Mr. Pop Culture Report

Mr. Pop Culture Report – November 18… Puff The Magic Diddy (drinks by the sea), Keith Urban Goes Urban… Paul McCartney Is Sirius About This Concert… Bill Nye The Unconscious Guy… A Note From HBO.

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 | Hot Pop Culture, This Week In Pop Culture History, Today In Pop Culture | No Comments

He’s Puff The Magic Diddy – Advertising Age names Ciroc vodkas one of America’s hottest brands — and Brand Manager/CMO Sean “Diddy” Combs loves it. “This is a huge honor for us to be included in this illustrious list,” “It shows that Ciroc Ultra Premium Vodka is a brand America loves and hard work pays off!” “Made in France, Croc vodka … is one of the first vodkas made from fine French grapes, mauzac blanc and ugni blanc, and it is distilled five times,” says the magazine. “But what really sets this brand apart are its street credentials.”

Keith Urban Is Back – Country music star Keith Urban is used to seeing screaming fans — just not necessarily meeting them up close at the train station. Urban promoted his new album, “Get Closer,” in stops at New York’s Penn Station and 30th Street Station in Philadelphia on Tuesday. The CD is now getting into fans’ hands and looks to land #1 on the country album charts in a week or two.

Beatles Now On iTunes – Users can buy the Fab Four’s remastered studio albums, collections and a digital box set. Looks like “Abbey Road” is the top seller – at least for now.  While Beatles fans celebrate the addition of the band’s catalog to iTunes, Paul McCartney will help Sirius XM Radio ring in a milestone of its own next month. McCartney will play New York’s Apollo Theater for the first time on December 13, in an invitation-only event for listeners of the satellite radio service as it approaches 20 million subscribers. The concert will be broadcast live on six different Sirius XM channels. The company also announced the launch of “Paul McCartney’s ‘s Band on the Run Radio,” a commerical-free music channel showcasing McCartney’s catalog that will run 24/7 from November 29 to December 26. The channel coincides with the reissue earlier this month of “Band on the Run,” McCartney’s 1973 album with Wings.

The host of the Emmy-winning 1990s TV show Bill Nye the Science Guy, 54, collapsed mid-sentence in front of hundreds of audience members during a speaking engagement at the University of Southern California. About 10 seconds after his fall, “he popped back up with much gusto and asked everybody how long he was out for and went on with a story about how a similar thing happened to him that morning,” an audience member said.

Check out HBO’s upcoming documentary called PUBLIC SPEAKING, directed by Oscar winner Martin Scorsese and produced by Emmy - and Peabody-winning documentary producer Graydon Carter, about legendary New York writer Fran Lebowitz. PUBLIC SPEAKING premieres Monday, November 22^nd on HBO. Directed in the style of Scorsese’s early documentaries “Italian American” and “American Boy,” PUBLIC SPEAKING showcases Lebowitz’s worldview and experiences.  Spotlighting her trademark humor, the film weaves together extemporaneous monologues with archival footage. We have key art, stills, trailer and clips from the film for you. http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/public-speaking It’s Mr. Pop Culture recommended!

Tags: Ciroc vodka, Fran Lebowitz, HBO, Keith Urban, Martin Scorsese, Paul McCartney, Sean Puffy Combs, Sirius, This Week In Pop History

Mr. Pop Culture Report – March 16

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 | This Week In Pop Culture History, Today In Pop Culture | No Comments

Out Of The Woods – Tiger Woods said he will return to golf next month at the Masters, ending a four-month hiatus brought on by a sex scandal that shattered his image as the gold standard in sports. “The Masters is where I won my first major and I view this tournament with great respect,” Woods said in a statement. “After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I’m ready to start my season at Augusta.” Woods has not competed since Nov. 15 when he won the Australian Masters for his 82nd victory worldwide. Twelve days later, he crashed his car into a tree outside his Florida home, setting off shocking revelations that he had been cheating on his wife.

Estate Slate - Michael Jackson’s estate has signed the biggest recording deal in history: a $200 million guaranteed contract with Sony Music Entertainment for 10 projects over seven years, according to a person familiar with the deal. The record-breaking contract through 2017 could be worth up to $250 million if certain conditions are met. One of the albums will be of never-before-released Jackson recordings that will come out in November.

The Hunt Is Over - The syndicated “Bonnie Hunt Show” is being canceled after its second season due to low ratings (what else?). The show averaged a .8 share.

Interesting – President Obama is set appear on Fox News to rally last-minute support for the health care reform bill. Bret Baier will sit down with Obama tomorrow for an interview regarding the proposed legislation. The interview will be followed by an in-depth panel that will analyze Obama’s responses. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the bill later this week.

