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Assume positive intent

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Just when you thought Maroon 5 couldn’t get any cooler, they turned down the temperature a little more. (Bad analogy? Whatever. It’s Sunday.)  And I’m not talking about their sick new album, Hands All Over, or their sexy music videos. These guys are just great. Don’t let their rock star persona fool you; they’re down-to-earth, chill, funny and, well, normal (despite the fact that they are Grammy-winning musicians). Yes, they too belt out their favorite songs on the radio and have absolutely no idea where life will take them in 10 years.

How do I know this? Because Mickey Madden, bassist for the band, sat down with us and answered the questions that CollegeCandy readers (myself included!) have been dying to know.

Read on – I know you’re curious.

5 Questions We Ask Everyone

1. What is your favorite college memory/most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?
Well, when I was 20 I was arrested for stealing furniture from the foyer at a UCLA extension classroom. There were some appropriate legal consequences for that.

2. What are 5 things you can’t live without?
I’d like to flatter myself by thinking that I could technically live without anything but the bare essentials, but for the purposes of the interview I’ll say: music, books, good food, booze, and a consistent sense of pleasant surprise.

3. What is the motto/advice you live by?
‘We have everything to gain and nothing to lose but boredom’ – R. Vaneigem

4. What is your favorite song to belt out in the bar/in the car/for karaoke?
A friend and I recently did a pretty spirited rendition of ‘The Whole of the Moon‘ by the Waterboys. That’s a good one for belting.

5. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Looking back on my predictions from 2010 and laughing.

5 Questions Just for Mickey

1. OK, so originally the band was called Kara’s Flowers. What’s wrong with Kara and her flowers? What made you choose Maroon 5 as a name?
We needed a fresh start when we changed the name. We added a new member, a new direction.  We were all older and into different things. It made the most sense for us, to shed the Kara’s Flowers name and start fresh.  As for the name Maroon 5, it’s a secret that only the band and Billy Joel know the answer to.

2. Oooo, mysterious! Well, it worked and now you guys have toured the world.  What is your favorite performance memory?
We played Seoul in early 2008 and the arena was arguably the liveliest we’ve ever played for. Almost everyone in the audience was waving a multicolored glowstick in time with the music, which looked absolutely mind-blowing from on-stage.

3. Maroon 5 has gotten a lot of publicity for the explicit content in your music videos. Why make such steamy videos?
Most of the songs deal with sex or lust on some level, thus the videos reflect that. Also Adam is an exhibitionist.

4. Yeah, I’m not complaining at. all. Moving on, most of your fans expect the success and popularity that came with Songs About Jane for your new album, Hands All Over.  Do you think this album will live up to the success that your other albums had? If so, why? What makes this new album different and/or better?
I certainly hope this record finds a big audience, as we’re very proud of it and put a lot of love and energy into it. It’s hard for me to say how it’s different or better since I’m so inside of the process of making it… I can say that Mutt Lange is an exacting and extraordinarily gifted producer, and i do think his fairy dust is present on these recordings.

5. For you, what is the best part about being in Maroon 5? The fans? The guys?
It’s being able to grow up and play with my best friends for the last 15 years.  We’re beyond family members at this point. We’re just a blanket together – well worn and built to last.

And last they have. Grab your pre-order copy of Hands All Over right now.

Got something awesome everyone needs to know about? A really rad singer? A wicked new book? Low-cal cocktail recipes?? Email your “The Know” ideas to Jill@collegecandy.com or tweet me and I’ll pass them along to everyone right here, every week. Make your kindergarten teacher proud and share!

Since the days of  “Harder to Breathe,” I’ve been a fan of Maroon Five. A huge fan.  So huge a fan, in fact, that in middle school I would belt out the lyrics to “This Love” in my Catholic school hallway.  I like to think I was the trendsetter in middle school, who started singing the risqué lyrics (I really had no idea what they meant) and drooling over the ever-so-fine Adam Levine first.  In reality, I was just another teenybopper mesmerized by the new band with the lustful front man.

Today, I’m still drooling over Adam Levine and dreaming that my childhood fantasy will come true and Adam will sing “This Love” to me on a bearskin rug in front of a roaring fire.

Ha, only in my dreams, right?
Not anymore!

Well, maybe the whole bearskin rug thing…

In case you haven’t heard, Maroon 5 announced a summer tour that will be hitting 35 cities across the USA and Canada. Luckily, Maroon 5 was thinking of their #1 fan and scheduled a tour date not too far from home, so you’ll find me there, wrestling in the ticket line to get my seat, front and center. Maybe my dream will come true?

Alright, a girl can dream…

If you can’t make it to their summer concerts, Maroon 5 is also releasing a new album September 21^st featuring my new favorite song, “Misery.”  Seriously, give that a listen and tell me you’re not falling back in love.

These guys never disappoint and now that they’re older, wiser, and more brooding than ever (OMG that facial hair) things are only getting better. So check ‘em out.

Maroon 5- Call and Response (The Remix Album)

While we anxiously await the release of some new music from Maroon 5 (why on Earth does it take them so long?), we can temporarily get our Adam Levine fix from Call and Response, an album of Maroon 5 remixes. The album makes me happy because it remixes the songs enough that some of them actually sound like new tracks. But it also makes me wonder if Maroon 5 desperately wants to get some play time in the clubs. Whatever the case, this whole album may be worth it just to hear the Mark Ronson “Wake Up Call” mix featuring Mary J. Blige. Not to mention, the album includes remixes with Of Montreal, Cut Copy, and Deerhoof.

