Look At Whitney Houston Looking To You

Here are some photos of Whitney Houston and various folks (above, David Foster, Diane Warren and Clive Davis, and below, Halle Berry and Stevie Wonder) at last week's L.A. listening party for her upcoming album I Look To You.

Unless you've been living under a rock, then you know I Look To You was bumped up from its original September 1 release date to August 31—incidentally, the same cutoff date for Grammy nominee consideration (wink, wink).

Whitney's (below with Jane Fonda) R. Kelly-produced title track from the album—hardly the best from I Look To You, in my opinion—is also being being offered as a free download from her official website.

I guess "I Look To You" has been named as the official first single. So why offer it for free? At any rate, you can check out my review of the the album and the L.A. listening event here.

Clive, babe—in case you or one of your 17 boy assistants is reading—please go with "Nothing But Love" or "Like I Never Left" as the next single!

Photos by Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup

Maybe Jordin Sparks' New Album Would Sell If She Chucked Her Purity Ring For A Thong?

While on one hand Jordin Sparks can celebrate the fact that her long-languishing single “Battlefield” has at last charged into the Top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 like a pissed-off hooker breaking into her pimp’s house and raiding all the loot from under the mattress, her full LP also dropped last week, and lands on the album chart at a disappointing #7, with only 48,000 copies sold.

But it’s not all despair for the ladies of pop. While Mariah Carey’s “Obsessed” slid down from #11 to #20 on last week’s Hot 100, this week the song claws its way back up to #17. Never let it be said that a shit Mimi single goes quietly into the night. There’s at least usually some howling, growling and a whole lot of butterfly-octave screeching going on.

Another groovy track making miniscule gains is Green Day’s “21 Guns,” which moves up one to #26. To be honest, “21 Guns” is basically “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams—Part 2,” but that’s not really a bad thing in my classy book.

And then we have the Ting Tings, who finally eke their way into the Top 40 with “That’s Not My Name” (at #39) after a full year of hanging around, bubbling under and bobbing up and down like Clive Davis at a frat party wearing Whitney’s wig.

Don’t call me Susan.

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "I Gotta Feeling" - The Black Eyed Peas *5 weeks*
2. "Best I Ever Had" - Drake
3. "Knock You Down" - Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West & Ne-Yo
4. "You Belong With Me" - Taylor Swift
5. "Use Somebody" Kings Of Leon
6. "Fire Burning" - Sean Kingston
7. "Boom Boom Pow" - The Black Eyed Peas
8. "LoveGame”" - Lady Gaga
9. "Waking Up In Vegas" - Katy Perry
10. "Battlefield" - Jordin Sparks

The Downlow On Industry's Next Single 'Burn'

The other week I threw a clip of "Burn," Industry's follow-up single to "My Baby's Waiting." Here it is again:



The Holter/Erixson-produced "Burn" is being released in Ireland on August 21, and in Sweden on September 16.

Meanwhile, Industry's managment now says that the album (and the first U.K. single) aren't to be expected till early next year, as the foursome will be recording at least three more songs with L.A.-based writer/producers.

Sigh. Guess I'll just have to continue to wear out my Deuce CD till then.

The Most Astounding Interview You'll Ever Read With Fritz Helder And The Phantoms

Earlier this month, an interview I did with Fritz Helder of Fritz Helder and the Phantoms—the first signing to Nelly Furtado's new label Nelstar—was posted up over at GayWired.

Here's an excerpt from the spectacularness:

GW: Tell us something scandalous about Nelly Furtado.
FH: You know what? I'm not lying, there are no scandals there.

GW: Nothing?
FH: Nothing at all. I mean, sometimes she has a funny laugh, but that's
about it. We're Canadian, man. We're the most boring people on the planet.

GW: What's something scandalous about you, then?
FH: Well, I can't tell you that. [Laughs] That's none of your business!

Super, right? Go read it now!

New Backstreet Boys Album Gets Release Date

With talk of all the singing cougars returning this fall, it's only right that the DILFs of '90s pop, the Backstreet Boys, should toss out a new album.

It's been announced that the Boys' sixth studio album, This Is Us, will be released by Jive Records on October 6. Of course, it's only been two years since their last one, Unbreakable, came out in the fall. I gotta admit—that one suuuuuuucked.

