NEW PHARRELL WILLIAMS:"IT GIRL"

Great new song and adorable video from the....um.....greatly adorable Pharrell. It Girl is the 4th single from his album G I R L and the video is a crazy, anime/video-game hybrid that is sure to please, not to mention the smooth, sexy groove of the song, one of the standouts on the album IMO. Enjoy!

REVIEW: 2 NEW PRINCE ALBUMS!!! ART OFFICIAL AGE & PLECTRUMELECTRUM

MY CUP RUNNETH OVER!! Prince, his Purple Badness, has blessed his subjects with not 1, but 2 new albums today!!! Unbelievable! Technically ART OFFICIAL AGE is a new Prince album and PLECTRUMELECTRUM is Prince & 3RDEYEGIRL, his new backing band, but c'mon...it's Prince. 2 very diverse albums full of pretty much every kind of Prince U would want. Let's start with ART OFFICIAL AGE. It is a concept album about a man in suspended animation for 45 years (get it...artificial age...art official age) who is awoken by a British computer 2 explore this very different world. Prince often uses these segues in albums between songs 2 set up a theme, but don't let it throw U off, ART OFFICIAL AGE is pure Prince pop joy. The album literally starts with a bang when the title track jumps off, all big beats and making it clear that Prince is about 2 serve up his most commercial music in years. If U remember Prince's chart topping heydays, that is a great thing. There is a slick guitar-driven pop sensibility that runs throughout the entire album from the neo-soul groove and claps on the amazing CLOUDS 2 Controversy-era throwback funk joint THE GOLD STANDARD. 2 standouts have to be the beautiful ballad BREAKDOWN, which recalls Prince's psychedelic Around The World In a Day scorcher Condition of the Heart, and U KNOW, the sexiest song Prince has done since Cream. The whole album is a masterclass in hooks. It's the perfect blend of classic Prince with his feet planted firmly in the future. U'll hear some different sounds from Prince on WAY BACK HOME and WHAT IT FEELS LIKE, but plenty of Sign 'O' The Times-era on tracks like FUNKROLL and 90s smooth ballad Prince (a la Diamonds and Pearls and Peach) on TIME and THIS COULD BE US. Overall, this is the Prince pop-driven album U have been waiting 4 since the early 90s, in my opinion. Now turning 2 PLECTRUMELECTRUM with 3RDEYEGIRL, Hannah Ford Welton on drum, bass player Ida Nielsen and guitarist Donna Grantis. The album starts off with some hard guitar riffs that turn N2 a bluesy, Beatles-esque burner WOW and makes it obvious this is going to be a very different Prince than ART OFFICIAL AGE. It's quite a start 2. The album keeps shocking UR body with the excellent rock track PRETZELBODYLOGIC, a song that I set as my alarm every morning because it gets my ass out of bed. Prince lets the ladies in 3RDEYEGIRL take the mic on a couple of tracks, and although I prefer only Prince on my Prince albums, the songs stand up quite well. I certainly don't know these ladies as well as Prince's most famous female band members, the amazing Wendy and Lisa from The Revolution, but maybe I will in time. (THIS JUST IN: I WON'T! I'm obsessed with Wendy and Lisa) Still their leading turns on AINTTURNINROUND, the rock/rap hybrid BOYTROUBLE and the truly mesmerizing slow jam WHITECAPS, which may just be the standout track on the album, are worthy of place in the Prince pantheon of excellent album cuts. While not as glittery and shiny as ART OFFICIAL AGE, if U like UR Prince rock hard, PLECTRUMELECTRUM's rousing instrumental title track and the guitar jam FIXURLIFEUP will more than satisfy your thirst. There R some easy grooves thrown N 2 give U a break, like STOPTHISTRAIN, a duet between Prince and the ladies, ANOTHERLOVE, which draws easy comparison 2 Prince & The Revolution's Anotherloverholenyohead from their amazing 1986 Parade album, one of Prince's funkiest, sexiest mid-80s efforts, and the dreamy TICTACTOE. PLECTRUMELECTRUM delivers Prince's finest rock performance in ages.  I'm telling U, these 2 records R a return to form for one of the most prolific, genius and celebrated artists of the rock era. There are songs on these records that will take you right back to rocking out in your room to Let's Go Crazy or Kiss, and swooning to The Beautiful Ones or I Hate U. Everything you want in 2 easy packages. ART OFFICIAL AGE and PLECTRUMELECTRUM R both available on iTunes 2day!! GET THEM! I'm N heaven!!! Listen to the gorgeous WHITECAPS below.

