Flavorwire » Billboard

A Guide to Musical Pioneers You’ve Never Heard Of

Michaelangelo Matos — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 18:30:49 +0000

Last week, we were saddened to read that Brian Rust, the father of the modern discography, had died. Well, not initially — first, we had to find out who Brian Rust was. It’s typical: the stars get the headlines, but the technical pioneers that change things for real tend to stay in the back room. Here are ten such folks — some living, some not — who’ve helped make the world a more musical, and better, place.

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Brian Rust

“Mr. Rust embarked in the 1940s on a rigorous, deeply personal project that continued long afterward as he haunted archives and hunted down artists to reconstitute long-vanished recording sessions on paper,” explained the New York Times obit upon the 88-year-old discographer’s passing. That’s no small matter–our store of musical knowledge would be depleted if he hadn’t begun the hunt. Every crate-digger, historian, and critic in history thanks him.

What’s on at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office

Caroline Stanley — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 20:32:57 +0000

Today at Flavorpill, we looked at buildings that would be right at home in Bedrock. We watched Hoda lose her cool during a Today Show visit by Beyonce. We were kind of sad to see the cast of Glee top the Beatles’ record for the most appearances on the Billboard Hot 100 by a non-solo act. It just doesn’t seem fair. We learned how to make a secret hollowed out book. We discovered the top reasons for being unfriended on Facebook. We decided that any parent who feeds their child spaghetti tacos should get a visit from protective services. We were surprised that Edith Wharton wrote erotica — and it’s much racier than Ethan Frome. We wished that The Jersey Shore RPG was compatible with our Nintendo Wii. We were blown away by these images from a toxic red sludge flood in western Hungary. And finally, we decided that if Frankie Muniz is lucky as he says he is, he wouldn’t feel the need to be such a jerk to strangers on Twitter.

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

Caroline Stanley — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:20:12 +0000

1. Is Jerry Seinfeld‘s new reality game show The Marriage Ref so bad that it cancels out the good of Seinfeld? [via Gawker]
2. Billboard magazine’s fourth-annual Top 40 Money Makers loves the ’80s: U2, Madonna, and Bruce Springsteen top the list. [via MTV News]
3. Get a first look at William Baldwin’s upcoming Gossip Girl guest appearance as Serena and Eric’s long lost father. [via EW]
4. How much does it actually cost to produce a printed book versus a digital one? If you want the truth, ask Anne Rice. [via NYT]
5. Roger Ebert will debut his new computer-enhanced voice tomorrow on Oprah. [via USA Today]

Bonus Giveaway: We use Yahoo! Search to help find the top culture stories of the day. Now we’re giving you the chance to play editor, and you just might win a trip to Coachella.

Use Yahoo! Search to find an interesting link about Jerry Seinfeld, and drop it below in the comments. Our favorite entry will receive Seinfeld – Seasons 1 & 2, and more importantly, be entered to win a VIP trip for two to Coachella. Topics will be changing throughout the week, so get your search on and keep playing to increase your chances of winning!

The United State of Pop

Aaron Gonsher — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:49:44 +0000

Our roundup called the Grammys “the nerdy older sister of awards shows,” and this year impressed yet again with a strong showing of irrelevance and poorly performed, manic mashup choices. We were given “Speechless” with “Your Song,” Beyonce honoring Alanis Morrissette, Jamie Foxx and opera, and other baffling choices that make you feel like the Grammy organizers have been listening to too much Girl Talk.

Unfortunately, not every hit song from 2009 earned airtime (can you imagine the hammered brothers in Kings of Leon motoring through “Use Somebody” with AC/DC?). Instead, we go to mashup artist DJ Earworm, who has created the United State of Pop 2009 by combining the top 25 songs on the Billboard chart from last year. We’ve mourned the irrelevance of the Billboard chart in the past, so the fact these songs earned a combined 25 Grammy nominations is a sobering thought. We’ve included this year’s mashup along with the United State of Pop 2008 and 2007 after the jump. Try and count how many songs you remember or wish you could forget.

United State of Pop 2009 (25 Grammy nominations)

United State of Pop 2008 – Viva La Pop (17 Grammy nominations)

United State of Pop 2007 (18 Grammy nominations)

Attempting to Understand Billboard’s Artists of the Decade List

Stelios Phili — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:27:51 +0000

It is no secret that trade publication Billboard is painfully irrelevant. However, its latest “Artists of the Decade” list cannot be debated — it has been objectively compiled. Never mind the fact that Billboard equated “Artists of the Decade” with “the 20 music stars with the best performance on the Billboard 200 albums chart and the Hot 100 over the last ten years.” We let this happen, at least when we still bought CDs. After the jump, explanations on how Creed, Nelly, Nickelback, and others snuck into the Top 20 most-sold albums of the decade list.

