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Charts: Olivia Rodrigo Leads a Soft Week with Just 89K, Diddy Drops 45% in 2nd Run Despite Bieber, Weeknd Tracks

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The numbers are in for the last week of pop record sales.

Olivia Rodrigo led a very soft list with just 89,000 including streaming, of “Guts.” There’s no glory, however.

Diddy’s “Love Album: Off the Grid” dropped 45% from its poor debut last week. He sold just under 17,000 copies. Justin Bieber and The Weeknd on tracks were no help whatsoever.

Taylor Swift sold around 200,000 albums this week from a half dozen titles. She wins something.

The charts reflect ambivalence from fans about recent releases. Next Friday we’ll have the new Ed Sheeran album, and Drake the week after. But there’s no excitement out there. The music biz needs a couple of new hot mainstream stars ASAP.

Robert Kennedy Jr. Will Run as Independent Candidate After Lying to Vanity Fair That He Wouldn’t

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Robert Kennedy Jr. is going to run as independent candidate for president. It’s a folly from nutjob but that’s his problem.

More importantly, he lied through his teeth this summer to Vanity Fair writer Joe Hagan, who has an award winning piece of journalism online right now.

Kennedy told Hagan:

“Even if I was going to run as a third-party candidate, which I’m not, I would probably take more votes from Trump than I would from Democrats.”

So much for that.

Look, we have enough problems with Donald Trump. Kennedy is a conspiracy theorist who’s used all the far right people on Fox News and the other wackadoodle channels to convey his crazy ideas. He’s also a well known philanderer. The New York Post once published his sex diary, kept during his second marriage. That wife killed herself in their barn very flamboyantly. She was sending a message.

Kennedy is very busy doing push ups on social media, as if that meant something. It just means he can do push ups. He trades on his father and uncle in his posts, as if they would approve of his candidacy. They would not. Joe Biden should certainly give him protection, however, so he’ll shut up about being assassinated. But no one will debate him if he’s an independent, and that’s just fine. He can talk to himself.

PS The picture at right is of Mary Richardson Kennedy. She’s dead.

Review: “Fair Play” Sizzles As Low Key High Intensity Hit About Hot Couple in Clandestine Office Relationship

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“Fair Play” is the edgiest, coolest, sexiest and most provocative film of the year.  This Netflix film is directed and written by Chloe Domont and is her first feature.  Domont has directed TV shows including “Billions,” “Ballers,” and “Suits” and she hits a grand slam with this edge of your seat erotic thriller.

Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) are two co-workers at the Once Crest Capital hedge-fund.  The lovebirds are involved in a clandestine relationship which is a violation of company policy.  But the pair are passionately besotted; , the film begins at a family wedding where they can’t keep their hands off each other which results in an offbeat in oh so many ways marriage proposal. 

But then the harsh reality sets in; there’s the job that they both covet, that of Portfolio Manager along with all the bells and whistles and money that go with it.  Both are surprised when Emily gets the job, and that’s where this film really starts its’ intense engines.  Luke starts to undermine her, Emily does the same to him.  The ping pong of gender politics, discrimination,  emasculated masculinity and Emily’s struggle to prove she’s earned her promotion are all in play. 

Can their relationship survive the upheaval?  The filmmaker pulls no punches, and has no favorites.  Both Dynevor and Ehrenreich have never been better; she plays her role with grit and steeliness and compassion, he is equally all over the map and becomes diminished before our eyes.  The always terrific Eddie Marsan plays the boss. “Fair Play”  doesn’t waste a second, every scene, every word matters.  Definitely one of the best films of the year.   

“Fair Play” is in select theaters starting September 29th and streams on Netflix October 6th.

Watch the trailer here; https://youtu.be/vICUPlr3EEI?si=VN2puJ6WjUvDLtSL

Report: Tupac Shakur’s Alleged Killer Arrested in Las Vegas 27 Years After Drive By Shooting (Updating)

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Reports from Las Vegas say that rapper Tupac Shakur’s alleged killer has been arrested.

Shakur was murdered in 1996. Until recently, the case had gone cold and there were no publicly acknowledged suspects.

The Associated Press says the suspect’s uncle Duane “Keffe D” Davis was arrested early Friday morning. Davis has long been known to investigators and has himself admitted in interviews and in his 2019 tell-all memoir, “Compton Street Legend,” that he was in the Cadillac where the gunfire erupted during the September 1996 drive-by shooting.

Aerosmith Cancels the Rest of Its Farewell Tour as Steven Tyler Continues to Suffer from Vocal Condition

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Dream on if you think Aerosmith is coming back any time soon.

The group has cancelled its entire Peace Out farewell tour because lead singer Steven Tyler, they say, is suffering from a severe vocal condition.