Prince & 3RDEYEGIRL - Whitecaps (2014)

LORDE RELEASES SONG FROM THE UPCOMING HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 - YELLOW FLICKER BEAT

Lorde is three-years-old and she is in charge of curating the next soundtrack to the top movie franchise in the world. What a bitch, right? Ha. JK!! She is going to nail it, I'm sure, and here is the first song released from the soon-to-be number one soundtrack (yes, I'm calling it), Lords own Yellow Flicker Beat. Her first release outside of her huge debut album, Pure Heroine, it has a similar dark sound but definitely a little more electronic and a step away sonically from prior singles. Seems to be a good fit for the film and I'm sure we will be hearing a lot of it in the next few months. Daddy like! The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 is out November 21st, the soundtrack will be released November 18th.

HAPPY MONDAY SONG: CELEBRATION - MADONNA

Did you know that five years ago today Madonna released her most thorough video compilation of her career, Celebration? Well, now you do. The collection contained  47 of Madonna's greatest videos since the beginning of her career, starting with 1982's Burning Up and ending with her newest single at the time, Celebration. This was Madonna's 40th #1 song on the Billboard dance chart. Well, in celebration of Celebration, here is today's Happy Monday Song for you. Enjoy and....well......celebrate.

MADONNA FRIDAY: INTO THE GROOVE

Madonna has many, many classic songs, but high -- WAY high on that list would sit a little song I like to call (because it's the name of the song) Into the Groove. Jebus lawd, this song is A-MAH-ZING!!! What most people DON'T realize is that it was never actually released as a single in the U.S. It was merely a B-side to Madonna's song Angel, which was the third single from her Like a Virgin album. Her record company released it as a B-side so it wouldn't compete with the songs on her LAV album, but also to promote her film debut in Desperately Seeking Susan. The song did get a single release in the UK, reaching #1 in the summer of 1985, and in many other countries around the world. It also reached #1 on the US Dance chart along with Angel as a double A side release. Into The Groove is without a doubt a highlight in not only Madonna's long career, but in the dance music genre in general, changing the beat and sound of the 80s. The music video is made up of clips from Madonna's first starring role in Desperately Seeking Susan, and shows THE early image of Madge's early career that made her a phenomenon. Madonna still performs it in concert, most notably on her Sticky & Sweet Tour where she sang it while doing double-dutch. She's over 55, people!! Deal with it. Anyway, here is the classic song Into the Groove, AND as a bonus the performance from Sticky & Sweet Tour.  Love love love it!

NEW HILARY DUFF - ALL ABOUT YOU

Hilary Duff has a new album coming out, y'all!! I know, it's not 2005, but I'm still excited. Here is the video/Amazon phone ad for her second single, All About You, from her upcoming as-yet-unnamed album. Her last single, Chasing the Sun, and this song take a much more guitar-based, acoustic direction than her last album, the amazing Dignity from way back in 2007. This video does, however, show off some sexy moves from the Duffster. Damn she's pretty!!! The song is pretty catchy too, I must admit. Watch All About You and see for yourself if Lizzie McGuire still has it. Looking forward to the new album.

KATE MARA AND ELLEN PAGE STAR IN THE NEXT SEASON OF TINY DETECTIVES

Not happy with the season two casting of Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell? Worry not, the perfect alternative is here starring diminutive stars Kate Mara and Ellen Page, Tiny Detectives. Funny or Die bring you the riveting trailer about Kate, 5'2", and Ellen, 5'1", as they try to solve crimes way to big for them to reach. This is hilarious, y'all!! I am one of the few that didn't actually see a single episode of True Detective. I KNOW, I KNOW!! But I am officially burnt out on Matthew McConaughey and season 2 has Vince Vaughn, whom I consider human ipecac, so I won't be catching that one either. If I want to see Colin Farrell (THIS JUST IN: I always want to see Colin Farrell) there are much better, more naked things to watch him do. Tiny Detectives is obviously just a funny skit, but I would totally watch it!!