Number 7: Nickelback
Despite being stoned on stage (yes, we mean with rocks thrown by their own fans), lampooned endlessly on YouTube, and chemically straightening his golden locks, Chad Kroeger and crew have never sat down and thought, “You know what, I think we suck.” Perseverance and blindly struggling to achieve our goals in the face of adversity are wholly American values. Nickelback reached number seven not because we actually thought they were good, we just liked what they represented. ”We’ve just accepted that we’re never going to be the critics’ darlings, and we’re OK with that.” You tell ’em Chad, you tell ’em.

Number 18: Creed
This band was broken up for half the decade. It’s just incredible that they even made the list at all. What, then, was our morbid fascination with Creed in the 00′s? Like Nickelback, Creed didn’t have a whole lot going for them. In a similar string of Nickelback-ian setbacks, Creed was sued by their fans, lampooned endlessly on YouTube, and had a lead singer whose tongue is located in his throat. As evidenced by their 2009 comeback, which reached number one the rock album’s chart, we have a profound desire to forgive. To love Creed is show to show that you are a merciful, merciful creature. Since Creed has the Christian rock appeal, their loving fans forgave and forgave, album after album. Hence, number 18.

Number 20: Christina Aguilera
Christina is all too aware of her appeal. “I constantly change my image, Luckily, from what I can tell from reading letters and conversing with them when on tour, my fans love and are always open to my love for change,” she explained. Let us recall that Christina did the whole bellybutton ring thing in the early 00′s, then abruptly transformed into a red light district dancer, then into Marilyn Monroe, and then into an indie chick. It’s important for us to confirm that we are not static beings; we have the capacity to become what we want to be – to evolve. Buying a Christina Aguilera album is one’s unconscious support of free will.

Number 3: Nelly
Even though we haven’t heard much of Nelly since the early 00′s, his chart dominance is highly understandable. It’s a simple case of right beat (The Neptunes’ production), right time (when people still bought CDs), and the right message (primality). “Hot in Herre” spoke to our instincts in addition to our love for cold, hard William James pragmatism. 1) It’s getting hot in here. 2) Take of all your clothes. You just can’t argue with that.

Number 13: Pink
Pink’s dominance, unlike that of Nelly, is extremely difficult to comprehend. She beat out Kelly Clarkson, Kanye West, Ludicris, and Rihanna, among others. The only clue we have is Pink’s unabashed Julia Roberts-like romantic comedy romanticism. In ’05, Pink proposed to her motorbiking boo, Carey Hart, with a sign (“Will you marry me?”) and then the words (“I’m serious.”) written on the back. He accepted, they broke up three years later, and got back together this year. It’s like a Disney story…sort of. Okay, we’re stumped on this one. Help us out in the comments below.

What’s on at Flavorpill: Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office

Caroline Stanley — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:57:23 +0000

Today at Flavorpill, we watched the newly-posted promos for Season 3 of Mad Men. We discovered this hilarious blog about scientific studies that’s the brainchild of two Molecular and Cell Biology graduate students at UC Berkeley. We found out that Picasso was a dirty hippie. We compared Michael Jackson’s Billboard rankings with other bigtime artists. We watched some Mexican jumping beans. We applauded the fact that Abigail Breslin has strict parents — lest she turn into this one day. We found it odd that Jerry Lewis is bringing The Nutty Professor to Broadway. We’re assuming that means no Klumps. We were grossed out by Lil Wayne’s BET Awards performance considering his company, and wondered if the rumors about Jay-Z getting banned from the VMAs were true. And finally, we judged Target for hopping in bed with the Black Eye Peas; we prefer collabs with fashion designers who we can’t normally afford.

This Morning’s Top 5 Cultural Stories

Caroline Stanley — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:06:52 +0000

1. The Michael Jackson tour is almost definitely happening, but with tickets averaging $115 and a show length of two-plus hours, are you prepared to make that kind of investment? [via Billboard]

2. Nicole Kidman has mysteriously jumped ship from Woody Allen’s upcoming movie, which also stars her pal Naomi Watts. It might have something to do with than American Apparel endorsement she’s been hoping for… [via EW]

3. Al Pacino will star in the film adaptation of Malcolm Gladwell’s non-fiction hit Blink. How are they making it into a story? “Pacino’s character notices that the son has the talent to size up people and situations on a dime, and tries to use this to both help the boy find himself, and to make some money off of him.” Oy. [via TDB]

4. There’s a weird actor/producer battle over a woman raging behind-the-scenes of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds. In true Tarantino-style, it’s very non-linear and all scores will be settled in a carefully-choreographed fight scene. [via NYDN]

5. Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto’s sci-fi-inspired installation at the Park Avenue Armory — which opens tomorrow — looks like something out of Star Trek. And it’s probably the closest to outerspace we’ll ever get outside of astronaut ice cream. [via NYT]