video due to its sexual content. If you have not already seen it, you are in for a treat. For instance, in the beginning of the video, Gaga is practically stripped naked in a prison cell before she leaps onto the bars, exposing herself in a way that references a rumor about her genitalia.

Yeah… and that is just the beginning of the video.  To read more details about the whole video, read this review of it.

This year, I’m taking a part in a musical. Normally, I’m not a “drama kid”, but our school has a senior class play each year, and as a senior class officer, I was expected to take part. The good news is that I’ve learned a lot of new music. The bad news is that I can’t get the music out of my head! It’s the only music I’ve been listening to, (I suppose I should be glad that I’m not a lead!) but it’s good music. What’s the musical? Footloose!

Most people today are familiar with only a few songs that are in Footloose: its main theme, Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose”; Deniece Williams’ “Let’s Hear It for the Boy”; Ann Wilson and Mike Reno’s “Almost Paradise”; and Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out for a Hero.” The first two rose to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 as #1 singles, and “Almost Paradise” reached #7. When the soundtrack came out in 1984, it actually rose to the #1 spot of the Billboard 200 Pop Album chart.

Footloose is the story of Ren McCormack, a boy from Chicago who moves to Beaumont, a town where dancing and rock music has been banned. Ren and his new classmates must convince Reverend Shaw Moore, the law-maker in town, to allow them to have a senior prom with dancing and music. The songs in musicals can be quite overwhelming. Footloose is no different, but I enjoy how the voices truly soar in songs like “I’m Free (Heaven Helps the Man)” and “Somebody’s Eyes.” It all has to do with the basic theme of Footloose: freedom.

When I was looking up some background information on Footloose on IMDB, I noticed that there was a movie version of it in pre-production, scheduled to be released in 2011. The musical version of Footloose was based on the 1984 film. What’s good about movie remakes that are based on musicals is that the producers can’t really go wrong as long as they stick to the music. I already know that the Footloose music is good, so I expect to enjoy the movie. Let’s hope that they do it right!

When it comes to keeping up with what is new and fresh in music, I find the radio is not the only place you can use.  You need to have reliable sources that can give you the best scoop on what to listen to.  I’m going to list some of my ideas and let you decide for yourself.

First, your public library is a good start.  Going through their music to find new albums, or just stuff that is new to you, is a great place to discover things.  You can skim a few magazines like Rolling Stone or Spin, but if you can get a hold of Paste, or other independent magazines you’ll get a better sampling of music.

I mentioned radio, which isn’t always bad, they just frontload a lot of over-hyped junk at times.  Try NPR online. You may not like talk radio, however, they do showcase a lot of up and coming bands that would otherwise not get any other radio play.

Find a critic that shares the same taste in music as you and keep up with what they review.  Even music blogs aren’t bad, but you have to be careful of heavy bias.  I like using Allmusic.com to get information about a band and see what influenced them.  The site is pretty easy to navigate and easy to get lost in for hours.

Finally, a local record store is a good place also.  I always give album advice to people when I go out: yes, I am that guy.  While you’re there pick up a compilation to hear some new stuff you might not have found before.  I stay away from tribute albums, since I want original material.

I hope this helps, and if you have suggestions, let me know.

This decade has seen its share of ups and downs in the music world: record sales.  Many would argue that the music was on the cutting edge, and I may not agree with you there.  To be honest, there was so much going on with MP3 technology that it was often hard to hear what was original and what was just a cut out of the last band.  MP3’s may have boosted sales of electronics, but it didn’t do much for the production of better music.

I’ve heard a lot of good singles over the past 10 years, but the albums they came off of were awful to say the least.  You had to dig pretty deep below the pop stratosphere to find something worth listening to for a while.  If you had the right technology and a MySpace page, you, too, could be the next star for a week.  The worst part was that most of these people got records deals and cult-like followings.  The bands that really worked to get their name out there are still working, but no one knows who those bands are.

With any luck the next 10 years can bring some real change to the world of music, we really need it; maybe someone can finally kill off nu-metal.  In the coming year I want to expand my writing to offer artist profiles and review older albums that you should consider adding to your own collection.  The way I see it is: if there is nothing good that is new, find a classic and have some fun.

Goodbye 00’s, you were good while you lasted, but now we really need something fresh.  To quote the highest selling album of the decade: “You may hate me, but it ain’t no lie baby, bye, bye, bye.”

My decade favorites have been broken into two parts, each part in alphabetical order.  Without further ado:

Beck, Sea Change – A dark time for Beck produced an incredible moment for music.  His back to roots approach is fantastic; without any flair, he conveys his deepest emotion.

Coldplay, A Rush of Blood to the Head – ‘Yellow’ was a huge success, but this whole album was what made Coldplay gigantic.  Straightforward lyrics and bands cohesion made this possible.

The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots – Masters of the weird, The Lips made a little story about a Japanese girl fighting off killer robots a hit.  Tracks like ‘Fight Test’ and ‘Do You Realize??’ stand the test of time.

Muse, Absolution – To hear where the conspiracy theory began pick up this blend of art and progressive rock.  Arguably their heaviest and easiest to access with a good ear.

Outkast, Stankonia – With tracks like ‘Ms. Jackson’, ‘So Fresh, So Clean’ and ‘B.O.B.’ this album brought funk to rap in a big way.  It paved the way for ‘Hey Ya!’ and hasn’t been topped since.

Radiohead, Kid A – Everything was in the right place for Radiohead on this album, and it was the perfect follow up to OK Computer.  Radiohead pushed their sound; the world listened patiently.

The Strokes, Is This It – This album was a back-to-the-drawing board moment for rock and roll.  Stripped and fun, the New York 5-piece made guitar driven rock cool again.

Tool, Lateralus – Moving metal and progressive rock in a new direction, this album hit like a brick and people are still pouring over it today.

Weezer, Weezer – The album that brought them from the dead.  Ten simple songs that got as close to Blue Album era Weezer to pull in old and new fans a like.

The White Stripes, Elephant – ‘Fell In Love With a Girl’ brought them fame, this album showed us what Jack could really do with a guitar.   What The Strokes started Jack White perfected.