Wrinkly pop rocks the charts

Posted on June 28, 2007 
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Roxy Music, The Spice Girls, Take That, The Who, The Beatles, The Stones, Led Zeppelin

A cursory glance at any entertainment feed will show you very quickly that the kids are not alright at shifting units these days. It is your mum or dad’s favourites that are rocking the world and making the money.

Take the last few days as an example. Nearly half a century after it’s inception, Beatlemania is still with us. The fab two and the wives of the other fabs (Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison) attend a special dedication ceremony in honour of John Lennon and George Harrison in the Love Theatre in Las Vegas on it’s year’s anniversary whilst hundreds of Paul McCartney fans lined the street outside a funky Hollywood record store on Tuesday to secure a seat for a free show there by the ex-Beatle.

Re-unions are in the air again: Roxy Music ia rumoured to be organising a comeback tour. And on the back of a hugely successful re-union tour by nineties boy band Take That, their female equivalent the Spice Girls are expecting to announce theirs this week. This is expected to net each Spice Girl at least $10m each.

In the age of the download it’s touring that makes the money. Last year’s biggest grossing tour? The Rolling Stones. Their nearest rival? U2.

For the first time since 1988, Bon Jovi topped The Billboard 200. ‘Lost Highway’ sold 288,000 in United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the rock troupe’s biggest one-week sum since Nielsen began tracking sales data in 1991.

All this after a weekend where The Who, headlining their first Glastonbury, gave a masterclass in how to hold a vast, tired, wet crowd in the palm of the hand.

New releases this week:
Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger
Beastie Boys – The Mix-Up
Kelly Clarkson – My December
Miley Cyrus / Hannah Montana – Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus
Bryan Ferry – Dylanescque
Grateful Dead – Three From The Vault
Nick Lowe – At My Age
Sinéad O’Connor – Theologoy
Pearl Jam – Live At The Gorge 05/06 (box set)
Paul Simon – The Essential Paul Simon

Anyone under 40?

I don’t think it’s only me that has noticed this trend. But, who would have believed it? In this industry that is repeatedly characterised as the youngest, hippest and difficult to predict – it is more and more the tried and tested, wrinkly dinosaurs, elder statesmen and women who are calling the shots, turning heads and making that sweet sound – the ringing of cash registers.

Comments

One Response to “Wrinkly pop rocks the charts”

  1. Brett on July 6th, 2007 6:26 am

    It’s a worrying state of affairs!

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