When The Baby Boomers Die, Who'll Be #1?

PopMatters speculates about who will be the "Greatest All-Time" once the baby boomers die off and the Beatles finally fall from their usual perch atop all those lists...

John Lennon sure sang a lot about how great the world would be, but the best he could offer was a "bed-in." He looks like a lazy punter next to Bono, who is jetting all over the world with heads of state and impoverished children. U2 is the only band with their own iPod, a marketing coup that will endear them to an even younger generation of music fans. They'll almost certainly take the number one spot by 2025, at which point Casey Kasem will be remembered as a tin-eared xenophobe for his less than prescient summation that nobody would give a shit about "these guys" -- the final nail in the boomer coffin.

Coming Attractions: The Sadies Go Live

Later this week in Toronto, the Sadies are recording a live record...

The list runs the gauntlet of past Sadies collaborators. There will be members of Blue Rodeo, The Deadly Snakes, Heavy Trash and, of course, the Good Brothers. You'll also see Jon Langford (The Mekons, Waco Brothers), former Jayhawk Gary Louris (who will produce The Sadies' next record), Neko Case, Kelly Hogan, their Unintended partner, Rick White, and some surprise guests.

The recording will be done at shows on February 3 and 4 at Toronto's Lee's Palace (the same venue that Case used to record part of her The Tigers Have Spoken live record with The Sadies and others), with Steve Albini and Don Pyle producing.

One thing that Good wants to stress is that The Sadies aren't breaking up. "This isn't The Last Waltz," he says.

"I don't want any comparisons to that. It's not a variety show. The point is to make a Sadies live record, and we're just seizing the opportunity while we have tape and all our friends are around. There will be new material as well as the songs we have always played live but never recorded. Best of all, there isn't a lot of pressure because playing live is what we do best."

The Money Shot: The Raconteurs' New Single

Just in from NME:

The Raconteurs' limited edition debut single is available to hear on their official website - and the band have named their album too. Their first single 'Steady, As She Goes'/'Store Bought Bones' was released yesterday (January 30) as a limited edition vinyl-only seven inch. However, both songs are being streamed at the group's new website, http://www.theraconteurs.com/. The tracks are lifted from The Raconteurs' first album, which is called 'Broken Boy Soldiers and out in May. The band, who are fronted by Jack White and Brendan Benson, are planning live shows in the UK soon.

The Money Shot: Arctic Monkeys Are Fastest UK Debut

AP reports:

The Arctic Monkeys' first album, "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not," has become the fastest-selling debut in British chart history, with sales of more than 360,000 copies during its first week on the charts. Figures from the Official UK Charts Co., which compiles all album sales in Britain, show the Sheffield foursome easily smashed the record previously held by pop band Hear'Say. Their "Popstars" album — the result of a hugely popular reality television show — sold just over 306,000 copies in a week in March 2001.

Music That Sucks 1.31.06

Best bets to suck this week...

• John Corbett - John Corbett (Oh... Great... Another actor decides to release a debut CD. That's an automatic addition to the Suck List. Guess it's been a slow 10 years since the end of Northern Exposure, eh? Well, we can't all be Shatner, buddy... Prove me wrong!)
• Barry Manilow - The Greatest Songs from the Fifties (In case you really wanted to hear Manilow's overly enunciated versions of "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" or "Unchained Melody". An obvious attempt to try to catch a little of Rod Stewart's Great American Songbook magic...)