White Christmas
This is our final edition for 2009: take these last steps with us into the New Year…
Join us as we bid 2009 farewell in our Christmas edition, with everything you have come to expect of Streetlamp.co.za: juicy news, great releases and brilliant artists.
The Streetlamp Team wish you and your family a blessed festive season and a rocking New Year!
Author: Estelle Venter (estelle.vent@gmail.com)
Big, Big, Big Concerts
Big Concerts (http://www.bigconcerts.co.za/index.htm) has an awesome line up planned for the first quarter of 2010. Here’s a round up of some of the exciting concerts you can expect:
I have never met anybody who does not respect Elton John, even if his genre is not your cup of tea; you have to respect his staying power and showmanship. And let’s be honest: for a career to span four decades and to sell in excess of 200 million albums, you have to be at least a tad talented! And talent John definitely does have oodles of: he started playing the piano at age of 3, and within a year he played Winifred Atwell’s rendition of Les Patineurs (known in English as The Skaters’ Waltz). Now, nearly 30 studio albums, countless live & compilations albums, and hits such as Your Song, Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me, Sacrifice, Blue Eyes, I’m Still Standing, Song For Guy and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road later. This prolific wonder is showing no sign of slowing down, as his Under African Skies Tour will see him once again in South Africa wowing fans at an informal, picnic-type concert. These shows are set to take place during March and ticket prices vary from R350 – R500. For more info visit www.computicket.com or www.bigconcerts.co.za. Deep Purple and Uriah Heep are two of the pioneers of early heavy metal and hard rock. These are the bands, which together with Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin put metal on the map and paved the way for the loud thunder of today’s metal and hard rock scene. During May, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban will be host to Deep Purple supported by Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash in three electrifying shows. I, for one, will not be complete until I have seen these two acts perform – they are after all the basis of my rock religion. Holding thumbs for Uriah Heep’s Easy Livin’, Stealin’ and Wizard, as well as Deep Purple's Highway Star and Smoke On The Water . Check out www.bigconcerts.co.za for more info. Kelly Clarkson won listeners’ hearts on the first season of American Idol in 2002 when she walked away with the title, and then again in December 2003 when she was chosen as runner-up in World Idols. This girl has spunk! And what a voice! Eight out of the ten singles she has released thus far have made it to the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100, and she is still the highest selling American Idol since the inception of the show. Her 2009 hit: My Life Would Suck Without You advanced from no. 97 to no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in its first week of release. Since she ditched her Pop Idol image (after her first album) her recipe hasn’t changed much, but it still works. Any one of her latest tracks would fit perfectly on her 2004 Breakaway album. We just love her Big Voice and Big Melodies on tracks such as I Do Not Hook Up as much as Behind These Hazel Eyes and Since U Been Gone
. Clarkson has however said that her upcoming album will be “really different”. This fifth album is only due for release Christmas 2010 though, and in the meantime the singer still has a world tour to wrap up, including a stopover in sunny South Africa. She will rock crowds in JHB, Cape Town and Durban in March 2010. Tickets will cost you R220 – R400 and can be purchased at www.computicket.co.za. Also in March, Cliff Richard will perform with The Shadows. This is said to be their last ever show together, and marks 50 years since the first time Richard performed and recorded with The Shadows. In April 2010, the sensational Welsh singer Tom Jones (the third Sir, counting Elton John and Cliff Richard) will share his nearly 5 decade repertoire with South Africa during two concerts: one at the Sun City Superbowl and one at the Grand Arena. For more info on these, or any of the above mentioned shows visit, yep, you guessed it: www.bigconcerts.co.za.
Do You Remember…?
Take a moment to reflect on some of the magical musical moments, events, releases & artists of 2009: Anything the Black Eyed Peas touch turns to platinum! Their fifth studio album: The E.N.D was released earlier this year and produced hit singles such as Boom Boom Pow and I’ve Got A Feeling
Pink – Please Don’t Leave Me This track and its video embody everything we love about Pink. She is in your face crazy and fun, yet her badass ways does not for one second hide her vulnerability.
