Flashback Friday: Steely Dan - Black Friday

FLASHBACK FRIDAY on Mel's Internet Universe Music Blog

Well this is the song for the day. "Black Friday" by Steely Dan. Appropriate song for today since it kicks off the official start of the holiday season with of all things, Black Friday Sales.

Black Friday is a traditional shoppers holiday that comes on the day after Thanksgiving for consumers and retailers all over the United States. Thousands of people flock to the malls, stores and online destinations in their first attempts to meet the oncoming Christmas Day deadline of December 25. Bargains galore lead shoppers to the malls only to find that the advertised deals are long gone to the people who came earlier than you. What the stores love is that you stay and buy higher priced items. Yes!

Do you fall into that trap? I don't. I avoid the malls and stores on Black Friday. I rather stay home and eat leftover Thanksgiving turkey and listen to some great music by Steely Dan. I will do that today.

"Black Friday" was issued as a single on ABC Records in 1975. It made it to the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at #37. The track is off the album Katy Lied, the 4th for the group.

Ylvis Not Elvis Tops the Chart This Week

Mel's Weekly Top 20
Week of November 24, 2013.

This Week	Title	Artist	Last Week
1	The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)	Ylvis	2
2	The Walker	Fitz & The Tantrums	4
3	Royals	Lorde	1
4	Wake Me Up	Avicii	3
5	Roar	Katy Perry	5
6	Unconditionally	Katy Perry	13
7	Things We Lost In the Fire	Bastille	6
8	Sweeter Than Fiction	Taylor Swift	10
9	One Day (Radio Edit)	Caro Emerald	9
10	Little Games	The Colourist	11
11	Sail	AWOLNATION	12
12	Callin' Me When I'm Lonely	Sheryl Crow	14
13	Bad Blood	Bastille	16
14	Safe and Sound	Capital Cities	7
15	Summertime Sadness (Alternative Radio Mix)	Lana Del Rey	8
16	Just Another Girl	The Killers	19
17	Compass	Lady Antebellum	20
18	New	Paul McCartney	15
19	Light of Christmas (feat. tobyMac)	Owl City	new
20	The Monster (feat. Rihanna)	Eminem	new

CHART NOTES

I suspect that there is some deeper meaning to the story and lyrics in our #1 song this week. Ylvis' "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)" has a great beat, good music and well... some nonsensical, supposedly animal noises lyrics. More than half the song have non-sensical lyrics. Not a first in the annals of pop music, but nevertheless here with us in 2013. You can view the lyrics and video in the clip included on this page. The song took several weeks to get to the #1 spot. Last week it was #2.

Ylvis replaces Lorde who had the #1 song for the past 4 weeks. "Royals" drops 2 to #3 this week.

Entering into the #2 position up from #4 of last week is Fitz & the Tantrums. Their latest track is called "The Walker". The song has been on high rotation in my iTunes ever since I got their album More Than A Dream back in May. To me this is one of the best Fitz & the Tantrum songs to date. Hopefully it gets wider airplay in the future.

Katy Perry zooms into the top 10 this week with her latest single "Unconditionally". The track enters at #6 up from #13 of last week. It is right behind her current, former #1 hit "Roar" which sits at #5. Both from her album Prism.

New entries to the top 20 this week include Owl City's holiday track "Light of Christmas" which also feature TobyMac at #19. At #20 we find rapper Eminem entring at #20. This is the first time that Eminem appears on this chart since 2000's "The Real Slim Shady". I am not an Eminem fan, hence most of his songs have been ignored over the years. The only reason this one is listed is because Rihanna shares vocals and some melody on this.

Songs That Went to #1 in 2013

The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?) - Ylvis (1)
Royals - Lorde (4)
Wake Me Up - Avicii (2)
Safe and Sound - Capital Cities (2)
Roar - Katy Perry (4)
Get Lucky - Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams (2)
Treasure - Bruno Mars (3)
Waves - Blondfire (2)
Blurred Lines [feat. T.I., Pharrell] - Robin Thicke (3)
Get Lucky - Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams (6)
Tangled Up - Caro Emerald (3)
When I Was Your Man - Bruno Mars (2)
Change - Churchill (7)
Daylight - Maroon 5 (2)
Carry On - Fun (3)
Anything Could Happen - Ellie Goulding (2)

(x) = Total weeks @ #1

Flashback Friday - The Marmalade Cover of The Beatles' "Ob La Di, Ob La Da"

FLASHBACK FRIDAY on Mel's Internet Universe Music Blog

Most people in the United States have not heard much about the band The Marmalade even though they had 2 hit singles in the U.S. Their most well known track is "Reflections of My Life" which hit the top 40 in 1969 and peaked at #10.

After that the band did not enjoy much chart success until 1976 when another single made it to the Hot 100. That song was "Falling Apart at the Seams" which peaked at #49.

Despite not being too popular in America, The Marmalade did enjoy a long string of hit singles in the U.K. One of their most well known there is this cover of The Beatles classic "Ob La Di, Ob La Da" which in 1968 went all the way to #1 on the British charts. This is a good cover which should have become a hit in the U.S.

The song missed the mark in the U.S., but now through the wonder of YouTube, you can now listen to and watch The Marmalade cover this top hit song.

