On August 4, 1958, Billboard Magazine revolutionized the music industry by publishing their first list tracking radio plays and sales of songs called the Hot 100. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Hot 100, Billboard plans to run a special feature about the chart each week on their website. For instance this week the magazine takes a chronological look at the Hot 100’s top song each year since 1958.
Some of these videos included in this week’s feature are absolute gold!
Before we leave you, check out this fantastic photo of Notre Dame hero/Cubs reliever Jeff Samardzija shaking hands with alt-country legend Jeff Tweedy of Wilco taken before the game at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on August 3:
[Photo by Jeremy Herrig]
Billy Corgan reformed the Smashing Pumpkins last year for an extremely successful album and tour, but didn’t invite original bass player D’arcy Wretzky or original six-stringer James “Don’t Call Me Jimmy” Iha to join in on the fun. Now comes the long-expected announcement that the Pumpkins will celebrate their 20th anniversary with a handful of shows in August and September.
Billy Corgan told Billboard.com in March the group would hit Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, among other locales, and that guests will appear at some of the anniversary gigs. While the Pumpkins have always been about Billy’s lyrics and music, we hope he doesn’t forget about Wretzky or Iha’s major contributions to the band’s sound. Time heals all wounds or something, so let ‘em play!
If you thought Jamband Fans were obsessive compulsive stat geeks, we’ve found a group of dudes who take it to the next level. A few extremely zealous record collectors have spent the last ten years working on The Whitburn Project in an effort to preserve and share high quality recordings of every popular song since 1890’s. Be sure to download this ridiculously complete spreadsheet they’ve come up with to track the chart progress of the tunes they’re collecting.
The only major bummer about the first two North American legs of The Police’s reunion tour has been the lack of changes to their setlist. Well last night in Ottawa The Police finally switched it up a bit. Sting, Stewart and Andy opened with the first Bring On The Night since 1982, and followed it up with the first Demolition Man since the Synchronicity Tour. For more on last night’s show check out this review from the Ottawa Sun, or the setlist over at ThePolice.com.
Here’s one more batch of links for the week:
Has anyone seen the new fishing show, Skunked, that Dean Ween has put together for members of his Brownie Troop 666? In the first episode of Skunked, Mickey sets out to capture the disgusting creature known as the Shad. The second installment finds Deaner in Trenton, NJ, searching for Striped Bass with mixed results. Who needs the Deadliest Catch when you can get Skunked?
After nearly 20 years the holy grail of electric basses, Jaco Pastorius’ Bass of Doom, turned up in New York City recently. Bass Player Magazine’s Chris Jisi got to play the magnificent beast along with Will Lee, Victor Wooten and Victor Bailey. Jisi writes the most interesting tale of the Bass of Doom for Bass Player’s website. [via Yair]
Let’s take one final look at what’s happening this week:
Finally, kudos to the Golden Voice team for coming up with a last minute addition that’s sure to please the Coachella crowd. Prince has finally been confirmed as the true headliner of this year’s festival.
We envy Taylor Hawkins. Not only does the guy have a cushy job as the Foo Fighters’ drummer, but he’s gotten to live out his childhood dreams. Hawkins spent the majority of his time growing up in Fort Worth, Texas listening to Queen and Rush records. A few years back Taylor got to play with Queen’s Roger Taylor and Brian May, and Saturday night he jammed with Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson at a Foo Fighters gig in Toronto. That’s one lucky dude.
Geddy and Alex joined the Foo Fighters an hour into their set just as Taylor Hawkins started his drum solo. The trio improv’d for a bit before busting out a killer YYZ that showed off Hawkins’ prowess on the kit. Check out the crowd’s reaction on this decent video of the YYZ.
Here’s a look at what else went down this weekend:
We loved the lo-fi feel of the Black Kids demos that made the rounds a few months ago, so we were a little worried that the band would overproduce their Almost Gold debut. Well perhaps we should spend less time worrying and more time writing, because the re-recorded version of I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You sounds pretty fuckin’ good.
Read on after the jump for the deliciously bizarre video for the single…