Many tracks from the recording sessions for This Is Us were leaked in the spring, including this Max Martin jam, "Bigger":



Not bad, though it's definitely Max Martin-Lite, which the former-fivesome- turned-foursome have always leaned on, anyway.

The guys also worked with Kristian Lundin, T-Pain, Claude Kelly, Soulshock and Karlin and RedOne on the new album.

Michael Jackson's Death Not A Total Loss; We Now Have La Toya Jackson's New Jam!

It's now over a month since the passing of Michael Jackson, but leave it to MJ's naughty sister La Toya Jackson to rush out a "tribute" single.

Yes, "Home"—an unrleased track from her shelved 2002 Startin' Over album—has landed on iTunes today. But lest you get the silly notion that La Toya Jackson is a callous, fame-hungry whore, eager to cash in on her brother before he's barely let out his final Eeeeh-Heeee!, 100% of the profits of this smash are going to AIDS Project Los Angeles.

Personally, if I'm going to endure the whisper-giggle of La Toya's vocal talent, I prefer her gender-bender jam from a few years back, "Just Wanna Dance."

But, anyway, take a listen to "Home":

Cougars, Ahoy: It's The Video For Bananarama's New Single 'Love Comes'!

Low budget? Yes. But ten times better than the video for "Look On The Floor (Hypnotic Tango)"? Hell yeah!

Today the vid for Bananarama's new single "Love Comes"—off upcoming album Viva (due out September 14)—made it's way online.

Check it out below. It makes the song, which seemed a tad ho-hum at first, sound that much better. God, I love these broads!



The 'rams are also featured in the new issue of Brit gay mag Attitude—the one with Daniel Radcliffe on the cover.

Mr Hudson Vs. Frankmusik, And The Realities Of The 'Kanye West Factor'

First off, despite the title of this week's U.K. chart post, I can't honestly compare Mr Hudson and Frankmusik—two great British male artists who seemingly emerged out of nowhere this year, but who've actually been banging around the indie scene for several years now. I won't even go there.

But we can discuss something I've brought up here before, which I'm now dubbing the Kanye West Factor. And, popular music heavyweight though he is, you can really use Kanye generically here—sub him with T-Pain, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, etc. Of course, I'm referring to the great "featuring dilemma," something that, good or bad, has dominated the American music scene this past decade, moreso than ever.

Alright, so get to the point already, D'luv! This week sees Mr Hudson's Kanye-featuring single "Supernova" debut at #2 on the Brit singles chart, just behind the now two-week reign of X Factor boy band JLS' "Beat Again."

On the flip-side, Frankmusik's equally-as-super single "Confusion Girl" makes a ho-hum entry at #29, three positions lower than the peak of his previous one, "Better Off As Two."

In June, on the Pop Trash Addict weekly Pop Panel, I had this to say about "Confusion Girl": "Classic pop in every way. I'm not totally aboard the Vincent Frank bandwagon, but this has me thinking about taking a test ride." (P.S. The brand new Pop Panel is up on PTA!)

The obvious point being Frankmusik doesn't have the luxury of featuring anyone on his jam. But, OK, does that really matter? I'd kinda argue that, yes, it does, here. Like it or not, Kanye's got the knack for hitching his pompous wagon to rising stars these days.

The "Confusion Girl" vid:



Would Estelle's "American Boy" have done as amazingly well on both side's of the pond without him (or won a Grammy, for F's sake)? There's no denying that him lending a rap to Keri Hilson's current single "Knock You Down" helped it become her first "solo" Top 10 hit, as well, after several that failed to resonate.

He's now touring with Lady Gaga—herself a pop star you can argue benefited from being touted and signed by Akon—and, well, we've already covered the Mr. Hudson triumph this week.

I dunno. I guess I'm taking the long way around to say that I wish "Confusion Girl" would've done as well as "Supernova." Two great songs, but one with a decided advantage over the other.

