SUPER FABULOUS

Duran Duran and supermodels spark Girl Panic! The video for Duran Duran’s new single ‘Girl Panic!’ reunites some of the original supermodels for a daft romp around London. Soak up the glamour, fluff, sparkles, lipstick, leather, legs and Naomi Campbell! “We have made some pretty ambitious videos over the years, but this one was certainly the most challenging to date,” Simon Le Bon, lead singer of Duran Duran said. “Coordinating the schedules of five of the world’s biggest super models, Jonas, and the band was no easy task – but we couldn’t be happier with the finished film. It has all of the ingredients that we feel are important – it’s humorous, glamorous, sexy and very Duran Duran.”

BULLETPROOF

“Bulletproof” is a song by English electropop duo La Roux from their eponymous debut album, La Roux (2009). The song was released digitally in the United Kingdom on June 21, 2009 and physically the following day as the album’s third single. “Bulletproof” was met with both critical and commercial success, debuting at number one on the UK Singles Chart. It was also a sleeper hit in the United States, where it peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 2010. The single has sold 2,049,000 downloads in the US as of March 2011. “Bulletproof” was listed at number twenty-five on Rolling Stone’s list of The 25 Best Songs of 2009.

WORTH IT

Stronger with Each Tear is the ninth studio album from Mary J. Blige. The album was released in the US on December 21, 2009. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of 332,000 copies. It also went to number one on the R&B chart. Blige is the ninth woman in SoundScan’s 18-year history to see at least three albums all debut with an opening sales week of 300,000 or more. The album has now sold over 900,000 copies in the United States alone.

“The album represents who and what I am right now. I’m a stronger human being after all the growing pains. It’s about life, love, change, strength—mostly really knowing who you are and being confident in that.”

TWISTED ELEGANCE

The Velvet Rope is the sixth studio album by Janet Jackson, released October 7, 1997. She developed the record as a concept album with introspection as its theme. Its title, The Velvet Rope, relates to an individuals need to feel special—symbolic of literal velvet ropes at events where only Very Important Persons (VIPs) are allowed entry—as well as a metaphor for emotional boundaries. Lyrically, she offers her audience the opportunity to cross her own velvet rope, exploring her feelings of despondency though the course of the album. Although she introduced sexuality into her music with her previous album Janet (1993), The Velvet Rope takes the concept a step further, encompassing sadomasochism and same-sex relationships, in addition to addressing social issues, such as homophobia and domestic violence. Musically, the album blends contemporary R&B, rap, hip hop, and electronic music, with songs ranging from smooth balladry to up-tempo dance rhythms. Referred to as her masterpiece, it has been the subject of critical acclaim. It is listed by Rolling Stone magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

The Velvet Rope debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming her fourth consecutive album to top the chart. Although considered to be a commercial disappointment in comparison to the Janet record, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified The Velvet Rope triple platinum, with worldwide sales exceeding ten million copies.

HAS TO BE

The music video for “The Power of Goodbye” was directed by Matthew Rolston, and was filmed from August 8–10, 1998 at Silvertop House in Los Angeles, California and Malibu Beach. The video shows Madonna and her lover playing chess and ultimately Madonna destroying the chess board, symbolizing an end to their relationship. Madonna also goes walking by the sea, but it is unclear whether she drowns herself in the last scene.

The video created some controversy due to its ending. It is debatable, but many Madonna’s fans believe she commits suicide at the end of the video, drowning herself in the ocean. Just before the music video ends, Madonna is shown on the beach again, happier than before. Therefore, the drowning of her character may represent the element water, which represents rebirth. The use of water-images – as well as the use of the other three elements – was an important part of the album, with the theme appearing in songs, such as “Swim”.

A BRIGHTER DAY

“Didn’t Cha Know?” is the second single from Erykah Badu’s 2000 album Mama’s Gun. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for 2001. Mama’s Gun encompasses such musical styles as jazz and soul, and it contains confessional lyrics by Badu, which cover themes of insecurity, social issues and personal relationships. Rolling Stone magazine named it amongst its Top 10 Albums of 2000.

