Ryan Book

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  • Mariah Carey, Madonna and TLC: The Longest Hot 100 Streaks of 1995

    TLC celebrated the beginning of its longest streak on the Hot 100 on this date 20 years ago, as "Waterfalls" topped the singles charts for seven weeks afterward. Now, the Hot 100 is different than the Billboard 200 in that it's rare for any one album to top the chart for more than a few weeks, while songs can rack up huge runs on their chart. For example, only two albums have been at no. 1 for more than one week during 2015 (Taylor Swift's 1989 and Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly), while Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk" has ruled the Hot 100 for 14 weeks thus far (the other 14 weeks have been split between Swift and Wiz Khalifa). Five songs managed to stay at no. 1 for seven weeks or more during 1995...so at least 35 of the year's 52 weeks were owned by just five songs. Check out the playlist of '95's most popular tracks.

  • 5 First No. 1s: 2001 vs 2015; Destiny's Child, Meek Mill and Blink-182 Face Off

    This week marked an unusual accomplishment on the Billboard 200: For the first time in 14 years, the last five no. 1 albums on the chart have been from performers who had never been to the top before. We went back to check out what five albums were hot sellers during that period and compared them to this year's first-timers, to see what "generation" has the better taste. Old millennials, get ready to spar with the young millennials. We lined the albums up from one-to-five, based on where in the order they fell during their respective years.

  • Meek Mill Dominates Billboard 200; Miguel, Taylor Swift Try to Keep Up

    Things started off big on the Billboard 200, with Meek Mill's 'Dreams Worth More Than Money', but then quickly dropped off. Mill might argue that his ideals have more philosophical value, but he can't argue with the financial results: Dreams opened with 246,000 in equivalent sales, easily marking his best sales week ever, as well as the fourth-largest opening of 2015 (trailing only Drake's 'If You're Reading This It's Too Late,' Kendrick Lamar's 'To Pimp A Butterfly' and Mumford & Sons' 'Wilder Mind').

  • Ariana Grande All-Star Game Concert Cancelled Amid Donut Fallout

    Ariana Grande's quest for the career All-Star Game Grand Slam has been hampered as sources indicate the performer's free concert ahead of this weekend's MLB All-Star Game in Cincinnati has been cancelled. No confirmation has been given whether the decision was passed down by the pop star's camp of if Major League Baseball made the decision...either way, there's no doubt that the now-viral "donut incident" is the cause.

  • Grateful Dead's 'Fare Thee Well' Concerts Earns Estimated $55 Million

    The Grateful Dead has never been about the money...but the "Fare Thee Well" concert seems to have provided quite enough to supplement its members' retirements (in case they don't continue with their other acts). Although AEG Live hasn't opted to reveal any of the financial information for the two weekends of the concert series, Billboard has compiled its own estimate and concluded that the band made, at the very least, $55 million over the last two weeks.

  • Snoop Dogg, Amitis Sued for Blasphemy for Religious Imagery in 'King' Video

    Snoop Dogg has inadvertently gotten himself wrapped up in controversy after starring in a music video that has inspired a lawsuit from the Indian Zoroastrian community, alleging that the clip features blasphemy and should be blamed. The video for "King" comes from Iranian-American pop performer Amitis, and features the rapper sitting on a throne, smoking a joint with the religious imagery in the background, which brought allegations of blasphemy.

  • 8 Big City Mayors Sing Lorde, LL Cool J, Idina Menzel and More [VIDEO]

    Philadelphia citizens and hip-hops fans got a gift over the weekend when Mayor Michael Nutter joined The Roots onstage at the Philly Fourth of July Jam to perform the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight." His performance was flawless and he ended the performance by dropping the microphone and exiting the stage. It was, truly, one of the best musical performances from a politician that we've ever seen, but mayors-on-the-mic is all the rage recently, perhaps inspired by Barack Obama and his many soulful appearances. Here's seven other city heads that have stood in the spotlight...willingly or otherwise.

  • Amy Winehouse Documentary Breaks Film Records in the UK; Acclaim and Controversy

    Amy Winehouse is the name behind the second most-hyped documentary of the year thus far, and it paid off, creating the largest homeland opening weekend for a British documentary in history (the most-hyped doc has to be 'Montage of Heck,' the recently released film on Kurt Cobain). 'Amy,' directed by Asif Kapadia, brought in more than $800,000 in the UK. Good reviews and an expansion from 133 theaters to 200 will keep that number rising.

  • 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' Meets 'Grand Theft Auto V' in Clever Video

    Will Smith doesn't have to cuss in his rap to sell records, so it doesn't seem obvious to correlate his hit TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with Grand Theft Auto. Yet YouTube user Merfish has recreated the entire opening sequence of the sitcom using the newest chapter of the controversial video game series.

  • Did A McDonald's Employee Replace Happy Meal Toys with His Mixtape?

    A McDonald's employee in Chicago has reportedly been fired when it was found that he was replacing the toys in Happy Meals with copies of his mixtape. Music Times places extra emphasis on "reported" because the story hasn't appeared on too many reputable news organizations, although the hilarity behind it would certainly justify one. Regardless, it ended up on Power 105's blog and that's good enough for us.

