Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from No Doubt losing control of their image, to Sublime losing their name, to MAE losing all their stuff, and since it's Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.
* Video game creator Activision is finding themselves in hot water again for the way they're using musicians' likenesses in their "Hero" games. First they were called out by the surviving members of Nirvana and Courtney Love for making Kurt Cobain a playable character in Guitar Hero 5 for ANY song, and now No Doubt is suing the video game company for the same issue, this time with Band Hero making Gwen Stefani available for ANY song. According to an interview with the LA Times, No Doubt's manager Jim Guerinot said the band "agreed to play three No Doubt songs as a band. Activision then went and put them in 62 other songs and broke the band up (and) never even asked." I'm sorry, I like No Doubt a lot, but if you're THAT concerned about your image, don't sign away your likeness. It's as simple as that. As an aside, last time I checked, none of the rappers in the Def Jam Vendetta video games are invincible; you can kick all their asses, both with other rappers and with normal characters. Maybe they realized it's a VIDEO GAME.
* Rihanna's sit down with Diane Sawyer on ABC's 20/20 was the interview heard ‘round the pop music world. The domestic abuse survivor discussed the events that happened with her ex-boyfriend, Chris Brown, noting she saw "no soul in his eyes" during his most violent times. It's really too bad she didn't say any of these things during the trial, when her words could have had some serious repercussions. She could have had Brown's ass locked up rather than on the cover of the upcoming re-launch of Vibe. I really hope Rihanna just wasn't able to open up about everything back then, because if this is a case where people around her told her to wait to talk about it until right before her album release date I'm gonna need a barf bucket for my disgust.
* They may still have love, but a name is something they haven't "got" anymore as the surviving members of Sublime were told by an LA judge that they could no longer perform under the name. Apparently the estate of deceased frontman Bradley Nowell owns the name and filed a trademark lawsuit against the band. A judge ruled in the favor of the family, and now the band, which is now fronted by Rome Ramirez, is in need of a name. I have a feeling coming up with a new one could take a while, too, because folks who "smoke two joints in the morning" aren't usually known for their quick decision making abilities.
* There are actually two Broadway related pop music stories this week as Ashlee Simpson may be signing on for a starring role in the Broadway production of Chicago, and the musical version of Spider-Man has found its lead in rock singer Reeve Carney (http://www.carneyband.com). I'm not sure how much fail I can squeeze into one Shot, but let's see. Simpson actually played the part of Roxie Hart in a London production of Chicago for five weeks in 2006, so if they can just ship the backing vocals she lip synched to over there she can avoid any impromptu jigs offstage. Spider-Man the musical is set to feature a score by Bono and The Edge of U2, neither of which have I ever seen pictured, or talking about, reading a comic book. All in all, Spider-Man the musical sounds like the worst idea since... well... Ashlee Simpson in a Broadway production.
* In a horribly unwelcome reenactment of the seminal film classic Dude Where's My Car, alt-rock trio MAE ended up playing the parts of Ashton Kutcher and Sean William Scott when they woke up in Philadelphia after two nights of performing there to find their van and trailer, which had all their instruments, equipment and merchandise in them, stolen. The band, surprisingly, seemed to take it all in stride, saying "This misfortune has fallen among many of our friends in the past and after touring for eight years this sort of thing is bound to happen." With only four dates left on the tour they decided to rent a van to finish it out and, according to their representatives, are "currently accepting fan donations for the loss."
* The Pop Shots video pick of the week is actually a commercial. With album sales in the toilet artists have had to come up with some pretty creative ways to get their music to people. Some have gone into partnerships with specialty stores, while others have gone the "tour till we die" route. Weezer may have just found the most interesting way to promote an album, though - with their own branded Snuggie. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that a band as quirky and fun as Weezer came up with this. Check out the hilarious ad.
And with that, my time is up for the week, but I'll be back next week with more shots on all things pop.
