Dr. Blackwell's BLOG

Who would’ve ever imagined an advertisement for a new Web browser could actually carry an inspirational and moving message? Well, leave it to Lady GaGa to do just that in her “Edge of Glory” inspired ad for Google Chrome, below:

While we’ve known ERASURE’s Andy Bell and Vince Clark have been hard at work in the recording studio for the past several months, we didn’t know when their new album would be completed. Well–the wait is over! The band announced today that their new studio album, entitled Tomorrow’s World, will be released this Fall from Mute Records. Also this Fall, ERASURE will tour the US with their Tomorrow’s World Tour, which stops at Orlando’s House of Blues on September 2nd. According to ERASURE Information Service:ERASURE RETURNS WITH BRAND NEW ALBUM TOMORROW’S WORLD + ANNOUNCE FIRST US TOUR DATES IN 5 YEARS!
Synthpop pioneers Erasure are back with Tomorrow’s World, the band’s first album in more than four years. The new album is out Fall 2011 and is produced by one of the UK dance scene’s most exciting new talents, Frankmusik, whose remixing credits include Lady Gaga, Pet Shop Boys, Ellie Goulding and Far East Movement, and whose solo album Complete Me debuted at number 13 in the UK Albums Chart. Tomorrow’s World was mixed by Rob Orton. 

After Erasure’s triumphant return to the stage for Short Circuit presents Mute at the Roundhouse, London – a one-off performance which saw Vince Clarke perform with very special guests Alison Moyet and Feargal Sharkey – plus a performance at 2011’s Ultra Music festival, Erasure is bringing the new album to the USA for their first tour in five years.

The 25-date US tour begins on August 31st in Tampa, continues through September, and finishes in Seattle on October 6th. Tickets go on sale on Friday June 24th. Venue presales (not the EIS presale!) – which will offer a chance to preorder the new album Tomorrow’s World – will start on Wednesday June 22nd, see the Erasure website for details. 

Tomorrow’s World was written in New York, London, and at Vince Clarke’s cabin studio in Maine following a short break, which found Andy Bell recording and releasing his second solo album Non Stop, and Vince Clarke reuniting with former Yazoo partner Alison Moyet for a recent tour.  It was recorded in Maine, London and Los Angeles between January and June 2011, with Vince using his vintage collection of analog synths for the final touch. The end result is a collection of electronic songs that sound totally contemporary and classic at the same time.  All songs are written by Bell and Clarke.

Tomorrow’s World is set for release on Mute in Fall 2011. 

While “Edge of Glory” Lady GaGa’s third single from Born This Way peaked at the #3 spot on the Billboard Chart several weeks ago when it debuted, the pop superstar just released the video for the song on Thursday of this week. The video is a little less flashy than her previous ones. But the performer’s flare for the theatric is ever so present; and the quality of the song and its meaning (GaGa wrote the song about the death of her grandfather and the final moments she was able to spend with him prior to his death) shine through. This week, Born This Way finally fell from its #1 spot at the throne atop of the Billboard Albums Chart. It fell to #2 behind Adele’s new release 21. To date, Lady GaGa has sold over 1.5 million copies of Born This Way and the album has spawned 4 top-10 hits, with the title single (“Born This Way”) remaining in the #1 spot for a whopping 6 weeks! Born This Way is available at retail outlets nationwide and for digital download through iTunes from Interscope Records. Take a look at the video for “Edge of Glory” through VEVO below:

Not that it is of any real surprise, but Lady GaGa’s new album Born This Way debuted as the #1 best-selling album in the country and has remained there for the last two weeks! In addition, Billboard announced today it is projecting the album to remain #1 next week as well. It has already sold 1.1 million copies! The album is also #1 in Billboard’s Dance/ Electronica Chart and Digital Albums Chart. Born This Way also debuted and remains at #1 in the UK, Germany, and Canada! The album has already spawned 4 top-10 hits for GaGa, including “Born This Way” (which shattered records in its debut at #1 and remained the top single for 6 weeks!) “Judas,” “Edge of Glory,” and “Hair.” Born This Way is available in retail outlets nationwide from Interscope Records and from digital download from iTunes and Amazon.

 Pop superstar Lady GaGa new album Born This Way has already spawned one number one single (“Born This Way–which remained #1 for 6 weeks!), one top-5 single (“The Edge of Glory” debuted last week at #3!), and one top-ten single (“Judas”) and it hasn’t even been released yet! The album officially streets on Monday (May 23rd) from Interscope Records. The album is a bona fide “hit machine” and is certain to debut next week at #1. Chuck full of awesome music, Born This Way obviously didn’t need any more positive publicity. Yet, GaGa has entered the famous FaceBook game “Farmville.” Below, take a look at the hilarious promotional video “GaGa Goes to Farmville.” It will definitely provoke a few grins and chuckles. Below, take a listen to Lady GaGa’s newest single “Hair” and watch her amazing live performance this week of “The Edge of Glory.”

Lady GaGa’s new album Born This Way (releases May 23rd from Interscope Records) has spawned two highly successful singles including “Born This Way” (which spent an astonishing 6 weeks at the #1 spot atop BIllboard’s Top 100) and “Judas” (which provided GaGa with her 9th Top 10 single!). If the early reviews of her latest release from the album “On The Edge of Glory” is any indicator, she is likely to have another. On the heels of “Judas,” “On The Edge of Glory” (released on Monday) continues to show GaGa’s unbelievably unique musical qualities and is distinctly different that anything she has ever done. VEVO has an audio playback on GaGa’s YouTube Channel of the new song and you can take a listen to it below. The song is superb and promises to deliver yet another hit for the new reigning Queen of Pop. “On The Edge of Glory” is available from Interscope Records at musical outlets nationwide and for digital download on iTunes.

In a sold-out smashing performance of her Les Folies Tour 2011, Kylie Minogue pulled into Orlando last night and blew the roof off the place. Although international stagings of the show include a production budget of $25 million (!), the American leg of the tour is using a slightly scaled back version of the show. You certainly wouldn’t have guessed it on Sunday. Minogue had 15 backup dancers and 2 background singers (both of whom were fantastic) and performed for a solid 2+ hours. She mixed the old with the new, performing about 50% of her new album Aphrodite while also performing her classic hits like “Locomotion” and “Can’t Get You Out of my Head.” Perhaps the highlight of Les Folies was her performance of “Looking for an Angel” stringed with “There Must Be an Angel (Playing with my Heart)” which was punctuated by her dancers circling the stage like a gospel choir. The show was absolutely incredible and it is obvious that Kylie truly has some extraordinary talent. If this show is coming to a town near you, DON’T MISS IT!!! See a highlight video of Les Folies Tour 2011 below:

Lady GaGa released her video for”Judas,”the second single from her forthcoming new album Born This Way (releases on 5/23 from Interscope Records) today. Take a look at the very cool video below. Surely GaGa is going to ruffle some feathers on the religious wrong with some of the depictions within the video.  Although it uses the relationship between Jesus and Judas (the man responsible for his death) as  metaphors to convey the point, the song itself is actually about being in-love with the a person who is “bad” despite being loved by someone who is “good.” And also today, Lady GaGa appeared on Oprah and gave an absolutely stellar performance of a piano rendition of “Born This Way” and the song “Me and You” from her forthcoming album. Take a look at both below:

Lady GaGa stopped by the Ellen Degeneres Show today to perform her latest smash hit single “Judas” from her forthcoming album Born This Way (releasing from Interscope Records nationwide on 5/23). The performance was incredible and GaGa was surrounded by her hott ensemble of dancers. Take a look:

Britney Spears’ latest full album Femme Fatale debuted at #1 and has held that spot for two consecutive weeks. In addition, the second single from the album “Till The World Ends” peaked at #9 on the Billboard Chart last week and remains in the Top 15.  Femme Fatale is excellent! It is definitely a step-up for Spears in-comparison to her previous Circus (2008) and Blackout (2006). But, that does depend on your taste in Britney’s music. Femme Fatale is not what I would call “classic Britney Spears.” It is much more dance oriented and is not as lyrical and popish as her more recent releases. In my opinion, it’s the best Britney Spears album to date. EVERY song on the album is incredible! Splurge for the Deluxe Version on iTunes; it’s definitely worth the couple of extra bucks. Also this week, Britney released her much-anticipated video for her second single from Femme Fatale “Till The World Ends.” With an apocalyptic feel, it very well could be one of the coolest videos Spears has ever made. Take a look: