State Champ Radio Podcasts
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We’ve all heard the stories from inside Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy gala, held the Saturday night before the annual Grammy Awards. There was then-rookie artist Alicia Keys performing her most high-profile gig yet in 2001 — and then duetting with Aretha Franklin two years later. Also in 2003, Rod Stewart hit the stage with Lou Reed for an unexpected duet.
It’s always been a hot ticket for those in the industry and an impossible ticket for those who aren’t — until now. On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, the legendary music industry executive tells Katie and Keith about plans to make a documentary out of previously unseen footage from the A-list party, starting with its inception back in 1976.
“I’m working with [film and TV producers] Jesse Collins and Rob Ford and others to go through the history of our pre-Grammy gala,” Davis says on the podcast. “It’s been the hottest ticket … because you never know whether it was Prince, whether it was [Paul] McCartney, whether it was Sly and the Family Stone, they’d be in the audience along with the tastemakers, along with the heads of every motion picture studio, every record company. … So it’s a unique audience. But it’s the music, seeing the artists together that you would never have seen anywhere in your life. And we’re going to put a documentary together and propose it to Netflix and Paramount+.”
Now, the four-time Grammy Award-winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee says he’s ready to pull back the curtain on the famously exclusive event. “It’s time to open the ball and reveal it, and you won’t be disappointed,” Davis promises. “They have been jaw-dropping.”
Also in the interview, Davis regales the Pop Shop team with stories about five of the biggest artists he’s worked with over the decades: Whitney Houston, Dionne Warwick, Prince, P!nk and Usher. The timing of the interview was perfect, because the Billboard staff just chose Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” as the No. 1 entry on our list of the 500 Best Pop Songs, so we got to celebrate the news with the man behind the song — and he also offered up a couple of personal picks for his favorite Whitney songs.
Davis also discussed how Dionne Warwick has stayed relevant over the years, from her hilarious social media presence to Doja Cat sampling “Walk On By” for the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Paint the Town Red”; he recalled his spirited debates about the music business with late legend Prince; he traced P!nk’s evolution into a world-class live performer; and he chatted about why Usher is the right pick for the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show.
Also on the show, we’re celebrating the 10th anniversary this month of the Pop Shop Podcast, inviting back original co-host and pod founder Jason Lipshutz for the super-sized episode. We also have chart news on how Taylor Swift achieves her 10th No. 1 on the Hot 100 with a four-year old song, as “Cruel Summer” jumps 9-1, while Bad Bunny notches his third No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
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Suge Knight might be in prison but the Death Row Records mogul is still calling shots from the inside. A new report reveals that Suge Knight will be launching a new podcast and will be aiming some strong barbs at those who have taken shots at him during his time behind bars.
TMZ Hip Hop exclusively reports that Suge Knight, 58, is partnering with Breakbeat Media co-founder and founder of The Source Dave Mays for the new podcast. Titled Collect Calls With Suge Knight, the program promises to feature Knight speaking on the likes of Snoop Dogg, Wack 100, P of Quality Control Music, and more.
More from TMZ Hip Hop:
Dave tells us they’ve already stashed about 5 episodes containing half-hour conversations each ahead of the pod’s official Halloween ’23 launch.
As for topics covered — we’re told Suge won’t leave much unturned when it comes to hip hop — responding to the legions of artists/hip hop pundits who have been using his name for headlines and expanding on his thoughts of Snoop Dogg owning the Death Row brand.
The show will air weekly on Thursdays for the audio portion with the video version releasing on Fridays.
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Photo: DAVID MCNEW / Getty
The way pop singer/songwriter Troye Sivan describes his new album Something to Give Each Other, it’s really about “every sort of connection being beautiful in its own way, and of togetherness and community and joy.”
On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen to Sivan’s interview, below), the musician and actor says that he wrote the just-released project “over a long period of time” and realized at one point that “the overarching themes of the last two-and-a-half-three years of my life are mostly really joyous themes.”
Sonically, Sivan says the only intent with the new album was that he knew he was very “drawn to warmth.” He says in the past, it’s “sort of been like this melancholy warmth, and this time I didn’t feel that way.”
“I talk a lot about Janet Jackson,” Sivan tells Pop Shop hosts Katie and Keith, “because she’s so important to me, but I saw her show at the Hollywood Bowl really early on in the process. And, to me, it took me right back to when was I was like, however old I was, I was probably like 7… hearing ‘Together Again’ for the first time. And that melody and those chords and the warmth that’s in that song literally changed the trajectory of my life. The trajectory of my life as a musician and as a songwriter, specifically. And that’s something that I was really really striving for [on the new album]. I wanted something warm.”