Tiny Detectives with Kate Mara and Ellen Page from Kate Mara

THROWBACK THURSDAY: THE POINTER SISTERS

The Pointer Sisters are one of my favorite singing groups EVER!! These bitches could S-A-N-G. Starting off in the early 70s singing updated big band style, the Sisters (Anita, Ruth, Bonnie and June) eventually whittled down the a trio (bye Bonnie) and established themselves as accomplished singers in almost every genre, from their country hits, Grammy Award winning Fairytale and Live Your Life Before You Die, to their covers of Slow Hand and Fire, to their biggest mainstream hits like I'm So Excited, Jump, Neutron Dance and He's So Shy. Their 1983 album Breakout had four Top 10, classic 80s hits, went triple platinum and was the Thriller of non-Thriller hit machines. I don't know what that means either, but I'm sticking to it. The Sisters eventually tuckered out on the charts but have continued performing, although June, who sang lead on most of the trio's biggest hits, passed away in 2006. Their music lives on, especially on my gym mix, and these songs are all classics. Enjoy some Pointer Sisters today and get your day going! FUN FACT: The video for I'm So Excited has an excellent table flip that puts Teresa Guidice to shame!! ha!

BARBRA STREISAND TOPS THE BILLBOARD ALBUM CHARTS FOR SIXTH CONSECUTIVE DECADE!!!

Barbra Streisand doesn't need to do anything, thank you very much. Babs could sit back and polish those exquisite nails with $100 bills all day and still make more money than you. She doesn't feel like it though. She would rather put out an album of duets, called Partners, and crush the competition (namely that douchebag Chris Brown, whose new album X will debut at #2) by hitting #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart for the 10th time in her career selling a whopping 196,000 albums. Streisand now holds the record for posting a #1 album on the chart for SIX CONSECUTIVE DECADES!! What? Yes, her first #1 album, People, was in 1964 followed by 1974's The Way We Were, 1976's A Star Is Born, 1978's Greatest Hits: Vol. 2,  1980's Guilty, 1985's The Broadway Album, 1993's Back To Broadway, 1997's Higher Ground, 2009's Love Is The Answer and now Partners. She is tied for the most #1 albums in third place with Elvis and Bruce Springsteen, only bested by The Beatles, who have 19, and Jay-Z, who has 13. Work, Babs!! You get to hear Barbra call Babyface by his real name and say "Waiting to Exhale" in the most Barbra way imaginable, as if we'd never heard of it before. CLASSIC DIVA!! Here is the trailer for the making of Partners which is now available everywhere!!

HUMPDAY SEXY SONG: KYLIE MINOGUE - CHOCOLATE

Oh, sexy, sexy Kylie, I love you. Kylie Minogue has been one of the longest lasting pop diva sex symbols in the history of music, and this song is one of the most sensual treats she's ever laid on our wanton earballs. Chocolate was the third single released from Kylie's 2003 R&B tinged album Body Language and it became her 27th top ten single in the UK when it debuted at #6. Featuring lyrics comparing the love she is getting from her man-whore to melting chocolate, the tune is a mid-tempo aural-gasm and the accompanying video, inspired by old MGM musicals from the 1940s, finds Kylie wearing several different costumes, doing a sexy dance with a hot-ass man, and looking glam in general. Hot damn, this is a good package! While not one of Kylie's biggest hits, I personally believe that Chocolate is a standout in the cannon of KM's output over the span of her long career. Give sexy credit where sexy credit it due! Enjoy Chocolate and hump a Hershey bar.

THE #1 SONG 24 YEARS AGO TODAY WAS.......

.....Release Me by Wilson Phillips. You guys, Wilson Phillips was an actual thing and I love them. The three girls who all came from rock royalty (Carnie and Wendy Wilson were the daughters of Beach Boy Brian Wilson and Chynna Phillips shot from the loins of John and Michelle Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas) wrote an album full of tight vocal harmonies and hook after hook after hook with a little help from pre-Alanis mega-producer Glen Ballard. First single, Hold On, had already topped the charts in June of 1990, and then just three months later the second single, the more pensive Release Me, notched up another #1 for the group. These bitches were on a roll, y'all! Release Me took the top spot on September 15, 1990 and stayed for two weeks before giving it up to another band of rock progeny, Nelson (the twin sons of Rick Nelson) who scored with (Can't Love With Your) Love and Affection.  (I can't with those boys' 90s hair) Release Me ended up at #19 on the Billboard year end chart (Hold On was #1) and one of the group's most popular songs. I think it's 90s-tastic. They scored a third and final #1 song from their debut album in April '91 with You're In Love. That songs makes my ears vomit, but I digress. The video for Release Me is pretty standard, the girls look forlorn yet sensual? while singing in a multi-million-dollar glass mansion. Carnie is, of course, wearing a piano since the record company apparently couldn't find nice clothes in her size. Ugh. Anyhoo, here is Wilson Phillips with the #1 song from 24 years ago today, Release Me.