The U.K. Top 10:

1. "Beat Again" - JLS *2 weeks*
2. "Supernova" - Mr Hudson feat. Kanye West *new*
3. "I Gotta Feeling" - The Black Eyed Peas
4. "Evacuate The Dancefloor" - Cascada
5. "Bulletproof" - La Roux
6. "When Love Takes Over" - David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland
7. "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" - Pitbull
8. "Paparazzi" - Lady Gaga
9. "Sweet Dreams" - Beyonce *new*
10. "Poppiholla" - Chicane

The Hands-Down Classiest Review You'll Read Of Whitney Houston's 'I Look To You'

First off, don't ask me how I got invited to the L.A. listening party at the Beverly Hilton for Whitney Houston's upcoming album, I Look To You. It was a super-classy affair, emceed by Clive Davis and boasting Halle Berry, Jane Fonda, Magic Johnson, Diane Warren and Stevie Wonder in the audience—and me, hair dissheveled, wearing jeans and, truthfully, not exactly Whitney's biggest fan.

But, I showed up nonetheless, expecting a trashy set of cougar ballads and subpar dirges that would pale in comparison to those from Whit's Bodyguard peak era. Thankfully, I was wrong...for the most part.

Clive introduced each song with an anecdote or back story, and cautioned that we'd only hear nine of the album's ten tracks because the record was still being worked on. At the very end, Whitney herself came on stage and rattled off a bunch of thank-yous to various songwriters and people no one has ever heard of.

Comically, Clive would sit down while each track played, but you could still see the old broad behind the podium, bobbing his head up and down and doing a little shimmy-twirl. At one point, he looked like a giddy old lap dancer, sliding up and down the stripper pole.

But enough about that sly old minx—here are some notes I scribbled about I Look To You's nine songs that we were played, followed by a rating. (The album is released September 1.)

1. "Million Dollar Bill" (written + produced by Alicia Keys and Swizz Beats) Things get kicked off with a surprising thumping of beats and bass. This uptempo pop/R&B jam has "single" written all over it, and if this were 1992, it'd be #1 for weeks. But it's been a long time for Whitney, and radio might need a bit of coaxing. (3/5)

2. "Nothing But Love" (produced by Danja + Fernando Garibay) One of the album's three highlights. It's dancey, spacey and chockful of electro squiggles. So this is what a Danja track can sound like with a decent singer! (Uh, no offence, Britney.) (4/5)

3. "Call You Tonight" (written by Johnta Austin + Stargate, produced by Stargate) Midtempo toe-tapper that's more refreshing than Ne-Yo—who Stargate frequently collaborate with—because it obviously has a masterful feminine touch with the vocals. Well, more feminine than Ne-Yo usually offers up, at least. (3/5)

4. "I Didn't Know My Own Strength" (written by Diane Warren, produced by David Foster) There's something totally missing from this by-the-numbers ballad—like someone under 2,000 years old writing and producing it. That said, if there's a world tragedy, God forbid, expect this to no doubt become the theme song for it (a la Enrique Iglesias' "Hero" ). Overall, pretty weak choice for Whitney's comeback single. I'd have gone with one of the more upbeat numbers, but I'm no Clive Davis. (2/5)

5. "Like I Never Left" (written by Claude Kelly + Akon, produced by Akon) Love the pop-infused chord progression in this duet with Akon! If Stock Aitken Waterman were still making music together today, they'd hopefully be crafting songs like this. Generally, it's a bit twee, but when Akon gets it right, he gets it so, so right. (4/5)

6. "Salute" (written + produced by R. Kelly) Pretty dull ballad with an okay bassline. Totally knocks off the beat from Jordin Sparks' "Tattoo," which itself was pretty derivative. (2/5)

7. "I Look To You" (written by R. Kelly, produced by Tricky Stewart + Harvey Mason, Jr.) Another bland R. Kelly downer. This is where I got up to take a piss. (2/5)

8. "Worth It" (written by Johnta Austin, produced by Eric Hudson) You might find yourself checking your ears to make sure you're not actually hearing Mariah Carey on this cheesy track, which sounds exactly like "Touch My Body." With its "This is for the lovers holding hands in the car" refrain, it also conjures up the opening of Mimi's "Bye Bye" ("This is for my people who have lost somebody...") (3/5)

9. "A Song For You" (Leon Russell cover) Starts off like a piano ballad but soon ignites into a four-on-the-floor dance jam. High marks for strangely sounding reminiscent of Steps' "You'll Be Sorry"! (4/5)

FINAL NOTE: I zipped out of there as Whitney was air-kissing the audience, and ended up two feet behind Barry Manilow while walking through the lobby. That old bat's wig was highlighted and flat-ironed so much, he looked like a hot pink Troll doll.

