Adam Lambert's 'Whole Lotta Love': The Story Behind The Cover

Glam rocker tackled the legendary 1970 Led Zeppelin song for 'American Idol' rock night.
By Gil Kaufman


Adam Lambert performs "Whole Lotta Love" on "American Idol" on Tuesday
Photo: R. Mickshaw/Getty Images/ Fox

Imagine a freight train speeding toward you at midnight. Or a rockslide barreling down a hill as you try to outrace it. That's the feeling of the ominous, chugging Jimmy Page riff that kicks off Led Zeppelin's 1970 Stonehenge of rock, "Whole Lotta Love." And that's before singer Robert Plant leans into one of the nastiest, ecstatic rock screams this side of the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again."

That's the song Adam Lambert chose to sing on "American Idol" rock night Tuesday (May 5), and, needless to say, it was a challenge that the eyeliner-loving Los Angeles stage veteran was more than up for, hitting a series of high notes and rock screams that would have made Plant proud. It was a risky maneuver that paid off for Lambert, who chose a tune that came in at #75 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004.

The legendary British rock act recorded the tribute to Chicago blues icon Willie Dixon during their second U.S. tour after working it out in their live show, including it on their 1969 classic album Led Zeppelin II. Like many of the songs Zeppelin performed early in their career, "Love" was a blues standard turned on its head with a heavy dose of crunching psychedelic guitar and thundering drums, courtesy of late drummer John Bonham. The song was based on a 1962 tune by another blues forefather, Muddy Waters, called "You Need Love," which was penned by Dixon.

For Zeppelin's version, Plant customized the lyrics by adding some lyrical quotes from a few other songs Dixon wrote for Howlin' Wolf, "Back Door Man" and "Shake For Me," nailing the tricky vocal in a single take. It was also inspired by 1966's "You Need Loving" from the British rock group the Small Faces, for whom Zeppelin had great affection, but they also did not credit Dixon for his part in writing the original lyrics. The song became Zeppelin's first U.S. single and their only U.S. top 10 hit. Though their manager would not let them release singles in the U.K. because he thought it cannibalized album sales, the song was finally released as the band's only British single in 1997.

Dixon sued Zeppelin over the song in 1985, claiming it borrowed too heavily from his "You Need Love," and Zeppelin reached an agreement with him, with Dixon using the money he received to set up a program that provided musical instruments for schools. A cornerstone of heavy rock, the tune -- which was the theme song for the long-running British countdown show "Top of the Pops" in the 1970s and '80s -- has been covered by dozens of artists over the years, from Tina Turner and Ben Harper to Prince, Slash, Leona Lewis, Train's Pat Monahan, the London Symphony Orchestra and Jane's Addiction.

Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1610709/adam-lamberts-whole-lotta-love-story-behind-cover.jhtml

Dominique Swain Donna Feldman Drea de Matteo Drew Barrymore Ehrinn Cummings

Tiger Hat Hottie Alessandra Ambrosio's Family Beach Fun

She relishes each and every moment she gets to spend with her adorable family, and Alessandra Ambrosio looked to be having a marvelous time while out with Jamie Mazur and little girl Anja Louise in Venice, CA on Saturday (October 1).

The Brazilian beauty showed off her playful nature by wearing a "Grrr" tiger hat and Daisy Duke shorts while her darling daughter sported some cool specs as the trio grabbed a bite to eat and strolled along the beachfront.

Tweeting about the family fun day, Miss Ambrosio gleefully wrote, "Love this california weather!!!! Perfect day to be down by the beach!!!"

Meanwhile, Alessandra is all set to head to the Aloha State later this month for the Kalakaua Avenue at the Waikiki Shopping Plaza Victoria's Secret store opening in Hawaii.

Scheduled for a meet and greet at the island locale's second VS shop, the event will be taking place on on Tuesday, October 11th.

Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/alessandra-ambrosio/tiger-hat-hottie-alessandra-ambrosios-family-beach-fun-549096

Autumn Reeser Avril Lavigne Bali Rodriguez Bar Refaeli Beyoncé

This Is How Geniuses Live Forever [Video]

It stands to reason that anyone with an online presence will enjoy some level of immortality long after their gone. But for the old-school? You had statues and you had nouns. And language is much cooler than sculpted stone. [ Vimeo via Geekosystem] More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/pI8lAf55dbk/this-is-how-geniuses-live-forever

Jessica Cauffiel Jessica Paré Jessica Simpson Zooey Deschanel Aaliyah

Lady Gaga Has Three Heads In New Fashion Film

Mother Monster collaborates with Thierry Mugler for latest visual art piece that debuted at Paris Fashion Week.
By Jocelyn Vena


Lady Gaga (file)
Photo: BuzzFoto

Lady Gaga and her pal, Thierry Mugler designer Nicola Formichetti, hit Paris Fashion Week once again, dropping a new film during the Mugler women's wear show on Wednesday.

As MTV News previously reported, Gaga and Formichetti teamed up with directors Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin for the project. On Thursday (September 29), fans not in Paris for Fashion Week got to see a special edit of the film when it premiered online.

The video, which mixes Mugler runway show footage with clips from the new Gaga film, offers another take on Mother Monster's ever-evolving persona. It opens on a close-up of Gaga's face, her teeth diamond-encrusted, as she says, "Sometimes, my heart sometimes feels so black ... and other days my heart feels like rainbows."