EXTRA BRIGHT

BABY IT’S YOU

TRUE LOVE

Happy 25th Anniversary, True Blue!

Released on June 30, 1986. Top selling album of 1986 and reached Number 1 in 28 countries – an unprecedented achievement at the time. It has become one of the best selling albums in history, selling 24 million copies worldwide. Five singles were released from the album: “Live to Tell”, “Papa Don’t Preach”, “Open Your Heart”, which went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart as well as “True Blue” and “La Isla Bonita”, which reached the top-five.

The summer album of not only 1986 but 1987, as well.

GET READY

“Crystal” is a song by New Order, released as the first single from their album Get Ready. The song entered the UK charts at number 8. Released in August 2001 by London Records, this was the group’s first album in eight years, following 1993’s Republic. Peter Hook said of the album’s title, “The title of the album is ‘Get Ready’ so it could mean anything or nothing. I thought it was just nice, New Order, ‘Get Ready’, ‘cos we are, we’re getting ready for the next phase of our musical lives both physically and mentally so it’s quite a simple thing but it’s very pertinent.”

The music video featured a drum set with the words “The Killers” on it, which was the inspiration for the name of the band The Killers.

SO ELECTRIC

“Slow” is an electropop song written by Kylie Minogue, from Minogue’s ninth studio album, Body Language (2003). The song was released as the album’s lead single in late 2003 and reached number one in Australia, Denmark, Romania and the United Kingdom, where it became Minogue’s seventh number-one single. In the United States, “Slow” was released to success on the Billboard dance charts, reaching the top position on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. Additionally, the song earned Minogue her third consecutive Grammy Award nomination in the Best Dance Recording category, but lost out to “Toxic” by Britney Spears.

The single’s music video, directed by Baillie Walsh, was shot over a three-day period in the Spanish city of Barcelona, at the Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc. The first two days of shooting were postponed due to heavy rain, but the video was completed by the end of the third day. The video opens with a man diving into a swimming pool from a diving board from where the skyscrapers of Barcelona can be clearly seen. After the man gets out the pool, the rest of the video focuses on Minogue, who is amongst a crowded poolside of swimwear-clad men and women. There are various side-views and bird’s-eye views of Minogue as she sings the song.

MY FAVORITE DRUG

“Rehab” is a song by Rihanna, released as the final single from her third studio album Good Girl Gone Bad. The track was produced by Timbaland and co-produced by Hannon Lane. The song was inspired by the forgetting of a bruised break-up that Justin Timberlake wrote for Rihanna in his head while touring with Timbaland in 2007.

Rihanna filmed the music video for “Rehab” with Justin Timberlake at Vasquez Rocks Park, outside of Los Angeles, California on October 22, 2008. Timberlake described the experience of shooting the video: “I got there and I was like really? I’m the guy in the video. The guy in the video, so I had to give them all insecurities about that. But yeah we had a great time, we goofed around at the shoot most of the time.” It began impacting music television stations in the United States on November 10, 2008.

SHINE YOUR LIGHT NOW

“Hollywood” is a song written and performed by Madonna. It was the second single release from her 2003 studio album American Life on July 3, 2003. Madonna performed the song on the 2003 American Life Promo Tour and it was later used as a dancers interlude on the 2004 Re-Invention World Tour using a variation of the Jacques Lu Cont remix. The song was later included on the 2009 greatest hits album, Celebration.

The music video for “Hollywood” was filmed on June 2 and 3, 2003 at Universal Studios in Universal City, California and directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, who worked with Madonna in her videos for “Open Your Heart”, “Justify My Love”, “Human Nature”, “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore” and “Don’t Tell Me”.

NAUGHTY GIRL

“Crazy in Love” is a song by Beyoncé, featuring Jay-Z. Knowles, Jay-Z, and producer Rich Harrison wrote the song for Knowles’ debut solo album, Dangerously in Love. After having been added to US radios on May 18, 2003, the song was released as the album’s lead single on May 20, 2003. The song was ranked as the 118th greatest song of all time on Rolling Stone’s updated 2010 list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. The song won Best R&B Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 46th Grammy Awards.

