When we geared up to launch a new season of Big Morning Buzz Live, one potential first-week musical guest jumped immediately to mind: Hanson. When we premiered the music video for “Give A Little” back in February, our own Mark Graham presaged the return of alto saxophone in pop while praising the track, which would go on to hit #1 on our Top 20 Video Countdown in April. One sax-filled summer later, we’re finally ready for autumn, and who better to ring in a new season than Hanson, playing a stripped-down “Give A Little” live in-studio? The band also spoke to host Carrie Keagan about their fans, Isaac’s “solo career,” the popularity of This Time Around (the album after “Mmm Bop”), and Halloween. Plus, as a Buzz.VH1.com online exclusive, they then performed“Mmm Bop.”
Our sister site The Fab Life also pulled the band aside to ask the question that’s on all of our minds: is Hanson prepared for a zombie apocalypse? There’s plenty more like this in store for this season of Big Morning Buzz Live, whichairs every weekday at 9AM EST on VH1, so tune in! [click to continue…]
Conrad Murray Trial For Manslaughter Of Michael Jackson Begins
The doctor, Michael Jackson‘s personal physician, stands accused of administering a fatal dose of propofol to the singer. Prosecutor David Walgren opened his case by showing the jury a postmortem image of Jackson‘s body on a hospital gurney, which The Smoking Gunalready has. The proceeds are being televised and webcast, so expect a lot more rubber-necking coverage like this on gossip sites, especially when Murray’s attorney calls Jackson’s eldest son, 14-year-old Prince, to the stand.
Lil Wayne’s VMAs Stretch-Denim Inspires An AP Trendpiece
The attention-grabbing headline Latest Trend in Hip-Hop: Women’s Clothes disguises a lengthy meditation on the performance of masculinity by none other than celebrity stylist June Ambrose, who’s got a show premiering this winter on VH1. And yes, the piece may refer to Kanye West as “hip-hop’s ultimate metrosexual,” but at least it didn’t misidentify Lil Wayne’s bottoms as “jeggings.” [AP] [click to continue…]
The Strokes premiered the video for “Taken For a Fool,” the second single from Angles, earlier today, and unlike the conceptual first video “Under Cover of Darkness,” which symbolically narrates the band’s reunion after their extended hiatus, the video is a relatively simple band-performance clip, with a rhythmically animated background setting.
Nearly a decade ago, another simple-looking (though extraordinary labor-intensive) animated rock video made lots of waves on its way to winning Breakthrough Video of the Year at the 2002 VMAs: The White Stripes‘ LEGO-block “Fell in Love with a Girl.” Sunday marked the tenth anniversary of that single’s album, White Blood Cells, and while we’ve been exploring the story of Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt for its (fifteenth) anniversary (Part I/Part II), Eric Been marks the White Blood Cells decade for The Atlantic by re-examining the “Return of Rock” narrative that accompanied the rise of bands like the Stripes and the Strokes.
It’s that time of year again! When wehonor thy father by running out tothe nearest department storeto getthe big guya tie thathe’ll accept with a smile and probably never, everwear. I kid, I kid! In all seriousness, this Sunday marks yet another Fathers’ Day, and it goes without saying that the job is a tough one that deserves recognition. Dirty diapers, puberty meltdowns, giving proper advice… the list of fatherlyduties is literally never-ending. And that, my friends, is exactly why we have to hand it to the gentlemenwho’ve made it onour Top 20 Daddy Tally list.
Not only are these distinguished men highly successful in the ultra-competitive music industry, but they’ve managed to achieve their success while also fatheringHUGE tribes of children. That’s right, each papa bear on our Top 20 list has upwards of five children, and whether it’s serial philanderer Bob Marley, sperm donor extraordinaire David Crosby (hey Melissa Etheridge!) or rumored father of 75 bouncing babies (!!!), Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, they all have more than “earned” their spot.
“Give a Little” may have already conquered VH1′s Top 20 Countdown over a month ago, but Hanson proved the single still has life to it when they took to the outdoor stage on last night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! For those who missed the boat on this catchy single, the trio’s poppy performance was the perfect primer. Fresh off their video cameo in Katy Perry‘s “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” they jammed not with Kenny G, but with Kimmel’s house band, the Cletones, who provided the horns for “Give a Little”—another 2011 single, lest we forget, with a sax solo (though well past-due for Song Of The Summer).
It’s Monday, but Katy Perry is hoping people will be thinking—and talking—about her new video “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.).” She teased the video over a month ago by quoting, on Twitter, a friend who said the clip would “break the internet.” The clip certainly appeals to that demographic, which is no surprise: director Marc Klasfeld was also responsible for the clip “Scarface School Play,” so he knows a little something about viral videos.
In the first place, Perry’s costar in the video is Rebecca Black, whose “Friday” video, as of today, has 165 million views and remains in the YouTube Music Weekly Top 10 despite its 88% thumbs-down rating. Black is, of course, internet catnip, especially since she is apparently magical in this clip:
Perri, whom you may remember as a You Oughta Know artist back in October, stopped by the countdown with tourmate (and fellowYou Oughta Know artist) James Blunt to premiere her new single “Arms” from her full-length debut lovestrong., coming May 10. We’re excited to have her on board, where she’s going to provide us with a behind-the-scenes look at all of the prep that goes into making her upcoming album release a big success.
The last two days were a bit of a whirlwind in HANSON land, consisting of a two-day immersion in the epic Dancing With The Stars TV show. We had a great time being guests on the show two nights in a row and pulled out some old school and new school HANSON, from “MmmBop” To “Give a Little,” and also pulled together some random tidbits from pop culture past ranging from Quiet Riot to Vanilla Ice. We really had a great time, everyone on the show was welcoming, and it made for a great couple days of epic TV (and some serious tassel shaking). Here are a few snapshots from rehearsal and backstage. Enjoy!
We never pretended not to be Hanson fans (they are, after all, this month’s VH1 Posted artist) but apparently Dancing with the Stars did: last night’s “Guilty Pleasure” episode included a live performance of “MMMBop.”
