Backstage Pass

Now that Glen Cove's Ashanti has been named a Long Island ambassador for tourism, it got us thinking about who else should be showing tourists around the area. We'll leave the Hamptons out, since all those celebs can have their assistants help them navigate. (PHOTO: Ashanti by Matthew Rolston for Universal Motown.)

1. Mariah Carey: Mimi feels her emancipation includes a sometimes-unhappy childhood in Greenlawn and various other Long Island towns, so she's not too keen about reliving those times. But it would be cool to see where she grew up.

And she could point out the schools where she says her teachers said she couldn't sing, then get into some glitter-encrusted pink helicopter and laugh as she flew home to count all her newly minted cash.

2. Joan Jett: She still loves rock 'n' roll and she still loves Long Beach after all this time. Now, it might get a bit dicey for Jett to show off all her favorite places in her neighborhood since, well, she still goes to them, but it could be a great tour. And if nothing else, maybe she could help explain why so many L.I. rockers (the gang from Straylight Run, Taking Back Sunday's Mark O'Connell) call Long Beach home.

3. Chuck D: This is a tour that actually could happen. When Public Enemy isn't on its international tours, Chuck is a fixture in Roosevelt and is proud of his neighborhood and his neighbors. He would provide another homegrown success story that would work wonders at changing the world view of what Long Island is all about. Maybe he could Flavor Flav to share the mic for the tour bus. Think about it, Tom Suozzi.

So Live Nation is having another one of their one-day clearance sales on Tuesday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with tickets to a bunch of Nikon at Jones Beach Theater shows getting marked down to $10 apiece.

On their list of temporary markdowns:

Poison with Dokken, Sebastian Bach (July 30)
Maroon 5/Counting Crows with Sara Bareilles (Aug. 1)
Stone Temple Pilots with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Aug. 6)
Judas Priest/Heaven and Hell with Motorhead, Testament (Aug. 10)
Boston/REO Speedwagon (Aug. 12)
Regeneration 80's Festival:  Belinda Carlise, Human League, Flock of Seagulls, ABC (Aug. 22)

Also on their list is the Mayhem Festival at Nassau Coliseum with Slipknot, Disturbed, Mastodon and others (Aug. 6).

PHOTO: Counting Crows by Danny Clinch for Geffen Records.

Hip-hop isn't dead.

Nas' controversial "Untitled" CD takes over the top spot from Lil Wayne this week, selling 187,000 copies. Wayne's "Tha Carter III" returns to No. 2 on sales of 109,000.

The soundtrack to "Mamma Mia!" climbs to No. 3, after its massive opening in theaters last week, while Coldplay's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" slips from No. 2 to No. 4.

The soundtrack to "Camp Rock" featuring the Jonas Brothers slides from No. 3 to No. 5. Of course, they're just keeping the top of the charts warm for their pal Miley Cyrus, whose "Breakout" album will soon join them.

Apparently, MTV still can launch musical careers, though not necessarily in the way the cable network has in the past.

Brianna Taylor, pretty much the breakout star of this past season of “The Real World: Hollywood,” has herself a hit single. “Summertime,” written and co-produced by Seaford’s Matthew Bair and co-produced by Massapequa’s Tomas Costanza, who also released the song on his Chamberlain Records, cracked the iTunes Top 100 in the wake of the show’s finale. And the “Brianna Taylor” EP, which features more songs written by Bair and Costanza, has already sold 60,000 copies and reached No. 16 on iTunes’ albums chart.

Taylor’s meeting with Bair and the recording process with Bair and Costanza became part of the show’s storyline and continues to be shown on the channel. And on Monday, Taylor was on WPLJ to celebrate “Summertime” getting added to the station’s playlist.

Brianna Taylor w/Matthew Bair, "Summertime" (live)

When the folks behind the new Will Ferrell comedy "Step Brothers" wanted to make their upcoming movie seem a bit edgier, they turned to LCD Soundsystem's "North American Scum," one of last year's best, yet undiscovered, songs, as their anthem. When the "Pineapple Express" guys looked to reach a hipper audience for the Seth Rogen film, they picked up M.I.A.'s great "Paper Planes" single for their campaign.

