Ask 411 Music 06.01.09: VH1 Top 100, MC Hammer, and The Backstreet Boys

Posted by Joshua George on 06.01.2009

Do I agree with VH1s Top 100, what really hurt Hammer, and what's my response to my fan/hate mail? Find out all this and more in this, the newest edition of Ask 411 Music!

June 1st is one of my favorite times of the year. If you live on a college campus, you're starting to see all the hot wimmenz sun bathing in their bikinis and all kinds of good lookin shit. Keep your eyes open and don't be afraid to go for it :) Now let's get down to business. If you want to have your questions answered or your reader mail published in the column, all you have to do is SEND THEM IN NOW!

Here come the...

Ask 411 Music Reader Questions

From Andy Pleeze,

What the hell happened to Ace Frehley?!?!? I used to be a KISS fan, last saw them on tour in 2000 when they did their "first"? farewell tour. Since then, where has Ace Frehley been?

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Andy, it's cool that you saw them in 2000. As it turns out Ace Frehley's last performance with KISS was in 2002 at the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics. After this, it was in 2006 that Ace appeared on VH1 as a part of a group comprised of Rob Zombie, Slash, Tommy Lee, Scott Ian and Gilby Clarke performing "God of Thunder". The music world wasn't giving Frehley much to do, so he turned to a bit more acting when he joined a few big actors in a crime drama called Remedy. Ace also found himself succeptible to the commercial industry as it was actually him in his KISS makeup playing guitar in the Dunkin Donuts commercial in 2007. He claimed that he would be coming out with a new solo album in 2008 but we still haven't seen that yet, and he played a solo show in 2007 at The Chance Theater in New York. If you didn't see Ace on the Rocket Ride World Tour, you can see a lot of fan-filmed footage of it on YouTube (of course, just like anything else). Apparently Ace has been given the go on a project where he will be the first musician to go into outer space and broadcast a live performance while there. They'll record it of course, and since this project has been in progress for about a decade now, I'd say it's a safe bet that it won't end up happening. If it does... I'll eat a horse. Ace has been doing many appearances at Rock Halls, Hard Rock Cafes, House of Blues locations, and various other spots and has even been a victim of a death hoax back in February of 2007. Hopefully that gives you all the information you're looking for. Also keep your eyes open for the "new album" called Anomaly.

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Sending a question to me is one of the easiest things to do. You send it, and I answer it... that's how this shit works! All you have to do to get a question answered is SEND THEM IN NOW! Variety is great in this column, I think we can all agree, so do me a solid and SEND THEM IN NOW!

From Eric Whitesides,

What do you think killed MC Hammer career? Do you think that it was his change to a tougher image, or is it that the music just changed on him, or do you think it was his name change?

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Eric, welcome back as usual to Ask 411 Music. It's always a pleasure to have a regular reader continue to submit questions. MC Hammer is a really difficult one for me because I was a REALLY big fan of The Hammer. I had every cassette tape (yea, I know -- what are those) that he put out and I knew all the words to all the songs. I think the biggest problem for him was the rise of "gangsta rap". He had a product that people loved and listened to when it was out. The only problem is that instead of just evolving his own style and his own music to fit a demographic of the current time, he decided to do a COMPLETE change of his style, his flow, and his image. This made him lose the listeners that he currently had and he didn't gain any of the "gangsta rap" fans either because he has no "street cred" or because he's the "Pray"in', parachute-pants-wearin', "Too Legit to Quit"tin', Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em guy that no one can take seriously when he raps about being The Funky Headhunter. I bought The Funky Headhunter hoping that it wouldn't be bad... bad news -- it was fucking awful. Hammer kept trying over and over again, but just never found a mark. A lot of people don't know this, but he actually put out SIX studio albums after The Funky Headhunter. I haven't listened to any of them other than Look Look Look but unfortunately even that was pretty miserable. I didn't mind it too much, but it just wasn't the Hammer that we grew up to love. So to be honest, I think it's a mixture of your first two thoughts. I would say that his change to a tougher image, combined with the changes that took place so rapidly in the music industry just pushed him out. While he was giving back to Oaktown, I don't think Oaktown gave as much back when he ran out of money, so unfortunately for him -- it's the music industry's version of natural selection. There ya go Eric!

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More and more questions are trickling in from new question-askers. If you want to have your questions answered, it's easy. The best way to do it is to SEND YOUR QUESTIONS IN NOW!

