After "Gangnam Style", Here Comes Psy's "Gentleman"

The song "Gangnam Style" by South Korean rapper Psy is undeniably one of the most popular songs in recent history. Released in mid-2012, the song's music video with its catchy tune and horse riding-inspired crazy dance moves has since had around 1.5 billion views on YouTube, making it the first YouTube video to ever hit the 1 billion views mark and thus making it the most watched YouTube video of all time.

Following the song's phenomenal success, many are now wondering whether Psy's follow-up single, Gentleman, and its music video (released today) would be able to reach the same amount of success as the 2012 hit, or if Psy would just end up another one-hit wonder. 

The music video of "Gentleman" quite obviously tries to match up to that of "Gangnam Style" with its own share of crazy characters and dance moves. I was instantly reminded of the Gangnam Style music video as I was watching the new song's music video, as they both actually seem to share a similar pattern. The costumes, the formations, the sequence of events (beginning with the bit where he walks along a hallway at the start of the music video up until the big dance finale featuring dozens of back-up dancers), and even the locations (elevator, anyone?)--almost everything, basically, contains hints or references to the 2012 hit.

Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is what we can't really be sure of just yet--it may take a while for us to see whether Gentleman would be able to match up to Gangnam Style's success. It took Gangnam Style quite a while before it's popularity globally actually took off, after all. It only hit the 1-billion mark last December, five months after the music video was uploaded. 

For now, we will have to see whether Gangnam Style's success would actually rub off on this one.

DJ Earworm's United State of Pop 2012 is out!

Jordan Roseman (aka DJ Earworm) is an American mashup artist who for the past few years has been releasing his "United State of Pop" videos, which contains a mashup of 25 of the biggest hits of the year, according to Billboard magazine. These annual mashups have earned the recignition of YouTube users, global radio stations, and its listeners, and has become a "year-end tradition" of some sort.

This year's mashup was released about a week earlier compared to last year's (which was uploaded on Christmas Day) and features songs such as Call Me Maybe, Starships, We Are Young, and of course, Gangnam Style, among others. 

Musical Flashback: Best of My Love by The Emotions (1977)

Best of My Love is a 1977 disco song by the all-female group The Emotions, released as a single and part of their album Rejoice. Since it was released, the song has been critically acclaimed, winning awards such as "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group" at the Grammy Awards, and also a "Favorite Soul/R&B Single at the American Music Awards. 

The song,written by Maurice White and Al McKay of the group Earth, Wind & Fire, was at the top of the Billboard Charts for 5 non-consecutive weeks. It eventually became The Emotions' biggest single, receiving a platinum certification from the RIAA. 

Musical Flashback: Hey Ya! by OutKast (2003)

Hey Ya! is a song released in 2003 by the hip hop duo OutKast, as part of their album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Written by Andre 2003, the song has been critically acclaimed, winning numerous awards such as Best Urban/Alternative Performance at the Grammy Awards in 2004 and earning the recognition of music critics around the world. 

The song, which is heavily influenced by both funk and rock music, has been named as one of the "Most successful songs of the 2000s" (where it ranked 20th), according to Billboard's Hot 100 Songs of the Decade list. The song also remained at the top of the ARIA Singles Chart for two weeks and remained at the top spot of the Billboard charts for nine weeks. 

The song has also been credited for helping boost Polaroid Corporation's camera sales, since one part of the song goes, "shake it like a Polaroid picture". OutKast had made an agreement with the company to hold Polaroid cameras on stage during certain performances. The company had also agreed to sponsor parties for the duo.

Similarly, the song's music video had also been very successful. Filmed over a two-day period, the song is an homage to The Beatles' guest appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show back in 1964. The music video topped the MTV Total Request Live countdown for 19 days, and won numerous awards such as Video of the Year, Best Special Effects, Best Art Direction, and Best Hip-Hop Video at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2004. 

Musical Flashback: Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen (1979)

Crazy Little Thing Called Love is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by lead singer Freddie Mercury and released in 1979. The song was included in the band's album The Game and has topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980, where it remained in the number one spot for four consecutive weeks. It also peaked at the second spot at the UK Singles Chart, and topped the ARIA Charts in Australia for seven weeks. 

The song, written as a tribute to the late singer Elvis Presley, was reportedly composed by Freddie Mercury in just a maximum of ten minutes, during one of the band's recording sessions in Munich, Germany. Within a day, the song was already recorded and ready to be included in the band's new album. 

The song has been covered by several artists numerous times, including Maroon 5 who has included their version of the song as a bonus track in their album Hands All Over.