NEW VIDEO: SHARON NEEDLES - I WISH I WERE AMANDA LEPORE (FT. AMANDA LEPORE)

Sharon Needles' album PG-13 just might be the Thriller of all drag-queen albums!! The album was released in January 2013 and is now on its fifth single!! I Wish I Were Amanda Lepore is about exactly  what it sounds like, the self-proclaimed "number one transexual on the planet, DAMN IT!", Ms. Amanda Lepore. RuPaul's Drag Race album Sharon has shown love for Amanda many times in interviews and performances, so it makes sense that her obsession would result in a glamorous, wacky video starring the David LaChapelle muse in which Needles visits the doctor to transform into her idol. Here is the excellent new video for Needles' collaboration with Lepore, I Wish I Were Amanda Lepore. Enjoy!

HAPPY MONDAY SONG: MELANIE C - SUDDENLY MONDAY

Truly one of the happiest of Happy Monday Songs you can imagine. Mel C has always rocked it out on her own since Spice Girls broke up in 2000. Yes, they broke up 14 years ago. They had some mini-reunions, but....anyway, I digress. Melanie C, a.k.a. Sporty Spice, recorded  Suddenly Monday for her 1999 debut solo album Northern Star, but it was never released as a single. TRAGEDY! A throwback to those glittery songs of the 60s like Happy Together or God Only Knows, this song ALWAYS puts a smile on my face. There was no video for Suddenly Monday, but that's okay, just listen to it and make your Monday a better place, y'all. Or don't and be a sourpuss all day. Your choice. I'm not the police. LOVE!

JANET JACKSON'S RHYTHM NATION 1814 WAS RELEASED 25 YEARS AGO TODAY

Janet Jackson had a lot to prove. Not only was her brother the reigning King of Pop, she was coming off of her first #1 album, 1986's Control, which had five top 5 singles and one more top 20 single, and she was competing with the likes of Madonna, Whitney Houston and Paula Abdul on the charts. What Janet, along with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, put together was a concept album about social injustice, racism, substance abuse and poverty. Of course, there was a little fun thrown in there too. The result was the mega-smash album Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814. The name was explained by Janet like this:
"The use of the number "1814" is twofold. First, R (Rhythm) is the 18th letter of the alphabet and N (Nation) is the 14th. The second is that while writing [Rhythm Nation] I was kidding around, saying, 'God, you guys, I feel like this could be the national anthem for the '90s' ... Just by a crazy chance we decided to look up when Francis Scott Key wrote the national anthem, and it was September 14, 1814."
A mix of R&B, jazz, dance music and straight up rock and roll, Rhythm Nation would chart singles for the next two years, have seven top 5 singles, with four of those hitting #1. That is the most top 5 singles from an album EVER. Booming with stylish, black and white, often military inspired music videos, Rhythm Nation took over MTV and the charts starting with the classically Janet track Miss You Much. Released just ahead of the album, Miss You Much rocketed to the top of the Hot 100 on October 7, 1989. The black and white video introduced us to her troop of dancers, the "rhythm nation", and set us up for a barrage of fantastic videos and singles. Rhythm Nation (#2 US) followed with one of the most iconic dance videos of all time, and lead to her third single and second #1 from the album Escapade. Escapade took a more gentle, playful tone and spent three weeks at #1 in March of 1990. Alright, featuring Heavy D, came next, hitting #4 in the spring and #2 with the ballad Come Back to Me in the summer. Janet was back at #1 with the self-written rock number Black Cat by the end of summer. Finally, on January 19, 1991, over two years after the release of the album, Janet revamped her style, her body and the seventh single and fourth #1 song from Rhythm Nation, Love Will Never Do (Without You) hit #1. With that, Rhythm Nation 1814 became the first album to score #1 hits in three consecutive years. Suck on that, Michael! OH, and the album actually had an eighth hit on the US Dance and R&B charts with the promotional release of State of the World hitting #9 and #23 respectively. BAM! Rhythm Nation changed the way Janet was seen, the way women of color were perceived in the music industry and the way music videos were used to promote albums. It was a stellar follow up to a strong album that cemented Janet as more than just Michael's little sister and put here in the big leagues for good. Listening to the tracks today, they still are as fresh and exciting as they were 25 years ago. Take a look and listen below and enjoy Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814.

