The frequent emails that irascible music industry veteran Bob Lefsetz sends to his list of well-connected music biz types are pretty hit or miss. Oftentimes, they present passionate, well-thoughted arguments about the past, present and future of the music business, but just as frequently, they seem to be repetitive and somewhat curmudgeonly in nature. Last night, however, he sent out an email that contained an idea we initially shrugged off as preposterous, but ultimately, one that we couldn’t get out of our head. He writes:
“Best piece of gossip I ever heard about Train? Pat Monahan was suggested as a replacement for Robert Plant in Led Zeppelin. The idea was dismissed out of hand, but it’s a brilliant one, one Jimmy Page should still act on.
Pat Monahan can sing those Zeppelin tunes, he’s got the pipes, he does them in the Train show. And he can write.
Everyone—even Howard Stern!—knows that Monahan is one of the strongest singers working these days. That said, it wasn’t until we watched this bootleg footage of Monahan belting out the Led Zep classic “Ramble On” that we thought this idea had legs.
DEAD JUGGALO FOUND IN OHIO RIVER AND OTHER LESS HARROWING GATHERING OF THE JUGGALOS UPDATES
The body of a 24 year-old Insane Clown Posse fan was found in a section of the Ohio River located in Western Kentucky on Sunday afternoon. He was wearing a Gathering Of The Juggalos wristband, which leads the Kentucky state police to surmise that he was attending the festival. Meanwhile, over at Deadspin, writer Emma Carmichael went undercover and transformed herself into a Juggalette and traveled to Cave-in-Rock, Illinois this weekend; she just published a hilarious and fascinating exposé of the festival largely comprised of “t*tties and drugs.” [Rolling Stone, Deadspin]
BLACK SABBATH PLANS REUNION TOUR, STUDIO ALBUM
Don’t call it a comeback! Original Black Sabbath members Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward have reunited. Since the band’s split in 1979, Geezer has actually become a geezer, which is something we suppose is both ironic and inevitable. Nobody is talking about how much money they’re getting to do this, but we imagine it’s a lot. [Birmingham Mail via The Quietus]
Yesterday, we introduced you to the upper reaches of our Top 100 Videos of 2011 … So Far list, serving up the #100-51 videos that you’ve been clicking on most so far this year. Although a hefty portion, consider that first installment just an appetizer for today’s first course and tomorrow’s main entree. Going a bit deeper into the list, we now give you #50-11, inching closer and closer to #1.
As we parallel park into July and officially hit the curb of this year’s halfway point, it’s time to take a quick look back at what the past six months have taught us. Not conventional life lessons, however; we’re talking about stuff that’s a little bit less intense and also involves YOU! That’s right, in the first installment of our Top 100 Videos of 2011… So Far, we’re spilling the beans on the #100-51 most clicked-and-viewed videos on VH1.com. You’ll see that this piñata-like list of content contains tasty treats and slippery surprises alike! We’ve got brand-new videos that just recently launched, some VH1 Classic leaning clips (hey there, Megadeth), repeat offenders, and of course, effervescent, essential vids from the music video cannon. So take a look at the first fifty videos below and don’t forget to come back later this week as we continue on our quest to discover what artist snags the #1 spot!
The Hard Rock brand, which encompasses restaurants, hotels and casinos, turned 40 years young over the weekend. In honor of the momentous anniversary, tens of thousands of fans turned out for the three-day Hard Rock Calling festival, held in London’s famed Hyde Park. In addition to headliners Rod Stewart, Bon Jovi and The Killers (the latter of which was witnessed by none other than Prince Harry), VH1 faves Train and You Oughta Know artist Lissie also appeared on the bill. Our VH1 news team was on hand and got some backstage time with some of the artists on the bill; take a gander above to get Train, Lissie and Pete Wentz’s thoughts on the occasion.
We invited VH1 Top 20 host Jim Shearer to share his observations from VH1′s Best Cruise Ever, which featured more than a dozen bands and sailed from Tampa to Cozumel.
I’m on land again, which means VH1′s second annual Best Cruise Ever is now over. The Script was wonderful (my favorite live show during our four days at sea), I met a bunch of cool people who keep me employed by waking up early every Saturday morning to watch the Top 20 Countdown, I got to eat warm chocolate cake every night for dessert (mmm), and my band even got to play a couple of sets on the boat. I forgot to bring my diary on the cruise, so a pocket cam had to do. Here’s my recap. Enjoy! — Jim Shearer
The video for the fourth single and title track from Train‘s 2009 album Save Me, San Francisco starts with a red herring of a text message:
Before you think too hard about how illogical such a missive would be, remember: it’s just 21st century shorthand for “Here comes a parody of The Graduate!” Or, in other words, the perfect excuse for frontman Patrick Monahan to drive around San Francisco for three-and-change minutes. The band wants to show off their hometown, and who can blame them?
Earlier this week, we gave you an alphabetical list of 35 of our Top 40 Music Videos of the year and asked you to guess what artists where going to be included in our top five music videos of 2010. Well, we’ve got good news and we’ve got bad news. If you’re one of the Little Monsters or a card carrying member of Glam Nation, you’ll be happy to see that Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and Adam Lambert’s “Whataya Want From Me” each made the Top Five. However, if you count yourself as a die-hard 30 Seconds To Mars fan, um, well, there’s always next year!
Without any further ado, here is our complete list of VH1′s Top 40 Music Videos of 2010!
VH1 will be at Austin City Limits music festival this weekend interviewing some of your favorite bands — and we’re relying on you to help us capture the best moments of the three-day fest — from crowd-surfing singers to mud fights in the crowd.
If you’re lucky enough to be at ACL this year, simply follow @VH1 on Twitter, tweet a photo using #ACLtop20, and you’ll be entered to win a trip on VH1′s Best Cruise Ever, which features non-stop performances by Train, Lifehouse, Colbie Caillat, The Script and more than a dozen others.
And don’t forget to check back on Monday to see The Top 20 Greatest Moments of Austin City Limits.
If the Grammys gave out a Comeback Performer Of The Year award (and, really, why don’t they?), the guys from Train would have to prepare themselves an acceptance speech. After all but disappearing from the music scene for nearly five years, last October saw the release of their album Save Me San Francisco. Although expectations weren’t high for the band to reclaim their former position as hitmakers, the song “Hey, Soul Sister” came out of nowhere to be a massive smash not only on radio, but also in our Top 20 Video Countdown. And now, the band’s second single, “If It’s Love,” is connecting, too; it’s currently sitting in the #7 spot in our countdown this week. And that’s not all!
Patrick Monahan and the rest of the fellas in Train recently took time out of their touring schedule to sit down for their first Unplugged session. The band performed six songs, two of which you can see in this post, the rest of which are available on Train’s Unplugged page. Above, you can watch them perform their monster single, “Hey, Soul Sister.” And below, watch them cover Rihanna’s “Umbrella” with the help of some very lucky audience members.