Jason Mraz – I’m Yours What a great tune! American singer/songwriter Jason won over the hearts of millions of listeners worldwide with this fresh, funky, sweet song. Even though it was released late 2008, it received most of the public’s attention – and some awards – only in 2009. Also check out Ukulele Rendition of the track – hilarious cuteness! (Does remind a bit of Ken Lee?!)
Katy Perry - another 2008 release: her album: “One Of The Boys” with the first single I Kissed A Girl made her a household name and subsequent singles from this album have been just as successful. During 2009 Hot n Cold, Waking Up In Vegas and Thinking Of You proved that Perry was no one-hit-wonder. Quite a turnaround for the girl who released a gospel album in 2001. Check out the title track from the album that was released under with her birth surname: Hudson: Trust In Me.Taylor Swift / Kanye West. Nuff said. Pompous ass. Check it out! Which off course brings us to our next big thing in 2009: Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” video. By Beyoncé’s own admission this was one of her least expensive videos, but turned out to be the most successful. Also, remember the Vodacom ad? Even an incomplete list such as this wouldn’t be complete without the mention of the King of Pop. On 25th June, Michael Jackson passed away from cardiac arrest at the age of 50. With a career stretching more than 4 decades, Jackson has accomplished more than most artists dare to dream of. Most notable – in our opinion – is the 1982 “Thriller” album. This album is still the best selling album of all time, and towers proudly over the second place (49 million) with its whopping 110 million sales for a single album! The “Thriller” album produced hit singles such as Beat It, Billy Jean and Thriller. But not forgetting Smooth Criminal, Black or White, Earth Song and They Don’t Care About Us
. What an absolute genius!
The Parlotones Brand
It has long been our opinion that most successful artists are in fact successful because they understand that only a good tune is simply not enough. Instead, the successful musician understands that along with his talent he also needs ambition, hard work and business skills. The moment you run your art as a business you are 90% there. But don’t take our word for it; take a look at South Africa’s most adored rockers: The Parlotones. At the age of 17, Kahn Morbee learned to play the guitar, and started to develop his songwriting and singing abilities, which would later become the signature sound for The Parlotones. The band was officially formed in 1998 when Khan was introduced to drummer Neil Pauw, who had attended the same high school as Khan. The two musicians soon realized that they shared the same vision for music and decided to start a band. At university Khan met Paul Hodgson. After Khan and Paul were thrown out of the library for playing guitar, Paul joined Neil and Khan for a jam session. The jam session never ended, with Paul liking the songs so much that he joined the band. Paul’s younger brother, Glen Hodgson, who at that stage was still in high school, could play not only guitar, but piano and bass as well, and with the addition of Glen to the band, the members felt that the band was complete. Since the start of the Parlotones they have gradually climbed charts and gained a fan base not only locally but also internationally: Apart from being the first South African band to headline the Coca-Cola Dome on their recent World Tour, the past two years have seen the band enter the international market with concerts in Switzerland, across the UK, at Midem, Canadian Music Week & SXSW, alongside bands such as Blue October, Razorlight and Starsailor. Whilst their debut album: Radiocontrolledrobot reached gold status after two years on the market, the follow-up: A World Next Door To Yours was certified platinum in 3 months, and their latest offering: Stardust Galaxies achieved platinum status in just over a month. Stardust Galaxies contains typical Parlotones sounds: anthemic melodic rock; the kind of songs you close your eyes and with a huge grin on your face proudly sing to. But apart from doing what they do best: creating darkly romantic lyrics combined with beautifully crafted, haunting melodies, the band spent the past year developing their brand: teaming up with huge corporations to introduce The Parlotones to different platforms & industries. Their Stardust Galaxies album was digitally released exclusively by Sony Ericsson, some days before the actual release of the album. Earlier this year the band also teamed up with Rectron to launch a Parlotones branded Gigabyte Notebook, and in September/October they released their own wine called Giant Mistake. This month saw KFC footing the bill for the bands latest video: Life Design
. The new music video was filmed over three days and KFC aims to use the behind-the-scenes footage in its upcoming TV commercials. The release of this video also coincides with the launch of the KFC Snacks range together with the Parlotones branded snack box. The Parlotones are the perfect example of the complimentary nature of the successful muso’s duality. They have developed the Parlotones name into a brand and a force to be reckoned with. Says the band: “We’ve always had the attitude to just do anything, because everything counts.” Yes it does, boys!
