Music Industry

So how did Good Morning America open its Fourth of July show today?  Fighter-jet flyover?  Small-town Independence Day parade? Inspiring video of America's beauty from sea to shining sea?  Guess again.  GMA featured rapper Jason Derulo [I never heard of him either], jet skiing past the Statue of Liberty. And which song did GMA place at the top of the list when it displayed a smartphone with…

As you probably know, the 1980s were boom years for conservatives. Among the most prominent right-wingers back then: Ronald Reagan, Tom Clancy, Casey Kasem… OK, Kasem, who died on June 15, actually was a staunch liberal, a supporter in that decade of Jesse Jackson and later of Dennis Kucinich. But during the ‘80s, wrote Scott Timberg in a Sunday piece for Salon, “we had a political and…

The musical wreckage that is Jennifer Lopez’s latest album is one thing; the cultural wreckage that “A.K.A” reflects is another altogether. J-Lo has risen from the American Idol judges’ table, but her attempt to regain her ‘Jenny From The Block’ glory days has taken a face plant on the pavement. According to ShowBizz 411, the album has only sold 30-35,000 copies during its debut week.

A darling of the lefty entertainment establishment has taken a prosthetic nose dive into hot water. At Macklemore’s May 16 Seattle performance at the opening of “Spectacle: The Music Video,” the rapper lionized for his pro-gay stance appeared on stage in a stereotypical Jewish costume, singing his hit, “Thrift Shop.” Bad move for a guy celebrated for injecting “tolerance and acceptance and…

Buyer beware those promising a “Catholic education.” St. Mary’s Institute (SMI) is the Catholic grade school in my wife’s New York hometown, Amsterdam. It is affiliated with St. Mary’s Catholic Church, whose pastor Father John Medwid pens the opening to the Saint Mary’s Institute annual newsletter.

The Washington Post carried a huge, almost life-size picture of Jay Carney’s head in the Style section on Friday. But it was designed as a pick-me-up for the embattled Obama spinner. It was a story about...Carney and his favorite rock band. “Benghazi and the IRS have kept Carney scrambling, and he hasn’t had much time to listen to ‘English Little League,’ the latest album from the Ohio indie…

The new Natalie Maines record is continuing to spur music writers to slam the "cowardice" of the country-music industry and the stuffiness of the country-music audience in the aftermath of Maines trashing President Bush at a London concert on the eve of the Iraq war.  On the NPR show "Fresh Air" on Wednesday, music critic Ken Tucker insisted Maines was just ahead of where the majority would…

Rapper Armando Pérez, better known by his stage name Pitbull, used the recent dust-up over liberal celebrities Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Beyoncé Knowles traveling to Cuba to call attention to the awful conditions faced by people in his homeland. Responding to an earlier “open letter” by Carter in which he defended his trip to the communist dictatorship, Pérez did not condemn the musical couple…

Music critic Jon Caramanica reviewed country star Brad Paisley's latest album "Wheelhouse," in "Taking Country Less Conservative" for the Arts section of Wednesday's New York Times. Caramanica gave Paisley backhanded compliments for "openmindedness" while insulting the genre of country music as rigidly conservative (Caramanica has previously given backhanded praised to country music itself, for…

The New York Times Magazine profile of young, nontraditional country singer Kathy Musgraves by contributor Carlo Rotella was infected with smug urban liberalism and a stale defense of the defunct Dixie Chicks, "who had a patriotic fatwa declared against them for saying they were against the war in Iraq and ashamed that George W. Bush was from Texas." You may remember that incident occured…

Rapper Lupe Fiasco was told to leave the stage at a Washington, DC concert after playing a single anti-war song for 30 minutes and informing the audience that he did not vote for President Obama. Organizers insisted he was not forced out due to his political speech but rather because of his “bizarrely repetitive, jarring performance.”

Just when it seemed like everyone of note in the entertainment industry was enthusiastic about another four years of Obama. Lo and behold, there are some dissenters. Not that the large broadcast media outlets will notice, of course. Antwan Patton, better known by his stage name Big Boi from OutKast, has sold over 50 million records throughout his career. With a new solo album coming out, Big…

It’s kind of sad, really – a novelty pop band with a lone hit 30 years ago trying to make political hay of an incident of about the same vintage. But Devo doesn’t have much else to do these days, and the left will welcome any help in its efforts to slam presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Famous for their 1980 hit single “Whip It,” Devo just revealed their plan to release an…

On Tuesday’s Morning Edition, National Public Radio promoted an Atlanta rapper named “Killer Mike” and his “politically charged” song called “Reagan.” Somehow, they left out that Atlanta-based "artist" Michael Render ends the song with “I’m glad Reagan dead” and regurgitates the old conspiracy theory that Reagan and Ollie North imported cocaine into the inner cities: