Monday, August 29, 2011

Michael Jackson's Top 15







R.I.P. - MJ







Today's MJ's b-day and this is the time of the year that has everyone reminiscing about their favorite jams from the man who taught the world how to moonwalk and added some much needed melanin to MTV. Initially, the plan was to compile a Top 5 list, but hey, the more the merrier.  If you don’t see your favorite on the list…too Bad.










15)  Leave Me Alone
Michael pairs a song detailing a complicated relationship with a trippy video detailing his complicated relationship with the tabloid press. Bubbles even makes a cameo.















14)  Can You Feel It?
The Gloved One and his brothers give their plea for global peace and harmony over a driving beat that was later sampled by Charli Baltimore.        

















13)  The Girl Is Mine
Michael fights over a woman with ex-Beatle Paul McCartney. This is the song in which he delivers the immortal line, “I told you, I’m a lover not a fighter.”   Brandy and Monica earned themselves a #1 smash with their 1998 remake, “The Boy is Mine”.




















12)  I Can’t Help It
A lovesick Michael puts all of his cards on the table for the apple of his eye on this melodic jam that De La Soul sampled on “Break a Dawn”. Fabolous put his spin on it too when he sampled the track for his 2005 single, “Baby”.
















11)  Billie Jean
This was the second shot in what became the global assault better known as the Thriller album. In the song, a frustrated MJ lays out his personal experience with groupie love in a story that would make Maury Povich sit up and take notice. He later performed the tune dolo on stage at the Motown 25 television special and introduced non-breakdancers worldwide to The Moonwalk.



















10)  Lady In My Life
This is the slow jam on Thriller. The self-proclaimed “Dancin’ Machine” reduces the tempo just long enough to shoot some old school game to the titular woman in his world before returning to his bread-and-butter grooves. Mike croons to his girl that he’ll be there “until we’re old and gray” in this classic that LL Cool J sampled (with Boyz II Men in tow) for his 1995 radio hit “Hey Lover”.

















9)  Wanna Be Starting Something
This ethnic smash was the 4th single and 1st track on the Thriller album. It was a Top 5 hit on the Billboard chart in 1983. The song is a warning to anyone contemplating upsetting Michael’s lady, but most fans know it for the Cameroon-derived chant at the end.

























8)  Blame It On The Boogie
This disco era favorite by The Jacksons is actually a remake but the boys from Indiana made it a hit.
















7)  Shake Your Body
Another one from the disco days with little brother Randy filling in for Jermaine, this track from the 1978 Destiny album by The Jacksons is a self-produced diatribe urging stuck up women to do as the title suggests.




















 6)  PYT
This 6th single from Thriller was a family affair even without any of Michael’s brothers present. Sisters Janet and LaToya sing back-up on the fun, pop-flavored gem.


















5)  This Place Hotel
Originally titled, and more commonly known as, “Heartbreak Hotel”, this cut by The Jacksons doesn’t include any Jackson but Michael on vocals…unless you count LaToya providing a scream. The tune is a weird, but funky hybrid of The Eagles’ “Hotel California” and the typical haunted house movie.


















4)  Rock With You
Famous for its accompanying blue-laser video, this early 80’s party starter features Ben’s best friend letting his favorite girl know exactly what he has planned for the evening. The video is one of only two from the 1979 album, Off The Wall.

















3)  Girlfriend
This sing-songy ode to cheating suggests that Janet’s big brother just may have been down with OPP.  It was written specifically for Jackson by Paul McCartney who recorded it himself before it was remade for the 20 million selling Off The Wall.














2)  Can’t Let Her Get Away
The sole offering from the Dangerous LP to make this list, “Can’t Let Her Get Away” is a superb serenade from a heartbroken MJ who refuses to live without his lost love.















1)  Human Nature

Last, but certainly not least, is the seminal Michael Jackson classic that created arguably the biggest buzz ever for a debut hip-hop album when Nas sampled the track for his own classic, “It Ain’t Hard To Tell”, and put SWV on the top of the pop charts when they sampled it for the remix of their song “Right Here”. Of course, Chris Brown is all over the airwaves right now with his take on this can't miss beat with "She Ain't You". This extremely soulful ballad became a hit without an accompanying video as the 5th release from Thriller, climbing all the way to number 7 in MTV’s heyday.


What’s your favorite?




- Ran



Friday, August 26, 2011

The 25 Most Expensive Shops in the US







 

 People walk past a Prada store in the Melbourne CBD, on August 3, 2011. Sales slumped for a second month in Australia's embattled retail sector in June, data showed August 3, as consumers saved rather than spent and sought bargains offshore with the strong local dollar. Retail sales fell a seasonally-adjusted 0.1 percent in June, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said, deepening the 0.6 percent slide seen the previous month and worse than the 0.3 percent gain expected by the market. Department stores were worst hit, slumping 3.2 percent in the month, followed by household goods, and restaurants or takeaway food, each down 0.7 percent, the ABS said.






