Showing posts with label LMFAO. Show all posts

Friday, August 4, 2023

On This Day in Music (1958): The Billboard Hot 100 Is Introduced

August 4, 1958

The Billboard Hot 100 Is Introduced

When a song is cited as reaching #1, chances are good that the chart in question is the Billboard Hot 100. While Billboard has competitors, no one has dominated as an industry standard quite like them.

The Hot 100 grew out of several other charts from the 1940s and ‘50s. A “Best Sellers in Stores” chart ranked 20 to 50 songs based on national surveys of what sold at retail. The “Most Played by Jocks” list, 20-25 spots, keyed in on what radio stations and their DJ’s across the country reported they were playing. The “Most Played in Jukeboxes” list (20 spots) ranked the most-played songs in jukeboxes throughout the United States. ^WK1

Between 1957 and 1958, all three charts were phased out in favor of the Hot 100. The latter chart consolidated information from the others. Initially, more weight was given to sales, but as the album became the more dominant format, airplay gained more emphasis. In its present incarnation, Nielsen BDS handles the task of compiling more precise measurements for the Billboard charts.

Roughly 1000 stations of multiple formats are “digitally monitored twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Charts are ranked by number of gross audience impressions, computed by cross-referencing exact times of radio airplay with Arbitron listener data.” ^WK1

The top-selling singles ranking is “compiled from a national sample of retail store, mass merchant and internet sales reports collected, compiled, and provided by Nielsen SoundScan.” ^WK1 “Digital sales are tracked by Nielsen SoundScan and are included as part of a title’s sales points.” ^WK2

For more important days in music history, check out the Dave’s Music Database history page.

Resources and Related Links:

Dave’s Music Database: “History Index”
Billboard (8/4/1958). Billboard Hot 100 for August 4, 1958
^WK1 Wikipedia.org: Billboard Hot 100
^WK2 Wikipedia.org: List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones

First posted 8/4/2011; updated 8/4/2023.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Madonna’s Super Bowl Halftime Performance

Amazon.com Widgets

Nicki Minaj, Madonna, and M.I.A.

The last couple days’ blog posts focused on the Super Bowl halftime shows with one post focused on the 5 worst halftime shows of all time and another post dedicated to the top 10 halftime shows. To wrap things up, today we’ll revisit Madonna’s halftime performance from last night in which she delivered a football-themed “high-energy spectacle packed with Roman warriors, Cirque du Soleil dancers, marching bands, cheerleaders, and some very famous guests.” ^MTV

She entered in “Cleopatra mode” ^MTV on a throne accompanied by Roman warriors while she sang “Vogue”. She segued into “Music”, complete with dancers doing acrobatics on bleachers, a tightrope walker doing flips on a wire, and a mash-up with LMFAO and brief bits from their #1 hits “Party Rock Anthem” and “Sexy and I Know It”.

In continuing the guest star parade, she trotted out Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. in cheerleader outfits to contribute to “Give Me All Your Luvin”, the new Madonna single on which the pair also sing. By aligning herself with some of today’s biggest names in music, Madonna seemed to “position herself as the queen of a new generation of pop stars.” ^CBS

Finally, Cee-Lo Green entered as a drum major, backed by dancers in maching band attire. After brief interludes of “Open Your Heart” and “Express Yourself”, Madonna, Cee-Lo, and the dancers shifted into gospel wear and closed out the show with “Like a Prayer”. After that, she disappeared in a puff of smoke down a trap door and the field lit up with the words “World Peace”.

As expected, the 12-minute show was very visual and heavily choreographed. As one blogger said, everyone knew she’d make it “dazzling and unforgettable” ^NJ and the show “was probably the most impressive Super Bowl halftime performance ever.” ^NJ Despite how nervous she’d said she was before hand, Madonna tore “through her hits with plenty of superstar swagger.” ^MTV Unlike last year’s Black Eyed Peas, who looked like “awkward amateurs,” ^NJ Madonna looked like “she belonged there.” ^NJ

Critics were quick to suggest that her “vocals were not strong throughout” ^CBS and simultaneously rip on her for her “vocals being lip synched or augmented by tapes.” ^WSJ She also appeared to slip on the stage during “Music”, but quickly recovered. For those fearing a “wardrobe malfunction” or other deliberate controversy-baiting moments, Madonna managed several costume changes, but all without incident. However, M.I.A. flipped the bird while belting out a line with an expletive bleeped out.

One of the strangest pre-show criticisms was that Madonna wouldn’t appeal to football fans. For those uttering such rumblings, perhaps they need a reminder that this is the most televised event of the year attracting the eyeballs of more than 100 million viewers. There are a lot more than just football fans tuning in. The halftime show should feature an iconic singer who can provide solid entertainment. Given that criteria, Madonna was a perfect fit.