It’s a sad way to end things but Tyler, who’s had any number of medical challenges, must concentrate on living well and comfortably than putting himself through this misery.

If this is the end for Aerosmith, they have nothing to prove. Their place in rock history is secure.

“To our fans: Unfortunately, Steven’s vocal injury is more serious than initially thought. His doctor has confirmed that in addition to the damage to his vocal cords, he fractured his larynx which requires ongoing care.

He is receiving the best medical treatment available to ensure his recovery is swift, but given the nature of a fracture, he is being told patience is essential.

As a result, all the currently scheduled PEACE OUT shows must be postponed to sometime in 2024, with new dates to be announced as soon as we know more.”

Tyler himself, added, “I am heartbroken to not be out there with Aerosmith, my brothers and the incredible Black Crowes, rocking with the best fans in the world. I promise we will be back as soon as we can!”

U2 Releases a Great New Single (Who Knew?) Tying in With Big Vegas Residency: Listen to “Atomic City”

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With the title “Atomic City,” U2’s new single could have been the music to “Oppenheimer.”

But the new song, the first in a while for U2, has been kind of a stealth release to coincide with the group’s big Las Vegas residency at the Sphere, which was built for them.

The Rolling Stones have so much hoopla and PR about their new songs and album. But this launch is a mystery to me.

“ET Canada” Cancelled After 18 Seasons, Production Cites “Challenging Advertising Environment”

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“ET Canada” — the equivalent of “Entertainment Tonight” in Canada — has been cancelled after 18 seasons.

The show is produced by Corus Entertainment, which is throwing in the towel in light of shrinking ads, the toll of the strikes for the last four months, the downturn at the box office, and so on. Corus runs 39 radio stations and over 40 TV stations in Canada.

Is Canada no longer interested in celebrity? Perhaps. They have a lot of moose, after all, and plenty of beer. All kidding aside this will severely limit PR opportunities for studios and other content sources trying to promote their offerings in the northern regions.

Corus statement:

“After more than 18 incredible seasons, we are ending production of Entertainment Tonight Canada. The costs of producing a daily entertainment newsmagazine show in a challenging advertising environment have led to this decision. We recognize the impact this decision has on the dedicated team who have worked on the show and we thank them for their meaningful contributions over the years.”

Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa NEW SONG from the Movie “She Came to Me” Called “Addicted to Romance”

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Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa wrote and sang this new song for Rebecca Miller’s film, “She Came to Me.” It’s a beautifully mournful ballad with a sharp, catchy hook. Bruce already has an Oscar for “Streets of Philadelphia.” This could be his second one. And anything with Patti on it is gold!

Yorn Shorn: With His First Haircut in Years, Rocker Pete Yorn Surprises in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Now Eyes “Yellowstone” Spin Off

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EXCLUSIVE Rocker Pete Yorn is as well known for his long locks as he is for his catchy songs. The latter include his hit, “Life on a Chain” in 2001, and a long list of songs recognizable to a loyal following.

But early screening audiences who’ve seen Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” are very impressed with an actor they think they know, only he looks different. For “Killers,” I’m told, Pete let the hairstyling department give him his first hair cut in what might be decades.

In other words Yorn is Shorn.

Yorn’s distinctive good looks had everyone at Wednesday night’s premiere of “Killers” asking who that guy is? Yorn unfortunately plays a baddish kind of guy in Oklahoma in the 1920s who works for the characters played by Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio.

But his turn in the film has already caught the eye of Taylor Sheridan. Sources say Yorn is high on Sheridan’s list for a role in the “Yellowstone” spin off with Matthew McConaughey which will follow the end of the Kevin Costner era. Will he get to grow his hair back? If it’s a period piece, his character may have trouble finding conditioner!

Kanye West Working on A New Album that No One Wants and No One Will Buy

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TMZ says Kanye West is working on a new album to get himself back to the “old Kanye.”

He should just stop now. No regular record company will work with him. If Universal in any way dared to, they’d have a huge problem on their hands.

Kanye lost his career over the last couple of years for making raging antisemitic statements, then defending them and refusing to apologize for them. If he thinks some sort of apology will pave the way for album sales, he is dead wrong.

West — that’s his name, forget this Ye stuff — has no contrition. I no longer care if he’s bipolar or on a spectrum. He has joined the Mel Gibson club of pariahs. There’s a reason Adidas ate millions of dollars in inventory. He is simply not coming back.

It’s not like prior to the implosion of his career West was selling many CDs either. His “Donda” album has sold a mere 215,000 copies over the last two years. That’s sales. With streaming, the number is 1.8 million. That’s not enough to pay for his way of life. West hasn’t had a real hit in more than a decade. His “hits,” such as they were, were samples of other people’s music. He doesn’t write music. He buys beats. He got away with it for a long time. But the party is over.