Sunday, June 29, 2008

Teen Idols...where are they now??

Daniel Baldwin - Actor


Actor Daniel Baldwin, 46, was arrested in Santa Monica, California on November 7, 2006, after allegedly stealing a friend's SUV. Police investigating the theft checked his hotel room and discovered illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia.
He was charged with drug possession and auto theft, but failed to show up for his court date on the theft charges. On February 6, 2007 an arrest warrant was issued for his failure to appear for his arraignment.




Charles Barkley - Philadelphia 76'ers Player

Basketball player Charles Barkley was arrested, but later acquitted, for disorderly conduct in December 1997, after breaking the nose of Joseph McCarthy in a Milwaukee bar.
This wasn't the first time he was arrested on assault charges. In July 1996, he was arrested after getting into an altercation at a dance bar in Cleveland. In October 1997, he was charged with aggravated battery and resisting arrest after throwing a man through a glass window at a dance bar in Orlando.







Jamal "Shyne" Barrow


Bad Boy recording artist Shyne sold more than 500,000 copies of his debut album before he was sent off to serve his 10-year prison sentence for his involvement in an altercation at Club New York on December 27, 1999.

Barrow was convicted of assault charges, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a gun. The Sean "P. Diddy" Combs protege is expected to serve eight years and seven months of his sentence




Mischa Barton - Actress

Mischa Barton, 22, was charged with DUI and possession of pot stemming from her December 27, 2007 arrest after she was stopped on a traffic violation in West Hollywood.


She was charged with driving under the influence, driving while having a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher, driving without a valid license and possession of 28.5 grams or less of marijuana.



Barton is an actress, best known for her role in "The O.C.," "Hexxx," "Virgin Territory" and "Closing the Ring."





Yasmine Bleeth - Baywatch Actress

In September 2001, Bleeth was arrested after she crashed her car into a median, failed a sobriety test, and police found cocaine in her car. She was sentenced to two years probation, 100 hours of community service, and she had to submit to drug tests.





Nick Bollea


Nick Bollea, 17, son of famed wrestler Hulk Hogan, was arrested on a dangerous driving charge on November 7, 2007, after driving 106 miles per hour on a Florida highway. According to officials, Bollea was in his father's Toyota Supra when he lost control of the car. The car flipped and then collided with a palm tree. He has had his driving license suspended for a year.




Josh Booty


Josh Booty, sportscaster and brother of USC quarterback John David Booty, was arrested in Orange County on Feb. 13, 2008, on suspicion of driving under the influence. Reportedly, once Booty was in jail he became uncooperative to the point where deputies used a taser to control him.




Christian Brando - Son of Marlon Brando


In May 1990, Brando was arrested for the murder of his mentally disturbed and pregnant sister's boyfriend. Earlier in the evening Brando and his sister Cheyenne had dinner together and she told Brando that her lover, Dag Drollet, was physically abusive to her. Later that evening Brando confronted Drollet, shot, and killed him. Brando pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter in a plea agreement and received a 10-year prison sentence.

B's

Bananarama's "Venus" hit No. 1 in September, 1986, more than 16 years after Shocking Blue first took the song to the top of the chart. "Venus" is the fourth song in the rock era to hit No. 1 for two different artists, following "Go Away Little Girl" (Steve Lawrence, Donny Osmond), "The Loco-Motion" (Little Eva, Grand Funk), and "Please Mr. Postman" (Marvelettes, Carpenters).

Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas" only reached No. 13 on the Hot 100, but it was probably the most significant single released in 1984. It launched the social consciousness movement which culminated in USA for Arfrica and the "Live Aide" concert.

Bangles' "Manic Monday," which peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 in April, 1986, was kept out of the top spot by Prince & the Revolution's "Kiss." Prince wrote both songs, making him one of only five writers in the rock era to hold down the top two spots on the Hot 100 simultaneously. He followed Elvis Presley, Lennon & McCartney, the Bee Gees, and Jim Steinman.

Bobby Bare had one of the biggest hits of 1959 with "All American Boy," but no one knew. A label error listed Bill Parsons as the artist.

The Beach Boys' Beach Boys Concert album was the first live album by a contemporary pop or rock act to hit No. 1. It topped the chart in December, 1964.

The Beatles' single which logged more weeks onthe Hot 100 than any other was "Twist And Shout." The song spent 11 weeks on the chart in 1964, and 15 additional weeks in 1986. The runner-up is "Hey Jude," with 19 weeks.

