My eyes almost literally popped out of their sockets when I visited Amazon.com today to see how well American Idol finalist Mandisa’s debut album, True Beauty, was doing sales-wise (#109 right now, #72 a few hours ago). True Beauty is selling for the already incredibly low price of US$9.99 on Amazon; plus, it’s an enhanced CD, so buyers get access to a lot of great stuff on Mandisa’s official website. The first single, the...

While Mike Abundo challenges flamers to a fight, I find myself mulling over the real-time possibility that is bound to happen tomorrow: I’m going to meet Benj. *deep breaths* Benj is an old online nemesis (hahaha!). One thing that has made this guy so irresistible to me as a blogger is his ability to push my buttons, usually not in the way I’d like my buttons pushed, if you know what I mean. Benj tells it like it is, and...

To those of you who weren’t aware, I have a weekly charts page that I call The Top 20 Singles and Tracks. I’ve been doing this since 1990, when the very first #1 single on my Top 20 chart was Release Me by Wilson Phillips. ;) Anyway, now that 2006 is about to come to an end, I’d tabulated the year-end charts, similar to what Billboard Magazine does. Points are awarded per weekly position and number of weeks on the...

Looking for some topnotch Contemporary Christian Music from upstanding men of God? One of my favorite CCM male singers, Mark Schultz, has a new album coming out. The title of the first single – incidentally, the same title as the album – is Broken and Beautiful, and you can listen to it here. While not as catchy as some of his previous topnotchers, including Letters From War, I Am, and the spectacular You Are a Child of Mine,...