Dr. Blackwell's BLOG

 The new reigning Queen of Pop, Lady GaGa CRUSHED her competition in earnings in 2011. Forbes released the list of top music earners for the year today and GaGa earned a whopping $90 million! That number is based on album sales, endorsements, and gross earnings from live performances. And live performances is where GaGa really broke the bank! She earned an average of $1.3 million PER LIVE SHOW in 2011! Taylor Swift ($45 million) came in 2nd place; but she earned less than 1/2 of what Lady GaGa earned! Katy Perry was third ($44 million), Beyonce was fourth ($35 million) and Rihanna was fifth ($29 million). Congrats to Lady GaGa. It’s good to see that quality music and real talent is still highly recognized and appreciated in the world.

 Lady GaGa performed her new single “Marry the Night” from Born This Way (which has sold over 8 million copies!) on UK’s X-Factor last week. Take a look at the dramatically-infused performance below. As always, her vocals are as outstanding as ever.

Pop superstar duo Erasure are nearing the release of their first studio album in over 4 years. Tomorrow’s World releases next Tuesday from Mute Records on iTunes and retail outlets nationwide. Below, take a look at a very good short-film about the creation and recording of the new album, featuring snippets from new songs on the album and their collaboration with producer Frankmusik:

Below is some exclusive footage (courtesy of ERASURE Information Service) showing ERASURE rehearsing their new single “When I Start to (Break it All Down)” for their Tomorrow’s World Tour. The tour stopped at the House of Blues Orlando two weeks ago. The pop duo gave an incredible performance (see review below) to a sold-out raucous audience which included this song. Tomorrow’s World releases October 3rd from Mute Records.

I had the absolute treat of having the opportunity to see ERASURE, one of my all-time favorite music groups, perform to a raucous and sold-out crowd at Orlando’s House of Blues last Friday night. The Tomorrow’s World tour stopped in Orlando and was greeted enthusiastically by thousands of adoring fans. The pop-duo split the concert between their new and their old, playing about 75% of their old pop hits and 25% from their forthcoming new album Tomorrow’s World, which releases from Mute Records in October. Andy and Vince were joined by two backup singers (affectionately termed “The Gazelles” in the last ERASURE tour) and played for close to two hours! Andy’s deep and sweet vocals sounded just as good as they always do; and while he decided to take the lower register when performing the duo’s new single “When I Start To Break it All Down,” he sounded (and looked) perfect! Andy Bell has obviously been hitting the gym and might even have had a Botox injection (or two). ERASURE’s other half, Vince Clark, spent his time either mixing the background music on his MacBook or strumming to his guitar. The entire performance was electrical and kept the audience singing and dancing along. The set was somewhat more gothic than would be expected for ERASURE with Vince’s Mac resting atop a gargoyle and multiple towering metal structures flanking the stage. Nonetheless, it provided a fresh and interesting twist on your typical pop stage. Another pleasant surprise was ERASURE’s opening act Frankmusik. While opening acts are usually a letdown and make the audience really yearn for the headliner, Frankmusik got the crowd pumped and showed some truly amazing talent. While he has produced songs for Lady GaGa and Madonna (as well as producing ERASURE’s entire new album), he is mostly an unknown. Well if his performance on Friday is any indication, that is about to change. Take a look at Frankmusik’s video for his new single “Do it in the AM” which is from his forthcoming album of the same name which releases from Universal Records on September 27th:

Take a look at the video for a GREAT new followup single to Darren’s first release (“Talk, Talk, Talk”) from his forthcoming new album Secret Codes and Battleships (release date not yet announced). “Black Out The Sun” is a lot of fun. Take a look and listen below:

ERASURE has been releasing some really exciting mixes of the first single “When I Start (to Break it All Down)” from their forthcoming new album Tomorrow’s World. The pop duo’s concert at Orlando’s House of Blues is also nearing. The sold-out show is at 8:00 pm on Friday September 2nd. Tomorrow’s World releases from Mute Records on October 4th and the new single will be released digitally on August 29th. Take a listen to the AWESOME Steve Smart and WestFunk Main Room Mix of the new single below: Erasure – When I Start To (Break It All Down) Steve Smart & WestFunk Main Room Mix (Edit) by Mute UK

Lady GaGa appeared on “So You Think You Can Dance?” this week and gave an INCREDIBLE live performance of “Edge of Glory” and “You and I.” Take a look below