* Video game creator Activision is finding themselves in hot water again for the way they're using musicians' likenesses in their "Hero" games. First they were called out by the surviving members of Nirvana and Courtney Love for making Kurt Cobain a playable character in Guitar Hero 5 for ANY song, and now No Doubt is suing the video game company for the same issue, this time with Band Hero making Gwen Stefani available for ANY song. According to an interview with the LA Times, No Doubt's manager Jim Guerinot said the band "agreed to play three No Doubt songs as a band. Activision then went and put them in 62 other songs and broke the band up (and) never even asked." I'm sorry, I like No Doubt a lot, but if you're THAT concerned about your image, don't sign away your likeness. It's as simple as that. As an aside, last time I checked, none of the rappers in the Def Jam Vendetta video games are invincible; you can kick all their asses, both with other rappers and with normal characters. Maybe they realized it's a VIDEO GAME.* Rihanna's sit down with Diane Sawyer on ABC's 20/20 was the interview heard ‘round the pop music world. The domestic abuse survivor discussed the events that happened with her ex-boyfriend, Chris Brown, noting she saw "no soul in his eyes" during his most violent times. It's really too bad she didn't say any of these things during the trial, when her words could have had some serious repercussions. She could have had Brown's ass locked up rather than on the cover of the upcoming re-launch of Vibe. I really hope Rihanna just wasn't able to open up about everything back then, because if this is a case where people around her told her to wait to talk about it until right before her album release date I'm gonna need a barf bucket for my disgust.
* They may still have love, but a name is something they haven't "got" anymore as the surviving members of Sublime were told by an LA judge that they could no longer perform under the name. Apparently the estate of deceased frontman Bradley Nowell owns the name and filed a trademark lawsuit against the band. A judge ruled in the favor of the family, and now the band, which is now fronted by Rome Ramirez, is in need of a name. I have a feeling coming up with a new one could take a while, too, because folks who "smoke two joints in the morning" aren't usually known for their quick decision making abilities.
* There are actually two Broadway related pop music stories this week as Ashlee Simpson may be signing on for a starring role in the Broadway production of Chicago, and the musical version of Spider-Man has found its lead in rock singer Reeve Carney (http://www.carneyband.com). I'm not sure how much fail I can squeeze into one Shot, but let's see. Simpson actually played the part of Roxie Hart in a London production of Chicago for five weeks in 2006, so if they can just ship the backing vocals she lip synched to over there she can avoid any impromptu jigs offstage. Spider-Man the musical is set to feature a score by Bono and The Edge of U2, neither of which have I ever seen pictured, or talking about, reading a comic book. All in all, Spider-Man the musical sounds like the worst idea since... well... Ashlee Simpson in a Broadway production.* In a horribly unwelcome reenactment of the seminal film classic Dude Where's My Car, alt-rock trio MAE ended up playing the parts of Ashton Kutcher and Sean William Scott when they woke up in Philadelphia after two nights of performing there to find their van and trailer, which had all their instruments, equipment and merchandise in them, stolen. The band, surprisingly, seemed to take it all in stride, saying "This misfortune has fallen among many of our friends in the past and after touring for eight years this sort of thing is bound to happen." With only four dates left on the tour they decided to rent a van to finish it out and, according to their representatives, are "currently accepting fan donations for the loss."
* The Pop Shots video pick of the week is actually a commercial. With album sales in the toilet artists have had to come up with some pretty creative ways to get their music to people. Some have gone into partnerships with specialty stores, while others have gone the "tour till we die" route. Weezer may have just found the most interesting way to promote an album, though - with their own branded Snuggie. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that a band as quirky and fun as Weezer came up with this. Check out the hilarious ad.
And with that, my time is up for the week, but I'll be back next week with more shots on all things pop.
Adam BernardWelcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from Dancing With The Stars finding some hot celebrities willing to test their skills, to a hot new voice for Smurfette, to a famous family getting themselves in some really hot water, and since it's Pop Shots, you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude. Read More ...
William DeshairI wanted to set the table with this edition of "R.eal A.nd P.ersonal" for columns to come on the subject of the Female Emcee. As time goes on, I will slowly phase out that title and ho Read More ...
Matt BjorkeBeing a huge fan of music, I learned of American Idol and watched it from the first season. The success of Kelly Clarkson and Chris Daughtry, Clay Aiken and Carrie Underwood may have made Idol a viable television property and given the music industry one more outlet to find talent. But rarely has it offered up an interesting topic for debate such as the presence of teen country singer Haeley Vaughn on Season 9's ros Read More ...
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