Resources and Related Links:

the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry for Madonna
^BB Billboard Madonna Rocks Super Bowl Halftime Show With Old Hits, New Friends (2/5/2012)
^CBS CBS News M.I.A. flips birds in Super Bowl halftime show (2/5/2012)
^MTV MTV.com Madonna Gives High Energy Super Bowl Halftime Show by John Mitchell (2/5/2012)
^NJ NJ.com M.I.A. flips birds in Super Bowl halftime show (2/5/2012)
^WSJ Wall Street Journal Madonna Super Bowl halftime show blog by Jay Lustig, The Star-Ledger (2/5/2012)

Saturday, January 7, 2012

LMFAO hit #1 again with “Sexy and I Know It”

Sexy and I Know It

LMFAO

Writer(s): Stefan Kendal, Gordy David, Jamahl Listenbee, Erin Beck, George M. Robertson, Kenneth Oliver (see lyrics here)

Released: September 16, 2011

First Charted: July 30, 2011

Peak: 1² US, 2 RR, 1⁵ DG, 27 A40, 5 UK, 1⁴ CN, 1⁹ AU, 6 DF (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): 8.0 US, 1.2 UK, 10.77 world (includes US + UK)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 983.90 video, 423.92 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

LMFAO was an electronic dance duo comprised of Redfoo (Motown founder Berry Gordy’s youngest son) and Sky Bluu (Gordy’s grandson). They released their first album, Party Rock, in 2009. It generated three minor Billboard Hot 100 entries, none of which got past #51. However, their second album, 2011’s Sorry for Party Rockin’, went all the way to #5 on the Billboard album chart and reached sales of 1.7 million worldwide, thanks to a pair of #1 songs.

“Party Rock Anthem” was their big breakthrough hit, reaching #1 in July 2011. After “Champagne Showers” failed to dent the Billboard Hot 100, it looked like LMFAO might have already come and gone. Then, however, “Sexy and I Know It” was released as the third single. It reached the top 10 within a month and by November was at #2. It looked like it might peak there, getting stuck behind Rihanna’s “We Found Love” for seven weeks, but finally in January 2012 “Sexy and I Know It” reached the pole position.

The duo rap “in a comically boastful manner” ^SF “about how girls can’t resist their unorthodox style.” ^SF It is reminiscent of the 1992 #1 hit “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred. ^SF The video features Redfoo and some of the LMFAO crew dancing in Speedos.

Redfoo said the song was inspired by “people who obviously think they are [attractive] but by normal standards are not, like the hairy old men in a Speedo on the beach with huge bellies, sunglasses, and a cigar.” ^SF No Ripcord offered a brutal review of the song, calling it “a repetitive, dull, bone-headed track, devoid of imagination, wit and charm.” ^NR Entertainment Weekly offered a somewhat nicer take, saying “as blithely brainless disco squiggles go, it does make the booties bounce.” ^EW

Resources:

DMDB encyclopedia entry for LMFAO
^EW Entertainment Weekly
^NR No Ripcord
^SF Songfacts
^WK Wikipedia

First posted 6/24/2023; last updated 4/1/2024.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Top 50 Songs of 2011

Dave’s Music Database:

Top 50 Songs of 2011

These are the top 50 songs of the year based on their overall performance in Dave’s Music Database, which is determined by combining chart data, sales figures, streaming, video views, and aggregates from 30 year-end lists (sources at bottom of page).

Check out “Top Songs and Albums of the Year” lists here.

DMDB Top 1%:

Gotye & Kimbra “Somebody That I Used to Know”
Carly Rae Jepsen “Call Me Maybe”
Rihanna & Calvin Harris “We Found Love”
LMFAO, Lauren Bennett & GoonRock “Party Rock Anthem”
Maroon 5 with Christina Aguilera “Moves Like Jagger”
Adele “Someone Like You”
Fun. & Janelle Monáe “We Are Young”
LMFAO “Sexy and I Know It”
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with Ray Dalton “Can’t Hold Us”
Pitbull with Ne-Yo, Afrojack, & Nayer “Give Me Everything”
Lady Gaga “Born This Way”
DMDB Top 2%:
Adele “Set Fire to the Rain”
One Direction “What Makes You Beautiful”
Kelly Clarkson “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”
Nicki Minaj “Super Bass”
Jennifer Lopez with Pitbull “On the Floor”
Christina Perri “A Thousand Years”
Jay-Z with Kanye West “Niggas in Paris”
David Guetta with Sia “Titanium”
DMDB Top 5%:
The Black Keys “Lonley Boy”
Flo Rida “Good Feeling”
Coldplay “Paradise”
Of Monsters and Men “Little Talks”
Ed Sheeran “The A Team”
Flo Rida with Sia “Wild One”
Eric Church “Springsteen”
Imagine Dragons “It’s Time”
Lana Del Rey “Video Games”
Justin Bieber “Mistletoe”
Jessie J with B.o.B. “Price Tag”
The Wanted “Glad You Came”
Lady Gaga “The Edge of Glory”
M83 “Midnight City”
Foo Fighters “Walk”
Bruno Mars “It Will Rain”
Luke Bryan “Country Girl (Shake It for Me)”
Hunter Hayes “Wanted”
DMDB Top 10%:
Adele “Rumour Has It”
Tony Bennett with Amy Winehouse “Body and Soul”
Grouplove “Tongue Tied”
Calvin Harris “Feel So Close”
Chris Brown with Lil Wayne & Busta “Look at Me Now”
Foo Fighters “Rope”
Coldplay “Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall”
Michel Teló “Ai Se Eu Te Pego”
Jessie J. “Domino”
Florence + the Machine “Shake It Out”
Beyoncé “Love on Top”
Rihanna “Where Have You Been”
Gym Class Heroes with Adam Levine “Stereo Hearts”

Resources/Related Links:

First posted 12/28/2011; last updated 1/18/2023.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” hit #1