By Mike Dang of Bundle



Ever opened a fashion magazine like Vogue or GQ, and wonder, "who can afford to buy this stuff?" For example, here's a shot of actor Edgar Ramirez in a $1,590 Salvatore Ferragamo suit for a GQ fashion spread about linen suits. And here's a Vogue piece about stocking up on simple staples — like a black Victor & Rolf dress for $970, or a $495 leather bag by Alexander Wang.

Most people use these spreads as inspiration, then turn to affordable stores like
Top Shop for items that can pass for being straight off the runway. Others find designer items at outlets or discount stores like Nordstrom Rack.

"I think there are a lot of fast fashion brands like
Zara, H&M; and Forever 21 that are so quick to copy what's on the runway and into their stores," says Nikki Martinez, an assistant buyer for the cosmetics chain Sephora. "As soon as I see a magazine spread, I can buy an iteration of that trend at Zara for a tenth of the price."

And then there are people who walk straight into a designer's store and buy garments with jaw-dropping price tags at full price. They are the ones who can afford "this stuff", and shop at the most expensive shops in America with famous names: Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana and Oscar de la Renta — the latter of which just so happens to be the most expensive clothing shop in the U.S.

To come up with our list of the most expensive shops in America, we looked at proprietary data provided to us by Citi, and looked at average receipt amounts based on millions of transactions done in clothing stores across the U.S from April 2010 to May 2011. We filtered out places like wholesalers, manufacturers and big department stores, and then ranked the most expensive shops by average receipt sizes.

De la Renta's eponymous store on New York City's Madison Avenue had well-to-do shoppers spending $3,217 on average during each shopping trip to the high end store. This isn't atypical considering
dresses in his ready to wear line have price tags from $1,890 to $4,790 (his cocktail dresses can go as high as $10,690).

The other stores in the top 5 most expensive shops:
Giorgio Armani, located just half a block from Oscar de la Renta, ranked second with an average receipt of $2,881; Loro Piana in Boston ranked third with $2,818, the very high end womenswear shop Akris also found on Madison Ave ranked fourth with $2,818; West Hollywood's Maxfield, which sells clothing from designers like Chanel and Balmain, rounded the top 5 with an average receipt of $2,258.

About half of the shops on our list are from New York City, with Los Angeles coming in a distant second and cities like Naples, Fla., Chevy Chase, Md. and Chicago making appearances. Though most stores were from well known designers like
Alexander McQueen (ranked 10th), Tom Ford (ranked 11th) and Dolce & Gabbana (ranked 16th), prominent bridal shops like the Vera Wang
 Bridal House, and the famed Kleinfeld Bridal, the setting for the TLC show "Say Yes to the Dress" made the list and ranked 22nd and 19th respectively.

"A very small population of the community — even fashion community — are able to wear head to toe designer on a regular basis," Martinez says. "Fashion spreads are meant to be aspirational, fantasy, even escapist if they're done well."

But some pieces of clothing can be worth the cost.

"I personally shop less frequently than I used to because I'd rather invest in better quality, longer lasting pieces," Martinez says. "The older I've gotten, the more I value things like fabric, well constructed pieces, and investing in designers. These clothes just look and feel better."




STORES RANKED BY AVERAGE RECEIPT AMOUNTS


25. PRADA - $1,429

24. SAKS JANDEL - $1,457

23. ESCADA - $1,466

22. VERA WANG BRIDAL HOUSE - $1,493

21. A'MAREES - $1,498

20. MORRIS & SONS - $1,507

19. KLEINFELD BRIDAL - $1,508

18. BOTTEGA VENETA - $1,562 

17. WILKES BASHFORD - $1,564

16. DOLCE & GABBANA - $1,595

15. MARISSA COLLECTIONS - $1,608

14. CHLOE - $1,673

13. ASCOT CHANG - $1,752

12. LANVIN - $1,787

11. TOM FORD - $1,797

10. ALEXANDER MCQUEEN - $1,847

 9. SAVANNAH - $1,970                          

 8. BLAKE - $2,008

 7. BRUNELLO CUCINELLI - $2,032

 6. CHANEL - $2,155

 5. MAXFIELD - $2,258 

 4. AKRIS - $2,649

 3. LORO PIANA - $2,818

 2. GIORGIO ARMANI - $2,881

 1. OSCAR DE LA RENTA - $3,217