Pink Climbs, Mariah Carey Sinks And Shakira Sits Pretty...For Now

With the Top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100 remaining pretty flat, we turn our weary eyes a bit lower, where at least Pink finally manages to climb up three positions to #17 with "Please Don't Leave Me."

Pink's third single off Funhouse has been a hit all over the planet, albeit a modest one. To date, it's managed to peak at #1 in Poland, #3 in Greece, #5 in Austria, #8 in both Canada and Germany and #10 in Ireland.

Meanwhile, if you're thinking Mariah Carey did the ultimate hooker plunge down the chart this week with "Obsessed"—it falls from its debut last week of #11 to #20—don't be too hasty; the Hannah Montana single "He Could Be The One" actually slides further, from #10 to #23.

Ah, well, at least there's good ol' Shakira debuting at #34 with "She Wolf." Surely she won't flop with that disco-laden jam, right?

And I guess we gotta do our weekly check-in of David Guetta and Kelly Rowland's "When Love Takes Over." Big news this week—it's up one position to #76! Looks like that live stint on So You Think You Can Dance was worth it, after all!

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "I Gotta Feeling" - The Black Eyed Peas *4 weeks*
2. "Best I Ever Had" - Drake
3. "You Belong With Me" - Taylor Swift
4. "Knock You Down" - Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West & Ne-Yo
5. "Fire Burning" - Sean Kingston
6. "Boom Boom Pow" - The Black Eyed Peas
7. "LoveGame" - Lady Gaga
8. "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" - Pitbull
9. "Birthday Sex" - Jeremih
10. "Waking Up In Vegas" - Katy Perry

The Saturdays In The States?

Is there any truth to the rumor that the Saturdays will be opening for Kylie Minogue on her upcoming North American For You, For Me Tour? I read that on not-always-reliable Wikipedia, but can't find anything confirming it on either the Saturdays' or Kylie's sites.

If true, I'm thinking Kylie's October's show at the Hollywood Bowl is gonna be even ten times the classy affair than it was set to be before!

Mariah Carey's 'Memoirs' Gets Delayed

Yikes! It seems Mariah Carey may have jumped the gun when it was initially announced Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel would be out August 25.

While it's not been officially noted, the site Rap-Up.com is saying that Mimi's 12th studio album has now been pushed back to a September 15 release date, where it'll compete with albums from Jay-Z and Kid Cudi.

There's speculation that the album isn't fully recorded yet—but I'd wager that it might have something to do with new single "Obsessed" getting a less than squeal-tastic response from radio, despite debuting at #11 on this week's Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Look for the single to drop faster than Katy Perry's panties at a Lollapalooza tailgate party next week, as the lack of support on the airwaves has blocked "Obsessed" from gaining sales momentum at online digital stores such as iTunes.

Maybe Eminem really will have the last laugh?

Good Night, Dad

ROBERT DAW, SR.
1950 - 2009

JLS...Where Have We Heard That Beat, Again?

Last month we reviewed new boy band JLS' debut single "Beat Again" over on the Pop Trash Addicts Pop Panel. Here's what I had to say about it then:

"This follows the perfect boy band formula—minimal melody but one brief, catchy hook tucked away in the chorus (in this case, the 'won't beat again, it's killing me' bit). I'd dock it a point for so blatantly ripping off Kardinal Offishall's 'Dangerous,' but...what a great song to cop from! 4/5"

Anyway, this week the 2008 X Factor runner-ups top the U.K. chart with "Beat Again." Here's the official vid:



Elsewhere, at #7 comes Chicane's rather groovy reworking of Sigur Rós' "Hoppipolla," called "Poppihola." It's the Brit musician's first Top 10 hit since his 2006 single "Stoned In Love"—both of which are tied for his highest entry since 2000's U.K. chart-topper "Don't Give Up." Now that song makes me feel old.

On a final note, the Saturdays slip two positions to #37 with "Work." I'm eagerly awaiting their new material. Hopefully it won't sound like five alley cats moaning into an AutoTune mic atop overproduced R&B horseshit.