It's a matchmaking trend born from Apple's iPod commercials' successes and the failures of commercial radio and major labels. When big advertising campaigns can generate unexpected hits for the likes of Yael Naim and the Ting Tings, it becomes pretty clear that what those songs (and so many others) needed was exposure for success, not different music. And exposure is supposed to be the one thing major labels can bring to new artists, with the help of their relationships in commercial radio, that the Internet distribution companies can't. Oh. Whoops.

The success of these indie-leaning songs points out an even bigger problem with commercial radio, though. What does it say about their folks who are supposed to be finding great new music for their listeners when it turns out that advertising folks and marketers often have better ears for mainstream hits than them?

"Pineapple Express" trailer (which even has a nod to the gun sounds that MTV made M.I.A. remove from her video)

Supporting the excellent "Detours," her best album since her breakthrough "Tuesday Night Music Club," Sheryl Crow is set for Nikon at Jones Beach Theater on Monday and Live Nation is offering a ticket deal tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for the show, selling seats for $10. That's quite the deal for a great package tour that also includes James Blunt and Toots and The Maytals.

Crow told me recently that she knows there's a lot of competition for the summer touring dollar this year. "I feel like the airlines," she said. "I know there's a lot of choices out there and I'm very thankful that they chose to come see me."

She also knows she's not getting the same radio support she has in the past because of some of the album's more political songs. "People know the truth and they don’t want to face it and there’s a lot of fear about it. ‘Out of Our Heads’ is the song that we get the biggest reaction from all night almost and it’s a new song. I know it’s the emotion of it and people are experiencing that, but radio’s really afraid of it and that’s just where we’re at right now, which is fine with me. That, in and of itself, is a statement. But the song’s not ever going to go away and it will remain pertinent and it will have its moment and it’ll find its way because that’s what art does. But that’s a testament too to where we are, that there’s a fear and facing the reality that we have gone to sleep." (She has plenty more to say in our Fanfare interview on Sunday.)

PHOTO: Sheryl Crow for A&M

   Yaz’s charm was always in its simplicity, in the elegant blank verse of Alison Moyet’s poetic lyrics and in Vince Clarke’s economic, but melodic musical accompaniment.
    It’s a combination that powered the duo’s two outstanding albums – “Upstairs at Eric’s” and “You and Me Both” – and quickly made them staples of WLIR and modern rock stations around the country in the ‘80s, one that established their reputation as icons today, though they played only a handful of concerts ever and split in 1983, before “You and Me Both” was even released.
    All of which made the stakes for their current reunion tour extraordinarily high. After all, so much has changed in music and performance in the 25 years since Moyet and Clarke were together, as pop music becomes increasingly complex, both musically, as layers upon layers of sound and rhythm have become the norm, and performance-wise, where vocal gymnastics and platoons of dancers are required of even beginners.
    Turns out, though, that all of that becomes secondary in the presence of great songs handled by a great singer. For 90 minutes, Yaz turned out everything from gorgeous, poignant ballads like “Winter Kills” to full-on disco-stompers like “Situation” using little more than the technology of the cheapest cell phone and Moyet’s amazing voice to make them work.
    On a sleek, open stage, with only a podium for Moyet and two petite banks of synthesizers for Clarke, they delivered their sweet, often naive, sounding songs in a context that would hold its own against any stadium extravaganza around.
    Moyet’s deep, soulful voice has only grown richer over the years, proving immediately with “Nobody’s Diary” and later with the whisper-to-a-scream range of “Midnight” how she remains an underrated musical force. For his part, Clarke really does all his work behind-the-scenes before the tour starts, in the writing and in the programming of the exactly right sounds to make the songs come to life, though on this tour, he does contribute some backing vocals – distorted electronically, of course, since Clarke rarely speaks on stage, either with Yaz or his main group these days Erasure
    The show’s star though is Moyet, whose mastery of the material and joy in finally performing it is evident not just in her singing, but her giddy dancing center stage, enjoying the groove Clarke lays down in “Situation” like everyone else in the audience.
    Better late than never, right?