Lorde on Top of the Charts for Week #4

Mel's Weekly Top 20
Week of November 17, 2013.

This Week	Title	Artist	Last Week
1	Royals (4th Week @ #1!)	Lorde	1
2	The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)	Ylvis	3
3	Wake Me Up	Avicii	2
4	The Walker	Fitz & The Tantrums	8
5	Roar	Katy Perry	4
6	Things We Lost In the Fire	Bastille	5
7	Safe and Sound	Capital Cities	6
8	Summertime Sadness (Alternative Radio Mix)	Lana Del Rey	7
9	One Day (Radio Edit)	Caro Emerald	10
10	Sweeter Than Fiction	Taylor Swift	14
11	Little Games	The Colourist	11
12	Sail	AWOLNATION	12
13	Unconditionally	Katy Perry	18
14	Callin' Me When I'm Lonely	Sheryl Crow	16
15	New	Paul McCartney	9
16	Bad Blood	Bastille	17
17	I Got You	Jack Johnson	13
18	The Mother We Share	CHVRCHES	15
19	Just Another Girl	The Killers	--
20	Compass	Lady Antebellum	--

CHART NOTES

"Royals", the smash hit single by Lorde holds on to #1 for a 4th consecutive week on the Weekly Top 20. We find Ylvis moving up to #2 wit their single, "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)". At #4 we find Fitz & the Tantrums with what is now their biggest hit on the Weekly Top 40 and "The Walker". The single off their album More Than Just A Dream bounces from #8 to #4 this week.

Taylor Swift breaks into the top 10 this week with her latest single "Sweeter Than Fiction" up 4 from #14 to #10.

Two songs make their chart debut this week. They are "Just Another Girl" by The Killers at #19 off their greatest hits compilation album, and country music's Lady Antebellum with their new single "Compass" at #20.

Songs That Went to #1 in 2013

Royals - Lorde (4)
Wake Me Up - Avicii (2)
Safe and Sound - Capital Cities (2)
Roar - Katy Perry (4)
Get Lucky - Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams (2)
Treasure - Bruno Mars (3)
Waves - Blondfire (2)
Blurred Lines [feat. T.I., Pharrell] - Robin Thicke (3)
Get Lucky - Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams (6)
Tangled Up - Caro Emerald (3)
When I Was Your Man - Bruno Mars (2)
Change - Churchill (7)
Daylight - Maroon 5 (2)
Carry On - Fun (3)
Anything Could Happen - Ellie Goulding (2)

(x) = Total weeks @ #1

VIDEO SHOWCASE HITS

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Mel's Weekly Top 20
Week of November 10, 2013.

This Week	Title	Artist	Last Week
1	Royals (3rd Week @ #1!)	Lorde	1
2	Wake Me Up	Avicii	2
3	The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)	Ylvis	4
4	Roar	Katy Perry	3
5	Things We Lost In the Fire	Bastille	5
6	Safe and Sound	Capital Cities	7
7	Summertime Sadness (Alternative Radio Mix)	Lana Del Rey	6
8	The Walker	Fitz & The Tantrums	10
9	New	Paul McCartney	9
10	One Day (Radio Edit)	Caro Emerald	11
11	Little Games	The Colourist	8
12	Sail	AWOLNATION	12
13	I Got You	Jack Johnson	15
14	Sweeter Than Fiction	Taylor Swift	18
15	The Mother We Share	Chvrches	17
16	Callin' Me When I'm Lonely	Sheryl Crow	19
17	Bad Blood	Bastille	20
18	Unconditionally	Katy Perry	--
19	Home Again	Elton John	14
20	That's My Jam (feat. Owl City)	Relient K	13

CHART NOTES

Lorde holds at #1 with "Royals" for the 3rd week in a row. Fitz & the Tantrums moves up 2 from #10 to #8 with "The Walker". Caro Emerald breaks into the top 10 at #10 with "One Day". Katy Perry debuts with the only new song at #18 with her latest single "Unconditionally". Her former #1 hit, "Roar" is still on the chart at #4. Both tracks are from her album Prism.

Mel's Weekly Top 20 - November 3, 2013.

Mel's Weekly Top 20
Week of November 3, 2013.

This Week	Tiitle	Artist	Last Week
1	Royals (2nd week @ #1!)	Lorde	1
2	Wake Me Up	Avicii	2
3	Roar	Katy Perry	3
4	The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)	Ylvis	7
5	Things We Lost In the Fire	Bastille	6
6	Summertime Sadness	Lana Del Rey	4
7	Safe and Sound	Capital Cities	5
8	Little Games	The Colourist	11
9	New	Paul McCartney	12
10	The Walker	Fitz & The Tantrums	15
11	One Day (Radio Edit)	Caro Emerald	13
12	Sail	AWOLNATION	14
13	That's My Jam (feat. Owl City)	Relient K	9
14	Home Again	Elton John	10
15	I Got You	Jack Johnson	16
16	Applause	Lady Gaga	8
17	The Mother We Share	Chvrches	17
18	Sweeter Than Fiction	Taylor Swift	20
19	Callin' Me When I'm Lonely	Sheryl Crow	new
20	Bad Blood	Bastille	new