I mean, that's what we have JLS for...

The U.K. Top 10:

1. "Beat Again" - JLS *1 week*
2. "Evacuate The Dancefloor" - Cascada
3. "Bulletproof" - La Roux
4. "I Gotta Feeling" - The Black Eyed Peas
5. "Paparazzi" - Lady Gaga
6. "When Love Takes Over" - David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland
7. "Poppiholla" - Chicane
8. "Man In The Mirror" - Michael Jackson
9. "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" - Pitbull
10. "Diamond Rings" - Chipmunk feat. Emeli Sande

REWIND: A Quick Word On Last Week's U.K. Chart Regarding The Saturdays

I didn't get around to sassing the U.K. Top 40 Singles chart last week, but I did want to have a record here of it—and to bring up the Saturdays' fifth single, "Work." It ended up being their lowest-charting to date, peaking at #22 and popzy-doodle-flizz-opping down to #35 last week.

But no big deal. With four Top 10 singles under their collective skirts, these broads have more than proven their worth, and will no doubt push Girls Aloud and Sugababes into the scrap heap upon the arrival of their second album later this year.

I'd say that's a shame for GA and the 'babes, but, let's face it—we love it when used-up hags scream (see: Madonna).

Last week's U.K. Top 10:

1. "Evacuate The Dancefloor" - Cascada *2 weeks*
2. "Bulletproof" - La Roux
3. "Man In The Mirror" - Michael Jackson
4. "Paparazzi" - Lady Gaga
5. "When Love Takes Over" - David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland
6. "Diamond Rings" - Chipmunk feat. Emeli Sande *new*
7. "Boom Boom Pow" - The Black Eyed Peas
8. "Knock You Down" - Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West & Ne-Yo
9. "Release Me" - Agnes
10. "I Gotta Feeling" - The Black Eyed Peas

Jordin Sparks Won't Like Kristinia DeBarge's New Single 'Future Love'

I fell off the face of the blogging world for a week and a half, so I'm just now getting around to posting the album cover for Kristinia DeBarge's Babyface-produced LP Exposed, which is out July 28.

You can really tell a lot of time and effort when into that innovative design.

Anyway, below is a clip of her new single, "Future Love"—not a cover of the new-ish Lady Gaga song, but rather a cover of a track by now-defunct boy band Varsity.

I've also included Varsity's version. Either way, total rip-off of Jordin Sparks' "One Step At A Time," no?

Mariah Carey 'Obsessed' With Her 31st Top 40 Hit

The big news with this week's Billboard Hot 100 chart is that Mariah Carey's "Obsessed" debuts at #11, giving the top-heavy squealing broad her 31st Top 40 hit in the States. Of course, that's not counting that Busta Rhymes trash she featured on, "I Know What You Want" (#3, 2003), or Judakiss' superclassy "U Make Me Wanna" (#16, 2004).

Here's Mimi's Eminem-dissing vid for "Obsessed," which debuted yesterday:



One notch higher, at #10, comes the week's top debut—Hannah Montana's (aka Miley Cyrus) "He Could Be The One." I didn't even realize Miley was still slumming with that blonde wig.

Elsewhere, Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield" finally moves up five positions to #25, Green Day are up 11 to #26 with "21 Guns" and David Guetta and Kelly Rowland squeak up to #77 with "When Love Takes Over"—which, by the way, I finally heard on the radio this week.

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "I Gotta Feeling" - The Black Eyed Peas *3 weeks*
2. "Best I Ever Had" - Drake
3. "Boom Boom Pow" - The Black Eyed Peas
4. "Knock You Down" - Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West & Ne-Yo
5. "Fire Burning" - Sean Kingston
6. "You Belong With Me" - Taylor Swift
7. "LoveGame" - Lady Gaga
8. "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" - Pitbull
9. "Birthday Sex" - Jeremih
10. "He Could Be The One" - Hannah Montana *new*

Whitney Houston's New PhotoShop Album Cover For 'I Look To You'

It looks like they sandblasted the Whitney out of Whitney Houston and super-glued one of Vanessa Williams' old faces on top of her head.

I Look To You is released September 1 on Arista.