PHOTO: Yaz's Alison Moyet at the Beacon Theater by Jin Lee for Newsday  [MORE PHOTOS]

SETLIST: Nobody’s Diary / Bad Connection / Mr. Blue / Good Times / Tuesday / Ode to Boy / Goodbye ‘70s / Too Pieces / In My Room / Anyone / Walk Away from Love / I Before E Except After C / State Farm / Sweet Thing / Winter Kills / Midnight / Unmarked / Bring Your Love Down / Don’t Go // ENCORES: Only You / Situation

CELEBRITIES SPOTTED: Martin L. Gore, Clarke's one-time bandmate in Depeche Mode, arrived early but was relatively hard to spot seeing as he was wearing regular clothes and not oversized angel's wings or a German leather bondage outfit. He was gracious to overzealous fans, but then tried hard to blend into the crowd.

Um, dude with the camera says it all: WOOOOOO!

     Billy Joel’s historic “Last Play at Shea” concert Friday night only goes to prove that when you give, you end up getting so much back in return.
    The gesture of having Paul McCartney – who proved rock and roll was bigger than anyone ever imagined and launched the era of stadium rock in 1965 when he and The Beatles played Shea – perform “Let It Be” as the final song ever for the venue was a generous one, not just to McCartney, who performed graciously, and the screaming, stunned capacity crowd gathered for history, but, really, to anyone who pays attention to such things.
    No one would have argued with Shea’s musical swan song to be the his grand “Piano Man,” sung by Joel, backed by his amazing, 21-piece backing band, and a sold-out stadium that he had feeling alright. It was, after all, his night, one he earned – both with his impressive three-hour performance and his just as impressive four-decade career that chronicled New York and Long Island like no other rock artist has or ever will.
    His “Last Play at Shea” was a far more fitting tribute to the stadium and to the area than a McCartney show could ever have been, because Joel’s music, his influences and his inspirations, are steeped in the same traditions, the same struggles and triumphs, as the millions who have filled Shea year after year since 1964. As legendary and singular as McCartney is, it’s one thing that he cannot match. (And congratulations to The Mets organization for recognizing that.)
    There was a moment when Joel was singing harmony on “I Saw Her Standing There” and looking over at McCartney when he seemed to feel the enormity of the moment, when he was living out the dream for millions around the world who were inspired by The Beatles to form a rock and roll band.
    But McCartney wasn’t the only guest who seemed to bring out the best in Joel. He was clearly in a duel with the master Tony Bennett during “New York State of Mind,” with each offering up the best vocals they could deliver, raising what has become the city’s equivalent of “The National Anthem” to an even higher level. When Garth Brooks arrived to belt out a gorgeous version of “Shameless,” Joel adapted to his vocals to the countrified setting as well. And, really, how could he not smash a guitar as he backed up Roger Daltrey during a raucous “My Generation”?
     Those high points were only pushed that much higher by the powerful foundation Joel and his band laid during the rest of the evening. His encores “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” and “Only the Good Die Young” never sounded better, maybe because of the anticipation of what was coming next. But Joel’s tender side – in “She’s Always a Woman” and “Lullaby,” especially – also showed that even though, as he often points out, he hasn’t put out a new album of music in 15 years, he continues to improve in a lot of ways.
    In the ways where age has taken on its toll – the upper-end of his register, for example – he decided to gut it out Friday night, bringing home his doo-wop tribute “This Night” and going after the high notes in “An Innocent Man” with a mix of a boxer’s grit and an artist’s savvy.
    Joel played as if there wasn’t a tomorrow that anyone needed to worry about. Maybe we will, as the main set’s emotional centerpiece “Goodnight Saigon” proclaimed, all go down together. But, as Joel’s once-in-a-lifetime performance Friday night showed, sometimes perfect moments fall unexpectedly into your lap and only those who hung on get to enjoy them. Both Joel and McCartney deserve a week’s worth of screaming, Shea Stadium-sized crowds for reminding us all that sometimes dreams really do come true.