ANNIE LENNOX SINGS THE SHIZ OUT OF "I PUT A SPELL ON YOU"

As I wrote about a couple of days ago, Annie Lennox has a new album, Nostalgia, coming out October 21st (September 30th on vinyl) and the lead single is her boner-inducing rendition of the 1956 classic I Put A Spell On You. Now, Annie is never one to give a lazy-ass vocal, but bitch sings this right from the kitty, y'all!! Here she is, singing live with her band at 59 years of age and sounding like a B-O-S-S! Enjoy below and pass it along to anyone with ear-holes. And now, you're hers.

THROWBACK THURSDAY: THE HUMAN LEAGUE

The Human League may be best known for their #1 hit Don't You Want Me, but their influence on modern electronic music is actually quite important. Formed initially in 1977 in Sheffield, the group was originally an all-male, avant-garde, synth band. After gaining some momentum through innovative live performances and touring as the opening act for Iggy Pop in 1979, two of the founding members, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, left the group when lead singer Philip Oakey insisted on incorporating more pop elements into their electronic sound. Retaining the name The Human League, Oakley had only a few weeks to enlist more members into the group to go on tour for their now record label, Virgin. While out scouting for a female backup singer/dancer to join him on tour, Oakey went to the Crazy Daisy Nightclub on High Street and saw two young girls dancing with abandon and immediately, without asking for any performing experience, asked them to join him on tour as backup singers and dancers. From that time to date Susan Anne Sulley and Joanne Catherall, then 17 and 18 respectively, have been an integral part of The Human League. After touring and releasing two singles from their 1981 #1 album Dare!, the UK #3 Love Action (I Believe In Love) and UK #6 Open Your Heart,  record execs were keen to release one more single from the album to capitalize on the band's growing popularity. They chose the album track Don't You Want Me as the fourth single over Oakey's objection. He thought the track was weak and would damage the band's image. A very expensive (for the time) video was shot for the track and the rest is history. The song hit #1 on the UK charts over Christmas 1981 and later in 1982 hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the US as well. What followed was a string of eclectic, dramatic and singular songs that were groundbreaking in their sound and influence: Mirror Man (#2 UK, #30 US), (Keep Feeling) Fascination (#2 UK, #8 US), and even another US #1 with the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced Human (#8 UK). The band has stayed together, even posting more songs on the charts with 1990's Heart Like a Wheel (#29 UK, #32 US) and 1995's Tell Me When (#6 UK, #31 US). The group's last full album of original songs, Credo, was released in 2011 and received favorable reviews from critics but The Human League will more than likely be remembered for their fantastic 80s/90s output, and that is nothing to sneeze at. Such artists as Utah Saints, Ministry of Sound, Craig David, George Michael, KMFDM and Robbie Williams have all cited The Human League as influences on their work. I'd say that is a legacy that will keep running for a long, long time. Here are some of The Human League's biggest hits and best videos. Enjoy!!!

HUMPDAY SEXY SONG: U GOT THE LOOK - PRINCE & SHEENA EASTON

"Ur face is jammin'. Ur body's hecka-slammin'. If love is good let's get 2 rammin'" Ouch! In 1987 Prince released what some argue is his most ambitious and epic album ever, Sign O' The Times. The second and highest charting single from that double album was one of Prince's most radio-friendly singles of the 80s, the amazing U Got The Look. A duet with his then-love-interest Sheena Easton, U Got The Look reached #2 on the Hot 100 and stayed in the top 10 for six weeks. Prince sings in his sped-up, alter ego voice which he calls "Camille" (who seems to be making a comeback this year), but unlike other the songs credited to Camille from Sign O' The Times  (If I Was Your Girlfriend and Housequake) U Got The Look was not intended for the unreleased/abandoned album project Camille, The video for the song was filmed in Paris, France during Prince's Sign O' The Times Tour and was included in the documentary film of the tour as a dream sequence. In the plethora of sexed up songs released by Prince over the years, I would have to say this is one of the sexiest and certainly the sexiest to be released commercially as a single. So here it is, the song for you to hump something to all day. Enjoy U Got The Look.

OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR STEVIE NICKS' NEW SONG, LADY

Stevie Nicks' new album, 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault, will be out October 7th and she's been previewing clips of her unreleased classics that will be on the album for a couple of months. Here is the first official video for the single Lady, a beautiful and simple ballad with a beautiful and simple video. Lady was originally written for inclusion on the Buckingham Nicks project that she and former boyfriend and Fleetwood Mac bandmate Lindsey Buckingham released pre-Fleetwood Mac in 1973. All the songs on the album were written in the 70s or 80s and have never been officially released by Stevie. Can't wait for this!!!! Enjoy the gorgeous Lady and head over the iTunes to pre-order 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault.

ANNIE LENNOX TALKS ABOUT HER UPCOMING ALBUM, NOSTALGIA

YES, GAWD!!!! Annie Lennox is the goddess of blue-eyed soul, and this year she is taking that golden voice and wrapping it around some of her favorite songs from her childhood. On the upcoming album Nostalgia (out on vinyl September 30th, with a full release October 21st in the US and 27th internationally) Lennox delivers such standards as I Put A Spell On You, Georgia On My Mind, Summertime and Strange Fruit. Most of the collection are songs written in the 30s, 40s and 50s with Lennox bringing her individual stamp to modernize them. You can hear snippets of a few of the songs in the preview clip below (which looks like the first in a series of previews) and hear Annie talk about what to expect from the album. I can't wait!!! I worship Annie Lennox and I know this is going to be a stunning set. Watch below. Here is the full track listing for Nostalgia.

1. Memphis In June
2. Georgia On My Mind
3. I Put A Spell On You
4. Summertime
5. I Cover The Waterfront
6. Strange Fruit
7. God Bless The Child
8. September In The Rain
9. You Belong To Me
10. I Can Dream, Can't I?
11. The Nearness of You
12. Mood Indigo

HAPPY MONDAY SONG: GOOD STUFF - THE B-52'S

You can't NOT smile when you hear The B-52's. (unless you are completely dead inside, in which case I'm sorry.) For this Monday's pick-me-up I thought I'd favor you with one of their shiniest, silliest of the group's songs, Good Stuff. This little gem from 1992 was the lead single off of their sixth studio album of the same name and reached #28 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #21 in the UK. The video is just as delightfully campy as the song and features a cameo by none other than RuPaul, who also featured in their video for Love Shack. FYI, the album Good Stuff was nominated for a Grammy in 1993 for Best Alternative Music Album. It lost, but still..... Here is the wonderfully weird Happy Monday Song, Good Stuff!!!!

MADONNA FRIDAY: JUMP

First of all, I must preface this by saying this is my fave Madonna song of all time.... and that is not easy for me to pick, girl! Jump was the fourth and final single from Madge's awesome Confessions on a Dance Floor album and was released on October 31, 2006. Time flies. Written by Madonna, Stuart Price and Joe Henry (who is Madonna's brother-in-law, by the way), the song is about empowerment and self-motivation and has a crazy upbeat, clubby vibe to it. Jump was often compared to Madonna's big, dancable 80s hits. It became her 37th No. 1 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart and her 7th No. 1 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales Chart (the one that REALLY matters), #1 on the Hot Dance Airplay chart and was also a highlight of the Confessions tour with the dancers jumping off platforms and swinging through an aparatus set up in the middle of the stage. I absolutely worship this song. I cannot gym without it. Enjoy the jaunty, lively video for Jump and I dare you not to shake your ass to it. I FUCKING DARE YOU! FINE! I'll include the concert clip too. Happy?

THROWBACK THURSDAY: BANANARAMA

THESE BITCHES!! British girl group Bananarama started off as a lark. Three goodtime friends having a blast, getting drunk,  hanging out with some of the soon-to-be legends of the punk and post-punk scene and falling into pop super-stardom. Sarah Dallin, Keren Woodward and Siobhan Fahey made their mark in the pop world starting with their debut album Deep Sea Skiving and their UK No. 5 hit Really Saying Something. They didn't look back. They are the 4th best selling girl group of all time with 40 million records sold and they CURRENTLY hold the record for the most chart entries by a girl group  in the world!! Not bad for three girls who started off living in a rehearsal room and, unlike classic girl groups, eschewed harmonies and sang all in unison. Their biggest US hit, Venus, topped the charts for the girls in 1986 and became one of the most beloved Hi-NRG tracks of the 80s and their first US top 10 hit, Cruel Summer, has been remade and re-released countless times and is a classic by any standards. An impressive string of hits produced by Stock Aitken and Waterman followed.  If you want to know more about the ladies watch their story of fame and debauchery in three parts HERE, HERE and HERE. It's a fun, sassy story, I must say. These gals still record and tour to this day, although Fahey no longer is with the group, and is 2012 released a career spanning greatest hits entitled 30 Years of Bananarama. 30 YEARS!!! They have several memorable hits that still get radio play and they're showing no signs of slowing down. Here are some of Bananarama's biggest hits spanning the decades. Enjoy and dance around like no one is watching!

THE #1 SONG 25 YEARS AGO TODAY WAS......

.....Hangin' Tough by New Kids on the Block.  Can you believe how tough they were? Five kids from Boston who probably had about three pubes between them released a song talking smack about how rough they were in the voices of child sopranos and we all bought the shit out of it. It hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 9, 1989 and was there for a week. I guess we couldn't take any more hard-as-nails masculinity than one week. The boys were in the midst of their part in the 80s boy band craze, so it makes total sense that girls (and us gay boys) were swooning over this track. And boy could they do the running man like nobody's business. The video is NKOTB doing some very 80s dance moves in front of an audience of girls dressed like Elizabeth Shue from Adventures in Babysitting. As a bonus, Donnie Wahlberg is thrusting his barely post-pubescent wiener at said girls in overly-distressed stonewashed jeans. What do you want? It was 1989. Anyhoozers, here is the #1 song from 25 years ago today, Hangin' Tough by New Kids on the Block.

HAVE YOU GOTTEN YOUR FREE U2 ALBUM?

Rock gods U2, in conjunction with the release of the new iPhone 6 and iWatch thingy, have released their brand new album, Songs of Innocence, for FREE on iTunes. Check your computer or device because it might already be there, girl! If not, go to your iTunes home page and click "downloads" and then click the little cloud and it's yours!! Of the album, Bono explained, "We wanted to make a very personal album. Let's try to figure out why we wanted to be in a band, the relationships around the band, our friendships, our lovers, our family. The whole album is first journeys—first journeys geographically, spiritually, sexually. And that's hard. But we went there." The album is, true to form, big, melodic, bombastic and emotional. U2 are still the reigning rock band to follow. Go get your free copy! DO IT!! Don't be a little bitch about it.

THE #1 SONG 30 YEARS AGO TODAY WAS.....

....What's Love Got To Do With It by Tina Turner. Ms. Turner, though legendary in the rock and blues world, was all but washed up by 1984. She hadn't had a hit in years and was touring and recording as, basically, a nostalgia act. 1984 would certainly change all of that. Along with her new manager, Roger Davies, Turner got to work on some hard rock and roll material and released the mega-smash album Private Dancer. There was no denying that Tina was BACK!!! The second single from Private Dancer (the first was a moderately successful cover of Al Green's Let's Stay Together (#26 US)) was the now-classic What's Love Got To Do With It. The song was released on June 4, 1984 and climbed steadily up the charts until it peaked at #1 on September 1st and held on for three weeks. Tina hadn't had a top 10 hit in the US since the early 70s, but What's Love Got To Do With It kicked her back onto the top of the charts, becoming the #2 song of the year behind When Doves Cry by Prince & the Revolution, and was followed by a string of classic hits. The song also earned Tina three Grammys for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2012. Needless to say, Tina Turner is a legendary star and this song has MUCH to do, much to do with it. Here is the #1 song from this day in 1984, What's Love Got To Do With It.

LISTEN TO TWO UNRELEASED ADELE TRACKS

Recorded for her massively successful album 21, Adele has decided to leak/release a couple of gems that didn't make the cut for the 2011 album. Why? Who know. They are certainly quality tracks and could have easily fit in with the songs on 21. No matter, we have them now. Here are You'll Never See Me Again and Never Gonna Leave You. There's not a lot to say hear except that these are pretty impressive tracks to be left on the cutting room floor. Adele is rumored to be releasing new music in October in the form of a digital single with an album, 25, to follow sometime at the end of the year. Can't wait for more Adele!!!