She flips her multicolored hair, saying, "I am Paris. We are Paris." In the next scene, a three-headed Gaga dances while a haunting track plays in the background. The image is reminiscent of the one that appeared on the cover of V magazine earlier this year. (As for the runway show, the clothes seen in the video are futuristic in style, in mostly muted tones.)

The directors, Inez and Vinoodh, worked with Gaga on her "Yoü and I" fashion films and, so far, three have featured some of her alter egos, including the nymph, the bride and Yüyi the mermaid. More "Yoü and I" films are expected to premiere, but when and where remains a mystery.

Gaga and Mugler have collaborated before: Besides the fact that designer Formichetti is her stylist, he has also debuted some of her brand-new music at his shows. In January, she premiered a remix of her Born This Way track "Scheiße" at a Mugler fashion show. Two months later, in March, Gaga not only walked the runway at a show, she debuted her song "Government Hooker"

The pop star is already back at work on her next album. Late Wednesday, she tweeted, "Almost #14MillionMonsters!! Thank you for making Born This Way really matter, this has been a crazy memorable year! Writing music today."

Share your thoughts on Gaga's new film in the comments section!

Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1671733/lady-gaga-fashion-film-paris.jhtml

Brody Dalle Brooke Burke Brooke Burns Busy Philipps Cameron Diaz

Bing begins roll out of HTML5-enhanced search interface

Bing transitions
Bing's new HTML5-and-CSS3-enhanced search interface, which was first demonstrated back in September 2010 to showcase the power of IE9, has started to roll out.

The most notable addition to the new interface is is smooth page transitions -- the fade in and out -- and navigation tabs (maps, images, videos, etc.) now persistently float at the top of the page. WinRumors is also reporting that a feature reminiscent of Google Instant search is being added to Bing, with page elements smoothly transitioning in and out as you type in your search query.

If you want to try out the new Bing UI, your best bet is to set your locale to United States - English and pray that you're part of the initial roll out. Alternatively, just wait a few days until MIX 2011, Microsoft's Web developer conference, which is when the new Bing UI should be officially launched.

Bing begins roll out of HTML5-enhanced search interface originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/08/bing-begins-roll-out-of-html5-enhanced-search-interface/

Georgianna Robertson Georgina Grenville Gina Carano Gina Gershon Gina Philips

Simon Cowell Praises Liliana Rose on 'X Factor': Video

Simon Cowell Praises Liliana Rose on 'X Factor': Video

Simon Cowell is looking for someone with The X Factor -- and that person just may be iVillage's very own Liliana Rose. The 26-year-old sales marketing manager appeared on Thursday's episode of the FOX reality competition show, and her rendition of Jimmie Davis' "You Are My Sunshine" promptly knocked the socks off of the judges, especially the hard-to-impress Simon. Watch Liliana's Newark, N.J., audition below!
 


"Right now I work in an office," Liliana said when asked about her job. "I make photocopies all day, and I sing in my cubicle." (Hey, sounds pretty good to us.)

Liliana then launched into her song, achieving that which so many have tried and failed to do: She brought a genuine, non-mocking smile to Simon Cowell's face.

"You don't look like a pop star until you start singing," Simon said when she'd finished. "You surprised me, and I like you a lot... One of my favorite of the day. An easy, easy 'yes.'"

And co-judge Paula Abdul concurred. "You're magical," she said. We couldn't agree more.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/simon-cowell-praises-liliana-rose-x-factor-video/1-a-387330

Denise Richards Desiree Dymond Diane Kruger Dido Diora Baird

Kodak Is on the Verge of Being Worth Zero Dollars [Factoid]

Have you taken a look at Kodak's stock today? Get a good look while you can, because it's shitting the bed worse than a disemboweled E. coli patient-already down 60%, to less than a dollar. This is how it ends. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/kCoHoF7iUgU/kodak-is-on-the-verge-of-being-worth-zero-dollars

Chyler Leigh Ciara Cindy Crawford Cindy Taylor Cinthia Moura

Install the Windows Phone 7 NoDo update regardless of your carrier

windows phone 7 nodoSome of you who own Windows Phone 7 devices are still waiting for your pre-NoDo preparation update -- never mind NoDo itself. A few workarounds have been posted, but unfortunately they didn't work unless your carrier had completed testing and was ready to schedule the update.

Now, however, the Chevron WP7 team's Chris Walshie has delivered a handy little utility that will allow you to update any Windows Phone 7 device -- regardless of your carrier.

  1. Download and install the Windows Phone Support Tool (x86 or x64) and the ChevronWP7 Updater (x86 or x64)
  2. Launch ChevronWP7 Updater and select your language. If your language isn't listed, stop and do not update.
  3. If were running WP7 build 7004 (you can verify in Zune) then run the updater twice.
Once the process completes, you should be able to copy and paste to your heart's content. Let's just hope all this update foolishness gets sorted out before we're supposed to receive Mango.

Install the Windows Phone 7 NoDo update regardless of your carrier originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/install-the-windows-phone-7-nodo-update-regardless-of-your-carri/

America Ferrera Amerie Amy Cobb Amy Smart Ana Beatriz Barros