If you tell me the hotness that is Adam Levine is involved, I’ll buy it, but I’m eager for something new from the boys of Maroon 5.

Brandy- Human

Wait, Brandy still exists? Didn’t she kill someone in a car accident a while back? Well, yes. But now she’s ready for her comeback and you can almost feel the pain of her past through the music in her new album, Human. The title track relays to the public how sorry she is for what we’re to assume is the accident: “I make mistakes but I can’t turn back time…I’m only human.” But despite all this pain, Brandy somehow manages to make most of the songs on the album positive and cheerful. I have to admit, I’ve been a fan of the upbeat track “Right Here (Departed)” from the first time I heard it on the radio.

Brandy may never reach her “That Boy is Mine” fame again, but she’ll definitely get some serious radio play-time.

Cat Power- Dark End of the Street EP

This EP full of more Cat Power cover songs is perfect for listening to on a cold, lonely night. Her beautiful version of Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)” caused me to hit replay over and over. Dark End of the Street is certainly not an upbeat album, but each song completely wraps you up in the beautiful crooning of her voice. Cat also covers songs by James Carr, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Sandy Denny, Aretha Franklin, and the Pogues. Some tracks don’t quite match up to the originals, but that’s OK because you may never have heard the original anyway. And what you don’t know won’t hurt you.

Cat’s back covering the classics and helping you feel a little bit more depressed…in a good way.

[All images courtesy of Amazon.com]

The acting is awful, the fashion is awful and Naomi, the evil girl character, looks like a poor man’s Jesse Spano. Oh, and the whole gossipy blog thing that Kelly Taylor’s (somehow brunette/brooding) little sister writes looks a lot like Gossip Girl. But not nearly as awesome.

I give this show one month until The CW replaces it with America’s Next Top Model marathons. I only give it that long because fans of the original, like myself, will be watching to find out if Kelly Taylor’s baby belongs to the one and only Dylan McKay.

What do you think?

This week: claiming rights to a band.

Example: The Fray, Maroon 5, Corinne Bailey Rae, The Backstreet Boys, Jesse Palter, Madonna, Ok-Go Tally Hall.

Some of these musicians you’ve heard of- some maybe not… some are or were huge stars, some are unsigned. Yet, if you listen to any of these artists’ songs in front of another person a conversation like this will ultimately ensue:

You: “How good is this song?”

ITRNO (Is That Really Necessary Offender): “Oh, this song? Yeah, this song is good, but I’m so sick of it now. I started listening to The Fray loooong before they were signed to a major label and way before their CD was available to the public. In fact, I knew every single word to this song before they even wrote it. So, ha! I am so cool. Way cooler than you because I listened to this band first.”

Okay, so maybe the last half was a teeny-tiny bit of an exaggeration, but you know that’s exactly what they are thinking and just not saying it outloud!

I don’t get these people! Do they want a cookie or a medal because they knew of a song or new artist first?!

I’ll say it: These people’s songs become massive hits for a reason. Obviously they are talented, or know how to write catchy lyrics (or they have others working for them who do-but that’s neither here nor there). And NOBODY, I repeat, NOBODY cares if you listened to them first.

Do you think that Adam Levine cares to hear that you knew his songs before he was signed? Absolutely not. Chances are, he is more grateful to the most recent person who bought his most recent album- because that person is putting money into his pocket right now (especially with the downfall of the music industry in the past few years).

So please, save your breath and save me from wanting to pull my hair out and just nod your head in agreement that this song is in fact, rockout-able.

I mean really, that whole speech where you proclaim your long history of adoration? Is That Really Necessary?

I think a big huge not.

I mean, I said it—I worried that Ms. Doolittle didn’t appeal to the mass audience—she’s just in a whole different ball game then everyone else up there. But it’s so obvious that she is amazing. Maybe lacking a personality. But a phenomenal singer. I’m pissed. Onto the rest of the show…

Ok, sure. I imagine running into one of the American Idols on the street might be kinda cool. I don’t know that I would recognize many of them, but I could pick a few out of a crowd. But who are these people that they showed in the clips last night? There were people weeping, and screaming, and freaking out over people who—as Idol legacy has proven—might not be that huge of stars. Kelly, and Carrie have done fine for themselves. But whatever happened to Ruben Studdard after he released that first album? Pretty sure crickets are audibly chirping in the silence of his career.

I was really struck by the girl weeping in the Melinda segment—“she’s really *sniffle sniffle* helped me through some *sniffle sniffle* hard times.” What? She’s literally only been around for eleven weeks. So that’s fourteen songs she’s sang, and changed your life with? Ok… I guess there are fourteen song albums that have changed my life, but seriously? I’m perplexed.

Elliott Yamin was surprisingly good. His stylist has done well for him and managed to hide that massive nose he’s got there. The song wasn’t bad, and though I don’t know that many white boys can pull off the R&B sound as well as Justin Timberlake, I’m willing to keep my fingers crossed for him. Apparently his album has been out for a minute—anyone heard it? Again with the Idol curse… hmmm. Maybe being on the show is not such a good career move.

I wanted to write here that Adam Levine was luscious and to die for good looking, but what the hell is up with that hair cut he’s rocking? What do you even call that thing? And he is lanky! I had no idea. I was hoping that his striking features would make me forget he had slept with LaLohan, but alas, he is ruined for me. The song was typical Maroon 5—catchy, poppy, fun. For some reason the sound always seems off to me when the real famous people perform. But maybe it’s me.

Next week is the big finale show—I swear if Blake wins I will NOT watch next year. And I mean it this time. I’m almost tempted to forget the last show this season, but then you guys would miss my witty banter afterwards.