SETLIST: The National Anthem / Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Down on Broadway) / Angry Young Man / Yankee Doodle Dandy/My Life / The Entertainer / Summer, Highland Falls / Zanzibar / Allentown / The Ballad of Billy the Kid / New York State of Mind (w/Tony Bennett) / Root Beer Rag / Movin’ Out / Goodnight Saigon / Don’t Ask Me Why / This Night / Keeping the Faith / The Downeaster ‘Alexa’ / Spanish Harlem/Under the Boardwalk/An Innocent Man / Shameless (w/Garth Brooks) / She’s Always a Woman / Captain Jack / Lullaby / River of Dreams/A Hard Day’s Night / Walk This Way (w/Steven Tyler) / We Didn’t Start the Fire / It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me / My Generation (w/Roger Daltrey) / You May Be Right // ENCORES: Scenes from an Italian Restaurant / Only the Good Die Young / I Saw Her Standing There (w/Paul McCartney) / Piano Man / Let It Be (w/Paul McCartney)

PHOTO: Billy Joel at Shea Stadium Friday night by Ari Mintz for Newsday.

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Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" hangs on to No. 1 for a third week, adding 125,000 to his sales total. Coldplay's "Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends" remains at No. 2 on 113,000 sales, while the Jonas Brothers-filled soundtrack to "Camp Rock" stays at No. 3 with 88,000 in sales.

Beck's "Modern Guilt" is the top new entry at No. 4 on 84,000 sales. The big story, though, is Kid Rock's "Rock N Roll Jesus" which climbs two notches to No. 5 on 61,000 sales, on the strength of his hit "All Summer Long."

Over on the singles chart, Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" remains on top for a fourth frightening week, while Rihanna's "Take a Bow" and Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" also hold at No. 2 and No. 3. But maybe Chris Brown will save us all. His great single "Forever" jumps two notches to No. 4, pushing Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" to No. 5. If he has another massive sales week, Brown could challenge Perry next week.

Nas' great new album "Untitled" could dethrone Lil Wayne next week, but they're on borrowed time anyway since Miley Cyrus' "Breakout" is out Tuesday.

PHOTO: Lil Wayne for Cash Money Records

From our pal and boss Kevin Amorim:

    The man at the piano was no stranger to the 63,000 people at Shea Stadium last night.
    It was fitting that Billy Joel – our Billy from the block on Meeting Lane in Hicksville – got the call to play Shea's final concerts. He put on an amazing show at the home of the Amazins'.
    "This is where New York meets Long Island," he said of the soon-to-be demolished stadium. "Yeah, Queens is the City, but geographically, it's Long Island."
    A few numbers later, the kid from Long Island and the king of Queens traded verses. As Joel, dressed in black, finished the first verse of "New York State of Mind," he looked up, "Ladies and gentlemen, Tony Bennett." The roar of the audience almost did the work of the wrecking ball and brought the house down when Bennett crooned "I'm in New York state of mind."
    If you haven't already guessed, Joel's set played to the hometown crowd – how could it not? These are the songs of our youth, no matter how old you are: "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)," "Allentown," "Don't Ask Me Why."
    He had some fun with "My Life," twinkling out a short rendition of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" at the beginning of what would become the theme for "Bosom Buddies." This show was not a drag, not even when John Mayer came out with his guitar to assist on "This is the Time."
    The special guests kept coming out of the bullpen. Don Henley joined in for a version of "Boys of Summer" and later, John Mellencamp showed up for his hit "Pink Houses."
    Toward the end of the regular set, Joel meshed "A Hard Day's Night" into "River of Dreams," a nod to the Beatles who first played Shea in 1965 and 1966. He revisited the Fab Four in his encore.
    Although he was tethered to his piano -- except for "An Innocent Man" -- Billy was not idle. He was also busy introducing some of the homegrown talent on the stage in centerfield, including Baldwin's Carl Fischer on trumpet and flugelhorn and Tommy Byrnes a guitarist from Oceanside.
    Didn't get tickets to these shows? You can still experience some of the magic in the just-announced feature-length docu-concert "Last Play at Shea," with footage from last night's and tomorrow's shows. It's scheduled for release next year, the first year without Shea.