In MTV Making of the Video in 2003, Beyoncé described the videos’s conception: The video celebrates the evolution of a woman. It is about a girl who is at the point of a relationship. She realizes that she is in love, she is doing stuff she would not normally do but she does not care. It does not matter she is just crazy in love.”

RED LIGHT SPECIAL

CrazySexyCool is the second studio album by TLC, released on November 15, 1994 in North America. CrazySexyCool peaked at three on the Billboard 200 and at two on the Billboard Top R&B Albums Chart, spawned four top-five singles on the Billboard Hot 100, two of which was top charters, and won the group two Grammy Awards. It also became the group’s biggest-selling album to date selling 15 million copies worldwide.

The album was certified diamond, making TLC the first female group in history to ever be awarded diamond status by the RIAA. In 2003, the album was ranked number 377 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

“Creep” topped the U.S. Hot 100 for four weeks, which made it one of the biggest singles of the 1990s and third most successful Hot 100 Single of 1995, according to Billboard’s Year End Charts. It sold over a million copies in the U.S., reaching number 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.

BAILA

“Waiting for Tonight” is a song by Jennifer Lopez from her debut album, On the 6 (1999), and the song became the third single from the album and also the most famous version of the song so far, being considered one of Lopez’s signature songs. Released in 1999, the single peaked at number eight in the U.S., becoming Lopez’s second top ten single and became a millennium hit; it also peaked at number five in the United Kingdom. Moreover, the track earned Lopez a nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 2000 Grammy Awards.

I FEEL IT, IT’S COMING

The video, directed by Mark Romanek, was filmed from May 16–19, 1993 at a Santa Monica Airport hangar in Santa Monica, California. Romanek and Madonna set the video to look like Ryuichi Sakamoto was directing it, giving it a backstage feel. It was entirely shot in black and white and then digitally colored with the blue tones. The video begins with Madonna in a studio, lying on a sofa with headphones on her ears composing a song, following a sequence in which she sings in front of a microphone, which is alternated with those of her receiving instructions from the director (played by Ryuichi Sakamoto). She then appears in front of a different background and different sets of lights representing the sky. The video ends with an air view of open umbrellas covering the entire floor. The video won two MTV Video Music Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography. On Slant Magazine’s “100 Greatest Music Videos” list, it was ranked #70.

BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE

“Sweet Dreams” is a song by Beyoncé from her third studio album, I Am… Sasha Fierce (2008). Lyrically, the song describes a beautiful relationship, which the singer believes could be a dream. The song received widespread critical acclaim for its “spark”, “energy”, “dark tone” and “electropop sound”, with some critics noting its aural similarities to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”. The music video was said to be a more “graphic” video than the others and its motive was said to be “take Sasha to the next level”, as stated by Beyoncé. Concerning the video, she also said: “It’s basically saying that this relationship is so wonderful that it scares me… is it a sweet dream or beautiful nightmare?” The golden robot suit that Knowles wears in the video, is to symbolize her Sasha Fierce alter-ego.

UNCONSCIOUS

Madonna said in an 1999 interview with Aperture magazine interesting insight into the video: “My ‘Bedtime Story’ video was completely inspired by all the female surrealist painters like Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo. There’s that one shot where my hands are up in the air and stars are spinning around me. And me flying through the hallway with my hair trailing behind me, the birds flying out of my open robe – all of those images are an homage to female surrealist painters; there’s a little bit of Frida Kahlo in there, too.”

Director: Mark Romanek
Year: 1995

DREAM ON

Exciter is Depeche Mode’s tenth studio album, which was released on May 15, 2001 in the US. It uses more digital music technology compared to their other albums. The album also launched the Exciter Tour, which was one of the band’s most successful tours. The plant that appears on the cover of the album, is part of the genus called Agave.