Listen To Industry's New Single 'Burn'

Looks like Industry members Michele McGrath, Donal Skehan, Morgan Deane and Lee Hutton aren't content just sitting around on their pop-infused laurels. Fresh off their hit "My Baby's Waiting," which reached #1 in the band's home country of Ireland, comes the announcement of brand new single "Burn."

"Burn" is written and produced by Swedish pair Oscar Holter and Jakke Erixson, who also worked on the band's track "In Your Arms" (listen here).

If you ask me, it sounds like some of the best d'luvvly ballads Steps ever did. Have a listen to "Burn," and lemme know what you think:



ALSO SEE:
* Chart Rigger Interviews Industry's Donal Skehan

Maybe If Jordin Sparks Did The Sex With David Guetta, They'd Each Have A Hit?

Really, I'm only mentioning this so I can post the picture of the giant, burning disco ball—but every week I'm amazed at the durability of Sean Kingston's "Fire Burning," a song I first heard on the radio back in either February or March. And while I initially started out liking it, I can't say that I've listened to it much over the past two months.

Still, somebody must be still giving it some attention, as it manages to finally move up a notch to #6 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart this week.

Way on the polar opposite end, David Guetta and Kelly Rowland's "When Love Takes Over" has peaked at #90 so far. Meanwhile, David's album One Love will be released August 25 here in the States.

And wonder what's with Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield," which has been stuck in a cumbersome holding pattern? After eight weeks, it's still trapped at #30. Perhaps the album release will boost sales of the single, when it's released in two weeks.

Meanwhile, I hadn't seen the single cover for "Battlefield" that's to the left there. Pretty snazzy.

On a final note, "21 Guns," easily the best song off Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown, jumps up from #55 to #37. It's a track that sounds like part two of "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams," but, ah, well, who needs originality anymore?

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "I Gotta Feeling" - The Black Eyed Peas *2 weeks*
2. "Boom Boom Pow" - The Black Eyed Peas
3. "Best I Ever had" - Drake
4. "Knock You Down" - Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West & Ne-Yo
5. "LoveGame" - Lady GaGa
6. "Fire Burning" - Sean Kingston
7. "Birthday Sex" - Jeremih
8. "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" - Pitbull
9. "You Belong To Me" - Taylor Swift
10. "New Divide" - Linkin Park

Never Can Say Goodbye

About a year into this blog's existence, I made the personal commitment that I'd not let more than two days go by without doing a post, even if it was something frivolous and silly, or off beaten path from music.

That said, there's been an extreme, unforseen event within my family that is requiring me to put everything else on hold and, basically, to just be there.

For the time being, I may just pop on and do chart rundowns on Thursday and Sunday, because old habits die hard.

But I'll be back. That's a threat promise.

In the meantime, enjoy this clip of Mariah Carey, her breasts and her gay singing "I'll Be There" at the Michael Jackson Memorial service today at the Los Angeles Staples Center.

Must... Resist... Shitty New... Cascada.. Single...

Like a persistent, nettlesome sewer rat constantly gnawing at my mind, Cascada's derivative new jam "Evacuate The Dancefloor" has been creeping into my soul and forcing me to tolerate it. This week it causes La Roux to evacuate the #1 position on the U.K. chart, taking over Ol' Blighty and become the German dance act's first chart-topper there, and fifth overall Top 10 hit.

Here's the video for the Lady Gaga-copping tune, which was reviewed two weeks back by yours truly and a gaggle of other unruly music bloggers on Pop Trash Addict's Pop Panel:



Elsewhere, keeping up with last week's infiltration of old Michael Jackson songs, no less than 13 of them appear in the new Top 40—including "Man In The Mirror" (#2), "Billie Jean" (#10), "Thriller" (#12), "Smooth Criminal" (#13) and "Beat It" (#19).

On the album chart, five of the positions are owned by the Eeeeh-heeeeee!-squealing singer, and Number Ones is swapped out at the top for The Essential Michael Jackson.

On a final note, Florence And The Machine's "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" drops to #18 after initially peaking at #12. Florence seems highly-regarded amongst the music crowd, though as I wrote elsewhere about this broad, I can't help feeling that Tori Amos wants her pussy back.