SETLIST: The National Anthem / Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) / Yankee Doodle Dandy/My Life / The Entertainer / Zanzibar / Allentown / Ballad of Billy the Kid / New York State of Mind (w/Tony Bennett) / Big Man on Mulberry Street / Root Beer Rag / Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) / Goodnight Saigon / Don’t Ask Me Why / This Is the Time (w/John Mayer) / Keeping the Faith / The Downeaster ‘Alexa’ / Stand By Me/An Innocent Man / Boys of Summer (w/Don Henley) / She’s Always a Woman / Captain Jack / Lullaby / River of Dreams/A Hard Day’s Night / Pink Houses (w/John Mellencamp) / We Didn’t Start the Fire / It’s Still Rock ‘n’ Roll to Me / You May Be Right // ENCORES: Scenes from an Italian Restaurant / Only the Good Die Young / She Loves You / Take Me Out to the Ball Game / Piano Man

PHOTO: Billy Joel at Shea Stadium by Bruce Gilbert for Newsday

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Not sure what to make of the fact that "My Drive Thru," a new song commissioned by Converse for its new ad campaign, is more interesting than pretty much anything on the new N.E.R.D. album, but nevertheless the teaming of Pharrell, Santogold and the Strokes' Julian Casablancas is upbeat, edgy and, most of all, fun.

Download song here

If there's one thing U2 has plenty of it's confidence. And that serves Bono and company well nearly every time. The band is releasing remastered deluxe versions of its first three albums next week, but instead of hiding all those bonus tracks away due to worries that sales of the albums will suffer, U2 has made them all available at a special imeem site today. Not 30-second samples, not a handful of tracks, all of them in their entirety, with embedding not disabled.

U2 is banking on fans being so excited about the new albums that they'll buy them in all their enhanced glory even if they've heard the previously unreleased songs. That's a pretty good bet. And it just goes to show that confidence in your work and your fans can still pay off.

Here's the expanded "War" edition in its entirety:

To celebrate the launch of their American tour tonight, Coldplay is offering the song "Death Will Never Conquer" for free download on its website today. It's the song that gets special treatment during the show, usually sung from the balconies.

PHOTO: Chris Martin and Will Champion at Madison Square Garden during "Viva La Vida" by Ari Mintz for Newsday.

Mariah Carey, "I'll Be Loving U Long Time"

With several far more immediate songs left on "E=MC2," Mariah Carey makes an odd choice for her third single and the video for it seems to back it up. Aside from Mariah swimming with the dolphins, this seems a bit thrown together. Could it be that the time off for her surprise wedding to Nick Cannon and the time off that came with it led to this song getting moved up in the rotation?

Maybe far more accomplished videos will accompany the releases of the sure-fire hits "Migrate" with T-Pain and "Cruise Control" with Damian Marley and "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time" got pulled in at the last minute when "Bye Bye" didn't last as long as expected.

After being criticized for being unmarried and possibly being pregnant, Erykah Badu took to the OkayPlayer forums to set some anonymous commenters straight. "I've never been so disgusted in all of my life. There is no other place I used to enjoy more. I post nowhere else.
You guys have taken an all time low, tho."

As with so many Internet battles, even her supporters are divided over whether she should have taken on the criticism or not. Some wish she wouldn't have bothered letting it get to her. Others say her well-crafted response was the right move.

In either case, Badu boldly says she doesn't care if she loses fans over her personal decisions or her decision to speak out. "WHO NEEDS YOU... CERTAINLY NOT ME... KICK ROCKS ... CALL TYRONE ..." she writes. And her sign off is even better: "If this post is not clear, kiss my placenta."

