Ryan Book, The Music Times

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  • Fall Out Boy and Meghan Trainor Set January Mark with New Albums on Billboard 200, while Taylor Swift Stays Comfortable

    Fall Out Boy and a slew of other new albums broke the dam and brought forth a flood of debuts back onto the Billboard 200 after the holiday sales lull. That band's American Beauty/American Psycho premiered at no. 1 with 218,000 equivalent albums sold, and its 192,000 actual album sales teamed with Meghan Trainor's debut last week for the first pair of albums released during January to top 150,000 apiece since 2010. American Beauty marked a significant uptick in sales from the band's 2013 album Save Rock and Roll.

  • Marvin Gaye/Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams 'Blurred Lines' Lawsuit Hits Roadblock as Audio Recordings Disallowed

    Marvin Gaye's estate insists that "Blurred Lines," the top song of 2013 by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, is unmistakably similar to the soul singer's "Got To Give It Up," and indeed many who listen to the tracks will be able to hear the likeness. However, a judge has ruled that jurors in the case won't be able to listen to the two songs as part of their deliberations...which hardly seems fair but there is legal reasoning behind it.

  • Ailee, San E and Jay Park Touring Together Across United States with One Surprising European Stop

    A trio of K-Pop stars—Ailee, San E and Jay Park—will take part in a "world" tour featuring five North American dates during March. K-Pop acts are branching more and more into waters outside of Asia as the genre develops an audience in Europe and the United States but, as Billboard points out, rarely do acts actually tour together. Generally one act plots a few dates across the United States and can do well enough. The "Unite The Mic 2015 Tour" serves as a great sampler for those wanting to check the scene out...or as a great deal in general for American K-Pop fans.

  • Sly Stone's Net Worth Looking Better as Los Angeles Court Rules in His Favor for $5 Million Payout

    Sly Stone has some money to bring home to the Family after a Los Angeles court ruled in his favor as part of a lawsuit against his old company, a former manager and a former attorney. The performer, once part of the legendary Sly and The Family Stone, alleged that he didn't receive royalties for more than a decade while the defendants claimed the opposite, along with their help getting him out of financial trouble.

  • Tom DeLonge's Twitter Claim Blink-182 Discussed Replacing Travis Barker? True Story, Says Mark Hoppus

    The future of Blink-182 continues to waver as Mark Hoppus confirmed that he and Tom DeLonge had discussed the possibility of replacing drummer Travis Barker as recently as 2013. However he clarified that the comments came in a moment of frustration for DeLonge and that they shouldn't be taken too seriously. The new news stems from a tweet that DeLonge sent after quitting/being fired from Blink earlier this week (the jury's still out on which it is).

  • Ernie Banks Remembered: 5 Famous Musical Figures Big on The Chicago Cubs...Eddie Vedder, Jimmy Buffett and More

    Ernie Banks, an MLB Hall of Famer and longtime face of the Chicago Cubs organization, died last week at the age of 83. He was an amazing shortstop, winning gold gloves and home run titles and MVP awards during his career, but perhaps he will be best known as representing the Cubs organization better than any other player. The team has been notorious for its inability to secure a World Series title, having not won since 1907 and not even making the big series since 1945. Yet its fans remain some of the friendliest in baseball. Check out five music stars who have also kept their tempers in check while supporting the Cubs over the years.

  • 5 Great Rock Docs Focusing on UK Acts and The '70s: David Bowie's 'Cracked Actor,' 'The Kids Are Alright' and More

    David Bowie has had several documentaries made about his legendary and varied career but none have come close to the original: Cracked Era, which debuted on the BBC during 1975 and caught the vocalist following the release of Diamond Dogs and his preparation for the tour in support of the album. More relevantly, it caught Bowie at the peak of his addiction to cocaine and gave viewers a look at the paranoia and mental exhaustion it caused him. Bowie was far from the only British musician from that era to be captured on film. Here are five other documentaries (some mad during the decade and some made later looking back) that give viewers a new understanding of that period in UK music history.

  • Mikal Cronin New Music and Tour: Rocker Releases New Song and Announces Album 'MKIII' [Look & Listen]

    Mikal Cronin may not exactly be the same kind of guitar-centric act as Led Zeppelin but the Laguna Beach rocker sure takes a clue from Jimmy page and co. when it comes to naming his albums: He just announced the release of his third LP, MKIII. That follows in the footsteps of 2013's excellent MKII and his 2011 debut Mikal Cronin. At least his album art is evolving along the way. MKII only featured a photo of clouds while MKIII features an ink-wash (which kind of looks like clouds?) and the performer's glum-looking face.

  • 'Full House' Theme Song Gets Royal Reunion Treatment from Bob Saget, John Stamos and More [WATCH]

    The Full House theme song got royal treatment over the weekend when the sitcom's cast sang it while attending the birthday party for show creator Jeff Franklin. Bob Saget, John Stamos and Lori Loughlin were among the talent from the show to take the stage, as well as Candace Cameron (D.J. Tanner on the show). As Billboard points out, the reunion performance didn't include either Mary Kate or Ashley Olsen, nor was second uncle Dave Coulier at the gig.

  • Lady Gaga and Daft Punk Collaborator Giorgio Moroder Working Together on Pop Star's New Album

    Lady Gaga continues to roll out collaborators for her new album, or in this case Giorgio Moroder presented himself as working with the performer, telling PopJustice that he had about five or six tracks prepared for presentation. Moroder must be in demand among pop stars right now, as the Gaga revelation slipped while he was discussing his work with Britney Spears as part of his own solo record.

  • Sam Smith "Stay With Me": Vocalist Pays Tom Petty Royalties on Hit Single for "I Won't Back Down" Similarity

    Sam Smith's "2014" was one one of the bestselling songs of 2014, and perhaps its had a little too much in common with "I Won't Back Down," another classic by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. It was revealed earlier this week that the soul vocalist has been paying royalties to Petty as a songwriter for the song, although not with all of the legal drama we often associate with similar tunes, such as the ongoing lawsuit between the Marvin Gaye estate and Robin Thicke comparing the 2013 hit "Blurred Lines" with that soul singer's "Got To Give It Up."

  • 5 Songs Banned in Sports: "CoCo" by O.T. Genasis, "Dixieland Delight" by Alabama, "Sweet Caroline and More

    Klay Thompson went HAM this week when his Golden State Warriors faced the Sacramento Kings last week: The shooting guard scored 37 points during the third quarter, setting the record for scoring in just one period, along with the record for most 3-pointers during one quarter. The team probably wanted to sing after finishing the game with a 25-point win, but alas the NBA and team executives have requested the team stop posting videos of the team singing its trademark song. Here are five songs that have gotten banned in sports and how they offended (meanwhile you can also check out a shortened video of Thompson's performance here via Sports Illustrated).
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