The album’s lead single “Rush” brought the warmth – and the heat! – when it was released in July. It reached the top 40 on the Billboard Global 200 chart and hit the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The “scorching” track was accompanied by an equally hot, dance-heavy music video, directed by Gordon von Steiner (who also “creative directed” the album) and lensed by cinematographer Stuart Winecoff (who also photographed Something’s album cover).
But the video didn’t necessarily come easy, Sivan says. “First things first, considering all of my references for a good pop star growing up, were those who made these mega mega mega videos where the budgets were very very different from what they are now. I had so many times, in so many meetings (where people said), like ‘music videos don’t matter, the music is dead,’ and I pushed and pushed and pushed and I’m so grateful that we go to make the music video of my dreams for ‘Rush’ … It went wider than I think anything ever has of mine before, and that’s really cool. I’m very grateful and thankful.”
“Rush” was followed by two more buzzy singles and videos, both from the von Steiner and Winecoff teaming: “Got Me Started” (which features Sivan and his co-stars dancing through Bangkok) and “One of Your Girls” (in which Sivan is seen through a whole new light, alongside his main co-star, musician and actor Ross Lynch).
With Something to Give Each Other now out for fans to listen to, will Sivan bring that special Something on tour soon? Though he doesn’t have a plan yet, he’s thinking about it – and he’s feeling the pressure. “I’m intimidated because … when this tour happens, I want it to be the tour of my life. I really do. And I want to give the big pop show that I think this album is asking for, and these visuals [his music videos] are asking for. And so it’s a big job. … So, I’m gonna take a second and regroup and then figure it out. For some reason, I really really really feel the pressure, I really do.”
Also on the new edition of the Pop Shop Podcast, we’ve got chart news how Drake pulls double-debut duty at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart on Billboard Hot 100 songs chart thanks to For All the Dogs and “First Person Shooter,” featuring J. Cole, respectively. Plus, Keith details his experience being at opening night of Madonna’s The Celebration Tour in London on Oct. 14, while Katie recounts what it was like attending the red carpet premiere of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour concert film on Oct. 12 in Los Angeles.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
Andy Summers’ love for photography started in New York in 1979. He was three years into his career as the guitarist for The Police, the British trio that quickly became a sensation with its 1978 debut album, Outlandos d’Amour (“Roxanne,” “Can’t Stand Losing You”) and 1979’s Regatta de Blanc (“Message in a Bottle,” “Walking on the Moon”). The band was constantly surrounded by photographers, and Summers began to get interested in their equipment.
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“Suddenly it occurred to me: I should get a really good camera,” he tells Billboard’s Behind the Setlist podcast. “I’m on the road. I’ve got all this time. I mean, the only real commitment I have is getting to the gig and playing a couple of hours however many nights a week. Then there’s all this downtime, particularly in the U.S.” Summers bought a Nikon camera at a B&H Photo Video store in New York City and quickly began studying photography books and talking to people about the craft. “Immediately it became a complete obsession,” he says.
It turned out that playing the guitar wasn’t the only thing Summers was good at. “I seemed to have a natural aptitude [for photography],” he says, ”a knack for it.” Summers released his first book of photography, Throb, in 1983 and documented his time in The Police with 2007’s I’ll Be Watching You: Inside the Police. 1980-83. His latest book of photography, A Series of Glances, was released in May by German publisher teNeues Verlag.
Now Summers is combining his two passions on his North American tour, A Cracked Lens + A Missing String, that runs through the East Coast, West Coast and Canada before culminating in four dates in Florida in December. The show — Summers performing solo while his photography is displayed behind him — spans The Police (“Roxanne,” “Tea in the Sahara” and “Spirits in the Material World” are regularly played), original solo works (such as “Triboluminescence” and “The Bones of Twang Zu”), covers of Brazilian influences (“A Felicidade” by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes, and “Manhã de carnaval” by Luis Bonfá) and a jazz classic (Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight”).
The mixed-media shows are an outgrowth of his photography exhibitions and performances at museums. “I think we’ve actually developed it into quite a sophisticated place from that early start,” says Summers. “And the way you learn you, the way you do it is by actually doing it in front of an audience. Of course, I practice in my studio, and we project onto a big white wall and I play and then you know, so that’s your normal practice — sequencing playing, getting used to it — then you do it once in front of your audience and realize you’ve got everything wrong. And so you revise it. It’s always a work in progress.”
Listen to the entire interview with Andy Summers at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Amazon Music or Audible.
Pop superstar Kylie Minogue says she made a “conscious decision to go for it” in terms of promoting her new album Tension – and indeed she has. Since mid-May, she’s been hard at work across the globe to tell the tale of Tension.
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“The entire team’s been working really hard,” she tells the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen to her full interview, below). “I feel so grateful for this moment and so excited for the music and what is unfolding — people’s experience with the music and how they’re making it their own and really welcoming it into their lives, that how could I not give extra? I mean it’s kind of my default anyways.”
All that hard work paid off too. Tension debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart, scored her biggest sales week in the U.S. in early 20 years, and opened at No. 1 in the U.K. and in Australia.
Now that she’s broken the Tension, next up for Minogue is the launch of her residency at the Voltaire Belle de Nuit at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, which begins on Nov. 3. The intimate club, which will hold only 1,000 guests at each show, promises to offer a unique experience with Minogue, which the Voltaire advertises as “more than just a residency.”
Minogue says her performance within the club will feature a “selection of songs from throughout the years” and that the show, and its setlist, could evolve over time, since she has 20 shows currently scheduled “over a number of months,” on through next May.
Guests attending an evening at the Voltaire during Minogue’s residency will see their evening start around 9:30 p.m., while Minogue will take the stage a little after 11. “It’s late night,” she says. Will her Voltaire performance differ from a traditional touring show from Minogue? “It will be different to a normal concert,” she says. “My show’s normally two [hours], two [hours] and 15 [minutes long] … so it’s gonna be more snug [than a regular show]. I think it’s gonna feel, because we’re so close [she and the audience] … to be revealed. I mean, I haven’t done this kind of show before. But I think being that close and that intimate in that environment, I think it’s gonna feel kind of more than what it might appear on paper.”
Will her Voltaire residency preclude Minogue from going out on the road with her own tour? No! Does she have a desire to head back out for her own traveling show? Yes!
“I see [the Voltaire engagement] as a very specific show and experience, enhanced by and limited by its surrounds. It is a performance within the Voltaire club. And, to be this involved at the inception of this club — which will hopefully be there for many, many years with lots of different artists performing there — I do feel especially attached to it because I’ve known about it since its inception and I’m part of the opening. But, my tour? That would be different again. And a very different sensation for me and for the audience. So yeah, I would love to go on tour again, absolutely.”
Also in our chat with Minogue, the pop princess reveals how she “would love to be back in the studio” working on new music after the inspiring time she had making the Tension album. “I feel like we’ve just kind of tapped into something that I’d love to explore more.”
Also on the new edition of the Pop Shop Podcast, we’ve got chart news how *NSYNC returns to the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in 20 years and makes a splashy entrance on Billboard’s airplay charts with “Better Place,” Pop Shop hosts Katie and Keith discuss their recent concert trips to see P!nk and Jessie Ware, respectively, and a chart stat of the week about Madonna’s debut on the Hot 100, 40 years ago this month.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
Podcasts by or about Doja Cat, Snoop Dogg, Björk, Meghan Trainor, Jill Scott, Questlove, Tobe Nwigwe and the late rapper Mac Dre are among the winners at the second annual Signal Awards. The winners were announced on Tuesday (Oct. 10) and will be celebrated with a reception at The Bowery NYC on Oct. 23.
Origins: Doja Cat won for music – individual episode. Snoop Dogg W + M won for music – limited series. Both were released by Audible, which won the inaugural award for company of the year. With 32 total wins, Audible also received nods for such podcasts as Origins – Tobe Nwigwe, Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast and The Sesame Street Podcast.
“2023 was a huge year for podcasts, as worldwide listenership continued to skyrocket and new trends emerged,” Signal Awards managing director Deondric Royster said in a statement. “The winners of the second annual Signal Awards represent the best of the industry: those who are pushing boundaries, telling important stories, encouraging laughter, and reaffirming the overall power of podcasting and its ability to connect to listeners all over the world.”
During the public voting stage, fans cast more than 130,000 votes for the Signal Listener’s Choice award. Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, HBO’s The Last of Us Podcast, Mobituaries with Mo Rocca, Small Town Dicks, Barely Famous, And That’s Why We Drink and Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls were among the podcasts receiving the most public votes.
Signal Awards reports receiving nearly 2,000 entries this year. Winners were selected by the Signal Academy. To see the full list of winners, visit www.SignalAwards.com.
Here’s a selective list of winners from the 2023 Signal Awards, with a focus on music and comedy personalities.
Best host (current events) – shows: The Problem with Jon Stewart: The Official Podcast – Apple TV Podcast
Popular culture & variety – shows: Jill Scott Presents: J.ill the Podcast – Jill Scott Presents: J.ill the Podcast
Interview or talk show – shows: Gold Minds with Kevin Hart – Hartbeat (co-winner)
Comedy – shows: Gold Mind with Kevin Hart – Hartbeat
History – shows (listener’s choice): Mobituaries with Mo Rocca – Paramount
Best video podcast – branded shows & advertising (listener’s choice): Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend – Samsung Electronics – SXM Media
Best guest – individual episode: Questlove Supreme – The Oriel Co. (co-winner)
Arts & culture – individual episode: Origins – Tobe Nwigwe – Audible (co-winner)
Best conversation starter – individual episode: Did Mac Dre Really Go to Prison Because of His Lyrics – KQED (co-winner)
Interview or talk show – individual episode: Milk Drunk: The Podcast – Meghan Trainor & Emily Oster: Redefining “Best” Parenting – Bobbie (co-winner)
Music – individual episode: Origins: Doja Cat – Audible
Most innovative audio experience – limited series & specials: Björk: Sonic Symbolism – Archetype
Best original score or music – limited series & specials: Lake Song – Make Believe Association
Best writing – limited series & specials: Can You Dig It? – A Hip Hop Origin Story – PB & J Productions (co-winner)
Music – limited series & specials: Snoop Dogg W+M – Audible
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“Striking.” “Mind-blowing.” “Ambitious.” “Massive.” “Dazzling.” That’s just a sampling of adjectives used to describe U2’s opening night at the brand-new Sphere in Las Vegas on Friday night, with the legendary band sharing the bill with the $2.3 billion venue as the eye-catching orb sets out to revolutionize live music in Sin City. But once Bono […]
Juliana Hatfield made a name for herself in the era of ‘90s college rock with hooky, pop-laden rock songs that comfortably fell outside of the mainstream. Now, Hatfield is about to release an album of covers of one of the most celebrated mainstream pop bands of the ‘70s and ‘80s, Electric Light Orchestra.
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For Hatfield, ELO’s orchestral, multi-layered sound — a signature of its primary member, Jeff Lynn — has been an attraction since before she became a musician. “Growing up, ELO songs would come on the radio, and I was always mesmerized by the sound,” Hatfield tells Billboard’s Behind the Setlist podcast. “ELO just lit up the radio.”
Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO, out Nov. 17, is her seventh album for American Laundromat Records and the third of cover songs following tributes to Olivia Netwon-John in 2018 and The Police in 2019. “It’s like an escape back to a more innocent time,” Hatfield says of recording the cover songs. “I was full of hope back then. And the mystery and the magic of music was first enveloping me and I was just very excited about it. So when I’m playing these songs and singing the songs of The Police or ELO or Olivia Newton-John, I think part of it is I’m trying to recapture some kind of magical, innocent love of music. And it works. I’m getting those feelings back.”
Ahead of the album’s release, American Laundromat Records has released three tracks that are among ELO’s most popular and successful songs: “Telephone Line,” “Can’t Get It Out of My Head” and “Don’t Bring Me Down,” which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979. The 10-track ELO album delves deep into the band’s repertoire and includes such songs as “Bluebird is Dead” from 1973’s On the Third Day and “Sweet Is The Night,” a deep cut from the 1977 album Out of the Blue that peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Two additional songs, “I’m Alive” and “When I Was a Boy,” released as a separate 7” vinyl single.
“When I was choosing songs for the album, I definitely wanted to focus on some of the really well-known, catchy ones like ‘Telephone Line’ and ‘Don’t Bring Me Down’ just because they’re such great constructions and they’re so fun and well made. But then I wanted to highlight some of the more obscure stuff that maybe people hadn’t heard of like the later albums, like the Zoom album [from 2001] has the great song, ‘Ordinary Dream’ on it.”
Hatfield will begin a string of headlining shows beginning at City Winery in Pittsburgh on Oct. 4 and ending at POP in Providence, R.I., on Oct. 14. Performing the songs live requires Hatfield to translate ELO’s Phil Spector-like “wall of sound” production to a more modest setting. In concert, Lynn’s ELO has a full band — including strings and backing vocals — to bring the familiar recordings to life. Hatfield has less to work with. “It’s difficult to play,” she says. “It’s difficult to get my head around. How do you play an ELO song live when there’s so many layers on the recording? My recordings of ELO songs are slightly stripped down compared to ELO. I don’t have an orchestra or even the string quartet.”
She figured out some workarounds, though, such as substituting keyboards for strings and singing some of the string parts. Hatfield got a helping hand at some recent shows from some backup singers, including Kay Hanley, the singer for the band Letters to Cleo. “You need some extra vocals for sure,” Hatfield says.
Listen to the entire interview with Juliana Hatfield at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Amazon Music, Audible, Scribd.
When Usher was announced as the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show headliner over the weekend, the conversation on social media was a mixture of excitement and surprise — with some questioning whether it’s been too long since the R&B/pop superstar had a hit. While his last Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit was more than […]