Blondie's Autoamerican is one of only three albums in the 80s to generate two No. 1 singles without hitting No. 1 itself. The others: Starship's Knee Deep In The Hoopla and Peter Ceter's Solitude/Solitaire.

Pat Benatar's Crimes Of Pssion would probably have been a No. 1 album if John Lennon hadn't been murdered in December, 1980. "Passion" logged five weeks at No. 2 behind Lennon's Double Fantasy in January and February, 1981. But with nothing to block its path, Benatar's next album, Precious Time, hit No. 1 in August, 1981.

Brook Benton was the first artist to have a top-five hit in the 50s, 60s and 70s. He was abled to claim that distinciton when "Rainy Night In Georgia" cracked the top five in March, 1970.

Berlin was the second act to hit No. 1 to share the name of a foreign capital. The Kingston Trio, named after Kingston, Jamaica, was the first.

David Bowie has worked with a lot of diverse musicians over the years. He co-wrote his first No. 1 hit, "Fame," with John Lennon, and co-produced his second, "Let's Dance," with Nile Rodgers. He's also teamed for Top-40 hits with Queen and the Pat Metheny Group.

Laura Branigan's "Gloria" peaked at No. 2 in December, 1982, when the entire top five consisted of one-word titles. Lionel Richie's "Truly" was No. 1, Toni Basil's "Mickey" was No. 3, Daryl Hall & John Oates' "Maneater" was No. 4, and Neil Diamond's "Heartlight" was No. 5.

The Brothers Four were no more brothers than the Thompson Twins are twins. If truth-in-packaging regulations are ever applied to the music industry, watch out.

Brothers Johnson were the main beneficiaries of Quincy Jones' production talents in the mid-70s, before he went on to bigger and better things (Off The Wall and Thriller).

Jackson Browne's spiraling popularity in the 70s is reflected in the fact that each of his first six albums climbed higher on the chart than its predecessor. But after that there was nowhere to go but down: that sixth album, Hold Out, hit No. 1.

The Buckinghams' "Kind Of A Drag" did what the Royal Guardsmen's "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron," Aaron Neville's "Tell It Like It Is" and the Seekers' "Georgy Girl" all tried, but failed to do: It knocked the Monkees' monster hit "I'm A Believer" out of the No. 1 spot.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

The Billboard Blurbs of the Top 40 Hits from 1955 to 1986

Billboard Publications, Inc./New York; 1987 by Joel Whitburn

Beginning with the A's...

ABC got its start in the British synth-pop boom of 1983-83, but landed its biggest hit, "Be Near Me." in late 1985, long after that boom had gone bust.

Bryan Adams & Tina Turner's "It's Only Love" was one of six top-20 hits from Adams' smash album, Reckless. Only two albums in history have generated that many top-20 hits: Michael Jackson's thriller and Bruce Springsteen's Born In The U.S.A., both of which yielded seven.

a-ha's "Take On Me" was the first single by a Norwegian group to hit No. 1. Great record, great video, great cheekbones--how could it miss?

Ambrosia had the biggest hit from the soundtrack to All This And World War II, a Beatles knockoff film that was such a disaster it made Sgt. Pepper's look like a smash.

The Animals' string of Top-40 hits ran out in 1968, whereupon group leader Eric Burdon set out for a solo career. His 1970 solo debut, "Spill The Wine," was a smash, but it did more to introduce his backing group on the record, War, than to create a constituency for burdon's work.

Annette Funicello is best known today as a pitch-woman for Skippy Peanut Butter. It's a wonder she wasn't signed up by Dole: One of her biggest hits was "Pineapple Princess."

Arcadia and Power Station, the two off-shoot groups from Duran Duran, both landed No. 6 singles in 1985. Power Station's "Some Like It Hot" hit No. 6 in May; Arcadia's "Election Day" reached No. 6 in December.

Ashford & Simpson have been writing top-20 hits for other artists since the mid-60s, but they didn't write one for themselves until 1985. Better late than never.

Louis Armstrong was 63 when "Hello, Dolly!" topped the chart, making him the oldest artist to ever have a No. 1 single during the rock era. The youngest was Little Stevie Wonder, who was just 13 when "Fingertips" hit No. 1.

Frankie Avalon's "Why" was the last No. 1 hit of the 1950s. The first was the Andrews Sisters' "I Can Dream, Can't I." That's change, but is it progress?