Thriller

Today is the 30th anniversary of Michael Jackson's album Thriller.  30 years ago, Jackson released the album that would hold seven singles that would all make it to the Top 10:

1. The Girls Is Mine - October 18, 1982
2. Billie Jean - January 3, 1983
3. Beat It - February 14, 1983
4. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' - May 8, 1983
5. Human Nature - July 3, 1983
6. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) - September 19, 1983
7. Thriller - January 23, 1984

The album was recorded from April 14 - November 8, 1983 by Epic and was produced by Quincy Jones.  In 1983, it reached the Number-one spot in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Italy, United Kingdom, and the United States.  

The album also featured other famous musicians like David Foster on keyboard, Eddie Van Halen with the guitar solo in "Beat It", and Paul McCartney with vocals in "The Girl Is Mine".

The record was an absolutely amazing one with each song being perfect.  

BRAT

I just saw Cher Lloyd perform...in the first row!!! My school won a contest so we got to see her.
She performed five songs: Superhero, With Ur Love, OMG by Usher, Oath, and Want U Back. To be honest, I cried a lot of the time. She is one of my favorite artists so being able to see her perform from the first row was incredible. After she performed, she answered a couple of questions. She was so sweet!
And to make my night better, I was lucky enough to bring home her set list that was taped to the stage. Cher Lloyd stood on it!!
I would like to thank my school and principal Mrs. Jewell for helping to make this happen, Michael, the student who got our school really involved, iPlay America for letting us hold the concert there, and Cher Lloyd for performing for us.
I was star struck and still am.

Happy 70th Birthday, Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix) the guitar legend was born on this day in 1942. He is considered by a number of people as the greatest electric guitarist ever. But even 42 years after his death his legacy lives on with more than 80 million records sold.

Hendrix was a left-handed man with a right-handed guitar. He had flipped his guitar over, so instead of having the thin string on the bottom, it was on the top so he was able to play with his left hand.

Even though we love listening to his music, it's not only the music we love, but it's the inspiration he left behind. All can agree that Jimi Hendrix is the one we have on our iPods, the one we pretend to play guitar like, and the one we will never forget. Happy birthday, Jimi. You're a legend we will always remember.

The Last Waltz

The Band is definitely an amazing band. This past Thanksgiving was the 36th anniversary of their "The Last Waltz" concert - their final concert as a band before breaking up.
The Band started in 1964 and in 1965 they were hired to be the back-up band for Bob Dylan on his US and world tours. On Thanksgiving Day in 1976, the Band, consisting of Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and Robbie Robertson, got together at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, CA for one final concert entitled "The Last Waltz" and was described as their "farewell concert appearance".
At 5:00 p.m., the audience of 5,000 was served turkey dinner and at 9:00, the Band started their show, opening with "Up on Cripple Creek". Eleven more of their most famous songs followed including "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".
But the concert wasn't over yet as many other famous performers made appearances. Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Muddy Waters, The Staples, Ringo Starr, Ron Wood, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield, and Ronnie Hawkins were all included in this important night.
After five-hours, The Last Waltz came to an end. Robbie Robertson said, "We knew this was the most powerful musical experience of our days together and a very satisfying and beautiful way to bring it all to a conclusion."

Hey, sexy lady

This is truly amazing.  People do this all the time where they time the lights on their house to a certain song.  This house did this for the hit song "Gangnam Style" by PSY.  Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Give thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!  I am thankful for a lot of things: my family, my friends, my house, my school, and of course music.  There are many classic artists I am thankful for (in no particular order):

1. The Beatles - They revolutionized rock music
2. The Rolling Stones - They ARE rock music
3. Buddy Holly - He created rock music
4. Beethoven - His music changed the way we see some music
5. Michael Jackson - He's the "King of Pop"
6. Elvis Presley - He's the "King"
7. Bruce Springsteen - He's the "Boss"
8. Queen - One of the most relevant bands of all time
9. Elton John - His lyrics are incomparable
10. Led Zeppelin - A lot of singers covered their songs
11. Bob Dylan - Was an idol for a lot of singers
12. Frank Sinatra - He owns New York 

Today in history

On this day, November 19, Carl Perkins recorded "Blue Suede Shoes".  The song was at No.2 in the US and No. 10 in the UK.

The Beatles, in 1962, played gigs at three different venues.  They started off with a show during lunch at the Cavern Club in Liverpool.  Soon after, the band traveled Smethwick Baths Ballroom in the Midlands and later at the Adelphi Ballroom, West Bromwich in Staffordshire.

In 2001, Mick Jagger released his solo album Goddess In The Doorway.  On the first day of sales, 954 copies were sold.

In 2006, a guitar played by George Harrison was set at £100,000 at an auction in London.  The guitar was used in The Beatles' first album Please Please Me.

"Nobody's Business"? Ummm, try again.

So, there is something that has been bothering me for a few days now and that is how on Rihanna's new album Unapologetic she sings a duet with ex-boyfriend, Chris Brown, called "Nobody's Business".

