'Monkey' Love George Michael's

Though the latter half of his career has been malevolented by that unfortunate incident in a bathroom a few years back, George Michael was once a pretty big deal. One of the biggest, really, as his eight chart topping singles in the 1980s is a record he shares with the legendary Michael Jackson (though George had three of those singles as half of Wham!). Following his tear from Andrew Ridgeley, Michael scored monolithic hits with songs like "Faith," "Father Figure" and "One More Try."
Though he opened the 1990s with the multi platinum Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, Michael has yet to be able to top the submerging ubiquity of his solo entry Faith. Legal battles with his label and huge spread between albums allowed him to slip off the radar for a while, and both of his comeback albums (1996's Older and 2004's Patience) were received lukewarmly in the U.S. (though he remained a superstar in his native U.K.). But last year he toured North America for the first time in 17 years and was well received by both fans and critics. The tour (and the greatest hits album that attended it) helped to prompt the world just how many hit songs Michael has had in his career. One of those tunes was "Monkey," the final single from Faith and also Michael's last chart topper of the '80s. It climbed up to the top position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart 21 years ago today on August 27, 1988. It replaced Steve Winwood's "Roll With It" at the top of the mound. It stayed there for two weeks before being pushed out by Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine."

And don't forget that George Michael may finally get the VMA respect he deserves, as his clip for "Freedom" is nominated for Best Video (That Should Have Won A Moonman) at this year's Video Music Awards, which air live on Sunday, September 13.

English city are 2 bothersome buskers banned

LONDON A city in central England says two buskers who plagued a suburb by repeating the same two songs have been banned from performing for two years.
Birmingham City Council said Friday that the men angered residents with late night and out of tune appearance of two tracks "Wonderwall" by Oasis and "Faith" by George Michael.
Acoustic guitar player James Ryan, a 40 year old, and 39 year old Andrew Cave who used garbage can lids to attach Ryan were banned from busking by a judge at Birmingham Magistrates' Court.
The group are barred from entering the Birmingham suburb of Moseley Village and from playing musical apparatus there.
The council says both men are also banned from adjured anywhere in England or Wales.

Drunk-driving trouble for George Michael

Has anyone wondered what George Michael has been up to recently? Boy have we got a story.The pop icon was arrested on Friday after being doubtful of driving under the pull. He took a breathalyser test following an collision where he banged into a truck.According to the truck holder Laurie Rowe, Michael had been quitely confuse and had no idea what was going on. He even tried to climb into the cab of Rowe's rig and said something about being alarmed to go to jail. Rowe said the impact was so angry and Michael hit them so hard that he "didn't think he [Michael] would have come through."Back in 2006, Michael has had his agreement renege following an arrest for ugly driving as well.

Experiment of John Legend to continues

MONTREAL -- I reached American neo-soul singer John Legend by phone on Friday, June 26, the day after Michael Jackson's death. So it was difficult to deflect starting our advisement with the topic du jour.
"It's a surreal moment," said Legend, real name John Stephens. "It's a sad moment. It makes you reflect on all the great music he's made, how effectual he was in my life, and to so many other people . . . He was the quintessential pop star.
"Some of his music is some of my favourite music of all time I truly always acknowledge his music."
While Legend may not have taken straight cues from Jackson's music or aureate stage persona, he has been expanding his sound over the course of his three solo albums, as understanded by the title of last year's Evolver.
The album opens with the electro influenced "Green Light," featuring OutKast's Andre 3000 dropping whimsical come on rhymes while Legend purr over an uptempo club beat.
"I decided to go in more of an electronic direction," he said of the song. "It prompted me of an '80s jam by George Michael or Prince . . . Andre took it to a whole other level because of his energy, wit and all that."
Elsewhere on the album, Legend dabbles in hip-hop (with pal Kanye West), reggae (with British protege Estelle) and his trademark swooning piano balladry.
Though his specialty is the soulful torch song, the 30 year old singer has always made a point of bringing other things to the table.
"I always felt I was more than the stereotype of me," he said. "'Green Light' was so successful as a single, it highlighted that difference. My albums are all pretty well ) 'Ordinary People.' That came to define the larger public's perception of who I was."
Legend's Grammy-winning 2004 debut Get Lifted also featured more hip-hop-oriented material, including the songs "Number One" (featuring Kanye West) and "I Can Change" (featuring Snoop Dogg). The album ended up selling a whopping three million copies, making him a household name in the expantion.
But he hardly had come out of nowhere. Legend had been a songwriter, pianist and guest vocalist on the R&B/hip-hop circuit for years, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's 1999 smash "Everything Is Everything," and appearing on songs by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, among others.
His big break came when his old college roommate Devo Springsteen introduced him to his cousin West in 2001. Get Lifted was released on West's Good Music label.
"I met him in Harlem at a performance I had done at Jimmy's Uptown," Legend said. "(Springsteen) thought we would work well together. He was right. We met before either of us was famous, and helped each other. When he airfare up, he helped me get a record deal."
"He's a genius. He's one of the most impressive creative minds I've ever worked with. I think he's been one of the most influential artists in our generation."
Legend has been fostering some young talent of his own, signing British R&B/reggae/hip-hop singer Estelle to his Homeschool label and recruiting West to act on the hit (and again, Grammy-winning) single "American Boy," produced by Will.i.am.
"I just felt like she deserved to be a star," Legend said. "As a fan, I wanted to hear more music from her, the right music that I as a fan would accept. So I signed her to my label, I helped make her last album and we're working on the next one."
He is also working on the appearance album of his younger brother Vaughn Anthony, who is opening for him on his current tour.
"He's an R&B artist with a voice similar to mine," he said, "but with his own style, which is a bit harder(-edged)."
Though he started playing piano at age four, it's in his singing and songwriting that Legend takes the most pride, and rightly so. He has a knack for making engaging music.
Even as he indulges in heartstring tugging soul songs, a sense of humour runs through his lyrics. "Number One," from his debut, featured the uproariously unapologetic line, "You can't say I don't love you / Just because I cheat on you."
"I'm always trying to tell a good story," Legend said, "in a way that's relatable and that people can connect with. I want it to feel clever and unique, and also universal and familiar. I'm trying to find the right balance. I know it when I hear it."