From Eric Whitesides,

About 5 to 10 yrs ago, VH1 complied the greatest 100 artists of RnR on their program. They stated that this consisted of what musician's thought were the top 100. Of course, your fav, the Beatles were no 1. Here is the top 100

1. The Beatles	26. Chuck Berry	51. B.B. King	76. The Bee Gees
2. The Rolling Stones	27. Bruce Springsteen	52. Cream	77. John Coltrane
3. Jimi Hendrix	28. Sly & the Family Stone	53. Peter Gabriel	78. Billy Joel
4. Led Zeppelin	29. U2	54. The Grateful Dead	79. Aerosmith
5. Bob Dylan	30. Neil Young	55. The Byrds	80. Tina Turner
6. James Brown	31. The Clash	56. The Kinks	81. The Band
7. David Bowie	32. Joni Mitchell	57. Steely Dan	82. Devo
8. Elvis Presley	33. Queen	58. Sam Cooke	83. Iggy Pop
9. The Who	34. Buddy Holly	59. Bo Diddley	84. T. Rex
10. The Police	35. Otis Redding	60. Earth, Wind & Fire	85. Carole King
11. Stevie Wonder	36. Little Richard	61. Smokey Robinson	86. Madonna
12. Ray Charles	37. Al Green	62. Paul McCartney	87. Santana
13. The Beach Boys	38. Elvis Costello	63. Sting	88. Ramones
14. Marvin Gaye	39. Miles Davis	64. Frank Zappa	89. Johnny Cash
15. Eric Clapton	40. Michael Jackson	65. James Taylor	90. Tom Waits
16. John Lennon	41. Janis Joplin	66. Talking Heads	91. Gladys Knight & the Pips
17. Elton John	42. Nirvana	67. KISS	92. The Temptations
18. Prince	43. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers	68. The Allman Brothers	93. The Four Tops
19. Pink Floyd	44. The Jackson Five	69. Pretenders	94. Diana Ross & the Supremes
20. The Doors	45. Crosby, Stills & Nash	70. Stevie Ray Vaughan	95. Robert Johnson
21. Aretha Franklin	46. The Sex Pistols	71. Rod Stewart	96. Lynyrd Skynyrd
22. Fleetwood Mac	47. Creedence Clearwater Revival	72. Simon & Garfunkel	97. Fats Domino
23. The Eagles	48. Van Halen	73. Muddy Waters	98. Traffic
24. Bob Marley	49. Roy Orbison	74. The Velvet Underground	99. Parliament/Funkadelic
25. Van Morrison	50. R.E.M.	75. Curtis Mayfield	100. Paul Simon

Do you agree that this is an accurate list? What would you do different?

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I think this is definitely an interesting list. We all know how I feel about The Beatles, so we don't have to rehash that, but I'm really disappointed to see R.E.M on here and not see RUSH or Dream Theater. Surely Neil Peart and Mike Portnoy being two of the best drummers today, should be able to acquire a spot on this list for their bands. Also, where's GnR? Maybe I'm not sure the criteria they used for this particular list, but something definitely appears to be wrong with some parts of this list. Let me turn it to the readers. Do YOU guys think that this list is accurate? What would YOU do different? Let us know in the comments.

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I'm getting more and more reader questions, so don't be left out! Let's get some more questions from you, the readers. I like to have reader mail and things to post, so all you have to do is SEND YOUR QUESTIONS IN NOW!

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It's time for...


Joshua Sounds Off

From Hayley Richardson,

I was reading your article on how artists use certian techniques to sound better. while i do believe it is widespread you chose a poor example using the backstreet boys. Although i do not know what they do in the studio i know that they do sing live and very well. It is a common misconception that boy bands can't sing, which is why they are more referenced as a vocal harmony group.

Also

From Kathy Stewart,

Backstreet Boys need the piano to keep them in tune? What artist DOESN'T use the piano? If that is the "worst" music violation the Backstreet Boys used then I'd say they are MILES ahead of most. In fact, after hearing them sing ACAPELLA live in concert year after year, you really have a hard time selling their "weakness" to me. Find some other punching bag in the industry.