The U.K. Top 10:

1. "Evacuate The Dancefloor" - Cascada *1 week*
2. "Man In The Mirror" - Michael Jackson
3. "Bulletproof" - La Roux
4. "When Love Takes Over" - David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland
5. "Paparazzi" - Lady Gaga
6. "Boom Boom Pow" - Black Eyed Peas
7. "Release Me" - Agnes
8. "Knock You Down" - Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West & Ne-Yo
9. "Mama Do" - Pixie Lott
10. "Billie Jean" - Michael Jackson

Industry Debuted At #1 (Yayyy!)...And Then Dropped Out Of The Top 40 (Ouchie!)

I kept meaning to post that Irish pop act Industry debuted at #1 in their home country last week with debut single "My Baby's Waiting." However, glad I waited, as the interesting part is that this week the single falls from #1 to #44. Is that, like, even possible?

I'm still maintaining that these four won't find true success until the two laddies start going shirtless. Plus, shame on them for being in L.A. last week and not inviting D'luv along to grab a Guinness.

ALSO SEE:
* Chart Rigger Interview's Industry's Donal Skehan

Michael Jackson's Catalog Albums Outsell The Black Eyed Peas, Rob Thomas Still Perplexes

You can't go without acknowledging Michael Jackson's sales accomplishment this week. Though because of official rules—and unlike in the U.K.—it doesn't affect the main album chart (Billboard Top 200 Albums).

Instead, his Number Ones and Essential Michael Jackson compilations and Thriller studio album each sold over 100,000 copies to appear at #1, 2 and 3 positions on the Top Pop Catalog chart. A record has now been broken, as this marks the first time an album on that Top Pop Catalog list has outsold the #1 on the Top 200 Albums chart—in this case, Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D., which had sales of 88,000.

To clear things up, the differentiation is that Billboard deems an album older than 18 months which has fallen below the #100 position on the Top 200 Albums chart is now scooted over to the Top Pop Catalog Albums. Comprende?

And, unless you're living in a tent in Siberia and weren't aware, this resurgance in the Jackson catalog is all because of the singer's death last Thursday.

Over on the Hot 100 Singles, Black Eyed Peas' swap singles in the #1 and #2 positions, with "I Gotta Feeling" now overtaking "Boom Boom Pow" as the top song in the country after the latter's 12-week reign.

Elsewhere, Pink's "Please Don't Leave Me" manages to lollygaga up two spots to #18, while Jordin Sparks lumbers up one to #31.

I also can't not mention Rob Thomas, who I've often been conflicted about as to whether he's actually hot or like one of those deceitful photos you stare at for a minute and it begins to shift in scope. His latest, "Her Diamonds," jumps up to #32, and becomes only his second Top 40 solo single in the U.S.—outside of that Santana one, "Smooth," which was #1 for, like, 2,640 weeks 10 years ago.

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "I Gotta Feeling" - The Black Eyed Peas *1 week*
2. "Boom Boom Pow" - The Black Eyed Peas
3. "Best I Ever had" - Drake
4. "Knock You Down" - Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West & Ne-Yo
5. "LoveGame" - Lady GaGa
6. "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" - Pitbull
7. "Fire Burning" - Sean Kingston
8. "Birthday Sex" - Jeremih
9. "New Divide" - Linkin Park
10. "Waking Up In Vegas" - Katy Perry

Sally Shapiro's 'Miracle' Is Italo-Tastic

Dammit! I kept meaning to write about Sally Shapiro's upcoming second studio album, My Guilty Pleasure—mainly because the single EP for "Miracle" was added to iTunes two weeks ago.

Here's a clip of "Miracle":



That last instrumental minute is a total killer!

Of all the blonde Swede dames out there churning out music, Sally offers up properly authentic-sounding, detached Italo disco, thanks in no small part to her producer Johan Agebjörn. Her first album, Disco Romance, was totally my winter jam a couple years back.

I even slipped Johan and Sally's track "Spacer Woman From Mars" (not available on her first album, only as a single) into a promo video we did for one of the Instinct cover guys when I worked there.

Anyway, My Guilty Pleasure is apparently "a bit more poppy and varied" while "keeping the romantic feel of Disco Romance." Sexy!

I've got it sitting here. As soon as I get off my lazy butt I'll throw up a review. Well, not throw up, as in, like, throw up.