The #1 Album in the country.

**nrgbeat** · February 12th, 2006, 06:46 AM

In this era of hip hop and throwaway pop, who has the #1 album?

Eminem? no, Madonna? no......Barry Manilow, with an album of songs from the 1950's.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Musi...ic.sales.reut/

Must be the nursing home folks took a field trip to Best Buy this week. :D :D :D

**nrgbeat** · February 12th, 2006, 07:25 AM

Now that Barry's hit #1, other artists will jump on the bandwagon.

Some possibilities:

Snoop Dog: Nat King Cole Classics

Eminem: The Julie London Songbook

KD Lang: So Much In Common--The Songs of Bessie Smith

**BrunoRepublic** · February 12th, 2006, 09:46 AM

It's not that surprising when you consider that today's kids don't buy music.

**eddie** · February 12th, 2006, 06:50 PM

Throwback albums of all old songs being performed by a different artist is all the rage. I've noticed this over the past 5 years in soul music. Randi Crawford's Naked and True CD from 1996 put a different twist on certain songs that were rarely covered like All the King's Horeses, Come into my life, Give me the night, ect. but the more current ones are real duds. These artists come to mind: Michael McDonald, Jeffrey Osborne, Freddie Jackson, Patti Labelle, Boyz II Men, Ray Goodman and Brown, Temptations, Mary J Blige, Mica Paris, Regina Belle, Vanesa Williams, and Dionne Warwick. What's ironic is that none of these talented artists gives these songs a fresh spin. The albums consist solely of soulless covers that don't capture or recapture anything. Hearing Freddie Jackson doing a Norah Jones song is really lame.

In addition to the aforementioned Miss Crawford, Ron Isley and Burt Bacharach reinterrupted many of the songwriter's classics and produced them with piano and orchestra. The instrumenal music has to comp the singer and has to be thought out. Bacharach is a master and the other artists just use a drum machine, a synth line for counter-melody and either try to sing it in the same fashion or over sing like Mary J. Disappointing!
Remakes can be done right. Review Donna Allen's Joy and Pain or Phil Perry's Love don't love nobody.

**efunk_adelic** · February 13th, 2006, 10:44 AM

Rod Stewart did a similar LP recently also. Lots of kids these days don't even know who Barry Manilow is... kinda shocking!

**Nano** · February 14th, 2006, 08:29 AM

Some years ago Kyle Eastwood (Clint Eastwood's son) released a very nice album with orchestral versions of jazz and pop classics. The arrangements were in the Miles Davis + Gil Evans vein. There were a couple of singers appearing as guests: I remember a wonderful version of Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man" sung by Joni Mitchell, no less.
The album is called FROM THERE TO HERE and it's not disco, but worth searching for.

**nrgbeat** · February 14th, 2006, 09:58 AM

When we were kids, we were familiar with artists from previous eras (e.g. Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin) but most of today's kids have no clue of anyone other than the hot MTV artists of the month.

**discokicks** · February 14th, 2006, 10:23 AM

Originally Written by nrgbeat

When we were kids, we were familiar with artists from previous eras (e.g. Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin) but most of today's kids have no clue of anyone other than the hot MTV artists of the month.

Hehe...this is so true.

I remember this one time in particular, chatting with one of my co-workers. He's a guy in his late 20's, enjoys dance music, loves the fact that I dj part-time on weekends and brags about his Dimitri cds and all the cool cuts on them. Every morning, he'd ask me if I'd heard this song or a new mix of whatever...always in an effort to impress me on how much he knew and how hip he was on current as well as part dance hits. So this particular morning, we're chatting and I said something to the effect of a song being reminiscent of a Donna Summer track to which he repied 'who's Donna Summer?'

I stood there speechless...stared at him for a sec and went back to my office. :lol:

**nrgbeat** · February 14th, 2006, 03:50 PM

Hehe...this is so true.

I remember this one time in particular, chatting with one of my co-workers. He's a guy in his late 20's, enjoys dance music, loves the fact that I dj part-time on weekends and brags about his Dimitri cds and all the cool cuts on them. Every morning, he'd ask me if I'd heard this song or a new mix of whatever...always in an effort to impress me on how much he knew and how hip he was on current as well as part dance hits. So this particular morning, we're chatting and I said something to the effect of a song being reminiscent of a Donna Summer track to which he repied 'who's Donna Summer?'

I stood there speechless...stared at him for a sec and went back to my office. :lol:[/quote]

You should ask him what his favorite sleaze record is. :lol:

**markydefad** · February 14th, 2006, 04:33 PM

It is so true that the kidz of today are clueless about entertainers of the past. I think this may be because WE (I'm a Baby Boomer") were raised in the era of the variety show like Ed Sullivan, etc. where we saw entertainers of all generations performing. ("On tonight's big shew....Sophie Tucker, Georgie Jessel, The Mills Brothers, Pat Boone, Stiller & Meara, Soupy Sales, Totie Fields, some novelty dog or plate spinning act, Topo Gigio and , for the youngsters...THE SUPREMES or THE ROLLING STONES or HERMAN'S HERMITS!!!! There is nothing like that today. :-?

I've noticed nobody knows anybody who charted before Madonna today. 1983 is like the Paleozoic Era--like 1900 was to us in terms of entertainers!!! ( I never did get Al Jolson & his blackface act!!) :P She is to the kidz of today like Marlene Dietrich or Greta Garbo were to me as a kid. The difference is she still sells cds!!!

The world is changing and almost everything is disposible. It's a Kleenex world or entertainment choices. Blow your nose and throw it away. :roll:

**paul** · February 14th, 2006, 04:52 PM

So right Marky. I'm not sure if the kids are to blame or perhaps our generation though. We are the ones in the age group that control programming. You are closer to this than I am but I suspect the programming guys are in their 40s and 50s. I don't know if a Carol Burnett show would work today but I would think something similar would be so refreshing today.
Wasn't there some variety show hosted by an African-American on one of the networks a few years back?

**Mixmachine** · February 14th, 2006, 05:06 PM

Originally Written by markydefad

It is so true that the kidz of today are clueless about entertainers of the past.

yeap, and that is not the worse of it, they could care less about researching, even if you tell them about an old act they show no interest what so ever, they consider anything older than a year "ancient" history, to be forgotten and discarded, I remember when all those disco versions of old standards first showed up in the mid 70's, I knew many from Movies, or from old clips that played on TV, others I looked up in that "Music Book" that used to be in every shop, etc.

The same happens with movies and old stars, they always say, "But I wasn't born when that movie first came out" :cry: :lol: :lol: so, what's your point???? lol: