Month: June 2023

After 20 years away, Blur is back on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart.

“The Narcissist,” the lead single from the Damon Albarn-led band’s upcoming album The Ballad of Darren, debuts at No. 37 on the list dated June 10.

The band last made the chart in 2003, when “Crazy Beat” peaked at No. 22 that April. The song was last on the chart dated May 24, 2003.

The 20-year, two-week break between Alternative Airplay chart appearances for Blur marks the longest for any band in the tally’s nearly 35-year history. It surpasses the 13 years, five months and three weeks between visits by Sublime (“Doin’ Time” in December 1997 and “Panic,” credited to Sublime With Rome, in May 2011).

The all-time longest respite between charted songs on Alternative Airplay belongs to Debbie Harry, whose “Kiss It Better” wrapped its run in January 1990, followed by the Blondie frontwoman’s featured credit on Just Loud’s “Soul Train” in December 2018 – nearly 29 years later.

As Harry’s record ties into a featured credit, the longest break for an act credited as the lead artist on both bookending songs is Kate Bush, who went over 28 years between January 1994 (“Rubberband Girl”) and “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” in June 2022, the latter due to its resurgence sparked by its synch in Netflix’s Stranger Things.

Back to Blur, “The Narcissist” is the band’s sixth appearance on the ranking. Three have reached the top 10, led by “Girls & Boys” at No. 4 in July 1994.

In between 2003’s Think Tank, on which “Crazy Beat” is included, and this year’s The Ballad of Darren, Blur released one album: 2015’s The Magic Whip, which hit No. 2 on the Top Alternative Albums chart.

Albarn has made Alternative Airplay eight times in the meantime as part of Gorillaz. In fact, Albarn appears on the latest list twice, as Gorillaz’s “New Gold,” featuring Tame Impala and Bootie Brown, ranks at No. 15.

Concurrently, “The Narcissist” bows at No. 29 on Adult Alternative Airplay, marking Blur’s first appearance on the tally, which began in 1996.

On the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, “The Narcissist” premieres at No. 39 with 711,000 equivalent album units earned, according to Luminate.

Blur’s The Ballad of Darren is set for release July 21.

King Stingray adds another major prize to their growing collection, winning the 2023 Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition with “Milkumana.”

Co-written by bandmates Roy Kellaway and Yirrŋa Gotjiringu Yunupingu, “Milkumana” scores the A$50,000 prize, courtesy of APRA AMCOS, Alberts and Sony Music Publishing — a sum said to be the biggest first-place bounty for any songwriting competition on the planet.

The Stingers, as they’re affectionately known in these parts, have been riding a wave in recent months.

“Milkumana” won for best song at the 2022 National Indigenous Music Awards, was shortlisted for APRA song of the year 2022, and was nominated for most performed rock work of the year at the most recent edition of the APRA Music Awards, on a night when they closed out proceedings with a cover of Men at Work’s “Down Under,” led by Colin Hay.

Their trophy cabinet includes the 2023 Australian Music Prize, presented earlier this year for the Yolŋu surf rockers’ self-titled debut LP; the Michael Gudinski breakthrough artist award, presented at the 2022 ARIA Awards; and best new artist at the 2022 Rolling Stone Australia Awards.

The winning song “is about leadership and the people we look up to and now, all of a sudden, we’ve become leaders in our community and that concept is just so amazing. We come from a small place and we’re singing about big things,” comments Kellaway. “Thanks so much for the love, we can’t believe it.”

Second place (and the A$10,000 prize) goes to “Ready for the Sky” by Budjerah, co-written by Budjerah with Ainslie Wills, while the Stingers snagged third place (and an additional A$5,000) for “Camp Dog,” written by Kellaway.

Among the winners announced Thursday (June 8) was “Worst Taste In Girls” by Charley, co-written by Charley, Antonio Egizii and David Musumeci, which scoops the the AMPAL emerging songwriter prize (A$5,000), while the inaugural American Songwriter Spotlight Award was presented to Tia P., the Los Angeles hip-hop artist and songwriter who wins the A$1,500 cash prize and a forthcoming feature on the American Songwriter for her song “That Action.”

This year’s competition received 2,950 entries from 45 countries, organizers say. Each entry carries a A$50 fee, which this year raised a total of A$147,500, all of which supports the services of Noro Music Therapy Australia.

Named after the iconic songwriters and founding members of The Easybeats, Harry Vanda and the late George Young, the competition first took place in December 2009, and has since raised nearly A$1.75 million for the charity.

The 2023 judging panel featured artists, producers, media and music industry professionals including reps from The Brag Media, Double J, Jaxsta, Billboard, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Universal Music Australia, EMI Music Australia, American Songwriter and more.

Previous winners include Genesis Owusu in 2022, Thelma Plum in 2020, Amy Shark (2018), Gretta Ray (2016), Isabella Manfredi (2013), Kimbra (2011) and Megan Washington (2009).

Visit APRAAMCOS.com.au for more.

As smoke from Canadian wildfires blankets New York City, Broadway performances of “Hamilton” and “Camelot” was among those canceled Wednesday night (June 7).

“Hamilton” organizers scrapped the show less than two hours before the 8pm ET curtain call on account of cast members calling in sick, Variety reports.

“Tonight’s performance of Hamilton will not go on as scheduled. The hazardous air quality in New York City has made it impossible for a number of our artists to perform this evening,” reads a statement posted to the official “Hamilton” socials.

Regular programming should resume on Thursday, the statement continues. “We apologize for the inconvenience and encourage you to visit your point of purchase for refund or exchange.”

Also canceled was “Camelot,” with producers confirming “all tickets will be fully refunded at the point of purchase.” Reps say they’re hopeful performances will restart for the weekend, adding that health experts “will continue to closely monitor the ongoing situation.”

Other local shows affected by the hazardous conditions including the free Shakespeare in the Park production of “Hamlet,” which cut short its final dress rehearsal and nixed the first two preview performances of the play, set for Thursday and Friday nights in Central Park’s Delacorte Theater.

As previously reported, the ongoing air-quality issues caused by smoke from fires north of the border upended Chris Stapleton’s planned concert in Syracuse, New York, while the New York Yankees game vs. the Chicago White Sox and the WNBA fixture between the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx were postponed.

According to IQAir.com on Wednesday, NYC currently has the worst air quality in the world due to more than 400 wildfires burning across Canada and smoke covering much of the eastern U.S.

The National Weather Service reports that “hazardous air quality levels will persist across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic through Thursday before shifting westward into Ohio Valley on Friday.”

In the meantime, New York City Parks Department has canceled or postponed all indoor and outdoor recreational activities.

Happy birthday, Prince! Today (June 7) would have been the late icon’s 64th birthday.

In honor of the superstar, we’re looking back on some of his biggest hits. Over the course of his illustrious career, Prince had an impressive 47 hits on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. Of those 47, he had 19 top 10 hits and five chart toppers.

Among his No. 1 classic’s include his first, “When Doves Cry,” which led the tally for five weeks in 1984. He also reached the summit with 1984’s “Let’s Go Crazy,” 1986’s “Kiss,” 1989’s “Batdance (From Batman)” and 1991’s “Cream.”

Of his chart toppers, we at Billboard want to know which is at the top of your list. Let us know by voting below.