Let's rewind a little under four years.  There were charges against Chris Brown because he supposedly beat up then-girlfriend Rihanna.  Now I congratulate Rihanna for being able to forgive Chris for what he did to her, honestly.  And I understand how they don't want the media in their personal business about how they might be together again, but aren't they making it everybody's business by creating a song "Nobody's Business"?

They say in the song, "Always be my boy, I'll always be your girl.  Nobody's business, ain't nobody's business" and to me those two lines make it okay for me to "make it my business".  I think that if you don't want people in your business, you either quit Hollywood or you stop singing about your love lives.

I could go on forever about this song, but I think I have made my point clear.  I like Rihanna so I didn't want to take it too far.  I just had to get that off of my chest.

Hot 100

I love putting together playlists, so at least once a week I will be posting a playlist that has something to do with what's going on that week.  Since nothing huge has happened this week, today's playlist will be number-one singles from the past that spent the most time at number-one starting with 1960 and ending with 1988 (sources: Wikipedia; Billboard Hot 100).

1960:  Theme from "A Summer Place" - Percy Faith (9 weeks)
1962:  Sherry - The Four Seasons (5 weeks)
1964:  I Want To Hold Your Hand - The Beatles (7 weeks)
1966:  Ballad of the Green Berets - SSgt Barry Sadler (5 weeks)
1968:  Hey Jude - The Beatles (9 weeks)
1970:  Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel (6 weeks)
1972:  The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack (6 weeks)
1974:  Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jacks (3 weeks)
1976:  Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright) - Rod Stewart (7 weeks)
1978:  Night Fever - Bee Gees (8 weeks)
1980:  Call Me - Blondie (6 weeks)
1982:  I Love Rock 'n' Roll - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (7 weeks)
1984:  Jump - Van Halen (5 weeks)
1986:  That's What Friends Are For - Dionne and Friends (4 weeks)
1988:  Roll With It - Steve Winwood (4 weeks)

Take Me Home

Directioners are said to be psychotic fans who sit on tumblr all day and all night writing fan-fiction and reblogging pictures of the five Brits. It's all accurate. I am, and I will probably lose some viewers for this, a hardcore Directioner. I spend my time constantly tweeting to Harry, Louis, Zayn, Liam, and Niall while waiting for them to acknowledge my existence. Starting weeks ago, I made sure my mom knew exactly which album to get me and I chose the standard album because I love the cover. The band's sophomore album has the same sound as their first release, Up All Night, although the lyrics sound a little more mature. In other words, some parts of some of the songs are naughty and to be honest, I'm not really complaining. The album contains singles "Live While We're Young" and "Little Things" and their next single "Kiss You". The standard CD contains 13 tracks, the deluxe 17, and the Target exclusive 18. You probably think I am saying this album is great because I love One Direction, but I wouldn't tell you it's amazing if I didn't think so. Loving them doesn't mean the album has to be good, but this release really is.

A Piece of Me

I made this video two months ago and had sent it in to music producer/songwriter Savan Kotecha when he asked for girls to send in videos of themselves singing because he was planning on putting together a girl group.  I unfortunately did not make the cut, but I plan on making more videos and uploading them to YouTube to try and become noticed by someone famous.  My biggest dream is to be a singer so if that could happen to me, I would be beyond thrilled.

Annie Mac Presents 2012

I have an intense love for London.  I will admit that I am obsessed with British singers/bands, movies, and TV shows.  One Direction, Cher Lloyd, Little Mix, and Nick Grimshaw all hold places in my life.  BBC Radio 1 DJ, Annie Mac, is the most recent person added to my list.  Annie Mac is an Irish DJ who hosts a radio show on BBC Radio 1 in the UK every Friday and Sunday evening.  Every year since 2008, Annie Mac has released an album including all of her favorite tracks from that year.  The release contains two CDs which include club hits and radio hits with artists like Steve Aoki, Knife Party, Florence and the Machine, Drake, and Frank Ocean.  Although I haven't had a chance to purchase the album quite yet, (I absolutely plan to) I have listened to some of the songs on YouTube and I think these CDs were very well put together.  If you would like to purchase this album - it is available worldwide - you can go to anniemacpresents.com.

New York Groove

I am back!!!  Hurricane Sandy has passed, but she has definitely left her mark.  New Jersey is in ruins and so are parts of New York, but everyone's helping each other out.  The Jersey Shore can't really be called "The Jersey Shore" anymore...it's all gone.  If you would like to help, text: REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 or go to www.redcross.org.  Whatever you do is very much appreciated and we thank you.

Apologies

I'm so sorry I haven't been blogging this week. I haven't had power because of the hurricane. I'm posting this from my phone, but I can't do complete posts from the iPhone. Hope to be back bogging soon!!

I Can't Take This

Okay, so my power is back from the hurricane but my Internet is down. We called Verizon and they said it won't be fixed until probably Thursday so my blogging will be happening, but it will be short and sweet. Sorry everyone and please keep checking for updates.

Jordan