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Are you guys serious?! This is in response to last week when we were talking about the studio shenanigans that happen for some recording artists to make them sound better in the studio than they actually are. Let me first, state for the record, that I didn't realize there were still fangirls out there for The Backstreet Boys, but I guess I should've known that there are probably still girls and/or women out there with a poster of Nick Carter on their walls dreaming about how someday they'll be married to him. I'm sure their Trapper Keepers are filled with doodles and drawings of their first name with Carter or McLean as their last name. Unfortunately girls, you didn't pay attention to what I said.

At no point did I say that Backstreet indeed did use this stuff, intead, what I said was:

"Think about the idea that word used to be that The Backstreet Boys used to do all of their studio albums one note at a time and used to get help from the piano during recording sessions to keep them in tune. There was even talk at one point that they had a vocal synthesizer to help them sound better. "

At no point do I accuse Backstreet of utilizing these measures, but instead I state simply that that was "the word" back in those days. There was always a lot of controversy surrounding the boy bands and the pop folks after Brittany Spears decided to get caught lip-syncing. Other artists in the genre were using measures (not too far off from what is normal now) to make their voices sound better, sexier, etc. I, personally, was also a fan of Backstreet and I found a lot of good music coming out of both them AND N'Sync, though I could never make myself like 98 Degrees.

Anyway, the point is, you don't have to "fangirl" out on me just because I mentioned something that was said years ago. I wasn't using The Backstreet Boys as a "punching bag", and please don't even pretend that Backstreet has no weaknesses. I promise you that those guys are certainly not "gods" of the industry, and there will most likely be a day when no one even remembers their names. You people seem to forget that I'm the a cappella person at 411. I'm the one that's versed in a cappella ensembles, and music and knows what true GOOD vocal harmony groups sound like. I never heard Backstreet live, and thank God that at the bottom of the e-mail from Hayley, she provided me with some links for my own "education". I would say that Backstreet is good. I would say that N'Sync was good. I think most boy bands that actually succeed are actually good at what they do, or their success wouldn't amount to much -- again, see 98 Degrees. Don't hate on the columnist just because he's relating information that was widely known during the successful run of the group.

Now, go write in your diaries about how beautiful your wedding is going to be with its Backstreet Boys theme, and talking on the phone to your friends about how "OMG HAWT" the guys are... groupies.

Would you like me to reply to your e-mail in the column? Do you have a rant on a certain music related topic that you'd like to share? All you have to do is Send your shit to me NOW!

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Who wants to hear something new???


Things You Should Hear

1. I want everyone to hear this song. It's Tech N9ne - "Midwest Choppers 2". I can actually rap along with Tech N9ne's verse which comes in around 3:10:


2. For pure entertainment purposes, let's hear The Lonely Island feat. T-Pain - "I'm On A Boat":


3. Here's the new single from the Rob Thomas album Cradlesong - "Her Diamonds":


4. Here's a HILARIOUS song by Corky and The Juice Pigs entitled "The Only Gay Eskimo". I've provided the video from their live performance on "Mad TV":


5. For Rod, a guy that I work with that loves Rage Against the Machine - "Killing in the Name":


6. For my fangirls, here's Backstreet Boys - "Shape of My Heart" A CAPPELLA so we can all hear their vocal acuity.



If you'd like me to post your band or a band that you particularly love, all you have to do is Send me the YouTube link NOW! I'd like to start including some of your personal bands clips, or other bands that you think people should be hearing.

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So who wants to get pimped? If you have a website that your band hosts, or something that you think the general public would enjoy checking out, please send me a link and a SHORT description and I may include it in the pimping section of next week's column!

The StumbleUpon Link of the Week is 10 Minute Mail and it is SFW.

Make sure you check out my reviews. You can see my profile with my blog and all of my reviews/columns here.

Also I'm a co-host and co-founder of a professional wrestling podcast. My friend and I have been running this show and our website for a little over three years now, and we'd love to have more listeners and since I get my own column now, I feel good about pimping it out. If you want to listen to the most recent show, you can usually find it (along with the most recent news which we get from a variety of other sites MOST NOTABLY the amazing 411Mania Wrestling News Section) at www.pinfallrecall.com. If you'd like to spend your days on our forums talking about how this might be one of the most ridiculous and boring Wrestlemanias of all time, like all of us, you can do that on The Pinfall Recall Forums.

Don't forget, if you want to have YOUR questions answered in this column, all you have to do is SEND THEM IN NOW!

Peace!