Okayplayer.com Boards [via Idolator]

PHOTO: Erykah Badu by Marc Baptiste for Universal Motown Records

Whether it's good enough to launch a serious music career remains to be seen, but Ali Lohan's new single "All the Way Around" is light years better than her big sis Lindsay's debut. Not only does Ali roll out a nice pop song that's decently song, but it's age appropriate and will serve as a good introduction for what her album may be like.

Hershey, Pa. – Billy Joel unveiled the new expanded band and the massive new stage set he plans to use at next week’s historic final concerts at Shea Stadium here at Hersheypark Stadium Thursday night. The Shea musical surprises, however, remain under wraps.
    Between two-story video screens shaped like skyscrapers and scrims printed with an artistic photo collage of New York landmarks, Joel and his band – now-augmented to 21 strong thanks to a new eight-piece string section, four-piece horn section and two backing singers – tackled an expanded version of the setlist he has developed during his 10-show, six-week run at the Mohegan Sun Arena that ended last week.
     Though the huge images and new New York-centric video footage are hard to miss, it’s the sound of the huge new band that makes the biggest difference to anyone who has seen Joel since he relaunched his solo touring in 2006. The swelling strings turn “New York State of Mind” into an even more moving experience than usual. The additional backing vocals make “River of Dreams” sound even more powerful. And the extra horns help turn the unlikely “Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)” into a brassy show-opener.
    The task of putting together “The Last Play at Shea” – the final shows at the hallowed stadium that changed the way the world considered rock and roll – has clearly made Joel consider his own career, which has spanned Shea’s entire lifetime. After “Keeping the Faith,” Joel thanked the crowd for its continued support, pointing out how unusual it is for a guy like him to still be filling stadiums. “I’m 59 years old,” he said. “I haven’t had an album out in 15 years.”
    Maybe part of his secret is that he still doesn’t take himself too seriously. Even
as he prepared to complete “the hat trick” – becoming the only artist ever to perform at Yankee, Giants and Shea stadiums – on Wednesday and Friday, Joel was still able to joke around. He turned a towel into a wig before launching into “Piano Man” for his final encore and during his lengthy soundcheck, which drew fans from the nearby Hersheypark to listen throughout Thursday afternoon, he segued from “Captain Jack” to Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.”
    Even his introduction was fun. “I'm Billy’s dad,” he joked to the crowd. “Billy couldn't make it tonight. He’s too busy combing his hair.”

SETLIST: Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) / Angry Young Man / My Life / The Entertainer / Zanzibar / Allentown / Ballad of Billy the Kid / I’ve Loved These Days / Big Man on Mulberry Street / New York State of Mind / Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) / Goodnight Saigon / Don’t Ask Me Why / Keeping the Faith / She’s Always a Woman / Captain Jack / Lullaby / River of Dreams / Highway to Hell (sung by Chainsaw) / We Didn’t Start the Fire / It’s Still Rock ‘n’ Roll to Me / You May Be Right / ENCORE: Scenes from an Italian Restaurant / Only the Good Die Young / Piano Man

PHOTO: Joel and jersey by James Carbone for Newsday 

One of the most impressive pieces in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum collection is John Lennon's handwritten lyrics to "Imagine" because of its simplicity.

For me, it's always been moving to see how a few words scrawled on a piece of paper can be turned into a work of art that somehow changes the world.

Apparently, other folks feel the same. Yesterday, the handwritten lyrics to "Give Peace a Chance," which Lennon gave to then-teenager Gail Renard when she snuck into the Montreal bed-in in 1969, were sold at Christie's auction for $833,000.

Lennon told her "one day they will be worth something." He was right in more ways than one.

PHOTO: Lyrics to "Give Peace a Chance" from Christie's rock memorabilia auction.

Though 50 Cent has been remarkably quiet about the fire that destroyed his Dix Hills mansion in May and the ongoing battle with his ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins over their son, Marquise, he did open up to MTV yesterday about why. "I really don't wanna talk about it, because my son at some point will have the opportunity to see the tapes," he said. "She's still his mother, and I'm still his father, regardless. He's gonna love both of us."