Snippets
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Viva La Vida stars; the British alternative rock band: Coldplay
have long been involved with various charities, and therefore it was no surprise when they announced a while ago that they would be looking at ways to help Kids Company – a charity that supports young people & vulnerable children in London. However, what caught our attention was the band’s announcement last week that they would be auctioning off band memorabilia from the last decade to raise funds for this charity. Yes, rejoice fans! Items such as their first guitars, signed platinum discs, costumes from their Viva La Vida tour, posters, amps, keyboards and all sorts of items accumulated over the last decade are being auctioned on EBay. The auction will close on 31 December. For more info visit www.coldplay.com.
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What would the festive season be without a couple of cheesy Christmas albums? We found quite a couple of these but the only one worth mentioning is “Christmas In The Heart”. This album was released at the beginning of December by 68 year old Bob Dylan. Although Dylan performs old Christmas favourites such as “Little Drummer Boy” and “Must Be Santa” in his typical style: croaking voice, straightforward, honestly, no window dressing, the album still is, well, just another Christmas album. The album earned this mention because all proceeds will be going to a charity that aids the homeless and the hungry. Says Dylan: “They get food straight to the people. No military organization, no bureaucracy, no governments to deal with”. Like we said, straightforward – no BS.
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The winner of the race for UK’s Christmas number one single between Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name and X Factor winner Joe McElderry’s version of The Climb has been decided. With only a few thousand copies, Rage Against The Machine broke Simon Cowell’s long-standing Christmas tradition of having his X Factor single number 1 on the charts. Love Joe’s voice, but whilst the angry RATM never ceases to scare me shitless, Joe’s more commercially acceptable The Climb is only a cover and therefore my vote had to go for RATM (only for originality though). I’m still scared shitless. We are now waiting for RATM to make good on their word: The band promised UK fans a free concert should they win. According to the band they will invite Simon Cowell to emcee and Joe to perform and has promised that this would be “…the victory party to end all victory parties.”
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Some poor bloke is not having a very merry Christmas as we are sure he is jobless after his screw-up at Amazon. Lil Wayne’s latest offering: Rebirth was recalled but unfortunately someone never got the memo, and 500 copies of the album were delivered to pre-order customers…2 months early! These customers got more than they bargained for when Mr Postman delivered their copy of the album. The reason for the recall is possible new tracks that might be added to the album, and if this does happen, 500 people are sitting with collector’s items. Unfortunately, this does leave the door wide open for illegal distribution, which could hamper the sales on the actual release date.
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Steve Martin has been named Billboard’s Bluegrass Artist of the Year. Bluegrass is a sub-genre of country music where musicians play mostly acoustic string instruments. If you thought comedy is Martin’s only talent, you’d be wrong: Check out Martin plucking the banjo in his own composition: The Crow and also on the Foggy Mountain Breakdown
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Final Say
“It would be great to see somebody like Kid Rock kissing a man. But I'm sure that he wouldn't like the prospect of it put to him, and I won't even go there with Eminem.”
Hhmmm….
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Author: Estelle Venter (estelle.vent@gmail.com)
Sources:
www.coldplay.com; www.wikipedia.org; www.starpulse.com; www.billboard.com; www.myspace.com; www.gigwise.com; www.mio.co.za; www.kfcsnacks.co.za; www.tonight.co.za; www.news24.com; www.powerzone.co.za; www.musicweek.com; www.spinner.com; www.billboard.com; www.cbc.ca; www.bigconcerts.co.za;