  • Geico's Music Guest Stars: Salt-N-Pepa, Little Richard, Kenny Rogers and More

    The latest commercial from Progressive Insurance features Carnie Wilson of the '90s pop standouts Wilson Phillips. One company has spent the last decade atop the wacky insurance commercial game is, of course, Geico. We went back and found all of their oddball entries that feature musical guests (the aforementioned Hammer went with Nationwide).

  • Study Suggests 60 Percent of Touring Musicians Suffer Mental Health Issues

    A frightening study has come from Help Musicians UK, a charity dedicated to supporting up-and-coming musicians as well as aging ones, which claims that more than 60 percent of musicians it surveyed suffered from a mental health disorder of some sort. A huge majority of those suffering struggled with depression but that's still nothing to ignore.

  • Coffee Brewed With Sound Waves? We Audiophiles Will Try Anything

    Music and sound aren't necessarily correlated subjects, but we at Music Times were still excited to hear about a new technology that brews coffee using only sound waves. Elixir Specialty Coffee, a company based on Sydney, has developed a line of products that require coffee and water like a regular machine, but claim to offer a much more nuanced drinking experience.

  • Apple Music Might Destroy Your iTunes Catalogue; Fix Available

    Apple Music is the hot new thing in music streaming, especially if you're hopelessly devoted to products marketed by the computer company or if you really need to stream Taylor Swift's '1989' because you just won't buy it. Unfortunately for many converts to Apple Music, especially those who have preexisting iTunes accounts with the company, a multitude of problems have emerged surrounding the service.

  • Grateful Dead Set Soldier Field Attendance Record From U2 at 'Fare Thee Well'

    Everyone knew that the Grateful Dead's "Fare Thee Well" concert series at Soldier Field in Chicago was going to be a historic event, but now the record books also confirm that the shows are the most attended event in the stadium's history. Obviously Deadheads (and live music fans in general) are looking forward to tonight's grand finale, but the totals were reported Saturday from the night before, revealing that 70,764 fans had shown up for the night. Considering that every night sold out, the attendance should be similar for the following two shows as well.

  • Ranking '1776' Track-by-Track for July 4th: John Adams, Ben Franklin...America!

    The July 4th weekend approaches and that means your correspondent will engage in his yearly tradition of putting on the soundtrack to the Broadway musical 1776, nothing singing along and thanking the Lord that someone saw fit to give John Adams some credit for his significant role within the creation of this nation. The musical, composed by Sherman Edwards, revolves largely around Adams and Benjamin Franklin as they pressure Thomas Jefferson into writing the Declaration of Independence and the rest of the Continental Congress to sign it. Join as as we count down the tracks from the original Broadway cast, ranking them from least to most excellent.

  • Ghostface Killah and Adrian Lounge grab Raekwon for 'Twelve Reasons To Die II'

    If you're a fan of concept records, then have Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge got a album for you. The pair has teamed of for a second time, offering '12 Reasons To Die II' as a sequel to the first version of the title. The record is due to be released on July 10 but hip-hop fans can check out the entirety of the album at the website of The New York Times (marking a shift in the music culture, for sure).

  • Nielsen Reports Album Sales Down...Unless You're Taylor Swift or Drake

    Nielsen has released its midyear music sales report and things are looking about how you'd expect: Streaming is way up, overall album sales are down, and the vinyl trend continues. Taylor Swift and Drake are among the few performers that can feel good about moving entire albums at this point.

  • Glass Animals Stay Creepy, Sexy and Psychedelic on Debut 'ZABA'

    Society always celebrates the records that top the Billboard 200 album chart. Back of The Billboards is a Music Times weekly segment that looks at the opposite end: the new record that finished closest to the back of the Billboard 200 for the previous week. We hope to give a fighting chance to the bands you haven't heard of. This week we look at 'ZABA,' the debut album from psychedelic R&B upstarts Glass Animals.

  • Foo Fighters Photo Contract Called Out for "Exploitation" by Newspaper

    The Foo Fighters is about to celebrate its 20th birthday with a star-studded Washington D.C. performance on July 4th, but a publication in the city has given the band a black eye regarding its photography contract, which the Washington City Paper labels as "exploitation...pure and simple."

  • Diddy Not Facing Felony Charges from Attack on Son's UCLA Football Coach

    Sean "Diddy" Combs, the head of Bad Boy Entertainment, won't face felony charges stemming from his attack on a UCLA football coach two weeks ago. The Los Angeles County District Attorney has rejected the case. The former emcee was charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one count of making terrorist threats and one count of battery.

  • Rod Stewart Lawsuit Focuses on "Copying" Blues Standard "Corrine, Corrina"

    Rod Stewart is facing a lawsuit for a song more than a century old, as the estate of Bo Carter (legal name: Armenter Chatmon) is suing over a version of the song "Corrine, Corrina" that the former Faces vocalist included on his 2013 album Time. The song, a blues standard, has been covered numerous times over the years—from artists including Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Willie Nelson—so why is Stewart the one in legal limbo?

  • Meghan Trainor Cancels Tour Dates Due to Vocal Hemorrhage; How Long Is She Out?

    Meghan Trainor is the most recent young pop star to withdrawal from the road because of a vocal hemorrhage. The performer announced online that she'll be canceling two dates for the immediate future but didn't shy away from the fact that if recent history is any indicator, it will be months before the "All About That Bass" vocalist will be able to appear live.
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