He also talks about missing Marquise on tour. "In the summertime, for the first two years I was successful, my son has traveled with us on those tours," Fitty said. "He was on the Rock the Mic Tour, he was on the Anger Management Tour. This summer, when he's free, it's, like, no communication. It's tough."

Asked how he wants this all to turn out, he said: "I'd like to be able to just see my baby."

50 Cent opens up about strained relationship with his ex after house fire [MTV]

So Kanye West took to his blog last night to bat down rumors that he's in anger management classes, saying, "I have never had any conversations about anger management. If anything, I need anger enhancement!! lol!" Um, OK.

He then goes on to say, "I don't know if everyone has realized this yet but I don't do interviews. If there's anything I wanna say I'll say right here on my own blog." Now Mr. West has had a rough year and maybe he's just stressed out or jet-lagged (he blogged from Hawaii), but it'll be interesting to see how long this "no-interview" thing holds up once he's promoting the follow-up to "Graduation" ("Master's Degree"?) or some other project he wants attention for.

Are people going to hold him to this pledge? No. Just like no one really expected 50 Cent to retire after his album's opening sales week lost to West's opening week.

PHOTO: A portion of the magazine covers West has been on recently from www.kanyeuniversecity.com

With all Alison Moyet has going on these days, there wasn’t enough room in yesterday’s article for all her great opinions about the current state of pop music.

    “Music has become so heavily R&B influenced, you know? As a kid, I was listening to soul music by the greats. You just hear those influences filtering their way into every field of pop music to the point where you’ve got these kids doing all the acrobatics and have none of the soul. It really tires me and it tires my ears. And I really hanker for straight melody, so there’s almost a bit of rebellion in what I’ve been doing in the last few years, which is to hold a note... Now you just feel like they’ve missed the point. They’ve lost the finesse. They’ve obliterated melody with acrobatics. They just don’t understand how it’s sourced, where it’s come from. They’re just doing all the embellishments and none of the meat of the song.
    “It’s a very different environment. There are so many who have come out of stage school, which in the ‘80s, in the time of post punk never would have happened. My only complaint with the current crop is that you hear too strongly their education and their influences. While lots of things we did in the ‘80s were rubbish, it was about making your own mistakes. If my hair was rubbish, it’s because I did it. If my clothes were rubbish, it’s because it was all I could afford. There weren’t any stylists then. There was no one designing you for an audience. There’s a lot of talent there, but I find singers more interesting after they’ve had a few years under their belt. That I feel self-conscious about saying, because I have, and I feel like I’m suiting my own argument, but I do genuinely find women more interesting once they’ve past their thirties.
    “You had more room for freaks. When you look at pop stars from the ‘80s, there’s very few that you would classically class as beautiful. More often than not, it wasn’t the beautiful people that became the most interesting people, because they weren’t the ones who were always challenged growing up. That’s where art comes from, subversive and difficult experience.”

PHOTO: Alison Moyet for Decca Records

     Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends” hangs tough at No. 1 for a second week, as the entire Top 3 held off new releases from Motley Crue and Three 6 Mafia.
    “Viva La Vida” managed another 249,000 sales last week, enough to stay ahead of Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter III,” which rings up another 209,000 in sales to stay at No. 2, and the Jonas Brothers-fueled “Camp Rock” soundtrack, which sold another 169,000 to stand at No. 3.
    The Crue opened at No. 4, with 99,000 sales of “Saints of Los Angeles.” And everyone’s favorite Oscar-winning rappers Three 6 Mafia debuted at No. 5 on 77,000 sales of “Last 2 Walk.”
    On the singles chart, Katy Perry hangs on to the top spot, as the Top 4 – Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl,” No. 2 Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop,” No. 3 Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” and No. 4 Rihanna’s “Take a Bow” – remains static. But they should all watch out, as the Jonas Brothers’ new single “Burnin’ Up” (not the Madonna song) debuts at No. 5.

PHOTO: Coldplay -- Will Champion, Guy Berryman, Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland -- by Stephan Craneanscki for Capitol Records.