Ken Tucker at Entertainment Weekly thinks with the recent departure of Ellen, the firing of Kara Dioguardi and Simon Cowell retiring, American Idol should throw in the towel. I actually think the show should just become the next American Bandstand.

Eliminate the judges all together and just have the contestants compete week to week with just America voting. This way you don’t have to worry about the judges and every week you get see what people want, the performances. Then American Idol can be solely hosted by Ryan Seacrest and he can introduce and interview each contestant which virtually becomes the next American Bandstand.

Could American Idol survive without judges?

http://watching-tv.ew.com/2010/07/30/american-idol-cancel-it/

This summer a couple of 1990s bands are touring without their original late lead singers. For example, Sublime is touring without the late Bradley Nowell and has been replaced by Rome Ramirez. Alice in Chains is touring without the late Lane Staley and was replaced by William DuVall. When a band tours without the original lead singer do they have the right to promote themselves as the original band? The original members did replace the original lead singer with someone that sounds similar.

When bands tour with sound-a-like lead singers they should:
a) be required to mention that it’s different by saying “Tribute” or “New”
b) refund money back at show if fans don’t like it
c) record and tour new music to signify start of new band

Have you ever bought tickets to a show thinking it’s the original singer and find out they have been replaced?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RnPB76mjxI

Is Usher’s latest single O.M.G. (Oh My Gosh) the first title of a mainstream song that directly correlates to text messaging? If not, what other tunes could you cite?

Thirty years ago this week, the film Caddyshack hit theaters.  While its box office take was quite modest, it almost instantly became a classic.  Additionally, it’s use of Kenny Loggins’ song “I’m Alright,” which would hit number 7 on the Hot 100 chart, set the stage for Loggins becoming arguably the king of the 1980s soundtrack hit.  Before the decade had ended, Loggins songs from Footloose, Top Gun, Over the Top, and Caddyshack II would hit the top 20.

Back on July 27, 1940 the first issue of Billboard was released. Can you guess what was at #1? “I’ll Never Smile Again” by Tommy Dorsey graced the top of the charts 70 years ago. Congratulations to Billboard Magazine on its 70th birthday.

Aderra PushOvr technology enables bands to send music directly to a USB device for live streaming. The band Killola used the device to produce the world’s first ever Live performance streamed to inside an album. Killola is selling the USB Dog Tag for $40 on their website.

http://aderra.net/

I recently saw the Foo Fighters perform on Austin City Limits and I realized how historic the band truly has become. From the ashes of Nirvana has come one of the strongest rock bands for the last twenty years. Who ever thought the drummer from the band that held the torch for Grunge would thrive in 2010?

Here are what I think are Foo Fighters Top 5 Hits:
Big Me
Monkey Wrench
Times Like These
Everlong
Best of You

In recent years, the only wish I have is that Dave Grogel wouldn’t constantly scream during his vocals.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s05if-oWQM8

Check out DJ Ryson’s YouTube channel if you are looking for some really cool mash-ups.

http://www.youtube.com/user/RysonRemix

If you’re not listening to Band of Horses you are missing out. The band recently released a new album titled “Infinite Arms”. They’ll be playing a show at the House of Blues in association with the Grog Shop here in Cleveland on October 4th. Tickets are $25.00 and if you purchase at the Grog Shop box office you don’t have to pay livenation/ticketmaster fees.The album is currently on sale for $7.99 on iTunes. The sale ends today.

The other day I went into a used record store and I haven’t been in one in over a year. I always go over to the bargain bin to find a used CD. As I searched through the titles everything that was on the shelf had a copyright date of before 2002. Most of the listings looked like the same ones I saw there a year before. I suddenly released I haven’t recently been in a record store because I just download song here and there online. You can’t resell used iTunes.

In the past if you bought a record and a month later decided it wasn’t that great, you could take into a used record store and get a couple of bucks. Now if you download a record and decide you don’t like it, what are your options? The fact of the matter is before the purchase you can preview the song online endlessly. After you buy a digital song, there is no way of easily knowing you didn’t make a copy of it.

Has digital downloads caused the end of the used music era?