After a 14-album Madonna Deep Dive, I’m contractually bound to eagerly anticipate whatever the Queen of Pop is serving up next.
That turns out to be a sequel to 2005’s Confessions on a Dance Floor, the EDM album that earned her rave reviews and was heralded as a return to form. I placed it at #4 on my own ranked list of Madonna’s albums.
Confessions II, as it’s been dubbed, is due on July 3.
This week I’ll feature a handful of songs from some new or upcoming releases I’m excited to hear.
First up is Olivia Rodrigo, whose intriguingly titled third album — You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love — is due out on June 12.
First single ‘Drop Dead’ is a pop song in the vein of her last album Guts (2023), but with less of that record’s rock edge. We’ll see if the rest of the album follows suit.
The week of May 17, 1966, found a quartet of classic songs I’ve already posted atop the Billboard Hot 100. They were, in order: The Mamas and the Papas’ ‘Monday Monday,’ Bob Dylan’s ‘Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,’ The Young Rascals’ ‘Good Lovin’,’ and Percy Sledge’s ‘When a Man Loves a Woman.’
That #2 position was the closest Dylan ever got to a chart-topping hit, and it was his second song to hit #2 following ‘Like a Rolling Stone.’
Throwing back to the week of May 16, 1956, we find Elvis Presley and Perry Como atop the Billboard singles chart with ‘Heartbreak Hotel‘ and ‘Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)‘,’ respectively.
At #3 that week was an instrumental medley by composer Morris Stoloff that combined the 1933 jazz standard ‘Moonglow’ with an instrumental version of the theme from the 1966 film Picnic, which starred William Holden and Kim Novak.
Closing out an enjoyable two weeks of ‘What the Kids are Listening To’ is Tame Impala’s ‘Dracula,’ #15 on the Billboard Hot 100. This is the first single to ever reach the Hot 100 for the Australian indie rock band (which is really just one guy, a versatile musician named Kevin Parker).
At least some of the popularity of this song can be traced to a remix Parker made with KPop star Jennie, one of several Blackpink members who has had major solo success. ‘Dracula’ scores a TikTok trend that seems to consist of two people walking toward the camera while lip-syncing the track.
Meet Me In Montauk 