Katy Perry Makes a Run for #1

Ever since last summer when Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night (TGIF)" became the fifth #1 hit from her album Teenage Dream and tied Michael Jackson's record for the most #1 hits from an album, there's been talk of whether she could break it with her next single, "The One that Got Away."

When the single was first released, her label seemed to downplay that potential, saying the single wasn't chosen to be record-breaker. As reported by Billboard, EMI Music/Capitol Records EVP/marketing and promotion Greg Thompson said that "If it goes to No. 1, that would be great," said Thompson. "If not, we still have a Katy song on the radio in fourth quarter."

However, now that #1 is potentially in sight, things may have changed. "The One that Got Away" entered the Hot 100's top 10 two weeks ago, and it's the fastest growing track at radio. At top 40, it's #5 and the fastest-gaining track overall, well ahead of anything else in the top 5.

Perhaps most telling is what's happened at iTunes. While all of the tracks from Teenage Dream sell individually for $1.29, the price of "The One that Got Away" was cut to $0.69 this week--nearly a 50 percent discount. So far, it doesn't seem to be helping--the song is #6, which is about where it was before the price cut.

Grammy Awards 2012: Record of the Year

The nominees:

As a slate, this year's list isn't quite as hit-heavy as last year's, in which all five nominees charted no lower on the Hot 100 than #2 (except "Fuck You," which only achieved that feat after being nominated). Rather, this year's list has three massive hits, a modest (but very pro-Grammy) release and a real head-scratcher.

Adele - "Rolling in the Deep"

Of course, there was no question this would be nominated. It's the year's biggest hit, definitely in sales (5.6 million copies sold), if not airplay as well (look for it to top Billboard's year-end Hot 100 list that will be out soon). And everyone loves it...still. This is Adele's second nomination in the category, after "Chasing Pavements" 3 years ago. The song was co-written (with Adele) and produced by Paul Epworth, the British producer behind the latest Florence & the Machine album. [US peak: #1(7 weeks), UK peak: #2]

Bon Iver - "Holocene"

This, then, is the head-scratcher. Many considered Bon Iver's Bon Iver a strong contender for a slot in Album of the Year, but ROTY? Really? It's very odd. It's possible it got a lot of votes because 1) it was the track chosen to compete in ROTY, 2) a lot of people like Bon Iver and voted for it wherever they saw it, and 3) the band just missed out in AOTY, but made it in here. I don't consider it a very interesting song--it's not one I singled out when I reviewed the album (NME, Pitchfork, The Guardian praised it, even AllMusic, which didn't like the album, said it was a highlight, so maybe I just missed the boat on this one). Nevertheless, despite its nonhit status, or perhaps because of it, I would consider this a strong contender, given recent Grammy history (it's been 12 years since a #1 single has won ROTY and generally the lowest-charting nominee has been the one to win). [US peak: --, UK peak: --]

Bruno Mars - "Grenade"

Had Bruno Mars been a bigger name last year and the timing been a little different, his "Just the Way You Are," the first Doo-Wops & Hooligans single, would probably have been a ROTY nominee. "Grenade's" nod makes up for that (as well as Doo-Wop's AOTY nod). I'm not at all surprised to see this song on the list, but I would be surprised if it won, given that I think this is about fourth on the list. Still, in Britain, this is the single that kept Adele's aforementioned megahit from hitting #1. Counting his guest vocal on B.o.B's "Nothin' on You," this is Mars' second ROTY nomination. [US peak: #1(4 weeks), UK peak: #1(2 weeks)]

Mumford & Sons - "The Cave"

There's one main reason this song is on the list and it's a really important one: During last February's Grammys, British indie folk quartet Mumford & Sons, nominated for best new artist and rock song, charmed critics and audiences with their stirring live performance of this song. It generated a lot of buzz, sending their single into the top 40 and making their album, Sign No More, a bestseller (it sold twice as much this year as it did last year when it was released). Good will like that is extremely valuable and thus "The Cave" becomes an unlikely although not unexpected ROTY nominee. [US peak: #27, UK peak: #31]

Katy Perry - "Firework"

In the middle of Perry's five-song streak of #1 hits from Teenage Dream (a 2010 AOTY nominee) came "Firework," the biggest of her singles from the 2011 eligibility period. Despite the cultural significance associated with her singles "I Kissed a Girl" and "California Gurls," neither snagged a ROTY nominee, making this Perry's first. I chalk that up to a bias against big summer hits (although Rihanna's "Umbrella" and Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" did receive nominations). [US peak: #1(4 weeks), UK peak: #3]

The snubs:

Don't really see any major snubs in ROTY this year; snubs in general are hard to identify, since the field is so wide open. Some people may think Lady Gaga was snubbed for "Born This Way," but she didn't submit the song for contention (she didn't even submit "The Edge of Glory"), and it's really not a surprise that "Judas" or "You and I" weren't nominated.

Among the other AOTY nominees not represented in ROTY, Foo Fighters didn't have a breakout hit like they did in 2007 ("The Pretender," a ROTY nominee from their AOTY-nominated album). And Rihanna didn't submit anything from Loud; she submitted "We Found Love" instead, perhaps too new to draw much attention.

The songs I'd have thought had a chance at getting in here that didn't make it are (in order): 1) Foster the People - "Pumped Up Kicks," 2) Maroon 5 & Christina Aguilera - "Moves Like Jagger", 3) Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson - "Don't You Wanna Stay," 4) Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga - "The Lady Is a Tramp," 5) Nicki Minaj - "Super Bass," and 6) Taylor Swift "Back to December."

Grammy Nominations Announced

Grammy nominees were announced last night, with Kanye West scoring the most nominations (7); however, surprisingly not netting an Album of the Year nod for last year's critical darling, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

In a decidedly pop-heavy slate, Album of the Year nominations went to Adele, Foo Fighters, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and Rihanna (for last year's Loud).

Record of the Year nominations were snagged by Adele ("Rolling in the Deep"), Mars ("Grenade"), Katy Perry ("Firework"), Mumford and Son "(The Cave") and, also surprisingly, Bon Iver ("Holocene"). All but Perry were also honored in Song of the Year, where Kanye West's "All of the Lights" was also nominated.

As expected, Nicki Minaj tops the list of Best New Artist nominees, where she'll compete against The Band Perry, Bon Iver, J. Cole and surprise nominee Skrillex.

More to come later!

The One That Got Away

Katy Perry's released another stylish video. Finally I get to hear the single mix of "The One that Got Away." Do you like the makeup or does she pull a J. Edgar?

Katy Perry Achieves Hot 100 History

Congratulations are due to Katy Perry, who tomorrow, will become only the second artist in history to have an album generate five #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. After having been held at bay by LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem," Perry's "Last Friday Night (TGIF)" will top the Hot 100 tomorrow, becoming the fifth single from her album, Teenage Dream, to achieve that feat.

Perry's previous four chart-toppers from Teenage Dream began hitting #1 last summer with the album's first single, "California Gurls" (feat. Snoop Dogg), which spent 6 weeks at #1, followed by the album's title track (2 weeks at #1), then "Firework," which spent 4 weeks at #1, and then spring's "E.T." (feat. Kanye West), which spent 5 weeks at #1.

The first album to have achieved this feat was Bad (1987), Michael Jackson's seventh studio album, which saw its first five singles reach #1: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (1 week), "Bad" (2 wks), "The Way You Make Me Feel" (1 week), "Man in the Mirror" (2 weeks) and "Dirty Diana" (1 week).

Although Bad scored its five #1 hits within a shorter period of time--about 9 months compared to Teenage Dream's 14 months--Teenage Dream's #1s have collectively spent many more weeks at #1--18 in total--versus the 7 weeks for Bad's singles.

Bad's haul in terms of weeks is actually quite small among albums with multiple #1s. Among those that have had four our more #1s, it ties Whitney Houston's Whitney (1987) for fewest weeks at #1 ("I Wanna Dance With Somebody"-2 weeks, "Didn't We Almost Have It All"-2 weeks, "So Emotional"-1 week and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go"-2 weeks). Among such albums, Usher's Confessions (2004) reigns with 28 weeks at #1 for its four #1 hits ("Yeah"-12 weeks, "Burn"-8 weeks, "Confessions Part II"-2 weeks and "MyBoo"-6 weeks), which is the most weeks at #1 an album's singles have achieved, tied with The Black Eyed Peas' 28 weeks for its three singles from The E.N.D. (2009): "Boom Boom Pow"-12 weeks, "I Gotta Feeling"-14 weeks and "Imma Be"-2 weeks. Four other albums have had singles collectively spend at least 20 weeks at #1:

• Mariah Carey's Daydream (1995), 26 weeks with 3 #1s ("Fantasy"-8 weeks, "One Sweet Day"-16 weeks and "Always Be My Baby"-2 weeks)
• Santana's Supernatural (1999), 22 weeks with 2 #1s ("Smooth"-12 weeks and "Maria Maria"-10 weeks)
• Monica's The Boy Is Mine (1998), 22 weeks with 3 #1s ("The Boy Is Mine"-13 weeks, "The First Night"-5 weeks and "Angel of Mine"-4 weeks)
• Boyz II Men's II (1994), 20 weeks with 2 #1s ("I'll Make Love to You"-14 weeks and "On Bended Knee"-6 weeks).