Mr. Pop Archives – This Week In 2000 -

Madonna says she is pregnant with her British-beau Guy Ritchie.

Paul McCartney confirms he’s involved with a former swim wear model named Heather Mills. “She’s a very impressive woman. We are an item.”

VH-1, in an answer to its “Divas” specials, is doing a “Men Strike Back” concert featuring Sting, Tom Jones, D’Angelo, Enrique Iglesias, and the Backstreet Boys.

Television news –

MTV’s Tom Green says he is battling cancer, but that he should be OK.

Friday night television –

CBS – College basketball, David Letterman

NBC – Providence, Dateline NBC, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien

ABC – Boy Meets World, Sabrina, The Hughleys, 20/20, Nightline, Politically Incorrect

WB – Jamie Foxx, Steve Harvey, For You Love

Fox – World’s Wildest Police Videos, Greed: The Series

PBS – Washington Week, Wall St. Week

MTV – Total Request Live, Dari

VH1 – Movie (That Thing You Do) , The List

HBO – Dennis Miller Live – Tim Robbins

Jay Leno – Michael Imperioli, Enrique Iglesias.

The List – Most underrated artist. Charles Barkely hosts, with Sammy Hagar, M.C. Hammer, Nile Ridgers, Bobcat Goldthwait

Tags: Bonnie Hunt, Dennis Miller, Heather Mills, Michael Imperioli, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, President Obama, Tiger Woods, Tom Green

Mr. Pop Culture Report – March 10

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 | This Week In Pop Culture History, Today In Pop Culture | No Comments

Actor Corey Haim, 38, was pronounced dead at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif., Wednesday morning after an apparent overdose, police said. The Canadian-born Haim found fame in the 1987 when he co-starred in numerous films with actor Corey Feldman, including “The Lost Boys.”

Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, co-founders of rock band KISS, are developing a children’s show based on the band with Canadian production company E1 Television. The untitled program is said to “create a comedic half-hour kids television series that galvanizes the band’s iconic personas for its young fans.” Both Simmons and Stanley will serve as executive producers, along with E1′s senior vice president of kids and animation, Frank Saperstein.

And The Nobel Peace Prize Goes To The Internet? – Several nominees for the prestigious 2010 prize, which was awarded last year to President Obama, surfaced on Wednesday in news reports. Among them: “The Internet” and, separately, several of the Web’s creators, including Larry Roberts, Vint Cerf and Tim Berners-Lee.

Another rapper jailed - Authorities in Arizona say rapper DMX has been arrested for allegedly violating his probation by using drugs. DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, had served about half of his 18-month supervised probation when he was booked Tuesday night into the downtown Phoenix jail. The rapper was released from jail in May after serving a 90-day sentence for felony convictions including cruelty to animals, theft and two drug counts.

Mr. Pop Archives – This Week In 1997 -

Rapper Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher Wallace) is gunned down in a Los Angeles parking lot via a drive-by shooting. He had just left a party celebrating his Soul Train Awards. It might have to do with the death of Tupac Shakur, who many considered a rival to Notorious. Wallace – originally from New Jersey – also went by the name of Biggie Smalls.

Snoop Doggy Dogg delays the start of his two-month concert tour in the wake of the Notorious B.I.G. murder.

Paul McCartney is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

Passing – Laverne Baker –  R&B hitmaker of the1950’s. She was 67.

Unreleased works of Selena – the last of her work – is released this week on the soundtrack to the movie “Selena.”

Top TV This Week In 1997 –

ER is taking a five week hiatus.

Seinfeld – 29.75

Friends – 25.84

Touched by an Angles – 24.42

Suddenly Susan – 24.18

3^rd rock From The Sun – 22.70

60 Minutes -  20.92

Home Improvement – 20.65

Movie-To Dance With Olivia – 20.21

20/20

Cosby – 18.01

Drew Carey – 17.57

Cybill – 17.23

Everybody Loves Raymond – 17.17

Tags: 1997, Corey Haim, Gene Simmons, KISS, Notorious B.I.G., Paul McCartney, Seinfeld

All You Need Is… A Video Game

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 | music news | No Comments

Video games are the latest craze to expose new groups and their music – and even older bands.

Now music from the Beatles will be featured in an upcoming video game…

For the first time, the legendary group’s music will be featured in the lucrative video game market in a deal with MTV Games and Harmonix, creators of the “Rock Band” series. The game is scheduled to debut sometime next year.

Beatle Paul McCartney said: “The project is a fun idea which broadens the appeal of The Beatles and their music. I like people having the opportunity to get to know the music from the inside out.”

AP/Mr. Pop Culture

Tags: Beatles, Harmonex, Paul McCartney, Video game