Yes, It's Another "Call Me Maybe" Video

Look who decided to join the "Call Me Maybe" bandwagon.

Musical Flashback: Barbie Girl by Aqua (1997)

Barbie Girl is a song released in 1997 by the Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group Aqua, which was included in their album Aquarium. The song about Barbie and Ken, the two famous dolls made by Mattel, became a chart-topper worldwide, and has drawn the attention of both fans and critics. While the song has made it to some "Best Songs" lists, the song has also received the attention of critics. Blender Magazine, for example, included the song in their "50 Worst Songs Ever" list, while AOL Radio has also included it on their "100 Worst Songs Ever" list. 

When you first listen to it, the song may seem innocent--it does make references to the famous Barbie doll, well-loved by young girls around the world, across generations. If you do listen to it more closely, however, you will realize that the song is full of sexual innuendos. With lyrics that go "You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere" or "Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky panky" you'd realize that this song isn't exactly something you'd want young children to dance to (though the music video looks very attractive for children). 

Mattel, Inc., who created the Barbie doll, ended up suing Aqua. They claimed that the song had violated the Barbie trademark, and that the song ruined the Barbie trademark's reputation by calling Barbie a "blonde bimbo" and reducing her to a sex object. The court, however, dismissed the case in 2002 and ruled that the song was considered a parody. The court also dismissed MCA records' (Aqua's record company) defamation lawsuit filed against Mattel. Judge Alex Kozinski, who handled these cases, said: "The parties are advised to chill". These lawsuits only helped increase the popularity of the song and the band, who did receive awards at the height of their popularity. In 2009, Mattel did end up using the song (with modified lyrics), as part of a new marketing campaign, called "Do the Barbie Dance".

Musical Flashback: Alapaap by The Eraserheads (1994)

Alapaap (English: "Cloud") is a 1994 song by the popular Filipino 90s rock group The Eraserheads, from their album Circus. The critically-acclaimed group, composed of members Ely Buendia, Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala, and Marcus Adoro, has become a staple in the Filipino music industry and, to some, has even achieved "legendary" status, earning them the title "The Beatles of the Philippines". Likewise, their songs have also received much-praise, garnering several awards and with numerous singers and bands making their own cover versions. 

This 1994 song, Alapaap, is no exception--this song became the band's ninth hit single and was the fourth hit single from the album Circus alone. It was, however, subject to controversy in 1995 when this and several other songs by local bands at the time were under investigation by government officials, led by Senator Tito Sotto. After reviewing the song's lyrics, he alleged that the song was about (and thus promoted) drug abuse (his logic: "Clouds = "getting high"). He also called for radio stations to stop playing the song. The band naturally fired back at critics, by saying that the song made no direct references to drug abuse and did not even mention the word "drugs" throughout the song, so it was up to the people to interpret the song. They also did mention that the song was about freedom. 

Whether this really is about drug abuse or not, this remains to be one of the most popular songs by The Eraserheads and will forever be remembered by the band's millions of fans. 

Dutch Choir Covers "Bangarang" by Skrillex

This choir from the Netherlands just made dubstep a whole lot more interesting--check out this video as they make their own version of "Bangarang" by Skrillrex during aradio program. Amazing!

Musical Flashback: "Asereje" by Las Ketchup (2002)

Starting today, I shall regularly be posting a series of entries called "Musical Flashback", where I will be posting about songs that were popular from the 60's (or maybe even older) until the early 2000s. With the exception of this particular entry, all other "Musical Flashback" entries will be posted on a Sunday, in line with many radio stations' tradition of playing oldies or classic hits on Sundays. 

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In 2002, the Spanish pop group Las Ketchup (composed of sisters Lucia, Lola and Pilar Munoz) released a song called Asereje or "The Ketchup Song". This was released as the lead single from the singing trio's album Hijas del Tomate. This song proved to be a hit, reaching the number one spot in charts such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Turkey, and France. Its popularity also reached the Philippines, where the song became a dance craze as people did their own interpretations of the song's dance steps, as seen on its music video.

The song, however, became very controversial in the Philippines. The Christian sect Iglesia Ni Kristo banned its members from listening to the song, as the song allegedly made references to devil worship. Other sects soon followed suit. These religious groups alleged that when the song was backmasked, references to the devil became even more clear. Its lyrics also apparently makes references to Satan's "coming" in an apocalypse, as stated in numerous e-mails that were circulating at the time. Just take a look at one such e-mail here.

Fans, however, defended the song by saying that the song was merely about a man in a club who dances to his favorite song. 

So what do you think? Is this song truly evil? Or is it just another feel-good European pop song?