Michael Cera and Charlyne Yi talk romance and BLTs in this sexless mockumentary. But is it true love, or too cute?

The twee mockumentary you enjoyment may rest on how endearing you find its two lead actors: Michael Cera, the awkward, earnest actor building a considerable career playing and Charlyne Yi, the comedian last seen baked out of her brain in "Knocked Up," the kind of guys you wouldn't mind letting your daughter date. They may or may not be an off-screen couple (it's confuder), but they are certainly an on-screen couple, playing a fictitious version of themselves: Two 20-somethings prone to quirk and hoodies, who meet while Yi is filming a documentary about the conform of love. He courts her over sandwiches and delivery pizzas as the cameras roll. She writes a song for him on her acoustic guitar called "You Smell Like Christmas." They don't knock back Jagermeister shots. Nobody winds up naked in a hot tub, ever. It's all giggle-snorts and spring water drunk from wine glasses and awkward goodbyes. It's sweet but, as my companion said when we left the theater: Don’t you kind of miss the days when kids just got drunk and had sex?

The movie begins with the premise that Charlyne -- who co-wrote "Paper Heart" with her friend, director Nicholas Jasenovec (played by Jake Johnson) -- does not believe in love. Not the fairy tale kind of love, anyway, and though she does not say so, you get the sense that coming of age in the "The Bachelor" and the trashy dating shows of MTV and VH1 -- where romance is medido in pole dances and diamond rings -- didn’t do much to bolster her faith in enduring coupledom. Armed with her skepticism and a small camera crew she starts filming a documentary in which she interviews real people about their ideas on love, from man-on-the-street-style exchanges in New York to sit-downs with comedian pals like Seth Rogen and Demetri Martin, the latter of whom offers the terrific deadpan: "You've never been in love. Is it because you're not lovable?"

British Artists get their phones hacked

UK’s most famous policeman raised an analysis last Thursday on one report of journalists at Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World. For what, you ask? Why, because the chief of the paper was conniving to hack the cellphones of celebrities and renowned public officials. And who are these prominent officials? Well, one is Gwyneth Paltrow. Really, that’s the top of the mountain. That’s all that matters to me. Is some techno-whizkid tried, ineffectively, to hack Gwyneth Paltrow’s phone. And also one of the celebrity George Michael’s. This is obviously a cyberpunk plan to gain access to the in secret guarded inner circle of people who haven’t put out work in a decade. And even then, were mysteriously well-liked. Other notable personalities who had their blackberries exploded were former deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, former culture secretary Tessa Jowell, and celebrity cook Nigella Lawson. That sounds like a cracking roster. But for our rationale, we will visualize tech-discussions, notes, and twitters sent from the phones of George Michael and Gwyneth’s phone. Because you have to be anxious to hack the tech of the most frustrating people working in showbiz.