Teenage Dream would be next in line with its 18 weeks, at least so far.

Katy Perry "Last Friday Night (TGIF)"

So what's Debbie Gibson doing these days? Apparently starring in Katy Perry's latest video, along with Corey Feldman, Glee's Darren Criss and Kevin McHale, Rebecca Black, Kenny G and Hanson. I thought this song was pretty ridiculous on the album, but as a single, it's actually pretty fun and this video is great. Who's that hot guy Katy beds?

Grammy Album of the Year

The Grammy Awards are tomorrow night, so like many observers, I'm thinking about who might win, as well as who should.

Album of the Year seems pretty sewn up this year, but I'd love to see a spoiler here. Three of the nominees are pretty easy to dismiss. Katy Perry's Teenage Dream didn't deserve the nomination in the first place, and I think a lot of Grammy voters would agree it is not deserving. Lady Antebellum's Need You Now isn't really my style, but from what I've read, it's not even the frontrunner for Best Country Album, let alone Album of the Year. And Arcade Fire's The Suburbs, despite being the best album here, isn't popular enough to generate widespread support.

That leaves Eminem and Lady Gaga duking it out for the win. Although relative newcomer Taylor Swift won the award last year, most recent honorees have been veterans, and believe it or not, Enimem is the most veteran act nominated this year. He was twice nominated before in 2000 for The Marshall Mathers LP and in 2002 for The Eminem Show, leading some voters to possibly view it as his "turn" to win. Recovery was also viewed as a comeback for him, giving him his biggest hit in years. It was also the best-selling album of last year, a factor that may have also worked in Taylor Swift's favor last year, as the music industry continues to struggle with album sales in the post-CD world. These factors will likely lead Recovery to victory tomorrow night, and it won't be Eminem's only statue either.

Yet, wouldn't it be grand to see an upset here? Yes, Eminem generated a lot of sales, but 12 years into the limelight now, he's just not that interesting. The figure who has most arguably reinvigorated pop music the most in the last 2 years is Lady Gaga, who just this week unleashed her latest sugary pop confection. Fame Monster was a lean and mean set of great pop songs. That it's considered an EP is probably a strike against it, as is her still "newcomer" status, but still, it's a much better album than most of the nominees.

Will win: Eminem
Should win: Lady Gaga (or Arcade Fire)

What I Said...

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (4.5). "The Suburbs is infused with that special type of youthful angst that the suburbs are adept at producing: an unholy blend of rage and boredom. Although the concept gets a bit heavy handed, particularly on closing duo 'Sprawl,' it serves to provide an interesting thematic thread through these songs, which deliver as much musical variety as we’ve heard from the band."



Eminem - Recovery (3). "Recovery has a lot of pop appeal, although it's an interesting twist of how hip-hop can appropriate pop into something dark and sinister. The kind of wicked goofiness that he showed on his earlier work, such as "Without Me" or "The Real Slim Shady" is missing here. Instead, the album is dominated by plodding, dark, guitar-driven songs that hybridize rap and pop, often with a great sample."



Lady Antebellum - Need You Now (3.5). "I'm not a big country listener, but I don't need a broad grounding in the genre to know this sounds very commercial. It's clearly meant to generate hits, which is a double-edged sword. Sure, it sounds slick, and there are some winners here, but there's also nothing really different or interesting that hasn't been done before."



Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster (4). "As much as anything, The Fame Monster advances Lady GaGa's apparent bid to become the new Madonna, taking several pages from the singer's '80s and early '90s playbooks. With Madonna moving on to do who-knows-what with the Live Earth people, its a role I'm happy to see someone take on."




Katy Perry - Teenage Dream (2.5). "With Teenage Dream, Katy Perry establishes herself as the poster child for prolonged adolescence, taking us through a carefree romp of drinking, flirting, and partying with hardly an adult consequence in sight. After [a] strong opening, the album goes downhill pretty fast, from a few more songs of mild interest, to quite a few that are just...well, dull."

Glee "Teenage Dream"

#1 at iTunes right now!

Katy Perry - Teenage Dream (2.5/5)

Cultural observers have written about the concept of prolonged adolescence--young adults who, for various reasons (extended education, living with parents, single carefree lifestyles), haven't yet "grown up." With Teenage Dream, her second major album, Katy Perry establishes herself as the poster child for prolonged adolescence, taking us through a carefree romp of drinking, flirting, and partying with hardly an adult consequence in sight.

We've already heard the album's two best tracks: the explosive title track that iTunes tells me I've managed to listen to 33 times in just over a month, and the massive summer smash "California Gurls," which let the world know that young Californian females prefer to dress in "daisy dukes; bikinis on top." Perry's not been a teenager herself for 7 years, but you'd never know it from these hits. Sandwiched between them is the rather banal "Last Fright Night (TGIF)," an ode to partying so serious that it leads to blackouts, embarrassing Facebook pictures and even an arrest warrant. Despite that, it ends with the promise that this Friday night, Katy and her pals will "do it all again." Alrighty girls. I do admire the song's effort to bring back the middle 8 saxophone solo.

After this strong opening, the album goes downhill pretty fast, from a few more songs of mild interest, to quite a few that are just...well, dull. Dance pop track "Firework" has a cool strings arrangement, but an unfortunately annoying chorus that Perry manages to really over-sing. "Peacock" manages to be even more absurd than "TGIF," consisting of Perry begging for some guy to show her his [title track minus "pea"]. Right. Rocking "Circle in the Drain" is the album's attempt at some seriousness, with Perry confronting some guy who's thrown his life down the drain. It's actually quite dark and doesn't really fit.

Lyrically, Perry's got some pretty odd metaphors going here. "E.T." has a pretty solid beat, but comparing sexual chemistry to alien abduction that is downright "extra-terrestrial" is a bit much. "Hummingbird Heartbeat" is even nuttier--saying some guy's so hot he makes Perry's heart flutter like a hummingbird, which an ornithologist could tell you is 23 times per second. Poor Perry's headed for a heart attack. The album reaches its lowest point with "Who Am I Living For?" and "Pearl," which I just don't find very interesting.

"The One that Got Away" is a pretty decent, upbeat song that looks back on Perry's real teenage years with nostalgia, reminiscing about listening to Radiohead and getting "matching tattoos." This could make a good single if they want to go for something a little sweeter. Like the album's first two hits, this one is produced by Swedish mastermind producer Max Martin and his American buddy Dr. Luke. The album is chockablock full of big-name producers, including Stargate and Tricky Stewart. Greg Wells helms the album's closing number, "Not Like the Movies," which is a lovely piano number and the album's only slow song. Despite its cliched lyrics, it's a nice ballad to end the set.

I'm disappointed by this album, which I found to be quite mediocre. While it has some great pop songs, as a whole, it falls short. Perry's songs may sound great in a iPod mix, but all strung together they highlight her shortcomings, namely her perchance for tasteless, cliched lyrics. I fully expect Teenage Dream to keep delivering some hits, but I bet they'll be more enjoyable on their own.

Best: Teenage Dream, California Gurls, The One that Got Away

Katy Perry "Teenage Dream"

Katy Perry looks to have another major hit on her hands with "Teenage Dream," the title track and second single from her upcoming album due August 24. This is actually another great single from her and I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was another #1 hit for her.

Katy Perry - California Gurls

Since its release last week, "California Gurls" has been #1 at iTunes and has experienced incredible gains at radio. At top 40, it's already #20, up from #40 a week ago, and gaining over 2700 spins from last week, making the song an instant hit. I'd be pretty surprised if this isn't #1 on the Hot 100 tomorrow. Certainly it's a strong contender for the first song of summer 2010.

The song is produced by Max Martin, Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco. It reminds me a bit of late '90s daft punk. This is the first single from Perry's next album, Teenage Dream, with features a real dream team of behind-the-booth collaborations (the aforementioned plus Cathy Dennis, Tricky Stewart, Guy Sigsworth, Greg Wells, Ryan Tedder, Rodney Jerkins, Greg Kurstin and Rivers Cuomo from Weezer).